News
April 6, 2008Project for Oakland's Middle Harbor Shoreline Park
This is an amazing opportunity for us to expand our portfolio of work exploring public space through mediated cartographic processes. We will be making this new project to be presented in the spring of 2009 at the Middle Harbor Shoreline Park in Oakland, CA, a site that once housed the former Oakland Naval Supply Depot, an important supply center for the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet from World War II until 1998. The Port of Oakland took over the site in 1998 to restore its natural habitat and to create a public park, with an interest in promoting local history and ecology. We will be working with The Illuminated Corridor and the Port of Oakland to create a temporary outdoor public installation using new media to explore the historical and natural elements of this site.
Your financial support is vital in helping us complete this project--one of our most ambitious yet. The goal is to raise $4000 by June 30, 2008. From now until then all donations made to the Illuminated Corridor Commissioning Fund will be matched dollar-for-dollar by a grant from the East Bay Community Foundation for Artists to make your dollars go twice as far! To make a donation now, you can do so here:
We are really honored to have been chosen as featured artists to create this project along with visual artist Rebecca Haseltine and musician Cheryl Leonard. We have done several projects in the past with The Illuminated Corridor and each time we were given the freedom to really experiment with our ideas and equipment along with strong administrative support to allow this to happen. Working with the Illuminated Corridor has been central to our growth as media-based artists and we look forward to stepping up to this new challenge.
For more about our proposed project, and that of our co-conspirators please visit the Illuminated Corridor website: http://www.illuminatedcorridor.net
Posted by Kathleen at 5:23 pm | Comments (0)
October 6, 2007
2nd Annual ATA Film & Video Festival
October 10, 11 and 12, 2007
Artists' Television Access
992 Valencia St., San Francisco, CA
Doors open at 7.30pm every night. Screenings start at 8pm.
Opening night party from 7:30pm to 10pm.
Tickets are $5 for the Opening Party and $7-$10 for the screenings.
Come see a fantastic international selection of experimental short films and videos.
Wednesday, October 10th: Opening night features the debut of Paul Clipson's super-8 film "Illuminations" with live musical accompaniment by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma. Plus: An eclectic music selection by dj_spaceinvader & Niles of mk2 reality enhancement systems. Doors at 7:30pm. Film at 8:30pm (aprox. duration 30 min).
Thursday, October 11th: Festival Program 1 (Auteur Space - Reelpolitik) features work by Luiso Berdejo, JiHyun Ahn, Sam Barnett, Sylvia Schedelbauer, Martin Hansen, Mack McFarland, Nick Parker & Jazmin Jones, Olga Chernysheva, Stefanie Wuschitz, Xavi Sala and the Aleinikov Brothers
Friday, October 12th: Festival Program 2 (Mnemonics - States of Matter) features work by Lisa Danker, Tommy Becker, Fabienne Gautier, Tadashi Moriyama, Lukas Lukasik, Hubert Sielecki, Paul Clipson, Gordon Winiemko, Dina Ropele, Rachel Manera, Guy Maddin, Stacey Steers, Melika Bass, Vanessa Woods and students of Kerry Laitala's Optical Techniques for Film Class
For more information, visit: http://festival.atasite.org/2007/
Watch a short trailer of the films on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSEdOcSfv8I
Posted by Kathleen at 9:14 am | Comments (5719)
July 25, 2007
Radio Interview on The RU Sirius Show
Last weekend I visited Jeff Diehl and RU Sirius at their studio to do an interview on The RU Sirius Show. Christina Ray and Kurt Bigenho from Glowlab called in via Skype and the three of us talked about the NOSO project. It was a huge honor to hang out with RU Sirius, the legend! I think I had a lot of fun. I always enjoy talking about this project, and working with Christina and Kurt is always exciting.
