« December 2004 | Main | February 2005 »
January 30, 2005
Mirror Mask
Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean have gotten together again to bring about "Mirror Mask". The movie is a Jim Henson Production and it looks as dreamy and surreal as their previous collaborations. (If you've never read The Sandman, you should do so now.)
Posted by Cherri at 03:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 28, 2005
A Night of Anarchist Hip Hop Propaganda
WHAT KIND OF STATE ARE YOU LIVIN' IN ?
A Night of Anarchist Hip Hop Propaganda with SF's ENTARTETE KUNST COLLECTIVE
Friday, January 28th
7 PM - FREE!
at the AK Press Warehouse
Entartete Kunst collective members, Drowning Dog, 187/Raw Knowledge, and Malatesta (aka DJ Slo-Mo) will be celebrating the release of their new album, States of Abuse, with a short live set. EK will also be celebrating the release of Spreading Propaganda, a new documentary on the collective produced by Nadine Laule and David Moisl, with it's first East Bay screening.
The Entartete Kunst Collectiveare a class-conscious worker-owned collective that produce and distribute hip hop, various electronic stylings and radical literature that promotes positive social change. They have performed in the following countries over the past 18 months; England, Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Scotland and the U.S.A. With "potent anti status quo hip hop mixes" and spoken word, they spread ideas that promote the self emancipation of the working class.
MC/producer Drowning Dog produced the "Bread and Roses" compilation (2002) the crimson 7" (2002) and like 187 and Malatesta is featured in the E.K. documentary "Spreading Propaganda" (recorded 2002-3) Look out for her self-produced debut album 'Last Gasp' in early 2005.
187, has performed over 70 shows using the name Raw Knowledge. She is a published writer, poet, music producer and word performer. 187 uses her firebrand flo to bring anarchist ideas to the world of hip hop. She is currently in the studio working on her upcoming album "Dead Money" another 2005 release.
Malatesta aka DJ Slo-Mo has produced beats for over six Entartete Kunst releases including his own Critical Beats 12 inch (2003) the "1984 v 451" 7 inch (2000) and the "Free Mumia" benefit 10 inch (1999). Upcoming releases for 2005 include the "Critical Beats" cd and the Red and Black L.P. featuring various international mcs. Malatesta has taken his anarchist hip hop propaganda through Europe and the U.S. on tour in recent years and was an original founder of this Entartete Kunst organization.
WHAT DOES THE NAME MEAN?
"Entartete Kunst" in German means "degenerate art", it was the name given to art that wasn't down with the Nazis philosophies. What happened was, in 1937 the nazis tried to ridicule avant guard and radical artists by stealing their art and putting it in a huge exhibition called "Entartete Kunst". It was a ridiculous effort to discredit and undermine the ideas of the artists. The artists either fled to neighboring countries or were persecuted if they stayed, Wassily Kandinsky, Max Beckman, Franz Marc, Kathe Kollwitz and Paul Klee were just some of the artists under attack.
AK Press Warehouse
AK Press 674-A 23rd. St Oakland, CA
b/t MLK and San Pablo - near 19th St. BART and West Grand Exit of 80/980
For more info contact:
AK Press at 510.208.1700, josh@akpress.org
All events at AK Press are wheelchair accessible.
Posted by Brian at 10:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Thom Lessner at Juice
Juice Design shows new works by Thom Lessner with an opening on February 17th from 6-10 p.m. Look for a new mural by Thom on their building at the corner of 16th and Albion.
Juice Design
3160 16th St. at Albion
San Francisco, CA
gallery hours: 11-4
Posted by Brian at 09:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 27, 2005
Heartburn Friday night
Humble Beginnings Tattoo is hosting an art reception for a group show of some great artists this Friday night, Jan. 28th at 8pm. Raffle for a lowrider bike is $10.
Artists: dee jay, ikh, erik otto, orly, cory good morning, jessico serrano, emer, gaze, tino olsen & abe menor
Posted by Cherri at 06:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bad Art - quote of the day
Anabella sent this in....we liked it so much we wanted to pass it along.
There are no excuses for Bad Art. Painters, writers, singers, actors, dancers, filmmakers, musicians are meant to fly, to push at the frontiers, to worry the edges of the imagination, to conjure beauty from the most unexpected things, to find magic in places where others never thought to look. If you limit the trajectory of the flight, if you weight their wings with society's existing notions of morality and responsibility, if you truss them up with preconceived values, you subvert their endeavor.
