james squared.

James 1: Below are pictures from James Turrell's Stone Sky (2005) in which one submerges themselves underwater to emerge in one of Turrell's site specific Skyspaces. Um, can you say AMAZING?







all photography © florian holzherr
via stonescape.us

James 2: I recently read this article by Professor James Abruzzo about leadership deficits in the arts community and the socio-political/economic conditions surrounding them. Sometimes academic writing fails to examine the underlying sources of a problem and providing attainable solutions to them, but Mr. Abruzzo does so in a way that is accessible and clearly written. This is an excellent read for anyone interested in taking a position in the arts.

Anna Pavlova

I have been thinking about dance 24/7

Zine Submissions

WAD is looking for submissions for our first zine. We want to involve all of you creative woman out there!

There is no specific focus, but it will be in b&w with a riot grrrl/diy feel. We are looking for art, music, short stories, rambling, lists, anything you would like to share!
Hopefully we can get enough music submissions to release a tape or cd along with each copy.

Looking to have submissions in by our next group meeting on April 13th (but please let me know if you need a bit more time).


Questions and Submissions to:
Felishaanabeth@gmail.com

Thanks!

WORK.PLACE

Check out Carlie's website, Work.Place. She has been working hard on it and all of us here at WAD are proud of her!

"work.place is a documentary of Portland creativity facilitated by local photographer, Carlie Armstrong. The aim of work.place is to understand creative processes and the places that contain them.
We also hope to inform - by displaying the work of some of the most talented artists, musicians, designers, and craftspeople in this great city."


If you check in the about section you will see she is working with only film. If you have a few extra bucks, click the donation button to help her with costs.


Gary Robbins of Container Corps




Elizabeth Jaeger




Shawn Creeden


work.place!

Cindy Sherman!

Cindy Sherman was a pioneer in photography and art who dealt directly with the male gaze vs. female gaze.

Here is her series "Untitled Film Stills" from the late 1970's.

In the mid-late 1980's she did a series called "Fairy Tales and Disasters," a look at the violence and the grotesque within fairy tale stories. (for you Hannah and Courtney!)

Laura Mulvey also had some cool things to say about Cindy Sherman:

A Phantasmagoria of the Female Body

Pink Sari Gang!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7068875.stm

This gang of women in pink saris, or the Gulabi Gang find people abusing women and peasants and beat the shit out of them. That's cool, and they look good.

relations in admiration and interpretation.

Marina Abramovic is one of the most well known female artists in contemporary art. Her recent retrospective at MoMA has received coverage from the likes of Artforum and the New York Times, and spawned humorous blogs like Marina Abramovic Made Me Cry. None of which has come unwarranted, Marina is one of the most charismatic and influential artists today.





Upon being introduced to Ms. Abramovic's work I was immediately inspired by the tests of endurance and interaction between artist and viewer in her performances. Another aspect of Abramovic's work that I have always found compelling is that she has never identified herself (or her work) to be feminist. While I do not intend to negate readings of Abramovic's work within the framework of feminist discourse I feel that her decision to do so opens up discussions on tendencies to label artwork made by women as inherently "feminist." That said it appears that use of her body within her work is more about the body as a metonym for human experience. But I digress, this post was mostly made so I could post an interview I found between her and Laurie Anderson.

You can read it here.

Coal Mining Diva.

Precursor to GAGA?

This is so sad/pretty.

Brazilian artist Nele Azevedo created hundreds of sitting figures out of ice. The installation lasted till the last one melted in the heat of the day.

Maya Deren

"What is little known is that Deren was also a dancer, choreographer, poet, writer and photographer. In the cinema she was a director, writer, cinematographer, editor, performer, entrepreneur and pioneer in experimental filmmaking in the United States. Like Jean-Luc Godard and Sergei Eisenstein, Maya Deren was both a film theorist and a filmmaker. Unlike these luminaries, Deren’s writing remains relatively obscure in film theory and her films are rarely screened outside of experimental or feminist film courses."

"Rhythm is a defining element of all of Deren’s films, it arises from the play of repetition and variation which is integral to her experiments in narrative. Meshes deploys an innovative style of cutting on action where the protagonist steps over such disparate terrains as the beach, soil, grass and concrete. The rhythmic drumbeat and the repeated movement highlight her deliberate progress across these discontinuous spaces. As the central, consistent element, Ito’s soundtrack enables Deren’s temporal and spatial experimentation."

Your Eyes Speak Volumes

Clip from the 1966 French Film, Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?. A satire on the fashion world written and directed by William Klein.

Yayoi Kusama

The Gleaming Lights of the Souls, 2008

Fireflies on the Water, 2002




Narcissus Garden, 1966




"If it were not for art, I would have killed myself a long time ago."

Vanessa Bruno Fashion Videos

Not very much into the clothing that Vanessa Bruno creates. It is beautiful, just not my style. But, Vanessa Bruno plus Lou Doillon plus Stephanie Di Giusto is the best combination!

Stephanie Di Giusto

FLOWERS OF EVIL

Ruth White

"She became a synth/synthesized music pioneer who composed avant garde electronic music combined with song and poetry in the late 1960s and the 1970s. Her electronic works were performed on a Moog synthesizer. In the 1970s she founded The Electronic Music Association along with Paul Beaver."



Some recitation of Baudelaire's poetry accompanied by her Moog..haaaaaunting!
Flowers Of Evil-1969

Labiaplasty

LABIAPLASTY: Hungry Beast, ABC1 from Ali Russell on Vimeo.

All i can think is OUCH, WHY?! I could go on and on as to why I am against this, but I think it is ridiculously obvious.

Enough Rope

Poppy Z. Brite


"In my dreams, I have a dick. Not in all of them, only in the good ones. Not just for a day, but for always."


Enough Rope