Weblog - [pax]

- Julia Yezbick  [ 7/13/2006 - 10:32 ]   #

When Ben and I were in Mexico City recently, we saw an exhibit at the Rufino Tamayo Museum that just blew my mind! This artist, whose name is I believe Santiago Ortiz, uses sound and images, put together through what seem to my simple mind very mathematical processes, to bring you hours of fun! These are all digital interactive "sound and energy" pieces that are part of a larger collection of interactive computer pieces.  Who could pass up something with a name like "music over fractal land" and "sound sticky elastica structure?"  Wish I could explian it all better, but maybe someone else, who understands the mechanics of it all can add on a little tidbit of information for those of us whose last computer class was before e-mail even came about...

Enjoy!

- Julia Yezbick  [ 3/1/2006 - 11:59 ]   #

- Julia Yezbick  [ 1/28/2006 - 10:34 ]   #

- Julia Yezbick  [ 11/20/2005 - 18:20 ]   #

One of our OCC members has hit the airwaves.  Whether you're on your way to work or just up really early, check out DJ Nayiri's great selection on Freeform Monday mornings from 6-9am, or catch it online at WCBN (88.3 FM in Ann Arbor).

- Julia Yezbick  [ 11/9/2005 - 00:45 ]   #

So here's what other art collectives are doing! check out this article that came my way via Nayiri, from the New York Times (Nov. 6, 2005)


Gelatin, a Viennese art collective, comprised of Ali Janka, Florian Reither, Tobias Urban and Wolfgang Gantner have created a 200 ft long and 20 ft high stuffed pink bunny that is laying atop a hill in the northern region of Italy. 

"It's rotting away and the intestines are running out of its side, but it's really sweet," Mr. Janka said.  It's especially nice if you're interested in the way things rot: grass has sprouted through the rabbit's knitted skin, it's beginning to ooze a brown liquid, and animals have foraged inside. Decay, it seems, is the whole point. "You climb upon the rabbit and feel like a maggot in its flesh," Mr. Janka said. "And then you are so happily transforming into a fly, and floating away."

Any ideas, anyone?

- Julia Yezbick  [ 9/9/2005 - 10:26 ]   #

 
 If you happened to  miss the first Buddy System show in May, you now have the opportunity to catch it again!  This time (Scene) Metrospace will be hosting the group of 14 local and international artists.  Located at 303 Abbott Rd, East Lansing, the opening is TONIGHT (Friday Sept. 9) from 6-9pm.

Artists featured in the exhibit include: Peter Richards, Tim Lane, Joe Scott, Andrea Eckert, Mike Clark, Aaron Curtner, John Lindenmayer, Jenny Mc, Travis Pickard, Kellie Pickard, George Rahme, Ben Gaydos, Matt Cygnet, Ana Kamiar.

 From the State News: (SCENE) Metrospace, 303 Abbott Road, will host a reception at 6 p.m. on Friday for the opening of "The Buddy System." Many of the local artists' plan on attending. Jon Howard of the musical group Rattling Wall Collective will be on turntables. Light refreshments will be served.

Kruch said this exhibit is very important for East Lansing because of the impact these artists have made on the area and the variety of their artwork.

"People that normally go to galleries will probably walk in a say, 'What a mess,' but that's what we like about it."

painting on left: Peter Richards/ painting on right: Andrea Eckert

- Julia Yezbick  [ 9/9/2005 - 00:24 ]   #

FLAK is hosting a second viewing of "Detroit @ 00:00:55" at the Detrot Film Center.  55 films 55 seconds long about Detroit created by artists, architects, videographers and students.

Come out Saturday night, September 10th, to the DFC.  Doors are at 7pm, film starts at 8pm.
DFC is located at 1227 Washington Blvd. (two blocks W. of Woodward, one block S. of Grand River)

From your friends at [FLAK]

Look out for "Detroit @ 00:00:55 This Time It's Personal"  winter '06.  Call for entries out soon.

