Thursday, June 10, 2010

PROXY ART GALLERY


PROXY GALLERY (the california collection): Your profile photo may be in these Profile Portraits! Thousands of enlarged (custom, patented algorithms) and enhanced photographs (now, likely several hundred thousands, soon over a million,) mostly low-res cellphone, web-cam, and low-end digital camera self-portraits (self-packaging), culled from dating/social websites -- as you might expect, there is some explicit content (more than is permitted here unfortunately: you really should see them all, but it probably makes little difference) -- fascinating and occasionally disturbing. I've decided to also add a painting-filter. You may realize that this is not the first time I've collected anonymous found-public imagery: notably dumpster-diving at photofinishers' in the 70's. And of course, the "Insatiable Abstraction Engine" -- collections from newsgroups. But come to think it, nearly all my work involves repeated multiples or collections of imagery. Whenever possible I retained any color casts, cropping and lighting. The portraits are actually very considered, sometimes selections made/altered merely to obscure the identity that they wished to presumably portray initially. Sunglasses are a popular ruse, as are close-ups of cleavage, butts, tattoos, feet and groins. (Curiously, I've yet to see a picture of hands... ok, now I have: some intricate fingernails and the love/hate finger-tats.) Many feature-obilerating camera-flash-portraits in the bathroom mirror. And some, but surprisingly few, are filched from somewhere online, but this must be a risky choice in the event of an 'actual encounter.' How much introductory information/description do you want to put out there to begin with? There are some very creative, even artful, solutions to this dilemma. Various select groups of portraits are included in each PDF ebook/catalogue for $250 (sorry about the price but it was a hellish amount of work and I guarantee you won't be disappointed or YMB), and must be ordered directly. The images contain sufficient resolution to print them out on letter-size/A4 paper for an instant exhibition. Use my verified Paypal account to have the DVD delivered at no charge: [bbrace@eskimo.com; http://bbrace.laughingsquid.net/buy-into.html] Having been recently kicked-off Facebook (there was a depicted nipple!), and losing 5,000 so-called friends - the perfect place to host a social-media profile-portrait-museum, I've decided to also open an online storefront where individual high-res files will sell for only $1/each. [http://cart.iabrace.com] The prints of course required different custom algorithms and some masterful retouching -- they look great!  Technically given the incredibly diverse range of imagery it was difficult to make them all equally legible; despite a variety of intricate processing directives, the scripts would inevitably crash or be unable to render a decent image. These were handled individually as were the painting-filters. If I receive a reasonable number of orders, I'll offer additional states of the union or countries... but California had to be the place to begin. Sure to be a collectors' (socio-anthropologists') item! An amazing and compelling, collective portrait! The interspersed military imagery (or maybe something else), also introduces a new spin on the hopes for this already tenuous social-media culture. I've had to organize/sub-divide these in some fashion, so by state/country seems to be the prevailing approach. And given how often workers are compelled to move around, there's more of a local difference in cultural self-perception, body language, and social-sexual proclivity than you might expect. It really is a perhaps overlooked (overly-present), socially significant era when a massive proportion of the population is able to individually exorcise their self-imagery instead of being routinely dependent on existing systematized systems of portraiture and presentation -- which is not to say that it's entirely free from stylistic-cultural-corporate constraints and codification (and why, for now at least, I left the imagery in a nearly random arrangement), but the individual, probably for the first time ever, is seen freely negotiating a shifting porous skein of varied reception... well, something like that...

elections in the netherlands



...and the winner is........................... -------?

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Dutch political clouds

General

CDA

D66

Groen Links

PVDA

PVV

SPTAG

VVD

Elections in the Netherlands today - visual spoken poetry by Dutch Politicians

A NEW BOOK BY PETE SPENCE FROM AUSTRALIA

Online order at http://www.redfoxpress.com/dada.html
you can order also by email at info@redfoxpress.com



A6 format (10.5x15 cm / 4 x 6") - 40 pages
hardcover, thread and quarter cloth binding
laser printing on ivory paper.
price: 15 euro / 20 US $ / 13 UK Sterling

Online order at http://www.redfoxpress.com/dada.html
you can order also by email at info@redfoxpress.com
* * *
Pete Spence

Born in Australia in 1946.
Visual poet and writer.
Began mail art in 1983.

Curated many visual poetry exhibitions 1980's through early 90's.
Edited "Ligne" a visual poetry magazine.
Edited or published numerous books, chapbooks and pamphlets.

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

I wonder...how to get rid of THE giant Fluxus wasp's Nest in my head.

How to remove a wasp nest


A Fluxus Performance

Wasps are actually helpful insects because they prey on many plant-eating pests. Usually wasps prefer to avoid humans, but if they nest too close to a dwelling, they can present a problem. Luckily, there are natural, non-chemical ways of removing wasps nests.

Instructions.
Things you need:
•Protective clothing
•Long-handled pruner
•Large box
•Large water tub

Step 1
Ask a friend to help you, because removing a wasp nest safely requires more than one set of hands. One person will remove the nest while the helper quickly contains it. Make sure that you ask a friend that is capable of working calmly and quickly.

