I’m on the road and out in the country with Jonathan and a group of people. While we look for a place to stay for the night, Jonathan thinks he hears someone screaming in the woods. One of our passengers suggests he go check it out, so David S. and I tag along for the ride. We take a small country road through the woods and come out at a cluster of homes. We realize that we’ve just driven into an army base. Jonathan gets curious about one house and we walk inside to investigate. I get separated from them but find nothing weird going on. Outside, I find Jonathan taking photos of David in front of a fallout shelter sign. David is naked and painted orange! We all get a good laugh over this until the police show up. Jonathan and David flee and hide while I blend in with the curious onlookers. I decide to get in Jonathan’s car (a borrowed junker) to head down the road a bit. I visualize them jumping in for a getaway. I have problems with the manual transmission so just end up at the house next door. I stick around and befriend the elderly woman who lives in the first house. She and the head cop are good people, but a younger cop is antsy for an arrest. I walk through the second house and pass young girls. Jonathan and David reveal themselves to me, so I try to figure out a way to get them out of the house. On the back porch, the girls get their mom to talk to the police. I try to prepare the car for a getaway again and do better with the gears. The elderly woman tells me to leave it at the edge of the drive and then goes into her neighbor’s house. She comes back a bit later and tells me to drive around. “Can you tell where I hid them?” she asks me. Suddenly, Jonathan and David appear from small bundles of towels on the lawn. They hop in the car and we take off. We pass the elderly woman’s house and see several people walking to it. They’re blue and green with glittery clothes. We get a laugh and drive back into the woods.
Once again, I will don the black garb of the theater tech for this upcoming show. Let me know if you’d like to check it out.
The Desire Project
Do you still desire it once you have it?
Six compelling performers wrestle with the mysterious qualities that define desire. An unsuspecting scientist is seized by the data that he’s painstakingly acquired thanks to Victoria’s Secret. A woman propelled by Klezmer music devours the fruit that’s projected onto her naked, dancing body. Billie Holiday’s spirit manifests itself in the voice of a sixty-five year old poet who writes punk with a wiggle. A man leaps for a ringing telephone with the hope that it’s his girlfriend–it turns out to be her boyfriend. The Desire Project joins together the passion of soap opera, the mayhem of a three ring circus and the unpredictability of stand-up comedy. And then they invite the audience into the mix. One weekend only. Then it’s gone. Take a risk. Join in.
The Desire Project
Directed by Judy Cohen
With Dakota Phoenix, Julie Berlin, Robert Fitch, Edana Contreras, Judy Cohen and Ron Jones
WHEN
May 15 Thursday
May 16 Friday
May 17 Saturday
all shows at 8:00WHERE
Mama Calizo’s Voice Factory
1519 Mission Street (between 11th and 12th Street)
San FranciscoWheelchair accessible
TICKETS
$15 General Admission
A month ago, I read a great essay over at Just Seeds on the appropriation of art. The text tells a story of a group of activists who took photos out of a magazine, changed the context of the images (and the people in the photos), and then watched as their art was appropriated for book covers, art exhibits, etc. Essayist Dara Greenwald finally states that “appropriation is both an important and inevitable part of a vibrant and living culture.” Since I read this article, I have come across some other amazing examples of appropriation in surprising places. And my experiences with a few live concerts yesterday compelled me to write about my discoveries.
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Is there such thing as Web 2.0 OD? I’m not talking about the spectative side of the Interweb, but rather, the participatory side. I’d like to consider myself a moderate user of Web 2.0 interfaces. I don’t have a YouTube account. I don’t dive into Google apps and Yahoo personalization offers. I do get out into the sunshine, ride my bike places, and interact with human beings outside of my apartment.
The other day, while making food in the kitchen, a room mate suggested that I make a web site for an idea I had just thought up (can’t remember what it was). I rolled my eyes. “Oh, no! Not another web site!” I got a laugh, but then tried to count off all the web sites I do have or administrate. Here’s the list: Happy Feet, Stencil Archive, Stencil Nation, Stencil Nation MySpace, Flickr, CELLspace.org, Sage in the Cage (which is down at the moment), and then online promo for CELLspace (about 12 events list sites, including Facebook and Tribe). This list doesn’t include a few other sites that I log into from time to time for other reasons. During the conversation with the room mate, I couldn’t remember all the sites I logged into to post content to. After counting about five sites, my brain shut down and the conversation moved on to other topics.
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Today was a day full of stencils. I began to make a promo video last night. Manic D needs one yesterday to put on a vid reel at a book buyers convention. I’ve made a few videos in the past year, have iMovie, so took a dive and made what is really a slide show with titles. Contacted my stencil bud Josiah and asked him for some of his dub music to use for the video. Got about 80% of the thing done last night and then went to bed. I had planned on beginning to make the slide presentation yesterday, but that is on the back burner for a few more days. Today, I stopped by Josiah’s house and picked up the music. He has stencil art on the walls, mostly from Scott Williams. Lots of graffiti on his walls. Rode over to Revolution Cafe and met with the manager and owner about the June 6 book opening and exhibit. They’re digging it. Gave them a promo packet and they wanted more. Realized that I need to get info on this night out to the weeklies ASAP. Have to write a press release first. Rode around pricing mailing packages (Office Max beats them all), came back home and finished the video. The track that I chose from Josiah’s CD was the same time as the end video. How about that for timing? Sent it to Jennifer over at Manic D and had some time to begin to package the promo for the June tour. I then biked to Scott Williams’s place to drop off one of his journals and pick up two more to photograph. He showed me some sick new cut outs that he hasn’t used yet. I took photos of them in their virgin glory. Had more work at CELLspace and then headed home to check the ole’ inbox. Jennifer loves the video but asked for the end titles to be reworked. Just finished reworking the video and will show her tomorrow when I stop by to pick up more post cards. What a full day! I should quickly mention that I am most likely going to Melbourne in July/August, so am working out the details for this. I am also contacting artists in the book to see if they’d like to be in the book opening show. Have about six artists on board so far. Still don’t know what my fall is looking like. I may hit the road some more to promote the book. Or I might need to get a job to save up money to do that. We’ll see how things come together!
The curators of Audacity of Desperation asked me to send them a pile of stickers for their LA exhibit in October and November. To take a break from all the book work (and CELLspace volunteering), I tweaked the original sticker’s design. Added a new background (half tone of a sand dune pattern) and switched the images with the text. So I guess it’s “Number 2″ in a series. The next chance I get, I’ll make a new button design for this show. Before that, I need to cut a new stencil that I plan on taking up North for the book tour.
BTW, if you want one of these stickers, send me your snail address and I’ll mail ya one. Donations gladly appreciated to cover any costs, shipping, and handling.
