b-roll

What are your communities?

2012-02-05T13:14:00.057-06:00

I teach a seminar for first-years at Columbia College Chicago. For one of our first assignments, I ask students to name and discuss three communities they belong to. Here are a few remarkable samples from that assignment:

I am an average white person. I identify with this community on color alone. I do not believe that color matters. I can only identify with this community based off of color, my skin tone. I don't know anything different so being wonderful or painful, there really isn't an answer to that. Having said that I do like being white. My role, with race I really don't know what role I would have that would help reflect my race.
So much going on here. I can't do the invisible knapsack / privilege exercise soon enough. I write back to the student: "You say that you don't believe that color matters, yet you list your race as an important "community". This seems to be a contradiction, no?"
++++
I feel that I am a part of the Apple community because I support their products as well as their innovative drive. I like this community because I can use my Apple products to its full advantage, feeling a sense of power in the technological world. I believe I am a user and supporter in this community.
This student seems to be one of the few who reads the news regularly, so I'm wondering if she heard the news about Apple's human rights & labor violations. I asked what her responsibility would be to respond to these issues.
++++
I identify myself with the "scummy" community. This is one that I have observed in many different places, and not every member understands that they are even part of this. It is more of a realization. I identify with this one for several different reasons. Most of them are just day to day happenings as well. I will provide an example. I see a cigarette on the street, and it looks brand new. Never lit. I pick it up, and smoke it. However, certain members of the "Scummunity" take it to another level. They will retrieve a butt that actually looks like a butt, and bum a lighter to get it going. The best thing about this community is that I will never be dissapointed again. I will never find myself bored, in need, or anything of that sort. If I can accept a low standard of living, then everything better than that will seem like a Ritz Carlton.
This is new to me. I ask the student if he has heard of Freegans.
++++
The first community I think of is the most general one; being a human. This is a wonderful community to be a part of because as humans we can learn, love, and progress. My role right now is to go to school and experience new things and new opportunities. As for the future hopefully I will accomplish something and be part of something big.
This is when I'm reminded how the word community is meaningless.
++++
POP Culture Community- I would say this community is for the young generation of our decade which make up the Pop Culture Community. What is included in this community is fashion, Music, Rights, Education, and other social groups included as well. I am a part of this culture because i am relevant to my generation and I pay attention to what ever is mainstream in our culture. The Pop Culture community continues to grow as time passes by and states what is popular. Celebrities and the Media are usually the highlight of this community. The only thing i have against this popular culture community is things I personally disagree with. Other than that, this community is extremely powerful because the young generation is really the deciding factor for whats popular and what is not. I am still in tune with Pop Culture, therefore, I am a part of it.
"I pay attention to what ever is mainstream in our culture."
++++
Latino Community: What makes up this community are people of Mexican descent in America. I am considered a part of this community because I am Mexican American. The Latino community is all about Pride within the Culture and in all standing as Mexican American. What I like about this community is there movements for American Rights for Mexicans living in America. I have always been grateful for seeing Mexican Americans stand up for what they believe, as far as education, jobs/work and being able to become Citizens in America. Some of the things I don't really like are so called members who sometimes forget why this community even started and focus more on the "Culture". I have no shame in my culture whats so ever. But if people wanted to know more about the culture of Mexicans/Latinos then they should start a Latino Culture Community. A memory I have with this specific community took place in High School. I remember the L.A.S.O Club (Latino Academic Social Organization) put out a flyer saying "come join the Latin Community and talk about news and goals and join our Fiesta traditional Mexican meals and music will be provided". I threw this flyer in the garbage. This as a Mexican made me not want to join. Putting that disturbing memory aside, this community is strong and there goals for what their fighting for have reason. So Go LATINO COMMUNITY!
I'm not sure what disturbed this student about the flyer. What does he mean by "culture"? I hope it was a critique of the food and music angle, but I'm not sure.
++++
I consider myself a part of the church/Christainity community. In this community we share the same goals which is to become more Christ like and to get into heaven when we pass away. Also there is no limit to how many people can join the church because we encourage other people to come and be a part of the body of Christ. I'm proud to be a part of this group because the people in it are supportive and they lift me up when I'm down. My role in this community is to educate others about our religion and to be the best person I can be. Everyday when I walk out the door I'm not only representing myself but the community that I associate with as well.
I like the idea that the Christian community is possibly infinite as it accumulates into the body of Christ. I also like hearing such clarity of goals: packing for the road trip to heaven.
++++
I was born and raised in Zurich, Switzerland. I only moved to America to go to boarding high school when I was 15. I speak fluent German and the local Zurich-dialect, which is so strong, Germans can't understand what we say. I know the slang, I know the town inside and out, I know the history, I support the local sports teams, I stick to the local beer. I love Zurich and one day I'll move back there and raise my family there. Switzerland is where my heart is, but I guess there are it's flaws. Things are more expensive there, we have a pestering population of immigrants from the Balkan peninsula, we don't celebrate Thanks giving. That's about it. I am apart of the community as a citizen and as a patriot.
As an immigrant in the U.S. (whether permanent or temporary, you are still an immigrant), I found it quite contradictory when you said "we have a pestering population of immigrants from the Balkan peninsula". Do you feel that immigrants in the U.S. are also bothersome?
+++
This is my favorite:
1. Women- I am a woman, obviously. I like being a woman because if I didn't, well I probably wouldn't identify as one. There isn't really anything that wonderful about being a woman. I know I definitely am one, but that doesn't mean I necessarily like it. A lot of people berate or degrade women. I feel like a lot of people don't think I'm capable of doing things or certain things that I do are inappropriate because I am a woman. As part of the community of women, I feel that it is my job to prove those people wrong. I'm not a crazy raging feminist but I do what I want and don't give a fuck who cares because I am a woman. I like heavy metal, baggy t-shirts, beer, cars, dirty jokes, and no one is going to tell me otherwise. My role in the community is to gain respect. I can do anything I want regardless of my gender.

