SEE FULL REVIEW

Like its namesake, the film was not entirely one thing, but fully engaging as a combination of several features: live storytelling, illustrative media, and apt, adept scoring. Green’s charismatic personality made for a magnetic narration – funny, quick-witted, with an underlying poignancy that he’s undoubtedly developed over his own career that’s spanned a roster of documentaries like the Oscar-nominated chronicle of the radical late ‘60s group, The Weather Underground, as well as a similarly-scoped “live documentary” called Utopia in Four Movements, that was performed at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

The dreamy noise-pop of band Yo La Tengo was a perfect blanket for the audience to lay on and marvel at the film’s figure and his on-screen ephemera. The trio is no stranger to scores, having provided soundtracks to works like the undersea landscapes of surrealist French director Jean Painlevé. The jump seems only natural, to move from sonic illustrations of alien waters to adding color and dimension to quirky relics from Fuller’s abundant life. Their Mark Mothersbaugh-esque melody for the documentary’s opening sequence – images of a geodesic dome in flight – laid the sweet-but-slightly-kooky groundwork for the touching, strange, and extraordinary voyage that the audience is led through for the duration of the film.

We were introduced to Fuller’s incredible “Dymaxion Chronofile” – the largest collection of personal files belonging to any human being in history. Dymaxion is a Fuller vocabulary favorite, a combination of “dynamic”, “maximum”, and “tension”, and what a better way to describe a painstaking collection of every document that the man had ever come in contact with over the course of 63 years? The cycling through of these artifacts, comprised of notes, sketches, bills, film reels, clippings, etc., made the presentation more like a PowerPoint or TED talk, rather than a simple theater outing. It’s worth saying that the program itself was short — less than an hour — which stands in contrast to Fuller’s tendency to speak for hours on end (he once delivered a 42-hour lecture, humbly titled “Everything I Know”). In that time, we see the origin of Fuller’s quest to enact change (sparked by the tragic loss of his young daughter), the boom and bust of his various innovative endeavors, and his rise to relative fame for his uncomplicated but salient vision of almost utopian, sustainable living. Green led the audience through a timeline of various ups and downs, including moments of doubt in which Fuller doesn’t appear to be as iconoclastic as one might hope. Green scans through the files, the film, and plays some archival footage alongside some interviews that create a loose sketch of the figure that is Fuller.

But perhaps the most remarkable thing about Fuller is that he didn’t “achieve” much by common standards. He is mostly known for the design of the geodesic dome, which has well contributed to the field of architectural design but did not have the far-reaching effects that he had hoped for. We’re not all shacked up in domes, and our skylines are still primarily straight lines to the heavens. He was, however, a creature intensely convicted that an individual could enact palpable change in the world, and become indefatigable exemplification of the human spirit and willpower. The myth of the man was not necessarily in his actions (and in fact his resume includes a number of fantastic failures and near or total disasters), but in his ideas for sustainability and service that continue to have relevance in our world today – and that in itself is an accomplishment. It’s hard to imagine not being somewhat seduced by the mythos surrounding Fuller after his story was filtered through the thoughtful, affecting handling of Green and his musical collaborators. The tender oeuvre, in itss brief but touching run, was an elating practice in examining the extraordinary life of a man and the potential of his ideas.

Radio Documentary Series

The Green World Of R. Buckminster Fuller Film Trailer

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TBA Festival 2012: The Love Song Of R. Buckminster Fuller Live Documentary Performance Review

Directed by Nabil

This title track comes from Cut The World, Antony’s new track which will be released on August 8th on Secretly Canadian. It is also one of many of Antony’s songs to be featured in The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic, a performance production centered around Abramovic’s death. (Antony himself, william Dafoe, Marina Abramovic, and Robert Wilson were all involved in this performance. You can see photos from it HERE.)

“Future Feminism”, the opening track on Cut The World, is not a song, but a straight-forward monologue from Antony about sexuality, politics, spirituality, and how it all relates to one another.

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Antony And The Johnsons – Cut The World / Future Feminism Music Videos (ft. William Dafoe, Marina Abramovic)

An extended family gathers for the youngest daughter’s wedding, but not all goes as planned. A glowing pastel canvas and sensual score are dreamy counterpoints to the anxieties and celebrations of three generations.

May 22nd @ 6:00pm, Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center
June 1st @ 6:30pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown
June 6th @ 9:30pm, Harvard Exit

A Chinese film that follows an 11-year-old boy through his life. Set during the waning years of the Cultural Revolution and Mao Zedong’s rule, acquaintance with a fugitive from the law. Set during the

May 18th @ 4:30pm, Harvard Exit
May 21st @ 6:00pm, Harvard Exit

Struggling to meet the financial needs for his much-desired life-long journey to Mecca, a religious man must decide how to make his important religious pilgrimage happen without sacrificing his own dignity or steering away his own moral compass.

May 24th @ 8:30pm, Harvard Exit
May 30th @ 9:00pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown

Materialism and status in lower middle class South Korea are filtered through the experiences of Kwon Youn-ho, tasked with resolving his family’s descent into debt hell.

