Books & Zines
Nowtopia review online
Posted May 15, 2008 by jmacphee in Books & Zines
Erick Lyle recently wrote a great piece on Chris Carlsson's new book Nowtopia for the SF Bay Guardian. Check it out. I haven't had a chance to read the book yet, but it's on the top of the pile. Chris has a really interesting analysis of new class formations and cultural production.
Event: World War 3 Illustrated artist's reading
Posted May 14, 2008 by jmacphee in Events
Tonight!!
The Cup and Pen Small Press Reading Series
World War 3 Illustrated Artists
May 14th, from 8-10 pm at Think Coffee in Manhattan, 248 Mercer Street
There will be a fabulous reading featuring slide shows and multimedia by:
Rebecca Migdal
James Romberger
Sabrina Jones
Tom Keough
Fly
Mac McGill
Also featuring: our hostess the lovely Rebecca Alvarez; the vocal stylings
of Breeze; and the accompaniment of Andy Laties on saxaphone, flute,
harmonica and the garden hose!
Here's you chance to pick up an autographed copy of WW3, and be vastly
entertained while sipping java and nibbling cake.
Mimeo Mimeo #1
Posted May 14, 2008 by jmacphee in Books & Zines
Kyle Schlesinger, who a couple years back put together the cool self-published book Schablone Berlin with Caroline Koebel, has launched a new journal/periodical called Mimeo Mimeo.
According to Kyle:
Mimeo Mimeo is a forum for critical and cultural perspectives on the
Mimeograph Revolution, Artists’ Books and the Literary Fine Press. Edited by
Jed Birmingham and Kyle Schlesinger, this periodical will feature essays,
interviews, images, correspondence, artifacts, manifestos, poems, and
reflections on the graphic and material conditions of contemporary poetry
and language arts. Contributors to the first issue of Mimeo Mimeo include
Christopher Harter, Alastair Johnston, Stephen Vincent, and Jed Birmingham.
In New York City tomorrow, Thursday May 15, you can pick up a copy at a small press party at the Max Protetch Gallery at 511 W. 22nd, NYC between the hours of 6-8 PM.
Event: On The Lower Frequencies Book Release
Posted May 14, 2008 by jmacphee in Events
Tonight in San Francisco!!!
Come celebrate the release of
On the Lower Frequencies: A Secret History of the City
by Erick Lyle
out now from Soft Skull Press
On the Lower Frequencies: A Secret History of the City, from the editor of Scam Zine, looks back at the past ten years of fighting the war and gentrification in San Francisco. 272 pages of squatting the ruins of the Dot Com era, illegal punk shows in the streets and shutting down the city in anti-war protests!
Wednesday May 14 at Counterpulse (1310 Mission St. AT 9TH)
San Francisco
Featuring reading and slide show by Erick Lyle
Guest Speakers:
Paul Boden (SF Coalition on Homelessness)
Mary Howe (SF Needle Exchange)
Antonio Roman-Alcala (Alemany Farm)
Art by Zara Thustra and Ivy Jeanne
Photos by Heather Renee Russ (Cutter photozine)
and music by
Shotwell
Black Rainbow
The Judy Experience
A free vegan dinner will be available, as prepared by Leif Hebendal
Dineer/Speakers/Art at 6:00 PM
Bands at 9:00
This event is FREE, FREE, FREE!
Books will be on sale for $15 each.
The new issue of Scam Zine will be available for $3
In the Middle of a Whirlwind
Posted May 12, 2008 by k_c_ in Political Art
Justseeds member Kristine Virsis coordinated with the Team Colors crew to produce the accompanied image for their upcoming project "In the Middle of a Whirlwind"
In the Middle of a Whirlwind (Whirlwinds) inquires into current organizing efforts in the United States, and through that process, assembles a strategic analysis of current political composition as a tool for building political power.Whirlwinds’ strategic context is this summer’s RNC and DNC protests; through these documents and the discussions that erupt from them we hope to directly impact the anti-Convention organizing. In a larger sense, and in the long-term, Whirlwinds is intended to provide a set of useful documents for contemporary radical organizing. Each essay and interview addresses the issues of movement, working class power and composition, and/or gives strategic insight into organizing, and the strengths and weaknesses of current movement/s in the U.S.
A one-off online journal of theory, art, activism and organizing to be released May 25th!
Stencil Nation
Posted May 4, 2008 by jmacphee in Street Art / Graffiti
Long time friend Russell Howze, who has been running StencilArchive.org for years, is about to release a new stencil book that looks really promising! It's called Stencil Nation: Graffiti, Community and Art, and it's the only book I've seen since I released Stencil Pirates that attempts to deal with the ideas behind stenciling, where it actually comes from, and how it effects the world we're in. And unlike my book, Russell found a publisher who could print in full color, so you get the best of both worlds, a coffee table picture book and some thoughtful writing to chew on. It's slated for a June 1st release date on Manic d Press out of San Francisco. Russell will be touring around the country, so keep an eye on the book's website for dates, and keep an eye on your local bookstore to scoop up a copy.
NYC Anarchist Bookfair
Posted April 9, 2008 by jmacphee in Events
This Saturday, April 12th, is the New York City Anarchist Bookfair! This is the second annual bookfair, and last year's was great. Justseeds will be tabling: Kevin, Kristine, Erik, Dara and I will be taking turns selling radical art. There's going to be over 40 publishers, bookstores and political projects tabling, as well as meetings, presentations and an art show. Here's the info:
NYC Anarchist Bookfair
April 12th, 2008
Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Sq. South
Manhattan
Directions: Judson Memorial Church is located on the south side of Washington Square Park between Thompson and Sullivan Streets. Take the A, C, E, F trains to West 4th Street station; the R to 8th Street-NYU; or the 1 train to Christopher Street-Sheridan Square. The M1, M2, M3, M5, M6 and M8 bus lines also serve the area.
