First Friday Listings

me: are you going to vox tonight?

Diedra: maybe? are you? going to show somethign???

me: i have a new video

Diedra: maybe i'll bring baudrillard vid?

me: so i guess i'll bring that

Diedra: oh

how long is it?

me: three minutes, haha

no huge project, just a lil' guy

Diedra: mine too, that's perfect for that kind of thing. anything over 7 is probably WAY too long

me: yeah.

do you think it's one of those deals where you have to show up early?

Diedra: not sure.... if you go i guess i'll go too. would be fun. i just had these ideas about being super productive wknd. meanwhile i'll go out fri, sat, sun haha

me: I have like a million stops to make tonight. I'm putting a video in the first friday show at bookspace, and my friend has a painting show up

so I was thinking of going to vox around seven

Diedra: where?

7pm ok i'll be there then

me: i don't know what gallery, but i have the address 149 N 3rd Street

Diedra: old city

i might try to get to little berlin too finally

me: oh yeah, I guess I'll go there too since they're our neighbors.

and I was thinking of going to vwvoffka too

Diedra: i think they are closed to go to vox event tonight

me: really?

they have a listing...

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=142438359118442&index=1

Diedra: oh shit and i know jesse, he's meeting me to get led batteries. i'll go there and then http://eexxttrraa.com/

will you be on bike?

me: no, I'll be in my car since i have to deliver that tv and transport my associates

Diedra: i see

i'm hoping to bike, seems ambitious. but maybe we'll get lucky to show early at vox if we're on time. what a fun art evening. thanks!

me: Ambitious for sure!!

maybe i'll blog about it

haha

Diedra: do it

Ai Weiwei

Daily Serving recently published a post reviewing Ai Weiwei's works with ancient urns. In its secret complexity and seeming simplicity, in the potency and cruciality of its gestures and its tragic irreverence, these works, as they say, speak to me. For me, there is a deep sadness in this work that is linked to social questions we will never be able to resolve, and, among other things, the work raises questions about living that emphasize the necessary futility of our constant inner struggles as manifested into physical objects.

There is so much to discuss when dealing with this work, and I won't attempt to cover it all here, but I will begin by arguing a little bit with the Daily Serving blogger. The article posits that "Urns of this vintage are usually cherished for their anthropological importance. By employing them as readymades, Ai strips them of their aura of preciousness only to reapply it according to a different system of valuation....Working in this manner, Ai transforms precious artifacts—treating them as base and valueless by painting, dropping, grinding, or slapping with a logo—into contemporary fine art." Certainly, Ai's actions treat these cherished object as base and valueless. They undergo cheap processes of being painted or destroyed unbefitting the value they have been assigned by our culture. But do these actions truly strip the objects of their aura or rather do they magnify that aura? In the end, the painted and crushed and broken urns do not function as objects independent of their original identity -- they function BECAUSE of their original identity. We gain an added layer of consideration, as viewers, when confronted with the altered urns, but that consideration relies on a primary consideration of the objects' intended purposes and calls on our deep social attachments to the myth of these objects. They become even more precious because our reaction to these works is initially to believe that they are being mistreated. Therefore, Ai cannot divorce the aura from the object - and from looking at the work, I'm not really sure that was even his intention.

Show your work this week

Wednesday, August 4th

It's Video Wednesday at Great and Terrible 172 West Montgomery Ave
"The Great and Terrible Collective wants to screen your videos. Good
thing, too, because you need somewhere to show them. Thank God, It's Video Wednesday at Great and Terrible! Bring a DVD or VHS of your work to this one-night event in the tradition of the ICA's Open Video Call and the first six people in the door get to show their video on THE BEST TV IN THE HOUSE! Not only will you get to show your work in public without the hassle of juries or fees, and see the work of other local video wizards, but you get to DRINK FREE BEER and EAT FREE COOKIES!

So you see? You can't lose! Come share your work in a casual, supportive, air-conditioned environment!

Questions? Comments? Proposals for marriage? Contact Dana O at 703.975.0287 or greatandterriblecollective@gmail.com"

Friday, August 6th
Open Call for First Friday at Bookspace 1113 Frankford Ave
"Hi there!

