Decorate and Protect

Southern Alberta Art Gallery
601 Third Avenue South
Lethbridge, Alberta T1J 0H4
Canada

November 28 – January 17, 2010
Decorate and Protect
Mary-Anne McTrowe

Opening Reception: Saturday, November 28 | 8 pm

Prevalent throughout the domestic decorative arts, the tea-cozy remains an oft-visited tradition for novices and seasoned practitioners alike. Knit, crocheted or quilted, the purpose of the object is two-fold – it functions as an insulator keeping the tea warm, and is also a decorative and creative expression of its maker. Extending its utility, artist Mary-Anne McTrowe embraces the ‘cozy’ as a device to approach ideas of domestic production, protection, and decoration.

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[text and graphic from gallery website. Caption: "Cozies for Destroyed Lethbridge Landmarks: Capitol Theatre." Cross-posted to Signal Fire.]

Jimi Hendrix

James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix, born Johnny Allen Hendrix. November 27, 1942. Seattle, Washington.



From hotshotdigital: "Considered to be the most influential guitarist in modern music, Jimi Hendrix perfected the deliberate use of distortion and feedback, using it to complement his natural virtuoso ability. He exuded charisma, raw talent, and creativity to excess - delivering some of the most revolutionary music of the 20th century.

A self-taught left-handed guitarist, Jimi played with a right handed Fender Stratocaster - upside down and re-strung. His use of the Strat's tremelo bar was one of the signature elements of his blues influenced style of rock music. In addition to his songwriting and playing ability, Jimi Hendrix was also a pioneer in using the recording studio as an 'instrument'."

The 411 on Tryptophan

"One belief is that heavy consumption of turkey meat (as for example in a Thanksgiving or Christmas feast) results in drowsiness, which has been attributed to high levels of tryptophan contained in turkey."

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Dorkbot Regina

Saturday, November 28
1:20pm - 5:20pm

Soil Digital Media Lab http://www.neutralground.sk.ca
1856 Scarth St.
Regina, SK Canada

Dorkbot Regina

Guest speaker: Professor David Gerhard, University of Regina Computer Science Department

"David will come give a 20 minute presentation about The Rough Music and Audio Digital Interaction Lab–aRMADILo–he runs.

David's research interests include Computational Music and Audio, Information Retrieval, Speech, Multimedia, Classification, Signal Processing, HCI/CHI, Artificial Intelligence."

[text from Facebook Event Page . Graphic from Google image search for 'Signal Processing.']

An American Life

[Were it not for the current Sarah Palin media blitz in conjunction with the publication of her autobiography "Going Rogue," one might get nostalgic watching this Thanksgiving 2008 gem.]

Holiday Fais do-do Dance Concert

Saturday, November 28
Beatnik Studios
2421 17th Street
Sacramento, CA 95818

Holiday Fais do-do Dance Concert:
The Savoy Family Cajun Band

Ann Savoy has produced several critically noted, bayou-influenced albums with high profile friends of Cajun music--including Linda Ronstadt, John Fogerty, Richard Thompson, Maria McKee and Nick Lowe.

Marc Savoy, her husband, is widely regarded as a savior and revival catalyst for traditional Cajun music and the sweaty swampland culture from whence it sprang in Southwest Louisiana. He plays stellar, fais-do-do driven accordion as well as his home-made fiddle. Marc is renowned internationally for designing, creating and overseeing the handmade acadian accordions at the Savoy Music Center.

They are joined by their sons Joel and Wilson Savoy.

Door: 7 pm | Showtime: 8 pm
$25.

[text from Swell Productions website. Thanks to VMcN for the tip.]

The Maker as Revolutionary in Times of Commodified Culture

Thursday, November 19 | 7 p.m.
Carson City Library [map]
900 N. Roop Street
Carson City
ph. 775-887-2244

Capital City Arts Initiative [CCAI]
Nevada Neighbors Lecture Series
Illustrated talk by Artist|DIY Activist Wendy Tremayne
"The Maker as Revolutionary in Times of Commodified Culture"

In her talk, Wendy Tremayne, founder of "Swap-o-rama-rama," will explore evolving grassroots trends in contemporary life, from design to social activism. She writes: "Revivifying the human experience is a mission of purpose, something commodified life has taken from us. What we have to gain is intimacy, creativity, the revival of community, a healthy planet and ultimately happiness. We can each embrace a do-it-yourself spirit and use it to break down the barrier between consumer and creator and by doing so begin to reclaim the creativity that has been lost."

