art events

ABC No Rio: The Ides of March 2008

Hey Bloggers, if you happen to be in the neighborhood, there is an art opening and performance event that I will have a few pieces of artwork in tomorrow nite at ABC No Rio as part of their “The Ides of March 2008” building wide exhibition. And I remember ABC No Rio for seemingly forever now as one of those radical, alternative squat community spaces in the neighborhood of the Lower East Side that has seemingly survived gentrification, genocide, the sellout and buyout of the squats and still exists to function with their cool and hip events over the years. ABC No Rio has been all art and politics for as long as I can remember.

You are invited to this event. A bit of the heritage of the art scene in the lower east side including many of our friends from the Ridge Street Artists

Show: “Ideas of March”; Collaborative projects
Installation : ” Sublime Subprime ” by The Ridge Street Artists
Location: ABC No Rio

Show opens Friday, March 14th 7-11 pm: Performances start at 10 pm

Artists will include

Stuart Nicholson,Karni Dorell,Doug Campbell,Jens Veneman,Ursula Clark,Bill Nogosek,Carla Cubit,Bob Powers,Sue Powers,Nancy Kolbert,Fran de Montfalcon,Ed Rosko,Roger Sayre,Vernita n’ Cognita,Amy Shapiro,Maria Castanos,Sheila Linz,Daniel Falghero,Richard Brachman,Metta Haka,Andrzej Bialuski,Heather Driscoll,David Rodgers,Jill Ziccardi,Barbara Listenik,Heather Driscoll,Jennifer C. Protas,Jennifer Bowen,Mark Planisek,Michael Delia,Michelle Hill,Roger Sayre,Peter Barnett,Sam Selvaggio,Suzanne Broughel,Richard Humann

Below is a description of the concept behind the installation Conceptual Idea
Title: Sublime Subprime

In coordination with the recent mortgage crisis and real estate trends, the Sublime Subprime relates the history of a circle artists in New York who were a part of a Lower East Side Gallery, The Ridge Street Gallery. These artists collaborated and took part in exhibitions at the Gallery located at 124 Ridge Street between 1984 and 2000. The gallery eventually became displaced, losing its location to higher rents and gentrification. The individual artist’s history since and during that time will be displayed along with current work mounted on photo and drawn reproductions of the wall of the gallery. The reminiscence of lost space (given the changes in the Lower East Side and throughout NY) will be felt along with a snapshot of their individual histories. The title refers not only to the current mortgage crisis (even though many of these artists were never even able to afford a subprime mortgage) but also to the sublime nature of artists who start a turn around in an urban area only to be ultimately pushed out as subprime members of the community. Artists chose their vocation and/or are called into their line or work through inspiration or a drive to create. The shared nature of this creation of attracts them to urban areas. That their place remains on the fringe of urban society insures two things: one, without proper programs and funding (whether artistic or habitat-related) they will have to leave these urban areas; or the viewed artistic endeavor in such urban areas will become the sole territory of those who have the money to create.

Stuart Nicholson
Ridge Street Artists and Diesel Gallery

The Ides of March
ABC No Rio’s Biannual Building-Wide Exhibition
artist collaborations, artist groups and artist collectives on all four floors

OPENING: Friday March 14 at 7:00pm

Thru April 4

With work by:
artcodex; Broadthinking; Collective Gesture; Endless Love Crew; E.Y.E. (Erase Your Ego); Flux Factory; The G-77; Genefree; it/EQ; JustSeeds/Visual Resistance; Mail/Art Global Collaborative; PerfectEight; Ridge Street Gallery; Subject To Change; Three Wise Goats; Catrinel Bartolomeu, Maureen Catbagan, Phoebe Dunne, Dominika Ksel & Sienna Horton; Fabian Berenbaum, Jennifer Ciarleglio & Levi Haske; Carolina Cueva & Loretto Wells; Lambert Fernando, Bedel Tiscareno & Jade Doskow; Julie Hair & Scott Illjes; Joann Harrah & Sarah Kipp; Athena Kokoronis & Natalie Heller; Taylor Kretschmar, Ryan Brown, Charles Mayton & Stephan Tcherepnin; Liz-N-Val; Amanda Matles & Jan Baracz; Mac Mcgill & Steve Harrington; Elizabeth Mcternan & Petter Alexander Goldstine; Natalia Porter, Roy Bautista & Ami Suma; Rob Shepperson, Lynn Stein & Ed Radford. VIDEO: Dara Greenwald; Shit TV

PERFORMANCE:
March 14: The Friendly Falcons & Their Friend the Snake
March 21: Zuvuya Collective
April 4: Matt Callinan & Yoichiro Yoda

