Event: On The Lower Frequencies Book Release
Posted May 14, 2008 by jmacphee in Events | Comments (0)
Tonight in San Francisco!!!
Come celebrate the release of
On the Lower Frequencies: A Secret History of the City
by Erick Lyle
out now from Soft Skull Press
On the Lower Frequencies: A Secret History of the City, from the editor of Scam Zine, looks back at the past ten years of fighting the war and gentrification in San Francisco. 272 pages of squatting the ruins of the Dot Com era, illegal punk shows in the streets and shutting down the city in anti-war protests!
Wednesday May 14 at Counterpulse (1310 Mission St. AT 9TH)
San Francisco
Featuring reading and slide show by Erick Lyle
Guest Speakers:
Paul Boden (SF Coalition on Homelessness)
Mary Howe (SF Needle Exchange)
Antonio Roman-Alcala (Alemany Farm)
Art by Zara Thustra and Ivy Jeanne
Photos by Heather Renee Russ (Cutter photozine)
and music by
Shotwell
Black Rainbow
The Judy Experience
A free vegan dinner will be available, as prepared by Leif Hebendal
Dineer/Speakers/Art at 6:00 PM
Bands at 9:00
This event is FREE, FREE, FREE!
Books will be on sale for $15 each.
The new issue of Scam Zine will be available for $3
Chris Marker's Grin Without a Cat Screening
Posted May 13, 2008 by molly_fair in Events | Comments (0)
Film Society of Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theater
May 13, 8:15pm & May 14, 2pm
As part of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the tumultuous month of May '68 there has been a month long film series of international films that are revolutionary both in form and content- very much a reflection of the time. One of my favorite films by Chris Marker, Grin Without a Cat is finishing up the festival, and is by far considered to be one of the most epic.
Chris Marker's magnum opus Grin Without a Cat is a profoundly challenging meditation on the period from the mid-60s to the mid-70s. Described by Marker as "scenes of the third world war,as the film weaves together images, sounds and themes of protest, defiance, solidarity and mourning to describe a moment when suddenly all seemed possible" and then, just as suddenly, closed. The film begins with the Vietnam War and the various international movements to support the Vietnamese in their struggle. Then it examines the causes of and reactions to May '68 in France before heading to Latin America and the birth (and subsequent death) of Allende's Chile. Essayistic in form, Grin invites dialogue and comparisons between and among the various situations depicted while pointing out those factors that also made each unique.
Montreal Anarchist Bookfair
Posted May 12, 2008 by jmacphee in Events | Comments (0)
A couple of us here at Justseeds will be traveling up to Montreal next weekend for the 2008 Montreal Anarchist Bookfair. It's always a really fun event, and one of the few radical/left/anarchist events I've been to that has a lot of other people doing art that show up to table, so I always get to pick up other cool political prints and posters from Montreal artists, French anarchists and Indigenous solidarity activists! Stop by and say hello to us (we'll be up on stage in the back of the event, most likely with the Beehive Design Collective).
Bookfair:
Saturday, May 17th, 10am-5pm
With over 100 vendors plus, films, art, kids activities. introductory workshops and more!
Conference:
Sunday, May 18th, 10am-5pm
A Day of Anarchist Workshops and Presentations!
both at: CEDA, 2515 rue Delisle, Montreal (Métro Lionel-Groulx)
In the Middle of a Whirlwind
Posted May 12, 2008 by k_c_ in Political Art | Comments (0)
Justseeds member Kristine Virsis coordinated with the Team Colors crew to produce the accompanied image for their upcoming project "In the Middle of a Whirlwind"
In the Middle of a Whirlwind (Whirlwinds) inquires into current organizing efforts in the United States, and through that process, assembles a strategic analysis of current political composition as a tool for building political power.Whirlwinds’ strategic context is this summer’s RNC and DNC protests; through these documents and the discussions that erupt from them we hope to directly impact the anti-Convention organizing. In a larger sense, and in the long-term, Whirlwinds is intended to provide a set of useful documents for contemporary radical organizing. Each essay and interview addresses the issues of movement, working class power and composition, and/or gives strategic insight into organizing, and the strengths and weaknesses of current movement/s in the U.S.
