Tuesday 23 February 2010

calling those in olympia, washington...

On Sunday Feb 28th 7pm @ Dumpster Values, Downtown Olympia there'll be a screening of the three New Report videos by Wynne Greenwood and K8 Hardy.

Watching the New Report videos, and seeing k8 and Wynne do a live New Report performance all in the same day a few years back is still one of those things that I can pinpoint as a life-changing moment. If you can make this event, go go go!

Monday 15 February 2010

reimagining girlhood: communities, identities, self-portrayals

FWD:


Kristen Lambert and Alyx Vesey are organizing a panel to submit to the Conference on *Reimagining Girlhood: Communities, Identities, Self-Portrayals *
Hosted by: Center for Gender and Intercultural Studies and Women's Studies Program at the State University of New York College at Cortland and to be held on October 22-24, 2010.

We are putting together a panel that highlights the curriculum and programming utilized in Girls Rock Camp - including but not limited to courses and workshops on:

- music history
- media literacy
- band marketing and promotions
- music journalism
- recording
- self-defense

We hope the panel will bridge scholarship with activism, and that as a group we can discuss girls and feminism, identity politics, and girl empowerment in relation to the curriculum created and implemented in Girls Rock Camp. As GRC hopes to work with a diverse group of girls in terms of race, gender identity, sexuality, class, and age we would like to discuss how successful the workshops and trainings are in
relation to the overall goals outlined by the organizations and where we could make improvements. In this respect we envision the panel as an opportunity to create a dialogue with each other across various camps.

We hope to hear from volunteers and instructors from Girls Rock Camp, scholars and activists who are studying Girls Rock Camp, and of course girls(!) who've participated in Girls Rock Camp.

We are asking that potential panelists please submit an abstract limited to 250 words to us by Sunday, February 21, 6pm eastern time. Please email both of us: Kristen (k.lamb16@gmail.com) and Alyx (Alyx.Vesey@gmail.com). Along with the proposal please include the name(s), affiliation(s), CVs (if applicable) and contact information (address, e-mail and telephone number) associated with the proposal.

We understand that this is short notice but the submission deadline is March 1st, so we need to time to read submitted proposals and prepare the panel submission.

Thanks and we look forward to hearing from you!

Kristen Lambert and Alyx Vesey co-teach the music history workshops for Girls Rock Camp Austin, and have also worked with GenAustin. Both received their MA in Media Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2008, where they were both portfolio students through the Center of Women and Gender Studies. In addition to their scholarship and work with GRCA, they also maintain blogs that reflect their academic interests. Kristen runs Act Your Age , which focuses on mediated representations of girlhood, as well as non-profit girl-oriented organizations and current events related to girlhood. Alyx runs Feminist
Music Geek , which considers music culture from a feminist perspective.

For more information on the conference please visit their website:
http://www2.cortland.edu/centers/CGIS/index.dot

submit your zine to the amsterdam zine jam

On the 26th and 27th of February 2010 the Zine Caravan is holding the inaugural Amsterdam Zine Jam at Streetlabs Project Space, which includes an exhibition, opening, reading performances, collaborative zinemaking, workshop and, most likely, a PHOTOCOPIER!

All details of how to submit your zine, etc, are here: www.rekult.org/zinecaravan/?page_id=65

Friday 12 February 2010

purple rhinestone eagle - european/UK Tour - september 2010!

PURPLE RHINESTONE EAGLE are heading over from Portland, Oregon to Europe for a month long extravaganza, spanning mainland europe and the UK.

See below for all the information you could ever need on this rad rad band!

WE ARE SHORTLY GOING TO START BOOKING SHOWS AND NEED YOU!

WANT TO BRING PURPLE RHINESTONE EAGLE TO YOUR CITY OR TOWN?

