THE ARTSHOLE
the short story
The Artshole Collective has become a GANG of likeminded artists whose work ethic generally envelopes DIY-ism and love of craft. These artists are all, in some shape or form, connected to a quaint, generous, filthy venue called The Artshole: a living room exhibition space and pseudo-venue in the heart of Isla Vista, California. This swarm of artsy folk include painters, poets, musicians, playwrites, photographers, writers, and performers, all of whom share the same compulsory itch.
It all started in the summer of 2007 when Rob Gray made a slight readjustment to the livingroom. Entertainment center against the main wall? No. Let's put a stage there.
And there you have it. The Artshole.
UPDATE: We're now hosting electric shows in the back of our driveway with a little help from our friends Picadilly Hootch!
THE ARTSHOLE
the long story
You should find, scattered about the site, links to Minus the Masses. MTM gave birth to The Artshole, so that's kind of important.
In the fall of 2006 Max Golding was developing print and digital zine ideas from the driver's seat of his car (his home at the time). 
For the longest time all he wanted to do was exploit pop culture for its many frauds.
Having discussed with Rob and other friends the Minus the Masses idea he came to realize that another anti-commercialism publication or website would only preach to the choir. Nevertheless Max bought the webspace for MTM and taught himself web design anyway. He and Rob said WTF and decided to call it a record label, keeping in mind that record labels probably can't make money anymore, and that they should use the word "record" to refer to record keeping, and "label" as something to put on CDs when they and their friends put out releases.
MTM was cool for a while. It still is, actually! But we needed something new. "The Artshole Collective" has a better jingle to it, and it's not so leftist sounding. 
Plus, we would rather refer to ourselves as a bunch of artsy folks who do artsy things rather than some elitists who dismiss the masses as clones. None of us really know anything.
We've started fresh, and to kick off our new website and declaration of us being some folks who do artsy stuff, we held a food/fund drive on May 12 with a goal of $500 by June 1 2008. We pretty quickly and easily came to that goal! To learn more about that click here.
Check the shows section frequently so you can come see us perform on our empty paint cans.
We do this quite often, and love to have others come dance around on our little stage as well. Thus far we've hosted bands and musicians the likes of Garrett Livingston, A Lime Tree, Watercolor Paintings, Lazy Lungs, Madam Zero, Birds Fled From Me, Silly Rob Childish, Too Dark For A Picture, Pat Regan, Max Larkin, Cheshire, WUMMIN and Whitman, as well as spoken word artists such as Scott Raymond and John Park. These walls, as you can see from pictures on the site or from memory of having visited us, have exhibited paintings, drawings and sculptures by Noah Erenberg, Rob Gray and Sean Dolan.