 

   

- Julia Yezbick  [ 4/20/2005 - 13:38 ]   #

OCC member Gayathri Arumugham will be performing "A Different Debut"
April 21st at 8PM at the Residential College in the East Quad of University
of Michigan's campus.  Please come to support your fellow OCCer, and see
an innovative, intriguing and creative performance that combines traditional
Indian dance with modern content and music.

  

A Different Debut
April 21, 2005 ~ 8 pm

Residential Collge Auditorium-- East Quad
701 E. University Ave
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

show is free and open to the public

Co-Sponsored by the Center for World Performance Studies
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

One Step In the Gitana Journey: An Avant and Alluvial Avatar of
The Performance Formerly Known As Arangetram

www.Shakthidance.com

- Julia Yezbick  [ 4/16/2005 - 16:22 ]   #

Just a reminder to all interested in participating in the poetry/film collaboration: the deadline for your poetry pieces is MAY 6th!!! (unless you have previously contacted me with a legit excuse). So just to refresh your memories, here's the quote from Anna Quindlen again:"

"Otherness posits that there are large groups of people with whom you have nothing in common, not even a discernable shared humanity.  Not only are these groups profoundly different from you, they are also covertly, somehow less: Less worthy. Less moral. Less good. This sense of otherness is the single most pernicious force in American discourse. The not-like-us ethos makes so much bigotry possible: Racism, Sexism, Homophobia.  It divides the country as surely as the Mason-Dixon line once did. And it makes for mean-spirited and punitive politics and policy."

Each poetry piece can comment upon this quote in terms of its domestic or foreign application.  Please feel free to post some of what you are writin in the discussion box so that other poets writing pieces for this project can see what is being written and comment through their poetry. This will help to make the film (when we get around to that stage) more coherent and aid in making the project as a whole more of a poetic dialogue as opposed to several different fragmented pieces from different poets.  Now, don't be bashful and get writing!

If you have just stumbled upon this post and would like more info about this collaboration project, please post your questions to me via the discussion box on the right. thanks!

- Julia Yezbick  [ 4/4/2005 - 15:56 ]   #

I just wanted to remind people to keep working on (or start working on - depending on what stage you're at) the OCC's goal of becoming a non-profit organization. Maybe you all already knew this - but I just discovered that you can download all neceassary forms for filing a 501(c)3 online from the michigan.gov website.  Here's the specs:

1. first of all, we need to write our articles of incorporation, (the form can be downloaded from the michigan.gov/corporations website... then if you click on the "forms" link, it'll take you to a long list of corporate forms, but if you scroll down... you'll find Form 502 which is the necessary form for articles of incorporation for a non-profit.

2. secondly, I found out that there is no form for the budget... so if someone knows the format of what this should look like, or knows of a template - that'd be really helpful.

so, I guess we'll just start with these and go from there.... hope you're all swell!! Ciao!

- Julia Yezbick  [ 3/22/2005 - 23:38 ]   #

interested in creative ways of combining education, media, text,  and image? check out the sundance channel's online film festival .... the "shorts frontier" have some interesting interactive experimental digital pieces ... my favorite (so far) is: Julia 1926 (and not just because of the name).

- Julia Yezbick  [ 3/12/2005 - 12:43 ]   #

Just a reminder to all interested in participating in the poetry/film collaboration: the deadline for your poetry pieces is MAY 6th!!! (unless you have previously contacted me with a legit excuse). So just to refresh your memories, here's the quote from Anna Quindlen again:  

 

 Each poetry piece can comment upon this quote in terms of its domestic or foreign application.  Please feel free to post some of what you are writing in the discussion box so that other poets writing pieces for this project can see what is being written and comment through their poetry.  This will help to make the film (when we get around to that stage) more coherent and aid in making the project as a whole more of a poetic dialogue as opposed to several different fragmented pieces from different poets.  Now, don't be bashful and get writing!