Email:

EUROPEAN DATES:
Clara (grossegouine@gmail.com); Dana(dana@fantastischelastisch.com)

UK DATES:
Em (lolaandthecartwheelssheff@hotmail.co.uk)

Facebook Group

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Hometown: Portland, Oregon (US)
Current CD: “Amorum Tali”

Members/Instruments:
Andrea Genevieve – guitar, vocals
Morgan Ray Denning – bass, backing vocals
Ashley Spungin – drums, backing vocals

Record Label: Eolian Records

Purple Rhinestone Eagle formed in the summer of 2005 in West Philadelphia. To the astonishment of a scene that generally associated female musicians with power pop and folk, Purple Rhinestone Eagle turned many heads with their big, bold rock-n-roll sound and energetic live performances. The band quickly gained a dedicated following in the DIY Philly/NY show circuit. After their first US east coast tour supporting New Bloods (Kill Rock Stars) in April 2007, the trio relocated to Portland, OR September 2007.

In March 2008 they recorded an epic six-song demo with feminist queer rock pioneer Radio Sloan (The Need, Peaches) at her home studio, The Haunted Mansion in Portland, OR. This past November 2008 the ladies recorded at The Pool Recording Studio with Alex Yusimov (Mississippi Records, Red Herring) for an album entitled Amorum Tali, released on Portland-based Eolian Records early March 2009.

Musically and stylistically, Purple Rhinestone Eagle draws a lot of inspiration from the heavy “tripped out” sights and sounds that came out of late 60s and early 70s rock-n-roll. Socially, they are motivated by the DIY ethics of early punk. Very much a live band, Purple Rhinestone Eagle turn heads at every show they play. Ashley is a powerhouse on the drums. Morgan’s electric fuzzed out bass lines are unforgettable. Andrea’s guitar shredding abilities leaves jaws dropped. Their lyrics cross a wide terrain of subjects. Often in songs they delve into the mystical and metaphysical but also the political and the many facets of love and sex.

Between various seasonal tours and in-town shows, Purple Rhinestone Eagle are currently writing a full length album due to be recorded spring 2010. This release will be followed by their first European tour this September 2010.

Reviews: Live Performances
“…the three women of Purple Rhinestone Eagle hoist two-ton riffs clear over their heads and send them – along with the ringing in your ears – spinning off into space. This power trio proves that you can grasp the dark side of the blues without losing the tips of your fretting fingers. No offense Tony Iommi. The way Andrea Genevieve mirrors riffs with her vocals, with their undercurrent of mysticism and wizardry, will leave you reaching for your dusty Hendrix and Sabbath LPs. It’s clear that Purple Rhinestone Eagle have mastered the 70s’ heavy, psychedelic, fuzzed out blues rock.”
– Aris Wales, Portland Mercury, January 7, 2010

“(R)iffs mighty enough to pierce through a dragons’s still-beating heart.”
– Marc Lore, Portland Mercury, July 30, 2009

“Imagine smoke machines, black lights, wizards, eagles with talons outstretched, and a post-Haight throwback take on Zoso-inspired Northwest proto-punk. Heavy, exhilarating doom.”
– PDX Pop Now!, July 24, 2009

“…an all-girl power trio of blissful malevolence. You should listen to them until your ears bleed with joy.”
– DJ Ranger Mike of KPSU Radio March 5, 2008

Reviews: Amorum Tali
“Purple Rhinestone Eagle throw a mighty jab with their new 12-inch record, Amorum Tali…Simply put Purple Rhinestone Eagle are on an entirely different plane than their peers – whether it be tugging upon the bushy mane of mythical classic rock unicorns, or grand post-punk numbers that rattle the exposed pipes of their packed basement shows. They intend on not coming back down to earth anytime soon.”
– Ezra Caraeff/Music Editor, Portland Mercury, March 2009

“We got a handful of these when the band were in town, but they disappeared before we could even hear it. We managed to get more finally, and HOLY SHIT, it’s not hard to hear why we couldn’t keep these in stock, some seriously fuzzy, Sabbathy, mystical metal garage rock, or something. The women from Portland, kicking out the jams, warm, languid, buzzy, doomy jams, super psychedelic, the guitars muddy and fuzzed out, the bass deep and throbbing, the drums pounding and a bit chaotic, the vocals wild and emotional and intense…The sound is sometimes epic and frenzied and very metal, sometimes brooding and murky and garage-y, often the two elements blurring into something else entirely.”
– Aquarius Records, July 2009

“PRE have developed a unique spin on their sound by any measure. Thickly distorted 60’s garage fuzz that ebbs and flows like celestial tides – either is carries you in gently or sucks you in like a black hole…Real rock-n-roll.”
– Hellride Music, July 21, 2009

philadelphia - you've got a treat in store!

