November 2009
N30: Climate Justice Actions
Posted November 30, 2009 by nicolas_lampert in Campaigns
One week before the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen open, and on the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Organization (WTO) protest in Seattle in 1999, major demonstrations, teach-ins and civil disobedience took place in cities around the U.S., Canada, and beyond.
For updates on the actions that took place today in Chicago, NYC, Boston, Denver, Greensville SC, Whitby, Ontario, and numerous other cities; See:
http://www.actforclimatejustice.org/n30-day-of-action/reportbacks-day-of-action/
Chicago:
Ontario:
Washington DC
Occupied Berkeley: The Taking Of Wheeler Hall
Posted November 30, 2009 by k_c_ in Film & Video
A handful of my favorite media-making friends were in California documenting the recent actions over the "austerity measures" in the California University system.
Brandon Jourdan has some strong feeling about these actions being the beginning of a serious movement. We shall see
photos from Arts vs Craft Milwaukee
Posted November 29, 2009 by nicolas_lampert in Justseeds & Member Projects
Justseeds tabled Arts vs Craft in Milwaukee this past Saturday in Milwaukee. Here's a few photos. Much thanks to Faythe Levine and company for organizing such a great event each year.
What is Democracy?
Posted November 29, 2009 by jmacphee in Film & Video
Oliver Ressler has a new, interesting looking documentary out. Right now you need to be in Vienna or Ljubljana to see it (see below for dates and locations), but hopefully it will circulate farther soon:
WHAT IS DEMOCRACY?
A film by Oliver Ressler
118 min., 2009
“What is democracy?” is not one question, but is actually two questions. On the one hand, the question relates to conditions of the current, parliamentary representative democracies that are scrutinized critically in this project. On the other hand, the question traces different approaches to what a more democratic system might look like and which organizational forms it could take.
Justseeds Gettin' Crafty
Posted November 27, 2009 by mary_tremonte in Events
justseeds at expozine montreal
mary & buddy at handmade arcade 2006
Justseeds will be reppin the radical themes at a plethora of holiday craft fairs over the next few weeks...come find us, get prints directly from the artists, save on shipping, and meet us! In Pittsburgh at least we'll have some special items you can't get on the Justseeds site, like peace dove t-shirts & squirrel pillows. In Montreal, the sale is at 100-Sided Die, a studio shared by 23 artists / crafters / musicians and weirdos including Jesse Purcell. There will be a huge collection of Justseeds work for sale there as well.
MILWAUKEE
Art Vs. Craft
Saturday November 28th
10am-7pm
Scottish Masonic Rite Center
790 N Van Buren Street
www.artvscraftmke.com
MONTREAL
100 Sided Die Monthly Open House / Art Sale
Saturday November 28th
1:25-6:25pm
5334 de Gaspe 12th floor rm.1202
PITTSBURGH
Handmade Arcade
Saturday December 12th
11am-8pm
Hunt Armory
324 Emerson St., Shadyside
www.handmadearcade.com
PORTLAND
Crafty Wonderland
Sunday December 13th
11am-7pm
at the Oregon Convention Center
777 NE MLK Jr. Blvd, Exhibit Hall D
www.craftywonderland.com
Also if you are in Brooklyn, keep an eye out on Bedford Ave, for our man Kevin C., hawkin prints to the hip & radical at heart
collage of the week (7)
Posted November 26, 2009 by nicolas_lampert in Justseeds & Member Projects
"The Burning" (subtitle: "The Thanksgiving Bonfire Bird Massacre")
Animating Chickens
Posted November 25, 2009 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
New animated print videos by my friend Nathan Meltz. These are amazing, defininitely take the 15 minutes to watch them!!!
Drawing All the Time : Week 12
Posted November 25, 2009 by colin_matthes in Inspiration
The month before my cousin got out of prison I sent him a drawing each day to help break up the days. This is one of em.
Art vs Craft - Milwaukee
Posted November 24, 2009 by colin_matthes in Events
If in Milwaukee come visit Justseeds at Art vs Craft on Saturday: One stop shopping if your list includes Celebrate peoples history posters, sock monkeys, beer soap, and a hand knit sweater for a small creature.
Rad Teen Print of the Week 7: Ineffectiveness = Chaos
Posted November 24, 2009 by mary_tremonte in Inspirations
This week's print is from Schenley High School's Theory of Knowledge class that Shaun Slifer and I did a project with in conjunction with the Signs of Change show, curated by Josh MacPhee and Dara Greenwald. See teens printing their rad stuff HERE. This poster is proof of what a rad and effective technique tracing can be...
Pony Pedro Go!
Posted November 24, 2009 by jmacphee in Posters & Prints
While in Berlin a couple weeks back I got to hang out a bunch with my friends in Pony Pedro, a great screen print and design collective with a studio in Kreuzberg. They do fabulous work, from posters to blank books to postcards, as well as an interesting mixture of printing and performance, working with different groups of artists, community members, and youth to organize social projects. These take many forms, from a moustache parade (dozens of people with different crazy facial hair jogging down the middle of the street) to converting an abandoned parking garage into a community garden and street fair.
Their style tends to be very decorative and urban, with cityscapes that remind me of Icky's prints. Check out what they've got on their website HERE.
images are of screenprinted posters by Pony Pedro's Sebastian Wagner.