A one-off online journal of theory, art, activism and organizing to be released May 25th!
Happy Mother's Day, Mom!
Posted May 11, 2008 by k_c_
I was eating breakfast today with a friend and couldn't hold back the reactionary punk inside my heart. I questioned:"Why do I have to celebrate my Mother today? Is today another holiday stripped of any empowerment? Why aren't Mother's celebrated on March 8th with International Womens Day(I know, many women aren't "mom's")?
I was feeling frustrated with participating in a culture that has no context of its celebrations or traditions. And I strive to be a part of a culture that is creating its own values and customs. So along with appreciating of our Mom's today, I'd like to look at the historical reason why we do so:
The United States celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday in May. In the United States, Mother's Day was loosely inspired by the British, Mothering Day, and was imported by social activist Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War. However, it was intended as a call to unite women against war. In 1870, she wrote the Mother's Day Proclamation as a call for peace and disarmament. Howe failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace.Her idea was influenced by Ann Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker who, starting in 1858, had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers' Work Days. She organized women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbors.
When Jarvis died in 1905, her daughter, named Anna Jarvis, started the crusade to found a memorial day for women. In 1907, she passed out 500 white carnations at her mother’s church, St. Andrew’s Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia—one for each mother in the congregation. The first Mother's Day service was celebrated on 10 May 1908, in the same church, where the elder Ann Jarvis had taught Sunday School. Anna chose Sunday to be Mother's Day to be a Sunday because she intended the day to be commemorated and treated as a Holy Day. Later commercial and other exploitations of the use of Mothers Day infuriated Anna and she made her criticisms explicitly known throughout her time.
Originally the Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church, the site of the original Mother's Day commemoration, where Anna handed out carnations, this building is now the International Mother's Day Shrine (a National Historic Landmark). From there, the custom caught on—spreading eventually to 46 states. The holiday was declared officially by some states beginning in 1912, beginning with West Virginia. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother's Day, as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war.
Nine years after the first official Mother's Day, commercialization of the U.S. holiday became so rampant that Anna Jarvis herself became a major opponent of what the holiday had become. Mother's Day continues to this day to be one of the most commercially successful U.S. occasions.
Thank goodness for radicals, or we'd have no-one to remind that life is worth cherishing.
fierce pussy show at Printed Matter Inc.
Posted May 10, 2008 by molly_fair in Events | Comments (0)
Printed Matter Inc.
195 Tenth Avenue, NYC
April 5–May 24, 2008
fierce pussy was a New York–based collective of queer women that emerged in 1991 from the ferment spawned by ACT UP. Promoting lesbian visibility and self-defined identity, fierce pussy helped politicize the urban landscape by wheat-pasting posters, distributing stickers and T-shirts, and "renaming" a number of New York streets after lesbian heroines.Their low-tech aesthetic is exemplified by photocopied posters, which have been reissued in a book published by Printed Matter and are exhibited there above vitrines of related ephemera. Members' childhood snapshots are emblazoned with words like MUFFDIVER and DYKE; the phrase LESBIAN CHIC MY ASS is illustrated with a bathroom-stall-worthy rendering of an ass followed by the words FUCK 15 MINUTES OF FAME. WE DEMAND OUR CIVIL RIGHTS. NOW. Contemporaneous groups such as Queer Nation, Dyke Action Machine, and the aforementioned ACT UP pioneered an activist appropriation of the slick language of advertising, taking a cue from Situationist détournement and the work of Barbara Kruger. fierce pussy's posters share aesthetic kinship with the more punkish 1979 publication Durhing Durhing by Joseph Wolman (founder, with Guy Debord, of the Letterist International), in which random faces are overprinted with Marxist-inflected words.
