December 2009
End of the Year Printing/Studio Visit
Posted December 31, 2009 by pete in Art & Politics
I finally finished up a large print this week, and thought I would share some pictures of the process and the printing of the piece. I also took the opportunity to print a large piece I finished a few months back and never got around to printing. Along with these pictures you will get a little tour of my basement studio, which seems to be getting more and more cramped every time I turn around, and shares a wall with the Justseeds world wide shipping headquarters!
Goodbye 2009
Posted December 30, 2009 by icky in Justseeds & Member Projects
I went back through our blog from this last year and picked out some stuff that had stayed with me. Sometimes it was just an image, other times an article or an interview.
The links are in the full entry below. I didn't bother to write any text, so the images themselves link to the original blog posting.
Happy New Years!
Drawing All the Time : Week 17
Posted December 30, 2009 by colin_matthes in Inspiration
This is a drawing from a series of drawings tentatively titled, "Bonus Footage about loving, leaving, or existing in a country that revels in its wars.”
Rad Teen Print of the Week 12: Benevolent Societies
Posted December 29, 2009 by mary_tremonte in Inspirations
Final Rad Teen print of 2009!
This classic comes from RUST 2008, and is by Hannah Thompson and Dawn Davis, as part of a Celebrate Pittsburgh's People's History project. Mutual Aid!
Ghost Bikes 5th Annual Memorial Ride and Walk
Posted December 28, 2009 by bec_young in VR Projects
This Sunday, January 3rd is the Fifth Annual Memorial Ride and Walk To Remember Cyclists and Pedestrians Lost on NYC Streets. Scheduled meet-ups and stops are subject to change: ride/walk updates @ www.ghostbikes.org & (day of ride) twitter.com/nyc_streetmem
Poster designed by Lauren Denitzio, check out her site blackandredeye.com and the print we have in our store of hers In Loving Memory
Mexico City Street Art
Posted December 27, 2009 by thea in Art & Politics
A strong message sent to a middle class neighborhood in the north of Mexico City.
This painting is pasted on to temporary walls surrounding a building site for a new
supermarket.
Drawing All the Time : Week 16
Posted December 23, 2009 by colin_matthes in Inspiration
This is a drawing from a series of drawings tentatively titled, “Feature Presentation about loving, leaving, or existing in a country that revels in its wars.”
mud + winter + Stain + Milwaukee
Posted December 22, 2009 by nicolas_lampert in Justseeds & Member Projects
28 degrees and snowing is ideal conditions for......... mud stenciling!
Here are photos of a Chris Stain stencil image from Reproduce and Revolt put up in Milwaukee by his co-conspirators in collective art action.
Rad Teen Print of the Week 11: Foreclosures: Plague of the Century
Posted December 22, 2009 by mary_tremonte in Inspirations
One more from Schenley High School's Theory of Knowledge class. This kind of reminds me of The Road.
Star Non-violent Civil Disobediences
Posted December 21, 2009 by roger_peet in Film & Video
Here's a little gem that Icky forwarded to me, which is oh-so apropos in the aftermath of the Great Failure of the Copenhagen Forum. Keep on telling yourselves you can fix it! All the self-righteous self-aggrandizing and moral outrage is positively hilarious to watch for those of us who've kicked the hope habit. Especially when people start chanting "Reclaim Power!" Since when have any of you had any power? And what on Earth would you do with it? When I say "Humans", you say "Out"! "Humans!" "Out!" Take it away, Derrick!
Graphic Roots of Revolution
Posted December 19, 2009 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
Favianna is over in Rome right now with the new Yo! What Happened to Peace? show, Graphic Roots of Revolution. There's more info HERE.
Ricardo Levins Morales Opens New Studio
Posted December 18, 2009 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
Ricardo Levins Morales, one of the driving creative forces behind the much missed Northland Poster Collective, has opened up a new store and website. He's got much of hiss material (posters, prints, notecards, etc.) from Northland, and new material. Check out his new site HERE.
Justseeds Print Show and Paper Politics Book Release-NYC
Posted December 18, 2009 by k_c_ in Events
In case you're not on Facebook(contributing to the demise of flyer and poster promotion) the Justseeds Artists' Cooperative is having an art show and book release party for Paper Politics: Socially Engaged Printmaking Today- featuring political prints by over 200 international artists, edited by artist/activist Josh MacPhee. The event will be today 8-11pm
at Book Thug Nation
100 N.3rd St.
Brooklyn, NY
There will be new work by the Justseeds artists on display and for sale, free snacks and drinks.
So come out, wish us a happy solstice, congratulate Josh on another book, meet Icky who's visiting from PDX, buy all your holiday gifts, and check out the Book Thug Nation space so you know where to sell/buy your used books!
Happy Solsticetime from Justseeds HQ
Posted December 17, 2009 by roger_peet in Justseeds & Member Projects
Bike-powered and mostly waterproof.
