Monday, October 29, 2007

Learning from New Orleans, the Western Balkans, and Acre, Brazil

The New School - Orozco Room
66 West 12th Street
New York City

Thursday, November 1, 2007 - 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
Admission: $8, free for all students, as well as New School faculty, staff and alumni with valid ID*

"Future Talk Now: Learning from New Orleans, the Western Balkans, and Acre, Brazil"

2007-08 Vera List Center Fellow Marjetica Potrc, in conversation with Carlos Basualdo, Curator of Contemporary Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art

"Sustainability has become a buzzword recently. Slovenian artist and architect Marjetica Potrc has applied and investigated this concept for many years in artworks, museum exhibitions and on-site interventions around the world. In this conversation, the renowned curator Carlos Basualdo will introduce the artistic oeuvre of Potrc, the newly appointed Vera List Center Fellow with whom he has collaborated on several projects.

The focus of their conversation will be Potrc's new research project on the use of water: during an artist's residency with the Contemporary Art Center in New Orleans this fall, the artist was conducting on-site examinations into sustainable water-use practices that have developed in New Orleans since Katrina such as the reclamation of wetlands, and she is now beginning to draw comparisons to New York City.

The New Orleans project is characteristic of the artist's approach: Potrc took up residency in a site of political turmoil and social transformation and, after extensive scientific and cultural research, will insert into the contested situation her work, possibly an architectural installation or simply a conversation, in order to provide clarity and new solutions. The outcome of this project will be featured in the exhibition "Something from Nothing," curated by Dan Cameron and opening at the New Orleans Contemporary Art Center in early 2008."

*["Space is extremely limited; reservations are required."]

[graphic from google search for "water" found on Sustaining the Environment and Resources for Canadians - About Water Web site.]

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Waiting for Godot in New Orleans

[thanks once again to EC, our scout in Buffalo, New York.]

Creative Time
Paul's Chan's
Waiting for Godot in New Orleans

"... a project by Paul Chan, co-produced by Creative Time with curator Nato Thompson and The Classical Theatre of Harlem with director Christopher McElroen, featuring New Orleans born actor Wendell Pierce, and in collaboration with New Orleans’ partners: University of New Orleans, Xavier University, Dillard University, NOCCA High School, Lusher High School, Frederic Douglass High School, John McDonough High School, Students at the Center, Neighborhood Story Project, The Porch, and Renaissance Project.

The Project

New Orleans is the setting for the 20th century’s most emblematic story of waiting. According to artist Paul Chan, “The longing for the new is a reminder of what is worth renewing. Seeing Godot embedded in the very fabric of the landscape of New Orleans was my way of re-imagining the empty roads, the debris, and, above all, the bleak silence as more than the expression of mere collapse. There is a terrible symmetry between the reality of New Orleans post-Katrina and the essence of this play, which expresses in stark eloquence the cruel and funny things people do while they wait: for help, for food, for tomorrow.”

The Play

Four free outdoor evening performances of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot will take place over two weekends in November in two New Orleans neighborhoods — the middle of an intersection in the Lower Ninth Ward, and the front yard of an abandoned house in Gentilly.
November 2 & 3, N Roman St & Forstall St., Lower Ninth Ward, 7:00PM
November 9 & 10, Robert E Lee Blvd & Pratt Dr., Gentilly, 7:00PM

more

[image from project web site]

Friday, October 26, 2007

Beyond Boundaries

October 26 - November 14, 2007
Beyond Boundaries: The Emergence of Croatian Cinema

Walter Reade Theater
The Film Society of Lincoln Center



"Croatian filmmakers’ talent for making provocative, satirical & innovative work has garnered them attention & awards on the international film festival circuit. We’re presenting a vibrant mix of political dramas, black comedies & sophisticated animations. One highlight is Light Drawings: The Zagreb School of Animation, a program of animated shorts curated by Croatian film scholar Mato Kukuljica. We also welcome 3 directors to New York to introduce their films: Krsto Papic (A VILLAGE PERFORMANCE OF HAMLET), Dejan Sorak (TWO PLAYERS FROM THE BENCH), and Ognjen Svilicic, whose film ARMIN is the Croatian nominee for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award."

more

[image from Lincoln Center Web site. Production still from "The Melody Haunts My Reverie."]

