Art / Photo

Stuff That Doesn't Suck 02.05-06.05

admin — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:43:33 -0500

Saturday 02: Church of Confidence (de), The Grit (uk), Pipes & Pints (cz/us) @ Exit Chmelnice (20:00)

Founded in Berlin in 1995, Church Of Confidence combined Punk and Rock’n’Roll, just to find out, that with this mixture they were way ahead of their time.
With their latest album “Takin Over”, they continued to combine late 70’s Punk Rock, early 70’s Glam-Rock and the wild energy of their 50’s Rock’n’Roll heroes, creating their own style, which as the album title implies relates the most important decades of underground rock: The Clash meet The Slade meet Gene Vincent. Pipes and Pints is more than a band. It’s a concept; Punk-rock and Highland bagpipes!
Their live act is an ass-kicking experience that will certainly lift up your mood and make your heads bang without even realizing it.

Health (us), Fiat Eno (cz) @ 007 (20:00) promoted by A.M. 180 Collective and Bohemian Like You

Health is an experimental band consisting of four members including Benjamin Jared Miller, Jake Duzsik, John Famiglietti, and Jupiter Keyes. All are from different cities including Seattle, San Diego, and Los Angeles, but their current home base is Los Angeles. Jake met Jupiter in college. John met Jake in a guitar store. Jared was drawn to the fold by way of Internet courtship. The band is oftentimes considered noise rock, but besides having some slight elements of the genre, they don’t fit the sound of other, current bands included in the noise rock scene, due to them mixing such genres as dance and electronica.

Sunday 03:
Krless (cz) @ A Studio Rubín (20:30)

Czech band founded in 1994, concerting since 1995, playing songs typical for medieval period (13th to 15th century). They are mainly using copies of the medieval instruments. The bands members are: Martin Hrbek, Josef Vondráček, Petr Marek and Jan Klíma. Caused by groups experiences, professionality and musical skills, they’re considered one of the best medieval groups in whole Europe.

Monday 04:

Mythematica: album launch concert @ Palác Akropolis (19:30)

Mythematica is audio breeding and cultivation lab of rock-crystal sounds, which brings to your ear another sublime, deep, fizzy sharp as far as chilly, sporadicaly dusty and transparent partly orange tales of tranquillity. From moss and fern it cames bringing freshly weaven and with love trued "oink" sounds, "pitipa" melodies and "tampatynk" rhythms. This electromagnetic circus is guided by Daniel Špaček, mediumatik, psychozoic illustrator. By sudden shift of hue a composer of Mythematica album. And icebergs are melting...

Tuesday 05:

Banditos (cz), Son Caliente @ Lucerna (21:00)

The best word to define Banditos is fusion. They play a mix of latin, reggae, jazz, rock and funk with a very individual approach to the classic Czech Big Beat and, according to their website, a common love for beer. Are you into all of the above (beer may or may not be included)? So let the John Travolta (preferably the 70s/80s one) inside of you come out and get to Lucerna to celebrate their third anniversary. Your hips deserve it again!

Wednesday 06:

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead (us), Gringo Star (us) @ Roxy (19:00) promoted by DSMACKU

…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead is an indie rock band best known for their heavy yet anthemic music and their tendency to destroy their equipment at the end of their performances (a rock and roll tradition usually associated with The Who). According to the band’s website, the name “…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead” is taken from both an ancient Mayan ritual chant and an Egyptian burial text. Band members have also claimed that they made it up because it sounded cool and discovered the association after the fact.

Film klub / Cinematic Projection @ MeetFactory (20:00)

Pawel Althamer - In a Real Time Movie, 2004
Pawel Kwiek - The Starting Numbers, 1971
Maurycy Gomulicki & Ilian Gonzalez - Mystic Dramatic Corporative, 2004
Zbigniew Libera - Film - The Commentary
Robert Szczerbowski - The End, 2006
Oskar Dawicki - Tribute to All People of Film, 2006 Cinematic Projection is the reconstruction of a film screening assembled into a single whole with separate components constitutive for the conventional cinema show. It consists of the following: a trailer (Pawel Althamer), the starting numbers (Pawel Kwiek), film studios” title sequences (Maurycy Gomulicki & Ilian Gonzalez), a film “story” (Zbigniew Libera reconstructing Pawel Kwiek’s performance project), the caption “The End” (Robert Szczerbowski), and the closing credits (Oskar Dawicki). Cinematic Projection is an attempt to revitalise conceptual the “spoken” films made in Poland in the 1970s by Pawel Kwiek and Andrzej Dluzniewski whose goal was to provoke mental projections in the viewer”s imagination. “Films” whose tradition dates back to the first modern avant-garde, and especially its dadaist-surrealist variety represented, for instance, by the Belgrade-based Hypnists and their “radio-cinematographic poems”, but also by the futurist poets who saw writing as a kind of cinematographic practice.

ONGOING:
Alexandre Estrela And Natxo Checa / Gallery opening @ MeetFactory (19:00)
exhibition runs until 30th May 2009
Solo exhibition of contemporary Portuguese artist Alexandre Estrela curated by Natxo Checa the director of Zé Dos Bois gallery in Lisbon. www.alexandreestrela.com
www.marz.biz/artistas
www.zedosbois.org

Exhibition is generously supported by Directorate-General for the Arts/Ministry of Culture Portugal, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and Instituto Camões in Prague

Repeat Offenders

Every night

Happy hour @ Banditos 16:30 to 18:30 (2 for 1 cocktails, mixed drinks and shots, 25Kc beer, range of snacks all under 50Kc)

Mo/Po
Karaoke @ Blind Eye
Freestyle Open Mic @ Pantheon
Havana Night (alt. performances by Andre Sah or Pragoson) @ Popo Cafe Petl
Playzone @ Styx

Tu/Út
Ladies Night @ Bukowski's (6pm-9pm free sangria for ♀)
2 for Tuesday (2 for 1 cocktails) @ Jama Restaurace v Jame 7
Psyform @ Styx

Karaoke @ Friends

We/St
Write or Die: Graffiti /Street Art @ Pantheon
Wed & Thu. Student Night @ Red Room

Cinema Evening @ MeetFactory
Film night @ Cross Club

Fr/Pá
Dance fever @ Popo Cafe Petl
Nedĕlej Biograf! @ Styx Club

Sa/So
80's & 90's Vrrr Party @ Popo Cafe Petl

Su/Ne

Open mic @ Red Room

Open mic @ Hush

Nedĕlej Biograf! /styxmedia pictureshow/ @ Styx

Code: Mode Summer 2010@ Střelecký ostrov

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:55:06 -0500

Start: 07/30/2010 - 10:00

End: 08/01/2010 - 23:59

Code: Mode Summer 2010@ Střelecký ostrov

Children’s Day@ DOX

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:45:40 -0500

Start: 08/31/2010 - 14:00

End: 08/31/2010 - 17:00

Children’s Day@ DOX

Vedro & Maketa Dummy Opening@ MeetFactory

events.provokator@gmail.com — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 09:31:59 -0500

Start: 07/14/2010 - 19:00

End: 07/14/2010 - 23:59

Vedro & Maketa Dummy Opening@ MeetFactory

Play! Play! Play! @ 2. Patro

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 09:12:33 -0500

Adrian T. Bell, who is primarily known as a musician and the frontman of The Prostitutes, presents yet another creative personality; this time, a painter.

By: www.sokinap.com

For his exhibition" Play", Bell has prepared twenty-five oils and acrylics on canvass linked with a single common factor – play. “Playing and the need for playfulness is one of the essential human needs. Cubs and humans alike learn through games– and a toy is one of the first objects we do perceive. So, to give you an example, the first frog I remember was a clockwork toy,” Bell says, adding: “I also love seeing common objects and illuminating them differently to make them beautiful.”

His large-scale bright-coloured canvasses portray child-like inflatable dolphins, clockwork chickens - as well as daily objects taken out of their usual context, such as a set of meter tall lighters or hot dogs.

Adrian T.Bell comes from Newcastle, England, trained as a navigation officer and spent five years in the Royal Fleet Auxilliary, supplying ships for the Royal Navy. Later, he majored in landscape architecture in Manchester. After spending a ceveral years in the Caribbean and in Greece, Bell finally settled in Prague. Five years ago, he, accompanied by his four friends founded The Prostitutes, a band which took an inseparable part of the Czech music scene. Their second album Hometown Zombies, was awarded Album of the Year 2009 by Filter magazine, and is currently being released in the United Kingdom and Germany.

The exhibition will take place on 15^th June, starting at 7 p.m.

Location: 2.patro, Dlouhá 37, Praha 1 (walk through the yard towards the door on your left and up to the 2^nd floor).

For more information be sure to check out the artist's blog:

www.thepainterspaintings.blogspot.com

COME AND... PLAY!

Jan Kaplicky - His Own Way@ DOX

events.provokator@gmail.com — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:00:39 -0500

Start: 07/21/2010 - 11:00

End: 07/21/2010 - 19:00

Jan Kaplicky - His Own Way@ DOX

PAVEL BÜCHLER - Labour in Vain@ DOX

events.provokator@gmail.com — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:45:09 -0500

Start: 07/12/2010 - 10:00

End: 07/12/2010 - 18:00

PAVEL BÜCHLER - Labour in Vain@ DOX

Locate Me@ Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien

events.provokator@gmail.com — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:16:32 -0500

Start: 07/06/2010 - 12:00

End: 07/06/2010 - 19:00

Locate Me@ Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien

“Your Story and Mine: Personal History and the Arts as Tools for Empowerment and Social Inclusion@ American Center

marika — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 09:02:51 -0500

Start: 06/29/2010 - 09:30

End: 06/29/2010 - 16:00

Your Story and Mine: Personal History and the Arts as Tools for Empowerment and Social Inclusion@ American Center

Chemistry Zone @ United Islands

marika — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:37:16 -0500

SATURDAY 26TH JUNE

invites you to THE CHEMISTRY ZONE

a place with great music, DJs, bar, live graffiti painting and much much more!

You will find us at Janackovo nabrezi and our ZONE will be opened from 12:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 26.

Something more about the gallery: CZ EN IT FR

MUSIC

Stevie Weenie (us)

He was born on April Fool's Day in the former United States of America.

Now he lives in Prague making his original blend of dubtekno rhyming music for people who like to dance at the party, get sweaty, come home, click buttons on the computer, and download free music to play in the kitchen with friends.

Get your free music at http://mindbeamdigidub.com

To contact stevie weenie, please send a message answering these three questions:

1. What do you have in your pockets right now?
2. How did human beings appear on earth?
3. What is on the back side of the moon?

Thank you very much and have a nice day.

"Planet Earth is way, way, way out in space, yo." -- stevie weenie

AND:

DOBRY MAN (us)

MODURETIK (cz)

FECAL METAL

ART

Damien Mitchell (aus)

My name is Damien Mitchell, I was born on the 27th of October, 1985. I was raised in Wagga Wagga, Australia. I moved to Prague with my sister and started painting stencils in an abandoned merto station on the outskirts of town. Without formal education, I am self taught and apply my own style and technique to create unique works that reflect the world around me. Mainly working with stencils and spray paint my work can be seen on the streets of Prague, Melbourne, Berlin and Kiev.

Other artists:

Chase (us), Zipr (cz), Luis (cr), Leviathan (cz).

Residents 2 and Lamp Shades@ Meet Factory

events.provokator@gmail.com — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:14:14 -0500

Start: 06/23/2010 - 19:00

End: 06/23/2010 - 23:59

Residents 2 and Lamp Shades@ Meet Factory

Design day in zizkov

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:46:45 -0500

Design studio tai2 is celebrating 1 year since opening and in cooperation with other shops they decided to make the day more special by offering a little something to people showing up with the flyer... The day will be followed by a party at Tai2 studio from 8pm.

Support your local businesses, discover innovative designers' products and shops! Participate in your city's character and color: come all day to the following locations: Harddecore , Flamingo Park , Tai2 studio , PourPour, Faaze.

Contrast and Stasis in Jindrich Streit’s Photography

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:46:40 -0500

by Stephan Delbos

The most striking contrast in Jindrich Streit’s photography is also the most obvious: black and white. But there are other contrasts evident in Streit’s work, contrasts which lose no power for being subtle.

Streit’s dominant subject is life in Czech villages, particularly those in the Bruntal region, where he lived for some time. His photographs capture Czech villagers in a variety of moods and activities - work, rest, mourning and celebration being some of the more obvious themes of Streit’s work.

Because of the sheer breadth of the exhibition, which spans the years 1965-2005, visitors might be tempted to draw contrasts between scenes of life in the Czech Republic before and after the fall of communism. This is more difficult than one might expect, however.

Due to Streit’s choice of black and white, as well as his choice to document rural rather than urban life, his photographs achieve a kind of timelessness. One photo depicts a man reclining on the grass, cigarette in hand, his head propped on a sack of potatoes while a small boy rests on his chest. Were it not for the man’s thick muttonchops, this photo might be impossible to date. Streit snapped this photo, entitled Technov, in 1981.

Viewers might be surprised to see how little seems to have changed over the course of this forty-year sample of Streit’s work. This seeming stasis indicates both the strength of habit and tradition in rural regions, as well as the strength of Streit’s compositions. Those seeking to use Streit’s work to contrast past and present will be disappointed. But one can hardly fail to be struck by how deeply they resonate, perhaps ironically, with contrasting feelings of community and solitude.

Jindrich Streit Photography Exhibit

Until February 10

The Stone Bell House, Old Town Square 13,

http://www.ghmp.cz/a_zvon.php

Open daily except Monday 10 a.m to 6 p.m

Unpredictable Berlin Music Festival News

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:46:36 -0500

[1] CTM.08 – UNPREDICTABLE: PROGRAM ALMOST COMPLETE

// Date: January 25 – February 2, 2008
// Maria am Ostbahnhof and other venues, Berlin

The 9th edition our festival club transmediale 2008 – festival for adventurous music and related visual arts – will take place at various venues in Berlin from January 25 to February 2, 2008.

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Under the theme Unpredictable, CTM.08 investigates artistic concepts that imply the surprising and unforeseeable, accidents, mistakes and coincidences as a means to alter the dynamics of creative processes and to discover new aesthetic forms.

The music program is almost complete. A first overview can be found in the news section of on http://www.clubtransmediale.de

The program features internationally renown artists – such as VITALIC, MOUSE ON MARS, CONRAD SCHNITZLER, ALVA NOTO, LEGENDARY STARDUST COWBOY or LARRY HEARD – and some of the most exciting discoveries of the past year – like KLIMEK, EBONY BONES, JOAKIM, EFDEMIN, CHROME HOOF, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM and SURKIN. As always, the festival's two weekends are strongholds of the best of contemporary club music, while the weekdays present sonic experiments between digital Glitch, acoustic beauty, abrasive Noise and outrageous Metal. A selection of visual artists will set the right frame by applying new looks to our main venue Maria am Ostbahnhof. Workshops will give visitors opportunities for hands-on experience in building their own electronic sound devices. Lectures, a film program and dicussion rounds give in-depth information to topics related to experimental music culture.

One of the definitive highlights will be the CTM.08 opening concert at Berlin's Volksbühne theatre, with Musique Concrète legend PIERRE HENRY presenting old and new pieces. The concert by Mexican electronic musican MURCOF promises for a very special listening experience presenting his new album „Cosmos" under the starry sky of Berlin's largest planetarium.

As every year, CTM.08 takes place in parallel to and in cooperation with the transmediale – Berlin's festival for art and digital culture (January 29 – February 2, 2008 at the House of World Cultures, http://www.transmdiale.de).

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[2] GENERATOR.X AT CTM.08 – CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
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Generator.x 2.0: Beyond the Screen
Workshop / Exhibition / Performance within CTM.08

// Date: 24 January – 2 February
// Venue: Ballhaus Naunynstrasse / [DAM], Berlin

Generator.x in collaboration with CTM, [DAM] and Hyperwerk presents Generator.x 2.0: Beyond the Screen, a workshop and exhibition about digital fabrication and generative systems.

Digital fabrication (also known as "fabbing") represents the next step in the digital revolution. After years of virtualization, with machines and atoms being replaced by bits and software, we are coming full circle. Digital technologies like rapid prototyping, laser cutting and CNC milling now produce atoms from bits, eliminating many of the limitations of industrial production processes. Once prohibitively expensive, such technologies are becoming increasingly accessible, pointing to a future where mass customization and manufacturing-on-demand may be real alternatives to mass production.

For artists and designers working with generative systems, digital fabrication opens the door to a range of new expressions beyond the limits of virtual space. Parametric models apply computational strategies to the analysis and synthesis of space, producing structures and surfaces of great complexity. Through fabbing these forms may be rendered tangible, even tactile.

Beyond the Screen explores these new types of spatial constructs in a hands-on workshop, bringing together artists and designers working with code-based strategies for producing physical form. The workshop will feature public presentations bringing the topics of the workshop to a broader audience, culminating in an exhibition of fabbing works at the [DAM] gallery. In a continuation of the Generator.x concert tour, Beyond the Screen will also include an evening of concerts, showing the use of generative systems in audio-visual performance.

Call for participants
We are looking for 15 artists, designers and architects who have an existing practice based on generative systems and custom software, and who are interested in investigating physical formats through digital fabrication. The workshop will be practical in nature, and will produce a selection of works that will be included in the exhibition at [DAM]. Participants will have access to an on-site laser cutter, and an introduction to this technology will be part of the workshop.

