Art Parade 2008

some sketches for your consideration

also, this is the piece at ICP i mentioned at the first meeting. cant seem to find the video,

http://www.yanobe.com/ is his website. interesting work.
From ICP site:
"Kenji Yanobe's imaginative sculptural objects and installations grow out of his childhood fascination with manga, anime, and science fiction films. Many of his works explore the idea of survival in an apocalyptic world. The installation Blue Cinema in the Woods centers on a child-size movie theater. Outside the theater stands a ventriloquist's dummy called Torayan, who appears frequently in Yanobe's work. Torayan is outfitted in a mini-version of the Atom suit, the yellow radiation suit that the artist wore in 1997 when he carried out a performance at Chernobyl, site of a near-catastrophic nuclear power plant accident. In the video shown inside the movie theater, Torayan appears with Yanobe's father, an amateur ventriloquist. With the aid of American civil-defense films of the 1950s, he instructs Torayan about the measures to be taken if atomic disaster threatens."

It is historic, creepy, ironic, and kitschy all at once. The show is good, yushould check it out if you haven't.

KEINE PARTY IST ILLEGAL!

die steht:

- für das `recht auf party´
- für das recht auf nutzung des öffentlichen raumes und selbstbestimmtes leben
- öffentlicher raum ist zu schützen und für alle nutzbar zu machen
- für eine lebendige subkultur in der stadt zürich
- für eine veränderte politik in der stadtentwicklung und im umgang
mit (sub-)kulturellen minderheiten
- für ein vereinfachtes bewilligungsverfahren für temporäre kulturelle projekte
- für eine ausnutzung des ermessensspielraums der polizei im umgang
mit (illegalen) parties und mit (sub-)kulturellen minderheiten
- für eine verantwortliche stadtplanung, die sich nicht nur an den interessen von grossinvestoren orientiert
- gegen die kommerzialisierung und monopolisierung der techno- und
clubkultur
- gegen nazis

So this is what I got when I googled Erika's "anti-parade." Babelfish, in typical form, didn't hit the nail quite on the head, but some points:
- for a changed policy in the town development and in handling with (sub) cultural minorities
- grant-proceed for a simplified for temporary cultural projects
- for a utilization of the scope for discretion of the police in handling with (illegal) parties and with (sub) cultural minorities
- for a responsible person town planning, which does not only orient itself at the interests of majority investors
- against the commercialization and monopolizing techno and club culture
- against Nazis

I thought that was interesting.

Also, I liked the idea of making biohazard suits, perhaps out of reconstituted waste, from the photo department or our homes. I have some pretty crappy fabric that i have been hesitant to throw out bc there is nothing wrong with it except that it is ugly. I would be more than happy to donate it to the cause, to function as a base for the costumes that we could build on, though paper might have a more interesting effect. I love the idea of biohazard suits (or really any sort of suit that invokes danger/toxicity) in combination with a "float" that is harsh to look at but dazzling at the same time, because it fulfills a spectacle in the sense of a parade and also in the sense of an atrocity/disaster, though it would be unclear what the nature of the (our) (parade) disaster would be.
I also think that if we all worked with the same material and made our own takes on a theme (in particular, using the mirror material to make a dazzling and horrible visual experience) then that could all come together in some way so that we are all parading with these different but similar mysterious/fascinating/caustic things. Then, the way we look at the crowd and relate to them will integrate them into the spectacle, without violating whatever notions the parade powers have about holding up the line, etc.

You are all very inspiring

Some further thoughts.

Tragedy is a deep reminder of being human and alive. Celebrating is a very human part of honoring what was, what is, what may be. It is a big part of making art and one of art's functions in many cultures. RITUAL is the direction I'm thinking regarding this i.e. mourning, dia de los muertos etc.

Also wondering what our commonalities are in our funny and lovely group. Photography and Imaging...what else. If we can each think about that - even as basic as we are alive - in New York.... I think we will be able to find some answers in what we share. Also would like to gather what people do well besides make photos. Janna works well with paper costuming and some construction sewing...I also sew, knit, keep a beat with a pot and spoon drum, rollerskate...what do you do that might be folded in?

