Brainstormers Report

Do you know about the fantastic, feminist performance group Brainstormers? I hope so, but if not, allow me to introduce you. These four, fabulous lady artists (I hope they don't mind me saying so) have made it their mission to address inequity in the art world through performances on the sidewalk outside of Chelsea galleries, outside of PS 1 during the Greater New York show and recently INSIDE the Brooklyn Museum during their First Saturday celebration in May. You can see photos of that performance on the Brooklyn Museum's flickr pages. The Brainstormers also produce regular reports that investiage the weather for women artists. They are fresh, funny and doing important work. It certainly makes me feel like we are acting more in solidarity and less in isolation when I see work like theirs.

Hot Iron Press Call for Visiting Artists

Hot Iron Press in New Orleans has put out a call for visiting artists. For more information about all the great work they do visit their website at www.hotironpress.com.

HOT IRON PRESS CALL FOR VISITING ARTISTS
****************************************
Hot Iron Press is seeking artists interested in using their facilities
to
make an edition of prints. Selected artists may use the Hot Iron Press
letterpress and silkscreen facilities for free for a period of up to
two
weeks in order to work on and complete their proposed project. Hot Iron
Press staff will be available in whatever capacity the artist needs -
anything from occasional technical assistance to hands-on collaboration
in
the art-making process. Working hours are limited so scheduling
arrangements
must be made beforehand. The ultimate goal of the program is for the
artist
to use our facilities to complete an editioned work of art. Upon
completion,
the artist retains half of their edition while Hot Iron Press receives
the
other half to sell in our online catalog, display in art shows, or use
for
other promotional purposes. While visiting artists are allowed to use
our
facilities for free, they are also expected to provide paper for their
project at their own expense as well as any other items they may need
that
we don't have on hand. It is also the artist's responsibility to find
and
pay for his or her own accommodations and transportation while in New
Orleans, though we can be of assistance in helping locate affordable
options.

Our facilities include:
Showcard sign press (printing area of up to 14.5" x 44.5")
Showcard sign press (printing area of up to 22.5" x 28")
Vandercook Universal I proofing press (printing area of up to 21" x
15")
Chandler and Price guillotine paper cutter (cuts up to 30" x 30" and
3.5"
thick)
120 different typefaces
Various old cuts and engravings
Vacuum table with hinge clamps for silkscreen (printing surface area of
up
to 36" x 60")
Exposure unit (capable of burning image area up to 26" x 42")
Various size silkscreens
Various inks - acrylic for silkscreen; rubber-based, oil-based, and
water-based for letterpress or relief
AB Dick 360 offset press (prints up to 11" x 17")
Drying rack

How to submit a proposal:
There is no deadline for proposals as this program is open year-round.
Interested artists should submit a detailed written description of
their
proposed project accompanied by some sort of visual representation of
what
they're envisioning (sketches, photos, etc.). Additionally, artists
must
submit a resume and 10 to 20 images of previous work (jpegs are
preferred,
but slides may also be sent). Proposals may be submitted by email to
hotironpress@hotmail.com or by regular mail to Hot Iron Press, 1422
Kentucky
St, New Orleans, LA 70117.

microRevolt

microRevolt projects investigate the dawn of sweatshops in early industrial capitalism to inform the current crisis of global expansion and the feminization of labor. Developed by Cat Mazza of Troy, NY, microRevolt is the home of knitPro, a web application that translates digital images into knit, crochet, needlepoint and cross-stitch patterns. You can upload jpeg, gif or png images of whatever you wish and knitPro will generate the image pattern on a grid sizable for any fiber project.

Pride nears; queer film festivals showcase exciting new work and make decision on controversial film

It’s summertime, and for the queers, that means many things. Chief among them are Pride celebrations, all through June. Cool gatherings to share and build community are our film festivals, designed to showcase the work of our own, and to disseminate the many facets that make us queer and fabulous. In New York City, NewFest runs from May 31 thru June 10. My newest film, BRO CRUSH, is set to screen on Saturday June 9, at 3:30pm, in the GENDER REDESIGNER program. Other highlights include Taiwanese feature film SPIDER LILLIES, the long-awaited return of Pratibha Parmar with romantic comedy NINA'S HEAVENLY DELIGHTS, and HOOKS TO THE LEFT, the latest from NewFest alum Todd Verow. For a detailed film schedule, check out: www.newfest.org.

In San Francisco, the Frameline film festival (www.frameline.org) found itself in a bit of controversy regarding its scheduled screening of the film THE GENDERCATOR by Catherine Crouch.