~Arundhati Roy
(excerpt from the essay, The Ladies Have Feelings, So....Shall We Leave it to the Experts? in Power Politics.
Posted by Cherri at 06:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
In the Realms of the Unreal - Henry Darger
UPDATE: Currently playing at CineArts at Santana Row, SJ. (Turns out our buddy Scott was Jessica's fencing instructor.)
This documentary, by Jessica Yu, is about the life and art of outsider artist Henry Darger. Everyone should see this movie (whether you're familiar with his work or not.) His story is narrated by a child, an old man, and first hand accounts of neighbors that had no idea that this poor, recluse janitor was in his one room apartment writing a 15,000 page novel with over 100 paintings depicting the child-slave rebellion of seven Vivian sisters against the godless Glandelinian army. His artwork, novel, hundreds of clippings and journals, were only discovered after his death in 1973.
It's currently playing in SF and NY, there are a few links to his artwork here.
Posted by Cherri at 04:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 25, 2005
Bustin' Out
Bustin' Out is the current exhibit at MACLA featuring new photography, paintings and mixed-media work by San Jose artists, Angelica Muro, Alejandro Oliva, Mitsy Avila Ovalles and Abraham Ortega. The exhibit runs from January 14th through March 5th, 2005
Join the featured artists for a gallery walk-through and a conversation about their work on Thursday, February 3rd at 7 p.m..
Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana, Inc.
510 South First Street, San Jose, CA 95113
(408) 998-2783
Gallery Hours:
Wednesday & Thursday 12:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Friday & Saturday, 12:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Free Admission
Posted by Brian at 10:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 21, 2005
Tucker Nichols at Mission 17
TOGETHER WE CAN PREVENT EARTHQUAKES
an Installation by Tucker Nichols
Exhibit Opening: Thursday, January 20th, 6 - 9 pm
Closing reception: Saturday, February 19th, 2 - 5 pm
Gallery hours: Tuesday and Thursday 3pm – 6pm, Saturday 2pm - 5pm, or by appointment: 415.336.2349
Tucker will be working in the gallery on Thursday afternoons as an on-going performance.
gallery statement…
Last Fall, when I invited Tucker to show his work at Mission 17, he proposed converting the gallery into an “earthquake prevention center.” We discussed the installation as the combination of a think-tank, a dreamscape, and the ravings of desperately isolated, half-mad individual, dead-set on attempting the impossible. The project had been inspired in part by Tucker’s work campaigning in the recent presidential election, but promised to address broader issues concerning hope, fear, powerlessness, and fate. Tucker spoke about the desire to prevent earthquakes as both beautiful and ridiculous. He wanted to address experiences of vulnerability, to connect them to the promises and problems of social life, and ultimately to examine the nature of political and religious illusions.
Then the tsunami hit Southeast Asia.
The horror of this catastrophe was overwhelming, and we considered cancelling the show. With time and further discussion, however, we came to see the original motivations for the project as now all the more compelling. How does tragedy bind us together? How do social-conflicts exacerbate natural disasters? What is the place of compassion in our fragmented modern world? What fear and vanity inform the questions asked on television news programs: “could this happen to us?” and “how can it be prevented?”
We hope this show might provide the opportunity to begin addressing the experience of this disaster, to work through some of its sadness and terror, and in the process to better understand ourselves, our relationships with one another, and the fragile wonder and absurdity of our place in the world.
Mission 17
2111 Mission St. #401
San Francisco, CA 94110
415.336.2349
info@mission17.com
www.mission17.com
If you want your name removed from Mission 17's mailing list, please respond to this email and write "please remove" in the subject heading.
Posted by Brian at 09:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 20, 2005
Andrew Schoultz curates Flaneur
Flaneur curated by Andrew Schoultz
February 4th - 26th, 2005
(This will be the final art show at Punch Gallery.)