Have a great art day.

environment, food

And Now The Wheat Is Dying

Revelation 6:6
Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”
That proceeding phrase is a phrase I just posted for “The bees are dying”, not even a month ago. And now the wheat is dying so says todays am New York. And so says all of those other news reports that have been in the news lately about the price of wheat is going up become it is becoming scarce, because farmers are requesting corn instead of wheat for alternative fuel, and so the price of bread goes up, or something like that. And now todays am New York says “A new virus is striking wheat”. And now the wheat is dying of some deadly disease, much like the bees, were and/or dying of some mysterious disease, and much like the bats who are now dying of some mysterious virus just this past week. Is this all related. Is this the beginning of the eco apocalypse. And what about that housing foreclosure crisis, economy stock market downfall of the United States Dollar versus the Euro, delinquent loans and mortgages, oil at its highest price ever recession, depression story. That’s a whole another blog posting. Where is the world headed, if anywhere. Have a great day.

environment

And Now The Bats Are Dying

Oh my goodness. And now the bats are dying. I know because someone just posted the following comment on my other blog in response to a posting I just posted about “The Bees Are Dying”. And it must be true because I just looked at all of those news articles on the Internet and there they were: “Why Are Thousands of Bats Dying in NY?”, “What’s Killing The Bats Of The Northeast?”, “Strange Malady Wreaks Havoc on Bat Population”, “Bat deaths linked to climate change”, “Bats in Northeast Are Mysteriously Dying”, “White nose ailment threatens Northeast bats”, and the list of articles goes on and on… And that comment on my other blog has me completely tripped out now. And those religious fanaticism, end of the world, beginning of the end, technology suffering planet mother earth, global warming, climate change, prophetic, apocalypse, eco apocalyptic, Armageddon, 2012, anti Christ, Nostradamus, the canary in the coal mine, are the scorpions on their way now thoughts start going through my mind again. And what about that Albert Einstein bee barometer quote: “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man,” Does Wikipedia have an answer for this? And what about the birds, the bees, the flowers, the fish, the wildlife, Antarctica, the polar bears,the polar axis, the magnetic field, the whole ecological system. What does this all mean? Peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind.

Chris from Philly wrote:

Though I am personally damaged by exposure to cell phones and other sources of EMF, you should know that the connection between bees and cell phones was based on a mistaken reading of a paper that actually had to do with the base stations of home cordless phones. It was also a lousy study, and no one is seriously researching that angle currently.

One theory about the bees says that this die-off is due to the combined stress of everything wrong commercial beekeepers do to maximize profit.

On the other hand, if something specific is responsible for the collapse of the bees immune systems, we can look either to new pesticides (neonicitinoids like imidacloprid), or the toxins engineered into GMO crops, or the genetic engineering process itself (which may nightmarishly leave so-called “naked dna” open to recombination with the dna of other organisms at random).

Also, check out the “White Nose Syndrome” which is killing off bats in Vermont and New York State. As with the bees, something has harmed their immune systems, leaving them vulnerable to what may be a very common and usually harmless fungus/mold. I think these two problems are related, as these bats will eat half their weight in bugs every night, so you can see how rapidly they would bioaccumulate any toxin present in the bugs (or bees).

Hold on tight, we’re in for a bumpy ride.

