June 2008
Activist Video Art 2004!
Posted June 30, 2008 by dara_g in Events
Half of the People Are Stoned and the Other Half Are Waiting for the Next
Election*
at
Light Industry
http://www.lightindustry.org
Curated by Nick Hallett
Tuesday, July 1, 2008 at 8pm
55 33rd Street, 3rd Floor
Brooklyn, NY
*A line written by Paul Simon for Leonard Bernstein's Mass (1971).
A screening of activism-oriented video, performance documentation, and new
media from 2004.
Out of the Shell of the Old-Justseeds at Space 1026
Posted June 30, 2008 by erik_ruin in Justseeds & Member Projects
Throughout the month of July, Justseeds will be exhibiting a brand-new collaborative exhibition at Space 1026 in Philadelphia. As a part of the exhibit, a variety of exciting radical art-themed events will also be taking place.
Out of the Shell of the Old is a unique collaborative installation/exhibition from members of the radical artists’ cooperative Justseeds. Based on the theme of “a new world rising out of the shell of the old”, this show will incorporate built environments, video installation, and printed work to explore both the dark and troubling times we now live in, as well as our hopes for a better, brighter world. Over 10 members of Justseeds will be traveling to Philadelphia from as far as Portland OR and Providence RI to collaboratively create a unique and exciting body of work
WHEN: Throughout July 2008. The opening reception will be on Friday July 4, with DJs and coop members Mary Mack (Pittsburgh) and Merry Def (Providence) from 7-10 pm.
Other events throughout the month will include-
july 11- performance night with "Flight", a shadow puppet performance by Justseeds member Erik Ruin (w/ Katt Hernandez on violin), Shoddy Puppet Company's toy theater performance "the Soldier and the Phoenix" and "the Excremental Context: a parody of satire" performed by Reid Books.
july 20- a discussion night with presentations by local radical artists - filmmaker/performer Naima Lowe, collage artist Theodore Harris, and puppeteer Beth Nixon.
july 25- a music show benefitting the folks at the Shoe Shop, whose home was taken away by L&I , with Dan Blacksberg and Joshua Marcus, more acts TBA.
All events start at 7 pm.
WHERE:Space 1026, 1026 Arch St., Philadelphia PA. www.space1026.org
For further information/interview requests, please contact Erik Ruin-
215.387.0356. rustriot@yahoo.com. www.justseeds.org
Mapping exhibition on Israel/Palestine “Imaginary Coordinates” suddenly closed at the Spertus Museum in Chicago
Posted June 30, 2008 by nicolas_lampert in In the News
I recently saw the exhibition “Imaginary Coordinates” at the Spertus Museum in Chicago and was disappointed to learn that the exhibit was recently abruptly closed and will not run through the proposed closing date of September 7th. The exhibition was part of a city-wide theme in Chicago museums on mapping. Rather than taking the safe route, the Spertus Museum (which is a Jewish museum) organized a very compelling and courageous exhibition that looked at past and present maps that addressed the ever-changing borders and politics of Israel and Palestine. More so, the exhibition featured videos and installations by contemporary women artists responding to the larger issues at hand. The show was so commendable for it presented a myriad of views from both perspectives -- a decision that was sure to draw heat from pro-Israel supporters who might object to seeing work that was critical of Israel and supportive of Palestine within a Jewish museum.
To ensure that the work was protected and that visitors understood the curator’s decision-making process, visitors to the exhibition could only view the show on a guided tour.
To me, the show represented a chance for dialog and a broader understanding of the complex issues at hand and the closing of the show represents the opposite.
Below is a recent post on the abrupt closing of the show that was written by Marc Fischer (that was first posted on the Temporary Services blog)
Declaration of Immigration
Posted June 28, 2008 by dylan_miner in Events
Just Seed artist Dylan Miner will have work included in the upcoming exhibition Declaration of Immigration.
A Declaration of Immigration is an exhibition that depicts many of the experiences and viewpoints within U.S. immigrant communities. The works of over 70 artists will help visitors increase their understanding of this complex issue by providing
immigrant perspectives that are seldom included in the national debate. As a vital part of the democratic process, artists and community-based institutions play a critical role in any civic dialogue and struggle for social justice. Immigration is indisputably the foundation upon which this country was built. The National Museum of Mexican Art has a responsibility to take a proactive stance, and provide a platform from which many immigrants can speak out – especially at a time in our history, when once again, countless immigrants are being scapegoated and blamed for many of the nation’s problems. This exhibition will launch the Museum’s three-year commitment to immigrant centered programs.
Maxo Vanka Murals @ St. Nicolas in Millvale, PA
Posted June 27, 2008 by shaun in Inspiration
I booked a tour this week to take some of the kids we're working with at RUST to see the murals of Maxo Vanka at St. Nicolas Croatian Catholic Church in Millvale, PA (just north of Pittsburgh). Vanka, a Croation immigrant to the States, painted these murals inside the church in two stages - in 1937 and again in 1941 - commissioned by Father Albert Zagar. They are filled with fierce and vivid anti-war and anti-fascist imagery, and seasoned with some illustrations of the reality of the immigrant experience in industrial America. I've never seen work like this inside a church of any sort, and each time I go back to see them I'm still amazed.
I first read about the murals at St. Nicolas four years ago in Icky A's zine Nosedive (#13), and went to see them with friend and Justseeds artist Erik Ruin while he was in Pittsburgh for a visit. Mary Petrich, who remembers Vanka painting the murals when she was a child, gave the tour today - by far the best oral illustration I've experienced with these paintings. The church building is in need of financial help since the fallout from Hurricane Ivan in 2004 flooded much of Millvale and damaged the walls and roof of St. Nicolas. The church is accepting donations towards this work, which will include efforts to preserve the murals before the water damage gets any worse.
If you're in Pittsburgh, do not miss these murals! Mary Petrich can be reached for her amazing tours at 412-681-0905. Also, visit the Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka website to see much better photos than I posted here!
Reproduce & Revolt release party in NYC
Posted June 27, 2008 by jmacphee in Events
Come celebrate the release of Reproduce & Revolt/Reproduce y Rebélate!
