I’m in Connecticut (and so can you!). I’m at I-Park with 14 other inter-disciplinary artists, engaging an experimental collaborative residency program. For driving directions from anywhere, click here; for train directions from NYC’s Grand Central, click here (real simple: Metro-North to New Haven, then Shore Line East (SLE) to Old Saybrook – call to I-Park ahead of time and they’ll pick you up from the train station!). Don’t forget to RSVP (so we know how much food and drinks to supply)!
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Inter-disciplinary Collaborative Projects
Experimental Residency Session
July 30, 2011
2:00 Open Studios
3:15 Formal Presentations, Refreshments
4:00 Site Walk
You should wear comfortable walking shoes for the site walk
RSVP by July 28, 2011 to ipark@ureach.com or 860.873.246
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The I-Park Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
If you can’t figure this one out then you clearly don’t know me! Progress shots showing the current state of my box thingy for Figment Project this weekend – oh yeah I’m in that, so swing by if you can! It’s built entirely from scrap wood without the use of a table saw, which is pretty impressive given my constraints, lack of budget, and the temperature these days. I still have to embed all the soft switches, and solder all the wiring – so still about 5-6 hours of work there; plus I still have to figure out how to transport this thing to the island, either Thursday late afternoon or Friday day sometime. Friday day is looking like the best possibility – so if anyone out there has a car and is available, I’d rather pay you than a taxi driver I’ll never see again! Anyhow not bad for a one-day build-n-hack. And the name of this piece – for those in the know – is ‘Your Lack Of Stress Is Stressing Me Out’. I don’t know where I’m placed on Governor’s Island – but I shouldn’t be that hard to find, just listen for the really, really loud 8-bit noises.
TONIGHT! It’s the final fundraiser for Swimming Cities before they depart for India’s Ganges River – the art and several of their crew are already there, but they need a final last-minute cash injection to go the distance and get everyone overseas. Also, it’s a party so ridiculously big it’s split in two!
FRIDAY JUNE 3RD
9PM-LATE | 9-10PM OPEN BAR
$10 before 11pm or with costume; $15 otherwise
Bordertown takes place in a converted trolley repair station scheduled to be demolished this summer 1428 FULTON ST (at Tompkins Ave) BED-STUYBROOKLYN
Subway: A, C to Kingston-Throop Aves www.weareswimmingcities.org
All proceeds go to Swimming Cities’ Ganges River project in India, fall of 2011
Choose your allegiance between the two fabulous party nations of VULGARIA & TAKISTAN. After an impassioned disagreement over whether a Pomeranian’s nose is mauve or puce, a great wall has been erected between them, patrolled by the world’s sexiest border guards.
Celebrate the absurd & arbitrary nature of borders, bureaucracy, and class inequality with us in this epic event that is designed to inspire the joys of insurrection, freedom, & integration.
The grungy Eastern Block gypsy state of VULGARIA invites you to celebrate the most debaucherous of holidays, National Vulgaria Day, the filthiest drunken day of the year. Festivities ruled by the corrupt dictator DAVO, featuring The People’s National Thieves Market ,Tattoos, Rickshaw rides, Raunchy Street Food, Bike Jousting, Catherine the Terrible’s Cossack Guard, Fortune Telling at the Altar of Saraghina, The People’s Steam Room, visuals by DJ Fuzzy Bastard and Surprises!
The opulent monarchy of TAKISTAN invites you on the day of the great royal wedding to enjoy decadent attractions, featuring His Majesty’s Royal Casino, Princess Cupcake’s Naughty Boudoir, The Grand Inquisitor’s quiz show, Dr. Adventure’s Royal Guard, The Royal Passport Scavenger Hunt, the Royal Ultra-Tacky Runway Show, Live acts by Laura McMillian of the Egyptian Shumba and by Sugar in the Gas Tank, S&M Royal Wedding Visuals by The Housewives’ Guide to Anatomy, Dirty Uncle Pony Rides, and More Surprises!
Dress in your Princess Best for a chance to wed the dashing Prince of Takistan!
Patriotic Libations include: Vulgaria’s national cocktail “The Three-Legged Mule” and Her Majesty’s royal imbibement “Groundskeeper’s Embrace at the Summer Palace” and yes, back by popular demand “Morning After Pill Jello Shots!”