Paper Politics: Socially Engaged Printmaking Today
Posted November 23, 2009 by jmacphee in Posters & Prints
Paper Politics: Socially Engaged Printmaking Today has just been released by PM Press! A brand new book which collects 200 political prints from 200 different international artists. Loosely based on the exhibition I've been touring around of the same name, this book is jam-packed full of image and text about the intersection of printmaking, politics, and social engagement.
I'm really proud of this one, it's chock full of great writing and art. There are essays by Deborah Caplow (art historian and biographer of Leopoldo Mendez!) and Eric Triantafillou (co-founder of the San Francisco Print Collective), as well as additional writing by a dozen artists in the book about why and how they print, and what it means to them. And the prints are awesome, ranging from street artists like Swoon, Chris Stain, and Sixten, to veteran political artists like Sue Coe and Carlos Cortez. There are gig poster makers like Emek and Seri Pop, and graphic/comic artists like Nicole Schulman and Seth Tobocman. It's all in here! Pick up a copy HERE, and check out some sample page spreads below.
Norway or the Highway 3
Posted November 22, 2009 by jmacphee in Justseeds & Member Projects
Here's some wood blocks Chris is working on for the install of the project (above), and my latest hand painted sign is below:
Free Palestine Remix
Posted November 22, 2009 by jmacphee in Posters & Prints
The Free Palestine Justseeds sticker I designed and we printed up earlier in the year has been remixed by an artist on DeviantArt. Check it out HERE.
Art Work website and PDF
Posted November 21, 2009 by nicolas_lampert in Books & Zines
Temporary Services and Half Letter Press have created a website for the project Art Work: A National Conversation About Art, Labor, and Economics. The site contains a PDF to download. Check it out here:
Art Work is a newspaper and accompanying website that consists of writings and images from artists, activists, writers, critics, and others on the topic of working within depressed economies and how that impacts artistic process, compensation and artistic property. The newspaper is distributed for free at sites and from people throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. It is also available by mail order from Half Letter Press for the cost of postage.
Norway or the Highway 2
Posted November 21, 2009 by jmacphee in Justseeds & Member Projects
Here's Chris and a couple students up on ladders sketching out the cityscape backdrop we've built in the gym. Man, these ladders are scary! And here is the cityscape getting painted in:
JOSEP RENAU (1907-1982) COMPROMISO Y CULTURA Show in Mexico City
Posted November 21, 2009 by santi
JOSEP RENAU (1907-1982) COMPROMISO Y CULTURA
The museum Centro Cultural Universitario Tlatelolco in Mexico City is hosting a show by Josep Renau's. Josep Renau was a political visual artist originally from Spain who was exiled in Mexico and in Germany due his involvement in the Spanish Civil War. His work ranged from photo montage, scratch-board, to huge murals in a variety of topics, most of them addressing social issues.
Norway or the Highway 1
Posted November 20, 2009 by jmacphee in Justseeds & Member Projects
For the past week Chris Stain and I have been living, working, and teaching on a small island in Norway called Halsnøy! We're at the Sunnhordland Folkehøgskule (a small arts oriented "peoples" school, which is a Scandanavian program where people can get a year of specialized schooling between high school and going to university or entering the job market). We're here working with 80 students and 5 teachers on a project around consumerism and capitalism, which will culminated in a student show on Sunday integrating visual art, performance, dance, and theater. It's been interesting and a challenge, and I'm not even sure how to process it all, so I think I'll just post some photos for the next couple days...
"Summers Over" print
Posted November 20, 2009 by jmacphee in Street Art & Graffiti
It is pretty common knowledge at Justseeds that I'm a complete ice cream addict. I'd eat it 3 meals a day if I could. So my eyes lit up when I came across this new print by Ad Deville of Skewville. You can get your own HERE.
3 Rivers, 6 Rings, 19 Libraries, No Less!
Posted November 19, 2009 by mary_tremonte in Campaigns
The latest in the Sustain Pittsburgh Public Libraries saga...this bit of cheek comes from the brilliant mind of my library collaborator, harnessing the Steeler spirit. I silkscreened 100 of these last night and hope to do another run soon. You can contact me at mary @ justseeds.org to get one, they are free! The City of Pittsburgh will be voting on December 14th on funding for the libraries that will make or break the four scheduled branch closures, and staff cutbacks from happening. Contact the mayor and your city councilperson and tell them to support our libraries!
collage of the week (6)
Posted November 19, 2009 by nicolas_lampert in Justseeds & Member Projects
"Consumption Window"
INTERVIEW: Beth Schaible
Posted November 18, 2009 by bec_young in Interviews
I met Beth Schaible when I was at Penland School of Crafts last Spring. Her print work struck me as coming from a sincere and hopeful sense of the world, which, combined with an slightly old school aesthetic and a deep sense of craft, is a great thing in this age of slick computer-generated sarcasm. She also works with Shoestring Artists' Collective, "a widespread group of emerging artists, craftspersons and makers of stuff banding together to create an alternative method for communicating and distributing our work." On their blog is currently posted a great video about Distance Don't Matter, a show currently up in Portland, Maine, which includes Swoon. Two of Beth's letterpress prints, Take Root and Action Postcard, are available on Justseeds. I recently interviewed Beth to find out more about her.