Monday, June 30th, 7-10pm
Bluestockings Bookstore
172 Allen St.
NYC
(One block south of Houston, a block from the 2nd Ave. F train)
A collection of over 500 political graphics, Reproduce & Revolt/Reproduce Y Rebélate contains original art granted by the creators to the public domain, to be freely used on political posters, flyers, and campaigns. A bilingual (English & Spanish) book, it also includes a history of the reproducible political graphic and a design how-to for anyone interested in using the images in this book to help change the world. A powerful collection of graphic work by some of the world’s most active and interesting political propagandists, street artists and socially conscious graphic designers. Over 100 artists from over 25 countries are included!
Many of the NYC based artists will be present, and Josh MacPhee be giving a short presentation about the book.
Toolbox for Sustainable City Living: A Do-It-Ourselves Guide
Posted June 27, 2008 by k_c_ in Books & Zines
My friends from the Rhizome Collective, in Austin, TX, have just finished their guide on appropriate technology and sustainable living, Toolbox for Sustainable City Living.
The Toolbox for Sustainable City Living is a DIY guide for creating locally-based, ecologically sustainable communities in today's cities. Its straightforward text, vibrant illustrations and accessible diagrams explain how urbanites can have local access and control over life's essential resources: food production, water security, waste management, autonomous energy, and bioremediation of toxic soils.
Scotty and Stacy are co-founders of the Rhizome collective, and have lived and worked in a warehouse in Austin. For seven years, with countless others, they have developed the building and land into an incredible experiment of urban gardening and living. When I was seasonally nomadic, the Rhizome was a destination for me. I was exposed to an incredible community of people, and alternatives to plugging into "the grid". Going back every other years or so, I've seen the incredible amounts of time and labor the collective has put into the space. The most visible and impressive is the garden in the courtyard, which once was parking for trucks, is full of mulch, garden beds, fishponds, and so much other stuff.
Two artists that I met during my visits were Beth Ferguson and Juan Martinez. Both made an impression and were always encouraging me, giving me more confidence in my creative process. I would have had little interest in stencils if it weren't for Juan's incredible insects, dragonflies, ants and the like. And Beth is a powerhouse of
creativity too, both are Beehive collaborators. You can check out a conversation/interview VR did with Beth, here
They have both made artistic contributors to the book.
If you're curious or interested in do-it-yourself technologies to retrofit your house or apartment, you can buy the book, from them, online at Radical Sustainability. It has been published by South End Press.
I hope it will inspire folks to think beyond the "green"-consumer capitalism that's in vogue at the moment. And we can imagine simpler methods to satisfy our needs.
The Great Rebel Raft Regatta
Posted June 27, 2008 by jmacphee in Events
John Jordan (mover and shaker in Reclaim the Streets, We Are Everywhere and the Climate Camp UK) is helping put together an amazing looking new event/project called The Great Rebel Raft Regatta. It looks and sounds like a more political and decentralized Miss Rockaway Armada, with an invite for anyone and everyone to build a raft and join:
A strange fusion of futuristic flotilla, activist armada and charity raft race floats down the river Medway. Hundreds of rebel rafts of every shape and size are swarming towards Kingsnorth power station, like a giant shoal of disobedient fish with a single aim, to shut down the climate criminals.Launched from the Climate Camp on the 9th of August, as part of the mass day of Action to stop the construction of the UK's first coal fired power station in 30 years. The GRRR will be made up of a multitude of rebel rafts constructed out of flotsam and jetsam of this overheating world.... There will be pirate ship rafts, musical rafts, desert Island rafts, migration rafts, polar bears floating on ice-berg rafts, apocalyptic rafts, yellow submarine rafts, car wreck rafts, Robinson Crusoe rafts, battle ship Potemkin rafts, Viking rafts, Kontiki rafts, life rafts and love rafts, dark rafts and hope rafts.
9th August, high tide, RIver Medway, Kingsnorth Power Station, Kent
Get a team together < Build a raft of your dreams < Come to the Climate Camp August 3-11th > GRRR Launch >>> August 9th
New People's History Poster Collaboration Finished
Posted June 26, 2008 by shaun in Justseeds & Member Projects
Sara Meister and I have finally finished work on a collaborative poster we started this spring as part of the Celebrate People's History poster project. During a visit to Sara's hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan last summer, we saw a great exhibit at the local history museum about the intriguing strike at the Kalamazoo Corset Company in 1912. As there was never much written on the subject, Sara embarked on a research project with the goal of producing a zine later this year. I'd been itching to do another "People's History" poster for some time, and we got to work this spring.
We've printed a limited edition silkscreen run of the posters which will be available soon from Justseeds (my first print in ages). The design will then go to Stumptown Printers, the Portland, Oregon-based shop that has been printing this project for years. Within the next month or two, the poster will be available in mass-produced form, distributed to individuals, schools, community spaces, libraries and the like. One of my favorite things about the People's History posters is how often I see them around...
You can click on the picture above to get a larger, readable version.
RUST::: pittsburgh radical youth printshop update
Posted June 25, 2008 by mary_tremonte in Bikes
RUST (Radical Urban Silkscreen Team), pittsburgh's radical youth print collective, is in full swing!
young artist-activists completed their first project, celebrate pittsburgh people's history posters, and have begun a bike poster project, just in time for bikefest. one RUST member created an amazing RUSTy the shark mascot costume!
justseeds member pete yahnke is in town this week as a visiting artist, teaching students the fine art of marmoleum cutting & printing. pete's work can be seen in the windows of RUST for one-week only. this is a great location as it's right behind a bus stop on the main drag downtown, and the work is visible 24-7.
RUST is open to the public tuesday-friday 1-5pm.
wednesday night 5-9pm is youth open studio, open to ages 13-18. print what you want! free!
RUST is a project of the andy warhol museum and artists image resource
www.warhol.org
www.artistsimageresource.org
http://bike-pgh.org/events/bikefest/
Asif Rahman Memorial Ride update courtesy of NYC Street Memorial Project
Posted June 24, 2008 by k_c_ in Events
Memorial bike ride for Asif Rahman on Monday June 23, 2008
Join fellow riders and Asif's family and friends on to remember him and demand a bike lane on Queens Boulevard. Bring flowers and candles.
