NEWS
The Icebox Project Space has some great acoustics, and the curators of that concrete block box know it. Tim Belknap and Ryan McCartney have lined up some doozie sonic booms for you since they took over programming the space. One upcoming event I’m particularly disposed towards is Ann-Marie Lesquesne’s community participation work, Crescendo, on Sunday, August 30th – 2pm promptly. The artist’s idea is to create a visual “crescendo” of people lined up by height (smallest to tallest) who will walk in procession into the Icebox making an audio crescendo of voices — each person saying/chanting/rapping their own initials. It’s a little bit of order and a little bit (or a lot) of disorder, which is kind of like life. The performance will be filmed and shown at the Icebox Thursday, Oct. 8.
Ann-Marie lives and works in in London but she has a Philly connection, and I’ve been following her work since 2006, when she created After the Fact, a re-enactment of the execution of the Emperor Maximilian, on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and had a show of works at Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery. Read my piece about this from Philly Weekly’s archives. Ann-Marie also is organizing a Fanfare for Crossing the Road in Philadelphia, which will happen in early September. More about Ann-Marie’s projects here: http://www.amlequesne.com/
Billy Dufala at RAIR got in touch with this great news AND opportunity to build something BIG in cardboard and then CRUSH it! This is a great opportunity for the child in you to take over for a day, so Team Up and DO IT, all you. Here’s the info:
Philadelphia, Pa.— Revolution Recovery’s tipping yard that is normally bustling with semitrucks and excavators will instead be overtaken by big kids building big forts on a Sunday while the recycling center is closed to customers. Please Crush Museum is a one day only cardboard fort building competition organized by RAIR, Recycled Artist in Residency. Please Crush Museum will be held on October 18th and will consist of 10 teams of 5 members. The teams will have 90 minutes to design and build the best, weirdest, tallest, and/or strongest forts made just from cardboard, tape and zip ties. RAIR will supply the tools, the materials, and the venue. There will also be a custom flag making station for teams to brand their creations. A panel of judges will then choose their favorites for each style category and custom trophies will be given to the winners. After the initial judging, teams will have the chance to destroy their opponents’ forts with bowling balls and frisbees sourced from the waste stream; the last fort standing will receive a special award. Please Crush Museum ends with a cathartic returning of the cardboard wreckage back into the waste stream.
RAIR is a nonprofit artist in residency program and workshop located within a construction and demolition recycling center, Revolution Recovery. Their mission is to create awareness about sustainability issues through art and design. RAIR provides its artists access to the over 350 tons of clean waste material that is processed by the recycling center each day. RAIR’s unique position as a bridge between art, sustainability and industry allows for a wide range of programming and partnerships with wide reach and community impact. RAIR was recently awarded a grant from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage to bring interactive, site specific programming to the recycling center in 2016.
Please Crush Museum will be held Sunday October 18th, 2015, from 1:00pm6:00pmat RAIR. The schedule for events will run as follows: 1:00pm1:30pm registration and orientation, 1:30pm3:00pm building, 3:00pm4:00pm judging and competitive destruction, 4:00pm5:30pm hot dog hang out and awards ceremony, 5:30pm6:00pm return to the waste stream. Registration fee is $100 per team of up to five people. To learn more and to register visit rairphilly.org/forts.
RAIR is located within Revolution Recovery at 7333 Milnor St, Philadelphia, PA 19136. RAIR can only be accessed by appointment; to make an appointment email rair.philly@gmail.com. For more information about Please Crush Museum, contact Lucia Thomé at lucia@rairphilly.org or visit rairphilly.org/forts.
Frank Hoeber
I am pleased to let you know that my book, Against Time: Letters from Nazi Germany, 1938-1939, about my parents’ flight from Germany to America just before World War II, will be published by the American Philosophical Society Press on September 1, 2015.