This kind of contextualization, however, distances the work from the queer bodies that made it, and queer bodies are still not visible enough. Riding that wave of lesbian chic, The L Word now epitomizes self-defined lesbian (with little mention of gender-queer or trans) identity. fierce pussy's book, the most vital part of the exhibition, opens with reprints of three nearly twenty-year-old posters comprising a more diverse spectrum of identities, among them dyke, butch, pervert, femme, feminist, and queer. The pages are detachable and reconfigurable. Just add wheat paste. —Amoreen Armetta
Greetings from the Outside: Cards for Prisoners
Posted May 9, 2008 by molly_fair in Political Art | Comments (0)
It's hard to believe that almost a year has passed since our friend Daniel McGowan has been in prison. I've kept in touch with Daniel, and also have come to realize through his encouragement and by attending bi-weekly political prisoner letter writing dinners, that it is really important to reach out to other political prisoners/pow's/and activists who are incarcerated. Many continue to struggle and to be involved in movements both on the in and outside.
Over the winter I went to a gathering to make holiday cards for every political prisoner who is serving time in the U.S. and it became quite an assembly line! It inspired me draw the image to the right for a greeting card for any occasion that can be sent to our comrades, friends, and family whether they may be political or social prisoners. Hopefully I'll have them available soon.
Also, I sadly want to note that Eric McDavid was just sentenced to 19 years and 7 months. Take the time to write to Eric, and please check his support site for letter writing guidelines:
MCDAVID, ERIC X-2972521 7E128
Sacramento County Main Jail
651 "I" Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Some Thoughts on Election '08
Posted May 8, 2008 by k_c_ in Inspirations | Comments (0)
"Shawn Brant is No Criminal" Fundraiser Art Show
Posted May 8, 2008 by molly_fair in Events | Comments (0)
Punchclock Printing in Canada is having a fundraiser art show called "Shawn Brant Is No Criminal" in support of Political Prisoner Shawn Brant.
MAY 16-18 at Whippersnapper Gallery
It will feature art by indigenous, and anti-colonial artists including:
Branko, Rocky Dobey, David Morriseau Agata Mrozoski, Michael Comeau, Stefan Pilipa, Fancy Gordon Zero, Riel Manywounds, AJ Withers, Xtofer Cooke, Simone Schmidt, Shannon Muegge, Schuster Gindin, and many more! There will also be a live music show.
Money from the door will go to Shawn's Legal Fund and money from the art sales will go to Shawn or the artist.
Shawn Brant is an activist and spokesperson for the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte in Canada. He faces numerous charges in relation to two instances of rail and highway blockades erected by the Tyendinaga community on June 29, 2007- the Aboriginal Day of Action and in April, 2007. He was recently acquitted of 3 charges of mischief, but still faces charges that could result in serving a minimum of 12 years in a federal penitentiary and will stand trial in 2009. Shawn is being made an example of in an effort to crush the resistance of the Mohawk community.
Read the rest of this entry for an update on Shawn's current incarceration:
Throw Seed Bombs!
Posted May 8, 2008 by molly_fair in Inspirations | Comments (0)
The weather is feeling mighty nice these days, and it's the perfect time to start gardening if you haven't already. In honor of springtime, I want to share an abridged history of the seed bomb, or grenade, or ball- anyway it goes by many names and is basically a simple way of sowing indigenous plants by making small balls consisting of dried clay powder, compost, seeds, and water.
Many people credit the founders of the Green Guerrillas in NYC who threw seed bombs in vacant and abandoned lots in the 1970's. They additionally cleaned out the lots and started community gardens which inspired numerous guerrilla gardening projects today.
The origins of the seed bomb is actually an ancient technique in Japan called Tsuchi Dango translated as Earth Dumpling. Masanobu Fukuoka, a Japanese microbiologist and soil scientist specializing in agricultural science reintroduced the custom in 1938. He is a pioneer of sustainable agriculture and an advocate of biodiversity. He initiated the "natural farming" philosophy and "one straw revolution", a farming technique that does not require weeding, pesticide, fertilizer, or tilling- going beyond a scientific and organic approach.
There are many recipes out there, and here is one of them:
Combine 2 parts indigenous seeds with 3 parts compost.
Stir in 5 parts powdered red or brown clay.
Moisten with water until mixture is damp enough to mold into balls.
Pinch off a penny-sized piece of the clay mixture and roll it between the palms of your hands until it forms a tight ball (1 inch in diameter).