From GhostBikes.org
On February 28, 2008, Asif Rahman, was doing what he loved to do -- riding his bike on his way back home from work -- when he was crushed to death by a reckless truck driver on Queens Boulevard. He died instantly from internal injuries. The truck driver was not charged or ticketed. Asif's mother said:
"Asif was on his way home after a hard day of work. I was waiting for him to come home. He will never come home. I still wait everyday to hear his voice. But he doesn't come home and say 'hi mom'. He will not say it anymore. He was brutally killed by a reckless truck driver."
Allied Media Conference report back
Posted June 24, 2008 by nicolas_lampert in Events
Five Just Seeds members were at this years Allied Media Conference in Detroit that took place from June 20-22 and it is safe to say that this conference never fails to be anything short of amazing. If you missed the conference this year, the AMC website will have extensive documentation that will be updated over the next few weeks. Independent media is the focal point of the conference, but radical art, street art and art collectives where well represented, including the Howling Mob Society, Pocho Research Society, and the Bee Hive Collective. The photo below is of two incredible Detroit organizers Jenny Lee and Grace Lee Boggs and the other photos are of Just Seeds members and friends tabling and acting goofy, as usual.
Propaganda of the Deed
Posted June 23, 2008 by k_c_ in Inspiration
Today in 1892, Anarchist,Alexander Berkman, entered the office of Henry Clay Frick and attempted to assassinate him, holding him accountable for the deaths of strikers in the Homestead Massacre. This attentat was intended to avenge the murders, by Pinkerton Detectives, and inspire the working class to revolt.
Frick survived, due to Berkman's poor marksmanship, and Berkman spent many years in prison.
I woke up today thinking about how can movements build power as opposed to taking it. While in an election year all anyone talks about is changing our elected officials. It doesn't feel much more than making another consumer choice, Coke or Pepsi (or some "natural" soda), to shop at Starbuck or Not, Obama or McCain?
On the ground it's not Presidents or congresspeople that are confronted with the reality of the economy, unemployment, foreclosures, or incarceration. It is a matter of some real progress in thinking, acting, and organizing ourselves that will wield "power"
We can neither eliminate, or hold accountable, any one individual that will spark the revolution we need in the world today.
Mr Berkman had incredibly strong conviction to carry out his act. I wonder what he would do today?
What are we going to do today?
Found on a Sidewalk in Downtown Pittsburgh
Posted June 23, 2008 by shaun in Street Art & Graffiti
I caught this humorous alteration to a sidewalk advertisement while walking in downtown Pittsburgh this past weekend. I don't know what it used to say under the word "war", but I do recognize the ad as part of a series of commissioned sidewalk murals aimed at the upper crust that developers hope will continue moving into many of the new loft developments in the downtown area. This piece strikes me as especially relevant given some of the recent news regarding the local Food Not Bombs chapter and the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership butting heads over sharing food in Market Square.
Get on the plane, get on the plane!
Posted June 23, 2008 by k_c_ in Inspirations
As many folks probably already know George Carlin passed away this past weekend. I have always been a fan of him, even as he got even more bitter in his older age. Here's one of my favorite bits.
Anticorporate Film Fest
Posted June 20, 2008 by jmacphee in Events
If you are in Chicago Saturday night, check out this anticorporate film fest. Anne Elizabeth Moore and Vancouver-based activist and filmmaker Franklin Lopez have organized I’m Doing This To Win Your Heart, film festival and a benefit for the AAAFFF and Submedia.TV
Here's the details:
Saturday, June 21, 8 pm.
the Hideout (1354 W. Wabansia)
$7
Charming and radical films about corporate malfeasance and the triumph of autonomous culture from Jo Dery, Conrad Schmidt, Franklin Lopez, Sami Muillenberg, and the Graffiti Research Lab.
Waste to Work
Posted June 20, 2008 by jmacphee in Events
My friend and collaborator Olivia Robinson (from the Spectres of Liberty Ghost Church project) has a new project she's working on with another friend, Daniela Kostova. It's called Waste to Work, and they've been collecting sweat and turning it into batteries! Here's the press release for the opening of the project in Schenectady, NY:
Have you ever thought of sweat as a renewable energy source? New media artists Daniela Kostova and Olivia Robinson will do just that when they perform Waste to Work at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, June 28 at the Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium.Inspired by the significant labor and electric industry histories of upstate New York, Waste to Work explores the transformation of labor into electric power, using sweat as the link. Sweat is the perfect medium: it is an electrolyte that can be used to make galvanic batteries--"waste" that can be harvested from our labors--and remains an extremely personal commodity that holds our scent, essential salts, fats, pheromones.
Kostova and Robinson will use video and an installed cabinet of batteries to illustrate how they developed batteries powered by their own and others' sweat. The power produced by the sweat batteries will illuminate a world map of LED shapes that designate centers of manufacturing and labor.
To create the sweat-powered batteries, the artists combined the practices of scientists and artists. Working with researchers a the Center for Biotechnology at Rensselaer, the artists developed batteries that are powered using sweat they collect in specially designed costumes they wear when participating in different kinds of physical labor.
The sweat-powered batteries are based on galvanic cells, which require two sources of electrolyte medium separated by a thin porous wall to create a chemical reaction with zinc and carbon to produce power. Human sweat is an electrolyte medium and will be used to power the battery.
Directions
Schenectady Museum & Suits-Bueche Planetarium
15 Nott Terrace Hts
Schenectady, NY 12308
(518) 382-7890Websites:
http://www.iamwhateveryouwantmetobe.com/site/content/waste-work
http://oliviarobinson.com
http://dani.cult.bg
Interview with Favianna Rodriguez
Posted June 20, 2008 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
Liam O'Donoghue has also posted a good interview with Favianna Rodriguez on the SF Bay Guardian website. You can check it out here.
Rebel Diaz Wrongfully Arrested
Posted June 19, 2008 by jmacphee in In the News
Two members of Rebel Diaz, NYC-based political hip hop group, were arrested yesterday for trying to intervene in the police harassing a street vendor. Here's a piece written by Davey D, and below that a video from the Rebel Diaz website:
NYC Police Beat Up Rap Group Members Rebel Diaz By Davey DLooks like the NYPD are living up to their reputation of being bonafide 'dipshits'. We are just getting word that NYC Police located in what was once known as Fort Apache-the 41st Precint in the Bronx, have shown that police terrorism is alive and well.
The word is in a unprovoked attack they badly assaulted two members of the Rap group Rebel Diaz.