The workshop is free of charge, but we will not be able to provide support for travel or accomodation. Participants are expected to have experience with programming software that will allow them to produce work suitable for production, such as Processing, VVVV or any other system capable of producing vector output.

Applications need to be submitted till December 21, 2008.

The full Call for Participation has been posted in the news section on http://clubtransmediale.de

Generator.x is a platform for generative strategies in art and design, founded in 2005 by Marius Watz to produce the conference Generator.x: Art from Code at Atelier Nord in Oslo. The Generator.x blog promotes code-based work of an experimental nature, bringing a critical discourse to the field of generative art.
http://www.generatorx.no/

[DAM] – Digital Arts Museum Berlin has since its opening 2003 been a leader in the field of digital art, showing pioneers of new media as well as emerging contemporary artists.
http://www.dam-berlin.de/

Hyperwerk is the institute for post industrial design at the Fachhochschule Nordschweiz in Basel.
http://www.fhnw.ch/hgk/ihw/

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[3] CTM RECOMMENDS: KILLL LIVE IN BERLIN
***************************************************************************

// Date: Wed, December 12, 2007
// Time: 21 h
// Venue: Lido, Cuvrystraße 7, 10997 Berlin

Killl – one of the great discoveries of CTM.05 – are back in Berlin. The Norwegian Avant-Metal band featuring members of Single Unit, JR Ewing and Jaga Jazzist is a definitive must see. Breathtaking music wrapped in a fantastic psychedelic light show.

Line-up:
Killl (feat. members of Jaga Jazzist, Single Unit und Jr. Ewing, Oslo)
http://www.killl.org
http://www.myspace.com/killlnorway

Übergang (Low Res, Berlin)
http://www.ubergang.com
http://www.myspace.com/ubergang

DJ Kanzler (Southern Germany / Exile on Mainstream, Borkheide)
http://www.mainstreamrecords.de

Killl are much more than simply a band, even more than an All-Star Ensemble... but an experience. Coming from a country in which youth normally expresses a deep disaffection with society by burning wooden churches, the band forms one of the most excellent digital Metal outfits in the world. Together with the flickering light designs of KYRRELYS they guarantee for an amazing shock therapy for your senses.

Killl's rare performance is supported by Übergang, the latest offering by DHR veteran CHRISTOPH DE BABALON. A band whose harsh digital noise is able to raise hell in its own special way, especially if put on stage. Those who have been present at WASTED 2 for sure know what we are talking about.

On the wheels of steel that evening you might find Kanzler, a key figure among the more ambitious metal heads, be it for being the label manager of Southern Germany or for promoting the amazing South of Mainstream Festival.

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Deutsche Version
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[1] CTM.08 – UNPREDICTABLE: DAS MUSIKPROGRAMM SO GUT WIE KOMPLETT

[2] GENERATOR.X-WORKSHOP BEIM CTM.08 – JETZT BEWERBEN

[3] CTM EMPFIEHLT: KILLL LIVE IN BERLIN
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[1] CTM.08 – UNPREDICTABLE: DAS MUSIKPROGRAMM SO GUT WIE KOMPLETT
***************************************************************************

// Date: 25. Januar – 2. Februar, 2008
// Maria am Ostbahnhof und weitere Spielorte, Berlin

Die neunte Ausgabe des club transmediale nimmt Gestalt an. Das Musikprogramm ist beinahe vollständig. Eine erste Übersicht findet sich im News-Bereich auf http://www.clubtransmediale.de

Unter dem Thema Unpredictable beschäftigt sich CTM.08 mit künstlerischen Konzepten, die Nichtvorhersehbares und Überraschendes, Unfälle, Fehler und Zufall einbinden, um die Dynamik kreativer Prozesse zu verändern und neue ästhetische Formen zu entdecken.

International bekannte Künstler wie VITALIC, MOUSE ON MARS, CONRAD SCHNITZLER, ALVA NOTO, LEGENDARY STARDUST COWBOY oder LARRY HEARD werden sich mit Neuentdeckungen des Jahres wie KLIMEK, EBONY BONES, JOAKIM, EFDEMIN, CHROME HOOF, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM oder SURKIN die Klinken der Berliner Maria am Ostbahnhof und anderer Spielorte in die Hände geben. Die Wochenenden bleiben traditionell den spannendsten Floorfillern der aktuellen Clubmusik vorbehalten. Die Wochentage gehören den experimentellen Grenzgängern, die in konzertanter Atmosphäre Verbindungslinien zwischen knisternder Elektronik, akustischen Klängen und abrasivem Noise ziehen. Von Künstlern speziell entworfene Installationen setzen den dazu passenden Rahmen und verpassen dem Maria am Ostbahnhof einen neuen ungewohnten Look. Workshops ermöglichen praktische Erfahrungen im Eigenbau von Musikelektronik. Vorträge, ein Filmprogramm und Diskussionsrunden informieren vertiefend zu aktuellen Themen der experimenteller Musikkultur.

Ein besonderes Highlight des CTM.08 ist das Eröffnungskonzert in der Volksbühne am Rosa Luxemburg Platz mit dem Altmeister der Musique Concrète PIERRE HENRY, der in einem zweistündigen Programm neue und alte Kompositionen aufführen wird. Ein ganz besonderes Konzerterlebnis verspricht der Auftritt des Mexikanischen Elektronikmusikers MURCOF im Zeiss Grossplanetarium. Er wird sein neues Album "Cosmos" unter dem Sternenhimmel vorstellen.

Wie jedes Jahr findet CTM.08 parallel zur transmediale.08 Conspire... – festival for art and digital culture Berlin statt (29. Januar – 3. Februar 2008, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, http://www.transmediale.de).

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[2] GENERATOR.X-WORKSHOP BEIM CTM.08 – JETZT BEWERBEN
***************************************************************************

Generator.x 2.0: Beyond the Screen
Workshop / Exhibition / Performance zum CTM.08

// Date: 24 January – 2 February
// Venue: Ballhaus Naunynstrasse / [DAM], Berlin

Generator.x präsentiert in Zusammenarbeit mit CTM, [DAM] und Hyperwerk Generator.x 2.0: Beyond the Screen, ein Workshop und eine Ausstellung zum Thema Digital Fabrication und generative Systeme.

Digital Fabrication (auch bekannt als "fabbing") ist der nächste Schritt im Ablauf der digitalen Revolution. Nach Jahren der Virtualisierung, bei der Maschinen und Atome durch Bits und Software ersetzt wurden, dreht sich der Prozess nun um: Digitale Technologien wie Rapid Prototyping, Laser Cutting oder das CNC-Fräsen erlauben es nun, Atome aus Bits zu formen. Dabei werden bisherige Limitierungen industrieller Produktion obsolet. Indem diese Technologien allgemein zugänglich machen, was zuvor unerschwinglich teuer war, zeigen sie eine Zukunft auf, in der individuell zugeschnittene Produkte und On-Demand-Produktion echte Alternativen zur bisherigen Massenproduktion darstellen.

Für Künstler und Designer, die mit generativen Systemen arbeiten, eröffnet Digital Fabrication neue Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten ausserhalb virtueller Umgebungen. Durch die Anwendung von Strategien des Computational Design auf die Analyse und Synthese räumlicher Strukturen können so dinghafte und berührbare Oberflächen und Raumstrukturen großer Komplexität geschaffen werden.

Beyond the Screen erkundet diese neuen Formen der räumlichen Konstruktion in einem praktischen Workshop, der mit Programm-Code arbeitende Künstler und Designer zusammenbringt, um gemeinsam physische Objekte zu entwerfen. Öffentliche Präsentationen der Teilnehmer werden die Themen des Workshops einem breiteren Publikum vorstellen. Eine abschliessende Ausstellung im [DAM] wird die Ergebnisse der Teilnehmer präsentieren. Generator.x beim CTM.08 wird zudem einen Konzertabend beinhalten, der generative Strategien innerhalb von Musik und audiovisueller Performance vorstellen wird.

Ausschreibung
Für die Teilnahme am Workshop können sich Künstler, Designer oder Architekten bewerben, die im Bereich generativer Systeme und Software arbeiten und die an der Erkundung der Möglichkeiten der Digital Fabrication interessiert sind. Die maximale Teilnehmerzahl liegt bei 15 Personen. Der Workshop ist praktischer Natur. Die im Zuge dessen erstellten Objekte werden als Teil der Ausstellung im [DAM] gezeigt. Teilnehmer haben Zugang zu einem Laser-Cutter und evtl. einer CNC-Fräse. Eine Einführung in diese Technologien ist Teil des Workshops.

Der Workshop kostet keine Gebühren, allerdings können Generator.x und CTM keine Unterstützung für Reise und Unterkunft anbieten. Teilnehmer sollten Erfahrung in der Arbeit mit Software haben, die es erlaubt produktionstaugliche Arbeiten zu erstellen, wie z.B. Processing, VVVV und andere Syteme, die Vektoren ausgeben können.

Einsendeschluss ist der 21. Dezember 2007.

Details für Bewerber finden sich im News-Bereich auf http://clubtransmediale.de

Generator.x ist eine Plattform für generative Strategien in Kunst und Design, die 2005 von Marius Watz gegründet wurde. Das Generator.x-Blog ist ein Forum für Code-basierte experimentelle Arbeiten, das einen kritischen Diskurs zu generativer Kunst fördern möchte.
http://www.generatorx.no/

[DAM] – Digital Arts Museum ist seit seiner Gründung 2003 ein wichtiger Präsentationsort für Digitale Kunst in Berlin, der Arbeiten von Pionieren der Medienkunst und junge zeitgenössische Künstler gleichermassen vorstellt.
http://www.dam-berlin.de/

Hyperwerk ist das Institute für Post-Industrielles Design der Fachhochschule Nordschweiz in Basel.
http://www.fhnw.ch/hgk/ihw/

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[3] CTM EMPFIEHLT: KILLL LIVE IN BERLIN
***************************************************************************

// Datum: Mittwoch 12. December 2007
// Zeit: 21 h
// Ort: Lido, Cuvrystraße 7, 10997 Berlin

Line-up:
Killl (feat. members of Jaga Jazzist, Single Unit und Jr. Ewing, Oslo)
http://www.killl.org
http://www.myspace.com/killlnorway

Übergang (Low Res, Berlin)
http://www.ubergang.com
http://www.myspace.com/ubergang

DJ Kanzler (Southern Germany / Exile on Mainstream, Borkheide)
http://www.mainstreamrecords.de

KILLL. Statement. Mit drei L.. Musikalische Gewalt. Heilige Scheiße. Diese Band zerstört die Grenzen zwischen Metal, Rock und Elektronik. Geballte Power, vereint in 4 Musikern aus der erbarmungslosen norwegischen Musikszene. Ein All-Star Projekt aus einem Land, in dem die Jugend normalerweise ihre tiefe Unzufriedenheit an der Gesellschaft durch das Abfackeln von Holzkirchen abarbeitet, eine hochkarätige Supergroup, die dennoch als organische Einheit ungebändigter und dennoch transformierter Energie fungiert: Die Musiker Are und Erlend Mokkelbost, Martin Horntveth und Espen Hangård (sonst bei Bands wie Jaga Jazzist, Single Unit und den neulich aufgelösten Jr. Ewing) spielen die Drums und Gitarren ihres mehrfach gebrochenen Meta-Metals und Noiserocks direkt in den Laptop, wo er gecrackt wird, zu oszillieren beginnt und zusammen mit dem verstörenden Lichtdesign des norwegischen Lichtkünstlers und Architekten Kyrrelys ein psychedelisches und brutales Gesamtkunstwerk entfaltet. Nachdem die Band bisher nur auf wenigen Festivals gespielt hat (Club Transmediale in Berlin und in Roskilde) werden sie auf Ihrer ersten Tour (bei denen Sie sich die Bühne mit Schwergewichten wie Aphex Twin und The Ex teilen) auch für eines ihrer bewußtseinserweiternden Konzerte im Berliner Lido aufmarschieren.

Und wer könnte einen besseren heimischen Support abgeben als Übergang, die Berliner Gruppe um Christoph de Babalon, die mit Ihrem frischen, zeitgemäßen harten Styles digitaler Musik einen ganz eigenen Wahnsinn auf der Bühne entfacht.

An den Plattenspieler rundet Andreas Kohl aka Kanzler den Abend mit experimentellem Metal ab. Kohl ist nicht nur der Label Manager des deutschen Ablegers von Southern Records sondern auch der Veranstalter des legendären South of Mainstream Festivals in Brandenburg.

***************************************************************************

CTM.08 - Unpredictable
25. January - 2. February 2008
festival for adventurous music and related visual arts, Berlin

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http://www.clubtransmediale.de/

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DISK/ club transmediale GbR
DISK - Sound & Image Initiative

Schoenhauser Allee 167c
10435 Berlin
postbox@clubtransmediale.de
tel: +49 (0)30 44041852 / fax: +49 (0)30 44045827

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White Trash Berlin: Mexican Pop Art Exhibition

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:46:34 -0500

No Pain No Brain Tattoo Shop & Gallery Presents:

"TRASHY SPARKLING MEXICAN POP ART EXHIBITION"

by Dulce 'Tzopelli' Ortega

Christmas is coming and we have one of a kind original artwork all the way from Mexico on display and for sale.Dulce Ortega makes beautiful sparkling hand painted treasure chests, mirrors, frames & nic nacs with flaming hearts, mexican wrestlers, Jesus & Marys, Day of the Dead Images and more...

Get your special ones the personal gift that keeps on giving...
Or just come by for some Sangria and check it out!

Opening: Friday 30th November, 2007, ab 19:00

Exhibit from 30.11.07 - 29.12.07
White Trash Fast Food
'No Pain No Brain' Tattoo Shop & Gallery
Schönhauser Allee 8, 10119 Berlin
Open Monday - Saturday, 12:00 - 22:00

www.tzopelli.com
www.superskull.de
www.nopain-nobrain.de
www.whitetrashfastfood.com

Berlin Bricolage at Meet Factory

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:46:34 -0500

NoD doporucuje:

BERLIN BRICOLAGE
Todosch a Petra Kludasch ("Kali & Salz")
jedinecne reseni pro Vas dum i zahradu "VITEJTE DOMA"
vernisaz v patek 30. listopadu v 19:00 v MeetFactory
vystava potrva do 9. 12. 2007

instalace v aterieru v 1. patre:
Esma Ciucir /Turecko/

MeetFactory, Ke Sklárně 15, 150 00 Praha 5
www.MeetFactory.cz

Equal Opportunities, an Exhibit

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:46:33 -0500

14.11. – 30.11. 2007
Vernisáž 13.11. 2007 v 18.00

Vystavující umělci a umělkyně:
Radovan Čerevka, Pavlína Fichta Čierna, Jiří David, Ladislava Gažiová, Jaroslav Kyša, Radim Labuda, Karel Lampa, Slavica Lazić-Dundas, Kryštof Marschal, Milica Milićević / Milan Bosnić, Ilona Németh, Erik Sikora, Lucia Tkáčová / Anetta Mona Chisa

Kurátorka: Ivana Moncoľová
Spolukurátorka: Zuzana Štefková

Projekt Equal Opportunities představuje několik výstav v jedné. Jádro tvoří původní koncept Ivany Moncoľové, prezentující díla slovenských a srbských umělců reagujících na problematiku rovných příležitostí. Tento výběr byl v rámci pražské reprízy doplněn o několik umělců, kterých se právo na rovné příležitosti týká o něco naléhavěji než většiny české populace, ať už kvůli jejich původu, sexuální orientaci nebo barvě pleti. Zároveň jsou na výstavě zastoupeni i autoři, kteří by se možná za umělce neprohlásili, nicméně jejich sociální či zdravotní handicap funguje jako „pozvánka“ do společnosti „profesionálních umělců“.

Smysl výstavy je tedy v zásadě dvojí: za prvé upozornit na témata a problémy, které souvisejí s diskriminací na základě rasy, rodu, zdravotního postižení, věku atd. a za druhé zohlednit pravidla rovných příležitostí i v samotném výběru umělců a dát tak příležitost autorům, kterých se znevýhodnění osobně týká. Jedním ze záměrů této smíšené koncepce je i poukázat na propustné hranice mezi umělcem, který se diskriminací zabývá, a talentovaným amatérem, který diskriminaci zažívá.

Výsledný hybridní útvar otevírá rovněž otázky týkající se rovných příležitostí na uměleckém poli a problematizuje dopad pozitivní diskriminace v galerijním provozu.

Rovnost příležitostí je termín odkazující k sociálnímu prostředí, ve kterém je zajištěno, že lidé nejsou vyloučeni z aktivit společnosti jako je například vzdělání, zaměstnání, zdravotní péče atd. na základě své rasy, rodu, věku.
Idea výstavy vznikla v reakci na požadavky začlenění direktivy EU do zákonů nových členských zemí EU v době sbližování evropského a slovenského (českého) práva. K umělcům ze Slovenska a České republiky byli přizváni i umělci ze Srbska, které nepatří mezi současné státy evropské 27ičky. Srbsko bylo v rámci své krátké politické historie poznamenáno četnými politickými zásahy a rozhodnutími ovlivněnými institucemi jako je NATO, UN, Mezinárodní tribunál pro bývalou Jugoslávii (ICTY). Evropská unie má pro tuto zemi a pro její přijetí mezi členy EU specifické požadavky. S přijetím této země do EU se počítá až v roce 2013.
Vystavující umělci a umělkyně se ve své tvorbě dlouhodobě věnují fenoménu rodu, menšin, přistěhovalectví, kritice systémů Evropské unie a systémů všeobecně, v různých souvislostech, které vycházejí z jejich vlastní zkušenosti.