Crouch’s summary and director’s statement about her film are taken from her website (www.catherinecrouch.com). They follow:

“The Gendercator is a short satirical take on female body modification and gender. The story uses the ‘Rip van Winkle’ model to extrapolate from the past into a possible future.

In 1973 a group of hippie women are celebrating Billie Jean King’s victory over Bobby Riggs. They are partying in the rural woods outside of Bloomington, Indiana. Our heroine Sally is a simple minded, sporty type who overindulges at the party and passes out under a tree. Sally wakes up 75 years later in 2048 to discover (amongst other social changes) that feminism has failed utterly and completely. Sex roles and gender expression are rigidly binary and enforced by law and social custom. When Sally rejects the feminine hairdo and short skirt she is given, the doctor at the emergency room calls in the ‘Gendercator’, a government official who informs Sally that butch women and sissy boys are no longer tolerated – gender variants are allowed to chose their gender, but they must chose one and follow its rigid constraints.

Sally is baffled by this brave new world. All she wants is to ‘do her own thing’ – but her own thing is no more. Sally is a simple-minded stoner, indoctrinated into 70s feminism. She is no poster girl or freedom fighter, just a gentle tomboy dropped into the future with a tendency to respond in slogans such as ‘sisterhood is powerful’.

Nurse Nancy locates some of Sally’s former friends – they are 100 now, but because of advances in the medical profession (cloning spare parts), they are still healthy and thriving. The friends tell Sally they heard she moved to California and that’s why they never looked for her. One of her friends appears to be a man and tells Sally, ‘They made me do it. They’ll make you too.’ They explain to Sally that in the early 2000s the evangelical Christians took over the government and legislated their strict family values, legally sanctioning only ‘one man, one woman’ couples. Advances in sex reassignment surgery have made it possible to honor an individual’s choice of gender AND government policy. Sally is comfortable in the middle of the genders, an unacceptable choice in 2048.

Director’s Note
Things are getting very strange for women these days. More and more often we see young heterosexual women carving their bodies into porno Barbie dolls and lesbian women altering themselves into transmen. Our distorted cultural norms are making women feel compelled to use medical advances to change themselves, instead of working to change the world. This is one story, showing one possible scary future. I am hopeful that this story will foster discussion about female body modification and medical ethics.”

After many in the transgender community protested objected to Frameline’s proposed showing of the film, the festival decided not to screen it. In Frameline’s words:

“FRAMELINE REACHES DECISION REGARDING THE FILM THE GENDERCATOR

5/22/2007

After considerable dialogue with members of the transgender community and after careful consideration of the issues raised by Catherine Crouch’s film The Gendercator, Frameline has decided not to screen The Gendercator in Frameline31. Given the nature of the film, the director’s comments, and the strong community reaction to both, it is clear that this film cannot be used to create a positive and meaningful dialogue within our festival. We are grateful to the many Frameline members, filmmakers and Transgender community leaders who brought this issue to our attention and assisted Frameline’s senior staff in making this important decision.

We are deeply committed to promoting the work of transgender filmmakers and films about transgender issues. Frameline Distribution distributes over twenty transgender themed films and over one third of our free monthly Frameline at the Center screenings have been transgender themed. Through the Frameline Completion Fund, we have given funding to the following films: The Brandon Teena Story, Southern Comfort, A Boy Named Sue, By Hook Or By Crook, Screaming Queens: The Riot At Compton's Cafeteria, Red Without Blue, The Believers, Cruel & Unusual, F. Scott Fitzgerald Slept Here, and Maggots And Men.

Frameline has partnered with Female-to-Male International in jointly sponsoring screenings of transgender films for our community and the public. We have enjoyed our association with Frameline and welcome their timely and community-minded response to the concern we expressed on this issue,’ stated Rabbi Levi Alter, President of FTM International. ‘We look forward to continuing our partnership with Frameline to present films of interest by, for and about the transgender community.’

Frameline’s Board of Directors and staff are proud of our work with and on behalf of our Transgender community members. Going forward, we will continue working with the community to further our own education and encourage more discussion and understanding within the filmmaking community as a whole. Again, we thank all of our community members for respectfully expressing their concerns and we look forward to sharing our ideas and expanding our partnerships.”

Incidentally, NewFest will be screening THE GENDERCATOR on June 2 and 4. A more predictable venue for it will be the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, In August.

