September 2012
Justseeds + Dark Dark Dark + Sweet Water Organics
Posted September 28, 2012 by nicolas_lampert in Justseeds Member Projects
Justseeds is participating in the BAY VIEW GALLERY NIGHT in Milwaukee tonight. If your in town, stop by Sweet Water Organics - a large scale urban aquaponics farm housed inside a warehouse - and see a new install of prints by Pete Railand, Nicolas Lampert, and Colin Matthes. And join us for a magical night of art, dance and music. Urarider (Naomi Joy & Clare Hubbard) will be performing before a special dance performance from the Friction Dance Company, immediately followed by a performance from Dark Dark Dark with Hello Death supporting.
Doors open at 4pm. Performances began at 8pm.
**There will be a separate requested donation for the Hello Death / Dark Dark Dark performance.** Performance at 9pm from Friction Dance Company.
Print Lottery Benefit for AS220 Community Printshop!
Posted September 27, 2012 by erik_ruin in Art & Politics
Hey all- we're in the final few days of Print Lottery 2012, an uniquely structured benefit for AS220 Community Printshop. Members of the public can purchase a $100 ticket, guaranteed to win a print at the culminating event on this Saturday September 29, 2012. In the interest of fun, artwork in the show is won by way of a blind lottery. Yes, you can order long-distance and have your prints shipped to you!
Prints have been donated by a wide variety of folks, including Justseeds members Meredith Stern, Melanie Cervantes, Jesus Barraza, Mary Tremonte, Bec Young and of course myself, as well as a bunch of other friends/favorite printmakers like Swoon, William Schaff, Amos Paul Kennedy, Kyla & James Quigley (AKA Gunsho), Dennis McNett, Emmy Bright, Xander Marro, Pippi Zornoza, the list goes on! the AS220 Community Printshop makes printmaking accessible & affordable to a lot of folks, myself included, and deserves yr support!
For added inspiration, check out this sweet video about the shop-
Communal History from Timothy Whitney on Vimeo.
Justice for Derek Williams
Posted September 27, 2012 by nicolas_lampert in In the News
14 months ago in July of 2011 Milwaukee Police left 22-year old Derek Williams to die as he begged for medical help from the back of an MPD squad car, hand cuffed. MPD had tackled and arrested Williams, breaking a bone in his neck, and refused to help him until he suffocated to death in the squad car several minutes later. Community pressure and the release of the squad car video of Williams death has placed renewed pressure on his case. Earlier this week Williams' death is now being ruled a homicide and not a natural death, according to the district attorney's office, and a federal investigation may be launched.
Two graphics, one by Paul Kjelland (top) and one by Jacob Flom (bottom) demand justice for Derek Williams.
Below is a link to the video, which is incredibly hard to watch, but vital in demonstrating why police accountability is needed to end these acts of police brutality and murder.
The Bridal Fair by Susan Simensky Bietila
Posted September 27, 2012 by meredith_stern in Art & Politics
This comic is printed in the hand sewn zine of "This is an Emergency!" a print portfolio on gender justice and reproductive rights. It was originally printed in World War 3 Illustrated.
To purchase a copy of the portfolio, you can click HERE.
To check out the website for this project, click HERE.
The Black Panther Party Film Festival
Posted September 26, 2012 by k_c_ in Events
The 4th Annual Black Panther Party Film Festival:
"Endangered Species & Political Prisoners"
Friday, September 28th – Saturday, September 29th
&
Friday, October 5th – Saturday, October 6th
The Maysles Cinema
343 Lenox Avenue
(Malcolm X Boulevard),
New York, NY
WE WANT education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society. We want education that teaches us our true history and our role in the present-day society.
Go to the Maysles Website for the full schedule.
Easton Cowboys & Cowgirls Book Release in Brooklyn, Tonight!