Výstava je realizována s podporou Ministerstva kultúry SR
Mediální partneři: Flash Art Czech & Slovak Edition, D´Art, Profil, Remont

Galerie c2c, Za Strahovem 19, Praha 6 169 00, otevřeno út-so 15.00-18.00, www.c2c.cz

Arts Corner: The Art you should see in Prague

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:46:30 -0500

Information compiled by Chelsea Kirk

Event: Andy Warhol: Disaster Relics
Location: Museum Kampa, U Sovových mlýnů 2, Prague 1
Dates: Through 21 October 2007
Hours: Tues - Sun, 10.00 - 18.00

Event: Correo Domestico - Installation Exhibit
Location: Roxy, Dlouhá 33, Prague 1
Dates: 5 October - 21 October
Hours: Mon - Sun, 11.00 - 1.00

Event: Ivor Diosi: Castanedize! - Interactive installations
Location: Gallery Ciant, Křížkovského 18, Prague 2
Dates: Through 4 November 2007
Hours: Wed - Sun, 16.00 - 21.00

Event: Jiří Sopko, Paintings
Location: Galerie Rudolfinum, Alšovo nábřeží 12, Prague
Dates: Through 18 November 2007
Hours: Tues - Sun, 10.00 - 18.00

Event: Czech Art from the 19th, 20th, and 21st Centuries
Location: Veletržní palác, Dukelskych hrdinu 47, Prague 7
Dates: Permanent Exhibit
Hours: 10.00 - 18.00

Event: Prague Castle in Photograph
Location: Teresian Wing of the Old Royal Palace, Prague Castle, Prague 1
Dates: Through 6 January 2008

Event: Sounds Like Art: Sound and Radio Installations
Location: Ekotechnické muzeum, Papírenská 6, Prague 6
Dates: Through 20 October
Hours: Tues - Sun, 12.00 - 18.00

Event: Sculpture in Dialog
Location: Lapidárium Národního muzea, Výstaviště 422, Praha 7 Dates: Permanent Exhibit
Hours: Tues - Fri 12.00 - 18.00, Sat/Sun 10.00 - 18.00

Event: City Fables - video art, performance art, and installation Location: Ekotechnické museum, Papírenská 6, Praha 6
Dates: Through 20 October
Hours: Tues - Sun, 12.00 - 18.00

Event: Red Bull Art of Can - Open Air Exhibition
Location: Slovanský ostrov (u Žofína)
Dates: 16 October - 26 October

International Art Show of Note

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:46:28 -0500

ULTIMATE-SELECTED SKETCHBOOK by SHOICHIRO SATAKE

Hiroshige Ando, Nobuyoshi Araki, Donald Baechler, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Chris Burden, Pauletta M. Chanco, Sarah Charlesworth, Robert Colescott, Denise Colomb, Salvador Dali, Patrick Demarchelier, Georges D'espagnat, Sante D'orazio, Tracey Emin, Sam Francis, Hamish Fulton, Alberto Giacometti, Nan Goldin, Anton Henning, J.C.J. Van Der Heyden, David Hockney, Jorg Immendorff, Karl Kasten, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Glenn Ligon, Damian Loeb, Brian McCarthy, Helmut Newton, Norman Parkinson, A.R. Penck, Richard Pettibone, Gary Hume, Duane Michals, Kenny Scharf, Jonathan Seliger, Elaine Sturtevant, Trevor Sutton, Walasse Ting, Cy Twombly, Keith Vaughan, Peter Voulkos, Andy Warhol and Paul Wonner.

http://www.g-sho.com/current/
2007/9/27 [Thu] - 10/13 [Sat]

Galerie Sho Contemporary Art
B1F Sansho Bldg., 3-2-9 Nihonbashi Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0027
Tel: +81-3-3275-1008 Fax: +81-3-3273-9309
Open : Weekdays 11:00 - 19:00 / Saturdays 11:00 - 17:00
Closed on Sundays & Holidays

Family, Sex and Sculpture

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:46:23 -0500

by Chris McMorrow

Art has long been cultural ground zero for contrast and controversy, and the work of Czech-Canadian sculptor Lea Vivot is no different. Known internationally for her benched bronze figures depicting motifs of women and the family, her subjects range from the sacred to the profane, depending on which free magazines you regularly pick up in Prague. One person's humanity is another's vulgarity.

I recently stumbled upon Vivot's work on a post-holiday trip to the doctor, and was struck by her sculpture, “Unity”, positioned at the front door of the Canadian Medical Center in Prague 6. Seated here since 2006, two bronze figures - a young Canadian girl engrossed in the Montreal Daily and an African reading his Malawi Citizen - sit side-by-side on a wooden bench. Inscribed on the bench are the words "In our differences we unite."

The humanity inherent in this piece beautifully blasts apart any imagined barriers. At the same time, Vivot's dual intentions – to place sculptures in corresponding settings, and to invite viewers to participate - makes this piece's current home a natural one.

Over the course of a long and prolific forty-year career, Vivot has displayed her work in countless locations across the globe. Her work has not always been received gracefully. however. A nude man and woman passionately clutching each other next to a partially-clothed woman on a bench proved to be too much love for some. Originally rejected by Toronto city officials in 1979, eighteen years later the provocative “Bench of Love” reportedly startled enough mid-town Manhattanites to bring about its removal. Interestingly, her “Bench of Vice,” which offers a graphic portrayal of a young woman's vagina, has not incurred any such reaction among visitors to Sazka Arena.

Vivot's stimulus is the human condition itself, and she conveys its extremes of strength and fragility in each sculpture she creates. Her sculptures serve as symbols of a humanity dominated by social and material contingencies. If it is raw anatomy that makes these intimate moments of love and life possible, why keep them crouched behind the bedroom door

Vernissage SCHIKO EXHIBITION @ HHV Selected Store

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:44:54 -0500

Start: 03/08/2010 - 20:00

End: 03/08/2010 - 23:59

Michel Auder, the Pioneer of Video Art @ DOX

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:44:43 -0500

Start: 02/15/2010 - 18:00

End: 02/15/2010 - 20:00

Michel Auder,

the Pioneer of Video Art,

15. 2., 18:00

@ DOX

Center of Contemporary Art

The meeting with the prominent video artist Michel Auder is held on the occasion of the exhibition The Chelsea Hotel – Ghosts of Bohemia. The title of the program refers to Michel Auder’s film Chelsea Girls with Andy Warhol, which, together with Warhol’s film Chelsea Girls, is featured at the exhibition.

Jiří Laštovička @ DOX

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:44:43 -0500

Start: 02/17/2010 - 18:00

End: 02/17/2010 - 20:00

Jiří Laštovička - designer

@ DOX

Center for Contemporary Art

Moderator: Veronika Loušová, manager of CZECHDESIGN.CZ

The Feminist Evolution

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:44:42 -0500

Museums are exhibiting an increased sensitivity to collecting and presenting works by women— through new acquisitions, solo shows, and a stronger focus on artists who were previously neglected. But true gender equality, critics maintain, remains elusive.

original article by Phoebe Hoban

photo by Rob Carter

Two thousand eight turned out to be a good year for women in the New York art world. Although women have historically been given far fewer solo shows than men have, it was the Louise Bourgeois retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum that won the International Association of Art Critics' award for Best Monographic Museum Show in New York City. And while the Bourgeois show was still drawing crowds, the Guggenheim mounted a major Catherine Opie photography exhibition. A New York museum was, for a change, exhibiting two women artists back to back—and it had nothing to do with feminism or gender issues.

In 2007, a flurry of feminist events and art shows focused on the impact of women on contemporary art. "WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution," which originated at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, was an international survey of 1970s feminist art that traveled to the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., before winding up at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York in February of last year. Connie Butler, now chief curator of drawings at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, curated the show.

In March 2007, the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art opened at the Brooklyn Museum, with the permanent installation of Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party (1974-79). The iconic feminist piece had finally found a home after nearly 30 years. "I hear women talking about how they have known this piece all their lives," says the Sackler Center's curator, Catherine Morris, who points out that it has become a destination for visitors to the museum.

"There has been some sea change," says Butler, "and not just because of 2007. I am thrilled to see that so many women who were not visible a few years ago are now having commercial exhibitions and retrospectives in Europe." She adds, "A lot of artists I talk to from 'WACK'—Lorraine O'Grady, Mary Beth Edelson, Mary Kelly, and Katharina Sieverding—feel it too. At the Pompidou, they turned over their permanent-collection galleries to women artists. That would not have happened ten years ago." (The exhibition "elles@centrepompidou" is on view through May 24.)

Even more important, Butler points out, "We are buying more and more work by women. I think it is on the institutional agenda in a way that it wasn't a few years ago. Things have changed. Obama is president." Recent acquisitions at MoMA include pieces by Atsuko Tanaka, Nasreen Mohamedi, Alina Szapocznikow, Mary Beth Edelson, and Charlotte Posenenske.

Whether 2007 was a turning point or things have finally reached critical mass, the outlook for women is improving. This coming year, many of the major museums will mount solo shows of women artists.

"I think things have changed radically," observes Nancy Spector, the Guggenheim's chief curator. "When I started here 20 years ago, the discourse about gender issues was not even present in the museum. Now our contemporary collections are just filled with women artists. We buy what we think is the best work, and it is very often by women."

The Guggenheim is devoting a show (on view through January 6) to Berlin-based artist Kitty Kraus, who transforms objects such as blocks of ice using lightbulbs and other implements. That is being followed by a two-person exhibition from the museum's permanent collection, "Paired, Gold: Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Roni Horn."

"Is our exhibition calendar 50-50? Probably not," Spector says. "There is no set law, but our curators are always thinking about the balance—not just men and women but color, race, and nationality." In the works is a show addressing the impact of feminism on the Pictures Generation and beyond. "I think in a way, we want to pick up where 'WACK' ended," Spector adds.

The Whitney Museum has mounted quite a few retrospectives of women artists in recent years. In 2007, there were solo shows of Kiki Smith and Lorna Simpson; Kara Walker was on exhibit from late 2007 to early last year, and Jenny Holzer had a major show this past spring. In September, a retrospective of the early abstractions of Georgia O'Keeffe opened (on view through January 17). Last month, the museum opened two more exhibitions of women's work, both on view through January 24: a Roni Horn show and a retrospective of films by Alice Guy Blaché, the first woman movie director, who was also head of her own studio.

"We are definitely having a season of women," says the Whitney's chief curator and associate director of programming, Donna de Salvo. "I think that things are improving. But what's important is where and how. Working in a museum, I feel very strongly about the long-term impact in terms of who one collects. If you are not there, you cannot be discovered or rediscovered. There's been an ongoing sensitivity to collecting and representing women. We already have very rich holdings in Cindy Sherman, Kiki Smith, Georgia O'Keeffe, Jay DeFeo, and Eva Hesse. We are also adding to them. You don’t have to go out of your way to find phenomenal women artists."

The museum has recently acquired pieces by Ellen Gallagher, Diane Arbus, Nancy Spero, Lynda Benglis, Sherrie Levine, and Horn. And the number of women in the Whitney Biennial has dramatically increased, to 40 percent last year, from 29 percent in 2006.

This February, a site-specific Kiki Smith installation designed to fit the space that also holds The Dinner Party will open at the Sackler Center. Inspired by needlework by an 18th-century Connecticut woman named Prudence Punderson, the piece consists of sculptures and drawings that explore cradle-to-grave issues related to women. A series of stained-glass windows, also riffing on the needlework, will be at the PaceWildenstein gallery in March.

While gender is not usually an issue in her work, Smith says, "I don't mind working at projects that are gender specific. I think there is still enormous inequity, but I guess I am optimistic. I see tremendous change within my lifetime—I feel like I am evidence of that change. There are just endless quantities of good women artists. But it would not have happened without the struggles of previous generations: Nancy Spero, Mary Beth Edelson, the women who founded the A.I.R. gallery, Womanhouse." Smith feels she has marked her territory as an artist: "I've peed in these different parameters of the universe."

At MoMA, the Modern Women's Fund, founded by the philanthropist Sarah Peter, has been engaged since 2005 in a cross-departmental curatorial project to examine the museum's permanent collection from a feminist perspective. This May, the museum will publish the result, a 500-page book tentatively titled "Individuals: Women Artists in the Collection of the Museum of Modern Art," edited by Butler and MoMA curator Alexandra Schwartz. The museum describes the book as "the first effort by a major North American museum to examine its collection in light of the feminist scholarship of the past three decades."

With essays by MoMA curators and outside experts, such as feminist art historians Griselda Pollock and Carole Armstrong, the book places works from the collection in context. For example, Deborah Wye, MoMA's chief curator of prints and illustrated books, has written an essay on the hand-sewn Louise Bourgeois book Ode to Forgetting. "It's made from linen guest towels in her trousseau," explains Wye. "It's the most poignant thing—it's stained and scorched from ironing."

Juliet Kinchin, an architecture and design curator at MoMA, contributes an essay on the "Frankfurt Kitchen," designed in 1926 by Austrian architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky and built by Ernst May between 1926 and 1930. An extraordinary example of innovative and efficient design, the kitchen was acquired by MoMA early this year.

Recently, MoMA organized some memorable solo exhibitions of women artists. Last year it presented the first midcareer retrospective of Marlene Dumas. And this March, it is mounting Marina Abramović’s first major American museum retrospective. In October, the film department presented Joan Braderman's The Heretics (2009), about the feminist art collective Heresies, and scheduled for next year is Lynn Hershman Leeson's Women Art Revolution (2007), which documents the feminist art movement from 1968 through the present. This spring, the museum will open an exhibition on the history of photography, featuring only the work of women photographers.

Art critic Jerry Saltz, who writes for New York magazine, nonetheless created a furor on Facebook this past May, when he counted the pieces by women in MoMA's painting and sculpture galleries. He accused the museum of practicing "a form of gender-based apartheid," noting that "of the 383 works currently installed on the 4th and 5th floors of the permanent collection, only 19 are by women; that's 4%. There are 135 different artists installed on these floors; only nine of them are women; that's 6%. MoMA is telling a story of modernism that only it believes."

Saltz posted a list of 57 women artists that MoMA does not exhibit, out of the 75 women artists whose work the museum owns. Pieces not hanging include works by Alice Neel, Georgia O'Keeffe, Florine Stettheimer, Bridget Riley, Joan Mitchell, Hannah Höch, Louise Nevelson, Elaine de Kooning, Adrian Piper, Dorothea Rockburne, Pat Steir, and Sylvia Sleigh.

Saltz wrote a letter to MoMA's chief curator of painting and sculpture, Ann Temkin, which he posted on his Facebook page. "I think that the Story of Modernism is told primarily on these two all-important floors," he wrote, referring to the galleries on the fourth and fifth floors. He added, "This has nothing to do with 'quotas' or 'fairness,' but rather honesty, openness, and experimentation."

Temkin met with Saltz, who later summarized their discussion on his Facebook page. He disagreed with Temkin's argument that, by focusing on the painting and sculpture floors, he had perpetuated a flawed "masculine" prejudice about the history of modern art. Women, Temkin pointed out in the meeting, are in fact well represented in the drawing, design, printmaking, and photography departments. Saltz did credit Temkin with acknowledging "how important it is to change the perception of these two floors."

Says Connie Butler, "Ann is making a big effort to put this subject front and center, and to put women artists out as much and as intelligently as possible. It's a subject we talk about all the time."

Still, lack of parity in the art world remains a sore point. Elaine Kaufmann, a member of the Brainstormers group, founded in 2005 in reaction to what it saw as the gender inequities of the P.S.1 "Greater New York" show, says, "I think what is really important was that we were representative of a new generation of artists, coming after the Guerrilla Girls, and we were still seeing the same kind of gender discrimination happening in our generation and felt compelled to do something."

The Brainstormers counted the number of solo exhibitions in Chelsea and the Lower East Side that were up this past September. They found that of 134 shows, 70 percent were by men and 30 percent by women. According to the Brainstormers, there are at least half a dozen New York galleries that are now close to 50-50, including Galerie Lelong, D'Amelio Terras, 303, and PPOW. Lombard-Freid's September show, "The Girl Effect," featured work by seven international women artists.

And in Europe, the Pompidou Center's ambitious exhibition of women artists from the beginning of the 20th century to the present, "elles@centrepompidou," has been creating considerable buzz. For many, this represents a milestone.

Says Pompidou curator Camille Morineau, who organized the exhibition, "The question of equality is not asked that frequently in France. That's why I decided to do the show. It's a little taboo. By putting women at the center, the question of marginalization disappears; you can rewrite history in the way you present the show."

As Stephanie Barron, senior curator of modern art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, told the Los Angeles Times, "When you have an institution of the scale and prestige of the Pompidou devoting its entire hang of its collection thematically to women artists, it's making a very serious statement."

Chicago, whose organization, Through the Flower, has created a curriculum for teaching The Dinner Party in schools, says, "Yes, more women are showing. Yes, more women are represented in collections. But they still fit into a meta-male narrative. One of our goals is to integrate women's history into the mainstream, so it is no longer a separate, minor phenomenon. There is still an institutional lag and an insistence on a male Eurocentric narrative. We are trying to change the future: to get girls and boys to realize that women's art is not an exception—it’s a normal part of art history."