June 3rd @ 5:45pm, Harvard Exit
June 7th @ 4:00pm, Harvard Exit
June 10th @ 8:30pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown

Cambodia produced 400 films between 1960 and 1975, but only a handful of these artistic works survived the Khmer rouge’s devastating reign. Filmmaker Davy Chou awakens the once-magnificent industry through archival material and deep insight.

May 30th @ 6:00pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown
May 31st @ 3:30pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown

Dark and sinister, the portrait of Iranian injustice through the character of Noora, a beautiful young lawyer denied an increasing number of rights.

May 20th @ 11:30am, SIFF Cinema Uptown
May 21st @ 6:30pm, AMC Pacific Place 11
May 26th @ 1:30pm, AMC Pacific Place 11

Cop, monk, or assassin? In this riveting cinematic noir spectacle, a cop-turned-hitman is struck in the head by a bullet and sees the world upside-down with a flashback and forward blur of drug busts, scheming lawyers and seductive women.

May 24th @ 9:00pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown
May 27th @ 4:00pm, AMC Pacific Place 11

A moving study of two brothers, divvied up by divorced parents, who dream of reuniting their family through a bullet-train line. A children’s film with a touch of adult supervision that miraculously holds a lifetime’s range of experience.

June 3rd @ 6:30pm, Egyptian Theatre
June 6th @ 4:00pm, Egyptian Theatre

Divorced and demoted, taxi driver Yousef struggles to make ends meet. When a health crisis looms, he tries to reconnect with his estranged family in this subtle, understated drama, tinged with black humor and stylish minimalism.

May 25th @ 6:00pm, SIFF Cinema Uptown
May 27th @ 11:00am, AMC Pacific Place 11
June 2nd @ 9:30pm, Harvard Exit

Watch Trailer on SIFF Website

Sun Yu’s 1933 silent, starring silent screen queen Ruan Lingyu as a toymaker in a highly political climate, offers a rare glimpse into the Chinese leftist film movement. Legendary musician Donald Sosin performs a live piano score.

May 26th @ 2:30pm, Harvard Exit

The Mirror Never Lies provides a close look at Indonesian island life.

June 9th @ 9:00pm, Harvard Exit
June 10th @ 2:30pm, Harvard Exit

A previously unreleased animation from Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli, Only Yesterday runs throguh the memories of a young 20-something-year-old girl.

May 19th @ 11:00am, Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center
May 23rd @ 6:30pm, Egyptian Theatre

A gender-bending horror-comedy.

May 20th @ 8:30pm, Renton IKEA Performing Arts Center
June 1st @ 9:30pm, Egyptian Theatre
June 2nd @ 2:30pm, Egyptian Theatre

When Xu Xian falls into a mountain lake, a beautiful woman comes to his rescue. Unbeknownst to him, she is a centuries old snake demon with the ability to change form, but she cannot hide her true self from the sorcerer Fa Hai (Jet Li).

June 5th @ 9:15pm, Egyptian Theatre
June 8th @ 6:00pm, Kirkland Performance Center

A story of environmental destruction intersecting with love. Winner of Sundance’s World Cinema Audience Award.

May 18th @ 9:00pm, Harvard Exit
May 19th @ Noon, Harvard Exit
June 3rd @ 6:00pm, Kirkland Performance Center

Ω

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A Grain Of Sand Trailer

Directed by Joseph Johnson Cami

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A Grain Of Sand Environmental Documentary Preview & Stream

At just slightly over a minute long, this short film is visually what you might expect from a mixture of lava lamp luminescence and The Blob’s flesh-eating ways. And I guess it is intended to be scary, though less in a movie monster type way and more in a “horrors of humanity’s callousness” kind of way.

Filmmaker David Parker created to bring awareness to energy waste. The Sunday Paper’s website writes:

First seen on thebib.is

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David Parker‘s “Light” = A Commentary On Energy Waste

According to the introductory statement to the Festival’s website, “Festival of Ideas for the New City is a major new collaborative initiative in New York, involving scores of Downtown organizations working together to harness the power of the creative community to imagine the future city and explore ideas that will shape it. The Festival will include a three-day slate of symposia; an innovative StreetFest along the Bowery; and over eighty independent projects and public events.”

Below, we’ve decided to pick out some of the socially-conscious, community-minded projects people are undertaking for the Streetfest portion of this festival. If you’re looking for our recommended picks for gallery openings, please see this guide.

And here we go!

