ONLINE CATALOG

more photos from ashleigh russell’s collection of found items after the jump:

(more info…)

art opening this wednesday (tomorrow, september 3) from 7 - 9pm at HBML

ashleigh russell presents the best items forgotten in books of curious lore

ashleigh had a lousy job, hiding in a book depository like john wilkes booth, or that other guy, riffling through pages to remove foreign objects before they sold on the internet. well like i said the job sucked, she quit, and now the cream of the crop of foreign objects will be on display at HBML diabolical/angelical junk shoppe, for three weeks, starting tomorrow at 7pm, with cookies and perhaps tea available.

items include photos, notes, profanity, sublimity, stuff like that. what might be titled “memorabilia”, if the thing they had in common was that they were remembered, but in fact the opposite is true.

wednesday night come out and hang and mingle. i’ve been reading a scholarly treatise on profane folklore entitled “the rationale of the dirty joke”. watch me fight tooth and nail with my own id to refrain from starting sentences with “as an englishman was heard to remark on his wedding night…” or similar constructions.

i will also be displaying a new line of semi-durable plastic toys, which will be for sale.

interested in volunteering? let’s talk!

for immediate release!

this friday HBML is proud to present a show of paintings by worcester’s own chris hart. chris is well-known as a member of unflagable crime-stopping and -starting family “the hart foundation”, but he is also a heavy painter in the shovel style. the paintings for this exhibit are the curated best from the top foot of an enormous back catalog, and are priced to sell in that pragmatic “let’s try to not bring them back to the basement” way.

at this opening, there will be nice food for once, not sugary garbage, and chris will be on hand to discuss which actor played the part of the riddler the best, and why.

this is friday, the 30th, and it’s from 5 to 8pm. you know that every single member of the hart family bats 1000 24 7, so you don’t even have to decide whether or not you want to come check this out, because you obviously do.

pictures in this post do not contain “our” chris hart, or works by him, but they did show up in an image search for “chris hart“, so whatever.

the press release:

this tuesday is the 13th of may.

at HBML from 6 - 9 there will be an art show opening featuring xander marro, of the famous feminist perfomence troupe “the dirt palace” ( http://www.dirtpalace.org ). in addition to the display of works on paper, xander is making a special limited edition edition of bar soap for ready sale. there will also be snacks, probably hydrox cookies, and some sort of juice or soda or vegetable milk, and dvds will be playing in such a way that it is hard to pay attention to them. if you were to ask me what the artwork is going to look like, i would guess bonnets, spiderwebs, up-dos, poisoners, carnivals, dust, and 1890s mustaches. if the guy that fixed the plumbing last year is reading this, this is that lady whose fuzzy books you liked.

HBML is an all-ages establishment with enemies in the establishment, and as such, we ask that any wine you bring be cleverly disguised as something else, and if a child asks for a ssip, you say “i have a terrible cold”.

HBML is at 420 pleasant st worcester ma 01609.

you know, there’s been a lot of hullaballoo in the art world lately regarding the provinances of various bodily fluids used in certain high-profile works. to assuage the doubts of all private collectors and institutions, HBML independently verifies all artworks containing human genetic material. that means that every feces-adorned painting, every licked envelope, and every piss-doused crucifix comes with a bankable guarantee as to the identity of the donor, and their lifestyle, and what they ate previous to the act of creation. DO OTHER GALLERIES OFFER THIS GUARANTEE? no, they do not. WHY NOT? they say “it doesn’t matter”. huh. nice of them to decide for YOU what matters in YOUR LIFE, don’t you think?

also, a few boxes still remain of Mike Taylor’s groundbreaking art cereal “liberty hysteria cereal”, and will be on sale until totally sold or mouse-eaten. email back to reserve yours. each box is $15 and contains no less than five of mike t’s lugubrious arm hairs, each with a light patina of dr bronner’s and jittery mansweat.

this friday at HBML is the art opening for INNER BLIGHT, a show of screen prints, drawings, paintings, and cereal, by mike “empty mountain” taylor.

mike is a greatly accomplished artist in a variety of fields, be it his work with adult contemporary hardcore bands like FLAWS and HALO PERFECTO, his years as the default illustrator for the record label / dishwasher hospice CORLEONE, or his numerous attempts to get fired from his position as columnist for the magazine MAXIMUMROCKANDROLL. he also still writes fanzines (SCENERY), and has religious knuckle tattoos. oh, and he made those “space torch” posters for the HBML rent club a year ago. anyway, this friday from 5 to 8pm is the opening for his art show (at HBML), featuring posters, drawings, paintings, and cereal boxes. it’s going to be really awesome, possibly with still-wet paint, and mike is a great person to meet and talk to about things or just saying “hi”. rip into spring!

big ups to everyone that chimed in w/r/t the foreclosure, or passed along my questions to more knowledgeable folks. it’s a fine warmth to hear your armies auto-assemble at the faintest rattling of sabers. anyway i’m calling around, get my options straightened out, and examining back-up plans. but for now (and, for what it’s worth, for always) it’s still full speed ahead, damn the torpedoes, and damn everything but the circus. although i did capitulate to my money manager, and i set up a little donation page– tuck into it if you’re so inclined.

anyway this friday come what may there’s going to be a great art show opening at the shop— western mass spell-caster joshua vrysen, aka tumble cat poof poofy poof, will display his precise line of sparse mythological forms in a series of drawings entitled “wheel of doom / we love doom”. the exhibition will also include a new zine / show catalog, and a limited edition bandana designed by joshua and printed by us. it’s this friday from 5 to 8, with snacks and beverages, and milling about, and shaking hands with each other, or being like “come on, we hug”. all welcome. fingers crossed this event will appear in the worcester magazine and the wine crowd will come.

this friday from 5 to 8pm, come see Jimmy Jamie Bobby Buckmaster’s first solo art show! Jamie is a super-talented artist with a fresh comic book coming out any day now. he is also a teacher at the worcester art museum, which is one more awesome thing about the worcester art museum.

as always, there wil be snacks.

this friday the 18th of january, HBML is having an art opening featuring paintings by worcester artiste seah chickering-burchesky. we will be also be selling aloe juice and eating saltines. the event is from 5 to 8.

this friday at HBML, there’s an art opening showcasing a new collaborative quilt that i (jacob berendes) made with my mother (anna louise berendes). we went halvsies on some choice psychedelic fabric from esther’s fashions and each made half a quilt with it without comparing notes or letting the other person see. we’re sewing them together this afternoon, but the opening at the store is, like i said, friday. from 6 to 8, with beverages.

esther’s fashions is on pleasant st, just a few blocks from the store (towards downtown). it’s an african clothing store that sells small bolts of really awesome, sometimes garish, sometimes beautiful, fabric. you have to buy the whole bolt (which is like 6 yards) but it’s totally worth it. they also sell really really pointy men’s shoes, made of a variety of leathers including ostrich and alligator.

jeff “noise nomads” hartford came to the store last week to hang up a new art show and drink carrot juice and eat chips and salsa. the show is totally great, and he made a battle zine for the occasion too, which rules (it and the fact he did it). we still have some of those left, and he brought more of his other zine “moose jaw”, and the new 7″ that load just put out, and more copies of old tapes that we had sold out of. get your dome creased.

bonescraper recordings website