March 2010
Drawing All the Time: Week 25
Posted March 31, 2010 by colin_matthes in Inspiration
This is a detail of a large drawing that will be in E X P O, an installation at Igloo Gallery in Portland, OR that is opening Thursday (April 1) from 6-10pm. The detail is of a fallen gas station sign row boat.
Palestine Poster Archive reaches 2,100 posters!
Posted March 31, 2010 by jmacphee in Posters & Prints
The Palestine Poster Project Archives is an archive and website collecting posters produced in Palestine and internationally in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle. The online archive now has 2,100 posters in it, including a number recently put up from Justseeds. Check out the site, there are lots of great posters!
Image: Artist Unknown, translation: "(The battle of) Al Karameh, The beginning of victory," 18" x 24", 1978
Making Waves/Haciendo Ondas
Posted March 31, 2010 by k_c_ in Inspiration
Some friends from the Prometheus Radio Project and Palabra Radio are touring around the United States right now to "promote the use of radio as a tool for participatory communication that facilitates community organizing". They've been traveling for a few weeks, through the South, and are currently in Texas. You can check the Making Waves blog to see, and hear, about the various groups that they've encountered in the dozen locations they've already visited. This is a group of very dedicated media-makers that advocate radio as a tool to organize for social justice.
They are facilitating bilingual workshops on:
Analysis of corporate media: In this workshop participants will analyze the media and discuss the impacts that media has on our daily lives. Through participatory exercises people will have an opportunity to experiment with creative forms of communication.Participatory Radio as a tool for community organizing: Making radio is more than transmitters and djays and strikes right in the heart of community organizing. This workshop helps groups to spell out the pieces-often invisible-that are need to construct participatory radio.
E X P O - Opening April 1, 6-10 pm
Posted March 30, 2010 by colin_matthes
E X P O, an installation I am working on in Portland, OR is opening this Thursday (April 1) from 6-10pm at Igloo Gallery.
Here is a link and a few photos :
collecting supplies for the show, finally found a shopping cart.
Printing with Taring Padi
Posted March 30, 2010 by roger_peet in Art & Politics
Here's a little photo essay showing the printing process used by Indonesian print cooperative Taring Padi, including images from all stages of the process, from sketching to carving to printing. I had the chance to help print some copies of this massive block, which is the Taring Padi half of a project addressing issues related to natural gas exploitation on both sides of the Pacific: the three Portland Justseedsers (Pete, Icky and Roger) will be working on their half in the coming month. We'll be working with local nonprofit Bark to promote exhibits and displays of the two prints in towns along the route of the proposed Palomar gas pipeline this summer. Enjoy the photos!
Sketching the initial design on MDF hardboard.
REVIEW: Prestel Poster Book Series
Posted March 29, 2010 by jmacphee in Reviews
Chinese Posters, Stefan R. Landsberger & Marien van der Heijden (Prestel, 2009)
Soviet Posters: The Sergo Grigorian Collection, Maria Lafont (Prestel, 2007)
North Korean Posters: The David Heather Collection, David Heather & Koen De Ceuster (Prestel, 2008)
Vietnam Posters: The David Heather Collection, David Heather & Sherry Buchanan (Prestel, 2009)
These are first and foremost picture books. Each one contains a basic introduction to the history of political and propaganda poster production in each country, but no more than a dozen pages of overview. This series is aimed at a general audience, appealing to the novelty of posters from "strange and totalitarian regimes." That said, each one has its unique benefits and value, and for the most part these are worthwhile books for people interested in the production of culture under political regimes that in their prime attempted to challenge capitalist hegemony (for better or for worse).
Although all four books are designed and organized in similar ways, I'll take each on individually. First, China. I've never been a great fan of the Chinese political poster aesthetically, particularly the heroic socialist realism of the late 50s through the cultural revolution period. What's more interesting to me is the sheer scale of production. In 1959 two million copies of a "Long Live Chairman Mao" poster were printed, and in a fifteen year period, 1951-1966, the three major poster publishing houses printed almost 3,000 different designs, with a total number of copies ranging around 85 million!
Gerd Arntz and the World of Isotypes
Posted March 29, 2010 by icky in Art & Politics
Pictograms are a type of visual language that is ubiquitous today. They are regularly used along highways and streets, in the olympics, or on bathroom doors. These symbols (often called 'peds') originally came from the same utopian dream as esperanto, to create a language that was simple, clear, and international.
Philagrafika-Philadelphia
Posted March 29, 2010 by k_c_ in Street Art & Graffiti
I was fortunate enough to have Favianna Rodriguez and Jesus Barraza drop by my house late last Thursday. With very little arm twisting, at 1AM, they convinced me to go to Philly for the Philagrafika and SGC conference.