Frank Hoeber‘s new book, Against Time: Letters from Nazi Germany, 1928-1939, features the writings of his parents, German political scientists and activist Social Democrats in Nazi Germany, who were separated when father, Johannes Hober came to the United States in 1938, and mother, Elfriede, and 9-year old sister, Susanne, left in 1939.
Frank clarifies why they left:
My parents were not Jews. They were Social Democrats and liberal activists could not tolerate living under the Nazi regime. Their departure was precipitated when my father was interrogated by the Gestapo about suspected activities against the regime. Jews were not the only people who fled Germany at that time, and my parents were among those who had other reasons for fleeing to the United States.
Below are Frank’s words about his discovery of the letters.
In a nutshell, here’s the story of Against Time: My father, Johannes Höber, left Nazi Germany for America in November 1938. My mother, Elfriede, and my nine year old sister, Susanne, were unable to leave until nearly a year later. Fifty years later, I found an old folder containing the long letters Johannes and Elfriede exchanged during the anxious months they were separated. In these letters, Elfriede describes the worsening situation in daily life under Hitler’s regime and Johannes describes his rapid entry into American political life in Philadelphia. Against Time collects those letters with an introduction, notes and an epilogue that set the letters in the context of their time. Johannes and Elfriede were both political scientists and activist Social Democrats, so their letters are of more than just personal interest. Together, the letters tell the intense story of a remarkable couple in one of the most tumultuous periods in world history. You can learn more about the book and read excerpts and view the illustrations at www.againsttimebook.com.
Against Time: Letters from Nazi Germany, 1938-1939 is available for ordering at a pre-publication discount from the American Philosophical Society Press by clicking here. Copies are set to be shipped on September 1. Frank will read from the book, followed by a reception at the American Philosophical Society, 104 South 5th Street, Philadelphia, on Wednesday, September 9, 2015 at 5:30 P.M. [Ed. Note: This section has been corrected. Frank Hoeber’s parents were not Jews in Nazi Germany but political scientists and activist Social Democrats. We are sorry for this error. — Artblog]
Opportunities
via the awesome Katie Adams, Artblog Board member and Barnes Foundation Director of Annual Giving:
Jobs at Washington City Paper
Arts Editor Washington City Paper is looking for an innovative, full-time editor to oversee its coverage of the arts, both online and in print. We are looking for someone who will be able to manage and develop a stable of freelance contributors, write authoritatively about D.C.’s thriving cultural and music scene, and work collaboratively with the paper’s editors to produce one of the nation’s most respected alt-weeklies. Candidates should submit writing samples, a short memo for how they would approach the job, and a resume to Steve Cavendish at editor@washingtoncitypaper.com. Previous editing experience is a plus.
Open call at IMPeRFeCT Gallery.
From our friends, Rocio Cabello and Renny Molenaar at the practically perfect gallery in Germantown…First off, Congratulations to iMPeRTeCT on their 4th Anniversary-Yay! They will open their season with the Annual Germantown Show to celebrate the range and diversity of the G’town artists. More below.
We invite ALL artists who live or work in Germantown to submit one piece of their own choosing to be included in the show.
All works must be ready to hang and not exceed 36″ in any direction (including frame), some exceptions can be made based on space and curatorial discretion.
● NO NEED TO CONTACT US NOW unless you have questions, please READ the following:
● Entry Fee $25. Artists helping artists, Thank You.
● All sales are split 50/50.
● Artwork DOES NOT have to be for sale.
● DROP-OFF : Thur. Sept. 3 4 – 7pm
Fri. Sept. 4 4 – 7pm
If you absolutely cannot make this hours, call Renny (his info below).
● OPENING : Sat., Sept. 12, 2015 6 – 10pm
● CLOSING : Sat., Oct. 3, 2015
● PICK-UP : Monday, Oct. 5 3 – 7pm
● Contact: renny@rennymolenaar.com
(917) 957-4504
If YOU are an artist or know one, pass the word!
Sick of the hot weather? Know your way around an ice rink? This one’s for you!