Drawing All the Time : Week 11
Posted November 18, 2009 by colin_matthes in Inspiration
The month before my cousin got out of prison I sent him a drawing each day to help break up the days. This is a drawing of a table in the visiting room. Notice the offender chair with the O.
Art Appreciation: Dispatch 1
Posted November 18, 2009 by dara_g in Art & Politics
I have decided to start a new blogging series about art and culture I have appreciated recently. I can't promise it will be a series actually but at least there is this post....
Dewayne Slightweight
©Dewayne Slightweight. Used by permission.
Dewayne recently sent around an announcement for his upcoming show and included a digital repro of one of his paintings. I really love this piece and all of the different kinds of work that Dewayne does: music, performance, publications, and more. Dewayne makes beautiful and moving work and exhibits it with other radical artists often through self-organized exhibits and tours. A little more about Dewayne is here.
On the Poverty of First Grade Art Assignments
Used by permission of the artist.
A six year old relative recently detourned his very limited art assignment and of course he got censored. Given a predetermined scene that itself has ideaology built into it, his response reflects on the assignment, what it represented, and our culture at large. The "art activity sheet" has a picture of man, a woman, and 2.5 children with the prompting question, "What are these people looking at?" The student is meant to draw in a picture of what it is they are looking at. My young friend drew in a typical pastoral sublime: mountains, a sunset. Then he put in thought/speech bubbles with the man saying "I heart beer," and the woman saying, "me too." This, he and his parent were told, was inappropriate. To me it seems an extremely clever reflection on the banality of family life, the creeping in of consumptive desire even at times when we are supposed to be having transcendent moments looking at natural beauty, and a joke about sight itself. The assignment only asked what they were looking at, NOT what they were thinking or saying. Often when we look, we also are elsewhere, thinking about our next beer.
Milwaukee Zine Fest
Posted November 17, 2009 by colin_matthes in Events
Here are a few images from Milwaukee Zine fest. It was a great success a lot of fun in a great location. Thanks organizers.
A shot of the Polish Falcon beerhall where the zine fest was held, notice the justseeds table in the foreground.
TAKE ACTION! FIGHT STUPAK!!!
Posted November 17, 2009 by meredith_stern in Reproductive Justice
Check out info on the STUPAK part of the current health care bill.
Women are denied access to abortion coverage- the bill actually denies coverage to women who already have it. Abortion is a procedure 1 out of every 3 women have at some point in their lives. Males' reproductive health coverage remains in the bill- men still have access to Viagra, prostate cancer coverage, male infertility, vasectomies, etc.
(a Great article is here:)
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091130/pollitt
We don't see men's health being compromised- only women's,
If you are in RI
contact Langevin... you can reach his staff at this email:
staff@jimlangevin.com
put pressure on him to reverse STUPAK!!!
if you are outside of RI- email your local statehouse reps NOW!!!!
make posters about this issue... don't let the coathanger return!!!
Rad Teen Print of the Week 6: Self Defense is Not a Crime
Posted November 17, 2009 by mary_tremonte in Inspirations
Maddie Barnes, part of RUST 08, created this print for a project with FedUp. After a thoroughly engaging presentation from FedUp's Etta Cetera, students focused on an aspect of prison advocacy to create a brochure that folds out into a poster. You can learn more about FedUp HERE.
Political Graphics of the Long 60s
Posted November 17, 2009 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
Lincoln Cushing has just added a new essay, "Political Graphics of the Long 60s" to his Docs Populi site. The essay was also published in the new book New World Coming: The Sixties and the Shaping of Global Consciousness, edited by Karen Dubinsky, Catherine Krull, Susan Lord, Sean Mills and Scott Rutherford, Between The Lines Press, 2009. Check it out HERE.
Image: Frank Cieciorka, “Stop the Draft Week,” Stop the Draft Week Organizing Committee, 1967.
Justseeds Presentation at Black Sheep Books, Montpelier, VT
Posted November 16, 2009 by k_c_ in Events
Tonight! I'll be giving a presentation about Justseeds and the Voices From Outside: Artists Against the Prison Industrial Complex.
Monday, November 16, 7pm
at Black Sheep Books
5 State St
Montpelier, VT
In 2006, Justseeds a radical art distributor transitioned from a project run by its founder to a cooperatively run business and collective committed to creating and distributing socially engaged artwork. Over the last three years Justseeds has produced posters, calendars, print portfolios, exhibits, books, and collective installations tackling numerous contemporary themes and celebrating radical history.Come join member Kevin Caplicki for a presentation on
the trajectory of the artist-owned and run Justseeds
Cooperative and an exhibition of "Voices From Outside:
Artists Against the Prison Industrial Complex",
Justseeds portfolio project 2008.
Innercity Struggle 15th Anniversary Print
Posted November 16, 2009 by Jesus_Barraza in Posters & Prints
I designed and printed this poster for Innercity Struggle's 15th Anniversary, this is the second print I've designed for them an hope to make many more in the future. ICS has been very important to their community and like many others was very proud of them when they helped get a new high school in East Los Angeles, the first in over 80 years. I have always been very supportive of the work that they do and when i first started printing in 2001 i would give them posters I made to help them with fund raising.