Print Show & Sale at Encyclopedia Destructica
Posted December 17, 2009 by mary_tremonte in Art exhibits/shows
come check out a sweet lil JUSTSEEDS print show at Encyclopedia Destructica Studios in Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh.
free cider & tea & homemade cookies
cheap art>>>handmade prints on paper, t-shirts, totes, zines & books
free stickers, postcards, brand-new catalogs with full-color foldout poster
sweet jamz from me, DJ marymack, & DJ ja(m)(bo)x
thursday december 17th
7:00-11:00
encyclopedia destructica studios
156 41st street
(lawrenceville towards the river)
you can also peep my zine collection, on display for readin' now through the end of january in a cozy reading nook. zine clinics to come!!!
see our sweet shoutout in the city paper HERE
more info here:
www.encyclopediadestructica.com
FIESTA DE LA SANTÍSIMA VIRGEN DE LAS BARRICADAS
Posted December 17, 2009 by santi in Events
Fiesta de la santisima virgen de las barricadas. 10 years of Subleva®te Colectivo
Friends of AK Press
Posted December 17, 2009 by jmacphee in Books & Zines
I just recently designed a new logo for the Friends of AK Press book subscription program, I think it turned out pretty hot. AK Press is now pushing 20 years of producing and distributing anarchist and left political books, dvds, and cds. Most left leaning people have an AK book on their shelf whether they know it or not.
AK runs a great program called Friends of AK, where you can sign up to get a copy of every AK release. It's like a magazine subscription, but to a publisher. I'm a Friend, and it's great, all the books come straight to my mailbox. Here's what it is in AK's words:
Roads Through Palestine: Driving the Geography of War
Posted December 17, 2009 by k_c_ in Film & Video
Our pal Brett Story's film Roads Through Palestine can be viewed online now. It's an impressive collection of imagery captured in the West Bank over 2003-5, I believe.
I came across the video on Art Threat, where Rob Maguire says:
Billowing smoke pours from a bus, as a fire crew attempts to douse the flames. Long, aching lines of motionless vehicles sit at one of Israel’s hated checkpoints. Two men habitually pray on the road alongside their stopped car. A lone helicopter hovers overhead, reinforcing the reality of perpetual occupation.Roads Through Palestine is a cinematic portrait of life in the West Bank, and an intimate reflection on the geography of war. The short film, directed by Brett Story with music by Stefan Christoff, features scenes that are eerie and evocative, yet painfully commonplace.
Having spent time in the West Bank myself, I recalled the outrage I felt every time I was trapped at the checkpoint, where a handful of teenaged occupiers unjustly stood between us travelers and our destinations. But the feel of the 11-minute piece, with its muted colours and choppy, slow motion picture, more closely reflects the banal humiliation suffered by the Palestinian people day in and day out, for whom occupation is not a novelty, but a 40-year curse.
Dance & Resist!
Posted December 17, 2009 by jmacphee in Events
DANCE & RESIST!
Art Auction and Dance Party
Friday December 18th
7pm @ Brillobox 4104 Penn Ave
In support of G20 Legal Defense, assisting arrestees in covering their legal fees
Art Auction 7pm-10pm
donating artists to date:
Alberto Almarza, Jen Cooney, Magali Duzant, Deren Guler, Horsie, Rev. Jason Jones, Ben Kehoe, Amos Levy, Caldwell Linkerbelle, Chris Lisowski, Josh MacPhee, Maria Mangano, Teresa Martuccio, Nathan Mould, Jillian Nintze, Jenn Pascoe, Stefan Pilipa, Jae Ruberto, Shaun Slifer, Eric Stern, Hannah Thompson, Mary Tremonte, Heidi Tucker, Heather White, Bec Young.
DANCE PARTY TIME! 10pm-2am
$3 at the door (or more if you can spare it!)
DJs PANDEMIC'S Pete & Spat and 90's NIGHT'S Jenny Jihad & Sean MC
Indigenous Peoples of Canada March on Canadian Embassy in Copenhagen to Protest Tar Sands
Posted December 16, 2009 by Jesse_Purcell in Indigenous Resistance
Drawing All the Time : Week 15
Posted December 16, 2009 by colin_matthes in Inspiration
This is a drawing from a series of drawings tentatively titled, “Bonus footage about loving, leaving, or existing in a country that revels in its wars”
Banner project video
Posted December 16, 2009 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
Justseeds member Roger was caught on video printing letters for the Climate Change March in Copenhagen. Roger posted some stills from the project HERE a week back or so, but I just stumbled on this video, for those interested:
The Yes Men Strike Again
Posted December 15, 2009 by nicolas_lampert in In the News
The Yes Men in Copenhagen = a corporation and/or government is going to get humiliated for good reason. This time it's Canada.