I am super grateful they did. We woke up the next morning for a whirlwind of events. From vendor tables at the Southern Graphics Council to The Graphic Unconscious at various galleries, and Medium Resistance at the Crane Art Center.
A World of Wounds
Posted March 28, 2010 by roger_peet in Inspiration
Here's a list of ten of my favorite quotes pertaining to the state of the world that I've gleaned in the past several years:
A: "We don't change our behavior, we adapt to the results of it" James Tiptree Jr, 1972.
B: "This century will see the end of significant evolution of large plants and terrestrial mammals in the Tropics" Scott Soule, 1980
C: "...Extinction allows no second chance. There is a large measure of quixotic hubris in trusting human institutions to prevent something that is truly irrevocable. Unfortunately, there is no alternative." John Terborgh, 1997
D:"So what if species go extinct? Extinction is a natural process. There have always been extinctions. So why worry about these extinctions currently being caused by humanity? And there has always been a pilot light burning in your furnace. So why worry when your house is on fire?" David Quammen, 1997
E:"One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds." Aldo Leopold.
F: "There is hope, though not for us" Franz Kafka
G: "My wife pleaded with me to bring you light. But there is no light. Everything is going to get unimaginably worse and never get better again." Kurt Vonnegut
H: "There is no escaping the conclusion that in our lifetimes this planet will see a suspension, if not an end, to many ecological and evolutionary processes which have been uninterrupted since the beginning of paleontological time" Soule again.
Recent Press Roundup
Posted March 27, 2010 by jmacphee in In the News
Here's some of my latest activity around the world of the web:
1. Realizing the Impossible got a nice plug on the Book Forum blog, HERE.
2. B. Cortez & B. Riley's Dolores Huerta Celebrate People's History Poster was used to illustrate an article on the Ms. Magazine website HERE.
3. I just did a radio interview about the Paper Politics book and exhibition on WIUM, Southern Illinois Public Radio. You can listen to it HERE.
4. I was just on the Jeff Farias Show radio program a couple days back, you can listen to it HERE, it's the 3/25/10 podcast.
A dynamic month-long series of radical art exhibits and presentations in West Philadelphia!
Posted March 26, 2010 by k_c_ in Events
Beginning March 5th, international artists’ cooperative Justseeds presents Bring Down the Walls!, a series of artistic exhibitions and educational events. The series celebrates radical movements that struggle to collapse the boundaries of class, race, gender and generation. The majority of events will take place at two locations, blocks apart on Baltimore Avenue in West Philadelphia. An Independent Project of Philagrafika 2010, Bring Down the Walls! is organized in collaboration with local activists.
Exhibitions-
At the A-Space (4722 Baltimore Ave.), there will be an exhibition of Justseeds' recent portfolio Voices From Outside: Artists Against the Prison-Industrial Complex and related materials. This project is a limited edition portfolio of original prints that either critique the prison industrial complex or address alternatives to incarceration. Twenty artists from the US, Canada, and Mexico contributed prints, which were then collated and presented to 50 different groups working on prison related issues. Many organizations have organized exhibits and have used the images as tools for educating and discussing incarceration.
At Studio 34 (4522 Baltimore Ave.) there will be a larger and more varied exhibition of prints from Justseeds members. This show will feature dozens of pieces from over 25 artists from across North America, with bold images addressing topics from personal inspiration to environmental devastation.
Justseeds Artists' Cooperative is a decentralized community of artists who have banded together to both sell their work online in a central location and to collaborate with and support each other and social movements.
More Events below!
Call for T-Shirt Designs
Posted March 26, 2010 by jmacphee in Calls for Art
Our friends over at Liberation Ink have a contest running to get and print great designs for US Social Forum t-shirts for Detroit. Here's the call:
Have you ever dreamed of seeing one of your designs on a Liberation Ink t-shirt? This could be your chance. For the first time ever, Liberation Ink is holding an open t-shirt design contest.We're inspired by the upcoming 2010 US Social Forum in Detroit, and we hope you are, too. More than 15,000 social justice organizers, activists, workers, and teachers are expected to converge in Detroit this summer because they believe that "Another World Is Possible!"
New Christopher Cardinale mural at ABC No Rio
Posted March 26, 2010 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
If you're in the NYC area, stop by ABC No Rio to check out the Ides of March show, but make sure to take a look at the outside of the building as well as the inside. Christopher Cardinale has a great new mural installed on the front of the building:
Taring Padi artist Mohamed Yusuf
Posted March 25, 2010 by roger_peet in Art & Politics
I've recently returned from six weeks traveling in Indonesia, during which I spent a week with the artists of the Taring Padi cooperative in Yogyakarta, Central Java. I'll be posting entries for the next several weeks pertaining to aspects of my travels, some art-related, some not. I thought I'd start off with a bit of a bang- a partial photo-gallery of some of the pictures I was able to take of art made by one of my gracious hosts, Mohamed Yusuf (also known as Ucup).