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Art Cart NYC

Art Cart NYC™ is a mobile exhibition space that brings art directly to the people, encouraging them to think imaginatively about exhibiting and experiencing art. They work with many organizations, all which spread art and information via mobile means. Please check out their Tumblr for more information.
Location: Variable throughout Streetfest
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-2891
Date: May 7th, from 11:00am to 7:00pm
More details: http://artcartnyc.tumblr.com/
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Art In Odd Places

According to the organization’s mission statement, “Art in Odd Places aims to stretch the boundaries of communication in the public realm by presenting artworks in all disciplines outside the confines of traditional public space regulations. AiOP reminds us that public spaces function as the epicenter for diverse social interactions and the unfettered exchange of ideas.” There is also an the 7th Annual Art In Odd Places Festival, taking place from October 1st through October 10th this year, in New York City, and there is now a call for entries and proposals.
Location: Variable throughout Streetfest
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-2909
Date: May 7th, from 11:00am to 7:00pm
More details: http://www.artinoddplaces.org/
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Broadcastr

A free app streams geolocated stories told in the voices of the people who live and work in the neighborhood. The project expands in real time with contributions from visitors. The app brings strangers closer to one another, one story at a time.
Location: Variable throughout Streetfest
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-1186
Date: May 7th, from 11:00am to 7:00pm
More details: http://www.broadcastr.com/
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contrail

Turn your bicycle into a paintbrush! Contrail is a public art project that celebrates shared spaces, helps make bicycling safer and more fun. Don’t worry; the paints are non-toxic and eco-friendly, of course!
Location: Streetfest
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-1196
Date: May 7th, from 11:00am to 7:00pm
More details: http://www.bikecontrail.com
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the drawing center

DrawNow! is a series of artist-led projects that invite the public to join in spontaneous drawing events encouraging social and cultural engagement. All ages—no experience necessary! Similarly, you may also want to check out our recent feature on Screaming Females’ work with Doodledrag. More all-access art, please!
Location: Streetfest
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-1266
Date: May 7th, from 11:00am to 7:00pm
More details: http://www.drawingcenter.org/
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goles—good old lower east side

This installation consists of dangling keys, each representing another community member who faced eviction this year along with a description, poem, or story.
Location: Streetfest
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-1211
Date: May 7th, from 11:00am to 7:00pm
More details: http://www.GOLES.org
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Draw-Think-Tank: Emerging territories of movement. 15×360 Manifestos.: Storefront for Art and Architecture

Presenting an innovative digital platform for collective drawing and a series of manifestos by emerging and established experts throughout the world to spark new visions for the future of mobility.
Location: Streetfest
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-1257
Date: May 7th, from 11:00am to 7:00pm
More details: http://www.storefrontnews.org/
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bushwick art park: trust art

Come kick it at a street-inspired sculpture garden and philosophize on how to transform an under-used street in Bushwick into a community art park, as well as how to raise awareness about the lack of open space in the Brooklyn neighborhood. There will be excellent work on display, from Specter, Leon Reid IV, Olek, and Skewville. Above, a piece by Olek.
Location: Streetfest
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-1275
Date: May 7th, from 11:00am to 7:00pm
More details: http://www.trustart.org/posts/39

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Festival of Ideas for the New City 2011: Streetfest

According to the introductory statement to the Festival’s website, “Festival of Ideas for the New City is a major new collaborative initiative in New York, involving scores of Downtown organizations working together to harness the power of the creative community to imagine the future city and explore ideas that will shape it. The Festival will include a three-day slate of symposia; an innovative StreetFest along the Bowery; and over eighty independent projects and public events.”

In this guide, we’ve picked out some of the most incredible gallery-hosted events taking place during the course of this festival, serving as a filter for the best, so you don’t have to! We did not include, however, panels and conferences which are going on, so it is highly recommended that visit the Festival website at www.festivalofideasnyc.com to see those, as well as festival events we have not listed here.

Stay tuned for our post regarding Streetfest-related installations and happenings, taking place on May 7th!

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past fits and future pulls: james Fuentes llc

Daniel Subkoff and Will Chancellor offer for disassembly a large clay sculpture embedded with native seeds. Remains will be woven into the Bowery environs the following day using boustrophedon technology.
Location: Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center (107 Suffolk St, btwn Rivington & Delancey Sts)
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-593
Date: May 7th, all day
More details: http://www.jamesfuentes.com/
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borderland: smartspaces

Curated by Andrea Hill, Borderland borrows from the format of television and the democratic ideas behind community access networks, airing a video art program that includes interactive works on public view 24/7. Featuring videos and interactive pieces by Benjamin Crotty, Noah Feehan / AKA, Rainer Ganahl, Tatiana Kronberg, Nour Mobarak, Adam Shecter.
Location: 200 Lafayette Street, btwn Broome & Kenmare Sts
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-3756
Date: May 1st through June 1st, 24 hours a day
More details: http://www.smartspaces.org/
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Richard Long: Flow and Ebb: sperone westwater

Artist Richard Long creates an homage to nature in urban installations. Drawing made with river mud and sculpture of native stone generate a reconfigured nature. According to Sperone Westwater’s press release: “Long presents a text work Flow and Ebb, Rise and Fall in the gallery’s Moving Room, which travels between the second and fourth floors, referencing the motion of tides. The third floor features wall-sized text works that narrate Long’s recent outdoor walks and experiences, such as Human Nature Walk (2011) from his 21-day walk in South Africa. In Megalithic to Subatomic: From Carnac to Cern (2008), Long describes the extreme range of materials in nature – from large-sized stones to the minute atoms in particle physics.”
Location: 257 Bowery, between East Houston & Stanton Sts
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-1656
Date: May 7th, from 10:00am to 6:00pm
More details: http://www.speronewestwater.com/cgi-bin/iowa/index.html
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URBAN TAPESTRY A Vision for the New City: theater for the new city