2. Art School Kid- Unfortunately I'm part of this community as well. No matter where I go I always seem to hate the people surrounding me. Art school kids are no different. A lot of these people think they are so creative and poetic and different when really they just have internet access and a trust fund. I feel like the black sheep in this community. I just sit there and take in as much information as possible so I can get my degree doing something I like. A bunch of these people think they are going to be awesome and famous when really they are just self-centered assholes. I know I'm a cynical fuck when I say this, but seriously get a job. I love Columbia don't get me wrong, but some people are just too much.

3. Metal Heads- I am a metal head and proud of it. This is the only group of people that I really feel that I belong with. I love head banging, beer, all my friends who I know would have my back no matter what, and most of all the music. The music makes me feel like I can do anything, be anything I want, and no one will judge me. I feel almost like I've made a connection with a higher power when I listen to heavy metal. It's almost surreal, it just takes me away. Some people are annoying, the people that go there and get too drunk or people who pretend they are hardcore into heavy metal when really they don't know anything. Most of the time I don't even care though, everyone at a show is like your best friend or your brother as long as they don't try to start shit with you. This is the one place where yes, I am a woman; and yes, I am an art school kid; but no one cares. We are all metal heads and we are all a family.

tis the season

2012-01-12T13:07:00.001-06:00

Tis the season for affirmative action forms, the kind HR departments at universities are required to do to assess whether they are reaching a diverse range of job candidates. Sometimes I ignore them, but sometimes they provide some room for expression. It feels like a small battle, sure, but if more of us keep making comments like this on doctor's office forms and other surveys, it may eventually bring a richer understanding of "diversity" to the mainstream.

This school seems especially interested in diversity, but I suppose they are required (by law ?) to use the language provided. I have a feeling they might get responses like mine all the time, but maybe I'm too optimistic about how sensitive academics are to identity issues like these. I'd like to think they will send my comments to some bureaucrat in DC and eventually that person will see so many similar comments that they may try to do something about it. It's the least I can do on my end, rather than remaining silent.

poem as we conclude the formal occupation of Iraq

2011-12-27T10:59:00.002-06:00

In California During the Gulf War
by Denise Levertov

Among the blight-killed eucalypts, among
trees and bushes rusted by Christmas frosts,
the yards and hillsides exhausted by five years of drought,

certain airy white blossoms punctually
reappeared, and dense clusters of pale pink, dark pink—
a delicate abundance. They seemed

like guests arriving joyfully on the accustomed
festival day, unaware of the year's events, not perceiving
the sackcloth others were wearing.

To some of us, the dejected landscape consorted well
with our shame and bitterness. Skies ever-blue,
daily sunshine, disgusted us like smile-buttons.

Yet the blossoms, clinging to thin branches
more lightly than birds alert for flight,
lifted the sunken heart

even against its will.
But not
as symbols of hope: they were flimsy
as our resistance to the crimes committed

—again, again—in our name; and yes, they return,
year after year, and yes, they briefly shone with serene joy
over against the dark glare

of evil days. They are, and their presence
is quietness ineffable—and the bombings are, were,
no doubt will be; that quiet, that huge cacophany

simultaneous. No promise was being accorded, the blossoms
were not doves, there was no rainbow. And when it was claimed
the war had ended, it had not ended.

poetry from the City of Chicago

2011-12-17T11:18:00.000-06:00

35th Ward Description:
Beginning at the place where W Palmer St meets N Hamlin Ave; thence southerly to W Dickens Ave; thence easterly to N St Louis Ave; thence northerly to W Palmer St; thence easterly along said Street to N Spaulding Ave; thence northerly to W Fullerton Ave; thence easterly to N Sawyer Ave; thence northerly to W Wrightwood Ave; thence easterly to Local Neighborhood Road, Rural Road, City Street; thence northerly along said Local Neighborhood Road, Rural Road. City Street to N Kedzie Ave; thence northerly to W Diversey Ave; thence easterly to N Sacramento Ave; thence northerly to W George St; thence westerly along said Street to N Albany Ave; thence northerly to N Avondale Ave; thence westerly to N Troy St; thence northerly along said Street to Boundary; thence northerly to i- 90; thence westerly along said Primary Road to N Kedzie Ave; thence northerly to W Addison St; thence westerly along said Street to N Elston Ave; thence westerly to N Kimball Ave; thence northerly to W Sunnyside Ave; thence westerly to N Drake Ave; thence northerly to W Wilson Ave; thence westerly to N Lawndale Ave; thence northerly to W Ainslie St; thence westerly along said Street to N Avers Ave; thence southerly to Alley; thence westerly along said Alley to N Pulaski Rd; thence southerly along said Road to W Lawrence Ave; thence westerly to N Keystone Ave; thence southerly to Alley; thence westerly along said Alley to N Kariov Ave; thence southerly to N Kennicott Ave; thence westerly to W Eastwood Ave; thence easterly to Alley; thence southerly along said Alley to N Kasson Ave; thence easterly to N Keeler Ave; thence westerly to Alley; thence easterly along said Alley to N Keystone Ave; thence southerly to W Montrose Ave; thence easterly to N Lawndale Ave; thence southerly to W Cullom Ave; thence easterly to N Montlcello Ave; thence southerly to W Berteau Ave; thence easterly to N Central Park Ave; thence southerly to N Central Park Ave; thence southerly to N Central Park Ave; thence southerly to W Diversey Ave; thence westerly to N Ridgeway Ave; thence southerly to Alley; thence easterly along said Alley to N Central Park Ave; thence southerly to W Fullerton Ave; thence westerly to N Keeler Ave; thence northeriy to W Belden Ave; thence westerly to N Kostner Ave;thence southerly to Soo Line RR; thence easterly along said Railroad to N Pulaski Rd; thence northerly along said Road to W Armitage Ave; thence westerly to N Kariov Ave; thence northerly to W Palmer St; thence easterly along said Street to the point of beginning.

communication limits

2011-04-24T10:28:00.003-05:00

I like this email signature by one of the folks who founded Experimental Station in Chicago. Though it may come off as a bit intense for some readers, I appreciate and agree with the sentiment.