ARTIST NEWS
Andria Morales, a fierce and amazing artist, who did an online dating in the real world project recently at Practice Gallery, has unveiled her NEW project, in which she and a dear friend of hers, who was transitioning from female to male, are chronicled in her zine with photos from 2010 and 2014. Her zine AS YOU CHANGE 2010 + 2104 is the first in a series of three, documenting the transition of a childhood friend from female to male. http://www.peopleofprint.com/general/andria-morales-as-you-change-2010-2104/ via Facebook
James Johnson, conceptual digital art wizard, will have work in Governor’s Island Art Fair in September. via Facebook
Daniel Heyman, who makes beautiful story-portraits of embattled or disenfranchised people, says he’s “cranking up the carving of the 12 portraits of Native American Indians started in June in North Dakota with Lucy Ganje and Kim William Fink. I return out there to print in August 25…can’t wait! Hope they are all carved and ready to go.” via Facebook
Diane Pieri, educator and community-spirited artist, wrote to say she
…just finished Wall #1 of my mural project and have started on Wall #2 across the street. each wall measures 7’x90′ and they are on a SEPTA walkway bridge leading to and from Lingelbach Elementary School here in Germantown. The murals are in Germantown, on Wayne Avenue between Washington Lane and Johnson St. on a SEPTA walkway bridge that leads to the Lingelbach Elementary School. The walls are called The Goodness Garden, in the hopes that kids would be embraced by joy, beauty and nature on their way to school and therefore would be more positive about themselves and their abilities in a learning environment. The power of art!
In september, Diane has a solo show at Rosemont College where she will have new work including “a new series called Still Life Gardens, all of which are 47″x80″. This series has never been shown before.” Diane Pieri, INDIA: Beauty in the everyday, September 10 – October 1, 2015, Opening Reception:, Thursday, September 10, 4:00 – 7:00 p.m., Gallery Talk:4:30 p.m.
Anthony Campuzano has a new installation, Forecast, 1998/2013, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He’ll be speaking at the PMA with Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art, Amanda Sroka tomorrow night, Wed. Aug. 19, 7:15 PM. More info here: http://skowhegan.tumblr.com/post/126673415736/all-photos-courtesy-of-philadelphia-museum-of
Anthony Campuzano (’00)
Forecast,1998/2013 (purchased for the permanent collection by the Young Friends of the Philadelphia Museum of Art)
Gallery 179 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19130
July – October, 2015 (extended)
Film screens from 11AM–5PM daily.
August 19, 7:15PM
Conversation between the artist and Amanda Sroka, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art.
Free after museum admission.
Matthew Courtney, of the Clay Studio and University of the Arts, has been in China, making art and working with Chinese students. He just posted a photo a new sculpture made there, of Buddhist prayer beads gone large. — “Made in collaboration with Keaton Wynne, 108 basketball beads making giant broken string of Buddhist prayer beads. Matthew told me this about the project:
It is a collaboration between Keaton Wynn and me. I was in China for two months at Lanzhou City University. The funding was from the Dunhuang Creative Center which in turn is funded by the Gansu Provincial People’s Government. I was there as a visiting artist along with Amelia Toelke who was working in metal and wood. Keaton is there in another capacity and this was his third year. We were there to give a westerners view of Gansu Province with special attention to the Buddhist caves in Dunhung. I began by making stuff that was familiar to me but had a specific Chinese quality. NBA Basketball is very popular in China. I bought s basketball with the CBA logo and some Chinese on it to cast, distort, glaze and hang on the wall. Keaton had discussed making the prayer beads out of cast bowling balls last year. He brought the idea up again when he saw me making a mold of the basketball… We worked very closely with about 7 students. Part of Keaton’s mission there is to locate and use local materials. The clay was dug up locally by a Gansu Province ceramic factory and is especially beautiful. The string of beads is broken.
Rebecca Rutstein’s art-sea adventure on board Robert Ballard’s Exploration Vessel Nautilus was captured in a piece recently on Newsworks. Give a look/listen!http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/84314