The Butch Cookbook

A new cookbook to be released in May condones uneasy gender stereotypes for lesbians. I haven't gotten my hands on the book yet, and it's not out in stores, but from the reviews out there, it does not sound promising.

As Julie Bindel, writes in the Thursday May 17, 2007 issue of The Guardian:
Food is a difficult issue for lesbians. The assumption that we are all vegetarian, or even macrobiotic, can lead to some awful meals cooked for us by heterosexuals. A US book, to be published later this year, is set to make matters even more complicated.

The Butch Cookbook, edited by "two butches and a femme" - Lee Lynch, Sue Hardesty and Nel Ward - is a collection of recipes "for the butch on her own, or the butch cooking for a femme who doesn't cook or is not in the mood". (The terms "butch" and "femme" to describe lesbians are old-fashioned, but there still exists a thriving subculture that celebrates the old ways.)

There is a similarity between this book and those aimed at men who do not know how to boil an egg. In the authors' world, any good butch will have a beautiful femme on her arm, who, every now and again, needs to be allowed to put her feet up. The recipes, sent in after appeals on various lesbian websites, will help the butch understand how the oven actually works.

So what is butch cookery? Think men on a sizzling bank holiday, firing up the BBQ, cooking huge burgers slathered with cheese, while a 50s-style housewife in beehive and heels sips Babycham and talks to her friends about her new dishwasher. It's not all big-boy food, though. There are apple pie cake and ham and asparagus crepes too.

Most of the recipes include a section entitled "The Femme Responds": tips on how the recipe can be "tweaked" for different tastes ("use more apples, more cinnamon, less allspice"), what the guests thought about the dish, and what she did wrong.

In the meantime, I have to admit to being confused. As the cook in my household, am I supposed to learn the recipe for hot dog on a raft (two slices of bread, two hot dogs, two slices of American cheese, butter or margarine)? On the other hand, perhaps there is no need for me to worry. As one lesbian said, when asked by the editors to send in a recipe, "Butch is so last year."

NYC Pridefest 2007 Denied Permit

The Pride Week 2007 (June 17-24) festival has been denied a permit by New York City to hold festivities in Chelsea and instead is being asked to hold the event in the small, cramped, "unsafe" West Village neighborhood. Although PRIDE itself has not been canceled, the entire street festival will not be held this year, for the first time in 16 years. The Rally, The March, Rapture & Dance on the Pier are all still scheduled as planned, but this seems like a major message from New York City about the importance of LGBTQ visibility.

From Heritage of Pride's website:
"Heritage of Pride’s (HOP) decision to cancel PRIDEfest (PF) is grounded on our belief that we must provide a SAFE, ACCESSIBLE festival for the ENTIRE Community.

Canceling PF was decided after much discussion and voting in favor of cancellation at the PRIDEfest Event Committee-level and HOP Executive Board-level. A motion was then presented to HOP’s General Membership who is our final decision-making body, and who after more discussion, voted 14 (in favor), 4 (against), and 1 (abstention) to cancel this year’s PF event.

In making this decision we heard from some individuals who expressed their sadness and anger about HOP’s proposal to cancel this particular Pride event (1 out of 5 events which we produce) this year. Others expressed their outrage that The City was denying a permit less than 2 months before the event was to happen. These individuals voiced support of cancellation, seeking massive, angry public protests, as well as continued behind-the-scenes negotiations. HOP was also advised by our Treasurer and Business Manager about how the cancellation of PF would effect HOP and all the events we produce financially, while still expressing their personal support for cancellation.

HOP and our partnering organizations and businesses plan to mobilize all LGBT, Chelsea, political, media and other community resources available in support of PF leading up to Pride Week, during Pride Week, and after Pride Week to insure that we get a permit for a day and location where we want our PF festival to be. Please note: We have been told that HOP’s canceling of this year’s PF will not keep us from applying for a permit for this year (which we do not plan to use) or next year.

Given an ultimatum by The Mayor’s Office that PF would only be given a permit for Sunday, June 24th for Washington Street in the West Village (i.e. the day of the LGBT Pride March), HOP had no other choice but to cancel PF for the following reasons:

• PUBLIC SAFETY:
  Hundreds of thousands of people already at PF, and arriving from the March should not be crammed into the narrow, potholed and unevenly paved Washington street (and tiny side streets) of the West Village. It is only a matter of time before something sets off a stampede that will seriously injure many people.
  
