Daguerreotypes in the 21st century

I’m super jealous. The Daguerreian Society is having their annual symposium in Philly in November. Sarah Weatherwax, the Curator of Prints and Photographs at The Library Company of Philadelphia, has curated a show of Daguerreotypes in Philadelphia, 1839-1860: Casting a Shadow.

They have a ton of speakers, tours of Project Basho, the community darkroom in Philly.  They’ll talk about restoring Daguerreotypes and there will be a place to buy your very own. If you’re in Philly, Takashi Arai’s first US show of Daguerreotypes he took in Japan are on view at Project Basho, called Flawless Lakes, through January 17th.

Gorgeous! How I wish I could make my own Dagurerreotypes! I could if I went to Takashi’s Daguerreotype workshop on November 7th at Project Basho. The following week he’ll be on a panel discussion with other contemporary practitioners.

So, so cool. I hope this trend of 19th century photography in the modern day continues. It looks soooo much better than digital, and has a craft to it. Take that computers!

No Man’s Land

Two of my favorite photographers–Bonnell Robinson and Dana Mueller team up to show work in their show at the Art Institute of Boston’s Gallery at University Hall in Porter Square in Cambridge, Mass.  Bonnell’s work focuses on the Western and Italian Fronts of the Great War (1914-1918), including stops in my homeland of Slovenia. Dana’s work is of former German prisoner-of-war camps in the US (1942-1945).  Didn’t know the US had German POW camps? I didn’t either until I stayed in one that is now a campground/shooting range in Laurel, Montana.  So, go to the opening of No Man’s Land on Thursday, November 5th, meet two of the loveliest women you’ll ever encounter, marvel at their work, and tell me all about it, because, alas, I’m still not in Boston. Ah well.

If this inspires you to want to learn from these photographic gurus, they’re involved in the Camera Eye Workshops, a set of classes by working artists, critiques, field trips, and most importantly, access to some of the most talented, kind, and amazing teachers in…America? The world? The universe?

Luis Gonzalez Palma at The Art Institute of Boston Gallery

Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. Ohhh if I was only in Boston, I’d be oogling this every day.  You only have through October 25th to get down there, see these photographs and congratulate the curators on another show well done. Thanks AIB Gallery curators! You know who you are and you are glorious.

This show is at both of their sites: Boston and Cambridge.  Hierarchies of Intimacy is making me want to be in Boston this fall.

If you want to see more of Luis Gonzalez Palma’s work, check out his website here.

I’ve been a big fan of his work for years, hope he has a show in the little ol’ Twin Cities soon. Or sometime during my lifetime.

Spirit Photography at AS220

Rhode Island has AS220’s Paul Krot Community Darkrooms for all their community darkroom needs.  In the spirit of Halloween, they’re holding a portrait event where you can pose with a ghost of your choice. Spirit photography used to be something that actually happened–photographers exploiting their scientific skills and the public’s confusion about how photography actually worked.

Here’s a supposed picture of Mary Lincoln and her ghostly husband:

Anyway, AS220 is giving you, oh scaredy-cats, to take home a picture of yourself with a ghost, and learn how to take your own spirit pictures. Fun!

The Spirit World

New Orleans Photo Alliance just opened a show entitled “The Spirit World”–a national juried show about spirits, the supernatural, unearthly; basically the feel of Nola encapsulated in photographs. You know how I feel about spirit photographs. Love them! Love that they continued to be considered, even if it does have to be around Halloween/All Saints Day/Dia de los Muertos. At least they’re getting their time in the sun, or in this case, their time in the ether, or misty midnight. Through November 22nd, if you’re around.
I do not feel good about juried shows tho. I don’t want to pay money to have the opportunity to show my work. I don’t have the cash. Ahhh!!

New Orleans Photo Alliance is an awesome artist-run collective dedicated to photography. They’ve got a lot going on and I’m super jealous I can’t be a part of it. Ah well.

Tupac’s academic papers

Well, maybe not academic, but the Tupac Amarau Shakur Foundation and Tupac’s mother donated his papers (I hope some rolling papers made it in there) to the Robert W. Woodruff Library of the Atlanta University Center.

Here’s an article about it.

I bet Tupac never considered nerdy-cute archivists would be creating finding aids and cataloging his work. But it’s happening, so if you want to do some scholarly research about Tupac, or my favorite song, “Gangsta Party”, you know where to do it.

Art 21

Is on Hulu! (Why does everyone call it Hula?) Anyway, if you don’t know, Art 21 is a tv show that focuses on contemporary US artists. The episodes have themes like “paradox”, “romance”, “protest”, etc. Yay!

Here’s Art 21’s PBS site.

Expect Carrie Mae Weems, Cindy Sherman, Laylah Ali, Eleanor Antin, Ann Hamilton, Sally Mann.

I just named some of my favorites, and oh! They all happen to be women.

If you love art, are an art student and want to sound extra erudite, or just want to watch something that is not brainless, check it out.

Transgender Resource Collection

The Oak Park Public Library in Illinois just created the “first focused transgender resource collection in a public library in the United States”. Hooray!

Their website includes a local trans resources, reading lists, and of course, a searchable catalog.  This is seriously breaking news. I’m really tired, but in other trans news, I met Buck Angel this weekend! I sat on his lap, got a picture taken with him and signed. He is totally sweet. I was star struck. He was at the Smitten Kitten. Love that place, and love what we do there!

De-o-der-ant Con-spir-acy

BEWARE!

Old Spice Red Zone -scent-After Hours will suck you in! Will burn your skin! Will make yr armpits turn red and peel! Yes. It happened to me. Since Sassy Magazine isn’t around anymore, I’ll write my own It Happened to Me column.

I wish the technology was invented already that will let you call up a smell–a smell library or database I guess it would be–for you to smell this deodorant because it’s really good. Anyway–I don’t know what I was thinking, it was a weak moment. So stay away I advise you. Also when I wrote to Old Spice to let them know what their product had done to me and they said sorry and basically told me mine was a freakish happening and sent me two coupons for more Old Spice deodorants or body sprays, which I really don’t understand the point of.  Is it a cheap cologne?

I’ve noticed that sugar and dairy are really bad for me too.

Oh Sassy. Hey Google! Get on digitizing all the issues! Someone’s put some Sassy selections online, thank you, not scanned or anything, but at least it’s there.

I would like to access issues without going to the U of MN library, which thank you, is open until at least 10 at night, so you can make it a real party. Now all you’ve got to do is check the periodical stacks under S and you’ll find them. Start from the beginning, and see how shitty it gets after Teen buys them, in February of 1996.

Finally, I wish that Nancy Drew Crew was still around to sing to us.

The Old, Weird America

This keeps coming up and I’m not even looking for it. Yesterday it came up when I was finishing Hubert’s Freaks. Today it came up when I looked on the Decordova’s site and found this amazing show I wish I could see:

The Old, Weird America: Folk Themes in Contemporary Art through September 7th, if you’re in Mass.

This is a still from Jeremy Blake’s 2002 video Winchester, which is about the Winchester mansion in California. I feel like I saw this at Mass Art for some occult-like show.

My favorites, McDermott and McGough are showing some of their painting (I think their photography is much more exquisite, but didn’t fit this theme,ah well).

Also, a 2001 piece by Margaret Kilgallen, pretty much the best ever.

The Old, Weird America was a book by Greil Marcus about Bobby Dylan and the Band’s Basement Tapes. This show was curated by Minneapolis’s own Colleen Sheehy and LA’s Michael Duncan. I want to see the catalog on this one. I love all the Decordova does, including existing.