Set the balls on newspaper and allow to dry for 24 - 48 hours. Store in a cool, dry place until ready to sow.
and here is the original Green Guerrilla's recipe:
"If we throw mother nature out the window, she comes back in the door with a pitchfork." - Masanobu Fukuoka
Radical Cross Stitch
Posted May 7, 2008 by jmacphee in Political Art | Comments (1)
So, I've been trying to learn to sew for the past month, and it has been a both frustrating and very rewarding endeavor. My friend Kat got me started and showed me the basics of the sewing machine, and I've been trying to get the hang of it ever since. Chris Stain, Billy Mode and I just did this large scale installation in Brooklyn (Threat of Chance, see below), and I really think the hardest part for me was the sewing!
There has been a lot of focus on "craft" lately in the punk, political, art and DIY scenes, and to be honest, I find most of it annoying. That said, I'm finding a new appreciation, and am getting more interested in what one can do with fabric than ever before.
There are likely a ton of political craft sites out there, but we recently got an email from Kakariki in Australia who upkeeps the Radical Cross Stitch Blog. She sent us to a project she did stitching words into fences, and the whole blog is filled with a nice mix of politics and craft, with connections to many other projects. So if this is your thing, definitely check out what the folks down under are up to with their yarn.
Call for Art: Speak Out
Posted May 7, 2008 by jmacphee in Artwork Needed | Comments (0)
SPEAK OUT: Art, Design and Politics
What success can artists and designers have in causing and effecting change today?
This exhibition showcases artists and designers from around the world who have taken on the challenge of creating socially and politically charged messages that are meant to persuade, inform and/or educate audiences in a visually overstimulating landscape. It includes political and social posters and artwork that span the last decade selected by invitation, as well as curated from this call for art.
Exhibition dates:
November 1-December 20, 2008
516 Arts, Albuquerque NM
SUBMIT the following by email to: rhiannon@516arts.org
DEADLINE: June 16th
•up to 6 jpg’s of available work
•title, year, media, dimensions for each
•a short bio
•a short artist’s statement
curated by Abby Goldstein, Associate Professor of Art, Fordham University, New York.
Prisons Affect All of Us!
Posted May 6, 2008 by jmacphee in Events | Comments (0)
Critical Resistance NYC is putting on an exhibition of prisoner art:
Prisons Affect All of Us
May 17th, 1-8pm
Critical Resistance Office
976 Longwood (corner of Beck St.)
South Bronx
The art will also be up until May 31st, and can be seen by appointment by calling Critical Resistance at 718.676.1660.
Bill Daniel's "Mostly True" Book Release and Film Screening
Posted May 5, 2008 by molly_fair in Events | Comments (0)
Tuesday, May 6, 7:30 PM
Maysles Cinema
347 Lenox Ave./Malcolm X Blvd. between 127th &128th st.
Bill Daniel will be releasing his brand new book Mostly True, a collection of enigmatic railroad folklore and screening his freight hopping movie Who is Bozo Texino? as well as a grab bag of train subculture shorts.
Many of you may know and love Bill Daniel's amazing film Who Is Bozo Texino?, which chronicles the search for the source of a ubiquitous and mythic rail graffiti sketch of a character with an infinity-shaped hat and the scrawled moniker, "Bozo Texino"- a drawing seen on railcars for 80 years. The film was shot over a period of 20 years and features interviews with hobo graffiti legends Colossus of the Roads, The Rambler, Herby (RIP) and others.
Mostly True is the book companion to Who is Bozo Texino? Styled like a 1930's pulp magazine, the book is an enigmatic compilation of railroad ephemera, a ticket for time travel back to the roots of American rail folklore. The book is a direct product of 25 years of asystematically collecting any scrap of material relating to the ideas of tramping trains, hobo life, and depression-era culture and graffiti (with a small g).
Concrete Alchemy Tour
Posted May 5, 2008 by jmacphee in Street Art / Graffiti | Comments (0)
We recently got a note from the Albus Cavus Crew, who are about to embark on their Concrete Alchemy Tour, from May 16-23. 15 graffiti and street artists are heading out on a 5 city tour to show off their skills, but also talk about graffiti and its roles and potentials in communities. What seems to set this tour apart from other graffiti-type events is it's not simply a permission wall, or a gallery show, but a mix of mural painting on the sides of community centers, exhibitions, panel discussions and wall painting. The tour hits NYC, Princeton NJ, Philly, DC and National Harbor MD. Check 'em out.