Guerrilla Girl Kathe Kollwitz thinks progress has been considerable, but she believes there is still some distance to go. "Right before 'WACK,' MoMA held a symposium, 'Feminist Future,' and that was when the museum really started to count its collection and when they decided to do a book. Two days of feminism and one book—that's kind of where we are at right now," she says.

Nevertheless, even the Guerrilla Girls have lightened up. Their most recent New York action was a satirical picketing of the Bronx Museum of the Arts, in collaboration with the Brainstormers, during an all-women show in May of last year. Explains Guerrilla Girl Frida Kahlo, "We created MAN (Male Art Now) and picketed with signs that said 'Bronx Museum unfair to men!' and 'Museums cave in to radical feminists!'" Funny or not, staging such a parody would have been unthinkable even five years ago.

THE BEAUTY AND THE BRAIN

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:44:39 -0500

Researchers in the evolving field of neuroesthetics seek to determine what happens in the cerebral cortex when we see art—and, in the process, figure out what makes great works so mesmerizing

by Ann Landi

Original article from Artnews.com

Some questions never die. Since at least the time of Plato, philosophers, artists, art historians, and critics have all pondered the concept of esthetic pleasure. What is art? What is beauty? Artists have thumbed their noses at the idea by placing a urinal on a pedestal or canning and selling their own feces. In recent years, scientists have weighed in on the discussion, aiming to measure the brain's response to paintings and sculpture in the hope of finding out what really turns us on when we're looking at a masterpiece or even just scanning ads in a magazine.
Under the inexact rubric of neuroesthetics, researchers are measuring what happens in our brains when we're confronted with the Mona Lisa, one of Michelangelo's Slaves, or even a simple visual puzzle that asks us to tease out a dalmatian from a pattern of smudges and dots. Some experts believe we're at the frontier of a brave new understanding of art; others say we're still in the dark and will never be able to pin down what gives art its power.
"We know a great deal about cells' physical responses—the way the prefrontal cortex evaluates emotional responses," says David Freedberg, Pierre Matisse Professor of the History of Art at Columbia University and one of the few traditionally trained art historians to venture into this terrain. "We know much more now about the neural bases of short–term and long–term memory, what you recall and what you don't recall when you look at a painting—about attention and what catches your eye in a painting. I am interested in defining what it is that stirs us up about works of art, and I think there's great potential for the neurosciences to illuminate the understanding of art.
"But," he adds, "I've never made the claim that this can tell us about beauty or that it will tell us what art is. I have no idea what art is."
To understand the role of the brain in processing works of art, one must begin with the eyes. For a long time, scientists and others believed that we apprehend the world holistically—that the brain processes what we see in one take. It was Semir Zeki, a professor of neurobiology at University College London and a prime mover in the field of neuroesthetics, who discovered that more than one area in the brain is involved in the act of seeing. When he first began studying vision and the brain, in the late '60s, "there was a vast area of the cortex which had hardly been touched upon, which used to be called the 'visual–association cortex,'" he explains. "So I thought that was a good place for me to explore.
"What I did was to show that there are many visual areas of the brain and that different areas are specialized to process different attributes of the visual field—color, form, and motion, for instance. They are all separate areas." Thus, if one looks at a painting that is primarily dependent on color, such as a Monet, "the color area is activated." And if you look at kinetic sculpture, such as a work by Alexander Calder or George Rickey, Zeki claims, the motion area fires up.
The brain's processing systems can be distinguished even further. "If people look at portrait paintings, the face area is activated," Zeki says. "There's a multiplicity of visual areas. Nobody knows how many&mdashsome people say a dozen, some two dozen—but everyone's agreed each one is doing different things."
There is also a time lag in our perception, according to Zeki. "We see color before we see motion by a hundredth of a millisecond, which is a very long time in neurobiological terms."
Zeki and others have also discovered—by means of traditional question–and–response studies, MRIs, and other scientific measures, such as inserting fine wires into a laboratory animal's cerebral cortex (Zeki began his work using primates)—that the neural mechanisms involved in the response to "beauty" are, not too surprisingly, similar to those involved in desire. "You can tell there is a common area of the brain which is active whenever you see something as beautiful, regardless of whether it's a portrait or a landscape or a still life," he says. "A very similar area is activated when you desire something." Not love, Zeki is careful to add. Love seems to deactivate certain areas of the brain (perhaps the source of the adage that love is blind).
In his lectures and books, Zeki likes to draw on the example of Vermeer paintings, as well as on supposedly unfinished works by Cézanne and Michelangelo, such as the latter's Rondanini Pietà in Milan's Sforza Castle. He believes we find an unfinished work more esthetically satisfying because the brain is more involved in the task of completing it. "Let us suppose for the sake of argument that you've got 20 compartments in your brain that can handle a painting," he says. "If you've got a highly finished painting, there can be only one interpretation, and that will fit into one compartment, but if you've got an unfinished painting or sculpture, you can project many concepts onto it."
Ambiguity also plays a role, Zeki says. Take Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring. "To some she's a very sexy girl. To others she's quite chaste. To some she looks suspicious. To others she's welcoming. I think the genius of Vermeer is to distill all those possibilities into a single painting.
"The brain is rich in concepts," he adds, "and people tend to project these concepts onto the world outside. What's interesting is that they project them essentially onto the same figure."
Zeki is now pursuing studies that attempt to determine how an individual's evaluation of an artwork is influenced by context. "We're giving people paintings to look at and saying, 'This comes from the Metropolitan Museum of Art,' when in fact it does not, and asking how they rate them." (The paintings were created in a laboratory.) Zeki also believes that finding a system for connoisseurship in the brain can't be far off. "I have little doubt that we will find one, but I would not say that it is a 'center.'" As with the different parts of the brain that respond to different visual stimuli—color, shape, motion—Zeki posits that those whose knowledge of art is exceptionally fine–tuned may possess areas that show greater activity than those of less sensitive viewers.
Among a younger generation of neuroscientists interested in responses to art is Edward A. Vessel, a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Neural Science at New York University. "Zeki and his collaborators did a study in which they showed people paintings and had them rate them as beautiful, neutral, or ugly," Vessel says. "He found that certain parts of the brain seem to correlate with people's judgments of beautiful versus neutral.
"We wanted to go beyond that and try to understand a bit more about what is an esthetic experience," Vessel continues. "We wanted to know what the role of emotions is, and our thought is that you can have an esthetic experience that isn't just positive. For instance, you can look at Picasso's Blue Period paintings and realize these are very sad, somber scenes, and yet you can report having a strong esthetic response to subjects that are not what we would consider positive."
Vessel and his colleagues designed a study in which 16 subjects rated 109 paintings from the Catalog of Art Museum Images Online (camio.oclc.org). These works were not particularly well known, but the subjects were told that a museum was interested in acquiring them, and that the curators would like to have the subjects' responses before reaching a decision. "Your job is to give your gut–level response based on how much you find the painting beautiful, compelling or powerful," read Vessel's instructions. "Note that the paintings may cover the entire range from 'beautiful' to 'strange' to even 'ugly.' Respond on the basis of how much this image 'moves' you."
Vessel's experiment entailed complicated tracking processes that monitored regions of the brain such as the left caudate and left collateral sulcus. It seemed to demonstrate that certain parts of the subjects’ brains showed greater activity—and those parts seem to be closely related to what scientists refer to as the "default–mode network"—areas reserved for internal monitoring. "That's the place your brain goes to," he says, "when you’re in your own world."
Vessel thinks he may be seeing evidence of "the fact that external objects can grab us so strongly that they engage our internal thought processes in what we call an 'esthetic reaction.'" And this goes beyond the mere expression of preference for, say, a blue dress rather than a red one. "This is more an inspiration than a proof," he adds, "but one of the things we're learning is that you really do have a lot of different elements to create this kind of experience."
Other neuroscientists, however, are loath to venture into the area of neuroesthetics, although they have designed experiments that measure responses to works of art. Margaret S. Livingstone, a professor of neurobiology at Harvard University, describes herself as a "reductionist" who studies the optical system, trying to figure out what kinds of information cells in the brain are extracting from the world around us. Her research has demonstrated, for instance, that the way our eyes work creates the mystery behind the Mona Lisa's smile.
"Her smile is very blurry," Livingstone says. "And it turns out that you can see it best with your peripheral vision, but you can't see it with your central vision because that's the area reserved for fine detail. As you move your eyes around the painting, the mouth ends up in your peripheral vision or near your central vision or in your peripheral vision again, and her expression changes because of the spatial–filtering properties of your visual system. So that gives her a dynamic quality—her face changes."
Pointillism, photomosaics (such as Chuck Close's paintings), and Op art also play games with our vision. But linking that to esthetics is way down the road, Livingstone says. "The reason works of art give pleasure is they tap into something that's common to a lot of people—and why is it common to a lot of people? There are biological reasons, there are deep psychological reasons, there are common cultural reasons. People who go to Berkeley tend to like blue and gold"—the University of California's colors—"but do you call that art? When you get into esthetics, it's such a complicated mix."
Nonetheless, artists, curators, and academics have been taking note of developments in neuroscience. When Vessel showed his research to a group of artists, he reports, the reaction was largely enthusiastic. Kate Raudenbush, a sculptor and photographer, remarks, "We as artists can use that study as a jumping–off point to create better environments and more harmony in our existence. That's what excites me the most. How can we harness this information and this proof and ask, 'Why aren't we making our city planning more harmonious? Why are we building ugly buildings?'"
Zeki, who was a good friend of the painter Balthus and wrote a book about their conversations on art (Balthus, ou, La quête de l'essentiel, 1995), says that the artist was at first hostile to many of his ideas about the way the brain processes visual information but then came to agree with some. However, he concedes, art critics are skeptical of neuroesthetics. "They don't seem to realize that neuroesthetics has nothing to teach art historians or artists, but that we have a great deal to learn from them. All major artists are instinctive neuroscientists."
Freedberg—who has published numerous papers in conjunction with neuroscientists and contributed to the debate with his 1989 book The Power of Images, a study of emotional responses to art—has encountered a fair amount of suspicion from those he calls "postmodern humanists."
"The fear is that scientists will reduce the mystery of creativity to its basic elements," he says. But "if there's any potential for renewed ways of appreciating art, then it may well come from the adoption of certain aspects of the new neuroscientific understanding of the relation between vision, movement, and emotion."
At least one museum is bringing this interface to the public at large. Beginning on the 23rd of this month, the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore will present "Beauty and the Brain: A Neural Approach to Aesthetics" (through April 11), a show designed in collaboration with the Zanvyl Krieger Mind/Brain Institute at Johns Hopkins University. "The exhibition is really a public version of experiments we’re doing in the lab," says Charles E. Connor, director of the institute. "The prediction for neuroesthetics would be that certain patterns of activity, certain ensembles of neurons, are for some reason more pleasing to people and some are less, and by knowing what neurons respond to, we might be able to understand something about the mapping between esthetic value and responses in the brain."
At the Walters, visitors will be able to participate in experiments that measure human responses to sculptural shapes. In one, they will be asked to look at multiple "iterations," or manipulated photos, of a 1959 sculpture by Jean Arp and choose the one they find most satisfying (the sculpture, The Woman of Delos, will be on display elsewhere in the museum). "There is no right answer," says Gary Vikan, director of the Walters. "We're puzzling out in the museum why some things look better than others, independent of their iconography or their condition or even their size or color."
Vikan, who has been interested in esthetics since his college days, notes that Albert Barnes, the founder of the Barnes Foundation, was inspired by his mentor, the philosopher John Dewey, to place a Renoir nude, metalwork from an Amish barn, and a chair made by an Ohio factory in close proximity, in order to tease out the formal similarities that made them all pleasing to the eye.
The Walters experiment, Vikan hopes, will continue that investigation, but in a more controlled and scientific way. His ultimate goal—and that of the neuroestheticians in general—is to prove that "the brain on art is the brain operating on all cylinders.
"When you're tying your shoes, the brain does some interesting things," he adds, "but in creating a work of art, or re–creating it esthetically as an observer, you are engaging in a very complex, interesting, and distinctively—so far as we know—human phenomenon."

Ann Landi is a contributing editor of ARTnews.

Volkskrüche @ Ackerkeller

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:44:36 -0500

Start: 01/31/2010 - 18:00

die "Volkskrühe"

@ Ackerkeller

every Sunday - jeden Sonntag - každou neděli

Praha Pro Haiti @ Hush Café

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:44:35 -0500

Start: 01/24/2010 - 13:00

End: 01/24/2010 - 23:00

HUMANITARIAN AFTERNOON

@ HUSH CAFE'

Praha pro Haiti

Evropsky Sen: Culture Knock-Out II

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:44:30 -0500

Start: 02/03/2010 - 20:00

End: 02/05/2010 - 23:59

3-4-5 February

Evropský Sen

a festival which smudges
the borders of genre, language and culture

Žižkov International Photography Festival

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:44:26 -0500

Žižkov International Photography Festival - Dec. 3rd - 22nd

It is back. Yes, the ZIP Fest will back in Žižkov this winter. This is a community event, meaning any one can show some photos.

Žižkov International Photography Festival is a festival to encourage the community to explore and engage in the many different aspects of the medium of photography. Venues will be organized by themes, some aesthetic and some cultural. It is our belief that people are apt to read a photograph through the lens of their culture. Lets explore and discuss that.

On Facebook

Official website

The best of the best

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:44:24 -0500

Original article by Philip Heijmans, Prague Post online

The Czech Press Photo exhibition opens for the 15th consecutive year, showing the best images from the news and beyond from the past 12 months

Sometimes, the straight approach pays off.

When U.S. President Barack Obama visited Prague in April, the world's press establishment followed. Photographers scrambled to capture an iconic image. Joe Klamar succeeded.

"It seemed like an obvious shot at the time. I thought all the other photographers would get it, as well," says Klamar, winner of the Czech Press Photo (CPP) "Photo of the Year" award for 2009.

Klamar's picture - depicting Obama speaking with First Republic President Tomáš Masaryk mirroring him across Hradčanské náměstí and the cityscape in the background - and all the other winners are now on display at Old Town Hall. The exhibition opened Nov. 17 and runs through Jan. 30.

"I just wanted to connect Obama to Prague somehow," Klamar said.

The judges seem to believe he did more than that.

"The photograph captured us with its surprising and unusual composition of an event of national and international importance," reads the panel's statement. "It symbolizes an encounter of the hopes of the past - President Masaryk - and the precipitous changes of the present - the election of the first black American President. It expresses a new hope for our world."

President Václav Klaus awarded Klamar, a 44-year-old Canadian Slovak, the Crystal Eye and 120,000 Kč ($7,100) Nov. 16 while Milan Jaroš received another 120,000 Kč grant for a photo series on autistic children.

This is the 15th year of the CPP competition. Other works at the exhibition come from winners in eight different categories. Narrowed from more than 4,300 submitted photos from 281 photographers, winners were chosen by a panel of international judges including British writer/photographer Tom Ang and German Geo magazine Art Director Ruth Eichhorn. Last year's CPP exhibition drew 40,000 people.

"After more than 40 years of a totalitarian regime in this country, when press photography served primarily as a tool of political propaganda," CPP Chairwoman Daniela Mrázková said. "CPP has become a platform for independent photographic testimony, independently from the media, which has been becoming ever more commercial."

Michal Čížek won first place in the Spot News category for his series "Eggs for Paroubek," in which Czech opposition leader Jiří Paroubek was famously pelted with eggs during a political rally in May. "Those pictures were taken for a press agency. It is my everyday work," he said.

After its stint at Old Town Hall, CPP takes its show on the road, when the Foreign Affairs Ministry puts the display on a world tour.

"Czech and Slovak photography is known for an attractive mix of lyricism, poetry and gentle irony, which also makes it very interesting," Mrázková says. "I think it is interesting for people to see the life in our country and also the way our photographers see the rest of the world."

Czech Press Photo 2009
Where: Křížová chodba and Rytířský sál, Old Town Hall
When: Open daily through Jan. 30, 2010, 10 a.m.-6p.m.
Admission: 100 Kč, students and seniors 50 Kč, school trips 20 Kč per person

Winners
Photo of the Year
Joe Klamar, Agence France Presse (AFP)
Grant of Prague
Milan Jaroš, Respekt
Spot News
Michal Čížek, AFP
General News
Jan Zátorský, Lidové noviny
People in the News
Joe Klamar, AFP
Sports
Eduard Erben, E15

National Gallery's latest exhibit recreates Amsterdam's red light district

design.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:44:23 -0500

Original article by Charlotte Higgins, The Guardian

Amsterdam's red light district has landed in the National Gallery, London – and it's not pretty.

Ed and Nancy Kienholz's immersive installation The Hoerengracht ("whores' canal"), which opens at the gallery tomorrow, is a re-creation of the alleyways of the Dutch capital's most notorious quarter – complete with life-size figures of blank-faced women posing in the windows of brothels.

According to Nicholas Penny, director of the National Gallery, the installation "does not in any way glamorise or romanticise prostitution".

Out of the darkness, dimly lit figures loom from carefully remade shop fronts. Their anguished faces at times recall paintings of the Madonna one can see on any stroll through the rooms of the National Gallery.

Showing such a piece is an unprecedented move for the gallery. Its collection comes to an abrupt halt at 1900 and, except in the context of its artist-in-residence schemes, it rarely shows contemporary art.

