Archive for the ‘events’ Category
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
Tonight is Flux Factory’s end-of-year fundraiser featuring a wonderful collector’s edition box set of multiples by some hot shit artists including yours truly. The entire list of artists is impressive: Brandstifter, Bread & Butter Collective, Andrea Dezso, Kerry Downey, Heather Jones, Aya Kakeda, Miwa Koizumi, Simone Meltesen, Nick Normal, Ward Shelley, and Swoon. That’s not all! There will also be goody bags available with edition works from: Parfyme, Paula Castro, and Georgia Muenster. ALSO! There will be audible entertainments and visual screenings by the following: April March, Adira Amram and Nick Jones, Marie Losier, Nick Yulman, and Sxip Shirey! OH YEAH! And AVE BFF DJs laurendarling and soh luvlee will be spinning throughout the night!
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AND! there’s an Open Bar and cocktails served all night, care of Campari, Vine wines, and local food distributors (big ups to all of them!).
It’s a $20 suggested donation but with that line-up and hot art available for sale, it’ll definitely be the hottest thing going on between now and tomorrow! See you there, I hope!
Here are some sneak preview shots of our installation currently in progress:
my working prototype for the box set – a facsimile box of JT21/T27 Arrow brand staples
preparing the art for the boxes (seen on floor, right and drawers in back-right area)
Nick Yulman’s computer interface for his solenoid musical devices!
the stage!
the box set to-be! nice install.
Sunday, November 15th, 2009
Yesterday was day 1 (of 2) for WordCamp NYC 2009. Wow. What a brilliant and wonderful event!
I missed the opening remarks and first few series of workshops, which I ultimately regret but had no control over given my recent workload and absolutely need the night before to get at least 5.5 hours of sleep (yes, when I need sleep I sleep more than 4… I wound up waking at the 5 hour mark but staying in bed until the 6 hour mark – but I digress!).
I wound up arriving at around 11:48am, and as soon as I registered and received my kick-ass tee-shirt and badge, I was standing in the middle of the room glancing over the post-lunch programme when I turned around and suddenly there were over 500 hungry participants standing behind me! FTW! I was the first in line for the vegetarian sandwiches – sweet!
I had a great conversation with Jim of zemanta.com, and met a couple other really wonderful people before the afternoon sessions even began. Which is one thing I’ve always really liked about geek and tech meet-ups and gatherings like this, is generally people are very approachable and friendly. Not to say people in the art world aren’t, but it’s a completely different set of standards, and, well actually people in the art world aren’t as approachable! There, I said it. Yes it is difficult to explain how as an artist I work with WordPress – usually the response is, “so you’re a Designer?” , “no, I make installations” (like holoscape, which is built on WP) – or how I work with NYC-area non-profits and always recommend WordPress as a tool for their projects and missions. But whereas in the art world people usually just don’t care about “code” (or the political ramifications of blog culture and terms or language like Creative Commons, GPL, XML, etc.), at least at these events people are always willing to listen to what you do, or in this case why you do it with WordPress!
I first went to the WP in Education round table. I forget all of the presenters’ names, but that’s Matt Mullenweg on the far left, and two of the other blokes (middle and far right) were from Virginia of all states, which was interesting – and they both had very strong ideas and opinions about how WordPress has pro-actively been used to advance pedagogy and educational enlightenment! A wonderful topic indeed! It’s a shame there was just not enough time for Qs & As because this one in particular could have gone on for another hour.
While I noticed as the day went on that most people went to one room and stayed there all day, I bounced around, probably walking a whole mile inside the building from class to class.
I nipped over to the WordPress for Non-Profits seminar:
This lady Amanda was a hoot, and she had one really great message in particular:
(I only wish I could convince more non-profits of the why!)
Don’t be fooled by this image! The WordCamp was packed, over 700 people were in attendance! These big rooms were definitely a bit intimidating, but I guess better this than a room for 30 and have 80 people show up!
A random encounter in the hallways – Matt Mullenweg must get stopped all the time to be asked a simple question, and the question turns into an informal discussion and seminar! He’s so pleasant and positive about people, and code, and discussing real issues, in this case the topic was canonical plugins and language localizations.
Are they sharing notes? LOL!
My laptop went kaputz less than 48 hours before WordCamp (anybody want to donate to help me get a netbook?), else I totally would be one of these people, and probably would have been drafting this post then.
One of the most interesting seminars I went to, because it’s a hot topic I’m developing for my own intents and purposes right now for another project, this notion of “hyperlocal” and community building with WordPress. This speaker was talking on behalf of InJersey.com which runs on WPMU and BP.
All in all a wonderful day! I wish there were more events like this, which is why I’ll have to follow through on my plans for some hyperlocal-wordpress-for-artists-meet-up-tech-exchange-and-talk thing to do on my own soon!
Saturday, September 12th, 2009
The boat party was a smashing success.
Thanks to me.