Art Work: A National Conversation About Art, Labor, and Economics
Posted November 16, 2009 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
Our friends Temporary Services have just launched a new project called Art Work, including a newspaper with a piece about Justseeds in it, as well as something by Justseeds member Nicolas Lampert. Check it out:
Art Work: A National Conversation About Art, Labor, and Economics
SPACES
Cleveland, OH
November 20 - January 15, 2010
SPACES hosts Art Work: A National Conversation About Art, Labor, and Politics, produced by Temporary Services, an independent, Chicago-based collective comprised of Brett Bloom, Salem Collo-Julin, and Marc Fischer. Art Work is a newspaper and website that uses SPACES as its distribution hub. It consists of writings from artists, activists and academics on the topic of working amidst depressed economies and how that impacts artistic process, compensation and artistic property. The newspaper will be distributed throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.
Lucy Parsons Center Anniversary
Posted November 15, 2009 by jmacphee in Events
It's the 40th Anniversary of the Lucy Parsons Center! It's a reunion, an anniversary, a celebration, a party! Please come help us celebrate! Without you we wouldn't have been able to exist for 40 years!
The Lucy Parsons Center (formerly The Red Book Store) is Boston's only independent, non-profit, volunteer-run radical bookstore and community space.
Saturday, November 21st, 2009 7pm 'til midnight
Community Church of Boston, 565 Boylston St., Boston
There will be an Open Mic and DJ's: Fast Eddy, DJ Philomina and more. Also some snacks and drinks, (including beer courtesy of Sam Adams). Bring your talents, stories, memorabilia and photos to share. See old faces and meet new friends. This is a free event, open to the public. Donations are welcome and we will also be signing up for monthly donors. For more info, please visit us at 549 Columbus Ave. in Boston's South End or lucyparsons.org
Bulldozed at Mix 22
Posted November 14, 2009 by jmacphee in Film & Video
Our friends Vanessa Renwick and Jem Cohen have short films in a screening at the New York City Mix Fest going on right now. Here's the info on Bulldozed:
Gentrification is the talk of the town. It is rapidly changing the demographics and aesthetics of every major city in the world. It is apparent and controversial, but it is by no means new. From Brooklyn to Berlin to Nova Scotia, the films in this program trace different histories of gentrification and corporate takeover from the late 1960s to present day. Some are tender, delicate tributes to histories and landmarks erased and the communities disappeared and displaced. Others turn the lens inward towards the artist, examining personal longing for “home” and examining its elusive nature. There is humor, spirit and courage in these films to search for what was, to hold one’s ground and to celebrate the vibrancy that survives vacancy.
Curated by the Festival Programming Committee. TRT: 78 min.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Films by Vanessa Renwick, Jem Cohen, Leigh (Jen) Fisher, Liss Platt, Dana C. Inkster, Niklas Goldbach, Jack Waters, Samara Halperin.
More info HERE.
No Business As Usual
Posted November 14, 2009 by jmacphee in Events
The University of California students, faculty, and staff are calling for a system wide strike on Nov. 18th. Check it out HERE.
NO BUSINESS AS USUAL: A CALL FOR A SYSTEM-WIDE STRIKEIn solidarity with students, faculty, and staff
In defense of public education in California
We call for a massive, system-wide student and teaching strike beginning November 18th
Orange Alternative in NYC Nov 18 & 19
Posted November 13, 2009 by dara_g
Please join us for two NYC events with artists Waldemar Fydrych aka Major and Agnieszka Kubas of the Orange Alternative in Poland. This will be the first time they have presented this work in the US.
Each event will include a presentation, film/video screening, and discussion. Different films will be screened each night.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 7:00 pm
Bluestockings Bookstore
172 Allen Street @ Stanton, NY, NY
Films:
The Orange Alternative, 1989, Mirosław Dembiński (21 min.)
Dwarves go to Ukraine, 2005, Mirosław Dembińskim (on the OA action in the Orange Revolution in 2004)
Thursday, November 19, 2009, 7:30 pm
The Change You Want to See
84 Havemeyer Street, Storefront, Brooklyn, NY
Films:
Major or the Revolution of Dwarves, 1989, Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz (40 min.)
Dwarf for the Mayor, 2003, Mirosław Dembiński (36 min.) (on the OA's election campaign for the City Council in Warsaw)
Justseeds Tabling at Expozine, Montreal
Posted November 13, 2009 by k_c_ in Events
Justseeds members will be tabling at Expozine 2009, Montreal's Annual Small Press, Comic and Zine Fair
Saturday, November 14 & Sunday, November 15, 2009, from 12-6 p.m. at
5035 St-Dominique
(Église Saint-Enfant Jésus, between St-Joseph and Laurier, near Laurier Métro)
Free admission
This incredible event brings together nearly 300 creators of all kinds of printed matter – from books to zines to posters and graphic novels – in both English and French. Over the past seven editions, Expozine has grown to become one of North America's largest small press fairs, attracting thousands of visitors as well as exhibitors from across Canada, the United States and Europe.
Milwaukee Zine Fest - Tomorrow (nov 14)
Posted November 13, 2009 by colin_matthes in Events
Come visit Justseeds at the Milwaukee Zine Fest tomorrow. (Saturday, nov 14 - 11am - 6pm) Also there will be Microcosm Publishing, World War 3 Illustrated, and many others.
We will be at the Polish Falcon Beer Hall / Bowling Alley, one of my favorite places in Milwaukee.