But the point of showing The Hoerengracht – which was made by the American husband-and-wife artists in the 1980s – is, according to curator Colin Wiggins, the light it can cast on the other works in the gallery.

"We're full of prostitution. Take Hogarth's Marriage a la Mode – one scene from that work shows a weeping child prostitute being presented to an aristocratic man," he said. "But because our paintings are shown in gold frames they look safe and pretty."

He also referenced Courbet's Les Demoiselles Au Bord de la Seine, which shows prostitutes. And, he said, in the background of Monet's Bathers at la Grenouillère a bathing-suit-clad woman can be seen propositioning a man.

There is a particular relationship, said Wiggins, between The Hoerengracht and the gallery's collection of Dutch 17th-century paintings – a number of which show scenes of prostitution.

In Godfried Schalcken's A Man Offering Gold and Coins to a Girl (circa 1665-70) the theme is clear since, in this candlelit scene, a woman sits on her bed as she receives money from an amorous-looking man while Cupid looks on. In other works the theme is less clear, but it is subtly indicated, said Wiggins. In Pieter de Hooch's A Musical Party in a Courtyard – which to innocent eyes merely shows an elegant gathering – a man offers a woman an oyster (then, as now, regarded as an aphrodisiac), while she dips her knife suggestively into her glass of wine.

Ed Kienholz died in 1994, but today Nancy Reddin Kienholz was at the National Gallery to oversee the installation of The Hoerengracht.

On having her work displayed in the gallery, she said: "I've been telling my friends I've won the Oscars on this one. For a living artist there is no better place to be shown – hands down – than the National Gallery."

She described the work as "a piece for voyeurs" and "not against prostitution, but rather for prostitution". She said it was "a kind portrait. It has a calmness and a contemplativeness about it."

The work, she said, "opened up discussion" about the status of prostitution. "It's certainly something that is there in every major city in the western world," she said. "Any taxi driver in any city can tell you where it is."

The work was constructed in Berlin using friends as models, but the Kienholzes spent some time in Amsterdam researching the piece and photographing prostitutes' premises.

"They didn't like women coming into the area and I was the one doing the photography," said Kienholz. "But once they realised we were offering 50 guilders for a five-minute photoshoot they got more friendly."

"The point of showing The Hoerengracht is to shed light on the permanent collection," said Wiggins. "It's easy to go round the gallery and miss the fact that many of our pictures are far more repellent and horrible than Hoerengracht. The National Gallery is full of gang rape, incest and bestiality."

As regards incest, he pointed to the paintings in the gallery that show a biblical incident in which the daughters of Lot feed their father wine and then seduce him in order to guarantee the continuity of the family line (Lot's wife having been turned into a pillar of salt).

For bestiality, one need look no further than the copy of Michelangelo's Leda and the Swan, once regarded as too indecent for public display (it was hung in the director's office in the 19th century).

And Rubens's thoroughly unpleasant Rape of the Sabine Women does not spare the horrors of the incident in early Roman history in which Romulus's men supposedly seized and kidnapped the women of the neighbouring Sabine tribe.

Drugs, Guns, and Gauguin

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:44:22 -0500

By Natasha Kirshina

Masked villains stealing ancient masterpieces for their Sicilian mafia boss...is this the image an "art crime" inspires in your mind? Or perhaps it's a collage of headline-smashing thefts - like the recent disappearance of Andy Warhol’s Athletes silk-screens from a museum in California. But is that really the whole range of art crime’s colours or just its varnished surface?

At second glance it becomes clear that the world-shaking art thefts make up only a fraction of what's under the surface. No bullshit: art crime involves an international industry with an annual profit roughly estimated at US$6 billion. Currently, only the drugs and arms trades possess and manipulate larger sums. In fact, all have three become inevitably entangled, as art theft on its own is not particularly effective due to the trouble involved in selling a stolen piece. In case ransom is not an option, art is often substituted for drugs or arms. There's no room for Delacroix-era romance in this industry!

Aside from stealing masterpieces there exists a more insidious crime – forgery; counterfeiting an existing work to increase value. Some forgers alter the age or signature on a piece. It is a tricky business, a typical “white-collar” crime: it leads to the mutual profit of auction houses, dealers, gallery owners – everyone but the buyer. And we – the common art-lovers – are also deceived, as in Hamburg in 2007: the statues of Chinese warriors exhibited in the Museum of Ethnology turned out to be…fakes.

Now for the dirty truth: about 90 % of art crime cases go unsolved due to poor documentation and open international borders. What's more - there are no Art Police in most countries. However, there is hope: in Italy, which happens to be the most art crime-afflicted country, the first Master 's Program in Art Crime opened this summer.

Next time an unfortunate security guard discovers a blank wall where a Picasso used to hang, or a once unattainable art piece suddenly becomes available to a conveniently wealthy patron, remember those mafia bosses looking to boost their guns and heroin trade. These days there's no time for a romantic art-hunt of the previous epochs. The 21st century converts even the elegant letters of a signature meticulously added in the corner of a canvas – into cold, hard, cash.

Normal Festival - Normalní Festival

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:44:18 -0500

Normal Festival 2009

Sponsored by the Czech Ministry of Culture, this year's Normal Festival features art for and by people who live with learning disabilities. Often unable to succeed in school, these artists have found a means of self-expression through elements ranging from film, to performance, to photography. Featured works include; A Little Different Theatre from Poland, a documentary film called Die Heide ruft from Germany, large format photographs of the actors of Theatre Inventura by Martin Mařák and much more. There will also be workshops with slam poet Bohdan Blahovec. So come support the artists and experience art by people for whom life is often more challenging, but who thrive in creative endeavors, artistic and moral support.

Normal Festival 2009
Prague: 4.-7.11 / Plzeň: 10.11 / Hradec Králové: 13.11
Brno: 30.11
www.normalfest.cz

More than words

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:44:11 -0500

Original article by Prague Post

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the World Press Photo exhibition must be worth a million or so, and most of them on par with the best from Shakespeare.

The exhibition returns to Prague's Karolinum this year and runs through Oct. 11.

Written by Benjamin Cunningham

The overall "photo of the year" winner and the recipient of a 10,000 euro prize was Anthony Suau, whose photo for Time magazine in the United States depicted a police officer with gun drawn executing a home foreclosure in Cleveland, Ohio. There are 60 winners in total, 10 in six different categories. First-prize winners in each of the six categories - people in the news, portrait, daily life, arts and entertainment, sports action, contemporary issues - receive a 1,500 euro prize.

Entries must be submitted by the first week in January to compete for the contest, which encompasses photos coming from professional photographers from the previous year. This year's contest drew 96,268 photos from 124 countries.

The contest is judged by a 15-person jury comprising experts from across the globe who sift through about 100,000 photos during a two-week marathon session each year.

"It is all done anonymously by people in the field with a lot of experience," said Erik De Kruijf, based at World Press Photo's Amsterdam headquarters. "We really look at a lot of things when selecting the jury. We have a special matrix."

By late spring, there is an official awards ceremony, and the exhibition opens at Amsterdam's Oude Kerk - a cathedral in the Red Light District - and on from there it shows in 100 cities worldwide. The catalog accompanying the exhibition is printed in six languages.

World Press Photo itself was founded in 1955; the first winner was a picture of a motocross racer tumbling off his motorcycle midrace. By the 1980s, the contest had grown in size and scope to the point of needing a full-time professional staff and corporate sponsorship. Starting in 1990, the organization began holding trainings and seminars for photojournalists.

"It really has become quite prestigious, and the awards ceremony has turned into quite a big deal," De Kruijf said.

But the pictures tell the real story.

Where: Karolinum, Ovocný trh 3, Prague 1-Old Town
When: Through Oct. 11 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Admission: 100 Kč, 60 Kč for students

Ten days that shook the world

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:44:06 -0500

Original article by Natalia O'Hara, Prague Post online

A photo exhibit kicks off the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution and places events in a larger context

Historian Timothy Garton Ash said that in Poland the change from communism to capitalism took 10 years, in Hungary 10 months and in Czechoslovakia 10 days. November is the 20th anniversary of that "10-day" Velvet Revolution (Sametová revoluce) and opening Sept. 4 is "1989 Through the Eyes of Photographers," an exhibition organized by Czech Press Photo. It marks the anniversary by bringing together the most memorable images from that period.

The exhibition contains 300 photographs by 20 prominent Czech photographers. The images document the revolution starting with the brutal suppression of a student demonstration Nov. 17, 1989, to the mass protests that incident sparked, and on to the resignation of the entire communist leadership just seven days later on Nov. 24.

Daniela Mrázková, director of Czech Press Photo and curator of the exhibition, says she sought to show the individual events of 1989 as a part of a broader historical narrative. Alongside Czech students confronting fully-armed riot police with flowers in 1989 are police suppressing nationalist marches in the mid-1980s and images recounting the Soviet invasion of 1968.

"We wanted to create a kind of photo essay," Mrázková says, "so that we could tell the most important historical change in postwar Central Europe as a story."

Because the Velvet Revolution was a grassroots movement, many of the photographs document small acts of defiance by ordinary people. The exhibition commemorates thousands of Czechs for whom the Revolution is both personal and national history.

Mrázková's own experiences during the Revolution were a motivation behind the project.

"In November 1989, I was working on the catalog of an international exhibition," Mrázková says. "My daughter Michaela, who was a journalism student, came into my room and said, 'Mum, please don't worry, but I am going to take part in a demonstration against the bloody Communists.' So I got up and went with her, and, at that moment, I became part of the unbelievable events that followed."

Each of the images in the exhibition tells not just a story about the people in front of the camera, but about the person taking the photo itself. One memorable set of photos by Josef Ptáček documents the East German exodus in the summer of 1989, when East Germans flooded Czechoslovakia in hopes of eventually making their way to West Germany. The photos came about as Ptáček's girlfriend lived near the West German Embassy. When she told him that there were crowds of East Germans in the streets, Ptáček went to the embassy with his camera and began to photograph what he saw.

"An embassy official came up to me and asked me to come into the embassy," Ptáček recalls. "I was terrified; I thought I would be arrested. I went inside, and the embassy staff said to me that an international agreement had just been made, and East Germans could now go into West Germany through Czechoslovakia if they had a valid passport. He said, 'We need passport photos for all these people. Can you help?' So I stayed for three days and took photographs for around 3,000 passports."

All of the photographers in the exhibition found themselves not only documenting history but as key actors in the events. Many were themselves dissidents attending the protests. Like thousands of others, they were caught up in a groundswell of public dissent that closed 21 years of political repression. But, as time passes, it is no longer possible to assume that all Czechs have memories of the Velvet Revolution, Ptáček says.

"It is important that we don't forget our recent history," he says. "There is a new generation that has no memories of what happened in 1989 and before. This exhibition is for them."

1989 Through the
Eyes of Photographers (1989 Očima fotografů)
Where: Old Town Hall, Staroměstké náměstí, Prague 1
When: Sept. 4-Oct. 15, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tickets: Adult ticket 100 Kč, student or senior ticket 50 Kč, 20 Kč per person for school field trips

What you have to know about 'The Known World'

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:44:05 -0500

Two minds, two creations, two worldviews in a single exposure…This is ‘The Known World' exhibition, which will open next Wednesday, September 2nd in Karlin Studios/Entrance Gallery.

Through painting, students of Vysoká Škola UmĚlecko PrŮmyslová (Academy of Art, Architecture, and Design) Conrad Armstrong (US) and Noam Darom (IL) have expressed their perception of the world and focusing on memory, identity and displacement.

They claim that these pieces serve as "windows" to observe the world that they both have known, enriching the vision of one another's perspectives and ultimately creating a "formal dialogue, symbolic and metaphysical between what we know and what is not."

What: ‘The Known World’

When: September 2nd, 6:00pm - 9:00pm

Where: Karlin Studios/Entrance Gallery, Křižíkova 34

Written by Fernando Ballester

Life beyond the Berlin Wall

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:44:02 -0500

German photo agency Ostkreuz commemorates the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with Ostzeit – Stories from a vanished country exhibition, a series of photographs from German Democratic Republic chroniclers Sibylle Bergemann, Harald Hauswald, Ute Mahler, Werner Mahler and Maurice Weiss that portray Germany as they experienced it.

“In an authentic and unadorned way, these photos tell of a country that no longer exists, yet remains preserved through these images”, says the agency. ‘Life beyond the Wall as it was’ could be a perfect subtitle for this production, which will take place in Haus der Kulturen der Welt from August 14th until September 13th, with a closing ceremony which will consist of a panel discussion under the title of “It was not like that – The changing perception of the everyday life in the German Democratic Republic in the collective memory of today“.

Most of the photographs will be included in a photo book with the same title as the exhibition, a collection of 150 photographs of everyday scenes taken along the Berlin Wall with artist commentary.

What: Ostzeit – Stories from a vanished country photo exhibition about Berlin Wall life

When: August 14th - September 13th

Where: Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin

Fernando Ballester Bru

Interview with Artists - World Bodypainting Festival

pa.provokator — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:43:53 -0500

In preparation for the party at the 15th century Burg Sommeregg Castle during the weeklong body painting festival in Seeboden, Austria, we had the possibility to become personally adorned with dazzling colors. We were intrigued as to how these artists practise their art and manage to survive. So in the hopes of having the experience of becoming ambulant art pieces, we asked around and bartered an interview for a painting. We were lucky to come to an agreement with Marcel Klaus’s team of Bergheim, Germany. I had to abandon my typically prude nature and strip down to my little short shorts to be air brushed by the artist. With the help of Katerine Hoeper, assistant and seemingly right hand girl, I had the privilege of conducting a quick interview:

Provokátor; For how long have you been practicing this body painting?

Marcel Kuss; I have been body painting for the past 8-9 years.

P; How long have you been participating at World Body Paint.

MK; For the past 2 years. I practice here as a semi-professional.

P; What was the most provocative piece you painted?

MK; I was in Salzburg, I painted in front of the police station without a permit 2 naked women. One was a motor suit and the other was a mammal.

P; How did you begin?

MK: I opened a painting company in 2000. Body painting was a sideline and since 2008, we began offering courses. We have only a few students.

P; Where did you learn?

MK: I am self taught.

P; How many events do you attend yearly?

MK; We try and attend between 5 to 6.

We also had the chance to meet another international painter, Ms. Valentina Bukoviner from Uruguay. She first discovered the festival by searching for pictures of her passion for bodypainting on the internet. She contacted a German artist, whose work caught her eye. Via e-mail, they had a chance to discuss the interesting events in body painting across Europe. She now participates as a volunteer artist. When asked where her inspiration comes from, she replied; “It’s like energy, it comes out from the person. My job is simple, to capture it and to put the color”.

More info for Marcel Kluss can be found;

http://www.malerei-kuss.at/

(you will need to translate the page!)

For Valentina;

http://creersinver.blogspot.com/

(you will also need to translate the page:-)

Written by Karim Talaat

Photgraphy by Karim Talaat & Whitney Highum

Bodycircus - World Bodypainting Festival

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:43:52 -0500

Written by Whitney Highum

Topless women, ripped shirts, butterfly wings, and techno. Just a few keywords from an awesome night out. You might be wondering where I found such an eclectic mixture - the World Bodypainting Festival in quaint Seeboden, Austria.

Arriving a few days early and laying around beautiful lake Milstatter See, I had time to form expectations about the festival; hippie artists painting flowers and butterflies on other hippies, maybe some acoustic guitar playing around the lake. How wrong I was. I was totally unprepared for what I encountered at the pre-party ‘styling jam’ Wednesday evening.

The party – known as ‘Bodycircus’, sets off the weekend of bodypainting with a bang, and a hangover (or in our case, no sleep). After spending several hours interviewing the artists and watching men airbrushing women’s (almost) naked bodies with everything from flames to cheetah spots to monsters, we took the dive ourselves and got in on the bodypainting in order to fit in at the party.

When we arrived (by free shuttle) to Burg Sommeregg castle nestled in the hilltops above Seeboden, the party was already bumping. Walking up the 15th century ramparts past photographers snapping shots of the most impressively decorated guests was surreal. House music by a live DJ perched above the main floor in the upper castle walls set the mood as people shared their portable living canvases. Every space in the castle was accessible – including the museum of torture - supplying 3 dance floors, each with different djs, and a different style of music. It seemed we couldn’t find the end to this incredible venue. Columns shooting fire complemented the liveliness of the party.
The dress code was non-existent. We saw everything from a dominatrix clad couple, to three pirates sitting on a wall, to fairies and the grim reaper. The only requirement was a touch of bodypaint, and no one failed to sport something unique and stunning.

When we stumbled out of the party at 4am, there was no sign of it ending anytime soon. But we had a train to catch at 6am, and a campsite to dismantle. Although we were unable to stay the full weekend for the competition, our introduction to the world of bodypainting was one that left us wanting more.

The events continue through this weekend until the 19th – Bodypaint city is open to all festival-goers, as well as viewing the models and the final competition. Visit the website for day to day details as well as the most recent photos from this incredible event. www.bodypainting-festival.com

18.06 Graphic design Diploma show! @ Doubner Gallery

events.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:43:44 -0500

Prague College is pleased to announce its 4th HND Graphic Design Graduation Show, which will be held in Doubner Gallery Václavské náměstí 15 between June 18th and June 21st 2009.

We would like to invite you to the Opening on June 18th at 18:00.

