Flock the Optic

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Stanwood, WA

On view at the Bellevue Arts Museum

Instagram

Flock the Optic consists of three individuals (Liesl Shuebel, David King and DJABC) brought together under extraordinary circumstances. The Flock met one mid-morning in the flatlands of the Skagit Valley, each arriving independently in response to newspaper advertisements for experienced astrologists. As they approached each other, an instantaneous rainbow aura appeared around the trio, highlighting them in an intense spectrum wash, as a flock of snow geese flew silently overhead. The trio was momentarily released from gravity and floated together. Since that day they have been linked telepathically, ornithologically, and chronologically.

DJABC

DJABC (born 1978, Hawaii) is a visual, sound and performance artist based in Seattle. ABC earned his MFA in Craft/Material Studies at VCUarts and studied at University of Washington as an undergrad in Interdisciplinary Visual Arts. His art explores identity, being, perception and the pursuit of expressing the authentic self. He is a founding member of Flock the Optic. Flock the Optic’s massive output of art spectacles tied to performative interventions brings folx of all ages together to activate art.

David King

David King (born 1982, Ohio) is a visual artist who works with glass, found materials, glue, and gumption. King earned an MFA from Tyler School of Art and has a BFA from the Ohio State University. He makes objects, installations, and drawings that address the transiency of perception. King is a founding member of the artist collective Flock the Optic who combines glassblowing with interactive installations, sound manipulation, and relational interventions. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Art at Centre College in Danville, KY.

Liesl Schubel

Liesl Schubel (born 1990, Ontario) is trained as a glassblower, having worked with glass for over ten years. She is drawn to the fluidity and sensitivity of the material, and pairs glass with other media, such as textiles and found objects, to form new tactile narratives. Liesl received her BFA from Rhode Island School of Design, majoring in Glass. As a queer woman, an artist, and a city dweller from rural roots, the complexity of home and of familial histories, relationships, and disputes remain a constant source of inspiration in her practice. Liesl is a founding member of the art collective Flock the Optic, a group formed to explore the meeting place of glass, performance, installation, entertainment, and happening. Their work focuses on cyclical experience, audience interaction, and creating works with abundant creative energy. Liesl currently lives in New York City with her partner, maintaining a varied art practice. Liesl is the Education Director at UrbanGlass.

Eureka! Each Unfolding Ray Excites Keen Attention

We experience light as a means of communication—a natural phenomenon that materializes as color as it passes through the atmosphere—and as metaphor—the light bulb moment of inspiration. We put it on display as electrical impulses that excite through a matrix of LEDs. Let it activate your orienting reflex and inspire.

Look Into Glowing, Hinting Tales. 
Lift Intuitive Givers Hauntingly Tall. 
Listen Intently, Gardeners Have Tilled. 
Lightened, I Go Home Tomorrow.