 

If you have just stumbled upon this post and would like more info about this collaboration project, please post your questions to me via the discussion box on the right. thanks!

- Julia Yezbick  [ 1/23/2005 - 15:44 ]   #

  

Phill Niblock - Intermedia Artist  - at the Detroit Film Center
Tuesday, Feb. 8th

Phill Niblock is an intermedia artist using music, film, photography, video and computers. He makes thick, loud drones of music, filled with microtones of instrumental timbres which generate many other tones in the performance space. Simultaneously, he presents films / videos which look at the movement of people working, or computer driven black and white abstract images floating through time. He was born in Indiana in 1933. Since the mid-60's he has been making music and intermedia performances which have been shown at numerous venues around the world ... Since 1985, he has been the director of the Experimental Intermedia Foundation in New York where he has been an artist/member since 1968. He is the producer of Music and Intermedia presentations at EI since 1973 (about 1000 performances) and the curator of EI's XI Records label. In 1993 he was part of the formation of an Experimental Intermedia organization in Gent, Belgium - EI v.z.w. Gent - which supports an artist-in-residence house and installations there.

...Niblock's films are about movement, particularly the movement of people working. Filmed in non-urban environments in many countries the films look at everyday work, frequently agrarian or marine labor. Movement is treated abstractly without reference to anthropological or sociological meaning. As in the music, a surface slowness is countered by an active, varied texture of rhythm and form of body motion within the frame, the ultimate subject matter of Niblock's films.

- Julia Yezbick  [ 1/4/2005 - 20:41 ]   #

Hi everyone! Hope you all had an enjoyable and relaxing holiday season! I am writing to bring a matter of interest to the collective.  We have been talking for some time now about filing for 501(c)3 status to become an official not-for-profit organization/association.  There are many benefits to this, many of which I am still learning, but basically it would give us appropriate status for applying to arts funding and grants.

There is, of course, a process of filing and applying to the IRS for this status, that would most easily be taken care of by a committee of people.  Basic steps of the process include (taken from a 501(3)c on-line Fact Sheet: (Another good resource to look at is the IRS website.)

1. coming up with a 2-year budget

2. writing up the by-laws and articles of incorporation

3. raising $500 for the processing fee

4. obtaining a Tax ID number

So in true collective form, we would like to hold a meeting to collectively write the by-laws, etc, and discuss this new direction for OCC. The meeting will be held at Amer's Cafe on South State Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA on Sunday January 16th, at 1PM.

This is a great opportunity to catch up with fellow OCCer's and work together to further our collective cause, so hope to see you there!

Also, for anyone interested we are going over to the University of Michigan Museum of Art to check out their exhibit of Moholy-Nagy's later photography.

A little work... A little Play!

- Julia Yezbick  [ 12/10/2004 - 21:53 ]   #

On Saturday Dec. 18th the Detroit Film Center will be screening another series of films for their BOXCAR exhibitions which run about every 2 months.  This round features the recently finished film, "a small light" by myself, Julia Yezbick. The DFC is located at 1227 Washington Blvd. Detroit, MI 48226, 2 blocks west of Woodward, 1 block south of Grand River.

A screening series devoted to exhibiting experimental and documentary short film/video by local filmmakers as well as national and international artists.
Doors open at 7pm, films roll at 8pm.
Suggested donation: $3 DFC Members, $5 Non-Members.

Hope to see you there!!

- Julia Yezbick  [ 12/9/2004 - 00:19 ]   #

well, i really didn't want this to be like a want ad... but frankly that is what it is... so why hide it.

so as all of you should know by now we have 2 big OCC events/pieces coming up: JOMAS and the Collaborations .2 exhibit.  For one or both of these I would like to make a film involving spoken word poets speaking about social issues that effect their everyday lives.

so if anyone is interested or would like more information on my artistic vision for this project, please contact me at: juliayezbick@yahoo.com.

cheers! julia. (oh, and i am back in MICHIGAN now, so this is mainly aimed at all of you michiganders - although i am an equal opportunity collaborator)