The story we are hearing is that group Rodstarz and G1 were up in Bronx on Southern Blvd in Hunts Point, when they noticed the police were harassing a street vendor who was selling fruit. The two went over to witness the cops in action and when they saw the police being abusive they pulled out a cell phone to video tape the incident and asked for the officers badge numbers. keep in mind that part of the Bronx has a large immigrant community and it is also being gentrified. The police from the 41st
Precinct have made it a point to commit acts of terror including the shooting and killing of an unarmed immigrant man last year. The case brought up images of Amadou Diallo another immigrant was gunned down by out of control Bronx cops in the neighboring precinct.
According to witnesses, when Rodstarz and G1 asked for badge numbers the police became agitated and turned around and started beating them with bully clubs and kicking them in full view of other vendors and people on the crowded street. The two were dragged off bloody, put into a police car and charged with resisting arrest and assault.The backdrop to this story is that Rebel Diaz are not your ordinary rappers. They are well known activist who not only speak out against police terrorism, but have been key in helping out folks within this immigrant community. Hence it would not be usual for group members to bear witness and to speak out against the injustices. Rebel Diaz has committed themselves to given voice to the voiceless in that Bronx neighborhood.
Many feel that the assault by these cowardly Bronx police officers in plain view of everyone was a way to send a strong message to folks in the community that the police run things and they best stay in line. By beating the Rebel Diaz members in front of everyone was a way to spark fear and remind people that no one is safe from the police. They wanna let folks know that they can brazenly beat up popular rappers in front everyone even with cell phone cameras rolling and do so with impunity. The whole ordeal is akin to the slave masters from way back sparking fear in the hearts of other slaves by beating the strongest among them in front of everyone for all to see.
Grafica Politica #2
Posted June 19, 2008 by jmacphee in Calls for Art
This just in from Grupo Soap del Corazon in Minneapolis:
Dear Friends,
This September, the Republicans are meeting in Saint Paul, Minnesota, September 1-4, 2008, to nominate candidates for president and vice-president of the United States and to create their political platform.The Republicans, as you may remember, are the ones that brought the citizens of the United States (and the citizens of the world) such delights as the war in Iraq, the current economic recession, flagrantly increased national debt, and a lack of timely response to global warming. They are also creators of the current impasse with national healthcare, the stalemate with NAFTA reform, decreasing immigrant rights, tax cuts for the rich, and blatant, far-reaching government corruption.
So how do you feel about all that? Want to express yourselves? Well, we want to help you.
Print Art and Revolution in Mexico
Posted June 19, 2008 by jmacphee in Books & Zines
Poster historian and archivist Lincoln Cushing has written a great review of a new book on the Taller Grafica Popular (TGP). The review, published in A Contra Corriente journal, can be downloaded here as a pdf. The book reviewed is Deborah Caplow's Leopoldo Méndez: Revolutionary Art and the Mexican Print, published by the University of Texas Press, 2007. Back in 2005 Caplow wrote a great introductory essay on the history of political printmaking for the exhibition catalog to my Paper Politics show.
New Book: Diego Rivera: Great Illustrator
Posted June 18, 2008 by icky in Reviews
I was on tour in 2000, my band had played a sloppy show the night before and our host (Erik Ruin) took us to The Detroit Institute of Arts (Det. art museum) before we got back on the road. Just past the front desk you walk into a giant atrium filled with Diego Rivera's auto industry murals. I had poured over pictures of this mural numerous times, but it had not prepared me for the beauty and grandeur of seeing it in person. I don't know how big the room is, maybe three stories tall, the architecture done in the fake greek style that was the preferred choice for many public buildings (see washington dc or most state capitols). And the mural covered the whole thing... the giant walls, the nooks and crannies.... a giant factory scene in all it's terrible, awesome and fascinating complexity.... the workers in full communist-style action shots pulling levers and wrenches.... the gods of the earth elements up around the ceiling... little panels with industry scientists, women workers. Ore and metal itself. I just stood there and rotated in awe at this big powerful piece of art.
Sticker Art Show Call Out
Posted June 18, 2008 by icky in Calls for Art
Hey here's an open call out for a sticker/street art show coming up in Portland. Deadline is the end of August. Should be cool, there was a big wall of stickers and posters last year that local stencil artist Klutch put together that was up during the I Am show at the Goodfoot and it looked pretty great. This will be at a clothing store when it happens, but that's the world we live in here in Portland.
New Gee Vaucher prints
Posted June 18, 2008 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
I just got an email about two new Gee Vaucher prints that Hard Pressed Studios have put out. For those that haven't heard of her, Gee Vaucher was the visual arts/design member of the UK anarcho-punk band Crass, and her collage style and stencil lettering deeply influenced both punk and anarchist aesthetics. For more info, Erik Reuland interviewed her in our book Realizing the Impossible that came out last year.
According to Hard Pressed: Each print is a one color screenprint, on natural Stonehenge paper. Both notable works are an edition of 50 and each measure 22''x30''. They are numbered, signed by the artist and are $50 each. They were hand printed by Karen Fiorito at Hard Pressed Studios in Los Angeles. You can buy them here.
The "Peace" image maybe new, I'm not sure, but I believe "Onward Christian Soldiers" is from an old issue of Gee's political art newspaper called International Anthem. To be 100% honest, neither of these are my favorite Gee images, but I am really glad her work is circulating again, and hope a lot more people get exposed to her ideas, the politics of Crass, and the history of art, anarchism and social movements.
Shepard Fairey's Image Problem
Posted June 18, 2008 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
Liam O'Donoghue an article online that continues the discussion/critique of Shepard Fairey thats been ongoing online over the past 6-9 months. He's posted his piece "Shepard Fairey's Image Problem" on multiple Indymedias (here's the link to the story on NYC Indymedia.) and I'm going to paste the whole thing below:
As if Wal-Mart didn’t have enough controversies to deal with, imagine the consternation in the PR war room when news hit that the retail giant was selling t-shirts bearing a Nazi SS skull. As the story unraveled, it turned out that Wal-Mart’s designer had ripped off the image from pop art superstar Shepard Fairey, whose reference for the Gestapo logo was 1960’s “biker culture.” Oops.Using the international notoriety of his global “Andre the Giant has a posse” street art campaign as a platform, Shepard Fairey has leveraged his prolific output and iconic, anti-authoritarian style into a mini-empire. Through his ObeyGiant company (Motto: Manufacturing Quality Dissent Since 1989), he churns out screen-printed posters, clothing, and limited-run merchandise including skateboards and laser-engraved watches. His other design company, Studio Number One, specializes in branding, promotional campaigns and “identity systems” for corporate clients including Mountain Dew, Virgin, and Honda. He is also founder and creative director of Subliminal Projects art studio in Los Angeles and uber-hip Swindle magazine. His audience and the value of his work has surged in recent months on the popularity of his now-ubiquitous Obama posters.