art, events

The Whitney

Hey Bloggers, sometimes it seems as if life is falling down around me, especially when I turn on the world news and read the daily atrocities of the day, enough to make me think that these are the last days of something and that it is the beginning of the end of something else in my religious fanaticism thoughts. And yet I still find time to blah blog away. And maybe this is one of those 50 Signs You’re A Blogaholic in my blogaholicness, that even in the midst in chaos, I still find myself blah blogging away. And the Whitney Biennial 2008 is happening now, March 6 – June 1. I know because this weeks newspapers say so with all of their full page color advertisements. These Whitney Museum Of American Art Biennials always seem as if they are the end all to be all event of the year and art world scene. And this years event seems like it is worth checking out each and every year that it takes place. Participating artists include:
Rita Ackermann,Natalia Almada,Edgar Arceneaux,Fia Backström,John Baldessari,Robert Bechtle,Walead Beshty,Carol Bove,Joe Bradley,Matthew Brannon,Bozidar Brazda,Olaf Breuning,Jedediah Caesar,William Cordova,Dexter Sinister Stuart Bailey,David Reinfurt, Harry Dodge and Stanya Kahn,Shannon Ebner,Gardar Eide Einarsson,Roe Ethridge,Kevin Jerome Everson,Omer Fast,Robert Fenz,Coco Fusco,Gang Gang Dance Lizzi Bougatsos, Brian DeGraw, Tim DeWit, Josh Diamond, Nathan Maddox, Amy Granat and Drew Heitzler,Rashawn Griffin,Adler Guerrier,MK Guth,Fritz Haeg,Rachel Harrison,Ellen Harvey,Mary Heilmann,Leslie Hewitt,Patrick Hill,William E. Jones,Karen Kilimnik,Alice Könitz,Louise Lawler,Spike Lee,Sherrie Levine,Charles Long,Lucky Dragons Luke Fischbeck,Daniel Joseph Martinez,Corey McCorkle,Rodney McMillian,Julia Meltzer and David Thorne,Jennifer Montgomery,Olivier Mosset,Matt Mullican,Neighborhood Public Radio (NPR),Ruben Ochoa, DJ Olive,Mitzi Pederson,Kembra Pfahler/The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black,Seth Price,Stephen Prina,Adam Putnam,Michael Queenland,Jason Rhoades,Ry Rocklen,Bert Rodriguez,Marina Rosenfeld,Amanda Ross-Ho,Mika Rottenberg,Heather Rowe,Eduardo Sarabia,Melanie Schiff, Amie Siegel,Lisa Sigal,Gretchen Skogerson,Michael Smith,Agathe Snow,Frances Stark,Mika Tajima/New Humans Mika Tajima,Howie Chen, Javier Téllez,Cheyney Thompson, Mungo Thomson,Leslie Thornton,Phoebe Washburn,James Welling and Mario Ybarra Jr.,

Have a great art day.

games, internet

Nintendo

Nintendo. Wow! Isn’t that that video game that a lot of people are playing these days. I hear so much about Nintendo, as it seems to be a popular game. And now you can Click Here for a Chance to Win a Nintendo® Wii™!, and the winner will receive a Nintendo Wii Console, Wii Stand, 5 Sports games including boxing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, 1 Remote Controller, 1 Nunchuk Controller, 1 Sensor Bar, 1 Wii AC Adapter and 1 Wii AV Cable. And you will also be given the opportunity to bid on receiving Charter High-Speed® Internet for Life. High Speed Internet for life you say? Now that sounds really cool. For I am always looking for high speed Internet access, and even higher speed Internet access with my blogaholicness these days, so that’s enough to make me want to go and sign up now. And what better way to be a blogaholic than free. And what better way to play home video games than at home with a wireless controller and wireless remote. Technology is really great when it comes to these video games these days. And with Nintento Wii, you and the whole family can be on your way to hours of enjoyment and interacting and playing video games in the comfort of your own home.

environment

Newton Creek

Somehow I wound up talking about that Newton Creek oil spill in Greenpoint from decades or centuries ago with a few friends the other day. And this conversation drifted from Buffalo, New York from where the subject of Chernobyl came up, to somehow Newton Creek and Greenpoint. And I guess the two can be related somehow, big accidents and disasters from oil spills and nuclear reactors from former industrial towns that leaves its inhabitants cancer prone from its fallout and effects years later. And I could actually see the oil seeping into the water of this creek when I rode a bike there with a friend sometime ago. The Newton Creek area seems to be a wasteland type of an area in the midst of an empire state of New York City as its backdrop. And I am always hearing and reading stories about this place in the local newspapers. And I can even smell its heavy stench in the air from far away in the next neighborhood over from Greenpoint of what seems like raw sewage when I take the L train to Bedford Avenue and stand on the corner of Bedford and North 7th Street in Williamsburg, across the street from the neighborhood Salvation Army and the now trendy and indie rock hipster main drag capital of the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn that exists in the midst of an Empire State of New York as its backdrop. And it makes me want to walk around wearing a gas mask for the smell sometimes. And then my other friend says something about this oil spill was the biggest oil spill ever, and that this oil spill was bigger than the Exxon oil spill years ago or something like that, though I am not sure if this is correct, and that the cancer rate is higher amongst the population of people that live in Greenpoint. And another friend comments about how she has been watching a bunch of different documentaries about this very same topic, as she lives in that very same neighborhood. And In case you may be interested in watching some of these documentaries, here is one about Brooklyn that is called Toxic Brooklyn. Help save planet mother earth. Peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind.