The show features work by students in the HND Graphic Design program who will graduate this semester. This is the last HND Graduation Show before the launch of BA (Hons) Graphic Design at Prague College. This group of graduates is also the largest so far, and most of them are expected to continue into the BA. Students come from different cultural backgrounds, such as Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Macedonia and Switzerland, which adds a diverse perspective to their individual creativity.

Ranging from school projects to national and international graphic design competitions and live projects, “The Final Show ‘09” presents a large variety of communication design media, styles and ideas from the 12 students working on the exhibition produced over the past two years. Among live projects the students worked on packaging design for Paté du Chef, which you can now find on supermarket shelves; corporate identity and promotional materials for the non-profit organization Tříkolka and international conference Cyberspace.

All clients were impressed by the quality of the work produced and gave positive feedback. “The students showed great potential in their magazine work for the Design Studio class. Learning to work with tight deadlines and constant work-flow isn’t easy, but they stepped up to the challenge and produced very professional magazine designs.”- said Gavin Bird, Graphic Design lecturer from Prague College.

Working on various graphic design competitions, such as Brno Philharmonic, Assisi Mosaic artistic and cultural event and Youth Informational Centre NICM was a challenging and interesting task. “Competition for a new visual identity of Brno Philharmonic was a valuable and exciting experience. It allowed us to try a range of new approaches and methods, which we could then face with a real client.” – said Pavel Skála, one of the graduating students. Students have also been asked to submit their designs for an international publication of student work.

5.6 - 9.7 DOX Nano Exhibit @ DOX Centre for Contemporary Art

editor.provokator@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:43:43 -0500

DOX Nano

5.6 – 9.7

LOCATION: DOX Centre for Contemporary Art

Osadní 34, Praha 7 Holešovice

WEBSITE: www.doxprague.org

COST: Free! Nothing to lose except your time

A new level for the argument of whether size really matters; featuring an array of eighteen different contributors including Federico Díaz and Alexandr Prokop, and 35 different pieces, DOX NANO promises to bring smaller-than-life subjects to a visual level. The exhibit focuses on pieces in the dimension 10ˉ9m or one-billionth of a meter, and brings together the work of scientists and Czech artists to explore the union of nanotechnology and art.

The exhibition includes educational lectures about nano structures and nano systems, guided tours of the art, as well as an installation called NanoLAB by David Černý. The art complements the occurrence of European scientific conferences in the nano world such as EuroNanoForum2009, and Prague Meetings on Macromolecules. DOX NANO aims to draw the viewer into the relatively unexamined realm of the nanocosmos, inviting them to discover their inner fascination with the ironically large possibilities of nano in technology and art. The subjects may be miniscule but the impact may just open up a whole new visual dimension.

PRAGUE BIENNALE 4 / PRAGUE BIENNALE PHOTO 1 @ Karlin Hall

admin — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:43:41 -0500

PRAGUE BIENNALE 4 / PRAGUE BIENNALE PHOTO 1 @ Karlin Hall

May 14 — July 26, 2009

Karlin Hall, Thamova 8, Prague 8

PRAGUE BIENNALE 4

Polymorphous, multifaceted, multicultural and in continuous dialogue with itself as well as with its audience; these are the

qualities of PRAGUE BIENNALE 4, presented this year together with PRAGUE BIENNALE PHOTO 1.

Prague Biennale directors Giancarlo Politi and Helena Kontova have created an open forum on painting, presenting this issue
through several declinations and manifestations: locals, nationals and internationals. The result is EXPANDED PAINTING
— a title coined on the occasion of Prague Biennale 2 and inspired by Rosalind Krauss’s “Sculpture in Expanded Field.”
This term becomes the starting point for a series of sections which aim to spotlight and engage the actual state of painting in
Central Europe together with other countries like Mexico, Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines, in cooperation with a team
of active and creative curators.
The counterparts of this parade of paintings and painters never seen before internationally are ART IN GENERAL
and FOCUS ITALY, which confi rm once again the Biennale’s mandate and its attention to a multiplicity of interests and
themes. ART IN GENERAL captures the current situation in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, featuring peculiar and
unexpected curatorial visions, while FOCUS ITALY brings ‘on stage’ a fraction of Italian artistic production that is often
overshadowed.

Next Targets @ Chemistry Gallery (LAST DAY)

pa.provokator — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:43:33 -0500

LAST DAY OF EXHIBITION - 12:00-18:00

Next Targets

Next Targets: MISAŘ/ABSOLON

First exhibition of new exhibition series presented by The Chemistry Gallery.

The aim of the exhibition series Next Targets produced by The Chemistry Gallery in Prague is to discover new emerging talents who should be, in short-term perspective, the Next Targets for art-lovers, collectors and gallery audience. The concept of this exhibition series is to present two young up-and-coming artists whose work shares common features and communication links - artworks of both artists should therefore support and supplement each other; their joint presentation should underline similarities and differences and be next jumping point for both presented artists.

First exhibition presents artworks of Václav Misař and Tomáš Absolon.

Stuff That Doesn't Suck 08_04-15_04

kate — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:43:32 -0500

Bigger, Better, Harder Stuff That Doesn't Suck 08_04-15_04

Tired of stuff that sucks? Well we gots the cure for whats ails ya.
Recommended Events Listings: In addition to a print magazine we are media sponsors for things of specific interest that happen to be a bit weird, marginal or under the radar.

Wednesday 8:

Film klub / Filmy Francizsky a Stefana Themersonových @ MeetFactory (20:00)

The films of Franciszka and Stefan Themerson

- The Adventure of a Good Citizen, 1937
- Calling Mr.Smith, 1943
- The Eye and the Ear, 1944/45

Stefan Thammerson was a writer, Franciszka Thammerson was a painter. He was born in Plock, 1910, she was born in Warszawa, 1907. Stefan trained briefly in architecture and physics, Franciszka graduated in paintning from Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. They meet in 1930, married the next year and began a lifelong collaboration that started with making films and books.
The Themersons moved to Paris in 1938. They made two more films with the Polish Film Unit in London: a moving propaganda appeal Calling Mr.Smith their only film with the use of colour, and The Eye and the Ear, an imaginative experiment in visualising the sound.
In 1948, they founded Gaberbocchus Press, the leading avantgarde small press in post war Britain, which they ran until 1979. During those years, they followed remarkable and prolific careers; he with words, she with images. They both died in London in 1988.

AirFare (cz) @ Palác Akropolis (19:30)

Czech rock-and-roll band lead by american guitarist and songwriter Thomas J. Lichtag.

AirFare is known for their oddball sound, which is a result of recording their songs in the old analogue way. Their live shows are very wild and unpredictable.

They also entered in the czech film industry by collaborating with two songs of their first album called Hotel Moscow in the movie “O život”.

Project Pitchfork (de), Depressive Disorder (cz) @ Lucerna

Since more than a decade, the German industrial/dark-electro band Project Pitchfork delights thousands of fans worldwide with a unique mixture of danceable beats, breathtaking melodies and deep lyrics.

With 10 albums, 6 eps, and more compilation appearances than you can shake a stick at, Project Pitchfork have reached the status of “masters of electro-goth music”.

Thursday 9:

Liu Cain (irl) @ 007 (19:00)

Liu Cain is an electro-indie band formed in Dublin, in 2005. The music is a fusion of new wave and trip-hop inspired electronic beats, synth backgounds, melodic vocal lines and rock guitars. The line-up consists of four musicians: Paul, Jerry, Konny and Moyra.

Liu Cain’s origins can be traced back to 1996 when a songwriter/guitarist Jerry joined a Czech emo-core band Albion where he met Petka (drums), Logr (bass) and Liu Cain’s current guitarist Konny. They started to experiment with synthesizers and electronic music.

After a while, three members of Albion (Jerry, Konny, Paul) moved to Ireland and set up a brand new electro-indie project with a new name – Liu Cain.

Czakra @ NoD

Vernisáž | Opening: 09.04 (18:00)

Exhibition from 10.04 to 29.04

The first performance in Prague of art group Czakra.

------

První pražské vystoupení umělecké skupiny Czakra je věnováno poslancům Parlamentu České republiky.

Nick Zipper – Interior paintwork @ NoD

Vernisáž | Opening: 09.04 (18:00)

Exhibition from 10.04 to 19.04

Installation of the famous Prague street art artist, created specifically for NoD gallery.

----

Instalace známého pražského streetartového umělce vytvořená speciálně pro galerii NoD.

Musical performances:

escalator (rapcrew)
alery a jackpot (rap)
Zipper (beatbox)
deep norm (dubstep)

Lenka Klodová – DAVID ČERNÝ @ NoD

Vernisáž | Opening: 09.04 (18:00)

Exhibition from 10.04 to 19.04

Probe sculptress Lenka Klodová experiments on the perception of gender roles.

----

Sonda sochařky Lenky Klodové do zažitého vnímání genderových rolí.

Friday 10:

Jon Hopkins (uk) Sonority (cz) @ Palác Akropolis (19:30)

Jon Hopkins is a musical shapeshifter: a composer, pianist and a self-taught studio wizard. He makes big, bold electronic music using walls of synths, twinkling melodies and amorphous bass rumbles. As such his two albums have seen him labelled by the likes of ambient patriarch Brian Eno as an electronic innovator while an impressive sweep of artists from Herbie Hancock to David Holmes, not to mention ballet choreographer Wayne McGregor, lo-fi folkster King Creosote and musical bluebloods Coldplay, have all called upon the 28-year-old Londoner’s handiwork as a producer and composer.

Saturday 11:

Kill The Dandies, The Prostitutes, Lavagance, DJs and PsiXeR @ Abaton (21:00)

KILL THE DANDIES! are the number one „gang“ from Prague. Following the definitive split of electro-rock…n…rollers Moimir Papalescu & The Nihilists, K.T.D. have exploded onto the czech music scene led by three former members of the Nihilists: alluring singer LP Sonja, the dark eclectic singer/guitarist Hank J. Manchini and wildman drummer Wratislav. Together with old-school punk guitarist Richard Fischer (Take Death), bass player Martin R. (Ritchie Success) and guest electro-noisemeister Zdenek Rudol, they create a cocktail of 60s garage rock, swirling Hammond organ, electronic loops and two-pronged guitar attack.

Distortion, dancing, destruction. Energy, brain, guitars. Party on the grave of the 80s. Charismatic bass-baritone.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Prostitutes!

The band is formed in Prague by a strike of luck in the fall of 2004. The former sailor Adrian Bell joins the other four a toxicologist, a sociologist, a graphic and a director as a singer, when, after hearing his voice recordings, they cannot resist their bewilderment: Wow, he sounds like Johnny Cash!

The name comes to them without thinking; they all know they want to give people a good ride, regardless of the nature and nationality of the customer - and thus, The Prostitutes are born: Martin Destroyer on the guitar, Luke Santiago behind the drums, Stevie LFO on the keyboard and Adrian Bell with his voice and microphone. Šmity completes the formation as a guest after replacing Mark Jukebox on the bass in 2007.

Sunday 12:

Open Season (ch), Green Småtroll (cz) @ Rock Café

The crew from Switzerland doesn’t let the fire go out! In just a few years, the band has emerged from the suburbs of Bern to the best clubs in Switzerland, to Europe’s big cities and to the rotation of the national radio stations. With their absolute passion for music, untiring touring and eight releases by now, they bring the fire to the dancehalls of places far away from Switzerland. Open Season will cheer you up with groovy Reggae, Rocksteady and Ska and a deep fat bass to dance the night away.

The band [Green Småtroll] got together in 2002. At the begining it was more jam-session, than a real band. But at the end of the year, the band finalized its line-up: keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, trumpete, tenor-saxophone and alt-saxophone, and chose to play ska.

After first couple gigs in Prague, the band started to play outside the capital city, and started to travel all over the Czech republic. During their short career, they stood on stage with ska-giants, such as New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble, The Slackers, Los Granadians, Rotterdam Ska Jazz Foundation, Mr. T-bone All Star Band, Yellow Umbrella, Skalariak, Irié Revoltés and many others.

Monday 13:

Divadlo: Ivan Vyrypajev / Antonie Velikánová: Genesis č. 2 | Being nr 2 @ MeetFactory (20:00)

Directed by: Jo-Anna Hamann (DE)
Stage design: Patricia Talacko
Starring: Jana Stryková, Michal Kern, Alexander Puškin

Jo- Anna Hamann is known for her direction mostly on small stages in Berlin (Gorky Teater, Deutches Theter) and in cities outside of Germany. She has put together a performance in Russian Perm, in the theatre of Sergej Fedotov. Being nr 2, is a collage from the writing of a psychiatry clinic, who was diagnosed with an acute form of Schizophrenia. A. Velkoanova’s text has been corrected by Ivan Vyrypajev and put together based on their correspondence
which plays on the meaning of human existence performed by the wife of Lot, God and John the prophet. This text is going to be released in the Czech Republic for the first time.

“I am sending my play to you. I do not care for your opinion, I am not a dram writer. In the past I was a math teacher (now all that is in the past) and I decided to write something for theatre. Maybe because Shakespeare said: “the entire world is a theatre and people in it actors.” I understood what he meant and I hope I was able to pass that understanding onto the viewers as well. Basically, I wrote a play and I am sending it to you. Please put it on in your theatre if you can." (Antonie Velikánová)

Tuesday 14:

MOCHIPET vs. LICHTFAKTOR @ MeetFactory

Lunchmeat and MeetFactory present audiovisual session MOCHIPET vs. LICHTFAKTOR in Prague.

Come and enjoy the combination of sensitive electronic music seasoned with hip hop and see the work of the world´s prominent lightgraffiti studio on Tuesday 14th April in MeetFactory! MOCHIPET (US), producer, sound freak and genre polygamist, will join together with graphic studio LICHTFAKTOR (DE). The event will also be supported by creative electronic producer SONORITY (CZ). The party is related to the last year´s successful show of argentinian graphic artist Acampante presented by LUNCHMEAT studio.

German studio LICHTFAKTOR will take care of the visual part of the evening. They are mainly oriented on the longtime exposure photography combined with light graffiti, VJ-ing, creative design and graffiti itself. LICHTFAKTOR worked on the visuals for ESPN, TV jingles for Max Ophuels Film Festival or 1st turkish basketball league. But the centre of their work is still in independent projects, lectures and workshops, which brought them respect from all around the globe.
Their work is filled with outter space robot garbage cans, whales in the sea of darkness, or peace of the night suburb streets is disturbed by alien creature invasions.
LICHTFAKTOR will let us peep into their magical and atmospheric visions and this visit will be worthwhile.
They prepared the lecture about their projects and techniques and following workshop, so don´t forget to bring a flash light or other kind of lighting, because we´ll be creating!
LICHTFAKTOR is also closely related to the Cologne electronic scene and they will do the VJ-ing for both livests of the night.

More info and schedules here.

Wednesday 15:

Malyš @ MeetFactory (20:00)

Director: Jan Kačena
Music and Stage: Jonah Rosůlek
Cast: Lucie Ferenzová, Tomáš Bambušek, Jakub Šmíd, Vitek Maštalíř, Marie Jansová

Malyš, Meetfactory’s latest production, has its roots far from Prague in the Strugatsky brothers’ Russia. It deals with the Tunguska Event, a probable meteorite hit in 1908. A mysterious institution claims to help young people find education and experience. But why does it take a scientific research station to do this? And why are visitors so unwelcome?

Malyš is directed by Jan Kacena, a graduate of the drama school in Brno and is a dramatization of the Strugatsky brothers’ novel, spunti (Špunt). It deals with themes that may seem under-discussed in Russia – the environment and relations between the individual and society. It is also, in the best Russian tradition, a meeting of extremes.

Viral of the week

The recession is here and no one escapes it.

...not even easter bunnies.

Repeat Offenders

Every night

Happy hour @ Banditos 16:30 to 18:30 (2 for 1 cocktails, mixed drinks and shots, 25Kc beer, range of snacks all under 50Kc)

We/St
Write or Die: Graffiti /Street Art @ Pantheon
Wed & Thu. Student Night @ Red Room

Cinema Evening @ MeetFactory
Film night @ Cross Club

Fr/Pá
Dance fever @ Popo Cafe Petl
Nedĕlej Biograf! @ Styx Club

Sa/So
80's & 90's Vrrr Party @ Popo Cafe Petl

Su/Ne

Open mic @ Red Room

Open mic @ Hush

Nedĕlej Biograf! /styxmedia pictureshow/ @ Styx

Open Gallery

kate — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:43:26 -0500

by Kate Pinto

Folke Köbberling (de) & Martin Kaltwasser (de) + Miklós Mécs (at)
Exhibition guests: Jan Jaroslav Sterec (cz), Carbusters Magazine, Auto*Mat

@ MeetFactory, Ke Sklárně 15, Praha 5
28.02.09 - 29.03.09 wed-sun | 15.00-20.00

www.meetfactory.cz
www.folkekoebberling.de
http://mecsmiki.blogspot.com
http://www.carbusters.org/
http://www.auto-mat.cz

The urban space as an experimental canvas choice has been the emphasis of Köbberling and Kaltwasser's artistic activities for the past ten years. Through their pieces they approach questions such as city life in the context of privatization, commercial interests and economic concerns and how this affects sustained development.

By developing installations, exhibits and interventions in urban spaces, they focus on topics concerning the public sphere, such as surveillance tactics, illegality and self-organization. They achieve it by transforming it into practical examples of temporary use and informal methods as well as to show possibilities for its enlivenment and repossession.

