January 7
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the yellowsn0w’ing
the yellowsn0w’ing
January 6
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Dinner with America

Dinner with America - Essays, Films, Images and Conversations by Rajni Shah

This sumptuous full-colour booklet includes previously unpublished writing by Rajni Shah as well as a new series of collaborative images made with Lucille Acevedo-Jones, Lucy Cash and Manuel Vason, and writing by Chris Goode and Mary Paterson. All texts and images are designed to illuminate both the core and outlying ideas explored in the performance installation Dinner with America and gently explore the question ‘What does ‘America’ mean to us today?’

Each booklet includes a copy of the DVD (PAL) of Three Short Films about Dinner with America by Lucy Cash featuring the films Voices in Transit: Amazing Grace (September 2007), Dinner with America (December 2007) and Uncertain Landmarks (March 2008).

January 6
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a reading from Terence McKenna set to the music of Teflon Child (via mwesch)
January 6
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Pour Your Body Out

Pipilotti Rist’s Pour Your Body Out avay:

Thankful for museum memberships to get me out of long lines, and anxious to see what all the fuss was about, I finally went to MoMA the other day to view Pipilotti Rist’s Pour Your Body Out, a multimedia interactive piece commissioned by MoMA, site-specific to the atrium on the 2nd floor. What resulted from the collaboration between Swiss visual artist, Rist, and MoMA is a very beautiful film that, in my mind, is about regeneration. Various elements and stages of being are depicted; the body interacts with properties of death and the cultivation of life through death…sort of. 

Anyway, in the center of the atrium ia an enormous couch for visitors to lounge on, surrounded by projections of the film on all of the walls surrounding it. Visitors are encouraged to sing, dance, and react to the piece in any manner. The mission statement tells us that it is meant to get us in the mood for the rest of the art one is about to view in the rest of the museum. I went just to see this. It was enough for one day; absolutely wonderful. 

I could have sat there all day. The kid friendly atmosphere would have gotten to me after awhile—I got a knee to the head once or twice, but couldn’t help but think it awesome that these kids get to experience a little of the avant-garde and taboo at such a young age—breasts, menstruation, feral animalistic behavior, dirt, garbage, sexuality; all of those elements interacting. 

It is an entirely visceral as well as visual and aural experience. It fits the space perfectly. The beauty of MoMA’s structure interacts so brilliantly with the colors and aesthetics of the film. It’s only viewable until the end of February, so if you can check it out, do so before it’s too late! 

January 6
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i so need to find me a storm trooper suit. Tokyo Dance Trooper in Shibuya (via tokyostormtrooper)
January 5
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my election night video on 20/20

NYPD Officer on Election night

out of all the crazy footage i shot this past year, it looks like one of my election night videos made 20/20’s year in review. warning, this video contains graphic violence and police committing deplorable acts.

January 5
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elspethjane: Max Wanger : clusterflock

elspethjane:

Max Wanger : clusterflock
January 5
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“ In this world, the measure of power is connectedness. Almost 30 years ago, the psychologist Carol Gilligan wrote about differences between the genders in their modes of thinking. She observed that men tend to see the world as made up of hierarchies of power and seek to get to the top, whereas women tend to see the world as containing webs of relationships and seek to move to the center. Gilligan’s observations may be a function of nurture rather than nature; regardless, the two lenses she identified capture the differences between the twentieth-century and the twenty-first-century worlds. Foreign Affairs - America’s Edge - Anne-Marie Slaughter
January 5
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i bought the book and then downloaded the soundtrack. note, the book is better than most of the songs on the soundtrack. on the other hand, this is a novel way to sell songs.
December 29
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an nyc geek cabaret?

from flickr "Cabaret photo session #2" by fide
from flickr: “Cabaret photo session #2” by fide

it’s a cold january thursday night, and in your hands you have two tickets for the inaugural NYC geek cabaret. in small print it reads, “appropriate attire required” yet you know that the people organizing this event have rarely worn a suit, let alone a tie. too boot, this is held at some obscure manhattan theater where “booth & table service” is offered in clear print. while your mind begins to wonder on who will be attending, you see that the nyc geekatti have have hashtaged their way out the door.

once you arrive, the top hatted door man checks your ticket, while your date holds the door and you slip into a dimly lit theater. once inside and past coat check, you realize that everyone is gussied up - from 1980’s prom dresses to the finest in steampunk attire - NYC’s geek community spared no opportunity to shine.

as you walk though the theater looking for a table for two, you see all the familiar faces. just as you find your candle lit table, you sit down as the house lights flash signaling the immediate start of the show. as you look around for the waiter, you see the glowing faces of NYC’s geek community quickly twittering away their anticipation…

starting in late january, maybe early february, i would like to start a bi-monthly nyc geek cabaret to celebrate the couture that is with in us all and to bolster the culture behind the geeks who make up the NYC geek community. harking back to traditional cabaret, the night would embrace the spectacle of theater and be broken into four/five acts with a master of ceremonies. ranging from magic to home made thermions, the nyc geek cabaret will be the venue were the geek community opens the door on their personalities.

to start, we need to find the following:

  • a venue (examples: the tank, 92st Y tribeca, eyebeam)
  • a date (maybe around v-day)
  • acts
  • partners (Glowlab, Dorkbot, NYC Resistor, NextNY, Universities, etc)
  • and event volunteers (ushers, pr, videographers, etc.)

what are your thoughts?

in the meantime, i’ve started a discussion google group at http://groups.google.com/group/geekcabaret_nyc_discuss 

ps - work hashtag/tag = nycgeekcabaret