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

techPresident


[With thanks to AB in Solon, below is a link to a techPresident — "How the candidates are using the web, and how the web is using them," a political web log well worth exploring. Among the stream of posts and a number of data visualization features, the site is tracks candidate support on Facebook. Click on graphic to view today's numbers.]

explore

[graphic from techPresident Web site]

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Two at the Apex

Thursday, October 25, 7-9 pm
Why Am I Here? The State of Residency


A Panel Talk With:
Nathalie Anglès, Residency Program Director, Location One
Fritzie Brown, Executive Director, CEC ArtsLink

Alexandra do Carmo, artist, past resident Location One, Irish Museum
Kambui Olujimi, artist, past apexart outbound resident to Australia

Moderated by Steven Rand, Executive Director, apexart
"Why do we have residencies and what types of programs are most effective? Who do residencies serve, who should they serve? Why do artists seek out residencies, what are the expectations and what are the results? The panel will address these questions and related issues in a discussion that will be informative and engaging for residents and arts administrators alike.

===

January 9 - February 16, 2008
The Promotion Project
curated by the public

"Why don't museums and galleries advertise on TV? Why don't people in the arts tell the truth about how much TV they watch? Help bring the art world in touch with the real world.

apexart invites creatives to challenge the "TV is not good enough for me" attitude by making a 30-second spot promoting.... us."

submissions due December 7, 2007.

[graphic: first image displayed from a google image search for 'residency']

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Getting Personal

Arts Council of England
Getting Personal: artists and audiences in the era of Web 2.0


23rd October
3.30 - 5.30pm
Arts Council of England
2 Pear Tree Court,
London U.K. EC1R0DS

In the 4th Digital Culture Lunchtime Session, Arts Council London invites you to consider with us the implications of MySpace, Second Life, Facebook, You Tube, Flickr and other online collaborative interfaces on artistic practice and cultural participation. Do they represent a fully democratised cultural opportunity for artists and audiences? Does endless availability, access and openness lead to a deterioration in artistic quality? Is the paid professional contributing any more than the unpaid amateur?

Join in the discussion with:-

Andrew Keen: Author of 'The Cult of the Amateur'
Paula LeDieu: Managing Director, Magic Lantern Productions
Alex Fleetwood: Producer and associate of Punchdrunk
Saul Albert: Artist and co-founder of 'The People Speak' and nm-x.org

Please RSVP to sabine.unamun@artscouncil.org.uk

ANDREW KEEN is a Silicon Valley author, broadcaster and entrepreneur whose acclaimed new book 'Cult of the Amateur: How the Internet is Killing Our Culture' presents an antidote to the prevailing assumptions around Internet cultural democracy as championed by Charles Leadbeater. Andrew is a prominent media personality who has appeared on CNN International, NPR, and BBC Newsnight. He has written for The Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Guardian, and has been featured in many publications including Time Magazine, the Financial Times, the Sunday Times, & the Independent.

PAULA LE DIEU is MD at Magic Lantern Productions. Set up by Anthony Lilley it creates innovative interactive media, most notably FourDocs, the broadband, user-generated documentary channel with Channel 4. Other partners and clients include the BBC, BT, the UK Film Council, Skillset and many others. MLP specialise in understanding the power of broadband networks and emerging digital platforms, for the creation, presentation, distribution and sharing of ideas. Prior to joining Magic Lantern, Le Dieu was the director of iCommons, the international arm of Creative Commons.

ALEX FLEETWOOD is an artist and producer of Hide & Seek, London's first pervasive games festival. He is a collaborative associate of Punchdrunk Theatre Company and along with other artists and creatives will be exploring audience participation within alternate reality gaming as part of the PlayTime Lab at this years London Games Festival Fringe.

SAUL ALBERT, our esteemed compere, is an artist, coder and writer known for his open source ethos and advocacy of collaborative, self-organised structures. Instrumental in establishing projects such as the University of Openess, nm-x.org, Node London and others, Saul is co-producer of The People Speak, which is currently re-inventing funding models with 'Who Wants to Be..'. Based on the ask-the-audience feature of the popular TV game show 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' it helps large groups of people to make suggestions, discuss an issue, and to vote on each step in a creative decision-making process.