Critical Pedagogies of Consumption
Posted November 13, 2009 by nicolas_lampert in Books & Zines
One of my collage images and an essay "United We Consume? Artists Trash Consumer Culture and Corporate Green Washing" is included in the recent book Critical Pedagogies of Consumption” Living and Learning in the Shadow of the "Shopocalypse", edited by Jennifer A. Sandlin and Peter McLaren (New York: Routledge, 2009)
The book is a timely critique of consumer culture, corporate green washing, green capitalism, and privatization, and how educators, scholars, and activists are fighting back. The table of contents is listed in the extended entry.
http://www.routledgeeducation.com/books/Critical-Pedagogies-of-Consumption-isbn9780415997904
Chris Stain in Miami
Posted November 13, 2009 by jmacphee in Justseeds & Member Projects
Chris is following his usual themes of the importance of the individual's experience and the struggle of daily life. Here's some new work that will be on view at Art Basel in Miami during the first week of December.
Become the Bike Bloc
Posted November 13, 2009 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
Put the fun between your legs: Become the Bike Bloc
Bristol and Copenhagen Nov – Dec 09
An irresistible new machine of resistance will be launched during the COP15 UN summit protests in Copenhagen. Made from hundreds of old bicycles and thousands of activists' bodies 'Put the fun between your legs: Operation Bike Bloc' is a collaboration between Climate Camp and art activist collective The Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination.
Juan R. Fuentes print for the CSPG 20th anniversary portfolio
Posted November 13, 2009 by Jesus_Barraza in Posters & Prints
I recently worked with Juan R. Fuentes on screen printed reproduction of one of his linoleum prints for the Center for the Study of Political Graphics. It was part of a portfolio to celebrate their 20th anniversary and was up for sale at their annual awards dinner, where Juan received the Art is a Hammer award. The print is of a woman who is working in the fields, tending to her crops, and in the background you see a rain of bombs falling. The linoleum was first published in 2001 and is one of many responses to the unjust wars that the United Stats has been waging in the Middle East.
Bristol Radical History Group in NYC Nov 12-15th
Posted November 12, 2009 by k_c_ in Art & Politics
Some old English comrades, a few I met in Mexico over 8 years ago, are in NYC giving some presentations on the Bristol Radical History Group, a project they've been doing since 2006:
The 'History Workshop' movement was founded in 1966 in Ruskin College, Oxford, U.K. by the Marxist academic Raphael Samuel, a champion of 'history from below.' He famously defined this movement as being "the belief that history is or ought to be a collaborative enterprise, one in which the researcher, the archivist, the curator and the teacher, the 'do-it-yourself' enthusiast and the local historian, the family history societies and the individual archaeologist, should all be regarded as equally engaged."In 2006 in the U.K., Bristol Radical History Group was formed with a view opening up some of the hidden history of their home city to public scrutiny, to challenge some commonly held ideas about historical events and approach this history from 'below'. Unlike Samuel's 'History Workshop,' the group actually came 'from below' its genesis being in an expanded sports club rather than in the academy. As a result it has been able to successfully integrate both the formal lecture with street performance, the organic intellectual with the academic and engage the public in the excitement of radical history by the use of different media.
(I can) read the writing on the wall-8
Posted November 12, 2009 by k_c_ in Justseeds & Member Projects
Paris, France. 2007
"Anarchy" is from the Greek, prefix an (or a), meaning "not," "the want of," "the absence of," or "the lack of", plus archos, meaning "a ruler," "director", "chief," "person in charge," or "authority." Or, as Peter Kropotkin put it, Anarchy comes from the Greek words meaning "contrary to authority."
Anarchism is a political theory which aims to create a society within which individuals freely co-operate together as equals. As such anarchism opposes all forms of hierarchical control - be that control by the state or a capitalist - as harmful to the individual and their individuality as well as unnecessary.
So much to read, and do, I pulled the above from Infoshop.org.
I find that many of my Anarchist friends have been inspired by so many books, Emma Goldman's Living My Life having been an early foundation. A teenage friend of mine was recently asking me for a reading list on Anarchism. I figured I'd put it out to you readers if you had any suggestions on what made an impression on you. Feel free to throw it in the comment field
collage of the week (5)
Posted November 12, 2009 by nicolas_lampert in Justseeds & Member Projects
"United We Consume"
Hotel Workers Stike in SF
Posted November 11, 2009 by jmacphee in In the News
David Bacon just sent out a nice set of photos and a short text on the hotel worker's strike going on right now in San Francisco. One of the things I really like about the photos he's taken is that they capture some of the joy of the picket line, workers laughing and playing with each other, not simply marching around in circles with dour faces, which is so often the images of contemporary labor unrest.
Drawing All the Time : Week 10
Posted November 11, 2009 by colin_matthes in Inspirations
Here is another image of a wall drawing from Edinburg, TX. It is of a sign I kept passing and grew fond of in Edinburg.
Poster for National Domestic Worker Congress
Posted November 11, 2009 by Jesus_Barraza in Posters & Prints
"Mujeres Unidas y Activas (MUA) is a grassroots organization of Latina immigrant women with a dual mission of personal transformation and community power. Creating an environment of understanding and confidentiality, MUA empowers and educates our members through mutual support and training to be leaders in their own lives and in the community. Working with diverse allies, MUA promotes unity and civic-political participation to achieve social justice."