Posted September 25, 2012 by k_c_ in Books & Zines
NYC Book Release:
Freedom Through Football: The story of the Easton Cowboys and Cowgirls
by Will Simpson & Malcolm McMahon
Tuesday September 25th, 7pm
Interference Archive
131 8th st. #4
Brooklyn, NY 11215
The anarchist football team [Easton Cowboys] formed out of a kick-about between a group of punks and kids from St Pauls and in 2012 celebrated its 20th year. Freedom Through Football tells the tale of a journey that has seen them smuggled into Zapatista communities under cover of darkness, play cricket in Compton, South Central LA, and soccer on the dusty pitches of Palestine. Along the way they’ve sheltered asylum seekers from Mozambique, spent an afternoon as uninvited guests at Windsor Castle and been joined by rampageous netballers, can can dancers and an up and coming street artist named Banksy. At times it’s been nothing if not a bumpy ride - as a team and as individuals they’ve had to confront imprisonment, death, drug and alcohol problems and meet them all head on.
This is the world the Easton Cowboys and Cowgirls have created for themselves. Freedom Through Football is the guide to this punk and anarchist-inspired, community-minded club that truly is like no other in British sport.
Presented by one of the founding members, Roger Wilson
Kristina Brown's image for "This is an Emergency!"
Posted September 25, 2012 by meredith_stern in Art & Politics
This print is from "This is an Emergency!" a print portfolio on gender justice and reproductive rights.
To purchase a copy of the portfolio, you can click HERE.
To check out the website for this project, click HERE.
Making art for Justice and Dignity in Arizona
Posted September 25, 2012 by Jesus_Barraza in Art & Politics
In early July we traveled to Arizona as part of a project we started, "Justicia y Dignidad", to work deepen the connections we have to three grassroots community organizations. We visited with No More Deaths, Tierra y Libertad Organization in Tucson and Puente Movement in Phoenix in order to deepen these collaborations and work more intentionally on art projects that support the work they do in their communities. To support the groups we are doing what we do best, creating artwork to support the campaigns they are running. We will design two posters for each organization producing offset and screen printed versions of the posters. We are also providing a series of workshops and skill shares for members and organizers. Our goal is to teach the organizations how we approach screen printing, stenciling, poster layout and photography as well as showcasing the work, through exhibition, that comes out of this collaboration. This was the first of three trips that we will make to Arizona and we hope that through these visits we will be able to better understand the issues impacting people there and to build a closer relationship with the organizations and their members who are working to improve the conditions of their communities.
Solar Powered Golf Cart
Posted September 24, 2012 by colin_matthes in Environment
I was out of the country for the past year. While I was away my father Neil designed and built a solar powered golf cart (in our case a work cart). I worked with him this summer installing electric at the Jefferson County Fair and it was amazing to see how effective the solar cart was. It was as fast as the gas powered carts, completely quiet, and was used for over 12 hours a day never needing a charge or any maintenance.
Neil making sure everyone knows he is solar powered.
Lake-Effect zine download
Posted September 24, 2012 by dylanminer in Books & Zines
You can download the PDF here.
I thought friends of Justseeds might be interested in the catalogue for 'Lake-Effect: Rurality and Ecology in the Great Lakes.' I have uploaded the PDF for your downloading pleasure. Feel free to send me any ideas or suggestions that you may have for future Lake-Effect projects.
JBbTC 120: Penguin African Library pt.10
Posted September 24, 2012 by jmacphee in Judging Books by Their Covers
For the final installment of book covers from the Penguin African Library (see the first nine posts HERE), I'm going to take a look at the other books on Africa Penguin was putting out during the same time period and a little later, 1961-1979. Some of these books are considered to be part of the Penguin African Library (or the "African Affairs" series, as it became known), although they don't have PAL numbers and don't mention the Library anywhere. I haven't been able to track down the entire story, but it appears that Ronald Segal kept editing a series of books on African for Penguin, even after the PAL moniker was dropped.
You can see from the early volumes that 1961-63 is when Penguin, and likely the broader public, started evolving in its perspective towards Africa. Colin Legum's Congo Disaster (1961), a critical look at Belgian colonialism, hits the shelves around the same time as Lucy Mair's Primitive Government, a traditional anthropological look at Africa. But what unites them is that both books have great covers! Legum's functions like the best of the early Penguin Special's, integrating red into a simple design mostly dependent on type to do the communication. The field of black is ominous, with Congo jumping to the foreground, and "disaster" hanging back, and becoming that much more intriguing because of it. The handdrawn vertical lines and all lowercase simultaneously seem to diminish the word yet increase the sense of tension and loss.