events

These Events

For some reason I do not see this blog every too often as usual these days, and yet here I go blah bloggng about events of the day again because I see them listed everywhere and also because hey, it’s less writing sometimes, especially when I find myself in bloggerland with blogger burnout approaching. And in my attempt to maintain my other blog, that other blog seems as if it wants to confuse me and give me twice as much work sometimes, and it also seems as if it is becoming a replica of this blog. So as I was blah blogging again, what’s up with that Frigid New York Festival 2008 February 27th – March 9th, that has been listed everywhere this past month. Is that another version of that Fringe Festival? Well, it seems as if there a lot fun plays to check out at their festival. Their website describes it as 3 theaters, 12 Days, 30 shows, and over 150 performances. Here are some of the 2nd Annual Frigid New York Off Broadway shows, and some of these plays seem funny as heck:

American Badass:
Written by: Chris Harcum
Directed by: Bricken Sparacino
Cast: Chris Harcum

American Cake:
Written by: Jonathan Pereira
Directed by: Kristen Williams
Produced by: Prickly Pear
Cast: Jonathan Pereira

Antonin…Mon Artaud:
Written by: Roi ‘Bubi’ Escudero
Produced by: ETdC Projects’ Lab
Cast: Roi ‘Bubi’ Escuder

Clinical Depression (the funny kind):
Written by: Drew Winniger
Directed by: Bilgin Turker
Presented by: Jonathan Tessero
Cast: Drew Winniger

Diversity Harbour:
Written by: Marisa Wegrzyn
Directed by: Annie Coburn
Produced by: Don’t Eat the Pictures
Cast: Dana Berger (Grace), Dorien Makhloghi (Dennis), Avery Pearson (James) and Amanda Sayle (Stephanie).

Great Hymn of Thanksgiving/Conversation Storm:
Written by: Rick Burkhardt
Produced by: Nonsense Productions
Cast: Rick Burkhardt, Andy Gricevich and Ryan Higgins

Speedo and the Straight Man:
Written by: Gerard Karabin
Directed by: Peter A. DuBo’
Produced by: MeLu Communications Group
Cast: Lucio Fernandez

Sporknotes:
Conceived by: Jason Tyne
Directed by: Jason Tyne
Produced by: Rising Sun Performance Company
Cast: Andrea Snell, Julie Bain, Nicolette Callaway, Josh Hyman, Brian Schell, Courtney J. Boddie, Chris Enright, Kerri Ford and Ben Rameaka

Stuck!:
Written by: Jennie Franks
Directed by: Sasha Cucciniello
Produced by: Jennie Franks Production
Cast: Jennie Franks

Telegrams:
Curated by: Alexander Carson
Cast: The crew – Alexander Carson, Nicholas Marti, Kyle Thomas, Zachary Cox and Benjamin Carson

Diary of a Mad Fashionista:
Written by: Elisa DeCarlo
Presented by: S&D Production
Cast: Elisa DeCarlo (Fashionista) and Shannon Sutherland

Fool For A Client:
Written by: Mark Whitney
Cast: Mark Whitney

Hap Scotch:
Presented by: Sapling Players

Her Majesty:
Written by: Sean Owens
Presented by: EXIT Theatre production
Cast: Christina Augello and Sean Owens.

Korean Badass:
Written by: Stevie Lee Saxon
Presented by: Korean Kneivel
Cast: Stevie Lee Saxon

Leaving Normal:
Written by: Melissa McNamara
Cast: Melissa McNamara

Preparation Hex:
Written by: Bob Brader
Directed by: Suzanne Bachner
Produced by: John Montgomery Theatre Company
Cast: Bob Brader

Rebel Without a Niche:
Written by: Kurt Fitzpatrick
Directed by: Gabe Hakvaag
Presented by: Too Much Free Time
Cast: Kurt Fitzpatrick.

Working It Out:
Written by: Amanda Sage Comerford
Directed by: Helena Gleissner
Produced by: An International BTC

Boom:
Written by: Andrew Connor
Produced by: IL Productions

Chosen:
Written by: Rick Vorndran
Directed by: Rick Vorndran
Presented by: A Dysfunctional Theatre Company Production
Cast: Rob Brown, Danaher Dempsey, Allison Sell, Amy Beth Sherman, Theresa Unfried and Alexander R. Warner.

Excess Secret Circus: Guess What ‘It’s’ About?:
Conceived by: Theatre Reverb
Choreography by: Miranda Zukowski
Presented by: Theatre Reverb
Cast: Kristin Arnesen, Radoslaw Konopka, Christopher Thomas Gilkey, Rachael W. Gilkey

Giant Invisible Robot:
Written by: Jayson McDonald
Produced by: Stars and Hearts
Cast: Jayson McDonald

Modern Medieval:
Written by: David Tyson
Presented by: A David Tyson’s Weaver of Tales Theatre production
Cast: David Tyson

Subway Series:
Written by: NewFormat Improvsation
Produced by: NewFormat Improv Production
Cast: Jason Surratt, Jeff Stevens, Dan Levy, Chris McCue, Megan Bernard, Greg Moss, Cole Stitelman, Aaron Stoker-Ring.