More here: http://theyesmen.org/canada
Copenhagen updates
Posted December 15, 2009 by nicolas_lampert in In the News
Some links to keep up with whats happening at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and the protests in the streets:
Indymedia Danmark: http://indymedia.dk/
Democracy Now!: www.democracynow.org/
Rad Teen Print of the Week 10: Civil Rights or Civil War
Posted December 15, 2009 by mary_tremonte in Inspirations
More work inspired by Signs of Change, from Schenley High School's Theory of Knowledge class. Gay marriage has been a huge concern for these students. So right-on.
No Olympics on Native Soil
Posted December 15, 2009 by jmacphee in In the News
I just wanted to send a shout out to our comrades in Vancouver and Victoria who have been struggling against a completely invasive, parasitic, and brutal Olympics campaign.
There's more info HERE and HERE. And the above image is a nice banner from the Victoria campaign.
Red Emma's Red & Black Ball
Posted December 15, 2009 by jmacphee in Events
For those in Baltimore and surrounding environs, party with Red Emma's!!:
Celebrate Five Years of Red Emma's at the Red & Black Ball!
December 19, 2009:
7:30PM - 11PM
2640 Saint Paul Street
That's right my fellow mischief-makers: the Red Emma's Red and Black Ball returns again this year on December 19! Join the Red Emma's collective as we celebrate the traditional anarchist gift-giving season with an all-out, over-the-top evening of revelry in your Victorian-era red and black finest! Think Victorian-era dances, parlour games, phrenology, and, of course, spirits to warm your body and soul. Think renaissance festival dress gone anarchist. Think steampunk. Think Alan Moore (V for Vendetta). Live and DJ'd music throughout the evening, as well as performances, games, "etiquette" lessons, phrenology, and more, led by our very own Master of Ceremonies, Ryan Coffman, with the help of a variety of Baltimore favorites! Plus ... freakin' amazing vegan cake. And booze. Pull out that fancy dress you picked up at a thrift store; borrow your brother's tuxedo! Make a mask, or grab one at the door! This is the holiday party you don't want to miss ... come out and celebrate with us!
It all takes place at 2640 Saint Paul Street, December 19, starting at 7:30PM. Tickets are $10-$15 sliding scale, and include food and a free drink. Masks provided for those who need them. Proper attire is NOT required, but isn't it more fun to cobble a costume together? Email info@redemmas.org for more info ... this event is all-ages, and no one turned away for lack of funds.
El Tono in South America
Posted December 14, 2009 by jmacphee in Street Art & Graffiti
I've always been a fan of the street artist El Tono, and his ability to adjusts and morph his simple geometric line patterns to the different social contexts he works in. He's the master of making street art that operates as folk art, and folk art that operates as street art. He was recently in Peru and Brazil, making posters and painting buildings. In Peru her worked with Equipo Plastico, making posters based on the "Chicha" style of street postering. Here's a cool image, and more can be found HERE and HERE.
Deep Dish TV Holiday Sale
Posted December 14, 2009 by dara_g in Film & Video
Deep Dish TV is doing some fund raising which includes a 50% off sale on their DIY Media Series: Movement Perspectives.
The following is from their email:
2009: Deep Dish TV continues its 23 year commitment to using new technologies to produce and distribute video that educates, inspires, and- most importantly- activates. If there were any doubts that this country needs a robust and far reaching independent media network, it should be dispelled by the latest round of doublespeak and distortion that justifies the continued occupation of Iraq and the military escalation in Afghanistan.
Deep Dish TV provides FREE independent, critical programming to public access TV stations, satellite TV, and streaming online on YouTube, Blip TV, Facebook, and of course www.deepdishtv.org. Please support our work by making a donation or by purchasing DVDs as a gifts for yourself or your friends and family.
Celebrate! Celebrate? The Politics and Tactics of Visualizing a People’s History
Posted December 13, 2009 by nicolas_lampert in Justseeds & Member Projects
“Celebrate! Celebrate?” features four different poster series that visualize various people’s history and invites the viewer to contemplate the politics and the tactics of graphically celebrating people and events from the past. Significantly, how do these images operate? Do the images affirm our struggles, inspire, teach, and critique? Do they simplify history and rob struggles of their complexities? Do they accomplish both? The show invites these questions, varied opinions, historical context, and more.
Where: Mess Hall, 6932 North Glenwood Avenue, Chicago, IL, Morse CTA Red Line Train Stop
When: Now through January during Mess Hall events. Check Mess Hall website for times when Mess Hall is open. People's history talk and critique of graphics to take place in mid January. Time tba
Stumptown Printers on Monacle
Posted December 13, 2009 by jmacphee in Posters & Prints
Our good friends at Stumptown Printers (who have been the long time printers of the Celebrate People's History posters) are the focus of a new short video put together my Monacle Magazine. I couldn't figure out how to put the actual video here on our site, so you'll have to go watch it HERE. It's a cool little movie, with many cameos by the CPH posters, esp. the new Dil Pickle Club poster!