Pittsburgh Zine Fair
Posted September 22, 2012 by bec_young in Events
Shaun, Mary and Bec will be reppin' Justseeds at the 2nd Annual Pittsburgh Zine Fair today. Please stop by and see us if you are in the area! There will be workshops, panel discussions, demonstrations, and yes, zines!
The zine fair is free and open 11am until 7pm on the CMU Campus in the University Center Building, Wiegand Gymnasium. For more info visit pghzinefair.com.
Street Books
Posted September 21, 2012 by thea in Books & Zines
I'm so inspired by this project taking place in Portland, Oregon. Street Books is a bicycle-powered mobile library for people living outside. It is bicycle with a built in cart that is full books and two street Liberians; Laura Moulton and Sue Zalokar. Patrons are able to check out books with out the usual requirements of an ID and proof of address. They use the old school card with the pocket inside the cover and the patrons return the books when they are able. Those who wish to can be photographed with their book of choice, offer reviews, and contribute their own stories from the road which get shown at www. streetbooks.org.
Rad Graphics from Idinthakarai
Posted September 21, 2012 by mary_tremonte in Art & Politics
A new friend here in Toronto, Ponni, shared some amazing political graphics by Aarti Sunder, criticizing the government's use of the charge of Sedition to silence over 6,000 anti-nuclear activists (residents of the community) in Idinthakarai, Koodankulam, India. Literally pushed into the sea, people have been nonviolently protesting literally in the water, for hours at a time.
Take a look after the jump
Katrina Silander Clark's print for "This is an Emergency!"
Posted September 20, 2012 by meredith_stern in Art & Politics
This print is from "This is an Emergency!" a print portfolio on gender justice and reproductive rights.
To purchase a copy, you can click here. To check out the tumblr website for this project, click here.
The Illuminator Crew is "Crowd" Fundraising
Posted September 19, 2012 by k_c_ in Art & Politics
The Illuminator, in case you haven't heard, is a tactical media machine (aka a van with a really powerful projector, sound system, and library) that has been roaming the streets of New York City and beyond, bringing the spirit and message of the movement of the 99% to street corners and public squares everywhere.
Stain Mural in Charlotte, NC
Posted September 18, 2012 by jmacphee in Justseeds Member Projects
A month back I spent five days in Charlotte, NC with Chris Stain, helping him out with his install at the McColl Center for Visual Art. This included making a rad zine, and helping him paint out a huge mural, which you can see above and below...
Ian Cozzens from Secret Door Projects print for "This is an Emergency!"
Posted September 18, 2012 by meredith_stern in Art & Politics
This print is from "This is an Emergency!" a print portfolio on gender justice and reproductive rights.
To purchase a copy of the portfolio, you can click HERE.
To check out the website for this project, click HERE.
JBbTC 119: Penguin African Library pt.9
Posted September 17, 2012 by jmacphee in Judging Books by Their Covers
This is the 9th part of my series on the covers of the Penguin African Library and associated titles, and the second part on the covers of series editor Ronald Segal. You can see all the previous posts in the series HERE. In 1968, Segal took on the United States, with America's Receding Future (Penguin). I haven't read the book, but the cover photograph says plenty, dilapidated buildings in the shadow of the Capitol in DC. The use of a black and white photo adds to the sense that the US—or at least its dominance—may in fact be receding into the past, instead of forward into the future.
Certain Days 2013
Posted September 15, 2012 by jmacphee in Justseeds Group Projects
Once again, Justseeds members have been heavily involved in the art side of the always fabulous Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar. This year Santiago's art is on the cover, and Jesus, Melanie, and myself have artwork on the inside. This is an awesome project which directly supports political prisoners and education around the issues, so definitely pick a copy up, and hang it where people can see it!
Get your copy of the Certain Days 2013 calendar from us right here!
Lake-Effect: Rurality and Ecology in the Great Lakes
Posted September 14, 2012 by dylanminer
Lake-Effect, an exhibition at (scene) metrospace, is the first public event in an ongoing series of projects that interrogates the history, culture, and life of the Great Lakes. Lake-Effect is about the place I call home. It opens tonight in East Lansing, Michigan.
Interview with Gina Glantz
Posted September 13, 2012 by meredith_stern in Art & Politics
This interview is printed in the hand sewn zine of "This is an Emergency!" a print portfolio on gender justice and reproductive rights.