Urban Tapestry engages the public by weaving visual and performing arts into a 2-day event focusing on preservation and innovation. According to the website, this will be “a multidisciplinary exhibition, weaves visual, conceptual, and performing arts into a two-day event that combines preservation and innovation, building a base for a heterogeneous and sustainable city using visual art, installations, music and performance to engage the public,” covering topics as diverse as “Art & Design, storytelling and local history, party (reception), Exhibition, Lecture/Discussion, and Performance.”
Location: Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue, between East 9th & East 10th Streets
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-549
Date: May 7th, from 10:00am to 11:00pm
More details: http://www.artistasdeloisaida.org/
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Cronocaos, an exhibition by Rem Koolhaas and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture: new museum

Cronocaos explores the simultaneity of preservation and destruction, which obliterates any sense of a linear evolution of time. The exhibition will take place in a partially renovated space adjacent to the New Museum. And yes, it costs money, but thanks to expert curation, it’s always a good time at The New Museum.
Location: 231 Bowery, between Stanton & Rivington Sts
ADMISSION: $12
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-667
Date: May 7th, 11:00am to 6:00pm
More details: http://www.newmuseum.org
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Robert Melee: This is For You: invisible-exports

A looped screening shows five dancers interpreting nine physical acts including “imitate a chicken” and “lick your biceps” for Melee’s 2003 performance at Judson Church in an ode to a new era of performance art.
Location: 14A Orchard Street, between Hester & Canal Sts
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-1665
Date: May 7th and May 8th, 11:00am to 11:59pm
More details: http://www.invisible-exports.com/
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Floating Constructs: Number 35 Gallery

Alexa Kreissl proposes a sculpture on outdoor surfaces, creating unfamiliar and multifaceted environments. Kreissl will present an installation incorporating sculpture, drawing, light and shadow. The shadows of a second, indoor sculpture by Kreissl are projected at various angles on the wall.
Location: 141 Attorney St between Stanton & Rivington Sts
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-1577
Date: May 7th through June 12th, 12:00pm to 6:00pm
More details: http://www.numberthirtyfive.com/
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HOMENESS: Y Gallery

Three artists examine their own concepts of home in a series of activities based on the notion of NYC as a multicultural city with a big population constantly on the move. Performances by Ryan Brown and Jano Cortijo. Video-interviews by Cecilia Jurado. Installation inside and outside the gallery by Tom Fruin, pictured above. Installation by Antonio la Rosa. Discussion with leaders of local shelters.
Location: 335A Bowery Street Basement, between East 3rd Street & East 2nd Street
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-651
Date: May 7th and May 8th, 12:00pm to 6:00pm
More details: http://www.ygallerynewyork.com/
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The Self Illuminating City: Allegra LaViola Gallery

Inside, let yourself be overwhelmed by brightness as Timothy Hutchings fills the space with light. Outside, get tempted by Jennifer Catron & Paul Outlaw’s Fish Fry Truck and Crawfish Boil.
Location: 179 East Broadway, between Jefferson & Rutgers Sts
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-546
Date: May 7th and May 8th, 12:00pm to 9:00pm
More details: http://www.allegralaviola.com/
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Urban Disorientation Game: christina ray gallery

Rediscover NYC as you are blindfolded and escorted to an unknown location. Remove the blindfold, make maps, explore the surroundings, and attempt to make it back to home base.
Location: Starting point at NE corner of Bowery & Rivington at noon. (Participants are asked to commit for the entire time.)
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-562
Date: May 7th, 12:00pm to 7:00pm
More details: http://www.christinaray.com/
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loophole: frosch&portmann

Swiss artist Raffaela Chiara responds to her New York experience with an illuminated mountain sculpture featuring a sound-filled cave; while drawings and photographs pinned to the wall become a personal map of the city.
Location: 3 Stanton Street, between Forsyth & Eldridge Sts
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-585
Date: May 7th and May 8th, 12:00pm to 11:59pm
More details: http://froschportmann.com/
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1000 Hearts by Kristen Zwicker: Michael Mut Gallery

Prepare to embrace the cheesy and heartwarming! Videos and a multimedia participatory installation document artists taking to the streets of New York, distributing stickers that say “Love Yourself,” and hand-folded origami hearts with messages of what people love about themselves. Exhibition through 5/28.
Location: 97 Avenue C, between East 6th Street & East 7th Street
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-1628
Date: May 7th through May 28th, 12:00pm to 11:59pm
More details: http://www.michaelmutgallery.com/
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Group Show: Kin and Daimond Marchand: Kammeropolis: sloan fine art

