May 2008
Threat of Chance closing party
Posted May 31, 2008 by jmacphee in Events
We're having a little closing party for the Threat of Chance show in Brooklyn on Sunday night. If you're around, stop on by!
Threat of Chance (Josh MacPhee/Billy Mode/Chris Stain)
Closing Party
Sunday, June 1st, 7pm - 10pm
Ad-Hoc Art
49 Bogart Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn
(Morgan stop on the L train)
Graffiti Research Lab at BAM
Posted May 30, 2008 by molly_fair in Events
Saturday, May 31
9:30 pm L.A.S.E.R. TAG
midnight screening of GRL: The Complete 1st Season
BAM: Brooklyn Academy of Music
30 Lafayette Av., Brooklyn, NY
FREE!!!
If you love the mad geniuses of the Graffiti Research Lab, you don't want to miss this. L.A.S.E.R. TAG is a Weapon of Mass Defacement (WMD) that gives individuals the power to communicate their thoughts on buildings, using a 60-milliwatt laser and a big-ass projector. They will be using it to scribble on BAM's Peter Jay Sharp Building in Brooklyn.
Then stick around for a free midnight screening of GRL: The Complete 1st Season- the only movie to officially be put on the Dept. of Homeland Security no-fly-list.
From their origins in the trash room of a non-profit in Manhattan to their emergence as the instigators of an international art movement, Graffiti Research Lab: The Complete First Season documents the adventures of an architect and an engineer who quit their day jobs to develop high-tech tools for the art underground. The film follows the GRL and their network of graffiti artist collaborators (and commercial imitators) across four continents as they write on skyscrapers with lasers, mock advertisers with homemade tools, get in trouble with The Department of Homeland Security and make activism fun again. Primarily using video footage from point-and-shoot digital cameras (“The Pocket School”) and found-content on the web, the movie’s visual style draws as much from the art of the power point presentation and viral media as conventional documentary cinema. Narrated by GRL co-founders, Roth and Powderly, The Complete First Season makes a humorous and insightful argument for free speech in public, open source in pop culture, the hacker spirit in graffiti and not asking for permission in general. The film was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008. Available 24/7 on The Pirate Bay.
NYC Critical Mass and Al Sharpton!
Posted May 30, 2008 by k_c_ in Events
I'm so pleased to hear about the alliance of Al Sharpton, Nicole Paulttre Bell, and NYC Critical Mass!
Todays ride will be a ride and rally against the murder of Sean Bell by the NYPD, and the recent acquittal of all criminal charges against the officers.
I am super critical of Sharpton's past behavior and statements, yet I'm intrigued by the potential that this relationship can raise awareness about police repression and brutality. I'd pontificate about it more right now, but I got to put new bar tape on my handlebars and get ready for tonights ride!
Kiss ups and Dumbwon show
Posted May 30, 2008 by k_c_ in Events
A quick mention. My really incredible and fun friends Michael and Paul are having a reunion show for their always entertaining "power-pop" band The Kiss Ups tomorrow.
Saturday May 31st, 9pm
Keegan Ales,
20 St. James Street,
Kingston, NY
Also performing:
Dead Unicorn
Guthrie Lord & Keith Abrams
It is the closing party for Paul's art exhibit at Keegan Ales. And a benefit for the co-op rehearsal space, "The Bomb Shelter" If you are in the Hudson Valley (NY) or surfing the web, check them out, they are really wonderful people that I've been hyping and supporting for years!
Portrait of Sylvia Elena
Posted May 30, 2008 by k_c_ in Justseeds Collective Projects
Portrait of Sylvia Elena
by Swoon and Tennessee Jane Watson
May 30 - July 5, 2008
Opening reception: Friday, May 30, 6-8pm
Honey Space
148 11th Ave. btw 21st & 22nd St
New York, New York
Justseeds Collective member Swoon is installing a piece she collaborated on with Tennessee Jane Watson, regarding the Femicides in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and that occur all along the borders of Central America. This piece is also, currently, in San Francisco at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
Spectres of Liberty
Posted May 28, 2008 by jmacphee in Events
Myself, Dara and our friend Olivia have been busting our humps getting ready to realize a giant project we've been working on for over a year, Spectres of Liberty. On this Friday, May 30th, in Troy, NY, we'll be inflating a life size ghost replica of the Liberty Street Church, an important movement center for the Underground Railroad in the 19th century, and one of the first African American churches in Troy. If you are anywhere near the Troy/Albany/Schenectady area on Friday, you should come by, it'll be a once in a lifetime experience!!
Spectres of Liberty
a collaborative project by Olivia Robinson, Josh MacPhee, and Dara Greenwald
May 30th, 2008, 8:30 PM
Liberty Street between 3rd and 4th Streets, Troy, NY
Skewville's Factory Fresh
Posted May 28, 2008 by jmacphee in Events
I've been a fan of Skewville's wooden shoes (thrown over power lines) for years now, and also continually enjoy their inventiveness in turning everyday urban objects like air-conditioner grates and milk crates into messaging systems. Their work is just fun and enjoyable.