From my inbox...

A dynamic month-long series of radical art exhibits and presentations in West Philadelphia!

Beginning March 5th, international artists’ cooperative Justseeds presents Bring Down the Walls!, a series of artistic exhibitions and educational events. The series celebrates radical movements that struggle to collapse the boundaries of class, race, gender and generation. The majority of events will take place at two locations, blocks apart on Baltimore Avenue in West Philadelphia. An Independent Project of Philagrafika 2010, Bring Down the Walls! is organized in collaboration with local activists.

Full deatils of all the exhibitions HERE

art xx becomes aorta



Art XX, the rad-rad-rad US art magazine that I write bits and pieces for is transitioning into its new name, Aorta Magazine, to reflect its trans-inclusive contributors and audience. The new name will be effective as of issue 3 of the magazine, out March 2010. #3 features an interview I did with the wonderful Marci Washington (who is also designing the cover)!

Plus, issue 2 is now available online from BuyOlympia. That's a whole load of awesome right there!! Issue 2, as you can see if you flip through the images on the BuyOlympia page, features my interview with GB Jones.

Thursday 11 February 2010

relishing the pleasure of each others company

Reposted from WomenArts...

In 1935 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt launched an economic stimulus program called the Works Progress Administration (WPA) with a goal of giving people "self-respect and self-reliance" by giving them meaningful jobs.

Zora Neale Hurston's WPA Legacy

Zora Neale Hurston worked on the WPA Folklore project, recording folk songs and stories in the black communities of Florida and preserving oral traditions that might otherwise have been lost. The recordings are now available online in the Florida Memory State Library and Archives. (See www.floridamemory.com)

It is amazing to hear one of the finest writers of the Harlem Renaissance singing these songs as part of her government job during the depths of the Great Depression. Alice Walker once wrote that Hurston's great gift was to show her people "relishing the pleasure of each other's loquacious and bodacious company."

In the link below, you can hear Hurston describe and sing the song Halimuhfack. Even though it is a scratchy 75-year-old recording, you can still hear that pleasure and her loving attention to the details of cultural expression in her community. www.floridamemory.com/Collections/folklife/mp3/hurston/halimuhfack.mp3

art-gasm

Sabrina Chapadjiev (whom I adore) has just had her interview published with Dianne DiMassa, talking about Dianne's paintings and art work post-Hothead Paisan.
Read it here: Feministing.com

Wednesday 10 February 2010

bikini kill oral-history archive project

Via Wears The Tousers Blog

She’s known for regularly toting a megaphone on stage, but riot grrrl royalty and all-round legend Kathleen Hanna is passing the soapbox over to fans with the launch of the official Bikini Kill Archive, a fan-generated blog where Bikini Kill adorers are urged to submit their own unique reflections on the band and its music. Stories, opinions, images, videos and memories are all welcome, says Hanna. “It can be totally off the top of your head and doesn’t need to be fancy. Maybe it’s your reaction to a song we wrote, something weird that happened at one of our shows, a personal anecdote or just WHATEVER.”

This project was undoubtedly inspired by Hanna’s recent donation to the NYU’s Fales Library, a body of personal papers spanning 1989 to 1996 which included zines, essays and correspondence, a legacy which will take pride of place in the museum’s newly minted Riot Grrrl Collection. The Bikini Kill Archive blog extends from this literary treasure, encapsulating the band’s polemic of accessible, grass roots collectivism, and encourages fans to add their own personal memories to Bikini Kill’s herstory.

Submit directly to the blog here or via bkillarchive@gmail.com.

Hard copy videos can be sent to:

Kathleen Hanna
51 MacDougal Street #227
NYC NY 10012

Tuesday 9 February 2010

craftivism magazine - pica pica

From my inbox...

Pica Pica is looking for contributors!

See: Pica Pica Website for full deatils

If you are an illustrator, journalist, writer, photographer and would like to work on a commission for our magazine then we want to hear from you. If you are are a crafty type who would like to see your work featured in our magazine or on our website then get in touch!