Informal reception: 6:15 p.m.
Free. The public is coridially invited!

The talk is presentation is part of CCAI Fall 2009 project" Recycled Seconds" focusing on community-based practice,'do it yourself' fashion design, sustainability and civic engagement.

more

[graphic from Google image search for 'swap-o-rama-rama.' Cross-posted to The Data Stream. Cross-posted to Signal Fire.]

Labor Issues in the 21st Century

The New School
Theresa Lang Community and Student Center
55 West 13th Street, 2nd floor
New York City

November 19 – 6:30 to 8 pm
Panel Discussion
Bookforum at The New School: Getting to Work - Labor Issues in the 21st Century

"The economic crisis has raised fundamental questions about how income is generated and what constitutes work that is both dignified and secure. Is there such a thing as a “postindustrial economy” and what does that mean for working Americans? Can we prosper without a vital manufacturing base? Is the global free market a fatally compromised myth, and if so, what is the alternative? Bookforum, in conjunction with the Vera List Center for Art and Politics, presents a discussion to question how work has changed, how it will be defined in the coming years, and how it can be fairly rewarded in an era of changing standards.

After years of business deregulation, American workers have little or no representation. The government serves business at the highest levels, covering debt and protecting shareholders while the labor unions vanish, disparaged as anachronistic in the new corporate culture, leaving American workers without security or benefits. As Americans come to resemble their counterparts in those countries where we’ve exported so many jobs, must the workers of the world unite? Or are they doomed to compete?

How will the government’s efforts to renew the American economy translate into jobs, and will those jobs be secure? What standards will apply for people seeking “green” employment and who are the employers? And can America hope to reinvent its economy without an overhaul of its educational system, particularly in math and science? Assuming the answer is no, what will sustain us in the meantime?

American culture remains one of our greatest exports. New York and Los Angeles depend on it. But can we live solely on art and music, fashion and film? Is that possible without the support of a wealthy and confident public? Without Wall Street’s excess, can New York continue to employ its many thousands of people working in the arts?

Presented as part of the Vera List Center’s 2009/2010 program cycle “Speculating on Change.”

more

[Text and graphic from List Center website. Cross-posted to Signal Fire.]

"Machine + Jellyfish = Relax"

[The following information is provided on the YouTube clip:

"Designed by Yuri Suzuki.

The movement of Jellyfish controls the sound, air- conditioning, the visual image and lighting.

Water is the element that possesses the most relaxing characteristics for human beings.
Jellyfish are the closest living thing to water that can be found on Earth.

I used jellyfish as the control center, since jellyfish are made up of 98% water, and I thought that the will of the water would be reflected in the movement of the jellyfish, if only a little.

If we were able to create a space controlled by jellyfish, wouldn't it be the ultimate place of relaxation?

I got the inspiration for this system from the Theremin which is the oldest electronic music instrument in the world. The Theremin is also an instrument which is as mysterious as a jellyfish.

www.yurisuzuki.com

Thanks to RMA in Seattle, Washington for the post title and tip.]

New Orleans Fringe Festival

"45 groups and over 100 shows from New Orleans and around the country. Opera buffa, drama, cryptic revival, physical clown-theater, dark comedy, cabaret, romance noir, overhead projector shadow puppetry, butoh, hip hop, dance theater, environmental performance, puppet aerial musical..."

more | line-up | schedule

[Cross-posted to Signal Fire.]

Amateur Boxing Card in Virginia City

Piper's Opera House
Drawer J
1 North B Street
Virginia City, NV 89440
775-847-0433
866-422-1956

November 14 | 3 pm on:
Amateur Boxing Card
Welter, Middle and Heavy Weight Contests
Special Appearance by Joe Gilbert
Hosted by Bruno's Boxing Club

Acccording to the Reno Gazette Journal, quoting Brandi Lee, there will be 12-15 bouts with boxers from Nevada and California. This will be the first boxing card at Piper's in 116 years. The last one was May 4, 1893.