Crime Against Humanity
Posted May 5, 2008 by jmacphee in Events | Comments (1)
My old Chicago roommate David Thibault-Rodriguez is helping organize a series of showings of a new play about Puerto Rican political prisoners, Crime Against Humanity. It is showing in both New York City and Leominster, MA (not far from where I grew up). Info is below:
New York City:
Saturday, May 10, 7:00PM
Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center
107 Suffolk St., NYC
A play by poet and activist Michael Anthony Reyes Benavides and former Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Luis Rosa, Crime Against Humanity is based on the real life experience of fourteen Puerto Rican political prisoners who spent more than two decades in prison - two of whom are still incarcerated.
Presented by Chicago's Cafe Teatro Batey Urbano
seating is limited so be sure to RSVP
Suggested Donation of $10.00
Leominster, MA:
Monday, May 12, 6:00PM
National Boricua Human Rights Network
First Church Unitarian Universalist
15 West Street, Leominster, MA 01453
"Imagine 27 years of your life living in a space 6 feet by 9 feet. Imagine being confined in isolation with no human contact. Imagine the shakedowns, the strip searches and the complete disregard for your humanity.
Crime Against Humanity brings us into the U.S. prison system in a way no other play has, focusing on the politically motivated use of isolation, selective punishment, sensory deprivation and disproportionate sentances.
By using theater as a tool for resistance, we hope to reach out to those sectors of the population that are often ignored by activists outreach. We want our families, our brothers and sisters and our community to come out and see what these prisoners have endured. We hope to see you there!"
Seating is limited so please be sure to RSVP
Admission: $5-10 Suggested Donation, includes meal
No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
For more information, please contact David: 508 404 4365
"Atenco Somos Todas" Action in Madrid
Posted May 4, 2008 by k_c_ in Inspirations | Comments (1)
A collective in Madrid, called Atenco Somos Todos, held an action in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Reminding the Spanish government and the rest of the world of the police repression and torture that occurred 2 years ago today. Following is their communication:
Iraqi Labor Mayday Statement
Posted May 4, 2008 by jmacphee in In the News | Comments (1)
If you've got a couple minutes, give this May Day statement by a sector of the Iraqi labor movement a read. It shows that there might be another path for Iraq than US occupation or sectarian bloodbath. I don't know the exact political positions of these unions, and don't know enough to endorse them or anything like that, but it's valuable to hear another voice from Iraq.
May Day 2008 Statement from the Iraqi Labour Movement:
To the Workers and All Peace Loving People of the World
April 29, 2008
On this day of international labour solidarity we call on our fellow trade unionists and all those worldwide who have stood against war and occupation to increase support for our struggle for freedom from occupation - both the military and economic.
We call upon the governments, corporations and institutions behind the ongoing occupation of Iraq to respond to our demands for real democracy, true sovereignty and self-determination free of all foreign interference.
Five years of invasion, war and occupation have brought nothing but death, destruction, misery and suffering to our people. In the name of our 'liberation,' the invaders have destroyed our nation's infrastructure, bombed our neighbourhoods, broken into our homes, traumatized our children, assaulted and arrested many of our family members and neighbours, permitted the looting of our national treasures, and turned nearly
twenty percent of our people into refugees.
Chris Stain photos update
Posted May 4, 2008 by jmacphee in Events | Comments (0)
Chris has updated his site with a bunch of good photos from our Threat of Chance show.
Stencil Nation
Posted May 4, 2008 by jmacphee in Street Art / Graffiti | Comments (0)
Long time friend Russell Howze, who has been running StencilArchive.org for years, is about to release a new stencil book that looks really promising! It's called Stencil Nation: Graffiti, Community and Art, and it's the only book I've seen since I released Stencil Pirates that attempts to deal with the ideas behind stenciling, where it actually comes from, and how it effects the world we're in. And unlike my book, Russell found a publisher who could print in full color, so you get the best of both worlds, a coffee table picture book and some thoughtful writing to chew on. It's slated for a June 1st release date on Manic d Press out of San Francisco. Russell will be touring around the country, so keep an eye on the book's website for dates, and keep an eye on your local bookstore to scoop up a copy.