New Justseeds T-shirts!
Posted December 11, 2009 by shaun in Justseeds & Member Projects
As I type this, our first-ever run of Justseeds promo t-shirts are quietly being disseminated by our Viral Street Marketing Team. Some of us are also just giving them to people we know, like my flawlessly blithe roommates, shown here (I didn't ask them to match outfits, they just went and did it on their own). Shirts were gracefully printed by the deft Kristine Virsis with a stunning design in the limited palette we've come to expect from our marmoleum-cutting powerhouse, Pete Yahnke. I suppose this is kind of a teaser since you can't order these from our site...
War is Noble Peace Prize
Posted December 11, 2009 by nicolas_lampert in In the News
Words of wisdom from historian Howard Zinn on Obama winning the Noble Peace Prize and using it as a forum to declare the war in Afghanistan as a just war.
"Nobel Prize for Promises?"
Saturday 10 October 2009
by Howard Zinn
posted in Truthout
http://www.truthout.org/101009A
"I was dismayed when I heard Obama was given the Nobel Peace Prize. A shock, really, to think that a president carrying on wars in two countries and launching military action in a third country (Pakistan), would be given a peace prize. But then I recalled that Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Kissinger had all received Nobel Peace Prizes. The Nobel Committee is famous for its superficial estimates and for its susceptibility to rhetoric and empty gestures, while ignoring blatant violations of world peace.
Justseeds at Handmade Arcade Pittsburgh
Posted December 11, 2009 by mary_tremonte in Events
(old pic of justseeds & ally reeves at NCOR 2008)
Justseeds Pittsburgh will be at the Handmade Arcade this Saturday December 12th 11am-8pm at the Hunt Armory.
Come do some radical holiday shopping! Or just say hi and snag a sticker & a sip from our thermos.
Bike Lane Debacle
Posted December 11, 2009 by jmacphee in Street Art & Graffiti
Creative NYC bike advocates repainted a bike lane removed from Bedford Ave. a couple days back, and the video of the action's been posted:
I guess a couple of them were arrested later, but I'm unclear whether the arrest was related to posting the video on youtube or not. I also just got this in the inbox:
Time’s Up! Bicycle “Funeral Procession” & Vigil for Bedford Ave Bike Lane Sunday, December 13, 2009 2pm - Meet on the Brooklyn side entrance of the Williamsburg Bridge 3pm - Ride will end at a Vigil for the bike lane at Bedford Ave & Wallabout St
Go DJ Go! Workshop for Teens
Posted December 10, 2009 by mary_tremonte in Events
FREE DJ workshop for teens!
Friday December 11th
5:00-7:00pm
Young Men & Women's African Heritage Association
1200 Boyle Street, Northside
For more information, read on...
TONIGHT! Stumptown 10 Year Anniversary Party!
Posted December 10, 2009 by jmacphee in Events
Stumptown Printers Celebrates Ten Years of Ink & Iron!
The Local Shop That Went Worldwide Declares: PRINT'S NOT DEAD!
Stumptown Printers 10th Anniversary Celebration
Thursday, Dec 10th, 8pm
Holocene
1001 se morrison
portland, oregon 97214
Stumptown Printers works primarily with independent musicians and small record labels. This show features Northwest artists who have worked with the shop to craft paper-and-ink complements to their own quirky musical visions: Norfolk & Western, a defiantly unclassifiable crossbreed of spooky folk and sawtoothed indie rock; LAKE, echoey, orchestral pop; Karl Blau, spacey, genre-annihilating singer/songwriter; Ilyas Ahmed, "Free-flowing, mind-bending folk-infused mantras"; Foghorn Duo, heart-wrenchin', whiskey-swillin' Old Time; and DJ Hometapes, selections by the braintrust of the local record label. Catering by Voodoo Doughnuts! Plus printed ephemera giveaways from Stumptown Printers!
Bushwick Print Lab Grand Opening
Posted December 10, 2009 by jmacphee in Events
A long time friend of Justseeds, and former co-director of Ad Hoc Art, Ray Cross has just opened up his new spot, the Bushwick Print Lab!:
Bushwick Print Lab
Grand Opening and Holiday Print Sale Spectacular
Thursday, December 17
6:00 PM to Midnight
1717 Troutman Street #203 - 204
Queens NY, 11385
(3 blocks form the Jefferson L stop and just across the Queens line in Ridgewood)
Bushwick Print Lab, a new community silkscreen space in Bushwick/Ridgewood, is excited to announce our Grand Opening and is hosting an affordable print sale for the holidays. The Bushwick Print Lab is a new rental space dedicated to offering film printing, screen-making, shelf and locker storage, and hourly and monthly shop rentals to artists, printmakers and designers who are seeking a professional and well equip lab to create work in silkscreen on paper and apparel. BPL has affordable rates and will offer classes and production assistance for contemporary artists using the versatile medium of silkscreen. We are dedicated to creating increased accessibility to printmaking for artists of all media and the advancement the art of silkscreen printing.