In association with the PlayTime Lab at this years London Games Festival Fringe.

[graphic from a google image search for 'Web 2.0']]

Monday, October 15, 2007

Cape Farewell

Cape Farewell
Cape Farewell is a charitable organisation that brings artists and scientists together to address and raise awareness about climate change.

Created by artist David Buckland in 2001, Cape Farewell works to bring about long term change in cultural attitudes towards climate change. He has led three expeditions into the Arctic on a sailing schooner, each carrying a number of artists, scientists and educators to explore the seas that hold the key to understanding the changes in our climate.

Cape Farewell recently concluded its first youth expedition.

more

[image from Arts Council of England|Cape Farewell Web site. Caption: Cape Farewell's launch of the youth expedition, Tower Bridge, 9 September 2007. Photo: Cape Farewell]

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Fanzine

[with thanks for the tip to our scout MFC in Saugus, some information on a compelling site for contemporary literature.]
FANZINE

"... is an online general culture magazine that was launched in August 2005 at the CMYK Independent Magazine Festival in Barcelona, Spain. ... our aim remains to provide a venue on the Internet for longform writing, both fiction and non, that is at once intelligent, engaging, witty, informative, and fun."

[image from FANZINEWeb site]

Friday, October 12, 2007

Critical Art Ensemble Defense Fund Update

[Below, printed in its entirety, the text of a Critical Art Ensemble Defense Fund press release.]

SICKNESS, "ABSURD" DOJ PROSECUTION FORCE SCIENTIST TO PLEAD IN PRECEDENT-SETTING CASE
Scientist's Wife and Daughter Comment on Case


Buffalo, NY - Today in Federal District Court, Dr. Robert Ferrell,
Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate
School of Public Health, under tremendous pressure, pled guilty to
lesser charges rather than facing a prolonged trial for federal
charges of "mail fraud" and "wire fraud" in a surreal post-PATRIOT
Act legal case that has attracted worldwide attention.

"From the beginning, this has been a persecution, not a prosecution.
Although I have not seen the final agreement, the initial versions
contained incorrect and irrelevant information," said Dr. Dianne
Raeke Ferrell, Dr. Ferrell's wife and an Associate Professor of
Special Education and Clinical Services at Indiana University of
Pennsylvania. "Bob is a 27 year survivor of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
which has reoccurred numerous times. He has also had malignant
melanoma. Since this whole nightmare began, Bob has had two minor
strokes and a major stroke which required months of rehabilitation."

Dr. Ferrell added that her husband was indicted just as he was
preparing to undergo a painful and dangerous autologous stem cell
transplant, the second in 7 years.

The Ferrells' daughter, Gentry Chandler Ferrell, added: "Our family
has struggled with an intense uncertainty about physical, emotional
and financial health for a long time. Agreeing to a plea deal is a
small way for dad to try to eliminate one of those uncertainties and
hold on a little longer to the career he worked so hard to develop...
Sadly, while institutions merely are tarnished from needless
litigation, individuals are torn apart. I remain unable to wrap my
mind around the absurdity of the government's pursuit of this case
and I am saddened that it has been dragged out to the point where my
dad opted to settle from pure exhaustion." (To read Gentry Ferrell's
full statement, please visit:
http://caedefensefund.org/press/ferrellplea.html)

Dr. Ferrell's colleague Dr. Steven Kurtz, founder of the
internationally acclaimed art and theater group Critical Art
Ensemble, was illegally detained and accused of "bioterrorism" by the
U.S. government in 2004 stemming from his acquisition from Dr.
Ferrell of harmless bacteria used in several of Critical Art
Ensemble's educational art projects. After a costly investigation
lasting several months and failing to provide any evidence of
"bioterrorism," the Department of Justice instead brought charges of
"mail fraud" and "wire fraud" against Kurtz and Ferrell. Under the
USA PATRIOT Act, the maximum penalty for these charges has increased
from 5 years to 20. (For more information about the case, please see
"Background to the Case" below or http://caedefensefund.org)

JURIDICAL ART CRITICISM?