Communications technology has proved a useful and potentially life-enhancing tool. Yet, if not attributed its proper value and used under appropriate conditions, this technology induces anxiety in the user, fosters meaningless communication, undermines the quality of human interactions, and renders some of us unable to locate the silence and solitude essential to thinking and to spiritual well-being.
Recognizing these risks, _______ has established necessary limits on her use of technology. Please be advised that she finds it impossible to:
* Respond to every email message she receives;
* Respond to email messages within the same day;
* Respond to any email messages on Saturday or Sunday;
* Answer the phone only because it is ringing;
* Answer the phone while she is already engaged in conversation with another human being;
* Promise a response to every phone call received.
These limits are intended not to frustrate communication but to deepen it.

student quotes

2011-04-20T13:17:00.001-05:00

Yesterday in class I showed a travel video about Iran in preparation for reading of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis. Before pressing play, a student exclaims: "Iran... isn't that where Americans get shot on the street?" A similar comment was made in the following section.

Also that day, a student tells us about her idea to do a video about racial profiling by immigration officials by casting her white friend as a Mexican. The main criteria for choosing him was the fact that he owns a fake mustache. His costume will also include a "drug rug"aka a baja hoodie.

Powers of 10

2011-02-17T23:34:00.002-06:00

Back in October, I attended one of my favorite conferences, the Third Coast International Audio Festival. There, American Public Media hosted a contest to celebrate their 10th anniversary.

The audio track below was recorded and edited on my iPhone using the mobile 4-track recorder Monle. Today I made my last call on the iPhone. My phone has been on its 2-year planned obsolescence suicide mission for a while now. Sometime this evening it refused to have any signal. So I made my last call: to report gang taggers in my neighborhood to 911, the only call you can make without signal.

Having downloaded all my photos and other media, I'm now moving on to an Android phone with T-Mobile. Good-bye iPhone, hello 4G.

Finally signed up for an Audioboo account, and so far I think it's fabulous. Totally hassle-free. What took me so long?
Listen!

raves are back

2011-02-14T17:09:00.003-06:00

So say my 18 year-old students. They take place in Cicero, IL.
This quote was submitted for homework by one of my students this week. It is a bit off-topic for the assignment I gave. But oh well, whatever, nevermind. I share it with you so together we may witness the resurgence of 90s culture. I was never into techno but I remember it being a bit better than this.

"You don't need to hide my friend
For I am just like you"
Skrillex "Scary monsters and nice spirits"

This is a quote from a song that i first heard when i got in to raving. To me it is saying that you dont have to be afraid of being who you are. When i first got into raving i didnt understand what it ment to rave, but now knowing that its about the people you meet and connect with. When you rave its a place to were you can go meet new people and be a you that not everyone gets to see, a you that is a little bit hidden do to the dissing of other people. A place to be free. So to me how this media (the song) is used to tell you not to be afraid of who you are and just accept yourself for who you are, because your not alone cause there are others out there like you.

notes on envelopes

2011-01-19T22:00:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I go to lectures and I don't have my notebook with me, so I write notes on envelopes or other scrap paper. I should have blogged about this after I attended, but I didn't. So now I will transcribe my notes for you.

14 November 2010
The History of Scent at the Humanities Festival with Chandler Burr, The New York Times' perfume critic.
http://bit.ly/eMB5ui

In his lecture, Burr handed out scent strips with some important perfumes and explained how they connected to the art movements of their time. He connected each scent with a work of visual art. He had audience helpers to distribute the strips during the lecture, and he liked telling them what to do. At the end of the lecture he revealed that he was going to take a new job at the Museum of Modern Art to be a scent curator. He told us this was not public news and that we should not to tell anyone, specifically via blog.

perfume is an art
introduction of synthetics = perfume

Jicky, Aime Guerlain, 1889
Valpincon Bather 1808 - painting by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres
Perfume is not a list of raw materials, just as painting is not just paint and canvas.
---
Chanel No. 5, Ernest Beaux, 1921
First great modernist perfume. Synthetics on the outside. Aldehydes.
Not natural, puts you in a different place.
---
Dioressence, Edmond Roudnitska, 1969
Ab-ex 1970
Mark Rothko, Orange Tan Purple 1949
---
Art is artificial. Has to be taken outside of nature.
marine notes = Calone (methylbenzodioxepinon)
L'eau d'Issey, Jacques Cavallier
Japonsim
Miyake asked for the scent of water.
Structure is important. Linear and minimalist.
Plays one note.
Carnation, Lily, Lily Rose
---
neon gourmand, surrealist, electric
Britney Spears' Midnight Fantasy
Flower$all by Murakami
Carolin Sabas
---
Hermes' Osmanthe Yunnan, 2005
Jean Claude Ellena
21st century minimalism
transluscent
---
untitled - fracas

A Fire in My Belly

2010-12-13T00:08:00.001-06:00

View the full video here:

A Fire in My Belly from ppow_gallery on Vimeo.

iPad best practices

2010-12-08T07:24:00.002-06:00

Continuing to track the rare smart uses of the the iPad. This one is timely and important, in response to the censorship of David Wojnarowicz at the National Portrait Gallery.

via http://silencestillequalsdeath.blogspot.com/

The Flyer the Smithsonian Told People They Shouldn't Read

In case anyone's curious, this is the text from the flyer I was holding for people to read. It talked about the art and why I was standing there with an iPad around my neck.

Whenever somebody took one, security guards would swarm them intimidatingly and tell them they were "not allowed" to take it. Everyone who took a flyer gave it back.