We were honored to create this poster for the National Domestic Worker Congress by Mujeres Unidas y Activas, they were founding members of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Their work here in the Bay area is very inspiring, It is a great to see women standing together to create better working conditions in their community. More inspiring is that people are standing together to make this organzing happen at a national level to create a Domestic Worker Bill of rights.
Domestic Workers Organize
Not into unions -- federal labor law prohibits domestic workers from forming unions -- but into the National Alliance of Domestic Workers. And the first thing they want is a "Domestic Worker Bill of Rights." (Washington Post)
Rad Teen Print of the Week 5: Local Farmers
Posted November 10, 2009 by mary_tremonte in Inspiration
This week's rad teen print is a postcard designed and silkscreen printed by Autumn Morgan for RUST 2008. Students created postcards for the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture's (PASA) local farm tour. They got really into the politics of food, from . Autumn's dad is a union organizer for SEIU, and that worker's spirit infuses her work.
The Internet as Playground and Factory
Posted November 10, 2009 by jmacphee in Events
Our NYC readers might be interested in this conference coming up this week:
The Internet as Playground and Factory: A Conference on Digital Labor
Thursday, November 12, through Saturday, November 14, 2009
The New School, 66 Fifth Avenue at 12th Street, New York City
veralistcenter.org | digitallabor.org
This conference confronts the urgent need to interrogate the concepts of labor and value in the digital economy and seeks to inspire proposals for action. There are currently few adequate definitions of labor that fit the complex, hybrid realities of the digital economy. The Internet as Playground and Factory poses a series of questions about the conundrums surrounding labor (and often the labor of love) in relation to our digital present. It is the first in a series of biennial conferences titled The Politics of Digital Media.
Americans Who Tell the Truth
Posted November 9, 2009 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
My friend Zoeann just sent me a link to this site Americans Who Tell the Truth. It's a series of painted portraits of lefties from the US by Robert Shetterly, and has a Celebrate People's History posters quality to it. Most are fairly traditional and painterly, and quite nice, esp. this James Baldwin one. Check out them all HERE.
365 & Counting
Posted November 8, 2009 by jmacphee in Events
An interesting looking show opening in Los Angeles:
365 & Counting
A group exhibit that examines the 1st year of the Obama Administration.
Avenue 50 Studio, Highland Park, CA
Artist's Reception: Sat. Nov. 14, 2009, 7-10 p.m.
Avenue 50 Studio asked 15 artists to create artworks that provide insight into the first year of the Obama Administration. Issues of race, class, war, health care, the enrivronment and the economy, plus other global challenges - are explored in this timely exhibition. Given the escalating war in Afghanistan, Vallen painted a glimpse of Obama's Guantánamo - the notorious U.S. military prison at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan. The prison holds more than 600 detainees designated as "unlawful enemy combatants"; individuals that in some cases have been held for years without charge, legal representation, or due-process rights. In February of 2009, the Obama administration began a $60 million expansion of the Bagram prison so that it could potentially hold as many as 1,100 suspects.
Portland Openings!
Posted November 8, 2009 by roger_peet in Art exhibits/shows
First Thursday in Portland, Oregon. It was a rainy, windy night, and still the people came out to partake of the smorgasbord of Justseeds art on display! Two shows opened, one at SEA Change gallery, operated by our friends Katherine and Alec, and the other at Reading Frenzy, run by Chloe! A fun night was had by all, it seems; some of Pete's teaching colleagues came out, the grumpy mid-30's punk echelon was in deep effect, and we even managed to sell Icky's painting, to his great chagrin and surprise! Here's some pictures:
HOT on Longs Peak
Posted November 7, 2009 by mary_tremonte in Inspiration
My bro just sent me this photo of him in the 'Hot In Here' polar bear shirt I made him, at 14,000 feet! I'll be running off more of these shirts, as well as more prints on paper, for the Handmade Arcade, December 12th in Pittsburgh.
This print will be back in the Justseeds store very soon!
McClure's Revive in SF
Posted November 7, 2009 by jmacphee in Events
Revive
an exhibition of new works by Nikki McClure
Needles & Pens
3253 16th Street, San Francisco, Ca. 94103
Friday, November 6, 2009, 6:00 - 9:30 PM
On display will be a collection of original paper cuts from the Olympia-based artist's 2010 Calendar and from her latest children's book, "All In A Day."
Visible Memory in the Land of the Trees: An Ofrenda of Solidarity for the People of Guatemala
Posted November 6, 2009 by Jesus_Barraza in Art exhibits/shows
For the Day of the Dead exhibit Altars for the Spirits - Offerings for the Living at SOMArts this year Melanie and I collaborated to create an installation to honor the living, the people in Guatemala who continue fighting for all those people who have been disappeared.
When: Friday, October 16th through Saturday, November 7th, 2009 Where: SOMArts Cultural Center 934 Brannan Street San Francisco, CA 94103 Extended Gallery hours: Tuesday—Friday, 12:00pm—7:00pm; Saturday, from 12:00pm—5:00pm CLOSING RECEPTION Saturday, November 7th / 6:00PM / Free
Here is the statement for the installation:
We dedicate this altar as a reflection of the hope for the people of Guatemala who continue to live in the “Land of the Trees” as well as those that live in Diaspora due to displacement caused by civil war and the impact of Neoliberal policies like “free trade”. The altar is inspired by on our observations of the current political landscape and the climate of repression recent journey to Guatemala. We choose to honor individuals who have been disappeared as a result of their Leftist political activities as well as those who have been the targets of genocidal attacks on Indigenous communities through our altar. We believe both groups are targeted as enemies of the State due to their paradigmatic opposition those who embrace free market ideology and whose only allegiance is to multinational corporations.
