Nonogirl Radio

High Honors

The Sex Pistols' "fuck you" to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame proves that punk rock still lives!

Towards Land, Work, & Power

Upon the heels of the Hugo Chavez screening, I picked up Towards Land, Work & Power published by People Organized to Win Employment Rights.

This is a great entry for me to try to catch up on anti-imperialist strategies and a better understanding of advanced capitalism.

It's published in Spanish and Chinese and at the Modern Times book event, I realizezd that one of the authors is an old college collegue (with her new name)!

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

There ain't nothing like a documentary film to provide a quick lesson on any topic. Sure, reading and researching will help you get into the details, but in just TWO hours, I feel caught up on the Hugo Chavez story: with his increased democratic participation, progressive social programs, and anti-imperialist cooperation.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, produced by the BBC, has unique footage as the producers were there in Caracas, when the coup in 2002 took place.

Unfortunately, after the festival circuit, there hasn't been distribution of the documentary, so viewings will need to take place in small house party settings or from internet downloads. Let me know if you're interested in viewing; I've got a copy!

Executive Order 9066

On February 19, 1942, a President authorized the forced removal of a group of people based on race.

After struggling through the personal humiliation and the material destruction on the community, people rose up in the 1970s and began a tradition of remembering to not let this injustice happen again to any community. They called it Day of Remembrance.

And in the spirit of graphic design for the people, I share this find: a poster for the 2003 DoR in L.A. created by organizer David Monkawa.

Favianna Rodriguez

Although I missed the opening of Battle Emblems at Intersection, I was sure to catch the artist talk last week filled with inspiration from Favianna Rodriguez.

Despite art school rejection for having too much content, Favianna's work is part of a movement that will outlast the flavor of the month coming out of any Biennial. Her vision of a cultural movement that places people of color and oppressed communities into the image is coupled with a philosophy that art should be accessible.

She mentioned one of her artistic forefathers who, upon hearing that his prints were rising in value, would then print MORE posters! She also talked about a conscious decision to NOT use the East Bay Express to publicize the amazing Malcolm X Jazz Festival in order to keep it an event for the locals in Oakland's San Antonio community.

At a time when I feel I'm losing my roots to progressive cultural workers, Favi's talk at Battle Emblems renewed my excitement to find people who use their artistic skills to advance a progressive agenda. Thank you Intersection for a great artist talk!

Janet Cardiff

There is clearly no more Nonogirl love at CCA as the one sound artist who isn't all experimental bleeps and loops spoke at the art school in January without even a heads up from anyone connected to the school. Cardiff is a master of exploring environmental sound whether through sound walks in Central Park or museum installations.

I DID finally experience her work (with George Bures Miller) at the Ecstacy show at MOCA's Geffen Contemporary. The piece is a miniaturized movie theater with a black and white western film screening. Three people can listen at a time. What you hear is a mix between the movie sounds; what you come to realize is movie theater sounds (like a friend whispering to you and snack munching); and at a climactic ending, what sounds like your headphone wearing neighbor responding to the action. As one experiencing this piece, you are forced to apply the sounds you hear to the proper reality.

She is a master and I've now subscribed to "Janet Cardiff" on Google Alerts so I don't miss her again.

Bad Moon

This weekend was set to be a good one. 78 degrees in Los Angeles; a free Southwest ticket; and a line-up of dinner, paying homage to an Asian American movement hero, visiting with the great-aunt, and checking out the Ecstasy show at MOCA just before it closes!

And while I did all of that, it does seem that I was cursed.

First, I drove the rental car into a brick planter, severely denting the bumper. The next night, I ran over an island in the middle of making a left turn, and a pipe jutting out of the island tore off the muffler, making the car un-driveable. Then my ATM wouldn't give me money. And finally, I accidentally deleted all the photos I took in Little Tokyo and MOCA while trying to turn the sound off my camera.

I feel like I need to cocoon for a while to stay safe.

RSS update

Hey you RSS readers,

I've been trying to understand how this RSS stuff works and have made a couple changes.

1. I expanded the posts to disply fully in your RSS reader.
2. I changed my RSS feed to Feedburner.

I hope that you'll update your reader to reflect my Feedburner RSS instead of whatever Typepad generated for me a couple months ago.

OK, thanks. Over and out.

Last Weekend

Last weekend, I made it to the Exploratorium's opening for Reconsidered Materials, a show that asks us to think about our relationship to objects and their materials through works created by unusual or unexpected materials.

While the promotional press took to liking Elizabeth Hickok's "San Francisco in Jell-O," the actual piece (which you had to wait in line to see), was super anti-climatic as it lacked the details that the promo photos suggested. It could have been any hilly town.

But Mauricio Ancalmo's light/sound installation was amazing! A film projector and sewing machine sat in the theater and Ancalmo began sewing on the film. The punctured film then went through the projector and we saw an elegant trail of dancing white spots on the screen. Since the film looped, the single trail at times became two since Ancalmo sometimes swerved off the film.

This process went on for about 10 minutes coupled with some sound processing. The elegant trail slowly built into a fiery conflagration until finally, the film broke.

You can see the video footage my Treo took about half-way into the piece by clicking on the image.

The next night I caught a/k/a Tommy Chong at the SF Indie Fest. The film follows Operation Pipedream's effect on one of the counter culture's heroes. Rather than truly defending our country, the Department of Homeland Security decided to make a high profile busts on the Chong family's online bong business. Don't you feel safer?

Tuning in

I've been hearing a lot of great radio, but haven't gotten around to posting, so here's some quickies:

• Claudio Sanchez has become one of my favorite producers. His beat is education and his pieces include interesting scenes and raise multiple perspectives. This story on affirmative action begins with a beautifully set scene at a church where the president at the University of Michigan is celebrated for her commitment to minority recruitment. He then introduces a counterpoint from Ward Connerly, and with clever editing, places them in debate. But then he complicates the debate with cuts from students of color at University of Michigan. Much to be learned from his pieces!
• Survivor by Chris Brookes demonstrates one of the key elements to a good story (as defined by the Art of the Pitch panel at Third Coast): a surprise twist. This documentary sets up racism in the Jim Crow south during World War II. But the surprise twist occurs when an African American navy crewman survives a shipwreck off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. He recounts his amazement at being treated as an equal and how this experience affects his later life.
• Finally, here's an interesting narration-less piece on Marketplace Money about a female professional pool player.