FACTORY FRESH direct from SKEWVILLE
Grand Opening Party
Friday, June 6th 6-9pm
Limited show only till
Saturday, June 7th 1-9pm
Factory Fresh
1053 Flushing Avenue (between Morgan and Knickerbocker)
off the L train Morgan Stop
Skewville will transform this former Brooklyn bodega into a Pop-Art Market for the gallery's grand opening. Skewville has been making great advancements in the experimentation of street stamping technology along with revamping city materials to communicate phrases like “FRESH” and “FAME GAME”.
Factory Fresh is the newest space brought to you by Ali Ha and Ad Devillle formerly of Orchard Street Art Gallery in Manhatten's Lower East Side. SInce 2002 Ali and Ad have shown the art of themselves and the art of fellow artist they met in the global street art scene and in the NYC Community.
Bicycle Film Festival in NYC
Posted May 28, 2008 by molly_fair in Events
May 28-June 1
Bike lovers and cinephiles rejoice- the Bicycle Film Festival begins in NYC tonight! As always the festival features a wide range of international films, shorts, documentaries, music, art, and street parties, and contests. I am super excited that bike advocates and filmmakers Elizabeth Press and Clarence Eckerson Jr. of Street Films are presenting their work and there are films on local activist projects and people such as bike advocate Mary Beth Kelly (wife of Dr. Carl Henry Nacht), ghost bike memorial rides, saving pedicabs, recycle-a-bicycle, and the response to the distasteful DKNY orange bike campaign. Tonight is the event i am most looking forward to- Impossible Hour (1974) by renowned experimental filmmaker Jorgen Leth is screening with a live score by Simone Pace of Blonde Redhead. See you at the movies!
Carnival Mecanique
Posted May 22, 2008 by k_c_ in Events
My fellow "Armadan" Paul Cesewski over in California is an artist in residence at San Francisco Recycling & Disposal Inc. He'll be presenting new mechanical sculptures and game creations.
May 23rd (5-9pm) & 24th (1-5pm)
503 Tunnel Ave. San Francisco
Sensory learning through motion is one the most significant phases of our early development. Physical presence in our environment brings us close to how we develop. The excitement of motion reminds us of learning to move ourselves as we experience our environment for the first time.
New Justseeds Cards!
Posted May 22, 2008 by jmacphee
We finally got our new postcards back from the fabulous Eberhardt Press!!! If you'd like one, sign up for our mailing list, and include a snail mail address in your email.
WABA Bike Prom
Posted May 22, 2008 by mary_tremonte
If you're in the DC area this weekend, join Justseeds member Mary Tremonte (DJ Mary Mack) at WABA's (Washington Area Bicycling Association) 1st Annual Bike Prom Dance Party!
DC's first ever Bike Prom will be held at the Black Cat. The Bike Prom is a chance for everyone in DC's cycling community to come together and celebrate their love of cycling. Come early, stay late, and bring a date. Formal wear is not required, but we strongly encourage costumes.
Where: The Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW, Washington, DC 20009
When: May 23, 2008. 9:30 pm
Cost: $5
Dance all night to the music of DJ's MaryMack(Pittsburgh), Jennder (WABA Staff & Riff Raff) and Vinni Von Blotto (Riff Raff)
YES! there wil be FREE prom photos, so show up early if you want your picture taken.
WABA will also be providing extra bike racks in front of the Black Cat.
Everyone gets a chance to win our raffle prizes donated by R.E.Load Bags, Fabric Horse, Chrome Bags, Microcosm Publishing..
Discounted membership packages will be available that include a free WABA t-shirt and other goodies.
Propaganda Trains, Mpls Style
Posted May 22, 2008 by jmacphee in Street Art & Graffiti
Here's another great batch of images from my trainspotter friend in the middle of the country. There's no confusing what these trains are saying.
Event: I Shall Create-Death Row Art
Posted May 22, 2008 by jmacphee in Events
I've long been a fan of the art of Zolo Agonia Azania (as well as strongly believing he shouldn't be on death row in Indiana!), which at it's best is a Black Power trip through neo-psychedelia. A bunch of his paintings are going up in a show in Chicago, if you can, check it out:
"I Shall Create": Death Row Art
at Treat Restaurant
Opening Reception on SUNDAY, JUNE 1, 5-7PM
1616 N. Kedzie Ave. in Humboldt Park, Chicago
Celebrate the resistance of death row prisoners -- Renaldo Hudson in Illinois, Kevin Cooper in California and Zolo Azania in Indiana -- who dare to express their humanity on canvas one brush stroke at a time. Select paintings of their work will be on display at Treat Restaurant through mid-July.