Scroll down to see our current briefs, then get in touch with us if you think you fit the bill.

Editorial Briefs:

(1) “What is Craftivism!?”Craftivism, exploring how mainly young women are using craft in a political or subversive way, for example through yarn bombing or other forms of “craftivism”.

craftivism.net
The Craftivist Collective

We envisaged this incorporating an email based interview with one of the groups or bloggers.

Wordcount: 750 (approx)
Deadline: ideally 17th Feb

——————–

(2) “Copycat Craft!”Inspiration vs Plagiarism – a nice investigative piece to get your teeth into!

A plagiarism feature about independent designers and crafters being ripped off by large companies, for example ASOS ripping off Lady Luck Rules OK and other examples (Made by White vs. Topshop). Article would include reactions from people who have been ripped off, why it happens, and what people can do about it. We see the angle being focused around the question of where inspiration ends and intellectual property theft begins?

Interesting to see the community of crafters at work here and willing to help!

Urban Counterfeiters – a website dedicated to the designs UO & others have pinched, bit old but interesting!

Forever 21 – just “inspired” by Banksy?

Lauren Nassef’s sad story – a shocking case of plagiarism… illustrator vs illustrator!

So, if you are good at what you do people are bound to copy you, how do you protect yourself? Check out ECCA London and Own It for more information.

Wordcount: 1000 (Approx)
Deadline: ideally by the 17th Feb

ladyfest survey

From my inbox...

Hello friends!

As part of my research project Young women as creators of new cultural spaces (at the University of Salzburg, Austria) we have created an online survey to find out more about why and how people participate in or organize Ladyfests. Please take your time to fill out the survey and forward it to your friends. Help us to collect as much information as possible in order to get a general idea about the role of Ladyfests for the participants. We really appreciate your participation!

Of course your responses will remain anonymous. If you are willing to do a longer interview, please indicate so in the survey. Many thanks!

Here you can find the link to the online survey: www.grassrootsfeminism.net/cms/node/615

For more information on the research project, please go to www.grassrootsfeminism.net/cms/node/48

And if you have any projects you are involved in, you are more than welcome to list and publicize them at the grassrootsfeminism.net site (you just need to register first, let us know if you have troubles or questions)!

Many thanks and best wishes!
Elke

Elke Zobl and Anita Hammer
University of Salzburg, Austria
contact: elke@grassrootsfeminism.net
www.grassrootsfeminism.net

Monday 8 February 2010

women and transgendered members of the comics community

From my inbox...

Attn: Women and Transgendered Members of the Comics Community

Your experience is requested!


In conjunction with my current School of the Art Institute of Chicago course LADYDRAWERS: Gender and Comics in the US, my assistant James Payne and I are gathering information about women and trans peoples' experiences in all aspects of the comics industry. This information will eventually be published in the introduction to a book collecting interviews with women and trans comics artists.

Clicking on the link below will bring you to a survey of questions dealing with professional engagement, gender and sexual identification, and the extent to which gender has been an issue in your own professional pursuits. Whether you're a creator, bookseller, conventioneer, publisher, inker, or editor, we would be extremely grateful if you can take a moment to respond to these ten questions.

This survey is completely anonymous, and we have no way of tracking your answers unless you choose to leave an email address in the comments section.

Please feel free to forward this survey to any women or transgendered persons you know that are involved in the comics industry. While the survey’s multiple choices questions are important, we are especially interested in gathering personal stories regarding the intersection between media production and issues of gender. But because the survey is anonymous, you must either leave your email address in the survey itself or contact us seperately to set up an interview.

Thanks in advance for taking five minutes to complete this survey, and again: if you have a particularly compelling story you wish to share about how gender plays out in your working life, please contact us.

Gender and Comics Survey

Sincerely, Anne, and James

Wednesday 3 February 2010

january highlights

Best book, and zine I read last month...