Listen to the show: Just Say NOSO - No Social Networking
Posted by Gilbert at 11:52 pm | Comments (3365)
April 25, 2007
Earth Day
Posted by Gilbert at 9:59 am | Comments (6)
September 1, 2006
Yosemite bear spotting
Posted by Kathleen at 8:06 pm | Comments (13081)
April 18, 2006
1906 earthquake centennial
100 years ago, the earth woke up, yawned and stretched its sleeping limbs across 300 miles through northern California, destroying San Francisco and eventually displacing 3/4 of the population. Today is the 100th anniversary of that day--the 1906 earthquake and resulting fire. At 5:12am this morning, several hundred people gathered at Lotta's Fountain downtown (where survivors have gathered every year to commemorate the event), laid a wreath and had their moment of silence for those who perished in the quake and fire. Events are happening all day long. We are planning to see some films and a slide show tonight after work dedicated to earthquakes and San Francisco. Last night felt almost like Christmas eve in a weird and twisted way, with all the anticipation of today. But instead of a big fat jolly man bearing gifts, we celebrate the spectre of a big jolt in the earth which wreaked havoc on modern society. Much respect to our earth-bound neighbor, the San Andreas Fault.Posted by Kathleen at 8:38 am | Comments (29523)
February 7, 2006
art|sci|tech
Posted by Kathleen at 9:53 pm | Comments (11498)
December 17, 2005
Kaua'i - heaven on earth
The week after Thanksgiving we were treated to a vacation (which doubled as an early Christmas present from Kathleen's parents) on the island of Kaua'i. It couldn't have been more needed by us, who tend to spend long hours in front of computers and thinking way too much about art and media. For most of the week, we were either on a beach and/or drinking mai tai's. Kathleen discovered the amazing tropical world under the surface of the ocean through snorkelling and Gilbert even learned how to swim! We went to a luau on Wednesday night at Smith Family Grotto where peacocks, ducks and chickens roamed free among dozens of tropical plants and trees (paradise!). The luau concluded with a really amazing show which featured lots of hula dancing as well as tributes to the many different Pacific Island cultures. On Thursday we did a four hour long horseback riding tour of the Princetown Ranch, which included a lunch break near a lovely waterfall and a bit of rock climbing. And in between it all, we also did quite a bit of shopping too (couldn't resist!) We can't wait to go back. In the meantime, we have these pictures to remember our lovely trip by.
Posted by Kathleen at 12:16 pm | Comments (1)
November 22, 2005
The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction
Contributing artists include: Craig Baldwin, James Bewley, The Bulbs, BULL.MILETIC, George Chen, Yin-Ju Chen & James Hong, Concept Bureau, David Cox, Beth Custer, Bill Daniel, Carl Diehl, Ezra Li Eismont, Kota Ezawa, Molly Hankwitz, Luke Hones, Kent Howie & A. Mark Liiv, Kerry Laitala, Sarah Lockhart, Norman Long, Karla Milosevich, Claude Moller, Neighborhood Public Radio, DJ Pod, Steve Polta, Megan Prelinger, Valerie Soe, Lise Swenson, Marshall Weber, Scott Williams, Pamela Z
Visit: http://www.atasite.org/donate/
Posted by Kathleen at 8:12 am | Comments (28783)
July 11, 2005
Mockup on MU
Posted by Kathleen at 8:48 am | Comments (40)
June 15, 2005
Bayennale: SF Bay Area Int'l Art Festival
In the meantime, here is more about the Bayennale: http://www.bayennale.com
We are very excited to be steeped in so much creative energy again!
Posted by Kathleen at 12:23 pm | Comments (5997)
March 21, 2005
Welcome to this crazy world Charleston Ann!
Charleston Ann Quillian was born today at 5:52pm (EST), Sibley Hospital, Washington DC. to Chris Quillian and Kim Cubine. 8 lbs, 2 oz., 20 in. long.
She's already a little star! Just look at this face...
Posted by Kathleen at 4:42 pm | Comments (5246)
January 23, 2005
alternative tenticles
In the meantime, we are busy working on the fourth issue of our very locally-oriented ATA webzine. With the webzine we hope to help shed some light on the very active and diverse San Francisco Bay Area art scene. While other publications look out and try to talk about the ideas and projects by artists in other regions, we want to, instead, focus on and promote the ideas and projects in the SF Bay Area. There is more than enough material here to fill volumes on SF Bay Area art and culture, but strangely, there are very few, if any, major publications in the area who are willing to devote their pages exclusively to SF Bay Area art. We hope, simply, to offer a forum for local artists to write about their own work and ideas. We are excited to be able to provide this and to watch as it grows into a renouned alternative resource for others who are interested in Bay Area art and culture, both here and elsewhere.
Posted by Kathleen at 12:34 pm | Comments (2882)
January 13, 2005
Shaken and Stirred
What is Spark?
Spark is about Bay Area artists and arts organizations -- it is a weekly television show (KQED Public Television 9 every Wednesday at 7:30), an educational outreach program and a Web site. More than a showcase for art objects and the artists who make them, Spark takes the audience inside the creative process to witness the challenges, opportunities and rewards of making art.
Tune in next Wednesday, Jan 19th, 7:30pm to get a glimpse, a slice, a glimmer (maybe) of Kathleen and Gilbert's project "Boo Radley was Here 2004" which was featured in POND gallery's recent exhibition "This Way Please: Tours of the Everyday)....and, oh, yeah...maybe you will see Amy Franceschini.