Thanks for the Scabies, Jerkface!:
Written by: Dan Bernitt
Produced by: Dan Bernitt Production
Cast: Dan Bernitt.

Two in the Bush!:
Written by: Tracey Erin Smith
Directed by Anita La Selva
Produced by: Burning Bush Productions
Cast: Tracey Erin Smith.

Whence Came Ye Scarlett O’Hara O’Hanrahan?:
Written by: Melle Powers
Directed by: Anita La Selva
Produced by: 53 Hysterics
Cast: Melle Powers

XY(T):
Written by: Kestryl Lowrey
Cast: Kestryl Lowrey

And now there are even more events, so many that the list could seem endless, especially in New York. Here is an excerpt from this weeks nonsense nyc that seems interesting, and their list is even more extensive:

The Fifth Annual NYC Grassroots Media Conference 2008, March 2nd, at Hunter College. Participate in one of the most exciting, local, grassroots media and activism events in New York City. In addition to a full day of workshops and panels, there will be a full day film festival, exhibition room featuring displays by local organizations, and tons of networking opportunities. free103point9 “Protest Radio” workshop will explain how free103point9 will use the open-source Asterisk software, and other streaming software, and how it can be used at other events and shared by many media outlets. Their schedule of workshops, speakers, panelists, and presenters include: FAIR, Center for Media Justice, Marymount Manhattan College, Coalition of Institutionalized Aged and Disabled (CIAD), Arts Engine, Inc., Hunter College, Tiltfactor Game Research Lab, Radical Reference, Reporters Without Borders, Learning Matters Inc., Listen Up!, Groundswell, Connecting.nyc Inc., Time’s Up!, Transportation Alternatives, Street Films, Street Memorial Project, Manhattan Neighborhood Network, Center for Digital Democracy, Name.Space and WiFi-NY, Common Cause, Sarah Lawrence College and the New York Solidarity Coalition for Katrina/Rita Survivors, movement in motion, The Media Justice Fund of the Funding Exchange, The North Star Fund, The Social Science Research Council, People’s Production House and ChicaLuna Productions, The Indypendent – Newspaper of NYC Independent Media Center,
Workers Independent News, Queens Community House, Paper Tiger TV, The Lower Eastside Girls Club, MNN Youth Channel, Global Information Network, Guttmacher Institute, Brooklyn Museum, Youth Views and POV and more.
And this social media evolution of that web 2.0 user generated content thing has really got me going, and it makes me want to say “Power To The People”, when I read their schedule.

life

The World According To Americans

Now this photo that I posted in this blog post “The World According To Americans” is kind of funny, or is it? Well, actually there is nothing funny about this photo at all when I really read it. It is one of those photos that was sent to a friend that was forwarded from another friend that was sent to another friend and so on and so on and so on. And I am not sure exactly what to make of it except that this photo and what those words say are and could possibly be true. And what does this have to do with a No Police State? Peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind.

environment

The Moon Again

And every time I turn on this computer It seems as if Yahoo is blaring, almost advertising a latest tragedy of the day story in its headlines. And this time it’s headlines says the moon for planet earth has done something to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to where NASA wants to shoot it. Am I seeing things and misunderstanding this latest headline? NASA apparently wants to kill the moon for no reason at all, except that it is there and maybe they have nothing else to do or no one else to blame for anything for whatever reason except the moon. And what if the moon falls out of the sky to planet earth or somewhere else. And of course there is a scientific basis provided as an explanation for this all. Is this just another one of those great examples of man and gun violence, and man against man with guns for no reason at all except for the fact that guns and dynamite have been invented. And now it seems as if it has become man against the moon. And what has the moon done to man. And what about technology and its advancements? And what about the air, water and shelter, if they could be pillaged and plundered and sold they probably would. Oh, I forgot, the water and shelter are already being sold. Is there hope for this world and mankind. What are the days that we are living in. Help save planet mother earth. Peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind. And what does this have to do with a No Police State?

food

Oysters

And what did the one oyster say to the other oyster? “Oy, ster me up already wont ya?” And I have heard of stories about oysters being an aphrodisiac, though I am not exactly sure about that. And then there are those stories of the beautiful pearls that are found in oysters. And I imagine they must make for some great recipes. And Gulf oysters are great. At Be Oyster Aware, you can be informed, cautious, smart and sure about oysters. At Be Oyster Aware you can find out everything educational there is to know about oysters, as well as some great oyster recipes too.