Zine: DIY or Don't We?
I still don't quite understand the title, but this collaborative zine (USA, July 2009) on community is a really inspiring one (despite my often negativity towards working collaboratively on projects due to ideas of 'preaching to the converted', and the internal politics of collectives hampering their effectiveness).
The editor desribes it as 'a zine about doing things together as friends, family, collectives and communtities. This zine was inspired by hopes of extending the spirit of do-it-yourslef ethics towards doing things together.'
As with any collective zine there's great aricles, and some less-so, but I found the articles on The Olympia Film Society and Capitol Theatre, and the Ladyfest Bellingham Manifesta particularly useful and heart warming.
The zine is available from two distros I know of, Marching Stars Distro (UK), and Ms Valerie Parks Distro (US).

Book: Josh McPhee, 'Paper Politics: Socially Engaged Printmaking Today' (PM Press, 2009)
Described as 'a major collection of contemporary politically and socially engaged printmaking. This full color book showcases print art that uses themes of social justice and global equity to engage community members in political conversation. Based on an art exhibition which has traveled to a dozen cities in North America, Paper Politics features artwork by over 200 international artists; an eclectic collection of work by both activist and non-activist printmakers who have felt the need to respond to the monumental trends and events of our times.
Paper Politics presents a breathtaking tour of the many modalities of printing by hand: relief, intaglio, lithography, serigraph, collagraph, monotype, and photography. In addition to these techniques, included are more traditional media used to convey political thought, finely crafted stencils and silk-screens intended for wheat pasting in the street. With essays by Deborah Caplow, Eric Triantafillou, and Josh MacPhee, as well as short writings on printmaking by over a dozen artists in the book.'

Reading this book came at just the right time for me and my research and interest into political collective creativity. It has inspired the hell out of me and given me 1001 further examples of art as activism that I can learn from, giving me many ideas and plans to cook up and put in to place myself.
Check it out at PM Press's Website

signs of change exhibition

Signs of Change: Social Movement Cultures 1960s to Now

In Signs of Change: Social Movement Cultures 1960s to Now, hundreds of posters, photographs, moving images, audio clips, and ephemera bring to life over forty years of activism, political protest, and campaigns for social justice. Curated by Dara Greenwald and Josh MacPhee as part of Exit Art’s Curatorial Incubator Program, this important and timely exhibition surveys the creative work of dozens of international social movements.

Organized thematically, the exhibition presents the creative outpourings of social movements, such as those for Civil Rights and Black Power in the United States; democracy in China; anti-apartheid in Africa; squatting in Europe; environmental activism and women's rights internationally; and the global AIDS crisis, as well as uprisings and protests, such as those for indigenous control of lands; against airport construction in Japan; and student and worker revolution in France. The exhibition also explores the development of powerful counter-cultures that evolve beyond traditional politics and create distinct aesthetics, life-styles, and social organizations.

Although histories of political groups and counter-cultures have been written, and political and activist shows have been held, this exhibition is a groundbreaking attempt to chronicle the artistic and cultural production of these movements. Signs of Change offers a chance to see relatively unknown or rarely seen works, and is intended to not only provide a historical framework for contemporary activism, but also to serve as an inspiration for the present and the future

Signs of Change: Social Movement Cultures 1960s to Now is an exhibition produced by Exit Art, NY, and was the inaugural project of the Curatorial Incubator Program. The program expands Exit Art's commitment to young and emerging curators and scholars in contemporary art, by giving material, financial, and human resources to developing curatorial talent. Working with Exit Art directors and staff, fellows curate large-scale exhibition projects, learn fundraising, develop outreach and educational programs, and co-publish a catalogue. Signs of Change was presented at Exit Art from September 20 - December 6, 2008 and traveled to the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, and the Arts Center of the Capital Region (co-presented with the Department of the Arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY).

Ticket info: Free and open to the public.

Event runs: Thu, Feb 4 – Fri, Mar 19, at: Pacific Northwest College of Art Main Campus Building, Feldman Gallery + Project Space, 1241 NW Johnson Street, Portland, Oregan, USA

to hide a glutton's face

Lilli Carre is *amazing* I have so much love and respect for her work.

Here's a new animation she has made... of it she says, 'L'Ortolan is a collaboration between Chris Hefner and myself about the creepy culinary ritual of eating the Ortolan bird. He wrote the script and recorded the narration, and I did the animation for it and edited this version. L'Ortolan will preface the feature film that Chris has almost finished, called The Pink Hotel'

L'Ortolan from Lilli Carré on Vimeo.