Enjoy more images below!
A Letterpress House of Her Own
Posted March 25, 2010 by bec_young in Inspiration
Artnoose of Ker-bloom! zine fame is trying an unusual experiment to get her own house in which to set up a letterpress shop -- she's raising the money on Kickstarter.com, in which individuals are asked for a donation but only charged if the money is raised in full. I wanted to post this because it's a totally cute video, and Artnoose is quite a force for good in Pittsburgh, creator of many interesting events, sweet prints, tattoos and vegan cupcakes; but also because it's an inspiration to see someone creatively fundraising for their dream. Artnoose has punctually printed a new edition of Ker-bloom! every two months since 1996, so I think it's safe to say this is more serious than a pipe dream; she's in it for the long haul.
Drawing All the Time: Week 24
Posted March 24, 2010 by colin_matthes in Inspiration
Probably the silliest image I have posted. I was looking through my planner and it as on a blank page. It cracked me up. I have no idea when or why.
Shouts from the Wall
Posted March 23, 2010 by Jesus_Barraza
Three Justseeds members have a exhibit opening this week in Philadelphia, if your in town join us! The exhibit features 50 posters and prints that document the world as we see it through our eyes.
Opening Saturday March 27
6:00pm - 7:30pm
Leeway Foundation Office
1315 Walnut Street, Suite 832
Leeway's Spring 2010 exhibit, "Shouts from the Wall," features fifty limited-edition prints, posters, and apparel, covering issues of current national and global interest created by Favianna Rodriguez, Jesus Barraza, and Melanie Cervantes, members of Taller Tupac Amaru; Beth Pulcinella (LTA '09, ACG '08) co-founder of RECLAIM; and bex (LTA '09). EXHIBIT RUNS March 25-June 25, 2010
16 Beaver Group in NYC needs your support
Posted March 23, 2010 by nicolas_lampert
This is a letter asking friends and supporters of 16 Beaver Group for
assistance. We have never asked for money for sustaining the space.
Unfortunately, in these last months, we have encountered some challenges
which require this unprecedented step.
In the past 6 months, we have been struggling over our lease renewal with
the building owner of 16 Beaver Street. We are doing our best to resolve
this situation directly and through legal channels. However, the inability
to clarify our status in the space has prevented us from bringing in a new
partner to share the 4th floor with us, thus denying us a significant
portion of our monthly rent for the space. And thus, since September have
been accruing debt.
IVAW protest recruiting stations in Madison with Mud Stencils
Posted March 18, 2010 by nicolas_lampert in Art & Politics
IVAW taking mud stencils to the recruiters in Madison, Wisconsin from Dan S Wang on Vimeo.
Dan S. Wang has shared some incredible video footage of an IVAW mud stenciling action in Madison, Wisconsin that took place on March 17th, 2010 - the anniversary date of the bombing of Baghdad. Aaron Hughes, along with Madison IVAW chapter members Todd Dennis and Nathan Toth, placed anti-war mud stencils at the front doors of military recruitment stations in Madison.
Handbook of Public Pedagogy
Posted March 18, 2010 by nicolas_lampert in Books & Zines
Jennifer A. Sandlin, Brian D. Schultz, and Jake Burdick have edited a very impressive study on radical practices in the public sphere which includes essays and interviews from Henry A. Giroux, Grace Lee Boggs, Noam Chomsky, William Ayers, Maxine Greene, Anne Elizabeth Moore, among others. I contributed an essay titled “Permission to Disrupt: REPOhistory and the Tactics of Visualizing Radical Social Movements in Public Space.”
Justseeds members and others will recognize the cover image – a photo of the Street Art Workers (SAW) posters!
The table of contents are listed below.
Drawing All the Time: Week 23
Posted March 17, 2010 by colin_matthes in Inspiration
Mary Kelly Here is a drawing in celebration of Mary Kelly, the Irish nurse and mother of 4 who decommissioned a US war plane with an axe while it was illegally refueling on its way to Iraq. I do not like the drawing a whole lot, but Mary Kelly is an inspiration. Read more below.
Mary Kelly's Statement
Ides Of March Exhibit at ABC No RIo
Posted March 17, 2010 by k_c_
ABC No Rio's bi-annual building-wide show is opening this Friday! There is a contribution from Justseeds member Kevin Caplicki, in the computer center on the 5th floor, check the flicks below. This will be the last Ides show in the current building, since ABC has raised enough money to construct a new building in the same location. Come out!