Exhibition: Rocky Dobey in Hamilton, ON
Posted May 4, 2008 by jmacphee in Events | Comments (0)
Long time political artist Rocky Dobey has an opening coming up in Hamilton, ON Canada. Many of you will recognize his style from many of the alter-globalization protest posters from earlier this decade, including one of the main posters for the FTAA protests in Quebec City in 2001. I've corresponded with Rocky for years, and have been excited to see his work show up on dozens of political posters coming out of Canada over the past decade. He's also part of the great Punchclock Collective, which everyone should check out. His style is completely unique, especially for the political poster, and I really wish I could make it up north for this show!
All That is Solid...Melts into Air
Rocky Dobey
May 9-June 7
The Print Studio
173 James Street North
Hamilton, ON L8R 2K9
Exhibition: The Audacity of Desperation
Posted May 3, 2008 by jmacphee in Events | Comments (0)
Dara Greenwald and I (as the Samaras Project) are in an exhibition called The Audacity of Desperation opening in Urbana, IL on May 7th and then in LA in October.
The Audacity of Desperation is an art exhibition, political action, and on-going dialog. This show confronts, expresses and unravels states of desperation. Artworks by activists, artists, enthusiasts, and very concerned people, are made in editions of 100 with the intention of free distribution to audiences. In this way, these artworks will be activated outside of the exhibition space and in domestic spaces, on bodies, clothes, bags, and in public spaces.
First stop: The Urbana- Champaign Independent Media Center
May 7th - June 15
202 S. Broadway Suite 100
Urbana, IL 61801
Urbana Opening Party: May 7, at 7pm with a screening of video shorts
Urbana Closing Party: June 4, at 7pm, with the kick off of Continental Drift an itinerant discussion on Neoliberal policies and cracks in global power. Continental Drift will be traveling though the Radical Midwest Cultural Corridor, starting at the IMC with conversations about the Audacity of Desperation and presentations by Kevin Hamilton, Brain Holmes, Ayreen Anastas and Rene Gabri. For more information see:
http://radicalmidwest.blogspot.com/
Next stop: Sea and Space, Los Angeles, CA,
October 23- November 16
(more details this summer - watch election results with us there)
AK Press in Publishers Weekly
Posted May 2, 2008 by jmacphee in In the News | Comments (0)
Our friends at AK Press, one of the largest and best anarchist book publishers and distributors in the world (which I guess unfortunately isn't saying too much, but still...), just got a really nice write-up in Publishers Weekly, one of the big mainstream industry rags. Maybe some people are starting to notice that there are better ways to sail a ship than the corporate model....
From the article:
"But perhaps the most unusual thing about the press, which has doubled the number of units it sells over the past decade and grossed $1.4 million last year, is that it's organized as an anarchist collective. Although its 10 U.S. staff members specialize in different areas—publishing/editorial, distribution and sales and marketing—each gets an equal vote when it comes to which books, CDs or DVDs to publish."
Political Freights
Posted May 2, 2008 by jmacphee in Street Art / Graffiti | Comments (0)
I just got these great photos of new freights from Max in Minneapolis:
SpY/Mambo
Posted May 1, 2008 by jmacphee in Street Art / Graffiti | Comments (0)
We got an email awhile back from SpY in Madrid, who sent a link to their new website, which is a really nice and clean look at some of their inventive street art/actions in Spain. I really appreciate the professional look of the word installations, and would love it even more if they were saying something interesting to an audience on the street. This is a great place to get your head spinning about the possibilities of intervening into public space Check it out and give it a look through.
New LA vs. War Prints
Posted May 1, 2008 by jmacphee in Posters | Comments (0)
The great event and crew LA vs. War has some new prints for sale to help fund what they are up to. The one on top is by Brandy Flower, and the bottom one by Karen Fiorito. You can get these and a bunch of other great political prints from the Yo! What Happened to Peace? Depot.
to whet the whistle
Posted April 30, 2008 by k_c_ in Events | Comments (0)
Another taste of Threat of Chance-opening at Ad-Hoc Art Friday
You can look over at Ad-Hoc for art by Chris Stain, Josh Macphee, Billy Mode, or the Polaroid Kidd.