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COSTUME SUGGESTIONS
VULGARIA
SARAGHINA 8 ½
COSSACKS
STROMBOLI
ANAMATRONIC FORTUNE TELLING GYPSY BOOTH
DRUG FRONT BOARDWALK FORTUNE TELLER
BORDELLO MADAM
COCKTAIL THIEVING MONKEY
GHOST OF RASPUTIN
MUSTACHE CONTEST
INTERNATIONAL ARMS DEALER PLAYBOY
TAKISTAN
THIRD WORLD DICTATORS (THE DEVIL WEARS TAUPE)
GADAFFI SEXY BODYGUARDS
CARABINIERI
JERSEYSHORE VICTORIAN
IVANA TRUMP AND LIBERACE’S PROM NIGHT IN MONACO
SIGFRIED AND ROY
MICRONATION ROYALTY
GROOMED POODLE “STANDARD” WITH SHOWPAPERS
MUSTACHE CONTEST
“WHAT IS THAT, VELVET?”
PRINCESS! PRINCESS! PRINCESS!
that’s the tagline – written in stencil lettering – from a flyer, circa 1977 or so, during the heyday of CRASS – an exhibition of “visual and aural mayhem” will open tonight at Andrew Roth Gallery in the upper east side, all selections from the Mott Collection.
On another note, check out this awesome gem – an episode of Ready Steady Go! from 1964, when the Beatles met and awarded top art prize (at the 2:50 mark) to Jeremy Ratter aka Penny Rimbaud, drummer for Crass.
and another, if you have 29 minutes to spare – VBS.TV interviews Penny Rimbaud:
Hello 2011. I’m certain most party-goers will say their party was the best, so instead of arguing I will say that if you were at W&B Airlines you definitely would have had fun on the evening of December 31st, 2010. Because of the exactitude of New Year’s – the striking of a clock on a single second – the doors held people at bay until 10pm and by 10:01pm the place was absolutely bumping! It didn’t take but 3 minutes before the Macau Casino – where I was working – had their first visitor and from then until past 2am it was a mad-house of gamblers testing their luck (don’t worry, we gave them fake money free of charge). We had Blackjack, Roulette, Texas Hold ‘em and my specialty, Cee-lo – which I have an uncanny ability to throw good dice at (probably comes from years of Epic and Warhammer 40K role playing, among other games).
But anyways I love seeing spaces transform. I love seeing an installation or an environment get built, and then seeing the public flood and fill the space only to change its meaning, or what I had perceived of it – in that sense I love to be proven wrong! I love working behind the scenes and seeing energies exhausted to transform a space, all for someone else’s enjoyment, someone you most likely will never meet. And I love how the crowd came prepared, with an overwhelming percentage dressed up, costumed, and in character! The two before & during shots I was actually able to snap off (again I was throwing dice for about 5 hours!) show the dance floor (above) and the main hall (below) – they speak for themsleves. For more close-up shots of punters check out Gabi Porter’s metromix article and photos here. I’m sure many more photos will emerge in the coming weeks – people are still recovering!
other notable shots:
the Macau Casino, an interactive installation designed by Orien, Angie, Mark and others – the Casino is the main element, and sometimes there is also a trivia station, and other forms of live casino-like entertainment (wrestling, security bouncers, etc.)
I was walking through the crowd when this lady flew down from the sky to have a quick word with her associate, then she twirled herself back up into the air! That was awesome.
and Tara McManus with one of her glow-hoops – you’ll find many slow-shutter photos of her at every event, and she’s a wonderful performer.
The 1st annual World Maker Faire in NYC the last weekend of September was so big and impressive that media is still being uploaded, embedded, with short-links and long permalinks still being generated documenting the hype and excitement and wonder that many are saying changed the way we think about “making” on the east coast. And not only the materials we work with and the objects we fabricate, but the ways in which we “make” culture on a larger, conceptual level.
It was big.
I keep saying it’s impressive how the Faire was technically only open for 15 hours, but had generated a year’s worth of content: talks, presentations, musical performances, workshops, and literature to read, not to mention Makers to talk to and conversations to be had about their projects!
This slideshow is from the official World Maker Faire flickr group – you should join and add photos too if you have any!
BIG UPS to all our press partners and anybody who blogged the event – there is some seriously good coverage out there and these few articles are only a small selection of reflections on this game-changer event!