ABC No Rio's Ides of March
The Seventh Biennial Building-Wide Exhibition
March 19 - April 9
Over 50 Artists on 4 Floors
OPENING: Friday March 19 at 7:00pm
Rad Teen Art of the Week: Capitalism Train
Posted March 16, 2010 by mary_tremonte in Inspiration
This week I'm bringing you rad art, rather than print...this drawing is from a project that students in Schenley High School's Theory of Knowledge course did a few years ago. Students were directed to illustrate a key quote from Marx. Shaun and I were totally captivated by these drawings when we spied them in a stack in the corner of the classroom---this was not a project that we had any hand in creating, rather, this was just part of their high school curriculum! You can peep more of them HERE. The text on this drawing reads: The state, an engine of repression, can never be made into an instrument of welfare. There are so many great details on this drawing...enjoy!
Signs of Change Portland, OR CLOSES Friday March 19th
Posted March 16, 2010 by dara_g in Art & Politics
Just want to make a short post to let people in the Pacific North West know that the exhibit Signs of Change closes this Friday!
Here are the details:
http://www.portlandmercury.com/portland/power-to-the-poster/Content?oid=2264175
Interview with Katie Kaplan
Posted March 15, 2010 by mary_tremonte in Interviews
I have worked with Katie Kaplan since she was 15 and she and her bandmates came to a zinemaking workshop that I was hosting at the library. She participated in the F-Word, TTYL (Totally Teens Youth Lounge), RUST, and Youth Invasion at the Warhol, and was one of our first Youth Open Studio shop assistants at AIR. She is now a junior at Pratt and is accompanying Heather White and myself to Brazil at the end of March to do some silkscreen printing projects. We are self-fundraising for this trip with Brazilian dinners at my house and prints on paper and T-shirts. (you can buy Katie's print, Work Pants, HERE). I thought her having her first print for sale on Justseeds would be a nice opportunity to ask her some questions about her work. Here we go!
Tell me a bit about your background and artistic process. What influences and inspires you in your work? How do you go about creating your prints?
I was really lucky as a teenager. I was exposed to so many different art forms through different public programs, working at Artist Image Resource and the Warhol museum, and going to an arts high school. I was surrounded by really supportive and inspiring people at these places. My artistic process is really all over the place, which I guess my work reflects. People, places, materials, processes, events, history- I draw all the time, and always have many projects going at once. I usually start from a place of personal experience, and then that very naturally flows into my larger worldview.
Picturing Cooperation at AS220
Posted March 13, 2010 by bec_young in Inspiration
Two weeks ago I finished a residency at AS220 in Providence, RI., where I spent a lot of time printing in the community print shop. This short video about the print shop was finished while I was there, and it's a great introduction to the shop and some of the people you might meet there.
During my residency, I lead a participatory workshop called "Picturing Cooperation." The premise of the workshop was that we don't see a lot of images of cooperation in the media, and if we are not so fortunate as to see it in our lives, how do we know what it looks like? And if we can't visualize it, how are we going to create it? During the workshop we brainstormed where cooperation happens, with what actions and by whom, and we took turns posing in groups while the other group sketched. After that we headed over to the print shop and made a giant collaborative print. Here's a photo of the workshop, and the print I made that was inspired by it. I am always interested in group process: how it can work, and why it doesn't sometimes; and I really enjoyed my sojourn to a new city to draw a group of strangers and friends into the outwardly dubious but ultimately satisfying project of getting along.
SDS Milwaukee Report from Rally/Meeting with Chancellor
Posted March 12, 2010 by nicolas_lampert in In the News
(Readers of the Justseeds blog may be aware that SDS Milwaukee was the co-sponsor of the Justseeds exhibit "Which Side Are You On" that took place last Spring.)
3/12/10
From SDSMKE: "Over 70 students, professors and teachers assistants picketed outside the chancellor’s office, as four organizers met inside with the chancellor to demand that he drop the threat of academic punishment for the 16 student protesters who were arrested during the March 4 National Day of Action for Education Rights.
“15 police in riot gear were inside the building protecting the chancellor,” noted Students for a Democratic Society organizer Rachel Matteson who met with the chancellor. “We won two basic demands today, which were to have the chancellor participate in a public forum about the demands of the UWM Education Rights Campaign and to have more investigation into the excessive use of police force on March 4, but the academic punishment of the protesters is still uncertain and the much larger struggle for student and worker rights must continue.”
WFMU fundraising drive-til Sunday
Posted March 12, 2010 by k_c_ in Inspiration
My favorite listener sponsored, freeform radio station is doing their annual fundraising drive. Its the best station out there. I've been listening since I was in High School, half my life! Help them out and listen to it at wfmu.org.
Women of Color HERstory Events
Posted March 12, 2010 by mary_tremonte in Events
Please join dynamic women of color activists, experts, innovators, artists and entrepreneurs at the "Kinks, Locks & Twist: Environmental and Reproductive Justice Conference 2010."