The government is vigorously attempting to prosecute two defendants
in a case where no one has been injured, and no one has been
defrauded. The materials found in Dr. Kurtz's house were obtained
legally and used safely by the artist. After three and a half years
of investigation and prosecution, the case still revolves around
$256 worth of common science research materials that were used in
art works by a highly visible and respected group of artists. These
art works were commissioned and hosted by cultural institutions
worldwide where they had been safely displayed in museums and
galleries with absolutely no risk to the public.

The Government has consistently framed this case as an issue of
public safety, but the materials used by Critical Art Ensemble are
widely available, can be purchased by anyone from High School science
supply catalogues, and are regularly mailed.

PROFESSORS OF ART & SCIENCE EXPRESS ALARM

"The government's prosecution is an ill-conceived and misguided
attack on the scientific and artistic communities," said Dr. Richard
Gronostajski, Professor of Biochemistry at SUNY Buffalo, where
Professor Kurtz also teaches. "It could have a chilling effect on
future scientific research collaborations, and harm teaching efforts
and interactions between scientists, educators and artists."

"It's deeply alarming that the government could pressure someone of
Dr. Ferrell's stature into agreeing to something like this. The case
threatens all Americans' Constitutionally guaranteed right to
question the actions of their government," said Igor Vamos, Professor
of Integrated Electronic Arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

PLEA COMES AMIDST OVERWHELMING PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR DEFENDANTS

The plea bargain agreement comes at a time of overwhelming public
support for the two defendants. A film about the case, Strange
Culture - directed by Lynn Hershman Leeson and featuring Tilda
Swinton (Chronicles of Narnia, Michael Clayton), Thomas Jay Ryan
(Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), and Peter Coyote (E.T., Erin
Brockovich) - has drawn widespread critical praise and public
interest, with screenings in dozens of U.S. cities after its
selection to open both the 2007 Human Rights Watch International Film
Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival documentary
section. An October 1 screening of the film at the Museum of Modern
Art in New York City drew a crowd of 400 who stayed for an hour
afterward for a discussion with Professor Kurtz, director Hershman
Leeson, and actress Tilda Swinton. Special benefit screenings of the
film in numerous cities have raised thousands of dollars to offset
the two defendants' escalating legal costs.

BACKGROUND TO THE CASE

The legal nightmare of renowned scientist Dr. Robert Ferrell and
artist and professor Dr. Steven Kurtz began in May 2004. Professor
Kurtz and his late wife Hope were founding members of the
internationally exhibited art and theater collective Critical Art
Ensemble. Over the past decade cultural institutions worldwide have
commissioned and hosted Critical Art Ensemble's participatory theater
projects that help the general public understand biotechnology and
the many issues surrounding it. In May 2004 the Kurtzes were
preparing a project examining genetically modified agriculture for
the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, when Hope Kurtz died of heart failure. Detectives who responded to Professor Kurtz's 911 call deemed the couple's art suspicious, and called the FBI. Within hours the artist was illegally detained as a suspected "bioterrorist" as dozens of federal agents in Hazmat suits sifted through his work and impounded his computers, manuscripts, books, his cat, and even his
wife's body.

CASE DEPLETES PUBLIC AND PRIVATE RESOURCES

The government has pursued this case relentlessly for three and a
half years, spending enormous amounts of public resources. Most
significantly, the legal battle has exhausted the financial,
emotional, and physical resources of Ferrell and Kurtz; as well as
their families and supporters. The professional and personal lives of
both defendants have suffered tremendously. A trial date has not yet
been established.


For more information about the case, including extensive
documentation, please visit http://caedefensefund.org

Thursday, October 11, 2007

NOLA Supernova



Barrister's Gallery
2331 St. Claude Ave
New Orleans

Super Nova
October 13 thru November 3, 2007


"An exhibition, curated by by Jeanette Ingberman, founding director of Exit Art, showcasing the first group of artists curated for NOVA Projects' New Orleans Artist Registry."

"This is a continuing effort to permanently catalog online working contemporary artists in the region. The next curated selection will be exhibited June, 2008. Each exhibit will call upon a different curator--different region, different sensibility."