• ACCESSIBILITY for SENIORS, DISABLED & PARENTS w/ SMALL CHILDREN:
  PRIDE events should be welcoming to everyone in our community. A massively overcrowded event is a major deterrent to participation by these LGBT communities in particular. Even if the streets were wider and smoothly paved, Washington Street is inaccessible by pubic transportation and keeps the physically-challenged from enjoying Pride like the majority of able-bodied folk.
  
• COMMITMENT MADE to CHELSEA’S BUSINESSES:
  HOP made a commitment to the LGBT-supportive businesses of Chelsea to do PF there (which was based on unanimous Community Board support welcoming our event). These 8th Avenue businesses and cultural institutions have already made a financial commitment in expecting PF to happen there. All would be less willing to support HOP through event participation, sponsorship, advertising and fundraising events in the future if HOP appears to be just looking out for our own financial interests now in going back to our old location.
  
• LACK of VOLUNTEERS DAY-OF:
  HOP has never gotten the numbers of volunteers necessary to do three (3) major Pride events on the same Sunday. PF loses out on attracting volunteers a) because folks hate the ugly, crowded Washington Street location; b) because The March is politically more important, and c) because The Dance is more beautiful and fun. Last year only 12 volunteers total worked PF which led to our first volunteer dying of a heart attack at PF due to an unknown heart condition, over-enthusiasm for his first Pride AND being overworked.
  
• DECREASING LGBT GROUPS & BUSINESSES PARTICIPATING:
  The last several years more LGBT groups and businesses are forced – by lack of their own volunteers – to only do The March, not PF. Many have told us that they hate Washington Street and will no longer participate. Why do a PF this year where more exhibitors will be non-LGBT ‘street fair’ vendors selling the same cheap merchandise which other fairs have? In comparison to The Rally in Bryant Park, The March on 5th Avenue, and both our women’s and men’s Dances on Pier 54, PF will once again be viewed in an embarrassing light by the majority of our LGBT community and the media.
  
• THERE’S NO PRIDE BEING FORCED BACK INTO A DARK, DANK CLOSET!
  For too long LGBT community members have taken our Pride events for granted. The 15th Annual PRIDEfest in Chelsea was to be a re-birth of a beautiful, innovative community event involving folks of all ages and all sexual orientations. But it appears someone in the Mayor’s Office doesn’t want to see a stronger LGBT community partnering with supportive gay and straight businesses, cultural institutions and non-profit groups in Chelsea!

Remember the purpose of Pride events. They are first and foremost an active, participatory commemoration of the Stonewall Riots which occurred in NYC in June 1969, and which launched the LGBT liberation movement around the world! Stand up for yourselves and for your rights (especially as taxpayers in this city). Protest this anti-LGBT decision of this Mayoral administration!"

Phoebe Eating

riffRAG issue 2 contributor (and editor-sister), Phoebe North, just launched a new website called PhoebeEating.com, featuring her blog, photography, and writing portfolio. This August, Phoebe will be moving out of New Jersey for the first time in her life to attend University of Florida's Creative Writing MFA Graduate Program in poetry. Be sure to check out her website for new writing.

Tory Franklin

Check out beautiful multi-media installations by artist Tory Franklin. Tory is graduating Rutgers Mason Gross' MFA program in studio art this month so look out for her around the NY area.

Fagbug

On the 11th annual National Day of Silence (April 18, 2007), Erin Davies of Albany, NY was faced with the unfortunate tragedy of being victim to a hate crime.

"Because of sporting a rainbow sticker on my VW Beetle, my car was vandalized in red spray paint with the words "fAg" and "u r gay" placed all over the hood and driver side of my car. Despite immediate shock and embarassment, I've decided to embrace what happened and keep driving my car as it is in order to bring more public awareness to the blatant homophobia that exists in our society."

Erin launched a website and plans to drive her fagbug on a cross country trip and take it to as many diverse communities as possible. She will also be gathering feedback for my fagbug documentary which will teach viewers about the intolerance that exists in our society. "The goal is to get at least one million people to add fagbug rainbow stickers to their cars so that no one else will be targeted like I was again. Until that happens, my car will stay as is!"

CCCP: Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed

an exhibition on Soviet architecture from the ’70s and ’80s. It should be an eye-opening experience for those who assumed that Soviet architecture died with the rise of Stalin.

Covering a period that has largely been ignored by academics and mainstream architects, the show is packed with obscure architectural gems. Its subject feels particularly timely given that young architects are now beginning to re-examine the work of the Soviets’ cold war counterparts in Western cities like Rotterdam and São Paulo.

Read full review by NICOLAI OUROUSSOFF at www.nytimes.com.