Photos above taken by Kevin Caplicki.
And when you come, you'll understand
Posted April 29, 2008 by k_c_ in Events | Comments (1)
The Threat Of Chance at Ad-Hoc Art
Photos by Kevin Caplicki
Trip to Bethlehem-Swoon
Posted April 29, 2008 by swoon in Political Art | Comments (0)
Last winter I was able to travel to Palestine with the Santa's Ghetto project, put together by Banksy and the folks at P.O.W. The project consisted of a show, on Manger Square, the proceeds of which were directed to support programs for kids living in the collapsing economy of the newly walled off Palestinian territories. As well many site specific installations in the town of Bethlehem and on the surrounding wall.
I was deeply impressed by the outpouring of sentiment on the Palestinian side of the wall. Voices from all over the world denounced, cursed, expressed solidarity and support, and simply bore witness to a people living up against the wall and everything it
represents.
I had precious little time within which to get to know people and try and comprehend the situation, so I will leave it to the photos to explain.
Kids in Bethlehem
Painting on the wall, by artist Blue
Mixing the paste
Getting started. It was so scary and windy up there.
Each of the squares is a pocket stuffed with quotes from Arhundati Roy, Assata Shakur, Martin Luther King, and many others with many brilliant thoughts to share
Getting a little help. I later learned that the fires that have blackened this guard tower that I paste on where set to mark the spot where a teenager from the neighboring Aida refugee camp was captured and given a seven year prison sentence for climbing a ladder and placing a Palestinian flag at the top of the wall
Sunset
Building something outta nuthin'
Posted April 28, 2008 by k_c_ in Inspirations | Comments (0)
Like I said in the earlier post, we've been busy building over at Ad-Hoc Art the last few days. Things are coming together and all the scavenged materials are beginning to take form as structures as opposed to piles on the floor. I'm really excited with a bunch of the images taken so far, yet am only going to give you this taste for the next few hours while I whip up another batch. Check in a little later for more!
Photos taken by Kevin Caplicki
The Threat of Chance
Posted April 27, 2008 by k_c_ in Events | Comments (0)
Justseeds members Josh Macphee and Chris Stain are having a show that opens this coming Friday. Its a collaboration with Billy Mode, and pictures by Mike Brodie. We've been building since last Wednesday and hope to have a kick ass installation for you to poke your fingers on, so get your tetanus shot before you enter.
The threat of chance art exposition is based on the temptation of possibility. The possibility of change in the face of stagnation, the possibility of hope in desperate times, the possibility of alternative thought and lifestyle in the doldrums of complacency.For this installation a railroad shanty town has been recreated to further emphasis the struggle between hope and despair. Amidst a gallery filled of shacks made with found material and walls decorated with freight trains and decaying industry you will find photographs by boxcar culture enthusiast the Polaroid Kidd. Proletarian signs, flags, prints, and banners from author/activist Josh Macphee. Interactive sculptures, drawings, paintings and stencils, from graffiti artist Billy Mode, and the sociological display of hand cut stencils by Chris Stain. The Threat of Chance art exposition is pure socialist propaganda , (at least that's how the mainstream will see it) , so stop by opening night and they'll tear you a new asshole.