*******

I am standing here with this iPad around my neck…
…because politicians and pressure groups don’t want you to see this work of art
…because this work’s detractors have every right to interpret it any way they want
…because so do you
…because I’m tired of people who know better caving in to the hysterics of the misinformed
…because the time our politicians waste vilifying a dead man is time they should be seizing to fix the problems of the living
…because I never believed that the same forces that marginalized this artist twenty years ago would try to silence him today
…because I was wrong
…because by marginalizing the work of the marginalized from an exhibition about marginalization, the censors themselves have provided the ultimate validation of the artist’s work
…because too many gay people—myself included—too often forget that any acceptance we enjoy today was paid for in blood, bruises, and unimaginable suffering by those who came before us
…because suffering is human
…because we are human
…because there are those who will stop at nothing to suppress that
truth
…because I refuse to let them
…because silence still equals death.

[on other side]

A Fire In My Belly, 1987 (excerpt). David Wojnarowicz. Music by
Diamanda Galás.

The Images
David Wojnarowicz created this video in 1987 as a tribute to his colleague and lover, Peter Hujar, who died of AIDS that same year. The video contains some grisly images: Mummified bodies, bloody icons, lips being sewn shut, and 11 seconds of ants crawling on a crucifix. These images represent Wojnarowicz's feelings of isolation and marginalization as an openly gay man living with AIDS in the 80s — an era in which carriers of the virus were demonized. They are a memento mori, or a reminder of our mortality.

Adapted from http://www.tbd.com/blogs/tbd-arts/2010/12/national-portrait-gallery-
censorship-controversy-who-was-david-wojnarowicz--5383.html

The Music
The music heard on the video is an excerpt from The Plague Mass by Diamanda Galás, which she composed in response to the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. The words for the piece heard here, “This Is the Law of the Plague,” are taken from chapter 15 of the biblical book of Leviticus:

When any man hath an issue out of his flesh,
Because of his issue he is unclean
Every bed whereon he lieth is unclean
And everything whereon he sitteth, unclean.
And whosoever toucheth his bed shall be unclean,
And he that sitteth whereon he sat shall be unclean.
And he that toucheth the flesh of the unclean becomes unclean,
And he that be spat on by him unclean becomes unclean.
And whosoever toucheth anything under him shall be unclean.
And he that beareth any of those things shall be unclean.
And what saddle soever he rideth upon is unclean
And the vessel of earth that he touches, unclean.
And if any man’s seed of copulation go out from him, he is unclean.
Every garment, every skin whereon is the seed, unclean.
And the woman with whom this man shall lie with will be unclean.
And whosoever toucheth her will be unclean.
This is the law of the plague,
To teach when it is clean and when unclean.
And the priest shall look upon the plague.
For a rising and for a scab and for a bright spot.
And the priest shall shut up he that hath the plague.
He shall carry them forth to a place unclean.
He shall separate them in their uncleanness.
This is the law of the plague:
To teach when it is clean and when it is unclean.

Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamanda_Galás

AREA auction

2010-12-08T07:19:00.002-06:00

Auction results: Apparently I'm accompanying Emilie and Mima and friends on a retreat to Sarah Lewison's place in glamorous Carbondale, IL.

The dance party after was fun, people in duck boots, spinning on their
heads. There followed the unfortunate arrival of 2 really high young Iranian girls (SAIC students, I'm guessing) fawning over the DJ boys round about 12m or so. I kept having to hold myself back from pulling them away and onto the dance floor. It's the old lady in me.

Was talking to Bernadine Dohrn early on and had no idea. Asked what she did and she said "sue cops". I replied: "How's that going?". She schooled me about Puerto Rican political prisoners, asking me if I'd ever been to Humboldt Park! I think I said some stuff about DADT, Obama, and the Dream Act that made me sound more like a moderate than I really am.

Savage Love

2010-11-13T10:25:00.003-06:00

went to hear dan savage interviewed by his brother last night. then they took questions from the audience written on slips of paper. someone asked why ira glass was not gay when he is so adorable. dan savage told the crowd we need more men
like ira glass, men who are good at listening. dan reminded us that ira eats pussy.
i also learned that the clitoris is like a funnel cake with a nose. that was the running joke throughout the night.

mr. savage is not without his flaws, but it was entertaining and worthwhile. he makes it sound like its so easy to get what you want, if you just ask.

Obiedopes strike again

2010-11-12T19:17:00.007-06:00

Today I heard a story about Lena Dunham's film Tiny Furniture, which stars her and her mother, artist Laurie Simmons. From the description I had a hunch she went to Oberlin. If I had watched the videos on her personal website, I would have seen the campus featured prominently in her student films. But I didn't, so my first clue was a blog entry called "Oberlin Confessional" on the Guggenheim.org site.

I attended Oberlin in the mid 90's, before the threat of Facebook-style gossip wars that Dunham describes in her blog entry. I wonder whether Mudd Library still glows with analogue confessions written graffiti style on butcher paper taped to the bathroom stalls of A-level.

It seems some things never change. My Obie friends and I joke about the cultural mafia linked to Oberlin, how many Oberlin grads go on to have powerful careers in the arts. I won't disclude myself as a product of that lineage, but it's important to acknowledge that the journey is easier for some people than for others. Oberlin will always be home to cool New Yorkers with extraordinary personal capital. This gives them an education and a privileged cultural background that allows them to be more sophisticated and worldly than any of the students I work with now could ever be, no matter how much talent they have. It helps to have a famous art star mother to produce your films, and to have that film reviewed immediately by the New York Times. If I ever see the film I will write again to let you know if it was any good (it probably is).

Chicago city workers to the rescue

2010-11-08T13:38:00.000-06:00

Many thanks due to DOT truck 3118 for removing the plastic bag that was trapped in the tree on the parkway in front of my house for over a year.

No hard frost yet. 73 degree high today.