Posted by Kathleen at 11:31 pm | Comments (23133)
November 21, 2004
making public space more hospitable
For our new project we've resurrected the ghost of Boo Radley to stand in as a spiritual guide for this past weekend's Shine! Mission Art Walk (put together by Elliot Lessing of BUILD gallery). Our new project "Boo Radley was Here 2004" was inspired by the legend of Boo Radley (To Kill a Mockingbird) who would leave little gifts for Scout in a tree near her house as she and her family were going through tough times. Our idea was to take this same idea of leaving small gift offerings in public spaces for anyone who had the endurance to visit all 22 galleries in the Mission District during the two-day event. We were trying to make public space more inviting and/or comfortable. Our gifts ranged from chapstick to twinkies to scarves and sweaters.
Posted by Kathleen at 10:13 pm | Comments (1)
November 2, 2004
I VOTED!
Posted by Kathleen at 2:22 pm | Comments (1)
September 26, 2004
Frida!
Cute little adorable fuzzy Frida--the newest little light of our lives. We'd had her for a week and couldn't decide on a name. We wanted something Spanish or German (at least Gilbert did). Otherwise I had a list a mile long of "old lady" names, which I have always been fond of. It would have been very suitable for her too because of her markings. She is mostly black with dark grey stripes and a white belly, white neck (which, with her long hair looks kind of like a high Victorian collar) and white feet, which look kind of like stockings--but because they are not symmetrical it looks like one has fallen a little further down the leg than the other. But Gilbert was resistant to the names I liked the best. Finally today I decided that we had to find a name for her because I couldn't keep calling her "sweet pea" for the rest of her life. So we decided to look into other people in history who shared her birthday of July 6th. The first person who came up was Frida Kahlo. Perfect! Even moreso when we realized that they both share some early-life hardships. Frida K with her polio and spinal injuries and Frida kitty with her eye infections (in both eyes, poor thing!) We're still looking into the cause of it, but it looks like she may never be able to see out of her left eye. She's small and feisty--pretty much the runt of the litter and one of the last ones left behind. Gilbert's aunt Linda had two cats who both had litters within a week of each other so she had something like eight or nine kittens to give away. We had been talking about getting a kitten for our other cat Talulah who spends the better portion of her days home alone--and desperately needs someone or something to give her excercise! So it was kind of a perfect match! They've played together once, and they seem to like each other, but we've been warned to keep them separate until Frida's eyes heal up and until we can get her all of her shots. But we've taken a million pictures, and since we're not currently promoting any shows or anything, we thought we'd share our little princess with anyone who cares to see.
Posted by Kathleen at 4:37 pm | Comments (3)
September 13, 2004
gilbert and kathleen interviewed on npr (aka neighborhood public radio)
We were interviewed recently by 21 Grand director
Sarah Lockhart for "The Visible Hand" program on
Neighborhood Public Radio. The program is a six week long series
which covers local alternative art spaces and their relationships to
economics (if at all). We discussed our involvement with the nonprofit
video gallery Artists' Television Access and talked about how the organization survives organizationally and financially. Our interview was originally heard on Wednesday, September 15,
2004 at 6:30pm at 88.9FM. Since this is a micro-broadcast, the program can be
heard only in the neighborhood of Southern
Exposure gallery and in the gallery itself in San Francisco. A recorded version of the broadcast can now be heard on the npr website, under the archives section, under Sept 15, The Visible Hand.
NPR will be broadcast throughout the months of September and October during
Southern Exposure's 30th Anniversary exhibition The Way We
Work. This dynamic exhibition and series of projects takes Southern
Exposure's community-based working model as its inspiration and starting point.
Projects will be presented by seven artist collectives who similarly invoke
significant collaborations, build diverse networks and involve that network in
the creation and presentation of their work.
Posted by Gilbert at 10:59 am | Comments (1)
August 23, 2004
the element of temporary
Last Friday night we had the honor of being part of the group exhibition "Element of Temporary", a one night event in its fifth year which was held at the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery . The event was a total success. We even had a line outside the door to get in! All of the work was brilliant.