Tickets $15-25
$10 for seniors and students.

To order tickets, call Piper's at 775.847-0433 or 866.422-1956.

[Basic information from Piper's website. Graphic from Google image search for '19th Century Boxing.']

American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life

Metropolitan Museum of of Art
New York, New York

American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, 1765–1915

"Between the American Revolution and World War I, a group of British colonies became states, the frontier pushed westward to span the continent, a rural and agricultural society became urban and industrial, and the United States—reunified after the Civil War under an increasingly powerful federal government—emerged as a leading participant in world affairs. Throughout this complicated, transformative period, artists recorded American life as it changed around them. Many of the nation's most celebrated painters—John Singleton Copley, Charles Willson Peale, William Sidney Mount, George Caleb Bingham, Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, John Sloan, and George Bellows—along with their lesser-known colleagues captured the temperament of their respective eras, defining the character of Americans as individuals, citizens, and members of ever-widening communities.

"American Stories: Paintings of Everyday Life, 1765–1915" presents tales artists told about their times and examines how their accounts reflect shifting professional standards, opportunities for study, foreign prototypes, venues for display, and viewers' expectations. Excluding images based on history, myth, or literature, the exhibition emphasizes instead those derived from artists' firsthand observation, documentation, and interaction with clients. These paintings are analogous to original—not adapted—screenplays. Recurring themes such as childhood, marriage, family, and community; the notion of citizenship; attitudes toward race; the frontier as reality and myth; and the process and meaning of making art illuminate the evolution of American artists' approach to narrative."

Through January 24, 2010

[Text and graphic from museum website. Caption: "Thomas Anshutz (American, 1851–1912). "The Ironworkers' Noontime, 1880." Oil on canvas; 17 x 23 7/8 in. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd.

During one of his annual trips to Wheeling, West Virginia, where he had spent his teens, Anshutz sketched workers taking a break in the yard of a nail factory, the sort of dreary industrial setting from which most painters averted their eyes. He then painted the men frozen in classical poses derived from life-drawing instruction, which he had received as Thomas Eakins's student at the Pennsylvania Academy. The painting's subtle narrative has invited multiple interpretations. For example, in 1884 Procter & Gamble quoted the image in an advertisement for Ivory Soap by adding washtubs to the foreground. Other commentators have read in it a message of labor's toll upon the men or a celebration of relations between workers and employers. Recent scholars have considered it a nostalgic account of skilled laborers in the face of impersonal factory production and an emblem of rugged masculinity in the face of feminized late-nineteenth-century American culture." Cross-posted to Signal Fire.]

Make and Mend

Sunday 8th November 2009 11 am – 4 pm
The Star and Shadow Cinema
Stepney Bank
Ouseburn
Newcastle Upon Tyne England NE1 2NP
Make and Mend Market

The Make and Mend Market is the 1st monthly craft, art & flea market in Newcastle. The event showcases new creative talent in the area and gives people the chance to recycle quality items no longer in use & help keep them out of landfill. The market alternates between the Grainger Arcade in Newcastle City Centre and the Star and Shadow Cinema in Ouseburn, Newcastle which was built and is run entirely by volunteers. It has been running for almost 2 years now and is a great alternative to High Street shopping.

At this event we will have 20 stalls from local traders, new designers and artists offering clothing, jewellery, homewares, art and more.

Some of the goodies we'll have on offer:

Handmade retro jewellery from Candy Doll Couture
Vintage & 2nd hand homewares from Louise Bradley
Karon from Calmic Therapies giving mini reiki sessions & massage
Beautiful prints & wall hangings from Doris Illustrated
Lovingly handcrafted instruments by Mike Smith
Recycled vintage accessories from Make Do & Mend Arts
+ loads more.

Market MySpace Page

[Text and graphic from Cinema website. Cross-posted to Signal Fire.]

Poetics Across Languages

Wayne State University
Poetics Across Languages

"Poetry/film performance in movie-telling after the traditions of Benshi, Benzi, Pyônza, and Gavrilov translators"



[graphic from Face Book Event Page. Click to enlarge.]