Kevin and I are the resident bookfair poster designers, and this year's poster features a photo of Emma Goldman giving a speech in Union Square, NYC. 2 color silkscreen prints of the design will be for sale at the bookfair!
Arab In America
Posted April 7, 2008 by jmacphee in Books & Zines
An old friend from Chicago, Toufic El Rassi, just released his first graphic novel, Arab In America, on Last Gasp Press. I haven't seen it yet (I went to buy a copy from Last Gasp at the SF Anarchist Bookfair and they were sold out!), but it's been getting some interesting reviews. Keep an eye out for it.
New book by Detroit activist Jhon Clark
Posted March 23, 2008 by bec_young in Books & Zines
I was pleased to be asked to design a cover illustration for a new poetry book, Being. Still, by my longtime friend and comrade, Jhon Clark. Jhon is a dedicated Detroit activist who really put his hands and his heart where his mouth is when it comes to creating community. Jhon's poem reflect, in his sparse style, the everyday tragedy and joy involved in living in a city like Detroit. He spends much of his time rebuilding his house and blogs about it at www.upsidedownhouse.wordpress.com. This is also a first release for White Print Inc., which sells the book online, "a new avant-garde Detroit press dedicated to unknown and emerging writers."
OUR FLESH OF FLAMES: collages by Theodore A. Harris, captions by Amiri Baraka
Posted February 26, 2008 by nicolas_lampert in Books & Zines
Philadelphia artist Theodore A. Harris, who has been creating some of best political collage work for the past decade, has a new book out that he collaborated on with Amiri Baraka. Check it out and encourage your local book store to order copies.
OUR FLESH OF FLAMES:
Collages by Theodore A. Harris
Captions by Amiri Baraka
Introduction by M. K. Asante, Jr.
Afterword by Gene Ray
Is now out and can be ordered from the publisher for $29.95
Anvil Arts Press
64 West Penn Street
Philadelphia, PA 19121
USA
215-849-2793
http://www.anvilartspress.cjb.net
Also check out the video interviews of LeRoy Johnson and Theodore A. Harris at their exhibit at the Penn State University HUB-Robeson Gallery ACRID DIALECTIC:The Visual Language of LeRoy Johnson and Theodore A. Harris
http://www.sa.psu.edu/usa/galleries/Videos.shtml
Shifting Map: Artists’ Platforms and Strategies for Cultural Diversity
Posted January 25, 2008 by dylan_miner in Books & Zines
There are some super rad art history books out there that aren’t frequently taught in art history classes. Lots of them aren’t even known in the radical art circles within which we traverse. In the course of preparing a class entitled ‘Horizontality + Creativity: Art as Social Justice,’ I have come across a bunch of these super rad books.
Post queer project Zine!
Posted January 23, 2008 by meredith_stern in Artwork Needed
I found this in the Bulletins on our myspace page...
Hi Friends,
I'm (finally) going to gather up all the postqueer contributions to put together a zine. Since PQP is an open platform, the zine will be, too, so I want to extend some advertising space in the back for fellow glue stick jockeys/paginators/queer zinesters, other queer-based projects, and businesses.
If you have a zine or project and would like to have an ad in the zine, get in touch. Sizes are 2.75" x 2.75." You can email them to me ( info at postqueerproject dot com), if they're saved @ at least 150dpi, as a .jpg, .eps, .tif, or .pdf. Or, of course, mail to PQP / PO Box 22474 / Oakland CA 94609
Free, of course... but even better if you're willing to trade ad space and/or forward this to all your zine-making friends and cohorts.
Let's shoot for a January 31 deadline, but contact me as soon as possible.
xxx,
lex / postqueerproject.com
myspace.com/postqueerproject
The Subversive Imagination
Posted December 12, 2007 by meredith_stern in Books & Zines
"The Subversive Imagination: The Artist, Society, and Social Responsibility"
Edited by Carol Becker
One of my favorite quotes from her is: "The more that is hidden and suppressed, the more simplistic the representation of daily life, the more one dimensional and caught in the dominant ideology the society is, the more art must reveal.”
This is a selection of essays about topics Just Seeds members have all thought about in our work. I am so excited about street art as our strongest tool of enacting true freedom of visual artistic expression. Most visual images in our landscape are advertisements. The only so-called "legitimate" arts works are done through public arts projects. This book brought up so many questions for me, I wonder what people's thoughts and experiences are with these issues....
-who decides what images/art should be displayed in a neighborhood?
-who has a voice? How do we provide spaces for these voices to be heard? Particularly peoples voices who are underrepresented and marginalized? Money, access to resources, information, and native language and writing/reading skills create an unequal playing field
-if public art is expected to be representative of the environment it lives in, how do we contact the public for their input?
-is the public defined by organizations, individuals, people who can afford to forward their own opinions?
-what is the responsibility of the artist in society?
-what is the responsibility of the society to the artist?
-what role should public and private funding play in the future lives of artists?
-art which claims/aims to be community based: what is community? What communities can/should artists relate to? Who constitutes community?
-Is public art supposed to imitate life? Or envision a better world? Or something entirely else?