If you're an artist and would like to show at our book space for the month of August, we are putting out an open call to anyone who would like to do so. Please bring up to three pieces that you'd like to display and we'll make it work, we have lots of space in our warehouse. Share whatever it is that you do, even if you have just one piece! The more the merrier :)

We're putting together a bit of party for this coming First Friday, August 6th from 7PM until at least midnite. We'll have live jazz, a DJ, and the usual First Friday refreshments. Bring your artwork, bring some friends and lets have some fun with it!

We're located just a 1/2 block south of Frankford & Girard Avenues in Fishtown.

If you'd like to drop off your work before Friday or would like to check the space out, we are open 11AM-7PM, Tuesdays-Sundays.

Thanks!

Bookspace
1113 Frankford Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19125

http://phillybookspace.com "


Soundstages and Video Free For All at Vox Populi, 11th and Wood Street (3rd floor)
FIRST FRIDAY: SOUND/STAGES

Vox Populi, Philadelphia
August 6, 2010, 6-11pm

...Vox Populi will be closed for the month of August,
but join us on First Friday for a special one-night party with music and performance events. Construction will soon begin on our new performance space next door. Help us celebrate!

DJ Hiding Place and DJ Face Man spin foamy propaganda shakers.
DJ Jane Pain and Astrocaveman spin minimal electronics, cold wave, dark snyth jams, weird punk, 80s hits that time forgot.

"Video Free-for-All" hosted by Hair and Diamonds. Bring your DVD to screen (maximum 10 minutes per person) to help create an ongoing image-stream. Get seen.

Bobby Gonzales and Jean Suivan present "Going Out," a performance that draws inspiration from the ritual of preparing for a night at the club, going out to dance, and coming home. The duo's performance, with costumes, sculpture, and projected images, employs movement without the pressure of being "on stage" and--much like the night club atmosphere--inspires reaction in strangers through bodily proximity. The looks and movement are inspired by darkwave. Escape yourself.

Beth Heinly reads Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking, by David Bayles and Ted Orland. The 2001 book is a self-proclaimed "artist's survival guide, written by and for working artists. The authors explore the way art gets made, the reasons it doesn't get made, and the nature of the difficulties that cause so many artists to give up along the way." Be very afraid.

Puppetyrrany presents "Mouth Puppet Show" by Zac Palladino and Leslie Rogers, a perilous puppet show inside a human mouth, the wettest stage of all. Your reluctant participation is encouraged in "The Miracle of Birth," "Catfight," and "Italian Cooking 101." Also, "Mystic Powers" by John Sinclair will be presented. A scrolling 100-foot live-action-picture-book, "Mystic Powers" is the hero's journey as understood by 5-year-old Zac Palladino and retold using the crudest cantastoria. Be amazed."

Special Treat - Matthew Craven in Philadelphia

A little while back, I posted an image of a Matthew Craven drawing that I had a crush on at the time.

Well, first of all, I'm terrible with names, so when I was at Grizzly Grizzly on the night of the Vox VI opening, I was attracted to the drawings there, but couldn't help but feeling "Hey, I've already seen this!!" As it turned out, I HAD. Here I was in front of the original collages from "History is Written by the Winners", stuff I liked online, and didn't even remember. HOW EMBARRASSING.

Here's the write-up from artblog.

Who is Voldemort and what is he like?

I'm working on a curatorial proposal. Here's the brief:

Who is Voldemort and what is he like?

What is the cultural value of entertainment? While much of current discourse dictates that art must be oppositional in order to be valid, how do we rectify humanity's apparent need for entertainment as proven by a culture glutted with wildly popular, non-oppositional broadcast programming, blockbuster cinema, and internet memes? This exhibition aims to explore the question of who we are supposed to be opposing and why, and maintains the view that while it is important to question the ideas we consume and their sources, non-oppositional entertainment culture need not be demonized by default.

New Logo for Gypsy Jack

While I was advised against using outlined text by a trusted friend who is an excellent designer, I ended up using it anyway. I made a few versions with and without the outline and my dad really liked the outline because it added to the cheesy-kitschy feel he and I wanted for the whole thing.

The running theme seems to be "what if John Waters sold fly lures?"

I'm no designer.....

I've been hired by my dad to do the branding for his fishing lure business, and I was wondering if I could get some feedback about the designs so far. Keep in mind, this stuff is just a rough version - I already know the drawing is lame. I plan on fixing that. But, if you have any other advice, PLEASE pass it on! Thanks!