"CCCP: Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed" continues through June 16 at the Storefront for Art and Architecture, 97 Kenmare Street, Little Italy; (212) 431-5795, storefrontnews.org.

*Photograph - Igor Vasilevsky’s Druzhba Sanitarium in Yalta, Ukraine.

Who is Josh Harper?

Josh is an activist from the Northwest who has participated in animal liberation, wilderness, and human freedom projects for more than ten years. After sitting through hundreds of boring meetings and lectures he decided that the issues he cared about were constantly being presented in the most tedious manner, and so he co-created Breaking Free Video magazine in 1997 and later began conducting speaking tours in 1999. Between working on alternative media and speaking to small audiences he also has found plenty of time to get into trouble with the law by sabotaging a whale hunt, defying grand juries, and contributing to confrontational protest campaigns. All of this made him a perfect target for the modern criminalization of dissent, and in 2004 he was indicted for violations of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act.

Click here to learn more.

Get Paid to Write

Do you have a story to tell about the power of documentary film to create social change? Do you need some extra cash? Submit your article to MediaRights.org! Accepted articles will be published on MediaRights.org, featured on our homepage and included in our email newsletter to our 15,000+ members. Plus, you'll get $150.

It can be a story, and interview or whatever you find inspiring and what to share with others.

May 30 - Media That Matters Film Festival Premiere

Join us for the World Premiere of the seventh annual Media That Matters Film Festival. Be among the first to see the 16 inspiring short films we selected this year. There will be take action tables, giveaways and a chance to meet the festival filmmakers!

Seventh Annual Media That Matters Film Festival World Premiere
May 30, 2007
7 pm
IFC Center
323 Sixth Avenue at West 3rd street
New York, NY
$11

Buy Your Tickets at movietickets.com!

skull and crossbones NYC

Have you noticed a reoccurring pattern in the streets of NYC?

Everywhere I look I see that little fellow, not sure if he's a friend or foe yet, but he is everywhere. The skull and crossbones is here to stay. Yesterday I was sitting next to a person on the subway and I was admiring their Spring blouse, which at first glance looked like it had little white flowers printed on it, but after a closer look I realized it was him, the little fellow. He is cuter now, more rounded and in repeating patterns. Now that I am aware of him, I notice that he is everywhere. He is printed on shoes, shirts, bracelets and other more unexpected places.

He is definitely in fashion, an edgy pattern for designers reaching out to younger markets. But is he more than a commodification of rebellious youth? Could he be a sign of our times? Are we looking at death and coming to terms with it? Bringing it into our daily lives, as is done in other cultures. Mexico's Dia de los Muertos, comes to mind, a day to honor and celebrate loved ones who have passed. Maybe American culture is coming to terms with death?

To me the connection is clear, unending wars in the East, daily violence here. We can't stop it but now we can wear it.

SONYA Studio Stroll This Weekend

For those of you looking for interesting things to do in this nice weather, how about checking out what the artists who are part of SONYA in Brooklyn (that stands for South of the Navy Yard) are working on. This weekend is their 8th annual studio stroll, Saturday May 19 and Sunday May 20 from noon to 6pm. For a preview and map check out their website at www.sonyaonline.org. The studio stroll is free and self-guided.

Beatrice Cussol at Envoy Gallery and Brooklyn Museum

One of my favorite artists from the Global Feminisms show at the Brooklyn Museum is French artist Beatrice Cussol. Her seemingly delicate watercolors hold incredible emotional power and point to very queer ideas and futures very much based in the body, but also exceeding the body's limits. She is also the author of several novels (in French) for all you francophones out there. She currently has a show up at Envoy gallery on the Lower East Side, so check it out.

MondoHomo Dirty South

The mission of MondoHomo Dirty South 2007 is to create a fun Queer-centric party atmosphere for Southern locals, US Social Forum participants, and indie Queers from across the country.

MondoHomo Dirty South is a festival of diverse indie and DIY culture, including bands, DJs, hiphop, drag and burlesque performance, craft and art shows, spoken word, dance parties, and community building that celebrates the Queer contribution to arts, culture, and justice.

Applications for musicians and performers are now closed, but Artists, Craftspeople, and Film/Video artists are invited to apply until May 31st:

welfareQUEENS

"According to 2005 census figures nearly 16 million Americans are living in deep or severe poverty. That’s almost half of all American’s subsisting below the federal poverty line. As poverty rises to record levels in the United States, the criminalization of poor people, poor families and poor mothers increased exponentially. For example, in 2005 in San Francisco, citations given to people for the sole act of being homeless increased by 400%.

