October 2010 Archives

CLOSING PARTY/PERFORMANCE/ART TALK/ SPOOKTACULAR

with MICKEY ZACCHILLI & NATALJA KENT

AS220 PROJECT SPACE 

5:30 p.m. till 8 p.m.

AS220's Events For Friday, October 29th-Friday November 5th

Friday, October 29, 2010 / 9pm / $6
Dangerchunks, Radio Guru, Miss Geo & The Metrics, and Homewreckers

Saturday, October 30, 2010 / 2-4pm / $3 individual or $8 per family
Urban Barn Dance

Saturday, October 30, 2010 / 4-7pm Free
Irish Traditional Music

Saturday, October 30, 2010 / 9pm / $6
Franntastic Presents: Phillip Greenlief / Karen Fox / Tim Perkis, Alec K. Redfearn & Orion Rigel Dommisse, Work/Death, Dear Hearts, and Nicotina & the Legs

Sunday, October 31, 2010 AKA HALLOWEEN / 9pm / $6
Great Smokey, Lulled, MGB, and Ocean Born Muse

Monday, November 1, 2010 / Closed

Tuesday, November 2, 2010 / 6-8:30 pm / $6
Life Drawing

Tuesday, November 2, 2010 / 9:30pm / $6
Big Dirty Nelson, Andy Suhre, and Whisperians

Wednesday, November 3, 2010 / 5:30-7pm / Free
DC401 Meeting

Wednesday, November 3, 2010 / 7-8:30pm / Free
Author Talk with Tricia Shapiro

Wednesday, November 3, 2010 / 9:30pm / $6
Mr. Slugg, Player 2, and Turkey Shoot

Thursday, November 4, 2010 / 5-7pm / Free
First Wave Urban Arts Initiative* Info Session
*An initiative that provides 4-year scholarships to U. of Wisconsin to hip hop, spoken word, and visual artists

Thursday, November 4, 2010 / List-7:30pm, Doors-8pm / $4
Free Speech Thursday at AS220 featuring: Providence Poetry Slam - Open Mic

Friday, November 5, 2010 / 9pm / $5
Special Event*: Deer Tick, CP & The Burritos, and Amil Byleckie Band

Jesjit Gill

This interview with the man behind Λ was conducted by Justine Mainville, half of Math the Band. Both of the rad permanent players behind Math the Band are among the Mercantile Buildings newly situated, year-long artists-in-residence at AS220. We are psyched to have them around. As for Λ, mystery and ambiguity abound in this project. A veteran of the local music and performance art scene, Λ mixes elements of electronic, noise and classical music to make tracks that fluctuate in both style and form.

The Interview -  Λ*

JM: The symbol is Lambda, the internet says it's "pronounced ARC" and I heard through the grapevine, it's Delta. So, what is the proper name & pronunciation for your project? And is the mystery/confusion element intentional?

Λ: Pronounce it however you would like, I think. I say ARC. And I am very interested in esoteric-ism, and it is present in my work, so perhaps there is a small intention to remain mysterious and elusive.

JM: Solo artists often see more changes in their style without the answering to other band  members. Has this project changed forms over the years? If so, what forms has it taken?

Λ: The general idea has remained the same through out whatever incarnations I've had over the years. I've had band members, too, though I was still writing everything. I started out as "xx" and made three albums that are very poor, changed the name to WIRES!WIRES!, which I had for several years and releases, then PANOPTICS, for one year, and finally to Ʌ. I picked Ʌ because I just couldn't find anything I was happy with that didn't seem to hold me to some sort of musical expectation.

JM: I see you have played quite a bit with Diana Joy, do you have a collaborative relationship as far as music and performance go? Do you collaborate with other musicians in this project?

Λ: Diana Joy and I have a very wonderful working relationship, and briefly, we had a project called RAGNAROK. We finished maybe one EP's worth of tracks and played around during last summer. We're both very interested in the performance aspect of live music, and she has a lot of experience in the performance arts. I think that's particularly important with electronic music. I have collaborated with a good handful of musicians, and for the LP I'm working on now, I will be working with a different artist on each track.

JM: What do you use to make your music?

Λ: I write on various things, mainly piano, sometimes guitar. I then transpose what I've written into editing software, and use MIDI for software synthesizers. I would love to be using more hardware, but I pared down my set a lot to allow me to play anywhere very easily.

JM: What things, physical or nonphysical, inspire you? Do you find inspiration in Providence?

Λ: I am inspired by the desert. I lived in Los Angeles for a bit, and found myself a few times in the Mojave, once at night and once during the day. It was a very life changing experience and is very visually arresting. I am also interested in light, its dynamics, and its importance. Providence is a very beautiful city, there are lots of varieties of landscapes to see. Waterfront, Victorian, starkly urban, industrial, so it is inspiring in that within such a small space, there are a lot of contrasts.