2010-10-25T00:02:00.003-05:00

October has included the following events:

AREA 10 Release Party
Long Grove Apple Festival
Superamas at the MCA
The Universoul Circus at Washington Park
Chicago Fire vs. DC United, my first professional soccer game
Sankai Juku at the Harris Theater
my first WATSU (water-shiatsu) session at Galter Life Center
a reading at Quimby's from college mate Sara Marcus, author of Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrl Revolution
Tania Bruguera at the Chicago Humanities Festival

I intended to write about any and all of these events. Barring that, I will include an image from Bruguera's piece autosabotage, in which she played a live solo round of Russian Roulette while reading a treatise called "Culture as a Strategy to Survive.” at the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009. She says the gun was loaded and she pulled the trigger three times.
http://www.radiopapesse.org/w2d3/v3/view/radiopapesse/notizie--1562/index.html?area=5

She also did Burden of Guilt in 1997. She didn't talk about this piece, but it's relevant in light of my earlier post on Lady Gaga's meat dress.
... Bruguera, standing naked with a slaughtered lamb hanging from her neck, spends 45 minutes eating soil mixed with water and salt—a re-enactment of the suicide ritual that many Cuban natives once practiced when faced with the threat of the Spanish conquistadores.
http://www.artesmagazine.com/2010/03/neuberger-museum-features-installation-art-by-cuban-artist/

best use of iPad

2010-09-20T00:25:00.001-05:00

Not too long ago I complained about the iPad.
Here is something that might make me regret that I gave it back.
Making Future Magic: iPad light painting from Dentsu London on Vimeo.

meat dresses

2010-09-13T08:55:00.001-05:00

Lady Gaga, Video Music Awards, 2010
http://bit.ly/aJuVdu
Ellen [Degeneres], who is a vegan, asked her what the dress was about. She said "Well, it is certainly no disrespect to anyone that is vegan or vegetarian. As you know, I am the most judgment-free human being on the earth… However, it has many interpretations but for me this evening. If we don't stand up for what we believe in and if we don't fight for our rights pretty soon we're going to have as much rights as the meat on our own bones. And, I am not a piece of meat."
Dear Lady Gaga,
Could you please be more specific about what you believe in? I want to like you, but you make it hard for me when you throw around empty rhetoric like this. I think you want to support feminist and queer issues, but you have to use the spotlight to say something more substantive than what a righteous person you are.

Jana Sterbak, Vanitas, Flesh Dress for an Albino Anorectic, 1987
http://collections.walkerart.org/item/object/957
This piece was made by Montreal artist Jana Sterbak a year after Ms. Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (aka Lady Gaga) was born.

From the Walker Art Center catalog: Vanitas is a term originally used to describe 17th-century Dutch still-life compositions of rotting meat and game, guttering candles, and skulls. These paintings were intended as meditations on the fleeting nature of life, the inevitability of death, and the necessity for a spiritual life. By calling this work Vanitas, Sterbak points the viewer toward ideas that animate her work: the alienation humans feel from their own flesh, aging, and mortality. Here, the natural aging process takes place before our eyes as the meat passes from a raw to cured state.
The work also addresses issues concerning women, fashion, consumption, and the body. The equation of women with meat and the notion that “you are what you wear” are common ideas in Western society. In the United States, statistics have pointed to a growing number of young women with eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia nervosa (referred to in the title), because their body types do not match the prevailing fashion or “look” sported by the tall, thin models populating the media.

The dress was stitched together from 60 pounds of raw flank steak and must be constructed anew each time it is shown. Following a centuries-old method of food preservation, the meat is heavily salted and allowed to air-dry. Over the span of the exhibition, the aging process drastically changes the appearance of the work.

Gabrovo 1

2010-08-21T16:24:00.002-05:00

After an intro to the schedule for the week by Sacha in the morning, we had lunch and took a bus to the site of an old textile factory on the river for a workshop organized by Laurent Malone. There a group of older residents from Gabrovo sang folk songs and danced in traditional dress. I will plan to post some of my audio recordings from this soon. An 18 year-old Bulgarian going by the name Ben Walker/Ben Tennyson approached me for advice on how to become a superstar in the U.S. We stood by the river as one member of our group told us about hopes to utilize culture to revitalize Gabrovo's economy, a post-industrial town that touts itself as the "Manchester of Bulgaria". The story seemed all too familiar after my time in Pittsburgh and Syracuse. I winced a little inside, but I could not find too much room for harsh judgement when so many other towns in similar predicaments have looked to the arts for a boost to their economies. I don't agree with this approach and I don't feel that it's particularly successful or sustainable. But having noticed the impact of our large group on this small town, I didn't feel that it was my place to criticize. After all, we were doing exactly what the speaker was hoping we might do: bring a version of arts-centered tourism to Gabrovo.

We also stopped in at the history museum where I zoned out during a presentation about Christo, who was born in Gabrovo. His interest in supporting an art center in Gabrovo creates a tangible anchor for the hopes of urban revitalization through the arts. After a short coffee break with Barbara, we joined up with the group for dinner and walked to Nadezhda's bread house. On the way, Laurent found a pile of old photos on the ground near an overflowing dumpster. We gathered them up and took them with us.

The bread house's interior layout reminded me a bit of the former INCUBATE space on Rockwell, and I started thinking about the old days of Sunday Soup in Chicago. During this workshop, some of our group kneaded dough for bread, while others took turns drawing and playing with clay while blindfolded.

Things that came up today to investigate or think about further:

Could you raise 2000$ if you needed it? Social capital as it translates to money and social capital as kinship and intimacy with members of your community.
biodance
Ethiopia and Cuba's connections to Bulgaria
Tim and Reiko: 3 Rivers/2nd Nature & the Harrisons

mussel monitoring news coverage

2010-08-13T16:09:00.002-05:00

In a previous post, I wrote about my first experience doing mussel monitoring. StreamLeaders got 2 stories published about our work on the same day this week! I was there for the August 2 session, but not for the July collection.

July 7 mussel collection with Gabriel Spitzer (WBEZ):
http://www.wbez.org/Content.aspx?audioID=43707

August 2 mussel collection with Barbara Brotman (Chicago Tribune):
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/columnists/ct-play-0812-brotman-stream-20100812,0,5429078.column

DEPORTATION. It could happen to someone like you.