Through intentional use of the highly problematic objectifying label/stereotype of 'welfare queen', originally coined by Ronald Reagan as an extremely derogatory reference to poor mothers who were receiving cash aid from Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), the welfare QUEENS project will re-contextualize the word and who it refers to in the framework of a post welfare reform, increasing stratified American society. This society makes it illegal to be poor; this society does not recognize, support or legitimize the "work" involved in raising children; and this society is quick to accuse poor mothers of the crime of being poor rather than recognize the heroism of their survival.

Through the creation of a play, movie, publication and education project of the same name, a group of mothers, daughters, sons and fathers who have survived, struggled and dealt with this ongoing oppression will tell their stories, enact their struggles and realize their dreams of survival, thrival and resistance.

The team of very low-income, poets, writers, and storytellers who are or have been on welfare, struggled as working poor, immigrant or homeless parents, sons or daughters, will write, co-direct and act in this play in an ensemble cast. The team is led by poverty justice organizer, poet, journalist, co-founder of POOR Magazine/PoorNewsNetwork, and author of the recently published memoir, Criminal of Poverty – Growing up Homeless in America, Lisa Gray-Garcia aka Tiny. The project is collaboration between POOR Magazine and the Betty Shabazz Family Resource Center at the City College of San Francisco."

the Feminist Art Project at Rutgers

The Feminist Art Project is a collaborative national initiative celebrating the Feminist Art Movement and the aesthetic, intellectual and political impact of women on the visual arts, art history, and art practice, past and present. The project is a strategic intervention against the ongoing erasure of women from the cultural record. It promotes diverse feminist art events and publications through its website calendar and facilitates networking and regional program development throughout the U.S.

Join forces with feminist artists, curators, teachers, and writers to bring attention to the important achievements of the Feminist Art Movement and feminist initiatives. Share information about the continuing impact of feminism on contemporary art practice.

List Your Event, exhibitions, lectures, articles, artist talks, classes, films and other art related activities with The Feminist Art Project . Include events listed on the The Feminist Art Project Calendar in your travel plans.

Visit The Feminist Art Project Timeline to learn about historic anniversaries in the Feminist Movement in art and other events in world history that impacted Feminist Art.

New Feminist Art Magazine

Make/shift magazine creates and documents contemporary feminist culture and action by publishing journalism, critical analysis, and visual and text art. Made by an editorial collective committed to antiracist, transnational, and queer perspectives, make/shift embraces the multiple and shifting identities of feminist communities. We know there’s exciting work being done in various spaces and forms by people seriously and playfully resisting and creating alternatives to systematic oppression. Make/shift exists to represent, participate in, critique, provoke, and inspire more of that good work.

Because we love deals

Have a free meal at Kate's, on us. Just click the image to view the coupon, print it up and bring it in with you. Hint: you can print up as many as you want and use one everytime you visit!

silk-screen at home

While searching for info on Print Gocco supplies, I discovered a new material called StencilPro. I haven't tried it yet, but it seems like a great way to silk screen t-shirts and projects from home when you don't have access to supplies or a dark-room.

Exposing the film to strong light changes the film from a water-dissolvable material to a water-resistant one. The material you can use to make the image on the film needs to be able to effectively block light from passing through it. Any monochrome image printed from a computer can be used. Strong, direct sunlight is the quickest and the cheapest way to expose the screen. Cool white, full-spectrum or bright daylight fluorescent light sources will both work.

The starter kit is only $20 on their site and you can use standard screen-printing inks, which seems like an affordable and accessible option compared to other at-home kits out there.

Queer Women of Color Film Festival in SF

For those of you in San Francisco, hope that you can check this out!
LNR

3RD ANNUAL QUEER WOMEN OF COLOR FILM FESTIVAL
Presented by Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project
(QWOCMAP)

June 8 to 10, 2007
Brava Theater, SF

32 brand new films burst on screen in 4 film programs
that paint the vivid, provocative, and kaleidoscopic
stories of queer women of color. From the luminous
romance between two queer Asian women to the
dynamic portraits of immigrant Latina lesbians to the
vibrant humor of Black lesbians translating slang,
these films infuse our lives with hilarity and hope.