-is art supposed to be democratic?
-Is art supposed to represent the artist? The viewer? The patron? Does one take precedent over the others?
Visions of Peace & Justice
Posted December 5, 2007 by nicolas_lampert in Books & Zines
Check out this great new book! “Visions of Peace & Justice is a full color book containing over 500 reproductions of political posters from the archives of Inkworks Press. Inkworks is a worker cooperative-union shop-green business in Berkeley, California started in 1974. During the 30+ years of Inkwork's history, the shop has functioned as a pillar of the progressive community in the Bay Area providing printing services including discounts and donations to social movements, community groups, and non-profits. This unique position has allowed Inkworks to accumulate a comprehensive and fascinating archive of beautiful political posters that have been printed on its presses compiled for the first time ever in this important historical document. Whether it's the American Indian Movement, Latin American Solidarity campaigns, Women's Liberation, community-based struggles against environmental racism, the current efforts to end the war in Iraq, or a broad range of other post-1960s US social movements, Visions of Peace & Justice records it all through the timeless powerful art of the poster.”
Featuring Essays By:
David Bacon, Lincoln Cushing, Angela Davis, Anuradha Mittal, Carol Wells, and more
Prints in All the Wrong Places
Posted November 26, 2007 by jmacphee in Books & Zines
The 2007 issue of the Journal of the California Society of Printmakers, "Prints in All the Wrong Places," has just been released. This years issue is all about political printmaking, with a guest editor, Art Hazelwood.
Art has put together a huge collection of images and essays bringing together a real cross section of political printmakers, exhibitions, and political action. There are pieces focusing on printmaking in revolutionary Oaxaca, the San Francisco Print Collective, and Inkworks Press. Exhibitions such as Yo! What Happened to Peace and the Art of Persuasion are discussed, and really great writers, artists and poster archivists like Lincoln Cushing, Favianna Rodriguez, Mark Vallen and Carol Wells all show up. I also wrote a couple short pieces on the Celebrate People's History poster series and the Paper Politics exhibition.
The best part about it is that you can download a pdf version of the issue for free right here.
The Coffee Calendar
Posted November 16, 2007 by jmacphee in Political Art
Ricardo Levins Morales, one of the main artists and organizers behind the Northland Poster Collective in Minneapolis has just released a great new collection of work in the form of a calendar. The 2008 Coffee Calendar is a wall calendar, a full color collection of Ricardo's art, and an introduction to the history, culture and politics of coffee. He has created an completely new body of art work around coffee and done a huge amount of historical investigation into the politics of coffee production. The calendar can be seen in all its glory here, as well as a list of online stores that carry it. The calendar is also union printed using high quality recycled paper and soy-based ink.
London Anarchist Bookfair
Posted October 26, 2007 by jmacphee in Events
Tomorrow (Saturday October 27th) is the 23rd annual London Anarchist Bookfair, and Justseeds will be tabling. The longest running and one of the largest anarchist bookfairs in the world, we are excited to be getting some Justseeds art and ideas out across the ocean. Over 100 other tablers will be there as well, plus there is a full day of speakers, presentations and films.
There's a full list of all the scheduled events, plus detailed directions to get there on the bookfair website. Come out and visit us!
Realizing The Impossible book out now!
Posted March 16, 2007 by in Books & Zines
AK Press just released Josh MacPhee and Erik Reuland survey of anarchist art, Realizing the Impossible. I got a copy yesterday and it's a sprawling, exhilarating look at an under-examined subject. From the book description:
There has always been a close relationship between aesthetics and politics in anti-authoritarian social movements. And those movements have in turn influenced many of the last century's most important art movements, including cubism, Dada, post-impressionism, abstract expressionism, surrealism, Fluxus, Situationism, and punk. Today, the movement against corporate globalization, with its creative acts of resistance, colorful puppets and posters, inflammatory actions and interventions, has brought anarchist and anti-authoritarian politics into the forefront of the global consciousness.Realizing the Impossible: Art Against Authority explores this vibrant history. It's a sprawling and inclusive collection bursting with ideas and images. With topics ranging from turn-of-the-century French cartoonists to modern-day Indonesian printmaking, from people rolling giant balls of trash down Chicago streets to massive squatted urban villages and renegade playgrounds in Denmark, from the stencil artists of Argentina to the radical video collectives of the US and Mexico—as well as conversations with pioneering anarchist artists like Clifford Harper, Carlos Cortéz, Gee Vaucher, and members of Black Mask—Realizing the Impossible is a richly illustrated history of art and anarchism.
The title comes from a quote by Max Blechman: "It is said that an anarchist society is impossible. Artistic activity is the process of realizing the impossible."
The book covers little-known history -- Dara Greenwald's profile of Videofreex and Morgan Andrew's history of political puppetry are particularly illuminating -- and also looks at the present through profiles of current projects and interviews with active artists. Meredith Stern's interview with contemporary printmakers (including Chris Stain, Swoon, Icky A., Pete Yahnke, Miriam Klein Stahl, Shaun Slifer, and others) is worth the price of the book. The third section, dealing with aesthetic and political theory, is refreshingly free of academic jargon.
Realizing the Impossible joins a very short list of books on anarchist art, and is essential reading for anyone interested in creative resistance and the political imagination.
No Need For Sleep
Posted October 20, 2006 by in Political Art
No Need For Sleep is an exhibition of original art and zines by artists from around the country. This exhibition celebrates the artists, their independent productions, and the do-it-yourself culture of zine making. The exhibition will be up during the Madison Zine Fest in Madison, Wisconsin before moving on to Milwaukee in November. This exhibition is curated by Colin Matthes, for more information visit Ideas In Pictures.