Although Fairey “didn’t get bent out of shape” about Wal-Mart ripping him off, he originally launched his ObeyGiant clothing line because he saw that the Urban Outfitters chain was selling “bootlegged” shirts with his Giant logo. “To see it in there, just ripped off, knowing that somebody just made a bunch of money selling the t-shirts to Urban Outfitters, and here I am, just barely being able to pay my rent was definitely upsetting to me,” Fairey told me during an interview for Mother Jones. “The reason I get pissed off about stuff like that is because I didn’t build up the resonance for that image just to hand it off to someone to exploit.”
Ghost Bikes in New York Magazine
Posted June 17, 2008 by k_c_ in In the News
Joshua David Stein has written an article titled Ghost Riders about the Ghost Bike Project for New York Magazine. Really beautiful photographs by Christopher Griffith accompany the article.
I disagree with Stien's opening statement
As cycling in New York has become more popular, it has become increasingly deadly.I don't believe that the threat of automobiles were ever benign, they are always deadly. The manner in which NYC is utillized and designed for automobiles plays a role in how deadly they are to humans. Pedestrians are also at risk, Transportation Alternatives states that "NY has the highest number of pedestrian and cyclist deaths in the U.S.", and over 170 pedestrians were killed in 2003 in NYC. Should the same statement be said for the popularity of walking? If so then I'd logically assume the issue is with automobiles and the manner in which people drive them. NYC has evolved from a city designed for walking, and small animal drawn carriages, to a complex system of roads intended mainly for the movement of freight, human's second to that. That is the essence of the problem.
I will continue to ride my bicycle in NYC and everywhere else, and do so with the understanding that I am mortal. It is a pleasure and a necessity for me. And I hope that we, as creatures with incredible ingenuity, can create a safer environment for all pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists, preferably in that order.
The Ghost Bike Project is not intended to frighten those that ride or wish to, its making visible the cost of a city dominated by car culture.
Copies with the article can be found at newsstands now.
Pittsburgh Photo Exhibit of Palestine
Posted June 17, 2008 by k_c_ in Events
A Photo Exhibit Hope Under Siege: Pittsburghers in Palestine
Opening Reception:
Thursday, June 19, 2008 6-9PM
at the Shadow Lounge,
5972 Baum Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA
With performances by hip hop artist Rashad Jamaal, folk music by Leslie Addis, slam poetry by local artists, food by Allegro Hearth Bakery, and much, much more!
May 2008 marks the 60th anniversary of what Palestinians call the “Nakba.” It is a date engrained into the minds of every Palestinian, everywhere. The translation means the “Catastrophe,” because three quarters of a million Palestinian women, men, and children were expelled from their homes, massacred ensued, and 531 Palestinian towns and villages were destroyed for what was to become the state of Israel.For the 60 years of Israel’s existence, Palestinians have been refused the right to return to their homes. Palestinians remain the largest refugee population in the world. Many continue to see the uprooting of their trees, the demolition of their homes, the building of apartheid walls, confiscation of their farmland, and the murder of their family members and friends by the Israeli army.
Over the years, many Pittsburghers have traveled to Palestine to witness and document what is happening on the ground in order to amplify the voices of the marginalized Palestinians and spread the truth through eyewitness accounts of life under occupation, of a hope that is under siege.
Please join the Pittsburgh Palestine Solidarity Committee as they reveal their photographs from Occupied Palestine. Hear eyewitness accounts from Palestinians and Pittsburghers who have seen and experienced life under the gun. View the scenes of hope and the images of despair. Share the truth with the world about 60 years of dispossession and a hope that refuses to perish.
Prison Nation Opens
Posted June 16, 2008 by jmacphee in Posters & Prints
Prison Nation: Posters on the Prison Industrial Complex opened this past weekend in Los Angeles. A show of prison-related posters collected and organized by the Center for the Study of Political Graphics, it contains dozens of posters created around many prison-related issues, from overcrowding to women in prison, political prisoners to racism in the justice system. I've even got a couple posters in the show!
Prison Nation: Posters on the Prison Industrial Complex
William Grant Still Arts Center
2520 West View St.
Los Angeles, CA 90016
Open Daily: 12-5pm
323.734.1164
Even though the opening has past, they have a huge schedule of events planned, if you are in LA, check some of this out:
Windowblogging in Brooklyn
Posted June 14, 2008 by molly_fair in Events
June 14-21, 2008
My longtime friend and collaborator Sunita Prasad will be participating in a show called Windows Brooklyn. The gist of it is that a bunch of artists are paired with a bunch of shopkeepers in the neighborhood and the shopkeepers give their store window to the artist to do an installation for 10 days.
Sunita's window will be transformed into an interactive LIVE (as in her in the window with a dry-erase marker and some tape) "BLOG". It's called Windowblog, and she will be updating it every weekday at 6pm and every weekend-day at 3pm. The previous days' entries will also be shown on a monitor in the window during store hours, and the text will use the language of the blogosphere to interact in real time with the actual public sphere. The idea is to adapt the mode of personal diary perfected by blogging into a physical performance and topical dialogue in public space. The first entry of the blog explores the word "peace" and peace slogans, in an attempt to reinvigorate the urgent content of a somewhat diluted or disheartened word. I am excited to be taking part as one of her videographers. So get off the internet and come on down to Home Court Furniture at 286 Court Street!
Opening Reception: June 14, Sam's Restaurant 238 Court St, Brooklyn , 3-5pm, cash bar
Art Walk: June 21, 3-5pm, Talk to the artists at their installation locations
Closing Reception: June 21, 6pm, Carroll Park, closing performance by Maya Pindyck and Fletcher Boote
Human Rights Watch International Film Festival
Posted June 13, 2008 by molly_fair in Events
New York, June 13–26, 2008
Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center
165 West 65th Street, upper level
(between Broadway and Amsterdam Ave.)