Our contribution was to take an ordinary thing which is at all gallery receptions and turn it into the focus of the work. We labelled the cups in which wine was served with words from an undisclosed body of text. The goal was to get gallery goers to arrange the words into meaningful phrases through their social interactions and by placing them thoughtfully on a set of four empty shelves we installed. We hoped people would understand what to do and maybe even a few people might get into it, but the reaction was way beyond what we expected. The shelves were piled so high with cups at the end of the night people began to stack them on top of each other three cups tall to continue to be able to put together phrases. Others obsessed a little too much over ordering and reordering the words. They'd often stand back and be pulled in again a few times before they could walk away. I think there were also a few people who got a little emotionally attached to their phrases and were upset when other people came around and rearranged them, or, as in one case,when a cup was smashed apart (later we found a remnant of the cup--it contained the word partially !) The body of text we used comes from Michel Foucault's The Order of Things. To see it, go to our full exhibition statement: Open Composition for an Indeterminite Ensemble.
Many thanks to everyone who attended! And thank you to all the artists in the show for being so brilliant!
Posted by Gilbert at 10:18 am | Comments (0)
June 23, 2004
in whose image
I promise I won't write any more about St. Mary's Abbey in this posting (even though the projection on Saturday was pretty cool!) We arrived home to Oakland last night around midnight to the cheers and congratulatory remarks of our dear furry cat Talulah, who is so excited that we're home that she is eating again! Today we stay home and clean and do laundry and sort through memorablia and post pictures on the site. The sun is shining, the dust is settling, the beers are chilling and we have nothing but time ahead of us!
What haven't we mentioned about our project yet? Well....the Trinity projection on Thursday, which we intended to do on Tuesday, I suppose is the last thing to tell about. What happened was....we had already settled (or so we thought) with the Director of Buildings at Trinity, Tim Cooper, to do the projection on Tuesday night. We had met with him during the day and he showed us an aerial photograph of the campus and basically told us to take our pick of projection sites! We decided on the front entrance archway mainly because it would get the most foot-traffic that late at night, but also because it's one of the oldest and of course most recognized spots on campus--an archway through which countless scholars and fellows have passed, including among them Bram Stoker, Samuel Beckett and the guy who discovered the electron (Sir Joseph John Thomson). But when we showed up on Tuesday night, the security guard told us that for reasons unclear to us (either that they didn't have a ladder, or that we didn't have insurance....we're not entirely sure) that we couldn't do the projection. So we ended up projecting at La Paloma that night, which we mentioned before. Luckily after a few follow-up phone calls with our various contacts at Trinity, we were able to sort things out (they may not have had a ladder, but we DID have liability insurance...for something up to like 8 million euro, or something absurd like that! We could have practically built them a new archway if anything went wrong!) The result was fantastic and we got some very positive responses. Mostly, I think people were interested in seeing a video projection on the ceiling of an entranceway that was previously only the entranceway to Trinity before (and like I said, a very old one at that!) But that really was one of our interests in doing this project--to animate spaces and turn them into something a little different, if only for an hour or two.
We most certainly did not change the lives of those who came across our projections over the past week, but if we're lucky, we intruded on their perspectives enough to make them give a second glance to spaces that were already very familiar to them. We did not intend to change their views, we only wanted to add another layer to the already multi-layered subject which is Dublin....and I mean that in more ways than one!
I will save the big project summary for the project blog but I will say this: that Dublin is something of an enigma, wrapped in a puzzle and steeped in a long and troublesome history with which it is unable to make amends. All specifics aside, Dublin seems to be at a bit of a junction in its relationship not only with Ireland and the rest of the world, but with itself, as it settles into its role as a leading cultural and economic resource of the European Union. And into this we stepped, very naively and perhaps a bit overly-optimistically with our plans and schemes of culture-bridging.
In approaching our project we intended to comment on the ever-changing kaleidescope of urban areas--not to make any definitive statements, but moreso to add to the mix, by projecting a "window" into the very different but also very similar world which is Mexico City. And of course we were doing so under the umbrella of the Joyce Festival, which is not the easiest topic for Dubliners, and is a story unto itself. Whether we accomplished anything in the eyes of our audience, we may never know, but we are certainly much smarter about a lot of things moreso than we were when we began (and that's probably the best result one can hope for in making art....or embarking on any similar project).