The Exhibition includes work by:
Icky A.- Nosedive (Portland, OR)
Mike Ball- Clap Yr Hands (Philadelphia, PA)
Peter Burr- Bountiful Little Dudes, Hooliganship, Cartune Exprez (Portland, OR)
Mary Mack- The F-Word, Chick Pea, Not Quite Venice (Pittsburgh, PA)
Josh MacPhee- Stencil Pirates, Cut and Paint, Pound the Pavement (Troy, NY)
Polina Malikin- The Archaeology of the Recent Future Association (Milwaukee, WI)
Cristy C. Road- Indestructible (Brooklyn, NY)
Ally Reeves & Shaun Slifer- Ross Winn-Digging up a Tennessee Anarchist (Pittsburgh,PA)
Meredith Stern- Dragomen, Crude Noise, and Mine zines (Providence, RI)
Tea Krulos- Riverwurst Comics (Milwaukee, WI)
Other work will be included by:
Hot and Cold zine (Oakland, CA) & Street Art Workers.
Madison,WI Exhibit Information:
The 6th Floor Art Space is located at 455 Park St. in the Humanities Building of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The reception will run from 6-9pm the night of the Madison Zine Fest Saturday, October 21, 2006.
Milwauke, WI Exhibit Information:
Exhibition will be held at the Cream City Collectives Gallery located at the corner of Clarke and Fratney Sreet in Milwaukee 's Riverwest neighborhood. 732 E. Clarke St., Milwaukee, WI 53212
Opening reception: 6-11pm, Friday, November 17, 2006.
Gallery Hours are Mon-Sat 1 p.m. - 7 p.m. Sun 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Sustainable Eating Online Zine- Call For Submissions
Posted June 4, 2006 by in Political Art
Sustainable Eating is an online zine exploring the connections between the food we eat and our personal, community and environmental health. Currently, Sustainable Eating is seeking submissions from writers, artists, activists, cooks, and gardeners for issues #4 & #5.
**Issue #4 (Fall/Winter 2006): Roots
Issue #4 will explore how food connects us to the land and to each other. How are you rooted to place by food? In what ways is your community connected through the production, harvest and sharing of food? What is the role of food in your personal, family, or ancestral roots? What root foods do you enjoy? What are the root causes of hunger, the exploitation of land, labor and animals, or other food injustices.
Deadline for Submissions: August 1, 2006
Issue Available Online: Fall/Winter 2006
**Issue #5 (Spring/Summer 2007): Unnatural Eating
Factory farms, GMOs, irradiated foods, hormones, seasonal foods available year-round, regional crops available world-wide, fast food diets, no-carb diets, microwaves, lunch breaks in front of your computer... in so many ways modern food production and eating patterns are far from natural. Analysis, critiques and alternatives to today's unnatural food systems and diets are all welcome for this issue.
Deadline for Submissions: February 1, 2007
Issue Available Online: Spring/Summer 2007
All kinds of submissions are welcome, including: personal essays; news articles; feature stories; interviews; profiles of people, organizations and projects; artwork; and fiction. Sustainable Eating encourages you to interpret this theme in any way you wish, so please do not feel restricted to traditional concepts of the topic. If you are unsure about how your idea might fit with these themes, please feel free to contact Sustainable Eating with a proposal.
Please send your submissions, suggestions, feedback, and questions to: se@semagazine.com.
http://www.semagazine.com
Cut & Paint: free stencil designs
Posted February 6, 2006 by in Books & Zines
Josh MacPhee's excellent stencil template zine Cut & Paint has finally gone digital, thanks to John Emerson of Social Design Notes. Click over to CutAndPaint.org and you'll find over 40 different free stencil templates with great imagery and radical politics.
Contributors include many of the unsung heroes of street art. Often working anonymously and undocumented, eople like Roger Peet, Shaun Slifer, Erok A., Colin Matthes, Erik Ruin, Andalusia, Ally Reeves, Claude Moller, Etta Cetera, Brandon Bauer, and the rest are creating some of the best work out there and reinventing the tropes and techniques of radical art.
Check it all out here. Download the templates, print, cut, and spray. Borrow images and alter them for your needs, location, and message. Thanks to Josh and John for making this great work available.
WW3 Illustrated anniversary
Posted October 4, 2005 by in Events
Peter Kuper sends word that the next issue of World Word 3 Illustrated is ready to hit the streets, and that this issue marks the magazine's 25th anniversary. They're celebrating both events with a party and exhibition Thursday night at Exit Art:
EXIT ART presents an exhibition and the release of World War 3 illustrated's 25th anniversary issueThursday, Oct. 6th, 2005, 6-8pm
475 10th Ave. (at 36th St.)
The release party will also be the opening of a show of original art from WW3 with many of the artists in attendance. Show will remain on display through Oct 27th
If you're not familiar with World War 3 Illustrated, you're missing out. The magazine has cultivated an incredible array of artists, many of whom are featured in #36. The new issue is called "Neo Con" and was edited by Ryan Inzana and Peter Kuper, features a cover illustration by Sue Coe and contributions from Eric Drooker, Seth Tobocman, Sabrina Jones, Mac McGill, Ryan Inzana, James Romberger, Chuck Sperry, Nicole Schulman, and Joe Sacco's account as an embedded journalist in Iraq.