-pollock johnny
Opening Reception:
Friday, May 2nd, 7pm - 10pm
Ad-Hoc Art
49 Bogart Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn
Afterparty from 10pm until 4am at the Wreck Room Bar
940 Flushing Ave, Brooklyn, NY
On view from May 2-June 1, 2008
Collaboration at Mass MoCA
Posted April 27, 2008 by k_c_ in Inspirations | Comments (0)
I recently spent three weeks collaborating with 15 other people from the Miss Rockaway Armada on a "mezzanine" hallway at Mass MoCA. The project was really fun, and I'm proud of the product. The Armada was given a space that is used by student groups, visiting the museum, to eat meals. So instead of creating an installation that documented the journey down the Mississippi RIver, or designing a cafe,
On April 1, 2008 members of the Armada gathered in North Adams to build again for three weeks. The group worked together to sculpt this space, each member contributed individual projects to the overall design. It is a place where you, our visitors, can gather, play, eat, look, touch, and explore
Working with such a large group of people, formulating everything from the theme, to aesthetics, to functions, to well, everything, was, at times, a little bit frustrating. It was also the impossible ideas and dreaming that brought us in to the space to begin with. So the "off the top of the head" ideas were considered, and eventually incorporated into the installation, caves, tunnels, space ships... It was that kind of imagination with the skills of everyone involved that helped manifest our installation.
Walking thru the space you'll find two platforms that provide seating and eating space for around 25 people, our only "restrictions". We scrapped, scavenged and pilfered, 98% of the materials used for the installation from surrounding towns, yards, and MassMoCA's compound of buildings, where old installations are stored. Tables were made from Bavarian milled lumber floated over the Atlantic for other artists structures, and stools made from hacked up bike frames or desks. We were given such a small budget to work with and used our resourcefulness and heads to come up with something that we hope you get the opportunity to experience in real life. There are so many things to interact with, beyond brown bagging it, a marionette puppet, secret rooms, a "space ship" to listen to Rockaway Radio(clock radio's playing a radio stream transmitted in the space), a "story mill" to type out your wishes on an old Royal typewriter(strange thought, it will be the first time some children will see a typewriter), and walls full of "advent" calender-esque shrines, doors, windows, and diorama's to open, close, look thru, and be inspired by.
Following is a video walk-thru shot by SuckaPants Tod's camera and see the "thing" we made!
Photos taken by Tod Seelie Check out a whole Gallery of images of the installation at Everyday I Live
Check out-Antlered Girl or BlueCinema for more flicks
RALLY AGAINST THE VERDICT IN SEAN BELL CASE
Posted April 25, 2008 by molly_fair in Events | Comments (1)
TODAY, FRIDAY, APRIL 25th at 5:30 pm
All three cops who murdered Sean Bell were found NOT GUILTY this morning by Judge Arthur Cooperman. Join us in protesting this outrageous verdict! Demand justice for Sean Bell and an end to police violence now! People's Justice for Community Control and Police Accountability is calling for a rally and community speak-out in front of the Queens DA's office TODAY.
Rally will include performers & speakers who have been directly affected by police brutality.
In Nov. 2006, Sean Bell was murdered by the NYPD in a hail of 50 bullets. His friends - Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman - were seriously injured. After a two-month-long trial of his killer, three detectives, the judge has announced his verdict of NOT GUILTY on all charges. The NYPD's murder of Bell and attempted murders of Benefield and Guzman are NOT isolated or random events. They represent the continued targeting of communities of color by the police and the lack of accountability for police misconduct and abuse.
Why People Riot
Posted April 23, 2008 by nicolas_lampert in In the News | Comments (1)
Quiz. A major riot took place in Montreal on Monday night where store windows were smashed and close to a dozen police cars were set on fire. Can you guess why?
A. The city rises up against capitalism.
B. Anger over police brutality turns into a full-scale riot.
C. Axl Rose.
D. Justseeds cannot fulfill all of its orders on time. The public freaks.
E. The Montreal Canadians defeat the Boston Bruins in game seven of the playoffs. Rabid sports fans loot downtown.
For the answer, check out this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSQ5uw2UVbY&feature=related
NYC Memorial Ride: Wednesday, April 23
Posted April 22, 2008 by molly_fair in Events | Comments (0)
Alvaro Olson and Jian-Lan Zhang were both tragically killed by trucks on April 16, 2008.
Come out to a memorial ride in honor of them tomorrow, Wednesday, April 23
Wednesday, April 23.
7 pm, meet at Union Square South
7:30 pm, ride to Alvaro Olson's memorial, 36th st. and Broadway
8:00 pm, ride arrives
8:20 pm, ride to at Jian-Lan Zhang's memorial, Allen and Hester
8:50 pm, ride arrives
all times are approximate
check ghostbikes.org for more updates