Really want to impress that we need to be thinking modularly - decentralized from one single object - something that can come together from separate parts to make a common or one thing. I think this is a way for everyone to feel truly a part and also time use wise.

Work flow - all of the way from costs - constructions - storage - travel to site - disposal.... what else?

re: anti - parade shared histories and or an entry not look-at- able to look -what could be the ugliest stinkiest thing we can think of....

Mirrors - art is often referred to as a mirror of society

also stuck on the element of surprise like stacking dolls that open to more and more - that toy that becomes a giant ball with a toss -

Since I've learned the new to me trick of embedding - here r some.

The idiotarod - not the iditarod (which is http://www.iditarod.com/)

and this one too:

This is the fashion show in TRUE STORIES

Also thinking about Umbrellas and color this is the sequel of sorts to Umbrellas of Cherbourg - the Young Girls of Rochefort
Thinking umbrellas are potentially dazzling.
Love the color and styling - the choreographed street dancing tooooo

Briefcase brigade led me to lawn chair brigades

hey all,
i am really looking forward to seeing the group and sharing/fleshing out over pizza.
i wanted to mention a couple of ideas that i have been thinking of in response to recent posts so that maybe some other minds can build on it between now and 6.
-recreating famous/infamous photos, either in frozen pantomime or acting out the scenario surrounding the scene/imagined in response to it
---war photos? critique?
---old new york, heritage
---iconic and fascinating images
-elaborate trash float and/or using trash for set design of above tableaux
---photo trash only?
-characters from iconic photos, together in a surreal set (countess de castiglione, capa's fallen soldier, claude cahun, etc)
---how could we make sure the audience 'got' it? and/or how do we make sure the float is effective regardless?

just some thoughts; sending to email, sorry for redundancy.

FRIDAY JUNE 20 - 6PM
TISCH PHOTOGRAPHY & IMAGING LIBRARY
PIZZA PROVIDED
BRING IDEAS - THOUGHTS - JOKES - BEVERAGE - PROTOTYPES...

and just because Jen taught me a the new trick to embed video - here is the car crash of a piece that I keep gawking at:

Hi All

check out Sally Timms song JUNKBARGE.
Thinking about a parading Garbage Barge.
This song is about an actual junk barge that roamed
around the hudson/east rivers touring NYC trash
that had previously been being dumped in the rivers.

ps - I need a lesson on how to embed the videos onto the blog....

It seems like the animation method should depend on 3 main things,
1) how the impression of it relates to larger ideas about the crowd, e.g., someone at the meeting brought up the idea that image that flip in a certain way might allow glimpses of the actual crowd, which might be desirable
2) how heavy the whole apparatus would need to be-- not only will we have to pull 2 of them plus a platform, but 2 people will have to bike the fast enough to give a convincing impression of animation. Some of this will be a matter of gear size and torque and whatnot, but that brings me to my final issue which is:
3) how simple it will be to build. We all have busy schedules and we need to submit a proposal that we could actually implement. To this end, I think that Janna's recommendation of a zoetrope might be the simplest engineering task and also the lightest/easiest to power.

As for the reenactments-- I think this is a great idea and I found the port huron site inspiring. What I would like is a few words from all the current participants about whether they still feel strongly about the idea of making a float with bicycle powered animations invoking early photography. I know that ideas can gain a certain momentum and then other ideas can fall away and this idea got an early momentum at the meeting. If we have other ideas, now is the time to discuss them. Obviously we can add and nudge as we go, but if there are any big changes or concerns or new ideas people want to bring up, please send them out now. I am posting this to the blog and emailing it because it seems like blog-traffic isn't too high. (I subscribed to the RSS feed, bc I know I am much better at checking my email that checking blogs.)

My thought on reenactment is that it has a lot of potential, but it is a really different direction, and I do not know how many of us like to perform.

port huron project