Our last night in Dublin provided us with a very humble and fitting end to our self-imposed Odyssean adventure....As usual, we headed over to the Oliver St. John Gogarty's bar off Temple Bar square to enjoy a few drinks and some live traditional music. It was actually the most crowded we had seen it over the week we had been going, and this, on a Monday night, but we managed to secure a spot at a booth near the stage anyway (probably because it was kind of difficult to see the musicians from that angle). Nevertheless, we found ourselves sitting across from an older gentleman who looked astonishingly like my grandfather Roy Quillian (my father's father, from whom I acquire my Scotch-Irish and Irish lineage). He was singing along to the music and occasionally he would glance over at us and give us a wink (honestly, I couldn't stop watching him). A group of people came and sat down at the table next to us and it became apparent that they were speaking Spanish to each other. After a short while the older gentleman got up to ask them where they were from and they said "Mexico!" which set off a round of enthusiastic reactions and smiles among the five of them. They then spent the next half hour talking very animatedly among themselves about Ireland and Mexico, much to the amusement and amazement of Gilbert and myself who were sitting directly across from them. We--having just completed our totally incomprehesibly convoluted art project which no one seemed to make heads or tails of in the end...and they--performing a simple how-do-you-do gesture which produced both the intentions and results of our project all wrapped into one little scene at a bar. It was actually quite amazing, verging on ironic, that this should happen on the eve of our departure. It was certainly someone's little joke on us--whether that be God or James Joyce himself--to show that it may not be so important to create something of such epic proportions when things like this happen everyday in the scale of life.
And on this thought, I hang my ITCP hat...content that we accomplished what we set out to do, and content also in feeling perhaps a bit wiser from all of the bumps in the road that we hit along the way.
Posted by Kathleen at 1:45 pm | Comments (4)
June 20, 2004
we're finished in this town
Our final projection took place yesterday in St. Mary's Abbey. I can feel sanity slowly creeping back in.
Yesterday turned out to be a marathon piece. We had to start setting up at 9am. I woke up pretty hungover since we spent the night before having yet another last-night-in-Dublin celebration, which started off with Black Velvets (Guinness + Champagne) at the Clarence Hotel with Lucy Thane in honor of her 80 year old cousin. She flew back to England yesterday afternoon. To make things complicated (as they should be) we also had to move out of our room to a new hotel yesterday morning. We managed to finally get the projection up and running at 11am. Viewings were scheduled for 11am, 1:30pm and 4pm, when guided walking tours from City Hall were allowed into the abbey. Between those times the abbey was locked up. During our first break we had breakfast and grabbed our luggage. On our second I bought some pants and a shirt at Zara. On our third we soaked in some Guinness with Lucy at the pub around the corner called the Boar's Head. At 5pm we took the projection setup down. We can't thank Clare and St. Mary's Abbey enough for allowing us to show work in this amazingly historic spot.
The work itself was a masterpiece... by the dictionary definition of a masterpiece, of course. Out of all of projections we've done in Dublin this one felt the most like ART. The Virgen herself slowly floating by over your head made it impossible to avoid the grandness of it. We also had this concept-driven setup where a television monitor showing a series of Virgen statues from all over Mexico City sat facing the projection. These little virgens from all of the city appeared to be approaching the Virgen herself projected in front of them to sort of pay their respects and maybe charge themselves with her energy. Ian Clothier from New Zealand, in absentia, showed a piece involving a chair and some pictures which lit up in response to movement, depicting kind of a confessional scene. Although we were definitely in a very religiously charged location of Ireland, I think we didn't do any justice to the historic aspects of the spot. As we continue to say, this has definitely been a learning experience. Okay, we're off to the Guinness Brewery now!
Posted by Gilbert at 4:22 am | Comments (1)
June 17, 2004
it was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
Now wait a minute, that's Dickens, isn't it? And he's not even Irish! But, the words ring so true to our experience here in Dublin so far. Imagine if you will, for a moment, a group of artists coming together from all over the world, to present art work about a novel by a writer who was an expatriate of a city that generally celebrates patriotism more than art, on the centenary of a day that never really happened, and that's Bloomsday for you in a nutshell (you can fill in the gaps). Suffice it to say, we've been through quite an interesting experience so far and have SO much to tell, but nary a second to sort through our thoughts about everything, nor the resources readily available to share them, but while Gilbert's busy checking his email I will try to bring you all up to date.