Kin features several New York painters who have come of age in a heterogeneous time. Daimon Marchand invites viewers into Kammeroplis, an installation comprised of technological and organic elements.
Location: 128 Rivington Street, at Norfolk Street
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-631
Date: May 7th through May 28th, 6:00pm to 8:00pm
More details: http://www.sloanfineart.com/
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David Shapiro: Money Is No Object: Sue Scott Gallery

Embarrassingly personal and strangely generic, David Shapiro redrew and repainted all his personal bills and receipts for one year, revealing the common denominator of consumption as both distinctive and banal.
Location: 1 Rivington Street, between Bowery & Chrystie Streets
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-636
Date: May 7th through May 28th, 6:00pm to 8:00pm
More details: http://www.suescottgallery.com/
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Trystette+Bobbie Rae Present Solcycle: FusionArts Museum

Trystette+BobbieRae group RE-DE-CON-STRUCT the soul of their music/projection/fused art creating an artistic phoenix of multi-tiered communication and interaction, recovery through collaborative creative renewal. Art/music exhibition.
Location: 57 Stanton Street, between Forsyth & Eldridge Sts
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-3194
Date: May 7th, 6:00pm to 11:59pm
More details: http://www.fusionartsmuseum.org/ + http://www.trystette.com/
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Shhhhhhhhhhhh: the underground library

Alternative to the “get anything, anytime” ethos of Internet spectacle, this series allows Festival-goers to check out multi-media books published as takeaway heirlooms, encouraging human contact through the distribution of art.
Location: Old School, 233 Mott Street between Prince & Spring
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-644
Date: May 7th and May 8th, 6:00pm to 2:00am
More details: http://www.theundergroundlibrary.org/
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School Nite: the they co

Restrictive allocation of city space foster partnerships between otherwise unrelated groups. Here, a vacant school is bequeathed to artists and cultural organizations for site-specific installations, performances, discussions and lectures implicating hopes, insights, and fears for a Future City. There are an endless, endless number of participants, as though this were a festival in and of itself! Don’t miss this! Included projects can be seen at the “more details” link below.
Location: 233 Mott Street, between Prince & Spring Sts
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-3565
Date: May 7th to May 8th, 6:00pm to 4:00am
More details: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/program#event-3565
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Birds and Bees: Flight of Fantasy: ny studio gallery

Russian-based American artist Yuliya Lanina works with C. Eule Dance Company on Flight Of Fantasy a performance art piece that envisions “a sustainable balance between urban development and colonies of butterflies.” Considering her artwork features mythologically and symbolically-affected characters comprised of unlikely building blocks and body parts, you can expect this performance to be most interesting.
Location: 154 Stanton Street, between Suffolk & Clinton Sts
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-621
Date: May 7th, 7:00pm to 7:30pm
More details: http://www.nystudiogallery.com/
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Survival AIDS/Hunter Reynolds: Performance & Panel: Visual AIDS and Participant Inc.

Artist and AIDS activist Hunter Reynolds enacts mummification while a symposium and discussion panel discuss how HIV and AIDS have shaped NYC’s queer community.
Location: 253 E Houston St, btwn Norfolk & Suffolk Sts
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-2465
Date: May 7th, 7:00pm to 11:59pm
More details: http://www.visualaids.org/ + http://www.participantinc.org/
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Flash:Light: Nuit Blanche New York

Over twenty artists working in site-specific light, sound and projection art invite you to discover, drift and linger along an illuminated path of re-configured public spaces, temporary installations and performances through the night. Artists (list in formation): Vito Acconci, Rita Ackermann, Hisham Bharoocha, Marco Brambilla, Antoine Catala, Mitchell Joachim, Chris Jordan, Andreas Laszlo Konrath, Jason Krugman, Jules Marquis, Ohad Meromi, Cary Ng, Miho Ogai, Aïda Ruilova, Ursula Scherrer, Claire Scoville, Kant Smith, Softlab, Ryan Uzilevsky / Farkas Fülöp (Light Harvest), Adriana Varella, Guido van der Werve. The above video is Twenty-First Century Bonfire, an installation by Jason Eppink, from last year’s Bring To Light festival. Visit their website to see just a sampling of the amazing things they’ve done in the past. There will also be music inside the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, in conjunction with this event.
Location: New Museum and Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, Mulberry Street between Houston & Prince Sts
Map it: http://www.festivalofideasnyc.com/map#event-618
Date: May 7th, 8:00pm to 11:59pm
More details: http://www.bringtolightnyc.org/

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Festival of Ideas for the New City 2011: Galleries Preview

There’s a struggle for many artists with regards to consumerism – one feels the need to create but also is constantly being reminded that to create is also to create waste. Do you struggle with this, and how do you manage or balance the relationship between the two?
I do and I don’t struggle with it. No one making work that deals with consumerism likes the waste aspect. Fortunately a lot of the materials I use are returned to collection facilities that either sell them as scrap or recycle them. It’s sort of a silver lining for the work. For the personal items like boxes, baby clothing, etc, this is one thing I’m dealing with. When dealing with consumerism and its negative side effects, you have to acknowledge that while you’re attempting to be part of the solution, you’re also part of the problem. I’m a consumer; it would be hypocritical to admit otherwise. I hope the work sparks a debate about consumerism and why we feel compelled to consume.