To purchase a copy of the portfolio, you can click HERE.
To check out the website for this project, click HERE.
A New Species of Monkey in DR Congo
Posted September 12, 2012 by roger_peet in In the News
I'm currently in DR Congo, in the capital Kinshasa, to be precise, waiting for a dawn flight to Kisangani in the Northeast. I'm volunteering with a team of scientists led by Drs. John and Terese Hart, who are leading a push to establish a new national park in the east, straddling the borders of Maniema and Orientale provinces. The Harts announced today the discovery of a new species of monkey in the forest where I'll be working for the next few months. It's an exciting announcement, the first new monkey species described for 29 years. The story of this little beast, known as the Lesula, is pretty poignant- a team of Congolese field researchers working for the park project noticed an unusual monkey coming ashore off a pirogue from a remote upstream region in the arms of the local schoolmasters' daughter, Georgette (pictured above).
If Walls Could Talk mural dedication
Posted September 12, 2012 by k_c_ in Art & Politics
My friend Katie Yamasaki, an incredible Brooklyn artist in Brooklyn, will have a mural dedication this week for a Kickstarter-funded project that connects incarcerated mothers with their children on the outside. The project, If Walls Could Talk, was developed in partnership with STEPS to End Family Violence and the NYC Dept. of Corrections.
Children from the East Harlem Community and the greater NYC area worked to design a mural that I painted with the mothers inside of the women's jail in Rikers Island. The women also created an image and message dedicated to their children and the East Harlem community. Last month, I worked with their children and other members of the East Harlem community to bring their message to life.
Please join community members, families of the incarcerated mothers, local representatives, and supporters of the project dedicate If Walls Could Talk (pt 2) on Friday, 9/14.
Mural Dedication: If Walls Could Talk, Part 2
Friday, September 14
5:30pm
SE Corner of 118th Street and 1st Ave. (Side of Patsy's Pizzeria)
You can see photographs of the mural in its Kickstarter Updates
Favianna Rodriguez's print for "This is an Emergency!"
Posted September 11, 2012 by meredith_stern in Art & Politics
This print is from "This is an Emergency!" a print portfolio on gender justice and reproductive rights.
To purchase a copy of the portfolio, you can click HERE.
To check out the website for this project, click HERE.
Two GI Resisters Rodney Watson and Kimberley Rivera Need Your Support NOW
Posted September 11, 2012 by nicolas_lampert in In the News
Kimberley Rivera and Rodney Watson who have sought refuge in Canada are now facing deportation threats from the Canadian government. Kimberly Rivera, the first women Iraq war resister to come to Canada, after she grew disillusioned with the war was ordered to return to the United States by September 20th. Kimberly and her family are weighing their legal options and asking you to show your support by writing letters to Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.
Rodney Watson is a Fort Hood Iraq war veteran who after facing a second deployment to Iraq choose to resist, desert, and seek refuge in Canada. In 2009 after facing the threat of deportation and jail Rodney sought sanctuary at the First United Church in Vancouver, Canada.
Chicago Teachers Strike - Day One
Posted September 10, 2012 by nicolas_lampert in Inspiration
The rubbish and anti-teacher statements from Rahm Emanuel is becoming hard to stomach. No wonder Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney is standing in support with him. And go figure - Obama has yet to take a side. Another case of the neo-liberal and neo-con design to privatize all things public. Truthout posted an informative article here that tells the teachers side of the story. And one can also check out the Chicago Teachers Union site for the union perspective. Much respect to all the Chicago students and parents who are standing in solidarity with their teachers.
JBbTC 118: Penguin African Library pt.8
Posted September 10, 2012 by jmacphee in Judging Books by Their Covers
I had been collecting the Penguin African Library books for awhile when I stumbled upon this copy of Into Exile at the local, and very cool, Brooklyn used book shop Unnameable. The cover was interesting and the author's name was familiar, then it hit me, this is the guy who built the PAL! I bought the book and read it over the next couple days. It's a great narrative touching on so many of the complexities of growing up, living in, and attempting to be politically active in South Africa. It ends before Segal hooks up with Penguin to start the African Library, but he does discuss publishing Africa South, and tells the harrowing story of sneaking out of South Africa with Oliver Tambo, then head of the African National Congress.