The third year of Kinks, Locks and Twists will be bigger and better than ever and we hope you will join us for this groundbreaking opportunity to achieve Human Rights for women of color in the Greater Pittsburgh Region at the intersection of two powerful social change movements.
Power Up girls will be attending the conference and assisting with live silkscreen printing in the afternoon. Saturday evening, celebrate Women of HERstory month and New Voices Pittsburgh's 6-Year Anniversary, with a celebration featuring music, art, performances and more...Justseeds artist Mary Tremonte joins others in exhibiting work in the silent auction.
for a full calendar of HERstory events and more information, look HERE
New Shirts on ThreadMe UK
Posted March 12, 2010 by jmacphee in Justseeds Collective Projects
I was approached awhile back by a new fair trade lefty clothing outfit in the UK called ThreadMe about them using a couple of my poster designs on T-shirts. Well, it looks like that project has finally come to fruition, with two different designs now available for sale. The hipster fashion shots of the shirts really throw it over the top, they just crack me up so much, I love it! Buy a shirt from ThreadMe HERE.
collage of the week (22)
Posted March 11, 2010 by nicolas_lampert in Justseeds Collective Projects
Another reason to protest Obama: His support for nuclear power plants.
Transformazium Music Video
Posted March 11, 2010 by k_c_ in Film & Video
An endearing animation about a project some friends have been creating in Braddock, PA. I can't say I feel the same about Braddock. The sound of the steel mill and the polluted environment are thankfully absent. Regardless the folks involved are in a category of the most dedicated and hardworking peeps I know, and they know creative folks, watch it!
Transformazium Music Video from Joshua Tonies on Vimeo.
Transformazium: uses the creative process and locally identified resources to transform ideas into tangible social and economic benefits. Our collaborative arts programming and skill-building workshops connect communities stratified by class, race and age and expand upon existing community networks and resources, while rendering models of possibility for other post-industrial cities.
Drawing All the Time: Week 22
Posted March 10, 2010 by colin_matthes
a detail, full image if you click below
15th Annual Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair
Posted March 10, 2010 by jmacphee in Events
Justseeds will be tabling again at the San Francisco Anarchist Book Fair, March 13-14th. A number of us will also be doing a panel at the book fair on Sunday, see the schedule for more info. Come by and say "Hi!" and pick up some awesome books and art!:
15th Annual Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair
Saturday, March 13, 2010, 10am – 6pm
Sunday, March 14, 2010, 11am – 5pm
San Francisco County Fair Building
Golden Gate Park, 9th Ave and Lincoln Way
For more information call 415.431-8355 or visit www.sfbookfair.wordpress.com
From Chile: Productora de Comunicación Social call for solidarity
Posted March 10, 2010 by k_c_
From some friends that create a really awesome anti-authoritarian video-magazine, Synapsis, in Chile.
CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY:
Dear comrades,
The situation of this region called Chile is already known, thus we believe more details about the earthquake are not necessary, as the Internet offers a lot of information about what took place.The group of individuals that make up the Productora de Comunicación Social* escaped physical damage, even though during the earthquake a couple of comrades from our organization were in Concepción, one of the most devastated regions - leaving the site where they were pretty much uninhabitable and losing some equipment used for the work of the organization.
In Santiago, our main workplace and where meetings were held, also home to a couple of our comrades - the Casa Volnitza - was partially destroyed. Currently, we are looking into repairing the site, since neither the Productora nor the Sociedad de Resistencia Santiago**, with whom we share the space, have another place to go to.
Justseeds Show in Philly
Posted March 9, 2010 by colin_matthes
A few photos from a Justseeds show in Philadelphia. Justseeds shows opened last Friday at A Space and Studio 34 in Philly.
Avram Finkelstein: Silence=Death Project
Posted March 9, 2010 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
My friend Chris Bravo just sent along this great short video/interview piece with Avram Finkelstein, one of the early AIDS activists in NYC and member of the Silence=Death Project. It's a really nice short piece where he explores the relationship between image making and negotiations with the power structure:
March 4th, 2010: Police Attack 880 Interstate Takeover
Posted March 9, 2010 by Jesus_Barraza in Art & Politics
Some video footage from the shutdown of the freeways around downtown Oakland.
The City is Yours
Posted March 8, 2010 by colin_matthes in Justseeds Collective Projects
Here are a few daytime shots of the Cut and Paint clay mural we put up in Philly last week.