Step 2
Wear protective clothing. A beekeeper's suit is best, but if you don't have access to one, wear boots and heavy pants. Roll your pant cuffs outside of your boots and put a rubber band around the top of your boots to keep wasps from flying up your pant leg. Wear a sturdy, long-sleeved shirt and a pair of heavy work gloves with the sleeve cuffs fastened around the cuffs with rubber bands.

Step 3
Protect your face and head. Wear a protective hat and, if possible, construct a veil of protective fabric.

Step 4
If you have a pair of heavy coveralls, wear them over the top. This will keep any stingers from reaching your skin.

Step 5
Remove the nest in the cool of the evening when the wasps will be drowsy.

Step 6
Ask your helper to hold a large box with a tightly-fitting lid underneath the wasp nest. Cut the stem holding the nest very quickly with a long-handled pruning hook or other long cutting tool. Close the box as quickly as possible and seal it.

Step 7
Submerge the box in a tub of water or place it in a freezer for several hours. Be sure that all the wasps are dead before you remove the box, because wasps are able to chew through nearly anything.

Detox Sign


Monday, June 07, 2010

Sunday, June 06, 2010

Imagine beer

pROFILE_mUSEUM - the arkansas collection


dISCREET pROFILES (the arkansas collection): Your profile photo may be in my pROFILE_mUSEUM! Thousands of enlarged (custom, patented algorithms) and enhanced photographs (now, likely several hundred thousands, soon over a million,) mostly low-res cellphone, web-cam, and low-end digital camera self-portraits (self-packaging), culled from dating/social websites -- as you might expect, there is some explicit content (more than is permitted here unfortunately: you really should see them all, but it probably makes little difference) -- fascinating and occasionally disturbing. You may realize that this is not the first time I've collected anonymous found-public imagery: notably dumpster-diving at photofinishers' in the 70's. And of course, the "Insatiable Abstraction Engine" -- collections from newsgroups. But come to think it, nearly all my work involves repeated multiples or collections of imagery. Whenever possible I retained any color casts, cropping and lighting. The portraits are actually very considered, sometimes selections made/altered merely to obscure the identity that they wished to presumably portray initially. Sunglasses are a popular ruse, as are close-ups of cleavage, butts, tattoos, feet and groins. (Curiously, I've yet to see a picture of hands... ok, now I have: some intricate fingernails and the love/hate finger-tats.) Many feature-obilerating camera-flash-portraits in the bathroom mirror. And some, but surprisingly few, are filched from somewhere online, but this must be a risky choice in the event of an 'actual encounter.' How much introductory information/description do you want to put out there to begin with? There are some very creative, even artful, solutions to this dilemma. This massive PDF ebook/catalogue is $250 (sorry about the price but it was a hellish amount of work and I guarantee you won't be disappointed or YMB), and must be ordered directly. Use my verified Paypal account to have the DVD delivered at no charge: [bbrace@eskimo.com; http://bbrace.laughingsquid.net/buy-into.html] (each part over 1,500 pages/photos; 6.94 x 6.94") Archival inkjet prints are also available for purchase ($500 each) or exhibit. The prints of course require different custom algorithms and some masterful retouching -- they look great!  Technically given the incredibly diverse range of imagery it was difficult to make them all equally legible; despite a variety of intricate processing directives, the scripts would inevitably crash or be unable to render a decent image. These were handled individually. The sequence, in the pdfs, is probably pretty much random: processing used whatever numbering systems were in place, and then renumbered everything so there was no trace of last origin. If I receive a reasonable number of orders, I'll offer additional states of the union or countries... but California had to be the place to begin. Sure to be a collectors' (socio-anthropologists') item! An amazing and compelling, collective portrait! The interspersed military imagery (or maybe something else), also introduces a new spin on the hopes for this already tenuous social culture. I've had to organize/sub-divide these in some fashion, so by state/country seem to be the prevailing approach. And given how often workers are compelled to move around, there's more of a local difference in cultural self-perception, body language, and social-sexual proclivity than you might expect. It really is a perhaps overlooked (overly-present), socially significant era when a massive proportion of the population is able to individually exorcise their self-imagery instead of being routinely dependent on existing systematized systems of portraiture and presentation -- which is not to say that it's entirely free from stylistic-cultural-corporate constraints and codification (and why, for now at least, I left the imagery in a nearly random arrangement), but the individual, probably for the first time ever, is seen freely negotiating a shifting porous skein of varied reception... well, something like that...
/:b
http://tinyurl.com/2g8th2u (california)
http://tinyurl.com/2da2mvo (oregon)
http://tinyurl.com/2bthsnq (washington)
http://tinyurl.com/2w5bwuo (hawaii)
http://tinyurl.com/39pco5q (florida)
http://tinyurl.com/33xheqp (new york)
http://tinyurl.com/2c3dw9h (louisiana)
http://tinyurl.com/29jajja (ontario)
http://tinyurl.com/29uk4z5 (british columbia)
http://tinyurl.com/2attzdj (idaho)
http://tinyurl.com/24c4ge4 (tennessee)
http://tinyurl.com/2atbemx (japan)
http://tinyurl.com/2dwfozg (arkansas)