Opening Reception
Friday February 4th, 2005. 7pm - 1am
DJ Code 538, DJ Terrible, DJ Tragic
Admission free
Flaneur will feature Schoultz's work along with a wide range of artists from around the country including: Ryan Wallace (NYC), Joseph Hart (NYC), Robert Gutierrez (SF), Ian Johnson (SF), Ricardo Richey (SF), SP.One (NYC), Caleb Neelon / SONIK (Boston), Christopher Howe (Chicago), Kyle Ranson (SF), Will Yackulic (SF), Erik Zo (SF), William O'Callahan (SF), Curve (SF), Ace Morgan (SF), and Brad K. Alder (SF).
"Not everyone is capable of taking a bath in multitude: Enjoying crowds is an art"
- Charles Baudelaire, in Crowds.
The need to wander the city on foot is as powerful a compulsion as the need to make art about what we find while we’re doing it. Charles Baudelaire was a prose poet who walked the streets of Paris. He wandered, wrote, and saw himself as a writer who responded to the urban environment in all its forms. As a writer, he had to be present in the banlieue of slums and society gatherings. Somehow, like the streets themselves, he negotiated both worlds and everywhere in between. The relationship was problematic between himself and the people he observed. He was too well placed to be a slum dweller and not a dandy enough to be a full member of society. Writing became Baudelaire’s social passport into worlds where he certainly did not belong but were too familiar to be entirely strange. He envisioned the writer as the “flaneur”, a French word meaning the incognito stroller; elegant, a bit louche, a jack of all social classes while belonging to none as he strolled.
The artists included in this exhibition have each fit the model of the word flaneur. They are travelers, cataloguers, and reporters. They are bad journalists, bad anthropologists. They routinely get too close to their subjects and place themselves in their stories. Their bases are at the same time obvious and nuanced. What these artists reveal of themselves is at times a deeply personal story and at times an icily removed commentary. These men and women are raconteurs who bring into Punch Gallery stories that are sometimes a mess, and yet, sometimes verging on making perfect sense.
Posted by Brian at 11:42 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 19, 2005
Field Effects at 964 Natoma
This is Aaron Ximm's gig that we've told you about in the past. We highly recommend the experience.
Field Effects 21
Friday, January 28th
Doors 8pm
964 Natoma, San Francisco, CA (USA)
Posted by Brian at 10:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 13, 2005
SF Int'l Art Expo
This Friday thru Monday (01/14 - 01/17) is the SF Int'l Art Expo at Fort Mason.
100 international galleries set up shop for the weekend. Remember, this is NOT the time to take in your portfolio! But peruse the booths and take note of what they are showing, what their tastes are and if you sincerely feel you could be a match, grab a business card.
Posted by Cherri at 04:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 11, 2005
Our xml feed has changed... please update your readers
If you currently subscribe to one of Village Savant's syndicated feeds, we highly recommend updating your link. Our new XML enables features that we are excited to share with you... namely podcasting.
Posted by Brian at 11:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 09, 2005
Cory Archangel Exhibit
We heard Cory speak last year and he showed some new projects he'd been working on. He's funny, mischevious and the end result is as interesting as he is (which isn't always the case with geek art). He has a solo exhibit coming up at Team gallery in NY entitled Welcome to my Homepage Artshow Jan. 13 - Feb. 12th. Press release here.
Posted by Cherri at 08:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Buying Blue
If you knew Amazon gives their money to Republicans, and Barnes & Nobles to Democrats, would that change your spending with either store? (I was relieved to see Apple & Adobe both "blue"!) SF Gate article here.
Posted by Cherri at 07:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bloggers Rights
As posted on Bloggers Rights, these are organizations that have fired, threatened, disciplined, fined or not hired people because of their blogs:
1.) Delta Air Lines
2.) Wells Fargo
3.) Ragen MacKenzie
4.) Starbucks
5.) Microsoft (some say yay, some say nay)
6.) Friendster
and the list goes on and on.
Posted by Cherri at 07:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Fosik, Moster in NYC
For those of you in NYC that missed the Parts & Labor exhibit (catalog here), you can catch Fosik and Monster Project out in Williamsburg at the Riveria gallery Jan. 13th - 30th.
Posted by Cherri at 07:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Paul Urich at Mimi Barr
Paul Urich (past A.D. here and video here) has new works up in the project room at Mimi Barr. Also showing is Brion Nuda Rosch and Daniel James Burt. Through Feb. 16th. Mimi Barr, 3153 16th street. SF, hours Tues-Sunday 1-7pm.