LIST: Best 12 Books I Read in 2009
Posted March 8, 2010 by jmacphee in Justseeds Collective Projects
I've been trying to organize some of us Justseed-ers to start posting top ten lists of various things, I've always thought they were fun to both write and read. To kick it off, here's my list of the best 12 books I read in 2009 (in alphabetical order by author):
1. A Woman of the Iron People by Eleanor Arnason
2. Penguin by Design by Phil Baines
3. On the Wall by Janet Braun-Reinitz & Jane Weissman
4. Red Star Over Russia by David King
5. Bakunin by Mark Leier
6. Wobblies & Zapatistas by Staughton Lynd & Andrej Grubacic
7. Live Working of Die Fighting by Paul Mason
8. How to Make Trouble and Influence People by Iain McIntyre
9. Manituana by Wu Ming
10. The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson
11. You Don't Have to Fuck People Over to Survive by Seth Tobocman
12. Incognegro by Frank B. Wilderson, III
Eleanor Arnason, A Woman of the Iron People (William Morrow & Co, 1991).
It had been a couple years at least since I had read much science fiction before this past year, but my interest was re-sparked when I was invited to the Think Galactic political sci-fi convention this past summer in Chicago. I had never heard of Arnason, but she was one of the invited guests, so I went to the library and picked up A Woman of the Iron People, one of her most popular novels. Wow, what a great book! Like the best Le Guin, Arnason builds a new and interesting world, and instead of wasting it with one-dimensional relationships and dramatic battles, she uses it to explore the implications of very different political, economic, and scientific realities on the fabric of individual relationships and larger social relations. Don't let the terrible cover scare you (Arnason has great stories about the terrible covers her books have been saddled with!), pick this up and give it a read.
recent press release from SDS Milwaukee on March 4th Student Protests
Posted March 7, 2010 by nicolas_lampert in In the News
SDS Condemns Repression of Education Rights Rally
Drop All Charges Against the Milwaukee 16!
Milwaukee Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) is proud of the 250 students and workers who stood up for the March 4th National Day of Action to Defend Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM).
The university administration is intimidated by the UWM Education Rights Campaign, an alliance that Milwaukee SDS helped create of over 20 organizations that are demanding to lower high-level administrative salaries, democratize the school, and establish just policies for workers and students.
Recent Press Round-up
Posted March 7, 2010 by jmacphee in Justseeds Collective Projects
There's been a small flurry of press and features on a couple of my recent projects, the Paper Politics: Socially Engaged Printmaking Today book, and the Signs of Change exhibition in Portland. Check it out if your interested:
1. Paper Politics interview on ZNET
2. Paper Politics review on Alibi.com
3. Signs of Change review on Printeresting.org
4. Signs of Change review in the Portland Mercury
5. A great radio show on KBOO about Signs of Change (narrated by none other than Justseeds' Alec Icky Dunn and Dara Greenwald)
Logorama
Posted March 6, 2010 by k_c_ in Film & Video
Clever, and nominated for the Academy Awards best animated short
[Oscars 2010 Mejor Cortometraje] - Logorama
Logorama short film Logorama is a 15 min animated short made using only Trade Mark Logos as characters and scenarios. It was made with 2,500 logos, by the French Animation Studiom H5 and Minuit Productions.
18 arrested at UWM National Day of Action for Education Rights
Posted March 5, 2010 by nicolas_lampert in In the News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Milwaukee Students for a Democratic Society Condemn Police Brutality, Demands Justice, Continues the Struggle for Education Rights.
18 arrested, 250 rally for education rights at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for the March 4 National Day of Action for Education Rights.
March 4, 2010 – Milwaukee, WI - Students for a Democratic Society is an organization that stands for social justice, peace, and equality. In the face of massive budget cuts at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, we helped form a campus-wide coalition for education rights, called the UWM Education Rights Campaign, consisting of dozens of organizations, including the professor and teacher assistant union.
The campaign organized a peaceful demonstration on March 4th, part of a national day of action to defend education (www.defendeducation.com). The local campaign organized a speak-out to bring attention to our demands. The rally ended in a march to Chapman Hall, to deliver petition signatures to a Chancellor that has thus far refused to meet with us, instead choosing to introduce us to more campus police and locked doors.
Montreal Artists Against Israeli Apartheid
Posted March 5, 2010 by Jesse_Purcell
500 Montreal artists issue public call to support the international campaign for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israeli apartheid…
Today, a broad spectrum of Montreal artists are standing in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom and supporting the growing international campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against the Israeli state. Last winter, the Israeli state launched a violent military assault on the Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip, leaving over 1400 Palestinians dead, including over 300 children. Despite the official end of military operations, the blockade continues to this day, with devastating consequences for Gaza’s residents.
Over 60 years from the beginning of the ongoing Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) in 1948, in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from historic Palestine through Israel's creation, Montreal artists are united in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom and justice.
The City is Yours
Posted March 4, 2010 by nicolas_lampert in Justseeds Collective Projects
and the street art is made with red clay.
A number of Justseed's members are in Philadelphia this week installing three different shows at three separate venues across the city as part of independent projects associated with Philagrafika 2010.