Cyclist Madonna Patches for Transformazium
Posted November 6, 2009 by mary_tremonte in Justseeds & Member Projects
My pal Leslie at Transformazium is selling these Madonna del Ghisallo (patron saint of cyclists) patches to raise funds for the silkscreen studio at the Braddock Public Library, where I have been staffing Open Studio and printing lately...check out their etsy site HERE! and info on the silkscreen shop HERE!
This two-sided hand-screenprinted patch is for those who take to the streets on two wheels. It is a talisman for the messenger and the commuter and the cross-country adventurer. Originally distributed freely to fellow cyclists by creator and Transformazium member Leslie Stem, these are now for sale to raise funds for Transformazium's Neighborhood Screen Printing Shop in Braddock, PA. Each grouping of four is unique; share them with friends and loved ones.
Each patch is printed on fabric found travelling; some are taken from paint tarps, silk dress hems, and even dead umbrellas. The fabric has a lot of character and can have marks, and the edges are all rough. The prayer side is often printed faintly, it is meant to be there in intention alone and on thinner fabric would disrupt the saint graphic if printed heavier.
DISCOrderly Conduct
Posted November 5, 2009 by mary_tremonte in Events
I am DJing another G20 Legal Fund benefit---this one in a happy hour timeframe...
Those RAVENSTAHLIN posters from DJ Thermos as well as a new BASH BACK print from me will be available for purchase!
DISCOrderly Conduct
G-20 Legal Fund Benefit Dance Party
DJ Mary Mack
DJ Thermos
Thursday, November 5
Shadow Lounge
6-9pm
$5
Live it up, boogie down, support the arrestees!
Creating Radical Graphics for our Liberation: An anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist forum
Posted November 5, 2009 by Melanie_Cervantes in Art & Politics
Sunday, November 15th
1:00 - 4:30pm
Eastside Cultural Center, 2277 International Blvd. (at 23rd Ave.) Oakland, CA 94606
FREE. Donations accepted.
Creating Radical Graphics is a one-day mini-conference for Bay Area political printmakers to reflect on recent campaigns, define shared goals and plan a strategy for the future. This event will include a panel and a community meeting, featuring:
Melanie Cervantes, member of Taller Tupac Amaru, an Oakland-based, printmaking studio
Greg Morozumi, co-founder of the Eastside Arts Alliance
Eric Triantafillou, former member and co-founder of the SF Print Collective
and others!
Ten Days for Oppositional Architecture
Posted November 5, 2009 by jmacphee in Events
Ten Days for Oppositional Architecture
Towards Post-Capitalist Spaces
New York, November 12-21, 2009
Gair Building No 6, 81 Front Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 (York Stop on
the F Train)
The transformation of the urban landscape within the last decades has increasingly been dominated by the demands of capitalist utilization. Due to the current crisis, however, which goes far beyond a mere crisis of the real estate and financial market, these neoliberal politics and attendant forms of production of space have been subject
to a loss of legitimation. For this reason, not only do the dominance and promises of the privatization model, the free market and private property have to be questioned, but also the conventions of the space-producing professions that follow and materialize these policies.
collage of the week (4)
Posted November 5, 2009 by nicolas_lampert in Justseeds & Member Projects
"Thank Heavens for 7-11"
Two Justseeds Group Shows opening Thursday night
Posted November 5, 2009 by icky in Art exhibits/shows
Justseeds has two art shows in Portland, OR this Thursday.
The first one is at Sea Change Gallery, which is in the Everett Street Lofts in Old Town. That show is called Opposable Thumb, has a good spread of Justseeds art and has three large sized painting installation by Roger, Pete, and I. There also will be a sculpture that Alex Luboff and I collaborated on out front (rain permitting).
The other show is at Reading Frenzy, and is titled "Charting Our Course", and is themed around literacy and education.
I'll be at Reading Frenzy, and Roger and Pete will be at Sea Change most of the night. Please come by and say hi.
--Icky
"Armed with the knowledge of our past, we can with confidence charter a course for our future. Culture is an indispensable weapon in the freedom struggle. We must take hold of it and forge the future with the past."
-Malcolm X
Reading Frenzy
921 SW Oak
Sea Change Gallery
625 NW Everett
1st Thursday 11/5/09
6-9PMish
Books Through Bars Bingo Night
Posted November 4, 2009 by molly_fair in Events
Join Books Through Bars NYC for a night of bingo, beats, and booze so we can
keep sending free books to incarcerated folks! Featuring prizes from
Babeland, BAM, Film Forum, NY Adorned... and many more!
Friday November 6, 2009
8pm
ABC No Rio, 156 Rivington St., NYC
All Ages/ 21 to drink// Free to enter, $1 to play
Books Through Bars is a volunteer collective that sends free literature to
incarcerated people.