Friday, June 8
7pm: LOVING IN THE WAR YEARS

Saturday, June 9 *Festival Focus*
3pm: FEATURED PANEL
4:30pm: COCKTAIL FUNDRAISER
7pm: REELS OF RESISTANCE - Queer Black Women's Films

Sunday, June 10
3pm: COMPASSIONATE OUTBURSTS - Documentary Showcase
7pm: INFINITE BEAUTY: STORIES OF LOVE

4 Film Screenings: FREE
Featured Panel: $15
Cocktail Fundraiser: $35

VENUE
Brava Theater
2781 24th Street, San Francisco

For more information:
www.QWOCMAP.org
events@qwocmap.org
415-752-0868

Greenwich Letterpress

I just happened to stumble upon this cute stationary shop in the West Village during my lunch break today. Amy and Beth grew up in a family of printers and started their store in 2006, selling high-quality hand-printed letterpress stationary. Check out their online store or stop by if you're in NYC!

Click here for their website.

Wepa Woman

Check out Wepa Woman, a life-sized comic book character created by Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz, illustrator and multimedia installation artist. She is a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC, the recipient of the 2001 Bronx Recognizes It¹s Own (BRIO) Award, and a recent fellow of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.

Wepa Woman's true identity is Julissa Salvatodo, a young woman from the Bronx, raised by her single mother. Intelligent and shy, she was poised for greatness. She had a mild temperament and was very helpful in her home. A school transfer in her senior year in high school brought the challenges that any teen would face: new friends, new environment. She struggled to adapt.


Click here to visit the Wepa Woman blog.

Click here to visit the Wepa Woman website.

cute video

THE BLOW - 'parentheses'

A Rapist Toy?!

A 7" rapist action figure? As Dark Stone Entertainment describes their product:

Rapsist No. 1 (Quentin Tarantino) 7" figure from Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror - part of the double feature/movie Grindhouse. Features alternate head, gas mask, and pistol. This is an officially licensed Reel Toys/Neca figure. Neca

I haven't seen Grindhouse, but the negative connotations of making a rapist toy are difficult to avoid and I wonder, when is this toy getting banned?

Jan Clausen, Kirk Lumpkin and Richard Tayson cordially invite you to a poetry reading

Bowery Poetry Club.
Tuesday, May 15
5:30 - 6:45
308 Bowery @ Bleecker, right across from CBGB's
F train to Second Ave | 6 train to Bleecker | 212-614-0505

Jan Clausen received a New York Foundation for the Arts Poetry Fellowship in 2003. She has two poetry collections forthcoming in 2007: From a Glass House (Ikon) and If You Like Difficulty (Harbor Mountain Press). Her nine previous books include a memoir, Apples and Oranges (Houghton Mifflin) and the poetry collection Duration (Hanging Loose Press).

"Jan Clausen speaks of gardens, griefs, ladybugs, loves-in personal poems that reveal an intensely political life, an engagement with the particular to bring home the whole. Her glass house gleams, shakes, but never shatters. What a wonderful, wide-ranging read!
--Hettie Jones on From a Glass House

Another Jerk On The Sidewalk

Check out this cute animation about street harrassment, Another Jerk On The Sidewalk, by Winnie Ng.

Originally seen on HollaBack NYC.

Volunteer for the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls

Founded in 2004, Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls is a non-profit summer day camp serving girls aged 8-18 in New York City. The program offers girls the chance to learn how to play musical instruments, write songs, perform, learn about different types of music, and generally "rock out" in a supportive environment that fosters self-confidence, self-esteem, creativity, tolerance, and collaboration.

Before and during camp there are a wide range of important volunteer positions to be filled. Some positions are open to women with some musical experience, some are open to women with or without a musical background, and some don't require musical ability and are open to people of either sex/any gender identity.

WHEN:
Girls Camp
Session 1 will take place on Monday August 6th - Friday August 10th, 9a.m. – 5:30p.m.
The Session 1 final concert will be on Saturday August 11th, at a venue to be determined.

Session 2 will take place on Monday August 20th - Friday August 24th, 9a.m. – 5:30p.m.
The Session 2 final concert will be on Saturday August 25th, at a venue to be determined.

Ladies Rock Camp will take place on Friday July 6th – Sunday July 8th
Camp will run from 9:30am – 9:30pm on Friday and Saturday, and from 9:30am – 3pm on Sunday (followed by the showcase concert).