- Julia Yezbick  [ 10/11/2004 - 08:48 ]   #

A photo exhibition in conjunction with the Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology Graduation Screenings 2004 (see entry from 9/12/04 for more info or e-mail: shiftingfocus2004@hotmail.com)

Featuring images from Nepal and Mexico by Julia Yezbick and Antonio Zirion

October 15th and 16th - Free Admission

Zion Arts Centre, 335 Stretford Road, Hulme, Manchester, UK

- Julia Yezbick  [ 9/29/2004 - 09:41 ]   #

 

Thought some of you Lansing-ites might be interested in a photo exhibition that will be featuring a friend of mine, Stan Simmons. Here's the specs:

On October 3rd the Absolute Gallery in Lansing's "Old Town" will have a reception as part of the Sunday art walk.  Stan will be the featured artist for the month and have about 25 prints up.
There is a reception from 1 to 4 PM.
The gallery is on Grand River a half block up the hill from Turner Street.

"If you can make the reception it should be fun, and since it is in old town there will also be three other galleries in walking distance having their opennings at the same time."  - Stan S.

- Julia Yezbick  [ 9/12/2004 - 16:47 ]   #

This years graduates of the Visual Anthropology program at the University of Manchester (which includes several OCC members aside from myself) are currently putting the finishing touches on their final film projects.  The screenings event titled "Shifting Focus" will be a 2 day event featuring documentaries of all styles shot in countries all over the globe; Sumatra, Mexico, Nepal, Columbia, Syria, Ireland, England, Italy and Ghana. Professional documentary filmmakers will also be in attendance to critique the films during open discussions.

Zion Centre, Hulme, Manchester, UK -  Oct. 15 and 16th

"Last Living Memories," a film by Antonio Zirion takes place in Paricutin, Mexico and recounts the elders memories of when a vulcano erupted, destroying their village and forcing them to make new lives elsewhere.

"A Small Light," a film by Julia Yezbick, set in Kathmandu, Nepal gives us glimpses of everyday life at an elderly home. Narrated by a Hindu sadhu, it is a meditation on dying and old age in a Hindu community.

"The Second Red Line," Veera Lehto's film tells the story of an AIDS clinic in Ghana.

So, if you're in the area, please come and support your fellow OCCer's!! I'll keep you updated as things develop... we may have a website up soon as well.

- Julia Yezbick  [ 8/5/2004 - 07:13 ]   #

Hi all! Sorry its been ages since I've posted anything, but I've been in Nepal shooting a documentary for my masters... anyways, a friend of mine told me about a great resource for independent filmmakers called: Shooting People,and although its sardonic humor doesn't always make you smile in the current political state of the world, its really a great database for anyone interested in filmmaking. It is based in England but they started a branch in NY a year ago... and here's a sample of the sorts of things you'll find on their website:

The Reel Deal
From: Matthew Glasson <matthew*at*reeldealtv.com>
http://shootingpeople.org/cards/Glasson

  NYC's independent film showcase, The Reel Deal, is now accepting submissions
  for the next series of episodes beginning on Thursday, August 12.  The Reel
  Deal is a 30 minute program started late last year as a new television forum
  for independent film and video shorts to be broadcast to the borough of
  Manhattan.  In addition, the episodes have had live screenings at various
  venues for the filmmakers and other good folk.
  
  In preparation for the next series of episodes, Reel Deal is now open for any
  and all short film submissions.  Works can be of any sort or origin:
  animated, documentary, drama, experimental just so long as they were done
  independently!     It's absolutely free to submit - up to three shorts at one
  time.  Put your shorts on either mini-DV or DVD and send to this like so...
  