JM: It's kind of hard to find information on you, do you tour often? What is your favorite place to play?

Λ: Yeah I manage to be practically un-googleable. I do not tour, ever. I have thrown around the idea though. I have played in Providence, Boston, New York and Los Angeles. Providence many times, but otherwise not too much.

JM: What should someone heading to your show expect?

Λ: Providing I'm at the right venue, a nice light show. Either way, expect to feel like you're drowning in black syrup.

 

 

The AS220 Galleries are very pleased to announce the Providence distribution of e-flux journal, a monthly publication on art, theory, history, and philosophy. Established in New York over ten years ago, the journal carries insightful and thought-provoking articles from well established artists, theorists, gallerists, and curators. Recent contributors have included Hans Ulrich Obrist, Daniel Birnbaum, and Liam Gillick. e-flux is international in scope and draws artistic insight from diverse histories ranging from Velazquez's Spain to New York City in the nineties, from Dada to Korean art cults.

By taking part in distributing e-flux journal, AS220 Galleries seeks to provide a platform in Providence for a well-informed and wide-ranging publication on the current state of artistic practice, curatorial theory, and aesthetic criticism. Look for it free of charge at the AS220 Project Space Reading Room located at 93 Mathewson Street, at the Main Gallery and Performance Space at 115 Empire Street, and at various locations around downtown Providence and College Hill. Issues #18 and #19 will be featured first, with subsequent issues being made available as they are published. 

e-flux's entire catalogue of ridiculously awesome articles is made available online at http://e-flux.com/journal.

Our very own labs member, Jenine Bressner appeared on the Martha Stewart Show last week, showcasing her glass work skills. The episode also includes a feature on the Maker Fair and digital fabrication.

Check out the video clip here!

For more info on Jenine, check out her website.

Hello Out There!

Don't forget to stop by the Providence Public Library tonight from 6-8pm for a very special talk with local historian, humanities scholar and Rhode Island Historical Society Graphics Archivist Jim Damico who will be sharing his research into the Glass Negative Collection.


If you've seen the show at City Hall, make sure you get to the library tonight to hear Jim tell us more about the history behind these incredible images and the theory and practice of glass plate and collodion photography. It's going to be a great show folks, and it's completely free!!

Below is the "official" press release, with more info than you probably need, but just enough to whet your appetite for the massive amounts of historical information sure to follow at the talk this evening. Hope to see you all there! 6pm in the 2nd floor conference room outside the Special Collections room.

See you tonight!!


*
Infinite History

Lecture on the Archival Project by Scholar, James DaMico & the Launch of the Glass Negative Collection Online

Monday, October 25th, 6-8pm
Providence Public Library, Special Collections Exhibition Hall
150 Empire Street, Providence RI 02903

On October 25th, Rhode Island Historical Society Graphic Archivist and Humanities Scholar, James Damico, will host a talk on his research on the Providence Public Library's glass negative collection. Damico, who has been collaborating with the volunteer archivists of AS220's Paul Krot Community Darkroom, will discuss the local historical significance of these remarkable images and how they came to be a part of the Library's Special Collections Department. The plates represent a wide range of topics including portraits of wealthy Rhode Island families, interiors of textile factories, and landscapes of New England.

Volunteer members of the Paul Krot Community Darkroom at AS220 began working with Providence Public Library Special Collections Director Rick Ring to unearth the fragile glass negative collection since December 2009. By organizing, cataloging and storing these pieces of history in archival boxes and envelopes, volunteers have halted the degradation of the negatives and increased public awareness of their existence. The public can now begin to appreciate the enormous value of the Library's sizable glass negative collection through the exhibition of prints currently on display at Providence City Hall; an opportunity generously funded by a Rhode Island Council for the Humanities grant.

Approximately 1,200 glass plate negatives have now been cataloged and digitally captured to create an online gallery of these artifacts with the aim that they will not only be preserved but also accesible to the public during the years to come. The Glass Negative exhibition is on display at Providence City Hall until the end of October and the full collection can now be viewed in the online gallery and database. The Special Collections and AS220 Darkrooms hope sales of the photographs printed from these negatives will help provide long-term financial support for their archival storage as well as support for future initiatives of AS220's Community Darkrooms, the only public B&W facilities in Rhode Island.

James DaMico holds a Master's of Library and Information Sciences (MLIS) from the University of Pittsburgh and a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Video Production from the Rochester Institute of Technology. James is the Graphics Project Archivist at the Rhode Island Historical Society Library (RIHS) where he is surveying and creating core catalog records of the entire Graphics Collection. James is responsible for compiling accurate data on the scope of the collection, setting preservation and disaster recovery priorities, appraising items to ensure they fit the collection policy of the Society and assessing the preservation and conservation needs of the collection as well as re-housing items. In addition, James is cataloging the 16mm newsreel footage of former Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci. James is interested in the preservation and making accessible photographic and moving image material to the public. James also teaches workshops and lectures on the history of photographic technology and the care and identification of audio-visual and photographic material, including courses at The Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Simmons College. Prior to becoming an Archivist, James worked as an Audio-Visual Technician for Microsoft and professionally in the film and video field as a cameraman, editor, soundperson, and lighting technician.

The mission of the Paul Krot Community Darkroom, Rhode Islands only publicly accessible B&W photo facilities, includes accessibility for all artists, affordable space, and providing low and no-cost educational opportunities.

The Special Collections department houses over 40,000 books, posters, pamphlets, photographs, broadsides, manuscripts, and other artifacts in an attempt to preserve, augment, and provide public access to these collections.

For more information on the Glass Negative Preservation Project, visit here or contact the Project Manager Krystal Grow.

Krystal Grow
Glass Negative Project Manager
AS220 Cottage Industries Coordinator
krystal@as220.org
401-831-9327 (x112)

Richard J. Ring
Special Collections Librarian
401-455-8021
rring@provlib.org

James DaMico
Graphics Project Archivist
Rhode Island Historical Society Library
james.damico@gmail.com

Friday October 22, 2010 the AS220 Youth ZuKrewe performed for the RIASPA's annual Breakfast of Champions at the Rhodes on the Pawtuxet in Cranston Rhode Island. This event calls attention to the critical need for and importance of after school and summer programs, and increases awareness and support for after school and summer programs among policymakers, funders, and other decision makers.

The ZuKrewe performed a 10 minute musical set including hit songs Wake Up Please, Watch the Way I do It and another song that we honestly don't have a name for. This was the first time we ever performed at the Rhodes on the Pawtuxet. The dining hall was massive and there had to be about 400 people in the there.

All around the experience was very positive and it was really cool to be around a bunch of educators, youth workers, state officials and just people in general who all believe that young people should have equal opportunities to after school programming, education and the arts. The Zukrewe has a few more invites to perform at upcoming conferences in the next few months. We will let everyone know when those dates are solidified.

Peace and Love <---Anjel

AS220's Events For Friday, October 22nd-Friday October 29th

Friday, October 22, 2010 / 9pm / $6
JTO, Meccalily, Full Void, and Cosmic Sneeze

Saturday, October 23, 2010 / 4-7pm / Free
Irish Traditional Music

Saturday, October 23, 2010 / 9pm / $6
The Hot Minutes, The Silks, Denver Boot, and Any Port In The Storm

Sunday, October 24, 2010 / 9pm / $8
Supply & Demand Presents: Dark Dark Dark, Brown Bird, Spirits of the Red City, and Liz Isenberg

Monday, October 25, 2010 / Closed

Tuesday, October 26, 2010 / 6-8:30pm / $6
Life Drawing

Tuesday, October 26, 2010 /  9:30 pm / $6
Jacob Haller, Christina Holmes, and Chrisy Gavin

Wednesday, October 27, 2010 / 5:30-7pm, Seating at 5pm / Free
Action Speaks: What's Eating Us? : 1987 The Roaming Mobro Garbage Barge; Garbage, Garbage Everywhere and no direction home!
With Special Guests Juliet Schor & Robin Nagle

Wednesday, October 27, 2010 / 9pm / $6
Future Islands, Amil Byleckie Band, and Young Male

Thursday, October 28, 2010 / 7pm / Free / 115 Empire Street, 2nd Floor Classroom Space
Providence Poetry Slam presents: Writer's Workshop

Thursday, October 28, 2010 / 9pm / $6
Skull Kingdoms, /\, Global Crash, and Sky Jelly

Friday, October 29, 2010 / 9pm / $6
Dangerchunks, Radio Guru, Miss Geo & The Metrics, and Homewreckers

AS220 Darkrooms is Featured on Groupon This Week!

For $65 you can get an introductory 35mm black and white photography class ($50 value), one-year darkroom membership ($40 value), and two, four-hour blocks of time in the group darkroom ($50 value) at AS220. Classes will be scheduled on Tuesday and Thursday evenings 7-10pm in accordance with student demand -- each two-session class will be limited to just 5 students.

AS220's Paul Krot Community Darkrooms are the only black and white photography facilities in Rhode Island that provide affordable public access to photographers at every level. You can also give this package as a gift! Remember, holiday gift-giving panic is mere weeks away!

Questions? Ask for Cheryl or Krystal at the AS220 Office 401-831-9327