Art as Action- 12/12/09- 2/20/10- at the Printmaking Council of New Jersey
Posted December 9, 2009 by erik_ruin in Art exhibits/shows
I'll be in a 5-person group show at the Printmaking Council of New Jersey & paticipating in a panel discussion at the opening this Saturday. please come by if you can.
Art as Action features works by five acclaimed printmakers whose passion for complex social, economic, political, and environmental issues spills over into their art.
Featured Artists - J. Catherine Bebout, Karen Guancione, Curlee Raven Holton,
Doris Nogueira-Rogers, and Erik Ruin.
December 12, 2009 through February 20, 2010.
Opening Reception & Panel Discussion moderated by educator, essayist, poet and photographer John Ripton will take place on Saturday, December 12, 1 - 4pm.
PCNJ
440 River Rd
Branchburg, NJ 08876
Evolution of a Poster
Posted December 9, 2009 by jmacphee in Posters & Prints
After seeing one of the Garage Collective posters I put up here a couple months back (see below: a poster to announce an art show supporting creative resistance to the New Zealand state), Lincoln Cushing sent me images of 2 historical posters from the AOUON Poster Archive (which he is currently cataloging). The first, from Cuba, is the likely origin point of the flower pattern. The poster is an advertisement for a 1979 film about the Ethiopian Revolution, created by Cuban poster designer and illustrator Eduardo Munoz Bachs (more info about Cuban posters can be found in Cushing's book ¡Revolucion! Cuban Poster Art. I also just found this blog about Cuban posters HERE). The second, from Oakland, borrows and re-purposes the flowers, this time for an anti-recruitment protest poster, likely from 1983. Thanks Lincoln!
Drawing All the Time : Week 14
Posted December 9, 2009 by colin_matthes in Inspiration
I am working on a drawing titled Staying Afloat for an upcoming show at the New Art Center in Newton, MA (near Boston). Here is another detail of it (about 18x24" of the 90x126" drawing).
Daniel McGowen Art Auction
Posted December 9, 2009 by jmacphee in Events
Our friend Daniel is still locked up in Federal prison, and he needs your help! If you are in NYC, please come out this weekend and buy some art! More info about Daniel can be found HERE.
Art Auction to Benefit Imprisoned New York City Social Justice & Environmental Activist Daniel McGowan
On December 7, 2005, New York City activist Daniel McGowan was among the first people arrested as part of an FBI offensive against environmental activists called "Operation Backfire", which activists have dubbed part of the Green Scare (after the Red Scare of the 40s and 50s). Daniel began serving his seven-year sentence in July 2007. In August 2008, Daniel was moved to the Communication Management Unit (CMU) in Marion, IL, a federal prison unit that bypassed the usual review process and severely restricts inmates' communication with the outside world.
To mark the four-year anniversary of Daniel's arrest, and to highlight the continued repression of activists that the federal government has labeled "terrorists," Family and Friends of Daniel McGowan will be hosting an art show, auction and raffle this December. Proceeds will go to Daniel's commissary account and a number of his favorite environmental and social justice organizations.
WHO: Presented by Family and Friends of Daniel McGowan along with popular street artists; political printmakers; and renowned graphic designers.
WHAT: Art Show and Auction featuring artists such as SWOON; Nikki McClure; Just Seeds Artist Cooperative members such as Josh MacPhee and Kevin Caplicki; BORF and many more.
WHEN: Saturday, December 12, 2009, 1-9pm. Reception: 7-9pm
WHERE: ADC Gallery, 106 West 29th Street, Ground Floor, NYC
Chile Estyle: A Group Exhibition of Chilean Urban Art, Curated by Pablo Aravena
Posted December 8, 2009 by meredith_stern in Art & Politics
For Immediate Release-
Chile Estyle: A Group Exhibition of Chilean Urban Art, Curated by Pablo Aravena
Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art
Opening Reception: Thursday, December 10, 2009, 7-10 PM
Exhibition Open Through December 23
For the first time in North America, Chile Estyle will showcase work from several of Chile's finest contemporary urban muralists, including Cekis, Inti, Horate, La Robot de Madera, and the duos Aislap and Agotok. From the end of the Pinochet dictatorship in the early 90’s until now, Chilean street art has literally exploded into a highly developed style, bearing strong influences from Mexican muralism, 60s – 70s political mural brigades, wildstyle graffiti and Brazilian graffiti and pixação (a unique stylistic cross-pollination with street art from Sao Paulo in the mid-90s). These influences, paired with Chile’s distinct history of propaganda art and muralism dating from the 40s, give rise to the myriad of strongly developed personal visual languages and artistic self-expression seen on the streets of Santiago, Valparaiso and other cities in Chile. The exhibition will consist of new works on canvas as well as site-specific individual and group mural installations in the gallery.