To the right is the dust jacket of the US edition published in 1963 by McGraw-Hill. The concept of the cover is cool, with a wall of type leading to a giant tear in the page, separating the title Into Exile from the rest of Segal's life. With the type so crammed it is a bit overwhelming and hard to read, but the enlarged title does provide eye relief, and visually carries the cover.
Greetings from Berlin
Posted September 9, 2012 by jmacphee in In the News
This came in recently from my friend Sandy in Berlin:
Interview with Peg Johnston by Sarah Reiter
Posted September 6, 2012 by meredith_stern in Art & Politics
This interview is printed in the hand sewn zine of "This is an Emergency!" a print portfolio on gender justice and reproductive rights.
To purchase a copy of the portfolio, you can click HERE.
To check out the website for this project, click HERE.
Slideshow: Jenn Pascoe's Paper Bag Stamp Documentation
Posted September 6, 2012 by shaun in Inspiration
I've been fascinated by my friend Jenn Pascoe's quietly growing collection of name stamps from the bottoms of paper bags. She keeps a Flickr set of these images, right now still a self-defined work in progress. I like these small gestures at some sort of individual humanity inside the industrial manufacturing machine. Anyone out there know more about the story behind these stamps?
Justseeds on the Cyclone!
Posted September 5, 2012 by shaun in Justseeds Group Projects
Whenever we get together as Justseeds members, it's not always about business and dire politics. We try to find time to hang out informally as well, recognizing that these social bonding times strengthen us as much, if not more, than our structured meetings ever could. Last weekend saw 20 of us in New York at the Interference Archive for one of our sort-of-annual planning retreats. After two very full days of meetings and discussion, we exploded upon Coney Island with the vigor that can only come from bottling yourself in two days of meetings. I, for one, got convinced to get on a rollercoaster for the first time since I was maybe 12... (more photos below)
"The Meek Shall Inherit" NYC Exhibition
Posted September 4, 2012 by meredith_stern in Events
Opening: Saturday, September 8, 6 - 8 PM here
421 Hudson Street Greenwich Village, NYC. Show runs until October 6.
Information about the opening can be found HERE.
This is an Emergency! Introduction
Posted September 3, 2012 by meredith_stern in Art & Politics
This is the Introduction to the reproductive rights and gender justice print portfolio, "This is an Emergency!"
To purchase a copy of the portfolio, you can click HERE.
To check out the website for this project, click HERE.
JBbTC 117: Penguin African Library pt.7
Posted September 3, 2012 by jmacphee in Judging Books by Their Covers
The Penguin African Library (see HERE for earlier cover posts) was the brain child of Ronald Segal, a Jewish South African who grew to despise the Apartheid system and organize against it first as a student, then as an independent intellectual and publisher. Although he identified with the Congress movement (which would later solidify into the African National Congress), he remained fiercely independent. He began publishing Africa South in 1956 out of a desire to create a space for independent political thought and dialogue in Southern Africa. He chronicles the ups and downs of publishing in his great memoir Into Exile. The magazine ran through 21 issues over 6 years (4 per year), ending with volume 6, number 1 in 1961.
By skimming the tables of contents, you can see why Segal was so effective as theb editor of the PAL, many of the writers for that series can be found in Africa South, including Brian Bunting, Basil Davidson, Ruth First, Patrick Keatley, and Freda Troup. In addition, well known and important writers (in Africa and out) are also inside the pages, including John Berger, Nadine Gordimer, Langston Hughes, Nelson Mandela, Ezekiel Mphahlele, and Julius Neyere.
Jurors in Jordan Miles case prefer to maintain white supremacy
Posted September 1, 2012 by bec_young in In the News
Jordan Miles, a teenager in Pittsburgh, was the subject of extreme racial profiling and police brutality in the winter of 2010. Ambushed by three undercover cops a few blocks from his home, the unarmed teen was beaten so hard as to sustain brain damage. To the disappointment of many Pittsburghers, the jury for the court case which concluded on August 8th came back in support of the officers. The Miles family is still looking for justice in a retrial, and in Rustbelt Radio's coverage of the case, Miles' sister says, "please be encouraged, and don't give up, because we never will." More info at justiceforjordanmiles.com