WHERE:
All three sessions will take place at Urban Assembly School of Music & Art, in the DUMBO area of Brooklyn, next to Downtown Brooklyn.

click for more info and to get involved

Place Makers at Curators Without Borders

riffRAG friend, art historian, scholar and now curator Christine Nippe has curated her first show "Place Makers" which is on view through June 30 in Berlin. Christine's scholarship addresses the role geographic location, place and space plays in artists' work and lives. If you have a chance, please visit the show in Berlin! Here are some articles about the show (in French and German) below:
http://fabiani.blog.lemonde.fr/2007/04/16/

http://www.tagesspiegel.de/ticket/archiv/12.04.2007/3185245.asp

http://artnews.info/gallery.php?i=2803&exi=6155

Photo is courtesy Christine Nippe.

Worn Again Fashion Show in New Orleans

CALL 4 DESIGNERS, ARTISTS, EVERYONE!!!!!!!

Worn Again is a recycled fashion show. Designers have 10 days to take the
recycled clothing we give them and create NEW, ORIGINAL, and MIND BLOWING
fashions to rock our runway at THE FASHION EVENT OF THE YEAR!

The official date for Worn Again NOLA is June 30th and it will be held in
the Green Space at the Green Project, 2831 Marais Street. The event will be
a benefit for Recycle For the Arts:

Recycle for the Arts (R4A) a program of The Green Project is a trash-to-art
storefront that supplies low-cost art supplies to the community. R4A
provides art materials to individual artists, schools, art programs,
galleries, and other non-profit groups at minimal cost. R4A's mission is to
promote creative recycling and reuse in the community, support the arts, and
educate the public through events and workshops based on creating art from
reused materials.

The nights festivities will also include the Thrift Store Art Edit: the name
says it all! Sign up, receive a thrift store masterpiece and two weeks to
make it your own! Humor and craft are encouraged!

visit http://www.myspace.com/wornagainfashionshow and

Please contact us at wornagain@gmail.com for more information or if you
would like to participate!

Biking in Belgium

Musician and riffRAG friend Annelies Monsere will be blogging this week (until May 11) about getting around by bike in Belgium at http://www.verkeermetmij.be. It is part of an initiative of de Fietersbond, an organisation which encourages people to bike - look them up at http://www.fietsersbond.be/. Be forwarned that it is written in Flemish, but I thought this would be interesting for English speaking bike kids too, especially becasue May is bike month in NYC and finally the weather is nice enough to enjoy it.
LNR

Superheroes at BPL

This show looks really interesting, support immigrant workers and Brooklyn arts! Press release and info below.
LNR

On display from Tuesday, April 24, through Saturday, June 16

Brooklyn, NY, April 18, 2007
The following exhibition at BPL's Central Library, located at Grand Army Plaza, are free and open to the public.
For more information on this location, please call 718.230.2100.

The Real Story of the Superheroes, in the Grand Lobby, features photos of Latino immigrant workers in New York dressed as superheroes. The artist, Dulce Pinzón, believes they are unrecognized heroes. They work hard for very low wages, which they save at great sacrifice to send to families and communities in Mexico who rely on it to survive. Pinzón was born in Mexico City and has exhibited her work around the world. She was the winner of the Jovenes Creadores grant in 2002 and a fellow in photography from the New York Foundation for the Arts in 2006.

Call for Submissions: Beyond Masculinity

Deadline Extended Until May 31, 2007***

Gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer men's gender identities often exist somewhere outside the traditional categories of "masculine" and "feminine." Sissies, drag queens, and leather daddies alike play with gender in a way that cannot be accounted for in traditional understandings of maleness. This collection -- part blog, part anthology, part audiobook -- aims to shatter traditional understandings of maleness and point towards a new understanding of how queerness and gender intersect.

BEYOND MASCULINITY is looking for contributions in four key areas. Contributors should not feel bound by these categories - they should rather be seen as potential prompts:

*Identity Intersections: How do race, ability, class, and other kinds of identities and experiences intersect with gender and queerness -- and how do these intersections complicate our relationship to traditional understandings of "maleness?"
*Feminism, Gender, and Politics: How can feminism inform our understanding of queer male gender? Can queer men be feminists? How can we use our queerness as a political tool? What does male privilege look like for queer men?
*Bodies, Desire, and Pleasure: What kinds of male bodies are desired? Fetishized? Where does sexual desire intersect with queer gender and how are these politics mapped out on our bodies?
*Queer Male Communities: How are our identities produced through our communities? How do the gender norms and politics of gay/bi/trans/queer male communities both liberate and constrain us?

We're looking for queer male writers to step up and contribute their thoughts to this online project. This is not your typical bookstore anthology. It will be only available online - and it will be completely free of charge to the public. Wih its unique implementation of media