We have five more days here in the city and three more installations to present, which means only two days to spend site-seeing and being "normal" tourist-types (a concept which, to be honest, I'm beginning to appreciate more.) Bloomsday (June 16th) was celebrated by ourselves in much the Joycean fashion, in that we didn't really do anything more or less than we've done since we arrived (save for the art presentation--we gave ourselves the day off). And really, also to be honest with you, Bloomsday is already a very Joycean affair in that it is generally nothing more or less than just another day for the city of Dublin (except for the excess tourists in their Edwardian outfits running around chomping on sausages and crowding into sites mentioned in Ulysses). We mostly spent the day, trying to take in all of the WrRd projects that we haven't been able to see (being as busy as we've been with trying to make our own projects happen). I think we've managed to see all of them. Unfortunately, most of the group left today, which means that the last three projects we present will have that many less in the audience (i.e. more or less no one)....ah well, it's all in the game of public art, isn't it? Actually, the projects have been very successful....and we actually have had an audience...a third of which is interested, a third of which is uninterested and a third of which is very confused by what they see--a relatively balanced result, I should think. I'll let G expound more on particular projects if and when he gets a chance to write, but quickly, on Sunday we projected a slide show of Mexican architecture onto a developing site just north of the Liffey near the Millenium bridge (meaning, that it has been constructed, it just hasn't been turned into anything yet--brand new empty buildings with absolutely no character). On Monday we projected a segment about public space in a small corner of Meeting House Square, on a wall between the main stage and a public throughway/stairway right across from an Italian restaurant called Il Baccaro. The result was really quite amazing--to see people strolling near the image, past the image and through the image (some people actually jumped in and pretended to be walking through the video projection!). And then Tuesday night, after being turned away by our first choice site (Trinity College) we headed over to a Spanish restaurant (La Paloma) to project a segment about Mexican musicians onto the wall directly across from them, just off of Temple Bar Square (where up-and-coming music talents flock to play their music on the street). The result was also pretty amazing in a different kind of way. The streetlight was pretty bright in the spot that we projected, so the image was a bit dim. But because the entire segment was filmed at night, the images ended up being somewhat ghostly. Many people stopped and watched--several of whom were from Mexico City, coincidentally enough. The past few nights (after the projections) we've spent in a place called Oliver St. John Gogarty's, just off Temple Bar Square, which offers live traditional Irish music every night until 2:30am. The name is borrowed from a friend of Joyce's--a poet, who ended up becoming the character Buck Mulligan in Ulysses. Needless to say there were even more people there than usual last night, dancing their wild "Irish jigs" and spilling beer all over each other, grinning from ear to ear. A bit of a ghastly scene, but great music, and no cover charge.
Today, we go to the Joyce Center to check out the remnants of the man, himself, and to try to sniff out a few more interesting corners in the lovely city of Dublin to experience. But fear not dear readers, we will be back to give more updates and perhaps to offer images (we know you're dying to see them!)
Posted by Kathleen at 4:20 am | Comments (3)
June 12, 2004
if a tree falls in the forest...
Not much time to write at the moment. Am currently in between busy day and busy night (on opening night, no less!) Have been locked again inside the Sculpture Society offices until Susan gets back to retrieve me. Gilbert has gone back to the hotel room to look into the burning of yet another DVD (for the opening tonight) Last time we tried to burn it, the software told us it would take at least six hours to do! So we abandoned it and put it off until this morning. Hopefully, it's all working out okay, but I won't know until I get to the opening reception. We have no contact with each other currently and only sporadic contact with the outside world in general, all of which is very troubling. So we're really only left with the age old practice of crossing fingers and hoping for the best....
Last night we did our first projection, which was supposed to be projected somewhere else on a different night. But as we expected, things are constantly changing, depending on which sites respond to us and when they are able to allow us to use the site, etc. Unfortunately, we couldn't acquire access to a boat in time to do the projection we wanted and we are more or less resorting to the good will of establishment owners to supply us with power (since we can't afford the 800 euro deposit on a generator).....so what we showed last night was the footage of boats floating through Xochimilco rear-projected onto the front windows of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority offices....and it was great! Everything was perfect! The office is right on the bank of the Liffey and the whole back wall is glass with no obstructions. Security let us in around 9pm, we set everything up in time, plugged everything in by the 9:30pm start time and let it run for two hours.....unfortunately, it was Friday night in the financial district which more or less meant.....no audience. Other than that, everything went off without a hitch. We got our documentation, packed up and got back to our hotel around midnight just in time for a nightcap with our new roommates and then hit the sack for a good night's rest. So there you have it, our humble debut as big-time international festival-exhibiting hot shot artists. I'd love to post pictures, but we'll have to put that off for another time, since I don't have the camera with me. So please, just imagine the best!
Internet access will probably be sporadic during the week that we're here for a number of reasons: one, we have very little time to do anything except freak out; two, internet cafes.....and, dare I say the entire city of Dublin, is extremely expensive (oh, my good graciousness is it!) so we are only really able to get our computer stuff done in the spare, odd moments that we are able to gain access to the Sculpture Society offices and are not running around trying to get a million different things done. I imagine by mid-week we'll have everything squared away and will be able to at least post pictures for you, our dear readers.
Suffice it to say, we're having fun (I think!) and are very excited to be here. We're meeting all kinds of new people from all over the world and are learning new things every day (there's optimism for you!) As they say all the time here for absolutely everything, "it's grand!"