Full details on the anniversary event after the jump:
EXIT ART presents
an exhibition and the release of
World War 3 illustrated
25th anniversary issue
THURSDAY, OCT. 6TH, 2005
6-8 PM
475 10TH AVE. (AT 36TH ST.)
NYC 10018
Gallery hours
Tues-Thurs 10-6
Fri 10-8
Sat 12-8
(212) 966-7745
New issue of Left Turn
Posted September 28, 2005 by in Books & Zines
The new issue of Left Turn is hot off the presses, with a beautiful cover by one of our favorite artists, Cristy Road. Left Turn is probably the best radical magazine currently being published in the US. The magazine always looks good, and the content informative and well-written. Unlike most radical publications, they manage to have strong political positions without being dogmatic or sectarian. Their writers aren't cranks or armchair critics -- they're usually young activists and new voices.
This issue features a special section called "The Revolution Will Not Be Funded" which turns a critical eye on the role that large philanthropic foundations play in funding non-profit organizations. The section was inspired by a 2004 conference of the same name that was set up after INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence lost a $100,000 grant from the Ford Foundation because of their stance on Palestine. From co-editor Max Uhlenbeck:
What has been the cost of the proliferation of this Non-profit Industrial Complex? Why have we seen this shift from volunteer-based activism to staff-driven advocacy work? How has the field of social change become so professionalized that one needs multiple college degrees just to qualify for a job?
These are important questions for people concerned with building organizations and making activism their work. And although thousands of activist grumble about them, almost no one is facing these questions head-on. When non-profit groups and alternative media projects rely on funding to pay the bills they suddenly have two constituencies to please: their actual audience, and foundation officers. The availability of Ford and Rockefeller money has allowed many organizations to avoid confronting hard questions about their own sustainability. And the professionalization of non-profit work has led to an industry where only college graduates who will work for miniscule salaries can afford the luxury of activism.
But Left Turn doesn't fall into that trap: it's volunteer-run and funded completely by sales and small donations. So check out the new issue, get a subscription, and drop a few extra bucks in their jar if you can. And while you're feeling generous, support Cristy Road too!
Related: VisualResistance.org's interview with Cristy Road.
Crimethinc re-releases DIY guides
Posted September 21, 2005 by in Books & Zines
Crimethinc, those dreamy utopian anarcho-poets, have reprinted two excellent zines full of tips and information on graffiti and a whole lot more:
The Walls Are Alive: A concise and masterfully conceived introduction to doing your own graffiti. It consists of practical and thorough advice on every step of getting your graffiti skills primed: preparation, how to make a stencil, mapping it out, strategy, escape, post-action regrouping, and also a whole section about wheat-pasting. Valuable also for its forty photographs of great real-world graffiti to ignite ideas and provide examples.DIY Guide #2: This rugged little urban pirate handbook includes practical information and tips on tons of different projects, tasks and adventures: dismantling capitalism, forearm guards, software piracy, diy spelling and grammar, travelling on trains, backpacking, evasion communiqué #2.25, herbal gynecology, how to abort, sewing, diy oil change, quarter pipe, records, cd's and zines, book publishing contacts, postal jubilation, cook it yourself, wheat flour egg noodles, intro to plaster, black and white photography, safety pin tattoos.
The graffiti zine is especially good, and has inspired innumerable young punks to cook up their first bucket of wheatpaste. The Crimethinc kids do an admirable job of distributing huge numbers of free zines & posters. You can help them out by ordering a bundle and getting the word out.
Wobbly centennial celebration at CUNY
Posted September 12, 2005 by in Events
From Nicole Schulman, co-editor of Wobblies! the wonderful comic history of the Industrial Workers of the World:
100th Anniversary of the Wollblies: A New York City Celebration of the IWW CentenaryTuesday, September 13, 6:30pm
CUNY Graduate Center - 365 5th Avenue (at 34th St), NYC
Free admission
The hundredth anniversary of the Industrial Workers of the World will be celebrated by artists, historians, musicians and today's Wobbly organizers. The event will feature performances, talks and a slide show commemorating the Wobblies role in Labor history. Featuring:
--- DANIEL GROSS (Starbucks Workers Union, IWW)
--- PAUL BUHLE (historian; Senior Lecturer, Browne University; co-editor of 'Wobblies! A Graphic History')
--- HENRY FONER (Labor activist, musician, historian)
--- JOHN PIETARO (protest musician, Labor organizer, writer)
--- PETER KUPER (artist)
--- NICOLE SCHULMAN (artist, co-editor of 'Wobblies! A Graphic History')
--- SABRINA JONES (artist)
--- SETH TOBOCMAN (artist)
This event will also be the official release party of the new CD 'I DREAMED I HEARD JOE HILL LAST NIGHT...A CENTURY OF IWW SONG' by John Pietaro & The Flames of Discontent
Plus, an exhibit of original art from the "Wobblies!" book will be up in the exhibition hall (near the student center, ground floor) at CUNY grad center from Sept. 1 through Sept. 23rd.
ReAnimation zine
Posted June 27, 2005 by in Books & Zines
ReAnimation: Magazine for Urban Environment is a new PDF zine designed by Martin Stiegler that explores street art and public space. Part of our zine on the how-to's of street art were adapted for the first issue, which is beautifully illustrated with photos of street art from Milan, Berlin, and Vorarlberg, Austria. From the ReAnimation site:
All over the world, artists are working in and with the urban environment of our cities. The ReAnimation magazine wants to unite all the different approaches to urban space, regardless of the medium.So every artist, may he/she be graffiti-artist, street artist, photographer, texter or anything else is welcome to participate. Let's reanimate the boring walls in public space!