[click on the announcement above to read the names of the artists]

more

[thanks to EC, our scout in Buffalo, for the tip:]

Doris Lessing

The 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature goes to Doris Lessing "that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny."

more

[photo from nobelprize.org Web site. Credit: "Photo: Scanpix/Ulrich Perrey"]

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Lulu's Back in Town - Thelonious Sphere Monk (October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982)

[Please join the The Data Stream in celebrating the 90th anniversary of the birth of Thelonius Sphere Monk, a giant of jazz and one of the twentieth century's greatest composers and pianists.

Below is a fantastic performance of Harry Warren's 1935 Lulu's Back in Town, a standard in Monk's performance repertoire. The YouTube information is listed as follows:
Live in Norway 1966
Thelonious Monk - Piano
Charlie Rouse - Tenor
Larry Gales - Bass
Ben Riley - Drums]



Monday, October 08, 2007

Before vs. After


John Jay College Gallery
899 10th Avenue
New York, NY 10019

October 9-27, 2007
Nola Romano
Before vs. After


[image from exhibition announcement]

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Flickrvision

[Companion to earlier post regarding Blogger Play]

Flickrvision

[image: screengrab from Flickrvision Web site.]

Thursday, October 04, 2007

B. Sakata Garo Gallery
923 20th Street
Sacramento, CA 95811

Alice Shaw Paint/Sculpture/Landscape/Architecture
October 2-November 3
Opening Reception Saturday October 13th 6-9

[photograph by Alice Shaw]

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

No Wave Cinema



EFA Gallery
No Wave Film Night

New York City
October 17, 2007 | 7 — 9 pm

"Three distinctive films by the director/artists Beth and Scott B and Amos Poe will be screened. These films mark the genesis of the "No Wave" or "New Cinema" film scene."

G-Man by Beth and Scott B (1978, 40 min) An exploration of social schizophrenia in which terrorists consult their mothers before planting bombs, and the head of the NYC bomb squad succumbs to his dominatrix. With Bill Rice and Marcia Resnick.

Letters to Dad
by Beth and Scott B (1979 15 min) A litany of letters written to Jim Jones read by a cast of artists and musicians. With Arto Lindsay and Pat Place.

The Foreigner by Amos Poe (1978 60 min) An agent sent on a secret mission blindly navigates the darkened corners of New York City while thugs and counter spies shadow him and plot his demise. With Eric Mitchell, Patti Astor, Anya Phillips, The Cramps and The Erasers.

Primarily seen as an art movement, No Wave or New Cinema flourished in the Lower East Side between the years 1976 and 1984. Each film, shot on super-8 and then transferred and edited on video, was a collaborative effort between artists, filmmakers, actors, and musicians. By mimicking B-movie narratives, these underground films set themselves apart from the structuralist films of the time and are predecessors of today's "indies.""

[Image: Amos Poe: The Foreigner from EFA Gallery mailing]

Monday, October 01, 2007

Death to Powerpoint or Pecha-Kucha



[With thanks to CDN in San Francisco for the tip: for those of us frequently caught in mind-numbing PowerPoint presentations, the practice described in the video above and text below—reprinted in full from the YouTube description—may provide some rays of hope. In any event, it's an interesting phenomenon reflecting how people are grappling with communications.]

"Let us now bullet-point our praise for Mark Dytham and Astrid Klein, two Tokyo-based architects who have turned PowerPoint, that fixture of cubicle life, into both art form and competitive sport. Their innovation, dubbed pecha-kucha (Japanese for "chatter"), applies a simple set of rules to presentations: exactly 20 slides displayed for 20 seconds each. That's it. Say what you need to say in six minutes and 40 seconds of exquisitely matched words and images and then sit the hell down. The result, in the hands of masters of the form, combines business meeting and poetry slam to transform corporate clich into surprisingly compelling beat-the-clock performance art.

The duo — Dytham is British, Klein Italian — invented pecha-kucha four years ago to help revive a struggling performance space they owned. The first presentations were such a hit that they began hosting monthly pecha-kucha events, boozy affairs at which Tokyo architects and designers showcased their streamlined offerings to crowds of hundreds. Now there are pecha-nights in 80 cities, from Amsterdam and Atlanta to San Francisco and Shanghai. Why? Dytham believes that the rules have a liberating effect. "Suddenly," he says, "there's no preciousness in people's presentations." Just poetry.

By Dan Pink | Wired Magazine Issue 15.09"