Students in the Streets
Posted December 8, 2009 by jmacphee in In the News
Wheeler Hall at UC Berkeley was occupied again today, and halfway across the globe students from AmirKabir Uniiversity in Tehran tore the gates off their school! Check out the video below:
Rad Teen Print of the Week 9: Equal Opportunities
Posted December 8, 2009 by mary_tremonte in Inspirations
Schenley's Theory of Knowledge class again! This was created by the 'Fantastic Five,' a group of pretty right-on young men. This was one of my favorites from the class.
"...a reflection of the gross narcissism of those rich enough to own it."
Posted December 7, 2009 by k_c_ in Art & Politics
Mark Vallen has some really incredible posts up on his blog. While Art Basel, in Miami Beach, is being cleaned up and repackaged to go home, I read "200 One Dollar Bills", Vallen's critique of the recent auction of Warhol's screenprint of the same title.
The forces involved in the Sotheby’s auction represent an extremely influential layer in the elite art world, people who must surely believe they are shaping and controlling the future of art; but as any student of history will tell you, the most grandiose plans of the powerful are often times thwarted by material conditions, social pressures, and the acts of the independently minded.
Art Basel's website purports it to be the "most important art show in the United States, a cultural and social highlight for the Americas." I've always likened it to a gun show of art exhibitions, the NY Times acknowledging "the sense of art as merchandise is overpowering" where "most galleries offer variety-store-like mixes of works by different artists with the ambience of a sample sale" in "The Art Fair as Outlet Mall" I remember the Times one year called Art Basel the Cosco of art.
After reading that post I read a more current piece on Art for a Change, on Robert Hughes' documentary called The Mona Lisa Curse. Vallen posts links, (here), to the respective sections on youtube with his synopsis of each part. The videos are so well worth watching and provide a very shrewd look at art and the market influencing it today.
“Apart from drugs, art is the biggest unregulated market in the world, with contemporary art sales estimated at around $18 billion a year. (….) Boosted by regiments of nouveau riche collectors, and serviced by a growing army of advisors, dealers and auctioneers. As Andy Warhol once observed, ‘Good business is the best art.’”-from The Mona Lisa Curse
I could almost hear the toast in Miami Beach, "To the death of Art."
Amilcar Cabral!
Posted December 7, 2009 by jmacphee in Events
Tonight the African Diaspora Film Fest in NYC is showing a hard to see documentary about 1960s/70s African revolutionary Amilcar Cabral (which is playing with a doc about Frantz Fanon as well!). It's rare to be able to see any footage of or about Cabral, so this is a rare treat. Cabral's book Return to the Source contains a number of interesting essays exploring the connections between African liberation (particularly in his native Guinea Bissou) and culture. Details about the film and screening are HERE.
(The image is by Beth Gutelius, from Reproduce & Revolt, and as printed on a t-shirt by Liberation Ink, still available HERE.)
IVAW Mud Stencils
Posted December 7, 2009 by jmacphee in Street Art & Graffiti
A cool short video of Iraq Veterans Against the War putting up mud stencils in Ft. Hood in October:
activism3cream in Tokyo
Posted December 5, 2009 by jmacphee in Events
Our friends at Irregular Rhythm Asylum in Tokyo have mounted an art show/installation/social movement archive/hang out space called activism3cream, which based on all the photos (see HERE) is awesome. Hidden in there is some Justseeds work.
Zapata Portfolio Presentation and Show in Mexico City - Exposicion y Presentacion de Carpeta de Zapata en Mexico DF
Posted December 4, 2009 by santi in Art exhibits/shows
"Zapata Vive, la Grafica Sigue" Portfolio Show presentation by "Escuela de Cultura Popular Martires del 68" Thursday the 10th of December
The "ECPM68" School is presenting their new portfolio project entitled "Zapata Vive, La Grafica Sigue" and it compiles the work of 16 different artists from around Mexico on silk screened posters where each artist represented their version of the well-known revolutionary.
Come join us next week on!
(I can) read the writing on the wall-9
Posted December 4, 2009 by k_c_ in Justseeds & Member Projects
Williamsburg Bridge, NYC. 2009
Today on NPR they reported that 10% unemployment is raising hopes. While so many people are living in precarity, no real solutions to the economic crisis are being proposed. No one is willing to admit that our economic system creates the very problem that is reported.
It is clear that current generations, and those to come, identify less with their companies and occupations. This leads to newer and difficult ways of organizing and manifesting solutions. I've been on the periphery of many groups of people reading numerous philosophical texts. They argue for more common affinities, fewer subdivisions, such as identity politics, and labor classifications. These politics are manifesting as occupations of Universities and social unrest in the streets. I am unsure where they will lead, and I wish to hear more articulated. In the new Obama world of lost hope we need mobilizations with teeth.