Nah I’m kidding y’all were great, everybody who performed or had some act were great. The crowd was great (except for the few who never tipped – I will remember you!). The Bushwick B.oat crew were great (always are). It was great.
Below is a quick slideshow of images from the evening. Unfortunately contrary to my usual mass-snapping of images, I wasn’t able to actually document the event’s spectacle because I was busy working…
And best of all the event was a success for Flux Factory and will help us sustain and survive for a couple more months in this dire economy as we are still learning to tie our metaphorical shoes (i.e. new building: install plumbing, get electricity working, put doors on rooms, buy food, etc.). Life is good:
Monday, September 7th, 2009
because we never forget (how to party), this Friday, 11 September, Flux Factory will be throwing a FundRager on a 140-foot 3-deck boat in Brooklyn. Click here for details on how to RSVP.
I’ll be bartending, so bring tips and stimulate my personal economy!
(also this weekend be on the lookout for Mucca Pazza who will be playing at the Knitting Factory (Brooklyn) and the Mercury Lounge (Manhattan))
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
this friday:
pretty cool indy comics store on Metropolitan right at the Lorimer L/Metropolitan G stop that I only recently found out about. afterparty will be at some collective living space, details at the door.
Gabrielle Bell + Ariel Schrag
book release party, signing, and slide show
friday, March 27th from 7 to 9 pm
at Desert Island, 540 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn NY
the store has a blog too
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
October and November are always a whirl. since 2001 I can’t remember an October or November that had any breathing room. Ever since I moved to London on 3 October 2001, jump forward 7 years 1 month and 1 day and I can’t wait for this November to be over. And I’m not only – but I am surely – talking about the election.
With the Flux Factory’s recent eviction, starting in early October, I completely boxed up my life and put everything I own into storage, in a shed at an undisclosed location in New Jersey. To be honest even I don’t know the location of said shed; but I would like to incredibly thank my friend Angie for her assistance with my upheaval. I haven’t produced a piece of art in over two months due to the eviction, and I’ve had to spend most of my time consolidating my life, including throwing away a fair number of tools, clothing, raw materials, incomplete artworks, etc. A fitting end to life at Flux Factory.
The month of October also saw me quit my job of 3 years, as I had to make a decision, to continue with life in NYC would require my income and creative control to move up or move on. I made my decision.
This decision was encouraged by some recent family health and grievance issues, which being in NYC I had no control over to either guide or invigorate. Also made problematic that my job didn’t give me much flexibility in terms of vacation, travel for health, time off, etc.
Knowing an eviction was imminent, and my employment would end concurrently, I’ve decided to go nomadic. I’m blogging from a cafe in Flatbush, Brooklyn, currently homeless and crashing on couches throughout the borough. At the end of this calendar week I’ll be travelling by train to my hometown of St. Louis, which I haven’t visited in over two years now (see this link).
But I’m by no means complaining. I’m loving these weeks, these moments with friends, the way in which one survives on coffee.
I’ll go back to about mid-October, when I took a trip upstate to the Farm, and spent some time with the frost, the leaves, and some new family including Pepper and some chickens Americano:
A sign of things to come, the end of Flux Factory’s residence-arm really began with Ian’s departure. He’s on a BMW motorcycle now, somewhere in Georgia or Florida (don’t worry he cast his absentee ballot!) en route out West:
With Ian’s departure, I also become the most-senior member at the Factory. This, I actually didn’t realize until nearly a week after Ian left and someone else pointed this out to me.
Even with an eviction pending, the Flux Factory staff continued to work hard, planning for our final ever party:
Chen works, sans desk, surrounded by boxes and piles of crap:
I love the doors ajar, the box that can’t close, the ad on the floor, the blue fork. Just throw it all away already!
Flux Factory knows how to make trash. We went from this:
To this, on numerous ocassions:
At the same time, we know how to turn a shitty DJ booth:
into a most-awesome DJ booth for one of the most-awesome parties ever:
The Flux Factory’s final party, the End of the End of the End (To Be Continued…) was definitely most-awesome. Props to Shalin for organizing over 50 performances for the evening. Although the true success of any party is when your six – yes, six – kegs run dry and you need a 2am beer run:
Me and Tyler at the Pathmark at 2am.
Flux Factory knows how to party:
White Limo gave a smashing closing performance:
are those Ironclad’s he’s wearing?
Unfortunately our partytude nearly made Seb cry:
and put Daupo to sleep:
it’s a shame I didn’t make a video, but the soundsystem was bumping at this moment.
And my costume, no doubt, was a hit:
me sitting on a couch-costume.
What will come of Flux Factory now? There’s a thought:
So starting this Sunday I’m on the road. Going to St. Louis via DC and Chicago on Amtrak. I’ll be in the Midwest by early next week for at least a month, if not two. My Flux Factory address is dead. Long live Flux Factory.
I’ll be around. My wifi is about to expire. Gotta press publish.