Why the decision to go with a totem form?
Good question. Totems are interesting symbols, and they have a lengthy history. Originally totems were objects that represented groups of people. In North America, the totem pole is something different, and its meaning is continually evolving. But there is a common understanding of totems and totem poles serving as narrative. Using totemic forms in my work is a way for me to communicate notions of accumulation and excess but also narrative, a sort of contemporary social biography.

Where do you gather your materials?
The materials used in my photographs are either found, gathered, personal, or purchased. My concept calls for identifiable objects, so I started searching locally, calling landfills and recycling facilities. For me, finding some the materials is difficult but doable, and with a little persistence and time, they are gradually collected. Since the work speaks of accumulation; I need a lot of material, and I take what I can get.

INTERVIEW CONTINUED BELOW

Where do you find the space to accumulate all of the items for this project?
Wherever I can. I live in downtown Savannah and my apartment is filling up. My stairwell was a staging point for the televisions, and as soon as I finished up with those, the space was quickly filled up with satellite dishes. I try to get the materials in and out of my apartment as quickly as possible. Sometimes that takes over a month as some materials are harder to find than others.

How did the vehicle piece come about?
I was out photographing one day and discovered a massive highway extension project underway so I thought a totem about car culture might fit into the series. I photographed one section of the highway construction and composited in a well-known sculpture called the Berwyn Spindle. Sadly, the sculpture doesn’t exist anymore, but the web is littered with photographs of the sculpture. Initially I had a conceptual conflict about appropriating a photograph of another’s sculptural work since all the other totems were constructed by me. But, since I view the objects in my photographs as Duchampian Readymades — found objects that are recontextualized — I found a conceptual loophole. Ubiquitous images such as those of the spindle deserve similar treatment, so in a way, they are on the same level as plastic bottles, TVs and hamburgers.

Is there a specific moment where the idea for this series came to your mind? When was it?
I studied Economics as an undergraduate so I feel like I’m maintaining those interests and presenting them visually as an artist. Thankfully, I might have taken the Marxist concept “objectification” a bit too literally, linking this to an “externalized” form, i.e. sculptures. Additionally, my previous projects such as Thomas Square concentrates on class, gentrification and diversity whereas another, Urbanscapes, concentrates on ironic juxtapositions in urban development. These projects mark a progression in research that lead to Material World. My current work represents a more conceptual push dealing with consumerism, a subject I feel is at the core of the larger issues I previously photographed. Since most art dealing with consumerism seems too matter-of-fact, I want my work to be allegorical, being humorous and visually interesting but imparting a deeper message. Why the hell do we need all this stuff, anyways?

What other totems can we expect from you in the near future?
I’m currently staging materials for a few new totems, hopefully finishing those up in a couple of weeks. I’m excited about them because they’ll balance out the existing totems. Expect fried chicken, toilet paper, beer cans, clothing and another box totem. This one’s special because they’re enlargements of products I personally consume. Stay tuned!

www.leftfork.net

Related posts:

1. Joseph Cornell’s Assembled Boxes Of Surreal Quality.
2. The Slave Cult Of Consumerism… Street Art Style!
3. Ben Weiner: Material And Illusion

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

David Welch Photographer Interview : Material World

2011 is coming! To keep track of our ever-dwindling days, why don’t we invest in some calendars? I’ve got some top-notch calendar picks for you here… if you can call all of them calendars. Are some of these more poster-like than calendar-like? Probably.

Buuuuuut, your grandmother’s stereotypical calendar just isn’t that cool these days, so why not spruce your living spaces up and get some calendars which actually make some design statements?… I guess. I mean, personally, I’m not super sold on the idea of using calendars that don’t actually allow me to write in scheduling details, but I digress. Let’s just admit that these calendars are mostly for aesthetic qualities and minorly for functional ones, and get on with it! Let’s buy some cool-looking prints and paltry delights!

(I should note… it’s late. The holiday season has mostly come and gone… and so, some particularly awesome calendar releases have been all snatched up, too. Ah, well.)

posters

From Van Hoose Design
It’s like a periodic table, only it’s not. And it’s huge. And you can actually write on it. Well, alright, then.
This colorful wall calendar measure a huge 23″ wide by 35″ tall. Great with any decor and a good conversation piece. There are no holidays marked so that you can customize it to your own needs. Plenty of room to write in your events and activities. Printed on heavyweight 7 mil. semi gloss paper

looseleaf

From Seesaw. Letterpress
At 5″ x 10″, these calendar sheets have a nice format that really makes the letterpressed line and shape patterns on them POP! Throw them side-by-side for a line of lovely hand-drawn geometrical works!
6 pages, each with two months
size – 5×10″, perforated to a 5×7″ print
(frame it or use as a postcard after use)
100% cotton Crane’s Lettra paper

From Egg Press
This series, with two images for each month (front and back), cycles between housewife-friendly letterpressed images and psychedelic geometric ones. I dig it.
12 colorful pages, printed front and back, with jewel case stand included. Printed in Portland, Oregon, on recycled content paper with soy-based inks.