In recognition of the power of film to educate and galvanize a broad constituency of concerned citizens, Human Rights Watch decided to create the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival. Human Rights Watch's International Film Festival has become a leading venue for distinguished fiction, documentary and animated films and videos with a distinctive human rights theme.
The films in this year’s edition of the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival reflect struggles throughout the world—the buying and selling of children in China; the continuing animosity between Pakistan and India; the story behind the murder of a courageous Russian journalist—as well as those right here at home. While many films raise questions, these begin to provide answers as brave filmmakers work on the front lines of international crises to show us the toll of war, the horrors of ongoing conflicts, and the human faces at the heart of it all (including the residents of a Palestinian senior citizens’ home).
Within many of these works is a quest: A filmmaker traces her ancestors’ involvement in the slave trade, human rights activists spend their lives trying to bring dictators to justice, and others bear witness to their crimes. Finally, there are the children: we get a glimpse of the overwhelmed juvenile justice system in Brazil, while from around the world, young people armed with cameras are asking questions and, perhaps, showing us the way to a better future.
Towards Carfree Cities VIII
Posted June 11, 2008 by molly_fair in Events
June 16-20, 2008
Some of the amazing people involved in the NYC Street Memorials Project honoring pedestrians and cyclists, will be heading to Portland for the carfree conference to do a panel discussion-so check it out!
June 19, 2008 4-5:30 pm
Advocacy, Media, and Direct Action: Street Memorials and Successful Collaborative Strategies for Making Change on NYC Streets Moderator: Brooke DuBose, Planner, Fehr & Peers, San Francisco
* Nat Meysenburg, Web Coordinator & Volunteer, NYC Street Memorial Project
* Elizabeth Press, videographer, Streetfilms
* Caroline Samponaro, Bicycle Campaign Coordinator, Transportation Alternatives
* Leah Todd, Press Coordinator & Volunteer, NYC Street Memorial Project
* Peter Meitzler, transportation activist, New York
A Gallery within a Public Library
Posted June 10, 2008 by nicolas_lampert in Justseeds & Member Projects
exhibition photos by Heather Kearns
The public library has always been one of my favorite destinations and resources in every city that I have lived in, but rarely have I thought of the library as a location to exhibit or see contemporary art (except, of course, in the many books within the collection.) This changed when curator Trish Nixon and gallery director Sherry Best invited me to exhibit 65 of my machine-animal collage prints at the Alice C. Sabitini Gallery which is located INSIDE the Topeka & Shawne County Public Library in Topeka, Kansas. As you walk through the main entrance of the library, the gallery is directly to ones right.
The beauty of this is location is that all types of library patrons will stop by and check out the current exhibit and be exposed to the art and the ideas conveyed. The curators also geared the specific show that I was in to kids and set up a room within the gallery with collage source material, a photocopier and supplies for kids to make collages, draw on the chalk-board painted walls, and put up their work up for all to see.
I was so moved by this experience for it was arguably one of the most non-elitist art exhibitions that I have been involved in due to the wide range of people who stopped by to see the show. Although this is a generalization, the majority of galleries, art museums, and even underground art spaces that I know about tend to cater to those who are already in the know -- those who already have an interest in visual art and art history. This space did this to, but since the gallery was in such a public space, a space that people were already going to, it attracted many first time visitors from all walks of life or those who needed to pick up a book or video and had a second to stop by and see the show.
This scenario has provided the gallery staff and the artists with a vital opportunity to discuss with the public what it is that artists do and why art is so important to our lives and the health of a community. That said, the gallery staff at the Topeka & Shawne County Library were incredible in how they talked to each visitor and made people feel so welcome within a gallery setting.
To me, this was a valuable lesson that MORE galleries should try to locate themselves in easily accessible, public places. Personally, I am not familiar with any other libraries or public buildings that also have a contemporary art gallery, so if other people know of examples, please post. A contemporary art gallery within a library is such a great concept that it would be amazing to see more libraries and public places adopt the model that the Topeka & Shawne Country Public Library has. Another reason why public libraries rock!
Alice C. Sabatini Gallery in the Topeka & Shawne County Public Library
http://www.tscpl.org/gallery/
more photos of the exhibition:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/topekalibrary/sets/72157605452363426/
Video of Spectres of Liberty
Posted June 10, 2008 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
Here's a time lapse of the ups and downs of our inflatable church!
Reader's Digest "Looks" at Bikes
Posted June 10, 2008 by k_c_ in VR Projects
Readers Digest takes a look at the Ghost Bike Project in their June 2008 issue, and the "your america" section online. The memorials continue to garner attention in the media as a reminder to the fallen cyclists.
Toward an Anarco-Design Practice
Posted June 9, 2008 by jmacphee
I just found this article entitled Toward an Anarco-Design Practice on the Anarchist People of Color (APOC) blog Illvox. Here's a sample:
It would be wrong to view this text as some kind of blueprint for anarchist design action. This is not a manifesto. Nor is it the justification for graphic design as a specialist, elitist profession to continue in its current form for the ‘aid’ of social change. As Proudhon wrote to Marx, “Let us not make ourselves the leaders of a new intolerance. Let us not pose as the apostles of a new religion, even if it be the religion of logic, of reason.” And while there is a definite place for the graphic designer in an activist role, both in an educational and provocative sense, designers must not make the mistake of becoming some kind of vanguard group of directors. Whereas Marxism is often justified in both political and academic fields in this respect — defending the role of a necessary vanguard party towards the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ — anarchism vehemently refutes and rejects this concept. The everyday individual or anarchist design practitioner, through the basic act of joining their libertarian principals with their material production, should, and could, greatly contribute to the transformation of everyday life towards a more just and humane existence. As educator and mediator, it is the responsibility of anyone with an understanding of visual communication to instill in people’s minds a broader sense of possibility, using the communicative powers of artistic imagery to encourage and enrage. It is important to shift societies’ many urgent concerns from the fringes and into the public realm, in a direct and unavoidable manner. However, purely negative and angst-ridden critique can only go so far — it is the sense of positive possibilities that need to be associated with the ideas of Anarchism. The marginality of current grassroots movements must be overcome — the isolation of both activist groups and concerned individual’s thoughts must be rendered public, transparent, and shared.