Here are install shots from the Medium Resistance show at the Ice Box (Crane Arts) of our red-clay mud stencil! The image is by Alec Icky Dunn (included in the Cut and Paint zine), the technique was inspired by Jesse Graves, and the mud stencil crew was Nicolas Lampert, Colin Matthes, Josh MacPhee, Erik Ruin, Emily Abendroth, and the fine folks at Crane Arts who provided incredible assistance every step of the way.
All three Justseed's / Cut and Paint shows open this Friday. Information posted below.
6th Annual Israeli Apartheid Week
Posted March 4, 2010 by Jesse_Purcell
Israeli Apartheid Week in Montreal kicks of today.
Check apartheidweek.org for more information about events in Montreal and 46 other cities around the world.
This years I.A.W. trailer has some well done animations well worth checking out.
Al Jazeera English - Inside Story on I.A.W.
Swoon's Art for Bhopal pt1
Posted March 4, 2010 by jmacphee in Art & Politics
Here's the first of a series of posts from Swoon:
Here are some photo collage pages I made about the amazing Sambhavna Trust Clinic in Bhopal India. This place is one of the most impressive independent community initiatives I have ever seen. It is run by doctors, scientists, volunteers, and community members, many of whom are themselves victims of the 1984 Union Carbide disaster. It is a beautiful and welcoming oasis in the middle of one of the world's worst industrial disasters. These photos will be a part of a show benefiting the Bhopal Medical Appeal, who still continue to fight for justice for the disaster victims, for whom Dow Chemical (Union Carbide's parent company) still refuses responsibility. For more info, check out these sites: Bhopal.org and Artforbhopal.tumblr.com
Undocumented youth immigrants walk 1500 miles for their DREAMS. They need your support!
Posted March 4, 2010 by Favianna_Rodriguez
All Gaby Pacheco ever wanted was to finish college and teach music to disabled children. Brought to the United States by her parents as a young girl, Gaby has excelled in school, done extensive community service, and become an accomplished musician. But in spite of her hard work, she’s excluded from the workplace solely because of her immigration status. And she’s not alone. Her story is like those of thousands of other immigrant children who every day are robbed of basic opportunities to live and thrive in this country.
So on January 1, 2010, Gaby decided to walk. She and three fellow students, Carlos, Juan, and Felipe are walking 1,500 miles from Miami to Washington, D.C. to call on policymakers to fix a failed system that has kept them and millions of other immigrants in the shadows, with no pathway to a better life.
They call this their TRAIL OF DREAMS and they need your support. It easy, click on the link: http://www.Trail2010.org/action
After walking 600 miles, they recently entered the hostile territory in the Deep South. Last week they encountered an anti-immigrant rally led by the Ku Klux Klan. Today they walked straight into Gwinnett County, Georgia -- home of Sheriff R.L. “Butch” Conway, who is notorious for his anti-immigrant policies. Conway is known for being one of the most aggressive law enforcement officials to employ the 287g program, which authorizes local police enforcement to act as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
the Missoula Oblongata in Brooklyn tonight
Posted March 3, 2010 by kristine_virsis in Events
Tonight the Missoula Oblongata will be performing their new play, The Moon, The Raccoon, The Hot Air Balloon (an hour long play set at the worlds fair with magic and palindromes!), along with an acoustic set by Laura Stevenson and the Cans.
Wednesday, March 3rd.
8:00pm
Dominic, Borth, And Angie's apartment
102 Ryerson st. #2
Clinton Hill, Brooklyn
$6 Suggested Donation.
Drawing All the Time: Week 21
Posted March 3, 2010 by colin_matthes in Inspiration
Half brainstorming, half drawing. not sure where this is going yet.
Online Privacy Tips from Riseup
Posted March 3, 2010 by jmacphee in In the News
Our friends at Riseup.net just sent out a new newsletter, which contained a short but useful section on online privacy. I've reprinted it below:
How to protect your privacy online ----------------------------------------------------Working on this issue is really a social problem, not an individual
problem. Asking individuals to spend a lot of time practicing 'privacy
hygiene' is both impractical and politically dubious. Creating privacy
online, in our opinion, should be done communally by supporting
alternatives.However, there are some things which we recommend that are mostly
'install and forget' measures, and don't require ongoing or tedious
maintenance.If you use Firefox, a web browser we recommend
(http://help.riseup.net/mail/#use_firefox), you can install various
extensions to use when browsing. Firefox is free software, and community
members have written software to add new features, and anybody can
download these extensions (see https://addons.mozilla.org/ for more
information about Firefox extensions.)Here are some Firefox extensions that we recommend:
* GoogleSharing (https://we.riseup.net/help/googlesharing)
* Targeted Advertising Cookie Opt-Out (TACO) (http://taco.dubfire.net/)
* Adblock Plus (http://adblockplus.org/en/)You can also do web searches at https://ssl.scroogle.org/
Linoleum Cutting Workshop in Salt Lake City, Utah w/JS Artist, Favianna Rodriguez
Posted March 1, 2010 by Favianna_Rodriguez in Justseeds Collective Projects
I will be in Salt Lake City, Utah this week visiting the University of Utah and the Mestizo Institute of Culture & Arts. My art exhibit will be up from March 1 - April 4, 2010. Location is: 631 West North Temple, Salt Lake City. Sign up for my Community Linoleum Cutting workshop on Friday, March 5 @ 6 pm. Call 801-669-4224 to register. Workshop sponsored by M.E.Ch.A.