2010-08-11T15:32:00.000-05:00

Email received in error from a congressman's office:
Hi Ms. Toosi,

In talking with some people with ICE and other groups that are familiar with cases such as your brother's, several things have come up. Suggestions for getting involved with the local ex-pat Iranian groups that may potentially have experience in these matters as a good place to start havecome up. Also, I understand that your brother is a resident of ------, New York. Has your sister-in-law contacted the Congressman/woman there for additional support on this? Furthermore, there are a couple of other options to preven this removal that would require filing on your family's part. One is called humanitarian parole, and your attorney might have advised you on this. It is a temporary fix and only granted in extreme circumstances such as life or death cases, no country to return to, a serious health concern or other very compelling reason. Nonetheless, you would be advised to talk about this possibilitywith your brother's attorney. Last and more probably option is called 'deferred option' and it is a stay of removal granted by ICE. You might have heard of this possibility before and if you haven't, your attorney would be a good source of information on this. Essentially, ICE will stop deportation proceedings against your brother. He, however, would not be granted any legalstatus but also would not be accruing illegal time spent in the country. It is a freeze of sorts. It is also temporary in nature, generally 2 years, but in that time he would be able to apply for work authorization. From our side of things, we are trying to learn more about the deferred option procedure because it is a new situation for us and we want to make sure that there is room for us to get involved. Also, we are going to contact the National Visa Center to better understand why your brother's priority date was not honored and if, in fact, it could have prevented this entire situation had it been honored. And lastly, we are going to try to learn where your brother's case currently is and what action is being taken on it. I hope that gives you some further clarification on the possible options and what we all could do to help A----. As always, I will keep you informed of any new updates I get on this.

mussel monitoring

2010-08-06T21:50:00.000-05:00

On Monday this week I went out to Spring Creek in Joliet to do a mussel survey with StreamLeaders, a program I work with as a citizen scientist. A small group of us walked through tall prairie grasses before getting to the creek. We stood in the water and felt blindly with our hands in the mud on the banks for anything that might feel like a shell. It was a little too deep for what we were doing but a reporter was there so we had to put on a good show. I loved using my sense of touch for information. One of the volunteers said it was like reading a book in braille with a lot of blank pages. I found a couple of shells, a fingernail clam and a snail.

Here's a note about our day from Roger Klocek, the StreamLeaders coordinator:

The big surprise of the day was the discovery of two live slippershell mussels. These mussels are classified as threatened species by the state of Illinois. The slippershells we found both appeared to be about one and a half years old, indicating that they most likely were carried to the area when they were larvae by fish and then they dropped off the fish and found the habitat at the restoration site to be suitable. Most native mussels must attach to fish when they are in their larval stage. They feed on the fluids of the fish and disperse as the fish travels. When they reach a certain stage of development they drop off the fish and if the habitat is suitable in that spot they survive. Sometimes mussels can simply get washed downstream during storms and be in a particular area as a result of a recent storm (and not because the habitat is necessarily suitable for them there). However if this were the case we would expect to see mussels of different ages and we would expect to find shells of long dead mussels as well as finding live ones. The fact that we have only found live mussels and have only found young mussels in the restoration (both on Monday when you were there, and at our last collection in July when we found 23 approximately 2 year old Cylindrical papershell mussels and one Lilliput mussel (and no dead shells of these species) indicates that they came to the area as larvae and found it suitable for their survival and growth. This means that the restoration appears to be successfully supporting these species. Since larval mussels of any given species can only use certain species of fish as “hosts” and since some larval mussels can only use a very few kinds of fish as hosts, the presence of these young mussels also indicates that the restoration is probably attracting a variety of fish.

iPad

2010-08-06T20:16:00.005-05:00

A couple weeks ago I was presented with an iPad from the chair of the program where I teach. It seems there was a surplus in the budget for fiscal year and they decided to cash it in for a few of these gadgets. I was surprised that in the midst of budget cuts and recession fears that anyone would have funds to buy extras. I was confused about why they decided to spend the money on iPads ("You can use it for Keynote!" they declared) but I admit I was intrigued by the idea of using a toy I would have never gotten for myself. I spent a night with it before returning it to the department. I tried to think of a good reason to keep it for a project or some other artistic endeavor, but the thing is so superfluous, so extreme in flaunting its excess. I don't think I could feel comfortable taking it out in public without feeling like an asshole. The only thing I liked about it was gliding through Google Street View. And I concede that for those who want to read documents, this could be an alternative to Kindle. If Only I could download PDFs and work .docs to the non-existent "desktop" of the machine :(

I am still upset about the iPad, and by the fact that smart individuals and institutions are enamoured with it. This week, when I went in to talk to the tech support person for our department about my exploded computer battery (see above) we got into a conversation about the iPad. I can understand why some people might like it, but for some reason I thought that a professional computer person would sympathize with me and see beyond the consumer glow. Boy was I wrong. I am totally grossed out by how everyone defends this thing and makes sorry excuses for all the features it obviously lacks.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a luddite. But if we are going to the trouble and material investment to design and manufacture new things, they better do something better than the old. If I still have to carry my phone around and consult with a computer to watch a simple video, then the iPad is not doing it's job of being the next new advancement in computer technology and accessibility. The iPad is like an overgrown iPhone, but without the things that make iPhone good (phone, camera, internet connection). So I thought, ok, I'll treat it like a computer. But it doesn't have any of the functions that even a low-end laptop would have, like the capability to pop in a DVD, watch videos from Hulu, or to rip CDs from your friends without buying from iTunes. In order to download or upload anything without buying it, you still need access to a regular computer in order to connect your iPad to treat it as a very limited kind of external hard drive. It defeats the purpose for people who want a simple machine for simple tasks.

iPad fatal flaws:
1) Without purchasing a separate and pricey wireless connection, you have no access to the internet. Of course you have to do this with with smartphones, but at least its bundled in with a phone connection. I don't want to pay for my smartphone AND for roaming wireless AND for a home internet connection. I'm sure there are combo deals, but the redundancy is nuts!
2) no phone, no microphone
3) no camera
3) no Flash video
4) no inputs for peripherals, not even one lousy usb input
5) you can't open multiple apps at the same time
6) no access to basic software that even grandmas use (like Word)
7) without purchasing a separate keyboard, typing is a pain

The tech guy said: "You sound like you are personally insulted by the iPad". I am insulted that otherwise well-educated people don't reject this material and digital excess. I'm saddened that they think it's so glamorous and wonderful and would spend money on it without question. If my chair had asked me what I would do with 1500$ for digital items, we could have come up with a lot of different options. There are plenty of people who will tell you what's wrong with the iPad, so my gripes are nothing new. The iPad should be a joke, something that is clearly lacking. But instead it's a marketing success.