Spectres of Liberty images
Posted June 8, 2008 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
So the Spectres of Liberty project went great! We inflated our 35 foot tall church and had over 200 people come hang out, watch the animation on the outside and check out the inside. Here's some images, and more info and images can be found on our website.
The view from down the street (photo by Pete)
Another daylight view for scale (photo by Josh MacPhee)
The inside of the church (photo by Bart Woodstrup)
The outside projection of Henry Highland Garnet as seen from the inside (photo by Bart Woodstrup)
Milwaukee Zine Fest
Posted June 8, 2008 by jmacphee in Events
Looks like Milwaukee is gearing up for their inaugural Milwaukee Zine Fest from Friday, July 18 to Sunday, July 20, 2008 at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
They're still looking to find people to table and propose activities, showcase zines and related projects. Table registration is now open. Visit www.midwestzines.org for more information and to register your table. Lead a workshop, serve on a panel, read from your zine, or start a discussion. You can get in touch with the organizers here.
Pittsburgh Summer: Youth Radical Print Collective
Posted June 6, 2008 by mary_tremonte in Justseeds & Member Projects
The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pa is working with 14 to 20 year old artist-activists to form a Radical Print Collective.
This Collective will work with Pittsburgh’s social justice and environmental community to create print materials that illustrate social, cultural and civic achievement milestones in Pittsburgh. The Collective will learn printmaking and design techniques and will use these skills to document Pittsburgh’s activist past and present in an effort to effect progressive social change.
Local and national activist artists from the Justseeds/Visual Resistance Artists' Cooperative will be in residence throughout the summer to work with the youth involved in this project and to create an installation.
For more information, contact Mary Tremonte at tremontem(at)warhol.org, 412-237-8356
Lesbians of Color-Women Against Violence
Posted June 6, 2008 by molly_fair in Events
Brecht Forum Gallery
451 West Street
NY, NY 10014
June 6th - July 6th, 2008
Opening:
June 6th 6:30 PM - 10:00 PM
This exhibit focuses on violence against lesbians of color and the lesbian love that empowers them. The artists are sending the healing energy of their art to lesbians of color here and around the world who are being stigmitized, rejected, imprisioned and killed. Besides the daily stress of racism and colonialism, lesbians of color have to deal with homophobia, like verbal abuse, hostility, being labeled sinful by religious leaders, lack of marriage rights and partner benefits, not being represented in many women's organizations, community ostracism, sexual harassment, partner violence, discrimination in jobs and housing, families trying to take away children or withdraw support, incarceration in mental hospitals or jails, being trafficked, raped, tortured, or murdered..The exhibit seeks to expose examples of violence against lesbians of color from African, Asian/Pacific Islands, Latino/Carribean. Native American, and Near/Middle Eastern ancestry and assert the right of lesbians of color to a life with dignity and acceptance without fear of attacks on their spirits and bodies.
At the opening reception there will be loc poets, singers and musicians celebrating loc love and resistance to all forms of violence.
Reproduce & Revolt SF release party!
Posted June 6, 2008 by jmacphee in Books & Zines
San Francisco artists celebrate the release of Reproduce & Revolt, an extensive collection of contemporary political graphics collected from around the world, featuring today's most exciting street artists, poster makers and graphic designers.
WHAT: An art jam and book release party featuring live printmaking, music, and refreshments.
WHEN: Wednesday, June 11, 6-10 pm
WHERE: CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission St. (near 9th), San Francisco, CA 94103
WHO: Reproduce & Revolt Co-Editor, Favianna Rodriguez, Taller Tupac Amaru (Oakland), San Francisco Print Collective (SF), Political Gridlock (Alameda), and Chaman Visions (Los Angeles)
On the evening of Wednesday, June 11th, artists, activists, and art lovers will gather to celebrate the release of the new book, Reproduce & Revolt. Activism depends on design to capture imaginations and spread a message. Reproduce and Revolt not only documents some of the best activist design work of the past few years, it shows readers how to do it themselves. Political artists from the Bay Area will host an evening of live poster printing, political art displays, and other art making to promote a message of social justice.
Reproduce and Revolt features the work of artists from over a dozen countries. The collection contains hundreds of high-quality illustrations and graphics about social justice and political activism for use on flyers, posters, t-shirts, brochures, stencils, and any other graphic elements of social causes. The graphics are bold, easy to reproduce, and available to reproduce without permission. The book offers clear instructions on how to utilize the images to improve the effectiveness of visual campaigns. It also contains a short history of political graphics, highlighting the vital and powerful role that graphics have played in social movements all over the world – serving as tools to inspire, mobilize, and transform communities.
Print Art Show- Portland
Posted June 5, 2008 by icky in Events
Hey we're having a print art show this sunday (one night only) in honor of some friends being in town from Mexico City. We'll slowly be putting some of their work up in the justseeds store as well, so if you live elsewhere keep your eyes peeled.
Hola! Este domingo(unica noche) estamos organizando una exposicion de
grabado en honor a algunxs amigxs que nos visitan desde Mexico DF. Tambien
pronto pondremos algunas de sus obras en la tienda de justseeds, y si no
vives cerca de Portland y no podras asistir mantente conectadx y checa la
pagina.
The show is as 5205 NE 19th in Portland OR
Sunday June 8th starting at 7PM
near bus-lines #8 & #72
we'll have some refreshments, not sure what else
see you there!
Climate Camp UK Workshop
Posted June 5, 2008 by jmacphee in Events
This just in:
THE FUTURE IS NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE - A weekend of Creative Construction for the Camp for Climate Action Caravan - East London 14th-15th June.
From Saturday 14th to Sunday 15th June, we are holding a weekend workshop to begin the process of building the creative elements of the Camp for Climate Action's Caravan. The Caravan (27th July - 3rd August) is part of of the build up to this years Climate Camp and will be traveling by foot, sea and bike from Heathrow Airport to Kingsnorth power station where the Camp will be set up.
The workshop builds on a creative brainstorm held in May, where 30 people began the process of developing ideas for what the Caravan might look, feel, sound like as it crosses London. Many ideas came from this event and this coming weekend workshop aims to narrow down these and begin to work on the practical application of a few of them.