Posted by Kathleen at 8:53 am | Comments (1)
June 9, 2004
alive-alive-o!
Greetings from the early morning hours of Dublin, Ireland. We are covertly sitting in the offices of the Sculptor's Society of Ireland (the working headquarters of our project director since she arrived in March). She graciously let us in to use the facilities while the rest of the city sleeps. In front of me gigantic piles of fruits and vegetables are being unloaded into the maarket across the street. Behind me, fresh DVDs of our videos are slowly being churned and burned in preparation for our week-long project presentation (which begins tomorrow!) Each DVD takes about an hour and a half to two hours to produce and since we weren't able to get our act together in time to finish them before we left, we ended up bringing the equipment with us to finish during our off-hours here.
As you might imagine, we got somewhere around twenty minutes of sleep (no kidding!) the night before we left. We worked right up until the van came to pick us up at 4:45am. We thought we might be able to make up on sleep during the 12 hour plane ride over, but of course we couldn't sleep! After an otherwise relatively painless plane ride, we arrived in Dublin at 6am yesterday morning. We couldn't check into the hotel until 3pm so we dropped our bags off at the Travelodge and headed out to explore the city for a few hours until they could let us in to our room.
It was a lovely day to stroll--unfortunately, we didn't know which way was up, so most of our sense of adventure (as well as every other sense) was completely clouded over by a fog of delerium. So much has changed since I was here fifteen years ago. The quaint little town of Dublin that I remember has turned into a bustling (and very colorful) modern city! It is quite an impressive make-over, which, according to our new friend Tom, was mainly spurred by Ireland's joining into the European Union. Tom had a lot to say about Dublin, being a life-long resident of the city, and he was more than happy to share everything with us this afternoon. Tom is one of the groundskeepers of several of Dublin's historic spots and he was discovered by us today as he painted the front door of the chapter house of St. Mary's Abbey. This chapter house, a few blocks north of the Liffey, is one of the only remaining structures of one of the wealthiest Cisterian abbeys in medieval Ireland. Unfortunately, due mainly to neglect, the abbey was dismantled over time and the stones were quarried to use for other structures throughout the city. The Duchas foundation has turned the site into a mini-museum about itself and the good people running the foundation are currently pushing a case for proper archological studies of the site. In the meantime, they are opening it up to projects such as ours to help bring attention to the site. As St. Mary's Abbey is mentioned in Ulysses as "one of the most historic spots in Dublin", it is currently the target of a fair amount of interest to Joyce enthusiasts. Next Saturday, we will be lucky enough to have use of the site to present one of the chapters of the ITCP. St. Mary, St. Mary, and a theme of reverance will be the topic as we display our two-channel video and sound installation in there. (More on that later!)
After crashing for a few hours back at the hotel, we went back out again last night to finally meet in person our Project Director Susan (whom we have been emailing regularly since last September) as well as two of the other twenty artists in the group who have arrived already: Carlos and Chris, of Mexico City and Paris respectively. It felt a little like a life-sized version of the game Clue as the five of us, from four different parts of the world (called together by an unknown source for an unknown reason) stood together in the middle of Dublin and got to know each other over a few beers. Of course, we were lacking the proper outfits and have otherwise been called together for more benign reasons, but my mind, as saturated as it is by pop culture, couldn't help but make the connection (something, I'm sure my brother will appreciate!)
We are off to breakfast now and will hopefully be back soon with a whole lot of pictures to post so that we can show you the NEW and IMPROVED version of Dublin's fair city....
Posted by Kathleen at 9:43 pm | Comments (2)
May 22, 2004
the bubbling cauldron of the chrysalis
Three weeks until our first projection night and we still have our heads on relatively straight. We have finished going through the footage of Mexico City, logging all our notes and are starting to piece together the individual reels of imagery. Ideally, we envision ourselves as super-cool VJs mixing all the images live, on the spot, using Jitter software (which Gilbert is still hoping for) but I'm just thinking "Yikes! We'll have enough to worry about as it is!" We'll see how things look as we go along because I agree that it would make the projections that much more interesting. In the meantime, we are starting to make contact with our target projection sites in Dublin with the help of our project director, Susan, and our new Site Assistant Fiona Cronly, who generously offered to assist us in preparations for our crazy project in her spare moments. She lives in Dublin, so her perspective will be much more fleshed out than ours (limited as we are to a little plastic map with red dot stickers on it and photos from the web).We are getting more and more excited as things continually pan out. At this point, we definitely have St. Mary's Abbey booked for June 19th, which is a terribly exciting thing for us. When St. Mary's was built in 1139, it was the largest and most important monastary in Medieval Ireland. To think that we will be projecting video images of altars to the Virgen de Guadalupe (referring to Juan Diego's siting of the virgin in 1531) from Mexico City makes the head reel! We trully are embarking on adventures through space and time. All of the other people that we are in contact with seem extremely open as well to the idea of having us run around and project images of lord-knows-what all over their spaces. The two which we really need to work out are projecting inside of a public bus and projecting onto the walls lining the Liffey river from a boat. But if they actually work out, I think that they may end up being the most interesting, simply because of the setup. We shall see!