Berkeley Student Protest Posters, 1970
Posted December 4, 2009 by jmacphee in Posters & Prints
With all the occupations and protests going on in University of California system, particularly at UC Berkeley, I thought it would be interesting to throw up a couple of posters from a part Berkeley movement, the anti-war student occupations in 1970. Soon after students were killed by the National Guard at Kent State and Jackson State, and Nixon began bombing Cambodia, there was a national student uprising and a call to strike. At UC Berkeley, the faculty at the College of Environmental Design encouraged the use of their department as a screenprint workshop, which created an estimated 50,000 copies of hundreds of works. For more info on the workshop, go HERE. To see the whole collection of posters from that era, go HERE.
Logan Hicks Mural in Brooklyn
Posted December 4, 2009 by jmacphee in Street Art & Graffiti
The good folks at BrooklynStreetArt.com sent along this cool video of stencil artist Logan Hicks putting up a large scale mural in Brooklyn. Check out the video below, and an interview with Logan HERE.
Mary Mack Zine Collection on View
Posted December 4, 2009 by mary_tremonte in Books & Zines
Mary Mack's (that's me!) Zine Collection, collected from 1993-present, will be on display in a cozy reading nook at Encyclopedia Destructica Studios. The zines will be available for browsing on Wednesdays 7:30-10:30pm, during Destructica's weekly binding parties, and Sundays 2:00-5:00pm. Learn a variety of bookbinding techniques while putting together Encyclopedia Destructica's publications, or just stop in to nook up and read.
Mary Mack Zine Collection
on view at
Encyclopedia Destructica Studios (clicky)
156 41st St (Lawrenceville)
Wednesdays 7:30-10:30pm (binding party)
Sundays 2:00-5:00pm
now through January
collage of the week (8)
Posted December 3, 2009 by nicolas_lampert in Justseeds & Member Projects
"Encroachment"
SEA Change Banner Project for Copenhagen
Posted December 3, 2009 by roger_peet in Art & Politics
Here's a couple of photographs from an epic day of screen-printing, Roger of Justseeds and Heather of Flight 64 cranking out hundreds of individual letters for Katherine Ball's (of SEA Change gallery in Portland) banner project. 
ABC no Rio Clothesline Benefit Art Sale
Posted December 3, 2009 by k_c_ in Events
ABC No Rio, the Lower East Side gallery and arts center, is planning another Clothesline Benefit Art Sales to raise money for their Building Fund. The event will take place
December 10-11th
156 Rivington St
LES, NY
ABC No Rio is a center for the arts on the Lower East Side, founded by artists committed to an actively engaged culture and a vision of expanded possibilities for our lives, our neighborhoods, our cities and our society.
They are asking artists who support ABC No Rio to participate by donating work. Work should be no larger than 11" X 17", and limited to two works per artist. All work will be presented on clotheslines strung through No Rio's gallery space, and should be unframed, two-dimensional work.
The Clothesline Benefits prices are set at either $25 or $50, depending on the size and complexity of the work, and to be decided by you.
Work can be delivered on December 8th or 9th, between 7:00 and
9:00pm, or you can mail work to:
Clothesline Benefit ABC No Rio 156 Rivington Street New York, NY 10002
Your participation and support is crucial and important to ABC No
Rio. Please freely forward this request to friends and fellow
artists. Announcements and invitations for the Clothesline Benefit
will be sent to all participating artists. Please invite your
friends, colleagues and collaborators!
Big Bucks to the Black Block
Posted December 2, 2009 by Jesse_Purcell in In the News
10 Years since Seattle and this is where we are.
I saw the below last night and was totally gobsmacked:
I've been trying to think of what to write until this morning when my friend Anna sent me this reply video by Canadian HipHop artist Testament she found which sums it up pretty good.
Please comment wildly.
Howardena Pindell on KARA WALKER - NO / YES / ?
Posted December 2, 2009 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
Philly correspondent Theodore A. Harris just sent this along, an great looking event this weekend in Brooklyn:
Howardena Pindell on KARA WALKER - NO / YES / ?
Sat. December 4th
2-4pm
MoCADA
80 Hanson Place, Brooklyn, NY
Professor, artist and activist Howardena Pindell has created a new anthology. Kara Walker-No, Kara Walker-Yes, Kara Walker-? is a collection of essays written by other contemporary artists, educators, writers and poets discussing controversial artist Kara Walker. Whether you agree with Pindell or not, or whether Walker's silhouettes appeal to you or not, this book will certainly begin a
conversation about visual culture in the Black community. The talk features a number of authors and artists including Theodore A. Harris, Ben Jones and Rashida Ishmali.
collage image by Theodore A. Harris.