It will probably improve over time, but it doesn't deserve the attention and blind acceptance it has been receiving. The tech guy told me that the early childhood education department just purchased a whole lot of iPads to use with their pre-school classes, so kids could "paint" with them. What's wrong with regular finger-paint?

This is a screen capture of my first message received from an iPad. I remember the day the iPads arrived for Rebecca, she was giddy with excitement. I think the Center for Information Technology at Columbia was one of the first to receive their box of iPoops.

The A.W.A.R.D. Show!

2010-07-31T13:28:00.002-05:00

Last night I went to a show at the Dance Center which featured 4 of 12 contestants in an audience-based grant contest called A.W.A.R.D. (Audiences With Audiences Responding to Dance). The top prize is 10,000 for a choreographer to develop a piece. I don't know what happened on the two previous nights, but Friday featured this program:

Mary Tisa
Ginger Krebs and Andy Braddock
Philip Elson
Joanna Rosenthal

Tisa's piece, Ecarg grace, featured 6 dancers in thin camisoles that resembled undergarments. The sound featured spoken text recorded by the choreographer and some contemporary indie music. I was not terribly excited, but it had some interesting movements. There was a tension with the dancers pushing and pulling away from the group, but I felt that we were navigating hopelessly in an abstract cycle with no conclusion.

The second piece was Dot and Dash by Krebs and Braddock. Krebs is the only person I knew from the list, but I have never seen her work and I didn't know what to expect. Actually, I thought it might be very serious or dark, so it was such a joy to hear the audience laughing at how smart the piece was. The first part of the piece created a lighthouse effect, signals from two figures calling out to one another, searching. As they connected, you could see the intense efforts both bodies were making, dependent on each other while trying to move, supporting and being supported by one another. This is the first time I have seen such a physical call-and-response between two dancers that did not feel like a terrible jam band session. I would not call this contact improv by any means, but there were some elements that seemed to reference that form and I wanted to rush onto the stage and thank the artists for this revelation, for taking contact out of hippie land and giving it a meaningful form to show its best side. Finally, one of the figures broke free with the use of 2 paper rolls that turned into arm bands and a kind of "dog cone". One figure was liberated, standing tall with her paper cylinders vertical to the sky, her arms disappearing from her body. This section connected to the first by referencing a kind of tower or transmission from the standing, independent body. The other one was blinded, headless, and lonely, calling out for an old friend.

Elson's piece, Mode of Duration, was an overly literal illustration of time with bodily images of gears and clockwork. The two dancers spun and pushed one another and created a hostile, completely macho dynamic, but to what end? Later in the talkback session Elson said that a lot of people had told him it felt confrontational, but that it always surprised him because that was not his intention. Really?!
I also felt that the dancers were not technically skilled enough or perhaps not rehearsed enough to pull off the precision required by a reference to machinery. From the beginning to the end, they wobbled in their balances and revealed overly soft finishes to the athletic moves they were asked to execute.

The evening ended with Rosenthal's Grey Noise, an excerpt from a longer piece based on the choreographer's research on film noir. The piece was presented in several parts with jarring transitions. The overly stylized and irritating use of Hollywood cliches about romance between tough men and vixen women distracted from the occasional interesting bits of movement and choreography. This was the piece that won that night and moved on to the semi-finalist round. I ranked it 3 out of 4.

Of the fours pieces, I would really love to see Krebs' and Braddock's work again. Although I know Krebs, I felt that I sincerely remained open to all the possibilities presented that night. My bias may be toward more experimental work, but I did not feel that this piece resonated for me just for the sake that it was removed from the more recognizable dance traditions. Dot and Dash was the only piece that foiled our expectations, pushing the audience with complexity and an excitement for opening up a new space of thought. Even though their intention was not to create a narrative, I felt that Krebs' and Braddock's piece actually told a strong story. The physical, sonic, and visual relationship between the dancers evoked empathy and connection between me and their bodies, which the other works failed to do. The other pieces were just something to watch. Krebs and Braddock provided a spark for moving and doing and being with other people in a world off the stage. It has been a long time since I have felt that inspired by a dance piece.

Natural Perfumery Workshop

2010-07-31T12:07:00.002-05:00

My pal Jessica is starting a natural perfumery business called LINGER and I was lucky enough to attend one of the inaugural workshops.

Jessica taught us about how "notes" work in scents, and I made a mix which had a base note of Balsam Peru, a middle note of Frankincense, and a top note of Grapefruit. It smells great now but it will take around 2 weeks for the oils to combine and mature. The workshop was limited to 4 people, which allowed for an intimate experience. It was also fabulous to experience Jessica's apartment.

Usually I don't get that excited about other people's business plans, but I was really amped about this one. We don't give scent and odors enough of our emotional or intellectual attention. Jessica is really providing a unique service. I learned a lot during the workshop and I could imagine a lot of possibilities for her work.

theory camp

2010-07-21T11:14:00.011-05:00

Stone Summer Theory Institute lecture by Eve Meltzer, "By Turns: Antihumanism, the Anti-Aesthetic, and the Expanded Field". 7:30 p.m. SAIC Ballroom, 112 S. Michigan Ave - Wednesday July 23

I didn't want to spend my whole week listening to hot air. Of the speakers this week, it seemed wise to just opt for the single lady theorist, especially since she was not talking about photography.