Join us at this opening reception to honor the work of these three talented artists. A multi-media presentation will feature:
** a video recording of greetings by Zolo Azania from his cell on Indiana's death row
** readings of essays by Kevin Cooper and Renaldo Hudson
** poetry by prisoners LIVE from their cells via telephone hook-up
hosted by the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, No Death Penalty for Zolo Committee and Treat Restaurant
all are welcome -- donations will be accepted!
Travel Stories and Pretty Pictures
Posted May 20, 2008 by k_c_ in Events
Its that time of the month again. Tomorrow will be the May installment of Jeff Stark's "Where Have You Been?". 
If you missed Justseeds member, Swoon, last month, you can check out the images of her Ciudad Juarez trip. Unfortunately not the discussion, for that you must attend.
This month Jeff will interview Jonathan Lamberton on climbing Kilimanjaro, Jessie Reilly on parades in Taiwan, and Ben Mortimer on Russia in Winter.
Wednesday, May 21, 7-8:30pm
Bluestockings Bookstore
172 Allen Street, Manhattan
$5 suggested donation
A Discussion of Social Relations and Social Struggle
Posted May 20, 2008 by k_c_ in Events
A Discussion to Release 'In the Middle of a Whirlwind: 2008 Convention Protests, Movement and Movements.'
Speakers:
Alex Samets fromThe Icarus Project
Esteban Kelly from Philly Stands Up
Harmony Goldberg-Right to the City Alliance Resource Person
Ben Shepard (NYC Activist and Writer)
Malav Kanuga fromBluestockings Books
Friday, May 23rd / 7pm
Bluestockings Books
172 Allen St
NYC
On May 25th, Team Colors Collective, in collaboration with the Journal of Aesthetics and Protest, will launch a one-off online journal entitled 'In the Middle of a Whirlwind: 2008 Convention Protests, Movement and Movements.' To release the journal and contribute to discussions about movement building we are organizing events around the country. In New York City the release event will focus on issues of social relations and social struggle.Through a discussion of organizing experiences and
analysis of current organizing projects, speakers will
address the following questions:*What is the capacity of our resistance as it is
currently constituted?
*What role are contemporary social struggles playing
in resistance that is simultaneously creative and
critical of everyday social relations?
*How are contemporary social struggles building power
or using tactics that relate to, and intertwine with,
people's everyday lives?
*How might we further explore and explode these
everyday relations in order to unlock the limitless
potentialities of new social modalities that
reorganize power?
Great Small Works International Festival of Toy Theater
Posted May 19, 2008 by k_c_ in Events
The Great Small Works folks will be having a week full of scheduled events beginning Friday May 23rd. The exhibit portion of the event will include a brand-new collaboration between Justseeds artist Erik
Ruin and sculptor Amy Walsh, a tabletop sculpture depicting urbanism gone awry.
GREAT SMALL WORKS was founded in 1995 as a collective of artists who keep theater at the heart of social life...Drawing on folk, avant-garde, and popular theater traditions to address contemporary issues...[their] productions consistently reinvent ancient, popular theater techniques: Toy Theater, mask and object theater, circus, sideshow, and picture-show (cantastoria)...and seek to renew, cultivate, and strengthen the spirits of their audiences, promoting theater as a model for reanimating the public sphere and participating in democratic life.
Great Small Works will transform St. Ann's Warehouse with its colossal event of miniature proportions. Come see: Six different programs for adult audiences, a program for family audiences, a late-night cabaret for developing work, two symposia, two public workshops for all ages, and an extensive exhibition of both historic and brand-new examples of that elaborate, provocative, arcane and charming form called Toy Theater. Find the full schedule here
Tickets can be found at
St. Ann’s Warehouse
38 Water St.
DUMBO, Brooklyn
Where all events will be held!
Lambe Lambe
Posted May 16, 2008 by jmacphee in Street Art & Graffiti
Madrid based street artist El Tono just sent out an announcement about his recent travels in Latin America, including posters he made in Brasil using this traditional Brasilian printing system called Lambe Lambe. His posters are cool, but possibly more exciting is a short movie he linked to that shows the printing process, check it out!!:
"Free" is Etymologically related to "Friend"
Posted May 15, 2008 by k_c_
I recently went to Southpaw in Brooklyn for an incredible Hip-Hop show. The line up was Sabreena da Witch, hip-hop artists and activists Rebel Diaz, and DAM. The venue was packed and totally enthused by the music and atmosphere. Each group was super charismatic and very dynamic, and all with a political conscious and common demand, the end of the Israeli Occupation.
