The contents of an apartment can tell us a lot about someone. According to two social psychologists at the University of Texas, clues found in personal spaces create impressions that are surprisingly accurate. In 2002, they conducted studies of visitors to bedrooms and offices – asking them to construct evaluations of the occupants based on objects in the space. It turns out the clues scattered around our homes elicit similar impressions from independent observers, and that the impressions of multiple observers evaluating the same space have a surprising level of consistency and accuracy (when compared to the self-evaluations of the occupant). When applying these findings to an apartment show things get a bit more complicated.

Apartment shows are a conflation of the idiosyncratic miscellany of a subjectively constructed private space and the controlled formalization of a semi-public gallery space. In other words, the space in most cases has been at least partially converted, cleared out or transformed. As such, an apartment show can create impressions only in relation to what the occupant allows to be seen. However, depending on the kind and format of exhibition, the artwork on view might also give us cues about the occupant re the ideas they value, their aesthetic sensibilities, and perhaps even the company they keep. Like Andrew McKinley's recent exhibition at Adobe Books, one might intentionally or accidentally map out a personal social network through images.

Kottie P. Feel Good's 2nd Annual art show and open house party went down last Saturday night in a 3rd floor apartment on Market Street. The show was given no title, theme, premise or context – nothing other than the raw fact that these artworks were given to Kottie for his show. According to my brief phone conversation with Kottie, it was intended mainly as a way to get an extended group of friends and artists together. A step up in scale from last years event, Kottie presented drawings, sculptures, paintings, videos and photographs from almost 60 artists – an impressive feat for a one-room studio apartment. He also framed all the flatwork himself (a perk of his day job) and set the stage for the event by painting the walls with a faux wallpaper of peach ground and rose pattern, giving the space a strange homely aura. The show itself is comprised of mostly small works by a familiar array of Bay Area artists, including Sean McFarland (who had a beautiful "Tornado" diptych), Sean Horchy, Johnee Hattori (whose "Cooking Portraits" video was set in the kitchen among the dishes), Chris Sollars (who made a promotional video for the event), Suzanne Husky, Chris Cobb, Jarrett Mitchell and Chris Corales. It also included many young hopefuls such as Jay Nelson, Paul Wackers (who offered to trade his painting for a "Nice Tent"), and Brian Pedersen (whose flag-size replica of a pair of "Tighty Whities" snapped and flipped on the wind as it hung from a pole out the window).

Ultimately, the party overshadowed the art, but I don't think there was any pretension to have it any other way. Unlike both 667 Shotwell and Ratio 3, apartment spaces that carefully curate their programming, Kottie's free-for-all (keg and 2-buck-chuck included) functioned as an inclusive maelstrom of sociability. In other words, the show was more interesting as personal offering, a way to get to know Kottie and perhaps each other. That said, mega curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, who will be speaking at CCA on March 2nd, had his humble beginnings making an exhibition for a kitchen...

Photos by Chris Cobb