  The Reel Deal
  78 Norman Ave., 1st Floor
  Brooklyn, NY 11222
  
  get out your dusty cameras and send me your shorts
  
  Matthew Glasson
  http://reeldealtv.com
  matthew*at*reeldealtv.com
------------------------------------------------------------

- Julia Yezbick  [ 4/21/2004 - 05:10 ]   #

for all you out there beginning to feel the suffocating pressures of the "real world" creeping up on you, and knowing that if you must enter this frenzy of the world of work, it might as well be doing something fun...  here's a list of websites compiled by a friend of mine with helpful information for entering the filmmaking industry, or doing freelance work (mostly specific to the UK):

skillset

documentary filmmaker's group 

mandy

pact

production base

GOOD LUCK!!

- Julia Yezbick  [ 2/1/2004 - 09:55 ]   #

 

hi all!! sorry for my long absence! well, i am back in manchester and more than excited for the upcoming KRAFTWERK show!!  these four germans are coming to the APOLLO in manchester on 17 MAR 04.  check out their tour dates and great flash videos on their official website!  Don't miss the hours of fun that can be had with the "BIONG BOOM TSCHAK" and the "POCKET CALCULATOR" links!! Also if you click on the "FOTO" link there's a great pic of them at the State Theater in DETROiT from June 11, 1998!! sorry i couldn't copy it on here cuz its part of a flash video :(

- Julia Yezbick  [ 11/18/2003 - 19:15 ]   #

 
When you're having one of "those" days, and it just doesn't feel like the planets are in alignment for you, take a peek at this powers of ten applet to put it all back into perspective.....

View the Milky Way at 10 million light years from the Earth. Then move through space towards the Earth in successive orders of magnitude until you reach a tall oak tree just outside the buildings of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida. After that, begin to move from the actual size of a leaf into a microscopic world that reveals leaf cell walls, the cell nucleus, chromatin, DNA and finally, into the subatomic universe of electrons and protons.

 .......all thanks to the designers, Charles and Ray Eames, the initial "powers of ten" creators.

- Julia Yezbick  [ 11/5/2003 - 19:06 ]   #

Sawhuin is celebrated each year on October 31st, as the Celtic New Year, symbolizing the transformation of summer into winter.  In Edinburgh, Scotland, a group of people from the community get together and celebrate this occasion in the form of a grand procession and performance culminating at a central square. Brightly colored hand-made costumes, music, torches, and screams mark the pieces with an air of tradition dating back to Gaelic folkloric roots and legends of  the "green man" (nature) battling the inevitable changing of seasons.  The seasonal festivals that take place each year in Edinburgh are organized and put on by the Beltane Fire Society, a non-profit group of volunteers commited to fostering an awareness of Celtic and Medieval folklore through performance art among other means.

I had the opportunity, with a friend and classmate of mine, to film the event for a class, but if you are interested in watching the footage, you will have to wait until Christmas (unless you are in Manchester). However, Ben has provided us with these stills from his own footage to illustrate the beauty of this convergence of color and tradition.

(The Celtic Medicine Wheel may help to explain some of the underlying folklore.)

 

For the sake of discussion: what rituals (daily or otherwise) can you think of that would constitute a form of art, in your mind?

 

   

- Julia Yezbick  [ 10/16/2003 - 17:30 ]   #

Yes, quite possibly the same character that inspired Tolkien's golem creature in The Lord of the Rings trilogy was the inspiration for a mulitimedia performance piece by the grrl group doo-cot.

In the sixteenth century Prague Ghetto, a "living man" was made from clay to protect the Jews from persecution. It was the Golem, the legend that has inspired doo-cot's new show....The Golem has become an abiding myth that has inhabited novels and films explicitly and implicitly. It continues to reverberate today, featuring in everything from computer games to academia.... The show features original film footage of Prague which will be mixed live during the performance by Rachael Field. Cutting edge technology and electronic imaging alongside a magic lantern and lots of puppets.  

Anyone interested in folklore, video, mixed media, performance art, Jewish legend, or puppetry should get out to see this beautiful collaboration.

Golem is being performed October 16th and 17th at the Green Room on Whitworth St West in Manchester's City Centre and then in London through November 2nd. Full schedule.