A German version is forthcoming. Check out the site here or download the zine here (PDF file, 6.7M). Thanks to Martin for the great work!
DanZine in NYC
Posted June 7, 2005 by in Events
A great exhibit about the history of Danzine is currently showing for FREE at the Art Gallery of The Graduate Center, City University of New York until June 25, 2005. The address is 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY and the Gallery Hours are Tues-Sat 12-6 pm.
Danzine began 10 years ago in Portland, OR by and for exotic dancers, escorts, and lingerie models. Cutting and pasting the first issue on a folded piece of paper, Danzine was left "in every dressing room where a gal provided entertainment and labor." From that, several community outreach programs were initiated. StreetReach entered the community and offered a no nonsense needle-exchange program. DanceReach was founded to educate women on STD's and unwanted pregenancies. The Sex Work Task Force, working with local Portland agencies, investigated the risk of HIV transmission among sex workers there. Lastly, the Danzine Resource Room, with various resources and services, provides a safe place for people to meet and talk about their experiences in and outside of the industry. DanZine has also helped to create a space for newer publications like Spread Magazine.
Here is a description of the show from their website:
"This installation recreates 'Switzerland', a neutral space within the Danzine agency where one could retreat to a small beautiful room to read, watch videos or take a time out. From the Danzine Archives come paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, collage, covers of the publication danzine, framed film festival and benefit art auction posters, books/pamphlets on harm reduction such as syringe exchange, overdose prevention and safer sex, safer sex supplies, gear, post cards and the last Danzine T-shirt. "
Wobblies in Brooklyn
Posted May 31, 2005 by in Events
Labor History Celebration
Remember the Past --- Organize for the Future
Nicole Schulman sends word of an upcoming event celebrating the Industrial Workers of the World and the new book Wobblies:
Picnic and educational entertainment Saturday June 4th, from 2-5 pm at Fort Greene Park, followed by an evening of music, refreshments and entertainment 8pm-midnight, at Dumba Space at 57 Jay Street in Dumbo, 2 blocks from the York Street F train stop. The picnic is free and open to the public. For the evening events we are asking for a suggested $5 donation. In case of rain the afternoon, entertainment will be added to the evening program.The days events will be part of the commemorations of the gathering of top labor organizers from across the continent that met to expand the labor movement to include all working people skilled or unskilled, male or female, regardless of race, religion or any other distinctions. This lead to the formation of the Industrial Workers of the World in 1905, we are celebrating their centennial. These labor organizers brought creative energy, free speech, new strategies, and lots of music, jokes and art, to the labor movements.
At Ft Green Park music will be provided by John Pietro, actors will present the words of labor leaders Big Bill Haywood, Lucy Parsons, and Mother Jones.
The evening events at Dumba will include more music and multi media presentations by Brooklyn labor artists commemorating the achievements of the past such as the 8 hour day and helping with the today's drive to organize in the sweat shops and fast food shops. Graphic artist Nicole Schulman will present a biography of labor martyr Frank Little. Tom Keough will give a presentation of art about coal miners and sweatshop workers.
This is being organized by the New York City IWW Centennial Committee.
For more information please contact David at 718- 769-3837
Come out if you can! Image at top is a Nicole's portrait of Frank Little, from the Wobblies! book. Read more about the book here, or get a copy here.
Peel Zine review
Posted May 26, 2005 by in Books & Zines
The fourth issue of Peel Zine is available. This issue covers artists like: ABOVE, Klutch, and 20mg. It contains articles about the StickerThrow04, StickyArt, the top entries in the Sticker Nation/Sticker Robot Sticker Design competition. and a review of Public Discourse, a documentary about "illegal street installations". The issue also comes with an assortment of stickers of the artists contained inside.
Peel is a zine focusing specifically on stickers, looking closely at one medium used on the street, much like Overspray magazine focuses on stencils. (Overspray three should be on the streets soon!) This is a slick zine with good layout and production that accepts submissions of photos and art, so check them out and get your copy at PeelZine
VR Zine now online
Posted May 15, 2005 by in VR Projects
Some Visual Resistance members put together a zine a few months back on the "how-to's" of street art techniques. The zine is meant to provide folks with basic information on posters, stickers, and stencils. So if you're a street art fan who thinks "I could never do that" or wonders, "How's that done?" just click here for some tips, tricks, and ideas.
The zine is not an encyclopedia or a forum for experts. It's just a few individuals experiences and ideas --- and it's very much a work in progress. If you have additional advice or find errors or incomplete info, drop us a line at visual.resistance [at] gmail.com. Oh, and a disclaimer: all information in the zine is presented for informational/entertainment purposes only, and is not meant to encourage vandalism, which is illegal and wrong.
Mayday issue of the RAT hits the streets
Posted April 26, 2005 by in Books & Zines
The good people at NYC's best anarchist newspaper --- the New York RAT --- have put together a special issue of the paper just in time for Mayday:
Our special Mayday issue is full of info about local groups and issues, including the Street Harassment Project, The Greenpoint/ Williamsburg rezoning fight, RNC Legal Victories, the Long Island Freespace plus much more. The RAT also has a special pull out schedule of events for the upcoming "A New World In Our Hearts" Mayday Festival. We have 3,000 copies. We would like to get the majority of them distro-ed before the conference this weekend. Let us know if you can take a few stacks to drop off, hand out, or give away.