To get a better idea, in one of their latest public installations - White Trash - exhibited between past November 20 to December 18 in Karl-Marx-Straße in Neukölln (Berlin), they built a white wood SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle), the Audi Q7 - visually reminiscent of armoured vehicles - and displayed it on the middle strip, while occupying several parking spaces; due to the weather the wood began to swell up and the white paint started to fade and fissue, embodying a whole new meaning to the expression "white trash".
This is a good example of their creative/critique point of view about occupation of the public space by egomaniac traffic behaviour and its corresponding marketing policy, not to mention the environmental impact that they have.

Since 2002, Köbberling and Kaltwasser have been dealing with the conditions inherent in urban living, calling upon us (people in general) to go back to the idea of the city as a resource.
By using materials that they have found, they offer a critique of the wastefulness that springs from capitalism.

Artist in Residence program is generously supported by Goethe-Institut in Prague, Czech-German Fund For The Future and International Visegrad Fund.

Trash Art

kate — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:43:25 -0500

by Alex Henderson
image: Self Portrait by Tom Deininger

One man's trash is another man's yadda yadda yadda.

We all know this. Any two-bit high schooler with a garage full of crap can turn a junkyard into a showroom. What's the key, then, to creating something actually interesting out of a pile of garbage? The following artists' work sheds some light on that mystery:

Tim Noble and Sue Webster are a live-in couple out of England who stick bits and scraps of trash together in ways that initially seem to make no sense, until you turn on the light. Then -- voila! -- the formless junk heaps project a shadow on the nearby wall of something recognizable and compelling. Often the couple's art ends up casting an image of themselves in various poses but it shouldn't take long to spot the silhouettes of old men and bicycles being cast by cast-aside materials. If you're like me, it will seem like magic at first. But don't spend too much time pondering -- there's lots more to see.

Try googling German artist HA Shult, a man who makes people out of pure rubbish -- kind of like the opposite of a celebrity reality TV show. His work has appeared all around the world, usually in big cities or at famous historial landmarks. Basically, he takes old Walkmans and Coke cans, crushes them together, and births a new trash person. (He obviously doesn't do it alone -- imagine being one of the interns that lines his sculptures up at the Great Wall of China.) You can also watch a video of Shult on YouTube that features just a bit too much man-on-trash PDA for me. But you might like it.

The first thing you'll find when looking up Tom Deininger is a huge picture of his laughing face. Choose a high enough resolution version and you'll realize that that's not his face, it's a pile of Barbie dolls! Deininger specializes in macro-urban-recontextualization of the colorful sort. Eyes as big as a giant squids' (they have the largest eyes in the natural world, you know), shimmering CDs draped like tendrils on a Portuguese Man-O'-War -- you can even find a photo-realistic fish described by the artist as "70 different objects pretending to be a Rainbow Trout." Good luck trying to figure out all 70.

I single out these three artists first and foremost because they do something different, not just an extension of the mainstream art world. I'm not sure why their work stands out from all the other trash-as-treasure artists out there, but then again, that's not really up to me to determine. Check them out for yourself. What else are you going to do with your time?

Bigger, Better, Harder Stuff That Doesn't Suck 25_02-04_03

kate — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:43:24 -0500

Bigger, Better, Harder Stuff That Doesn't Suck 25_02-04_03

Tired of stuff that sucks? Well we gots the cure for whats ails ya.
Recommended Events Listings: In addition to a print magazine we are media sponsors for things of specific interest that happen to be a bit weird, marginal or under the radar.

Wednesday 25:

Tony Allen @Palác Akropolis (19:30)

Tony Allen gets Palác Akropolis dancing as part of the Respect Plus world music concert series.
As the drummer of Fela Kuti's legendary Africa 70 band, he played a vital role in the creation of afrobeat, the world-conquering genre that blends West African styles with Western jazz and funk.
Allen went solo in 1979, disillusioned with the cronyism and carelessness that had crept into the band.
He moved to Europe in 1984, eventually settling in Paris, and created a hybrid genre called afrofunk by blending afrobeat with electronica, dub, R&B and rap.

Described by producer Brian Eno as "perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived," Allen's most recent release, 2006's Lagos No Shaking, saw him returning to his afrobeat roots with a live album recorded in the Nigerian metropolis.

Plague Playwrite contest @ Divadlo Minor

we|st 25.02.2009 (20:00)
su|ne 01.03.2009 (20:00)

we|st 04.03.2009 (18:30)

The Prague Playhouse has rewarded their efforts, the best of fifty, by producing their work in Divadlo Minor. They even found enough actors, technicians etc. for the operation. We can only conclude that the plays or the competition’s reputation were inspiring. This certainly seems to be the case. “Burn Your Bookes” by Richard Byrne, a previous entrant, went on to receive a staged reading at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. This year’s three plays are as follows:
Forced Entry
By Dale Bruton
Directed by: Todd Kramer
An English country house, 2 burglers and a deal gone bad. Mr. Bruton’s comedic play mirrors the style of Guy Richie in this fast paced one-act about friendship, betrayal and incompetence.
Early Retirement
By David Fisher
Directed by: Gordon Truefitt
Remember the Golden Rule? David Fisher explores the consequences of “Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You” in Early Retirement. Set in the Czech Republic, the play is centered around an English gentleman on his quest for fortune. Will his shortsightedness cost him everything?
The King Size
By Ted Weesner, Jr.
Directed by: Melanie Rada
Who we are is not who we seem in this one-act from Ted Weesner, Jr. Trying to get away from who you are is not so easy when you’re still dependant on those who knew you before! Mr. Weesner’s piece shows that even brilliant writers can sometimes get themselves in a bind: the characters in The King Size twist and turn like acrobats on the trapeeze to get away from their responsibilities.

Each performance will include all three plays and the audience will have the chance to vote on the winner of the ‘audience prize’.

Malá Inventura|Small Inventory @ several locations; click here for full program

Excerpt from interview with Šárka Havlíčkova, Artistic Director of the Alfred Ve Dvoře Theatre and advisor to the New Web project. Full version here.

"Over the last six years, Malá inventura has become an important festival and is a highly anticipated part of the Prague theatre season. It developed into what it is today step by step.

A small review of premiere productions at ALFREDVEDVOŘE in 2003 gradually turned into a major festival that maps the dramaturgy of all the most important Prague scenes in the area of so-called new theatre. The festival became an event, which every year presents very disparate works by the young generation of theatre people who are looking for new progressive forms of artistic expression. With its unique direction and careful selection of high-quality projects the festival gradually built its unique place. We gradually realized that this platform was missing here, not only for audiences, but for the artists themselves. I think that our festival "showcase" gives the artists recognition and broadens awareness of their groundbreaking visions. It also opens doors to them for further presentations in the Czech Republic and abroad. The large scale promotion and contact with Czech and foreign promoters and producers makes the Malá inventura an important "marketing" connection for new Czech theatre with the world."

Fortnightly Book-of-the-Month Club @ The Globe Bookstore & Cafe (19:30)

Globe bookstore's brand new book-of-the-month club.
'Too Loud a Solitude' by the late and esteemed Prague author Bohumil Hrabal is the book that will de discussed on the debut of the first of many meetings of the Forthnightly book club organized by Globe bookstore. And it's on sale now at the Globe for 10% off regular purchase price. That means that if you don't want the big kids to pick on you at the first meeting, you'd better come buy it and read it, fast!
Seriously... the first meeting is TODAY!
The cafe balcony is reserved, the music will be turned down and the furniture re-arranged to create the suitable ambience for an intimate, wordy evening.

Thursday 26:

Antigama (pl), Fuck the Facts (can), DR Doom (nl) @ 007 (19:00)

"Antigama is the unruly and unrestricted projection of a noncomformistic attitude towards the avantgarde grindcore noise.

Antigama is controlled chaos."

And this is how they introduce themselves in their official blog.

Don't you just love intellectual bad boys? If you kinda do but still need more references to agree with such judgment, let their music convince you. Just have to wait one day but until then, check their myspace to hear the newly Disconnected from their fifth album "Warning".

Headbangers are welcome to come as well.

Zimní Rock for Church(ill) 2009: Skyline, Polemic (sk), Xavier Baumaxa, Navigators, Vopruz gangu jablečného knedlíku @ Lucerna (19:00)

Summer Music Festival Rock For Churchill in its nine years of existence built up a strong position on the Central Europe festival scene. The festival had "winter versions" since 2006, and this year's winter edition will take place at Lucerna Music Club, and it's next Friday!

The aim of the festival is to promote the restoration and maintenance of one of the oldest church in Central Europe, the Romanesque church of St. jednolodního tribunového. For this reason, the festival is named ROCK FOR CHURCH(ILL). Get it? No? It's meant to mean something like "Rock for sick Churches".

Still don't get it? Dude, you're slow!

There's still a few months left until the summer edition (from 28 to 29.08.2009) but you can start the warm up just in 2 days and support the Church, the ill and the music.

Prince Alfredo and the Warriors, JAH Atom Sound, MC Misho @ Chapeau Rouge

Alfredo is a skillful multi-instrumentalist musician who was born and raised in Congo but lived and was musically active also in Cape Town, South Africa.

After moving to Prague in 2006 Spring, he quickly adapted to the new musical scene, found the local musicians and established a music group under the name Prince Alfredo And The Warriors.

Alfredo wrote all songs and lyrics of which some were released in the format of CD in his former musical station. The songs flow in a catchy rhythm with more or less deep touch of Alfredo’s native african music language.

The band used to call their style as International Afro-Pop and Reggae.

Friday 27:

Vladimír Houdek: opening of the exhibition Jsem tvoje nálada (I am your mood) @ Galerie A.M. 180 (18:00)

until 10.03.2009

Vladimír Houdek is one of the young hopes of Czech painting, student of Vladimir Skrepl and Jiří Kovanda.

The following excerpt is from Jiří Kovanda, about this particular exhibition (translated to english via google translate; full czech version here)

One image

... Tears, tears of a long, long tears from your eyes to the ground, tears like a flood, as a waterfall, forest, deep forest, thicket, forests which men in the woods, four men in dark green woods, and over them glow, like a glow, gray glow, glow as fog, mist as a fuel, the largest of men, red and blue, hunkered down a little, maybe the fear, between two tribes (...)

Brooklyn Night: Tah Phrum Duh Bush (us) @ Pantheon (20:00)

On this Brooklyn night offered by Pantheon, NYC vibes are the main course and in particular the most urban, groovy hip-hop sounds. All the way from The Big Apple, Tah Phrum Duh Bush will represent just that.

And according to his myspace page, "Tah Phrum Duh Bush sounds like God and Satan at a cookout atop an iceberg floating in an ocean of lava eating Bar-B-Qed ice cream while engulfed in flames during an ice storm. People have said Tah is like a genetic experiment combining the Energy of the Roots, The rawness of Redman and the saavy of A Tibe Called Quest with the lyrical wizardry of Pharoe Monch."

Damien Mitchell exhibitions @ Orange Bar, Andalusky Pes

Once, while paiting jesus on the tv tower in Žižkov, Damien was caught. As part of the punishment he had to paint over it within 2 hours. With gaol (jail) and buggary as a promise, he went to got paint. But in such a short notice he was just able to get some interior white wash, which covered it for a while. But jesus was persistent and with the rain and snow (and maybe some divine help, after all we're talking about jesus) it washed off and jesus was revealed once more!

He works with stencils, collages and urban inspiration.

He's also connected to the Guerrilla Gallery in Prague and his art is spread all over the city.

This is the opportunity to see several of his artworks together in the same place. Don't miss it!

Saturday 28:

The Amateurs, Klika, Cilek Aromali Kremali Biskuvi, Krocan Orchestra @ Chapeau Rouge (20:30)

The word Amateur comes from French, and can be translated as “lover of”, reflecting the amateur’s motivation to work as a result of a love or passion for a particular activity.

The Amateurs owe their humble beginnings to performing with Robert Plant on his 2005 ‘Tsunami Relief’ project, playing shows around the Midlands raising money for the charity.
Their debut single Homesick is released 2nd March 2009 preceded by a host of gigs around the UK and Prague. The 4-piece have been working with London producers The Animal Farm to create 3 glorious tracks.

"Homesick is a song that just oozes commercial success and The Amateurs are surely now set to move it on to the next level”
- Loz, Kerrang! Radio

Bohemian Like You:Shooting Spires (us), Popper-C, Urxin Sisters @ 007 (19:30)

Shooting Spires is the bedroom art-pop project of BJ Warshaw, bassist and vocalist for Parts & Labor. Retreating from the Brooklyn stalwarts and their extroverted noise-punk, his self-titled debut album is an agoraphobic mix of soaring choruses and tormented electronics, fueled on Brian Eno, Boredoms and Peter Gabriel. Warshaw showcases his ability to harness drone, noise, tweaked electronics and singed circuits: the violent hum of Sunroof! juxtaposed against hooks catchy enough for fans of TV on the Radio.

Warshaw fuses off-kilter electronic beats, oscillator blips, glitchy loops, toy keyboards, distorted guitars, saxophone, drums and found percussion. All of this is the therapeutic underscore to lyrics about failed relationships (Embers), redemption in the face of seemingly inescapable cycles (Quarantine), the persistent threat of personal and global catastrophe (Alive And Well) and finding solace in decay (Right).

Akropolismultimediale 2009: Modeselektor, Pfadfinderei @ Palác Akropolis (19:30)

Modeselektor is an electronic music band formed in Berlin, featuring Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary. The group draws heavily from IDM, glitch, electro and hip hop. Modeselektor produces all its material with self-developed software in Max/MSP and MIDI controllers.

The group members met in 1992 in Berlin with group member Szary performing live acid house music at illegal underground parties. Both soon joined forces and began creating music under the moniker Fundamental Knowledge. In 1996 the group renamed to Modeselektor, a name taken from a function on the Roland RE-201 Space Echo analog delay effects unit.

Modeselektor is a favourite group of Thom Yorke (Radiohead frontman), who has recommended their albums in interviews and included the song Silikon (from their 2005 LP Hello Mom! and featuring vocalist Sasha Perera) in a publicly available iTunes playlist.

Sunday 1:

The Ocean (de), Burst (sw), Medeia, Bison B.C. @ Exit (19:00)

Feel the need to bang your head? Black is your color?

Well, Exit has what you need!

A night dedicated to heavy, progressive sounds!

With The Ocean Collective (usually referred to as »The Ocean«). The experimental rock band from Berlin, Germany that combines elements of modern hardcore and technical metal with classical music and electronic soundscapes. The band often describes its sound as »ambient soundtrack doomrock«.

And swedish pearl, Burst; rock without age, metal without spikes, progression without beards, melodic without complacency. Tastefully experimental, abrasive, atmospheric, harmonious, offering blunt force, warm soundscapes and somber moods.
Descriptions and metaphors are in abundance for Bursts surprisingly accessible musical language.
Yet somehow, never right on the money.

Son Ambulance (us) @ 007 (19:30)

Son Ambulance is an American indie rock band based in Omaha, Nebraska, United States which formed around 2000. They are signed to the Saddle Creek label. Lead singer/songwriter Joe Knapp appeared on albums of other bands, such as Fevers and Mirrors by Bright Eyes, before releasing Son, Ambulance’s debut album — a split with Bright Eyes called Oh Holy Fools. Since then, they have released three more albums: Euphemystic (2001) and Key (2005), and, most recently, Someone Else’s Deja Vu (2008). Other credited musicians for Son, Ambulance include Robert Little on bass, Jeff Koster on drums, Jeff Tafolla on keyboards, James Cuato on saxophone, and Daniel Knapp on piano/keyboards. Jenna Morrison provides backing vocals on many tracks.

Monday 2:

Incognito (uk) @ Lucerna

Incognito are a British band, widely regarded as one of the key members of the acid jazz movement. Their first album, Jazz Funk, was released in 1981, with twelve further albums following, the last of which, Tales From The Beach, was released on May 2008.
Throughout the band’s history, it has been led and driven by composer, producer, guitarist and singer Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick. Other notable band members have included the singers Maysa, Jocelyn Brown and Carleen Anderson.

From an early age, the UK live scene was a key inspiration for Bluey, having moved to London from his native Mauritius aged ten.

Cro-Mags (us), Strenght Approach (it) @ Exit

The Cro-Mags were formed in New York City in the early eighties. The band, which had a strong cult following, released many records, their first two considered the most influential. They were among the first bands to fuse hardcore punk with thrash metal and were associated with the birth of a tougher attitude within the hardcore scene in the late 1980s. They were also one of the first hardcore punk bands associated with the Hare Krishna movement.

Tuesday 3:

Opening: Bad Times / Good Times @ Futura (18:00)

Exhibition dates: 4.3.–19.4.2009

Curator: Matei Bejenaru /RO/
Participating artists: Luchezar Boyadjiev /BG/, Ştefan Constantinescu /S/RO/, Cristina David /RO/, Veaceslav Druţă /F/MD/, Nikoleta Marković /SRB/, Aurelia Mihai /D/RO/, Vlad Nancă /RO/, Dumitru Oboroc /RO/MD/, Danilo Prnjat /SRB/, Ştefan Rusu /MD/RO/

From Futura press-release:

If you ask an average Romanian student about the capital of Macedonia, very probably, he/she will not be able to give you an answer. If, by chance, you are having coffee in a street cafe in Banja Luka and you ask a Serbian waiter to name a Romanian city – except Bucharest or Timişoara – you will most likely get no answer… Despite the fact that they belong to a similar cultural space, these countries are separated by visible and invisible barriers. From a Western perspective, the Balkan region is unstable, chaotic, corrupted, insecure, disorganized… It has to be stabilized for its own safety. With the exception of the Catholic countries in the North-West, which are more “westernised”, the others belong to a different world, which didn’t have the historical accumulations of the West: Renaissance, Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution. The consolidation of nation states is very complicated, especially in the former Yugoslav countries. The construction of the self is different, and so is social life, the territory is differently (dis)organized, respect for the norms, organizational culture and civic spirit are different. According to Weber's work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, human institutions were not shaped by inevitable materialism, as Marx had argued, but by religious ideals and ideas which could not be reduced to material causation.