Posted by Cherri at 06:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Heart101 Calendar
After the MARS opening at Low Gallery last evening (which was amazing work by the way), we stopped by Needles & Pens and picked up this Heart101 calendar...it's a beautiful piece including work by Kamau Patton. N&P says they'll be having a Heart 101 show later this month.
Posted by Cherri at 04:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
You Go Gabe!
Gabe of Penny Arcade has a message for the "old guy" that's been giving Scott Kurtz a hard time for his syndication deal. It contains examples of triumphs, valid points and some choice swear words.
Posted by Cherri at 03:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 07, 2005
V.Vale's Counterculture Hour #3
Two important notes from V.'s newsletter:
CounterCulture Hour Saturday January 8 (tomorrow!), 2005, 6:30pm, Cable Channel 29 (Sorry, Bay Area only, but watch for video releases on our website.) The 3rd episode will feature a conversation with R.U. Sirius and writing partner Dan Joy, authors of the recent corporately-published Counterculture Through The Ages. Also shown will be psychedelic video by Eve Bernie which features R.U. Sirius.
City Lights Bookstore will host a special RE/Search event at their store (261 Columbus, S.F.) on Feb. 24.
Posted by Cherri at 06:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
CounterCulture Through The Ages
As an exercise for an arts leadership mentorship program we're in, we've been assigned the task of delving into the advantages, and harsh realities of serving up counterculture programming. It's a difficult subject to get your head around. In one sense, it seems to be everywhere we look (so is it really "counter" anything?) and on the other, it's sort of defining the history of the world. We have had these discussions for years now and was happy to discover last month that there is finally a book about it. Ken Goffman (aka R.U. Sirius) and Dan Joy take you on an interesting journey from "Abraham to Acid House" in Counterculture Through The Ages. (Metro's Gary Singh has a good review of it in this week's issue.) There's a lot we can learn from the patterns and key events in this book. It usually seems to boil down to just a handful of people that pave the way to a new way of seeing and believing simply because they stuck to their guns...it's just a matter of time before the masses catch up.
Goffman will be appearing at the Capitola Book Cafe, 1475 41st Ave, Capitola, CA this Monday, Jan. 10th at 7:30pm.
Posted by Cherri at 03:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 05, 2005
Tucker Nichols
We really like Tucker and his always thought provoking work. He has a show coming up at Mission 17 (SF) entitled "Together We Can Prevent Earthquakes." "Nichols' presentation promises to be performative, as the portrait of an alienated individual, who carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, and hopes against hope for something sublime and ridiculous." Jan. 20th - Feb. 19th.
Posted by Cherri at 01:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 03, 2005
Blogs ...the new Internet
Merriam-Webster's online dictionary still doesn't have "blogger" as a definable word. (Even though "blog" made the Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year 2004 list.)
Here's the search result: The word ("blogger") you've entered isn't in the dictionary.
Suggestions for blogger:
1. bludger
2. Bolger
3. bludgers
4. bulgur
5. bowlegged
6. bulgurs
7. beleaguer
8. bludgeon
9. bullyrag
10. beleaguers
Bloggers are paving the way (and have been for a couple of years now) to a grass roots revolution in journalism, marketing, public relations, consumerism and basic accountability for how things should be done. The playing field has been leveled. Again. The voice & opinion of one has the power to circumvent the money and marketing strategies of full-on corporations. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Fortune Magazine's January 10th issue has a lengthy article (here) and Pew Internet and American Life has just released a study that reveals phenomenal (but not so surprising) results (here.) But as we saw during the internet boom, there will be the good, the bad and the oh-so-boring pictures of family pets. It's going to be a fascinating year.
Posted by Cherri at 05:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
NYE Times Square QTVR
Jook Leung, master QTVR photographer, adds his latest panoramic of NYE in Times Square, with sound!
Posted by Cherri at 02:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Art of Zines in Merc's "Most Important Exhibits" list
A.D.'s Art of Zines exhibit in collaboration with the San Jose Museum of Art received a mention (as a side note to the Nara exhibit) in Mercury News' year end art wrap up by Jack Fischer under the heading "Among the most important exhibitions of the year." Read it here.
Posted by Cherri at 12:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Susan Sontag dies at 71
Author Susan Sontag, widely regarded as one of America's leading intellectuals, dies at 71 from leukaemia. BBC News article.
Posted by Brian at 11:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack