It's time for another Art Party! Hosted at Branx, this monthly series brings together experimental music and a slew of art installations and performances. With April's showcase, the IPRC's own A.M. O'Malley and Brook Dillon will show off new works of photography. Kathleen Keogh and White Rainbow will also perform alongside Tunnels and Sexual Champions.
I hear there will also be a portrait photobooth-rad!
For more information, hit up their facebook event's page!
Tonight the folks over at Deep Leap promise an evening of visionary, experimental film, with added performances from Portland's Why I Must Be Careful, and Seattle-based poet, Brandon Shimoda. Deep Leap is also responsible for a zine, with two wonderfully curated issues so far. To be apart of the third, email 'em for the prompt!
The DEEP LEAP MICROCINEMA is programmed by local video artist and curator Jesse Malmed.
More information!
Em Space, the wonderful book arts center located at the mouth of the SE Springwater Corridor has announced new workshops! They are offering some really in-depth workshops from longstitch binding to leather inlay and onlay!
Check 'em out here!
Emily Kendal Frey and Zachary Schomburg will be reading from their collaborative book of poetry April 2nd at Ampersand, a shop specializing in both vintage print and art books. Definitely worth a trip up to Alberta!
Here's what they're sayin' about the event: "Prepare to be charmed! If you are not charmed, you will be skinned alive!" Sweet!
Pow Wow Print is teaming up with Homeschool to celebrate new work by Jane Zemel and John Voves! Wonderful prints by Kristen Flemington, and Homeschool co-founder, J. Hirsch will also be on hand.
Homeschool is a nomadic shop honoring cheap, affordable art, without sacrificing quality. The lovely ladies behind the night promise print-on-demand, and a photobooth to boot!
For more information on Homeschool, leap over to their website!
The MCL is putting out a call to zinesters who have been financially helped by the Zine Library, either through thier purchase of your zine or the Zinesters Talking Series. They are looking for a paragrah or two describing your experience with the library. In a letter to the community, Cathy Camper writes "We hope to verify in writing that the money the Zine Library Group is putting back into our county is helping sustain the economics of the creative community."
With the help of your testimonials, the Zine Library is hoping to transform into a wonderful resource during this time of economic crisis, and are planning a program to find employment for people!
Please send testimonials by April 15th to cathyc(at)multcolib.org
Mia Nolting, who has recently beautified the IPRC addition with her mural, along with Aidan Koch, who is responsible for the Nurses album art, will be having an opening this Thursday in honor of new drawings! The drawings explore the history gardens as enclosures, and should be really beautiful! Hazel Rickard will also be performing.
The show will be held at the Together Gallery.
Pinball Publishing is looking for an intern! The position would start pretty immediately and would have you in their lovely offices 8-10 hours a week. Most duties would include amping up their rad blog, CoinOp, and general offices tasks. The folks over there are truly wonderful, so if you have an interest in design/marketing, this would be a great foot in the door!
For more information, hit up their website! To apply, send your resume and a few writing samples to nicole(at) pinballpublishing.com, they'll be accepting applications a bit longer!
Legendary couple, Fred and Toody Cole of Dead Moon are set to speak at the next installation of Northwest Passage! Sharing with us almost 50 years of rock n' roll history, from opening for the Doors, to forming Dead Moon, to their still-killin'-it band, Pierced Arrows, the whole night will be dedicated to their story. They've also hinted at a performance from a special secret guest after the talk!
The event will be held at the Waypost again, so snag tickets early as the venue is both intimate and small! Head over to the Dill Pickle Club for more information!
Our very own volunteers, Amelia Harnas and Jeffery Diteman will be releasing a full length album! As part of the RPM Challenge, where participants create a whole album in one month, the areyoumadatme?s will showcase their speedy work this Thursday at the Waypost. Congratulations guys, on seeing it through!
Here's a little preview
This Thursday, Container Corps out on Killingsworth will be holding an art opening and book release for Nick Abraham. The book is entitled "If This is You, Please Don't Sue," and is a collection of fantastic drawings. Both the book and prints of his work will be on hand to ogle at!
The Container Corps is a relatively new publication studio and art press, so definitely go check out their digs. For more low down, head to their website.
We are so lucky to have Gordon Edgar stop by this Sunday to read from his new book Cheesemonger and share some of his favorite cheeses. Edgar is a long time activist and resident cheese aficionado at Rainbow Grocery in SF. I recently chatted with him in anticipation for his reading. Cheesemonger is both informative and charming, as is Edgar himself, so definitely head to the shop this Sunday!
How would you describe the growing cheese movement, an expanding number of people interested in cheese, people experimenting with different cultures?
In my 15+ years of cheese work the interest has really exploded. It seems a lot like the beginnings of the craft beer/microbrew era where all of a sudden questions I get asked went from very basic to extremely esoteric. American cheesemaking has exploded. The first year I went to the American Cheese Society Conference I think there were a couple hundred cheeses in the cheese competition. Last year there were 1300! Oregon is actually a particular hotbed. Tami Parr does a good job of chronicling this on her blog, the Pacific Northwest Cheese Project http://pnwcheese.typepad.com/
Is SF in particular a hotbed for this growing interest in cheese?
I think so. It's a "foodie" town because of its long history of food activists and hedonism. We also have amazing distribution and are able to get -- far more easily than some cities -- a wide variety of cheese.
For someone who isn't a connoisseur of cheese, diving in might seem overwhelming, where do you suggest people start?
Go to a place where they sell a lot of cheese and ask for a taste of whatever they have behind the counter. If they are rude to you, go someplace else and try again. Or, you can go into a store (or cheese bar) and say, "I like sharp cheddar, what should I try next?" Any good cheese seller will be happy to help!
You say you began knowing next to nothing, what moment sparked your need to know more/discover the world of artisan cheeses?
Tasting a year-old Gruyere (Swiss mountain cheese) and realizing how amazing and complex food could be. A lot of people who work in food have their moments and that was mine. It's like when you have your first good beer or decent coffee. It awakens the senses and it made me want to explore.
You've corrected the description "punk activist", saying that you are more post-punk than anything, can you elaborate briefly on your roots in activism and how they've evolved and translated to where you are today?
Really I was correcting "former punk" and jokingly said that I'd rather be called "post punk", mostly because that Rough Trade era of punk is my favorite. I was always more interested in the political end of punk rock and that led me (in the '80s) to anti-apartheid, anti-intervention in Central America, and pro-reproductive rights activism. Through those political collectives I became interested in worker cooperatives and got a job at Rainbow Grocery Cooperative. That's where I found cheese.
I hear there have been cheese samples on your tour so far, what kind of treat can we look forward to?
We have an assortment of things, I'm packing the cooler right now! We have some Rogue Creamery Blues and Cheddars from up your way, some Harley Farms fresh goat cheese with edible flowers (hella pretty!), a Gouda from Wisconsin with nettles, a sweet Cheddar from Iowa, and an oozy, mild French Brie.
interview by Anika Sabin
Hey! Did you know March is Small Press Month? It's true, and the folks behind it all have got quite a line-up of events in store. Sponsored by the the New York Center for Independent Publishing, IndieBound, and the Association for American Publishers among others, the events are widespread across the nation and diverse in topic. Keep your eyes especially open for the Canarium Books tour as they make their way north from Los Angeles and through the midwest.
Check out the March is Small Press Month website for the full-breadth of events.
A librarian at the Central Branch of Multnomah County Library has put together a wonderful site of custom bound books currently circulating in their collection. Up until the early 80s the Library Association operated its own bindery and Steal This Library is documenting these gems through stark photographs. From periodicals, to reference books to sets of books, you'll see beautiful renditions that mark the passing, but still avid appreciation of mainstream custom book binds.
Every second Thursday the Portland Art Museum invites an artist to speak about a few pieces from the permanent collection, and this upcoming Thursday we have Matthew Stadler to look forward to! He'll be giving a tour centered around two paintings: Mark Tobey's Western Town, 1944, and Whiting Tennis' Bitter Lake Compound, 2007. Both paintings address urban environments and growth within the context of their respective time periods.
Matthew Stadler is a novelist and editor here in Portland and is known most recently to have opened up the Publication Studio, a pop-up, print-on-demand bookshop across the way from Reading frenzy. Stadler's work has also appeared in Frieze and ArtForum, among others!
Chicago's first ever Zine Fest is less than a week away! If you are even remotely in the midwestern region, I suggest high-tailing it over to the windy city for an overwhelming mix of workshops, panels and tables upon tables of self-publishing zinesters. Check out the full breadth of events on their website!
Reading Local and the Writer's Dojo in St.Johns have teamed up to bring you a wonderful night of entertainment to benefit relief in Haiti. Kevin Sampsell and Ariel Gore, among other Portland greats, will give readings; and a few of Mercy Corps finest will also be on hand to share their experiences rebuilding Haiti. To round out the night acoustic duo Sweeter than Later will perform!
Suggested donation is $10 and includes participation in a raffle.
More information is at Reading Local.
The wondrous Dill Pickle Club has teamed up with PDX Pop Now! to present a slew of lecture series this spring, beginning March 11th with Northwest Passage. The night, hosted by the Waypost, will focus on the rich history of independent music in our region, and includes a vegetarian dinner. Later this spring we'll hear from Fred and Toody of Dead Moon and Clavin Johnson among other greats! But till then, here's the equally awesome line-up for next Thursday!
"A Life in Soul"/ URAL THOMAS/ Longtime Portland R & B and soul singer
"Rock n' Roll, Race & Poster Art"/ JOE KREGAL/ Slide lecture of 60s/ 70s Portland rock posters w/ music clips
"Hippies, psychedelics and the 60s Portland folk/ acid rock scene"/ VALERIE BROWN/ Writer and cultural historian
Guest interviewer ERIC ISAACSON/ Founder and proprietor of Mississippi Records
For more information and in-depth presenter biographies, hit up their website!
Amidst the First Thursday hubbub, you should definitely try to stop by the IPRC's unveiling of the Yeti Research Station tonight! Director Justin Hocking was mysteriously moving large pieces of wood into the building yesterday, and rumor has it the staff has erected a tree in celebration of the event! A slew of wonderful artists will also be showing off their own renditions of the man-beast!
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