They'll need a lot of help with distro, so if you've got some free time, drop them a line at newyorkrat [at] riseup.net. Be sure to check out the schedule for this weekend's Mayday Festival. In additon to presentations from Beehive Collective and Seth Tobocman, there'll be film screenings, concerts, and a wide range of discussions. Oh, and we'll be there too.
Wobblies! Release Party
Posted April 19, 2005 by in Events
The New York release party for the great new book Wobblies!, co-edited by Nicole Schulman, is set for next Friday at the new(ish) Vox Pop bookstore & coffeehouse in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Featuring multi-media presentations by: Mac McGill, Sabrina Jones, Tom Keough, Nicole Schulman and Seth Tobocman, it's sure to be a great event. Come out, buy a book, and say hello:
Friday April 29th, 8pm --- Free!
Release party for Wobblies! @ Vox Pop
1022 Cortelyou Road, Flatbush, Brooklyn (Map)
Directions: “Q” Train to Cortelyou Road --- exit to the Left, walk a few blocks.
New Issue of Melina Rodrigo's Zine
Posted April 11, 2005 by in Books & Zines
Melina Rodrigo just released issue 10 of her zine, AW. You can view it on her website risewithus.com This issue examines life from the point of view from an American woman. It is written as a poetic journal entry, describing frustration and stress experienced on a daily basis. But like Melina says, we can find comfort in the little things like our red shoes or Emma Goldman's autobiography! Melina's zines address issues war and terror, to debate on political and social issues, to the postal service in a playful manner. Reading them definitely helps me get through the day.
Wobblies!
Posted April 9, 2005 by in Inspirations
The long-awaited Wobblies! is finally here, and it's even better than I could have expected. It's easily the best recent book on the connection between art and radical politics, not only because of the history it explores, but also by the sheer force of its example.
Co-edited by Nicole Schulman, the book is a collection of comics and very short essays on the history and spirit of the Industrial Workers of the World. Featuring new work by Nicole, Peter Kuper, Josh MacPhee, Fly, Mac McGill, Ryan Inzana, Sabrina Jones, Sue Coe, Seth Tobocman, and many, many more, as well as Wobbly classics from Carlos Cortez, Ralph Chaplin, and Joe Hill, the book is a remarkable testament to the living spirit of the IWW and its remarkable influence. From the introduction:
[Their] way of looking at freedom makes the IWW seem like a lot more than a labor organization, or bigger than all the other labor organizations combined. It looks, for instance, like the grassroots of the ecological/environmental movement. It looks like the Mexicans and Americans who welcomed the Zapatistas taking back the land that had been stolen from their people. It looks like every antiwar movement. It even looks a little like the world John Lennon summed up in the song "Imagine": no distant god, no country, just us humans, all of us, and our world.
Unlike most books on the subject, Wobblies! doesn't end on a tragic note --- on the contrary, it makes a uniquely convincing case that the IWW lives on, not as some shadow of past greatness, but as a subterranean source of inspiration, a model of joyous, liberatory radicalism. The pieces on 60s comix, surrealism, and Judi Bari, weave threads between seemingly disconnected miracles of history.
The highlight for me is the final essay, The Art and Music of the IWW:
The IWW... was no organization of trained artists.... Yet it inspired dozens of talented artists, before 1920 some of the nation's most experimental and talented, and the IWW generated its own fabulous "school" of cartoonists. Next to songs, cartoons probably brought more workers around that any other expression of Wob creativity.... These rank-and-file artists appear to have received little or no pay for their work, choosing to go "on the bum" with their fellow Wobs, organize where possible, and take odd jobs to stay alive. Some of them signed their art only with the "red card number" on their Wobbly ID, or didn't sign cartoons at all....We look back upon the Wobbly cartoonists, then, as we do upon the Ash Can art of the Masses magazine: a century ahead of their time in their discoveries, but just ripe for our time --- not to copy but to learn and grow from, amid the tasks of art and revolution ahead.
I'm posting this in the category "Inspirations," because it is. For bringing together some of my favorite artists to do unique and necessary work, and for bringing a new focus to the legacy of the IWW itself, I can't recommend this book highly enough. I would like to feature further looks at the book in the next few weeks. In the meantime, support the artists who made it happen, and do yourself a favor: get it.
New York Rat's 3rd issue hits the streets
Posted April 6, 2005 by in Posters
Copies of the 3rd issue of NYC Rat, the Radical Anarchist Tabloid, are available at locations around NYC or through the collective. (Email newyorkrat[at]riseup.net)
The newest issue includes a wonderful cover illustration by Cristy Road and a centerfold poster for the upcoming Mayday festivities. Articles include Teenage Lobotomy, a piece on AntiRacistAction, the Libertad School Collective, a great "Know Your Rights" comic strip,
and a wealth of resources troughout and in their Anarchist Black pages.
Download the Mayday poster below...
8.5 x 11 inch JPG (400K)
11 x 17 inch JPG (700K)
Full-sized PDF on NY Rat page (6MB)
Sumpthin' new from The Icarus Project- Underground Roots: Taproots and Topsoils
Posted March 21, 2005 by in Books & Zines
We got word that The Icarus Project folks have a few new publications in the works...
The Icarus Project's new book, Underground Roots: Taproots and Topsoils is due out in April 2005. In addition they are putting together a smaller publication containing artwork called, Underground Roots and Magic Spells: A Guide to Creating Mental Health Support Networks in Our Communities.