Filthy Lucre extended
Posted December 2, 2009 by jmacphee in Events
My friend Sam Sebren has a piece in the Filthy Lucre show at Gallery Aferro in Newark, which has just been extended for a week and now has a closing potluck on December 12th from 4-8pm. Sam will be holding "The Great Zombie Consumer Eradication Project" on that day, painting a giant 15 foot mural with everyone that wants to participate. Check it out HERE!
photo by Merle Becker
Drawing All the Time : Week 13
Posted December 2, 2009 by colin_matthes in Inspiration
I am working on a drawing titled Staying Afloat for an upcoming show at the New Art Center in Newton, MA (near Boston). This is a detail of it (about 18x24" of the 90x126" drawing).
Benefit Dinner for CACITA and a Hudson Valley Radio Station
Posted December 2, 2009 by k_c_ in Events
Come to a benefit dinner to support the work of a group of folks in the Hudson Valley who are seeking a license for the first Spanish-language community radio station in the region. As well as CACITA (autonomous center for the intercultural creation of appropriate techonologies- Oaxaca, Mexico). Both of these projects are vibrant and vital to the places in which they reside. Details on these groups below.
Saturday December 5, 7:30pm
10 Lefferts Place, BKLYN
Sliding Scale$10-20
There will be food! Delicious pozole and more! Cheap coronas and margaritas! There will also be live music by Nicaraguan guitarist Juan Basilio-Sanchez, as well as some people from the radio station to talk about their project, and a short film on the work that CACITA is doing in Oaxaca.
Sound good? Great, invite your friends and please RSVP.
Saludos!
Escribo para invitarles a una cena deliciosa y beneficial. Recaudemos
fondos para dos projectos: CACITA (El Centro Autonomo para La
Creacion Intercultural de Technologias Apropiadas) y tambien para
apoyar un grupo de gente en el Valle Hudson de Nueva York que esta
pidiendo una licencia para la primera estacion de radio en espanol de
la region. Los dos proyectos estan bien importantes en sus propias
comunidades, y usted puede apoyarlos solo por beber y tomar, que
suerte tiene! Hay mas informacion de los dos proyectos abajo.
WORK PROGRESS: Dill Pickle Club benefit this Thursday Dec 3rd.
Posted December 1, 2009 by pete in Art & Politics
If you are in Portland this Thursday Dec 3rd be sure to stop by this show. Alec Icky Dunn and Pete Yahnke from Justseeds both have some work in this benefit show. Here are the details from the Dill Pickle Club:
Join us at the Eyeful Gallery (NW 6th & Everett) Thursday, December 3 at 6PM, during the First Thursday art walk for the opening of WORK | PROGRESS, an art show, pop up bookshop and event series to benefit the Dill Pickle Club. Cape Perpetua and Niekrasz/ Jenkins Duet (of Why I Must Be Careful) provide live music, while Ninkasi Brewing generously serves libations.
WORK | PROGRESS features 24 socially-engaged artists creating replicated works, including:
Icky A, Brad Adkins, Moe Bowstern, Carye Bye, Bill Daniel, Dyslexxis, Harrell Fletcher, Sarah Gottesdiener, Sam Gould, Anna Gray, MK Guth, Ariana Jacob, Kendra Larson, Ian Lynam, Eric Mast, Justin Scrappers Morrison, Michael Parich, Ryan Wilson Paulsen, Brittany Powell, Khris Soden, Bwana Spoons, Matthew Stadler, Nim Wunnan, Pete Yahnke
Rad Teen Print of the Week 8: Let People Love
Posted December 1, 2009 by mary_tremonte in Inspirations
This print is again from Schenley high School's Theory of Knowledge class in Spring 2009, for a special project taught by myself, Shaun Slifer, and Ashley Brickman, inspired by Signs of Change.
Nuart looking for a few things
Posted December 1, 2009 by k_c_ in Film & Video
Justseeds members Chris Stain and Swoon recently traveled to Stavanger, Norway to participate in the Nuart Street Art Festival. The folks that organized the festival are creating a documentary and have posted this request, below, for some advice on distribution.
We're currently looking for distribution and screenings of our fabulous up close and personal street art documentary, Eloquent Vandals. Get in touch if you have any smart ideas about how we can get it out there.
Nuart is an annual international street art festival based in Stavanger on the West Coast of Norway. From the first week of September an international team of street artists start to leave their mark on the city's walls as well as contribute to a one month long indoor exhibition.
Alcatraz 40th Anniversary Print
Posted December 1, 2009 by Jesus_Barraza in Art & Politics
I created this print to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the occupation of Alcatraz by Indians of all Tribes and share them with the community. I designed and printed a poster last year to give away at the sunrise ceremony at Alcatraz. It was a lot of fun giving away poster and people's reaction when i told them they were free. We wanted to do something similar for this years sunrise ceremony on Thanksgiving day. This year we made 300 small posters to give away to the community and an edition of large screen printed posters to share with the organizations that help make the ceremony possible.