Housewarming

Wunderbar Festival
"Housewarming"
138 St. Lawrence Square
Newcastle England NE6 1SU

"Jorn Ebner and Monica Ross cordially invite you to a housewarming in reverse.

On this site a row of council flats was demolished in 2008 to make way for the Byker South Redevelopment plan. The scheme has recently been shelved due to the current economic crisis - a situation that reflects the fragility of the social housing sector within society.

Housewarming will take place in open space, unsheltered and probably cold. No house stands here and another may or may not again: the artists imply the history of their private occupation of a flat on this site as the basis to host the sharing of social space. Tea, coffee, drinks and snacks will be provided by the artists, but guests are also welcome to contribute refreshments to be shared by all.

Housewarming is produced by Michelle Hirschhorn and supported by Wunderbar Festival, Newcastle City Council, ISIS Arts and the Friends of St. Lawrence Park."

more on Byker and The Byker Wall:

• BBC on the original Byker Development
• City of Newcastle > Environment and Planning > Regeneration > Ouseburn Byker Sites >St. Lawrence Square

Wunderbar Festival Schedule

[text and graphic from Housewarming Facebook Event page. Cross-posted to Signal Fire.]

24/7 Technological Culture

Part of Media Modes, a graduate student conference.

Conference Panels: 10am - 3:30pm
All events are free and open to the public

[Graphic and text from SVA website. Click to enlarge.]

E|AB Fair 2009

November 6-8
Editions|Artists' Book Fair
X Initiative
548 West 22nd Street
[Between 10th & 11th Avenue]
New York City, New York

VENDORBAR
304 West 10th Street, 1A
New York, NY 10011
1.212 431 4571

"VendorBar is part of an ongoing series of itinerant exhibitions and interventions, organized by Kirby Gookin and Robin Kahn, in which art is presented to the public that is either free, with no copyright, or sold inexpensively. The goal is to open up direct lines of communication between artists and the public in order to make ideas and artwork more accessible. Past projects include Free Show, Disappearing Act, Holiday Shopping, Copiacabana, Copilandia and To Market to Market. For E/AB'09 VendorBar is inviting artists to directly engage the public by presenting actions, exchanges and services that result in the production and distribution of artists editions made specifically for the event. Participating artists will include ARTifariti-Western Sahara Collective, Mike Bidlo, Gaye Chan & Nandita Sharma, Kirby Gookin, Geoffrey Hendricks, Nancy Hwang, Robin Kahn, Amanda Keeley, Alison Knowles & Alan Bowman, Cary Leibowitz, Larry Miller, Ken Montgomery, Peter Nadin, Yoko Ono, Tom Otterness, Sal Randolph, Showpaper, and Elaine Tin Nyo."

[Text and graphic from E|AB Fair 2009 website. Capiton: "Free Show: Nancy Hwang, 'Hand Job', 2008. Unlimited edition."Cross-posted to Signal Fire.]

Scan to Screen | Pixel to Projection

Orange County Museum of Art
850 San Clemente Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660
1.949.759-1122

The Moving Image: Scan to Screen, Pixel to Projection II

This exhibition traces experiments with electronic media art from the early 1970s to the present.

Karen Moss, Curator

Through February 12, 2010

more

[Information and graphic from museum website. Caption: "Cory Arcangel and Frankie Martin, '414-3-Rave-95,' 2005; single-channel video; 4:54."]

Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness

American Visionary Art Museum
Baltimore, Maryland

ph. 1.410.244.1900

Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness
through September 5, 2010

"The quest for human rights and the search for personal fulfillment, as proposed in the 1776 American Declaration of Independence, provide the starting point for this international exhibition. Works by the last surviving descendant of the Tsars of Russia, Iroquois Indians, French Revolutionaries, illegal immigrants, Algerian War veterans, Guantanamo Bay detainees, Holocaust survivors, incarcerated prisoners, African-American civil rights activists and Iraqi doctors are among the 86 visionary artists to be featured."

[text and graphic from museum website and public information materials. Sculpture in situ by Adam Morales. Click on image to enlarge. Cross-posted to Signal Fire.]