Here's some of the artwork that will be included. These are from Fly, Cristy Road, and Sophie Crumb respectively. Click here to see the full gallery of pieces.
Taproots and Topsoils is all about building community from the ground up, looking at how other people do things and emulating and replicating what works – joining forces with them and figuring out how to grow together into the future. Our social and economic safety nets have either already been or are in the process of being cut, and the big question is: how do we make new ones with the scraps of what we’ve got? Instead of reinventing the wheel, how can we use all the pieces out there to create a whole new way to fly? The contributers provide a clever mix of social movements, healing modalities, and community organizing models.
Here's a bunch of pieces you can look forward to:
MindFreedom - On Finding My Tribe, and Thinking for Myself
Freedom Center–Grassroots Empowerment Model of Mental Health Organizing
Fountain House – The Clubhouse Model-History and Future
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
Theater of the Oppressed
Re-evaluation Counseling – useful tactics/non-heirarchical therapy model
Somatic Experiencing and the Roots of Our Illness
Alcoholics Anonymous
The Harm Reduction Movement
Food Not Bombs – as radical non-heirarchical/decentrailized grassroots network model
Prison Moratorium Project – example of community outreach and education
Lessons From ACT UP
Welcome Home Zapatista – finding community in revolution
The Asambleas in Argentina
Harm Free Zones and Community Organizing by Kai from Critical Resistance
Affinity Groups - history from Spanish anarchists/anti-nuke move
Community Supported Agriculture/Permaculture - reconnecting with the ground
Processwork/Process Oriented Psych– integrating aspects of shamanism into our work
Green Gulch Zen Center – Finding Spiritual Community
$pread Magazine launch party in NYC!
Posted March 14, 2005 by in Events
$pread Magazine launch party in NYC!
Wednesday, March 16th, 8pm at The Slipper Room, 167 Orchard St
Party in New York City with: New York's hottest new punk band I LOVE YOU. Drag, dance, and dissent divas DALIPSTYXX, Playboy's first out lesbian Playmate STEPHANIE ADAMS, Off-Broadway interracial/interfaith comedy sensation EPSTEIN AND HASSAN of "The Black and the Jew", sexpert and author DUCKY DOOLITTLE, HOOK Magazine founders SHANE LUIJTENS and DANIEL W.K. LEE, DJ DESIGNER IMPOSTER Go-go wildness from the all-gender $PREAD DANCERS.
Also: Emcee Raven Snook raffles off t-shirts, magazines, and free passes to NYC strip clubs, $pread contributors read from the first issue, tarot readings, drink specials, and more!
Join sex workers, activists, and literati from around the world in celebrating the launch of the US's first independent sex industry magazine! (also a send off to co-editor Mary Christmas as she departs NYC for an indefinite period) Burlesque performers are to be announced.
Come early for the spectacular show and stay late for the band, DJs and dancing till 2am! Entry is $10 with a copy of the magazine, $7 without; sex workers get in for $8 with a magazine or $5 without.
$pread is the first magazine in the U.S. to explore the sex industry from the workers' perspective and includes articles by sex workers and their allies across the globe. Issue One features original articles by Jo Doezema, David Henry Sterry, and Katherine Frank, an exclusive interview with Carol Queen and contributions from Annie Sprinkle and Scarlot Harlot, as well as news, reviews and stories by sex workers all over the world. Topics covered include women of color in the American porn industry, anti-trafficking policy in Europe, the effect of the recent Tsunami on Asian sex workers, the Bangkok AIDS Conference, retiring fromstripping, and discrimination in Israel-Palestine.
BE THE FIRST TO GET A COPY AT THE LAUNCH PARTY!
$pread Magazine accepting material for 2nd issue.
Posted February 24, 2005 by in Artwork Needed
Spread is a magazine by and for sex workers of all genders, sexualities and backgrounds, as well as those interested in the sex industry.The magazine aims to provide a forum for marginalized voices, a sene of community and support among sex workers, as well as a balanced view of the sex industry.
$pread wants/needs illustrations of all kinds. They must relate, somehow or someway, to sex, gender, sex work, gender structures, or power. Think strip club, whorehouse, prostitutes, s&m, doms, subs, pretty much anything sexual done for profit.
Contributions to the second issue are to be made by mid-May. Contact the editors at: contribute [at] spreadmagazine.org or mail contributions to:
$pread Magazine
PO Box 305
New York, NY 10276
BAST Art Show and Book Release
Posted February 10, 2005 by in Events
BAST's First NYC Art Show "MAS VINO"
And the release of his new book "REVOLUTION DE PAPEL"
Opening Reception and Release Party: Saturday February 12, 6-9pm
Transplant Gallery is pleased to present the first solo exhibition of Brooklyn-based artist BAST titled “MAS VINO” This show will also celebrate the release of his new book "REVOLUTION DE PAPEL". A 60 paged soft covered book released in limited edition. Signed copied will be available on opening night. The exhibition will showcase a collection of new paintings on canvas... (more)
Bast is one of the first artists I noticed on the street when I woke up to street art years ago and i'm super excited to see some posters up in full, not ripped, torn, or weathered. So if your in NYC this weekend come out to the opening, or try to make it here while the show is up! The show will be exhibited from February 12-March 10, 2005 at: Transplant Gallery, 525 West 29th Street, second floor (bet. 10th and 11th Avenue).
For more of Bast's work check out: Pictures of Walls, as well as the VisualResistance Photolog for photos and updates from the opening!