DAM is:
"the first and leading Palestinian Hip-Hop group" whose music is " unique fusion of East & West, combining Arabic percussion rhythms Middle Eastern melodies and urban Hip-Hop." Their lyrics are influenced by "the continuing Israeli-Palestinian conflict...the struggle for Palestinian struggle for freedom and equality. They Also draw their influence from such controversial issues as terrorism, drugs, and women's rights"
This was, fortunately, my second time seeing them perform live. I am reminded of how much music creates community from both of the events. I once had a friend say something to the effect of "Think of the musical "scene" you're involved in", at the time I was very much a krusty-travel punk, "would you like that to be a reflection of the greater community/society that you hope to create?" I still consider myself a punk, and admit the shortcomings of that community, and have to say that the event at Southpaw is definately a reflection of community I hope to aspire to create. It brought together a number of old friends of mine that are some of the most motivated artists and activists I know, and we were congregating to celebrate independent & resistance culture, and to acknowledge the 60th anniversary of the Nakba. I left feeling really positive and motivated, despite needing to wake up at 6 am for work the next day!
photos by AnomalousIf you are in Toronto you have the opportunity of seeing them perform tonight
Hip Hop Against Apartheid: the Refugees will Return With INVINCIBLE
May 15
at El Mocambo
8pm
And if you're in NYC there will be a demo commemorating the Nakba
Friday, May 16, 1-4PM
Dag Hammarskj Plaza
47th St. btn 1st & 2nd Ave
To support DAM and get their music check out their "store"
I've also posted some DAM & Rebel Diaz videos below for those that are curious.
Thanks to everyone that attended the other night!
Nowtopia review online
Posted May 15, 2008 by jmacphee in Books & Zines
Erick Lyle recently wrote a great piece on Chris Carlsson's new book Nowtopia for the SF Bay Guardian. Check it out. I haven't had a chance to read the book yet, but it's on the top of the pile. Chris has a really interesting analysis of new class formations and cultural production.
The More Things Stay The Same
Posted May 15, 2008 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
Marc Moscato has put up online a great short video he made about the life of Chicago anarchist Ben Reitman, lover of Emma Goldman and biographer of Boxcar Bertha. I grabbed the code and embedded it here, so take a couple minutes and watch this amazing slice of radical American history!!!
here's what Marc has to say about the piece:
The More Things Stay The Same examines the life and world of Dr. Ben Reitman (1879-1942), known in his day as “the Clap Doctor”, “King of the Hoboes” and “the most vulgar man in America”. It forms an endearing portrait of Reitman’s colorful life, and investigates the cultural and social context of his times. From labor unrest to sex education to the genesis of the homeless crisis in America, Reitman’s work continues to have importance and relevance to the hard-hitting issues of today. The More Things Stay The Same not only sheds new light on this lost but vital slice of underground Americana, but also provides an urgent rallying cry for the present.
Event: World War 3 Illustrated artist's reading
Posted May 14, 2008 by jmacphee in Events
Tonight!!
The Cup and Pen Small Press Reading Series
World War 3 Illustrated Artists
May 14th, from 8-10 pm at Think Coffee in Manhattan, 248 Mercer Street
There will be a fabulous reading featuring slide shows and multimedia by:
Rebecca Migdal
James Romberger
Sabrina Jones
Tom Keough
Fly
Mac McGill
Also featuring: our hostess the lovely Rebecca Alvarez; the vocal stylings
of Breeze; and the accompaniment of Andy Laties on saxaphone, flute,
harmonica and the garden hose!
Here's you chance to pick up an autographed copy of WW3, and be vastly
entertained while sipping java and nibbling cake.
Mimeo Mimeo #1
Posted May 14, 2008 by jmacphee in Books & Zines
Kyle Schlesinger, who a couple years back put together the cool self-published book Schablone Berlin with Caroline Koebel, has launched a new journal/periodical called Mimeo Mimeo.
According to Kyle:
Mimeo Mimeo is a forum for critical and cultural perspectives on the
Mimeograph Revolution, Artists’ Books and the Literary Fine Press. Edited by
Jed Birmingham and Kyle Schlesinger, this periodical will feature essays,
interviews, images, correspondence, artifacts, manifestos, poems, and
reflections on the graphic and material conditions of contemporary poetry
and language arts. Contributors to the first issue of Mimeo Mimeo include
Christopher Harter, Alastair Johnston, Stephen Vincent, and Jed Birmingham.
In New York City tomorrow, Thursday May 15, you can pick up a copy at a small press party at the Max Protetch Gallery at 511 W. 22nd, NYC between the hours of 6-8 PM.
Event: On The Lower Frequencies Book Release
Posted May 14, 2008 by jmacphee in Events
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
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
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 Art & Politics
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
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 Art & Politics
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_
"Shawn Brant is No Criminal" Fundraiser Art Show
Posted May 8, 2008 by molly_fair in Events
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
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 Art & Politics
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 Calls for Art
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
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
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
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
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_
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 & Prints
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.