From Colette Paperie
This needs no explanation. It’s just kind of cool.
+ 12 monthly notebook style calendar sheets sized 3″ x 4″ (mini sized)

+ hole punched for notebook effect

+ professionally printed on an Epson Stylus
+ printed on bright white heavy duty cardstock
* pencil not included

From Leah Duncan
Oh snap, these are cool, and for any animal lover! Patterns one month, animals the next! There are only LESS THAN A HANDFUL of these left, so get ON it. Lovely packaging, too.
This is my 12 month calendar for 2011. The calendar is 4.25″ x 11″ and professionally printed on Mohawk off-white textured paper. Each month has a different image and once the month is over you can trim off the calendar to frame the drawings or send them as a note! There’s a small space at the bottom to write important notes for the month and a hole punch at the top so you can easily pin them up. The calendar is then wrapped with a kraft paper cover and tied with twine, making it a great gift. Each calendar will be shipped with cardboard backing in a cello sleeve to ensure it makes it to you unscathed.

From Curious Doodles
Hand-screened and gorgeous! This, to me, is a calendar that was made simply for the love of it. Look, how affordable!
This calendar is a celebration of using your hands creatively! Each of my hand printed illustrations show a person making/doing with their hands, something I find very rewarding. In fact, I’m usually the happiest when I’m using my hands. Thats why I felt it was important to make this calendar. The process of screen printing lets the ink sit above of the paper giving the finished product a much more tactile feel. Each calendar is lovingly silk screened at The Pull, an independent silk screen shop in Portland, Or operated by Diskgrunt. I reduced environmental impact by printing on both sides of the paper. So you will receive six two-sided prints measuring 4.6in x 5.25 to make 12 months. I hope you enjoy!

From Lesley Sico
Lovers of wonderful color palettes rejoice!
for the lover of all things dreamy and pastel, this 2011 mini photo calendar is the perfect gift! i have selected some of my absolute favorite images to make up this lovely calendar. the calendar is made up of 13 loose pages (12 months + cover), featuring high quality images printed on card stock. display each month on your cork board, fridge, or wherever else you like! you could even use a 5×7 frame to create a rotating display each month. when you are finished using the calendar, you can trim each page down to a beautiful 5×5 photo suitable for framing. my 5×5 photo prints normally cost $10 each, so you are getting a great deal when you purchase the calendar!

From Pawling Print Studio
If my memory serves me correctly, Pawling Print Studio has won my heart a couple times with their simple illustrated notebooks. Well, I like these even better. Easy, classy, Escher-y.

otherl

From Merry Blues Art
Oh my god, is this a real calendar? It sure is. Buuuuuut, with FLAIR! Tied together, multi-lingual, graphically-engaging, eco-friendly? Jeebus.
Each month is in a different language and features a print of my mixed media collage and ink drawing. Every collage was hand-made then drawn on with ink and scanned for digital printing. The entire calendar is quirky, endearing, and playful, and oh-so-eco friendly and international to keep you looking cool. I’m really excited to be releasing this calendar because of all the new artwork you’ll find within. If you’re familiar with past editions, I’m still printing on 100% tree-free banana paper, and every month features United Nations international holidays that are wonderful in their intention because they know no national boundaries!
(Also has a variation available in looseleaf form.)

From InkaDinkaDoodle
And last, but not least, my personal favorite! It’s reusable, inspirational, and so very sleek!
Vintage illustrations were used for the months and thoughtful sayings are inserted throughout the entire calendar. Printed along the bottom is the saying: “Let your life dance lightly on the edges of time like dew on a leaf.”

Related posts:

1. Peepshow Collective Redoes Their Website
2. Free Sheep Foundation Has October On Lockdown
3. Robert Hardgrave‘s Plexus.

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

Catching A Coveted Calendar!

In 2010, as bands are increasingly partnering up with environmental and social justice organizations to bring attention causes they believe in, Sollee and crew have partnered up with Kentucky Coffeetree Cafe on a tour with a much more personal meaning. Their “Ditch The Van Tour” might have a name that implies an environmentally-motivated inspiration, but that is merely a perk. The main message Sollee and crew are hoping to spread is one of community-building and simply taking a slow breath in our hectic lives. Additionally, Sollee and crew are embarking on this journey with the idea that this could, in fact, be a viable touring option for bands. “Ditch The Van” is just as much business-minded as it is substance-minded.

When we caught up with Sollee on the telephone, he was riding an Amtrak train from Santa Barbara to Salinas, California. It was a brief respite for the group, so that they could continue the Northern California leg of their bike tour freshly recouped.

How does the tour feel so far?
It feels great. The first three or four days are always kind of tough; your body is in shock. You’re out during the day, all day, just riding and pulling this gear. Then on the fourth day, it’s a not-so-gradual change where it just gets easier. Your body senses that you’re not going to stop doing this.