The event is not just for those who attended the May event, but open to all who have time to dedicate to turning the caravan into a beautiful inspiring radical journey across London in search for climate justice. The workshop will be focused on practical project, making, planning and plotting. We are asking participants to work up proposals for projects that they might want to work on or build affinity groups around. These should be brought to the event and/or sent to the caravan organising e-list. Please bring any materials/tools that might be needed to begin working. Please bring food to share on both days
Saturday the workshop begins at 10am (sharp) til 6pm. There may be evening activities organised, such as film night etc....On Sunday the workshop continues from 10am to 5pm
Venue address: 22 Smeed Road, Hackney Wick, London E3 2NG
Reclaiming the "F" Word
Posted June 5, 2008 by jmacphee in Events
The Center for the Study of Political Graphics, a great archive and resource for studying political posters, has just put together a new show:
Reclaiming the “F” Word: Posters on International Feminisms
June 3 - July 3, 2008
Opening Reception:
Saturday June 7, 2008 2-5 pm
Panel Discussion: 3 pm
Panel will include some of the exhibition’s artists and curatorial team.
Special Film Showing:
Monday, June 16th, 2008 at 2 pm
I was a Teenage Feminist, a film by Therese Shechter
(see description of film below)
California State University
Northridge Art Galleries
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330
Summer gallery hours are Mon – Fri 12-4 pm
There is no admission charge.
Parking is $5.00.
For further information call 818.677.2156.
Reclaiming the “F” Word refers to women’s movements in the plural—to feminismS—to acknowledge and honor our similarities and differences. The national and international posters in this exhibition reflect a deepening awareness that women’s struggles, women’s leadership and women’s activ¬ism throughout the world challenge oppressive conditions in diverse and creative ways.
Posters from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America explore class, race and gender as they show women at the forefront of struggles for human rights and social change. Powerful graphics depict diverse feminist issues from the suffragettes to the activism of the 1970s to today. The family unit, childcare, labor, ecology, trafficking and violence are just some of the topics covered. Posters show women organizing against the Viet Nam War and against Apartheid in South Africa. They decry the ongoing murders of women in Juarez, Mexico and use of rape as a military weapon in Darfur, Sudan. Reclaiming the “F” Word will broaden the definition of feminism, and inspire women and men, of all ages, to be proud to call themselves feminists.
Stencil Nation release parties
Posted June 4, 2008 by jmacphee in Events
Russell Howze, long time maintainer of the site StencilArchive.org has just released a new book on street stenciling called Stencil Nation. He's having a couple release parties this weekend in the Bay Area, if you're there, check them out:
1>>
Stencil Nation: Graffiti, Community, and Art
Book Release Party and Stencil Art Exhibit
Friday, June 6
7 PM to Midnight
Revolution Cafe
3248 22nd St. (at Bartlett)
SF, CA 94110
(415) 642-0474
Free
Artwork on the walls until June 30
Confirmed participating artists:
Adam5100 (San Francisco, CA)
Amy Rice (Minneapolis, MN)
Chris Stain (NY, NY)
Janet "Bikegirl" Attard (Toronto, ONT)
John Fekner (Bayside, NY)
Josh MacPhee (Troy, NY)
Klutch (Portland, OR)
PaperMonster (Madison, NJ)
Scott Williams (San Francisco, CA)
Peat Wollaeger (St. Louis, MO)
Tiago Denczuk (Portland, OR)
and Street Art Workers (SAW)
Come celebrate the Manic D Press release of Stencil Nation: Graffiti, Community, and Art by Russell Howze. Autographed copies of the book will be for sale by the author at the night of the exhibit opening. The author will also feature slide shows of the Stencil Archives, with over 10,000 photographs of international stencil art. Stencil-making materials will also be available upon request. Proceeds of the art sales will benefit the artists as well as help fund the upcoming Stencil Nation book tour.
2>>
Stencil Nation Budget Gallery
Cheap art that anyone can afford!
Saturday, June 7
Noon to 4 PM
The sidewalk in front of Al's Comics
1803 Market St. (at Octavia)
SF, CA 94103
415-861-1220
Free
Celebrate the Manic D Press release Stencil Nation: Graffiti, Community, and Art by stopping by author Russell Howze's TAG (Temporary Autonomous Gallery) on the sidewalk in front of Al's Comics. Munch on crackers and cheese while choosing a cheap piece of hand-made stencil art to take home and hang on your wall. Autographed copies of Stencil Nation will be available for sale too.
Proceeds of the art sales supports the Stencil Nation Book Tour and the Budget Gallery Project.
The Threat of Chance
Posted June 4, 2008 by k_c_ in Justseeds & Member Projects
If you were interesting in seeing the exhibit, you can check out some flicks I took of the installation over at the Justseeds profile. We filled up a large container with the remains of the installation, that couldn't be used to redecorate Chris' house, on Monday. Thanks to everyone that came out!
Continental Drift Midwest
Posted June 1, 2008 by jmacphee in Events
Friends in the Midwest have been busy preparing a great tour up and down what they have been calling the Midwest Radical Culture Corridor. Starting this coming week they will be traveling from Champaign Urbana, IL to Chicago to Milwaukee to Western Wisconsin. The tour stops at farmers' markets, libraries, art exhibitions, community centers, farmer coops, swimming holes and film screenings! This tour is part of an ongoing project organized by Brian Holmes and many others called Continental Drift. Brian just released a great book of essays called Unleashing the Collective Phantoms on Autonomedia Press.
Continental Drift Through the Midwest Radical Culture Corridor
A CALL TO FARMS!
June 4-14, 2008
CONTINENTAL DRIFT is an invitation to look at our collective existence
on all the relevant scales: the intimate, the local, the national, the
continental, and the global. Continental Drift is a mobile assemblage of
people presenting their projects, observations, experiments, discoveries
and questions, and producing value through social exchange. Continental
Drift through the MRCC is a self-educating tour through our concrete
world and its abstract representations, discovering distant lives in
familiar situations, and embracing the interdependency that links what
is usually treated as separate. Continental Drift is intended for anyone
seeking to locate global forces in daily life and to reorient aesthetic
invention in response to an ethics of equality.