In Elkins' brief intro, I learned that the UC Berkeley rhetoric program is the new visual studies. Next year's theory camp is about the death of visual studies, so I sense this is an important "hotbed", of what, perhaps we have no name. Rhetoric is not sufficient?

Meltzer began with Krauss's map of the expanded field, and showed some re-mixes of it, both funny and serious.

Her general thesis was about post structuralists' claim on Krauss's structuralist essay Sculpture in the Expanded Field, thus exposing the overlaps between these two modes of thought. Then she went on to explore Smithson, his interest in crystals, and expanded cinema as expanded consciousness.

During the talk, I felt both challenged and frustrated. Like theory is a way to slow down thought and action, to deliberately put our feet and hands and brains in molasses. It is pleasant but somehow disturbing to engage in it. You feel useless and liberated at the same time.

The best thing about the evening was being introduced to this piece, which could have been made today: Robert Smithson & Nancy Holt "East Coast West Coast" (1969): http://www.ubu.com/film/smithson_east.html

On the way home the Blue Line was running on one track because of an emergency at Belmont. Ben and I got off at California. I found out later that someone had died at the station, pulled out from under a train.

WLP and Konono No. 1 and Kid Sister

2010-07-21T10:32:00.002-05:00

World Listening Day - Sunday 18 July
Dan Godston's car broke down so we went it alone at the Chicago Underground Library. Someone played an experimental drum solo. Another person guided us in a listening exercise that she adapted from her work as a consultant for organizations. I moved my iPhone close to people's ears so they could hear recordings I made in Costa Rica this past winter. Moving the device around their skulls, their eyes closed. Later I wished I had done it with more enthusiasm and less doubt. A good sketch for a future performance. As with so much live work, it was difficult for me to know how they (the audience) were experiencing the moment. I may have given up too easily because of my lack of confidence in the moment.

Konono No. 1 & Kid Sister at Pritzker Pavilion - Monday 19 July
Judging from friends' Facebook posts, Konono is one of the more popular world music groups, having made a crossover to indie rock fans via various connections with Bjork, the Ex, Matt Groening, etc. Though the city hosts dozens of world music acts all summer (like the Evanston arts festival the previous weekend-no match for Pitchfork's draw), the buzz among the hipster crowd is never as strong as it is with Konono. My experience was marred only by the white dude with waist-length dreds and split ends and his girlfriend with the "Made in Japan" neck tattoo. Is that a reference to be a robot?

Security was extra tight. No liquids allowed in the park, probably to get us to buy more 312 beer. It was sprinkling a little so I sat up front under the Gehry awning. I had a great view but was missing M. as I waited for the show to begin, reading an articles in Cabinet and wondering how the Hal Foster talk was going.

Kid Sister came out with 80s sunglasses. She danced energetically and complained about the heat, pulling up akwardly on her tights. The teen fans behind me cheered and complained "She is so tired!" Maybe it's too incongruous to have a club act outside, maybe the natural light just drew more attention to her unpolished act. I liked how simple it was, like dancing with a friend in your yard (instead of your bedroom). Hip hop is usually so produced. This was the epitome of "down-to-earth".

She seemed to be in dire need of a connection wtih the audience, but the distance loomed large. She tried to do make contact with the crowded by going down to the first row. For a second I thought she was going to try and crowd-surf. Security got her back on stage where she proceeded to say that Chicago PD "are trippin'". I smiled and cringed a little at how dorky it all was. She complained some more about the heat. At the encore the DJ did his best to get us to dance. Maybe they wanted people to rush the stage but instead people just jammed together in a small crowd in the right aisle while Kid Sister frolicked and jumped around the stage with a few white girls who seemed like backstage crew for the park. Everyone seemed utterly self-repressed.

Double Feature!

2010-01-30T21:30:00.002-06:00

On Thursday February 11th, Susanne Slavick and Andrew Ellis Johnson will lecture on their work at Columbia College Chicago, with Slavick from 12:30-1:30 and Johnson from 2:00-3:00pm in Film Row Cinema on the 8th floor of 1104 S. Wabash Ave.

This event coincides with Slavick's exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center, entitled R&R(&R):
Slavick borrows and builds images from the art and architecture of the invader and the invaded, from the workshops of Persian miniaturist Bihzâd to the court arts of Safavid Iran. Scenes of construction and cultivation are painted over digitally manipulated photographs of devastation across the former Islamic Empire — in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan and elsewhere. Altering these images by hand is an attempt at empathic restitution, at recognizing what has been decimated and replacing the anonymous, ashen monochrome of rubble.
http://www.artslant.com/chi/events/show/80498-rrr

RSVP at the Facebook event page:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#/event.php?eid=302046695638&ref=nf

Contact ftoosi-at-colum.edu for more information.

'78 RECORDS

2008-07-28T02:45:00.002-05:00

'78 RECORDS: ERIE CANAL TO LOVE CANAL 1978-2008 is a live slide show and performance to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Love Canal environmental disaster and its relationship to contemporary environmental issues. This project connects Erie Canal history, the Salt City of Syracuse, and environmental projects in New York state including the planned Peace Bridge expansion in Buffalo as well as Onondaga Lake and Onondaga Creek in Syracuse. The live event will feature field recordings made during the artist's journey along the Erie Canal and interviews with Buffalo and Syracuse activists. The Buffalo event will also feature a screening of documentaries about Love Canal. Join us for an evening of salty snacks and spinning wheels!

Monday 08-04-08 at 7:00 PM
SPARK CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE
http://sparkartspace.com

Friday 08-08-08 at 8:00 PM
HALLWALLS CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER
http://www.hallwalls.org/media-arts.html

Hope to see you there!
-
Fereshteh Toosi
http://fereshteh.net