This poster is available for sale on this site as well. click here
First Solo Show in East Coast for JS Artist, Favianna Rodriguez
Posted March 1, 2010 by Favianna_Rodriguez
I am very excited about this show which will feature a lot of my newest artwork around the themes of immigration reform, food security, climate justice and L-O-V-E. Been working round the clock for this exhibit. Please spread the word.
Exhibit Opening Night //
Friday, March 12, 2010, 7-11 PM
Global beats & local organic veggie refreshments
Closing Event //
Saturday, April 3, 2010, 7-11 PM
58 COLES STREET, JERSEY CITY, NJ 07302
DIRECTIONS: 58 Gallery is easily accessible from NYC by PATH train. Enter the PATH station on 6th Ave. at 33rd, 23rd, 14th, 9th, Christopher St., or World Trade in Manhattan and exit at Grove St. in Jersey City. Take a short walk up Newark Ave., make a right onto Coles St. The gallery is between 3rd and 4th. 58 Coles Street.
For more info, visit: Fifty8.com
About The Artist:
Favianna Rodriguez is an artist who has helped foster resurgence in political arts both locally and internationally. Named by UTNE Magazine as a leading visionary artist and changemaker,” Rodriguez is renown for her cultural media projects dealing with social issues such as war, immigration, and globalization, as well as for her leadership in establishing innovative institutions that promote and engage new audiences in the arts. Through her work we witness the changing U.S. metropolis and a new diaspora in the arts. In 2009, Rodriguez co-founded Presente.org, a national online organizing network dedicated to the political empowerment of Latino communities.
Defiant Proclamations
Posted March 1, 2010 by jmacphee in Events
I'm involved in a number of Bay Area events coming up in mid-March, loosely in connection with the SF Anarchist Bookfair. Russell Howze, author of Stencil Nation and purveyor of HappyFeetTravels.org, is putting together a one night political poster exhibition at Cell Space which promises to be interesting. The Interference Archive (what Dara and I have named our increasingly unwieldy collection of posters, prints, books, ephemera, etc...) is contributing work, as are a number of other cool folks with interesting materials to share. Check it out:
Defiant Proclamations
Radical Posters from the 1960s to the Present
For decades, Bay Area walls have been pasted with bold art and pertinent messages about the politics, practices, and abuses of contemporary mainstream culture and its co-opted voices. Also speaking outside the frameworks of organized labor and left movements, individual artists and collectives have shouted defiant proclamations with ink and paper. Today, political graphics have reached a broad audience via many media sources, hopefully creating a new wave of radical art as well as a redefinition of visual art and it’s usual commodified structures. With a strong history in the Bay Area, this one night only exhibit will feature works old and new, giving a glimpse of the broad range of opinions and styles that have papered walls across the area.
Thursday, March 11 (one night only!)
7 pm to midnight
FREE!
CELLspace Gallery
2050 Bryant St., San Francisco, CA 94110
Feminist Press 40th Anniversary Party
Posted March 1, 2010 by jmacphee in Books & Zines
My upcoming book collecting all of the Celebrate People's History Posters and then some will be coming out on the Feminist Press in November! If you're in NYC, show them some support and come out by their 40th Anniversary Party (wow, what if Justseeds lasted 40 years, I can't even imagine it!). Info below:
Manifest Equality
Posted March 1, 2010 by Jesus_Barraza in Art & Politics
We will be participating in a MANIFEST EQUALITY an exhibit which gathers together a diverse array of hundreds of the nation’s most talented visual artists under one roof to celebrate that role and join with our LGBT friends, family members and co-workers to demand full and equal rights for all.
We each have a piece in the exhibit, Melanie has her print "Mis Mamas" which we printed as a limited edition screen print that's about two by three feet big. I have a poster I created for this exhibit that poses the question "Did we vote on your Marriage"? It features an illustration of a couple friends who are engaged and under current California Law do not have the right to marry each other.
MANIFEST EQUALITY
March 3rd – March 7th, 2010
1341 Vine Street,
LA, CA