Drawing All the Time : Week 9
Posted November 4, 2009 by colin_matthes in Inspirations
This image of a sinking oil rig was drawn on the wall of a gallery at the University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg, TX. I had a blast there this February visiting friends and drawing.
Victories To Celebrate: The 28-Year Campaign that Defeated the Proposed Crandon Mine in Wisconsin: An Interview with Susan Simensky Bietila
Posted November 3, 2009 by nicolas_lampert in Interviews
The campaign to stop the proposed Crandon Mine from poisoning the Wolf River in central Wisconsin is one of the great recent environmental victories in North America. It is also one of the least known struggles for its name recognition and its history remains obscure, even in much of Wisconsin. For 28 years (1976-2003) activists in Wisconsin organized to prevent a zinc and copper mine near the Wolf River. The movement, itself, was extremely diverse and described itself as Native and non-Native, rural and urban, environmentalist and trade unionist, and hunter and sport fisherman. The coalition organized against tremendous odds. Both corporate power and the then-Governor Tommy Thompson supported the mine and a procession of multinational mining giants, EXXON, Rio Algom, and Billeton all marched into Wisconsin, yet were defeated by the grass roots movement. As a result, Wisconsin has become known as unfriendly to mining interests and in 2003, the threatened land was purchased by Wisconsin Tribes—the Sokaogon Mole Lake Chippewa and the Forest County Potowatomi.
The following interview by Nicolas Lampert is with Susan Simensky Bietila, a Milwaukee-based artist who was invited to join the movement in the mid-1990s as a street medic. She instead became involved as an artist and created giant puppets, creative signs for marches, and a series of over 30 tombstones that were placed at the State Capital in Madison and other locations, memorials to rivers that had been poisoned by mining. Her last tombstone read “R.I.P. Crandon Mine”- celebrating the proposed mine's defeat and the tremendous victory that was won by a people's movement. The interview took place in July of 2009. (a shorter version of the interview was recently published in AREA Chicago in issue #9 "Peripheral Vision." )
Rad Teen Print of the Week 4: Queer Prison Rights
Posted November 3, 2009 by mary_tremonte in Inspirations
Sorry to have missed you last week, these posts will be more regular from here on out!
This one from RUST 2008, by Abby Gordon. This print, on the theme of queers in prison and the particular difficulties they face, is for FedUp, a grassroots organizing effort for human rights for prisoners, working with those inside the system and their loved ones and supporters outside. The flip side of this print is a phamplet, and you can download it all as a PDF on FedUp's website here.
In Rad Teen Print-Related news, I'm happy to report that I will be starting a new design & printing program in January with an emphasis on health & wellness with young ladies from the Young Men and Women's African Heritage Association (YMWAHA). We will have fresh prints then!
Urban Mushroom Find!
Posted November 2, 2009 by shaun in Inspirations
I don't live in an idyllic state park like fellow Justseeder Meredith, but I keep my eyes peeled all the same. Last night I discovered that a stump at the end of the alley behind my house in Pittsburgh had flushed an amazing amount of edible oyster mushrooms! This happened last year in the summer, a few months after the tree was cut down. I'd been watching ever since for more fungus, but nothing until now...
(I can) read the writing on the wall-
Posted November 2, 2009 by k_c_ in Justseeds & Member Projects
Park Slope, Brooklyn. 2008
But sometimes someone else decides to censor it.
New NYC Graf Law
Posted November 2, 2009 by jmacphee in Street Art & Graffiti
This just in! New York City has changed it's long-standing policy regarding graffiti removal. It used to be that building owners had to call the city to have graffiti removed, but now that has been flipped, and the city is going to start removing all graffiti unless the owner of the property calls within 35 days and asks for it NOT to be removed!!!
Check out more info at the Gotham Gazette HERE.
Visual Resistance Website Is Recovered (Sort Of)
Posted November 2, 2009 by molly_fair in VR Projects
For the past few months I've been really sad that the Visual Resistance website unexpectedly disappeared into the blackhole of the internet. All of our photos and documentation of past projects were lost. But thanks to the miracle of internet page archiving I have recovered our website! On archive.org there is a link to a webpage archive called wayback machine. All I had to do was type in our webpage and it brought me to the archives of the visual resistance site. Now I can begin the arduous task of re-uploading photos to old entries. If anyone knows of a more efficient way of republishing our website please contact Justseeds.
Freedom Dance Party
Posted November 1, 2009 by jmacphee in Events
Freedom Dance Party
Fundraiser for the Sundiata Acoli Freedom Campaign (SAFC)
Saturday, Nov. 14th, 7pm to 11pm
MartinLuther King, Jr. Labor Center, 1199 SEIU
310 W. 43rd St., btw. 8th & 9th Aves
New York, NY 10036
$20 admission,food & beverages for purchase
From the announcement:
On Saturday, November 14th, we will dance and celebrate at Freedom Dance. This celebration is an opportunity for us as a community to acknowledge our victories and renew our efforts to continue this essential work. We celebrate the liberation and freedom of our sister Assata Shakur, who along with many other Political Prisoners (who still remain behind the walls) set the example of unselfish sacrifice for our beloved people. We also celebrate the sacrifice of those freedom fighters whose spirits were released due to their physical demise. This is a celebration for them all. We will especially honor Sundiata Acoli. Through music and the warm meaningful collective interaction of dance and laughter, we will reaffirm our commitment to their freedom.