By the end of the tour, you’re not going to want to stop at all. You’re just going to keep going.
Oh yeah, it’s a total Forrest Gump.

I saw a gnarly picture of someone’s sunburn.
Yeah, Jordan, on one of the first days got a pretty intense sunburn, and as it was peeling one of the end days we were out, he was really sweating pretty hard, and the sweat got underneath.

That’s really gross.
Yeah, it’s really gross, but I figure it was kind of good to see. I hadn’t seen anything like that.

Marvels of the human bodies; it’s great.
Yeah. Nice. Modern marvels.

Are there any huge lessons you learned from doing your previous tours that you’re applying this time around?
Um, well, the biggest lesson that we learned is that you have to really turn around your ideas about how you book a tour. These tours are all about grabbing a good city. You have to grab areas that sort of have a density and convenient towns you can play in. So, places like Southern California, places like the Northeast — places where you can ride forty or fifty miles a day and really get good, good shows in. Not just a coffee shop here and there, but proper shows, where you can make money. Because we don’t want this to be, “Hey, let’s get on our bicycles because it looks like fun.” We want this to be a business idea where people can incorporate bicycles into their business.

How are you transferring all your gear?
We carry it all on our bicycles. Obviously, we’re on a train, so all the bicycles are in the cargo car right now, but I use an Xtracycle, which is an extended frame bicycle, so I just put the cello on the side of that… We did a weigh-in, and I’m at about 124 pounds of rolling baggage, bike, and equipment, and Jordan, our drummer, uses a trailer. He’s at about 161 pounds rolling baggage.

How do people generally react to you as you’re biking through their towns?
Just warmly. They assume immediately that we might need something — a shower, or food, or coffee, or something like that. Whereas at a normal tour, no one really cares; it’s just a van. If you don’t have something, well, you should’ve had it — that kind of situation. I think that’s the biggest difference… they care… The community sort of appreciates it and they want to see us get through it. And they sort of see that we need, and we sort of get to identify certain needs of the community, especially from an infrastucture standpoints.

INTERVIEW CONTINUED BELOW

Are you working with groups and communities in places you’re touring to make changes that will last beyond the tour?
Absolutely. We’re trying really, really hard. Sometimes it’s difficult to get the groups on board because it’s such a different idea, because we are actually just coming through; we’re not around and around and around… we have people take a fifty-mile challenge, so that they go riding fifty miles a week on bicycle. And of course, 40% of the commute that people do in the United States are within two miles of their house, and 90% of it is done by car. So we’re trying to inspire them with what we’re doing, saying, “Hey, if we can haul all our gear to go to a show, you can get on your beach cruiser and go to the grocery store.” At the same time, we’re also trying to empower them a little bit, by doing interviews when we come through with people that’re involved with transportation, and encouraging them, or maybe even pushing to improve infrastructure in the area…

Are there cities you’ve found with really good bikeable facilities?
Yeah, there are a lot of cities that do very well and are bicycle-friendly… I think that’s good. All in all, if you go over to Europe, like to Stockholm or Copenhagen, you’re going to see what bicycle infrastructure really means: dedicated pathways. Our cities are built differently, so they need a different concept. Riding through places like Long Beach, California, had a lot of really good infrastructure. In L.A., we had a dedicated bikeway along the river that was super safe and super clean, and we were able to ride with all of our gear at over 16 miles per hour because we had a clean, dedicated bikeway, as opposed to our normal 8 miles per hour. It helps with speed and efficiency by having good infrastructure.

I like the idea that the tour isn’t necessarily an environmental thing, but a lot of it is about the idea of limitations and getting back to simplicity. Are you finding you’re building more meaningful relationships because of doing touring this way?
Yeah, really good point. For me, with the more traditional-style touring, playing with automobiles, you just find that it’s almost like a slingshot; you’re just being thrown through these cities. You put on a show, you set up the band, unload the van, sound-check, put on a show, load the van up, watch people go. In my mind, I can’t really remember what all of those shows are like. But with a bicycle, we’re not externalizing; we’re there… we’re making super meaningful connections. We’re still talking a lot with people from the last tour, and they’re still encouraging us, wondering if they can help. There are people in Florida, in Georgia, offering, because they had such a good time on the last tour. For sure. For us, it’s not about “going green”; there’s just nothing green about traveling and putting on shows, when you’re thinking about the audience coming to shows, the power to put it on at the venues… it’s just not really green. It’s a perk, but it’s really about pacing life and being more community-oriented through shows.

Please visit their Tumblr website at ditchthevan.tumblr.com to see videos and journal entries from the show.

Related posts:

1. Charitable Musicians: La Dispute Collect For Youth And Poverty, Locally And Abroad (w/ Interview)
2. Charitable Musicians: Mae Choose To Self-Release And Aid Charity (w/ Band Interview)
3. Charitable Musicians: Wetlands Support Guatemala’s Xela AID (w/ Interview)

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

Charitable Musicians: Ben Sollee Travels Via Bike For His Ditch The Van Tour