Wednesday 4:

Yvonne Sánchez @ Černá Labuť

Yvonne Sánchez didn’t mean to be a jazz singer, but destiny has brought her down this path. This Polish-Cuban jazz vocalist, with her honey-smooth voice, has wooed audiences across the world. Having performed briefly as a percussionist with some of the top musicians in her native Poland, including Jozef Skrezek, she moved to Germany and left music behind her. In 1994 she moved to Prague where she met the saxophonist Mike Tramonte and the guitarist Max Voegler who helped her discover her hidden voice.

Within months Sánchez had become a staple of the Prague jazz scene, playing with the country’s top musicians including bassist Robert Balzar, pianist Jan “Najponk” Knop and saxophonist Karel Ruzicka, Jr. Her repertoire spaned jazz standard by Duke Ellington, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, to the Bossa Nova sounds of António Carlos Jobim.

Viral of the week:

To honor an icon that touched many with his music, style and charisma.

The world's stages will miss you but your work will forever be remembered.

Rock on!

R.I.P. Lux Interior (The Cramps)

21.10.1946 - 04.02.2009

"Hey I'm on my way, on a journey outta this world..." *

*from the lyrics of

Journey To The Center Of A Girl

The Cramps

Repeat Offenders

Every night

Happy hour @ Banditos 16:30 to 18:30 (2 for 1 cocktails, mixed drinks and shots, 25Kc beer, range of snacks all under 50Kc)

Mo/Po
Karaoke @ Blind Eye
Freestyle Open Mic @ Pantheon
Havana Night (alt. performances by Andre Sah or Pragoson) @ Popo Cafe Petl
Starter Live: Radiowave band competition @ XT3

Tu/Út
Rockabilly Party @ U Slaviku, Korunni 23
2 for Tuesday (2 for 1 cocktails) @ Jama Restaurace v Jame 7

We/St
Ladies Night @ Hush (7pm-9pm free wine for ♀)
Write or Die: Graffiti /Street Art @ Pantheon
Wed & Thu. Student Night @ Red Room

Fr/Pá
Dance fever @ Popo Cafe Petl
DNB @ Matrix
Nedelej Biograf! @ Styx Club

Sa/So
Jamaican Lounge @ Hush

Su/Ne
Open mic @ Red Room

Bigger, Better, Harder Stuff That Doesn't Suck 18_02-25_02

kate — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:43:22 -0500

Bigger, Better, Harder Stuff That Doesn't Suck 18_02-25_02

Tired of stuff that sucks? Well we gots the cure for whats ails ya.
Recommended Events Listings: In addition to a print magazine we are media sponsors for things of specific interest that happen to be a bit weird, marginal or under the radar.

Wednesday 18:

Tanya Tagaq (can) @ Palác Akropolis (20.00)
support Ridina Ahmedová

In just six short years, groundbreaking Inuk throat singer, Tanya Tagaq Gillis, has brought an ancient Inuit vocal game to the heights of the experimental music scene.

Tagaq makes music that is both decidedly unusual and universally appealing on a most primal level and performs an entirely new kind of vocal magic; her voice penetrates to the very core human emotion. Her innovative, solo style of throat singing seeks to push the boundaries of emotion and to express the primitive instincts she believes still reside deep within our flesh. She describes her evolution over the past six years as a process of going deeper and deeper into her performance to the point where she virtually “leaves her body” and lets the expression take over.

Why Democracy - Far East | Proč potřebujeme demokracii – Dálný východ @ MeetFactory (20:00)

Entry: 50kč

MeetFactory Film Club, in cooperation with the Goethe Institute Prague present the third of a set of five compositions focusing human rights issues.
The films will be screened in its original text with English subtitles.
Successful films from independent filmmakers from different countries around the world, including China, India, Japan, Egypt, Liberia, USA, Bolivia, Denmark, Pakistan and Russia.
The project aims to initiate a global discussion about democracy through documentary films.

Prosím volte mě / Please Vote For Me
Weijun Chen Denmark/China/ 2007/ 52 min.

Wuhan is a city in central China about the size of London, and it is here that director Weijun Chen has conducted an experiment in democracy. A 3rd year class at Evergreen Primary School had their first encounter with democracy, by holding an election to select a Class Monitor. Eight-year olds compete against each other for the coveted position, abetted and egged on by teachers and doting parents. Elections in China take place only within the Communist Party, but recently millions of Chinese voted in their version of Pop Idol. The purpose of Weijun Chen’s experiment is to determine how – if democracy came to China – it would be received. Is democracy a universal value that fits human nature? Do elections inevitably lead to manipulation? Please Vote for Me is a portrait of a society and a town through a school, its children and its families.

Campaign! The Kawasaki Candidate / Kampaň / Senkyo
Kazuhiro Soda / Japan, USA / 2007 / 53 min.

Can a candidate with no political experience and no charisma win an election? Perhaps - if he is backed by political giant, Prime Minister Koizumi and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). In the fall of 2005, 40-year-old self-employed Kazuhiko “Yama-san” Yamauchi’s peaceful, humdrum life was turned upside-down when Koizumi’s LDP party chose him at the last moment as its official candidate to run for a vacant seat on the Kawasaki City Council. With zero experience in politics, no charisma, no supporters, and no electorate, Yama-San has one week to prepare for a critical election to the future of the LDP. Adhering to the campaign tactic of “bowing to everybody, even to telephone poles,” Yama-san visits local festivals, senior gatherings, commuter train stations, and even bus stops to offer his hand to everyone he encounters. Can he win this heated race? Campaign! The Kawasaki Candidate offers up a microcosm of Japanese democracy.

Tight Finks @ Cross Club (21:00)

A band of the Punk/Pop-Punk/Rock genre. Stylistically, they can be located among the end-70s low-budget combos from England: The Adicts, The Boys, The Vibrators, 999, Buzzcocks etc. Hence, they personify old-school Punkrock of the fresh and frisky kind! In actual fact, they were formed in 1987 and their home is Thun, in Switzerland. They've performed in the Czech Republic before, as well as in Germany, Austria and the Balkans. Their last tour was with The Adicts, taking in Poland, germany and Switzerland. Tight Finks offer euphoric and "tight" live shows to go off to or to simply hang out at with a cold beer in hand.

Thursday 19:

Křeslo pro hosta / Armchair Guest - Milena Dopitová (lecture, debate) @ MeetFactory (20:00)
Všechno se vrací, protože bloudí (All returns, as he passes)
Free entry

Since the early 90s Milena Dopitová created years of videos, photographs, objects and installations which often deals with intimate themes relating to human identity. Adolescence, aging, death, uncertainty, cruelty or violence presents a personal contribution, but also allows us to observe her work integrated into social and collective relations. Milena Dopitová’s work approaches more or less taboo topics, calling for a variety of interpretations.
Dopitová graduated from the Prague Academy of Fine Arts (1986 - 94) and is currently a professor at the Prague and Pilsen Umprum School of Art and Design, UWB.
This lecture/debate will present the main themes of Milena Dopitová’s work and she will accompany it with commentaries. The whole discussion is complemented by image and video documentation.

Agenda prepared Ondřej Horák.

Jana Kalinová - Life and work of Josef predator @ Nod

Exhibition runs until March 4th

The artist John Kalinova, in his post conceptual installations, designed alternative versions of our everyday, "normal" world. His utopian projects use fine of significant shifts and formal challenge to the current point of view seemingly banal fact.

Umělkyně Jana Kalinová ve svých postkonceptuálních instalacích konstruuje alternativní verzi našeho každodenního, „obyčejného“ světa. Její utopické projekty pomocí jemných významových a formálních posunů zpochybňují běžný úhel pohledu na zdánlivě banální skutečnosti.

Sunflower Caravan (cz) (Release Party) @ Roxy
special guest: The Ark DJs

Young trio from Prague which uses piano and hammond organ to play a mixture of soul grooves and pop melodies will present live their first official full album on the day of its release.
This show is not just a concert but a music party that celebrates the culmination of the band’s creative process over the past 7 years. For those who have never seen Sunflower Caravan perform live may have the impression that a purely instrumental band lacks some feeling and its live show would be a little static, but with Sunflower this doesn’t happen. Especially because of their frontman Andy who is an unbelievable performer that in every concert assures a unique poise that completes the group’s expressive dynamics. For this show is already certain that one of the two singers that were invited to collaborate in the record will be present, but there might be more surprises.

Saturday 21:

The Bronx (usa), Middle Class Rut (usa), Anyway (cz) @ 007 (19:00)

The American hardcore-punk triggered grenade The Bronx will be at legendary Klub 007 this Saturday to fill the audience with a little of the booze and dirty soppy rock'n'roll. The band is regarded as the greatest discovery of the hardcore-punk scene on the 21st century, and these views more clearly illustrated by the fact that the band was on the table offers from almost every major publishing house after its second performance. And when The Bronx perform, it hurts cuts and grinds.

Laundry Time - DJs Lillou, Clara Bailar, Vik @ Zero (22:00)

Featuring the acts of DJs Lillou, Clara Bailar and Vik, Zero bar will host a different party. Usually you dress-up when you go out on Saturday night but guessing by the name of this party you’d probably have to undress. This is a mere assumption of mine but if it’s true it should be fun, or at least interesting. So take out your dirty clothes (filth wise or sexy wise) and come to Zero to indulge in a wet soupy evening that will swirl your mind out.

Saturday 21 and Sunday 22:
Repetition: 2 – 3. 03

Muži malují / Men Painted @ MeetFactory (20:00)

Director: Michal Pěchouček, Jan Horák
Cast: Charles Good, Jan Lepšík, Eva Hromníková
Music: Petr Kofron
Sculptures by: Paul Karous
Sound: Roman Štětina

Art schools are a mess, maybe in much the same way they have been for centuries. Everyone wants to be a successful artist. Everyone wants to graduate. No-one wants to work. Men Painted, written especially for Meetfactory, deals with this question – and the questions of anxious parents who seem rather more concerned about their children’s futures than the children themselves. Written and directed by Michal Pěchouček, in his debut performance as a director.

Monday 23:

Next Life (nor), Upejr, Kombucha (cz), Yarrdesh (cz) @ Chapeau Rouge

Sometimes I come across with an assembly of words that are way too peculiar; therefore I have to share them.
So here’s a 2008 Next Life concert review by Jennie Hval, as seen on their myspace page.

"The show is a complete experience in the logics of seasickness: sickly colours, precise visuals, and this put to life through extremely precise, wild, innovative and hard-hitting music. It is as if a computer game has gone evil, taken elements from black metal and turned the volume up to way beyond maximum. I feel invaded, completely lost in the magic of this violence. No wonder people tend to throw up if they get too drunk before the band starts playing. Hard-hitting artwork will do that to you, even if it's disguised as a band..."

Pipes and Pints (cz/usa) @ La Putika

Pipes and Pints is more than a band. It’s a concept; Punk-rock and Highland bagpipes!

Pipes and Pints were formed in 2006 by Vojta Kalina (Highland Bagpipes/Vocals) with a dream of a band that combines punk-rock with dirty folk music such as The Pogues, and many friends and musicians went through it, before it settled down in august 2007 at five member crew: Lead Vox, Bass, Drums, Guitar and Great Highland Bagpipes. Besides their own music they also play some old traditional songs that were arranged with the Pipes punk-rock attitude.
Their live act is an ass-kicking experience that will certainly lift up your mood and make your heads bang without even realizing it.

Tuesday 24:

Maxïmo Park (uk) @ Roxy
support: Kill The Dandies (cz)

Maxïmo Park are an indie rock band hailing from various towns in North East England. Consisting of Paul Smith (vocals), Duncan Lloyd (guitar), Archis Tiku (bass guitar), Tom English (drums) and Lukas Wooller (keyboards), the band was originally formed as a four-piece in 2000, demonstrating versatility in a variety of musical genres, before Smith arrived as vocalist in 2003, signalling a new chapter in the life of the band. Their first release A Certain Trigger (2005) was played massively in clubs around the world and later nominated for the Mercury Prize, reinforcing their success in the international music scene.

Fast Food Orchestra (cz) + Mc/Dj Dr. Kary (cz) @ 007 (19:30)

Since their latest album "Urban Menu", the Fast Food Orchestra shifted to a more stylistic diversity, enriching the band’s sound with elements of reggae, dancehall, ragga, rocksteady, punk, hip-hop, pop or breakbeat.
For more than ten years they’ve performed in almost every corner of the Czech Republic, and also appearing frequently on stages of foreign clubs and festivals, creating a solid name and entertaining audiences with their good mood songs and addictive rythm, especially in Central Europe. If you’re into ska and you your legs to be constantly hopping, this is the place to be! And they are way better than fast food and great as an orchestra.

Wednesday 25:

"Victorious February of Radio Wave" or Kill SVOJE RADIO! @ Rimska 15, Prague 2 - in front of Czech Radio building (13.30 - before Council meeting)

To members of ANO/YES Radio Wave, NE/NO Czech Radio Council!
Come support the Radio Wave demonstration "Victorious February over Radio
Wave "or Kill SVOJE RADIO!
All participants of the demonstration should bring any kind of old radio. For who has no possibility to bring one, some will be distributed on the spot!

Log in here to take part in the demonstration on facebook.
Take 5 minutes to fill out this questionnaire designed to map public perception of young people among radio listeners.

Battle of the Wave is not yet lost! In the meantime, practice your fighting skills here.

Road Kill Zombies (de), Empty Trashcans Being Kicked (de) @ 007 (19:30)

Rock’n’roll punk made in Germany with steady beats alternated with blues harmony and powerful stoner rock guitar riffs. Perfect for a bike ride (leather jacket a must have) and to release the accumulated stress. Road Kill Zombies (the name) may sound like a horror B-Movie of the 80s or a video game of the 90s but they are the real deal; pure rock music that will blow your mind out!

Viral of the week

Our next issue is almost out in the streets and because we're focusing the theme "Waste" here's a video that shows just how the future of our planet (kids) are concerned with this subject.

The video may be old but its message echoes to the present and future.

Be inspired!

Repeat Offenders

Every night

Happy hour @ Banditos 16:30 to 18:30 (2 for 1 cocktails, mixed drinks and shots, 25Kc beer, range of snacks all under 50Kc)

Black Arts

kate — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:43:19 -0500

The sculpture “Entropa” by the Czech artist David Cerny – and the furore it has caused – reminds us of the power of good political art.
By Benjamin Tallis.

David Cerny is no stranger to controversy, although previously this has remained relatively local. Whether painting a Russian memorial tank pink as a send off to departing soviet soldiers or decorating the futuristic Prague TV Tower with faceless, climbing babies, Cerny has been one of Czech art’s most prominent provocateurs. Now, having duped the Czech government that has recently taken over the presidency of the EU, he has generated a trans-European controversy which has enraged officials and energised the often soporific corridors of the EU.

Playing on the Czech word for Europe (Evropa) and the concept of Entropy, Cerny was supposed to be co-ordinating a government funded project bringing together artists from each of the 27 EU member states to mark the Czech presidency. Playing on the EU slogan of ‘United in Diversity’, each country is presented as a snap-out piece from a self-assembly Europe kit, with the artists riffing on national stereotypes and prejudices. This elicited mixed reactions, with some praising the candour of the piece, while others objected that it merely reinforced prejudices and played up to cheap notions of each member state. However, when it became apparent that, despite the carefully composed biographies, websites and other props, the artists were actually fictional creations and the whole process had been engineered by Cerny and his team, the sparks really started to fly.

Click here for full original article.

Cerny: I thought someone would find out sooner

kate — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:43:17 -0500

(original article from the Prague Daily Monitor)

by Jiří Peňás

Artist David Černý says he himself is curious what will happen next. He surprised Europe with a work of art that proved to be a big hoax. The provocative sculpture that was installed at the European Council headquarters was presented as the joint effort of 27 European artists. The day after its installation, it became apparent that the harsh caricatures of EU countries were created by David Černý and several of his friends.

After the revelation, David Černý released a press statement in which he apologised to the Czech government. In an interview with the online daily Týden.cz, the artist gives us his take on the recent developments surrounding the controversial sculpture.

Are you flying to Brussels tomorrow [Thursday] to unveil your sculpture?
I will have to.

What do you think you can expect?
I'm curious myself.

What will happen? You will remove the drape, drink champagne?
No, I'll plug the cord into an electrical socket. I really don't know what will happen.

Will Saša Vondra [Czech deputy prime minister] be there?
I think so.

Is Saša Vondra talking to you? Has he called you since you told him that situation is "different from what he thought it was for the last year and half"?
We haven't talked since then.

Do you think you'll be on speaking terms again?
I hope so, of course. I like him. I have nothing against him. He might have something against me now, though. I hope that when he calms down, he will look at it differently and understand that it's not so bad.

Click here for full original article.

More about this subject in Czech here.

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