Last night was the vernissage (opening reception) for the final MFA exhibit for all of my former classmates at SFAI. It was really great seeing them all again after nearly a year and seeing the culmination of all their hard work at school. We've all been so busy with our respective projects and whatnot that our paths have unfortunately diverged. Of course our project and trip to Dublin was all we could talk about. "So what are you up to?" they would ask. "Well you see...." And to think that only a year ago, I was showing my little exhibit in the same exhibition hall, wondering what I was gonna do next! My, how time flies!
Posted by Kathleen at 9:23 am | Comments (3)
May 17, 2004
ten new ways to see the world
Four weeks and counting until we are scheduled to be in Dublin to present The International Transentient Cartographicacy Project at the Rejoyce Dublin 2004 Festival! From the sound of it, things are really coming together over in Dublin through our amazing project director, Susan Sakash. The opening night reception has been scheduled for June 12th at the Temple Bar Gallery and will be an exclusive catered affair (including food and libations donated by the Mexican Embassy). Places for us to stay during our ten (or so) days there have also been found and booked for $20 Euros a night (which is an unbelievably good rate for the middle of June in the middle of Dublin!) A CD-ROM catalog of all the projects involved in the WrRd group exhibit is in the process of being made and will be sponsored by the Fractured Atlas organization http://www.fracturedatlas.org/. Things, both there and here, have gotten to the point where they seem almost tangible (metaphorically speaking).Here in Oakland we have practiced projecting some of our footage onto local architecture—and the results, even just on our neighbors’ walls, look absolutely stunning! Afterall, it is Mexico City. Knowing now that our crazy ideas might actually work, we have drafted a list of sites in Dublin where we want to set up our nightly installations (different every night, remember). The next step is to start contacting site managers and superintendents in Dublin to make sure we can actually proceed with our schemes as planned. So far this is what we have in mind:
1. Mexico City residents floating through the canals of Xochimilco projected onto the walls lining the Liffey River (which runs through the middle of Dublin)
2. vendors near the Templo Mayor Aztec ruins projected onto Merchant’s Arch (a site mentioned specifically in Ulysses) near the Ha’penny Bridge
3. altars to the Virgen de Guadalupe projected inside of St. Mary’s Abbey (a former church-turn-art gallery). We’re actually tentatively booked for this one!
4. mariachi and traditional Mexican musicians projected on or near the Temple Bar Square (the main square inside of the bohemian neighborhood south of the Liffey)
5. footage from inside of a pasero bus as we drive through the neighborhood of Coyoacan projected inside of a parked Dublin City public bus
6. the endless flower stalls of San Angel projected onto a surface in a construction site near the Dublin Docklands
7. crowds of Mexico City subway patrons projected inside of DART (Dublin subway) stations
8. sun-worshippers on the ancient pyramid at Cuicuilco projected onto the site of the former Viking settlements near Wood Quay
9. walking through Chapultapec Park projected within St. Stephens Green
10. the campus and the students of UNAM projected around or onto the National College of Ireland
We are still going through our footage and making our diagrams and otherwise have a long way to go until we have the project at a point where it is presentable. But with enough focus and support, we are sure to make it come together by our first projection night of June 11th. So, to our dear, wonderful friends and family, please don't feel slighted that we haven't been in contact with you for so long!
In other news, we have been invited by the Executive Editor of Leonardo journal http://www.leonardo.info to submit an Artists Statement about the ITCP. Leonardo has been the leading publication for more than 35 years on writings by artists who work with science- and technology-based art media. We are thrilled at the prospect of being included among such established names.
Looks like we have our work cut out for us for a while!
Posted by Kathleen at 10:54 am | Comments (1678)
May 3, 2004
WrRd Newsletter #1
Below is a copy of the newsletter sent out recently by our Joyce Festival project coordinator, Susan Sakash....(she is tireless!!)
Contents of WrRd Newsletter #1 (April 19, 2004):
Introductory Note from Susan
Sponsorship in Kitsch - The Artist B&B Scheme
Newest news in brief - Spaces, locations, donations!
Artist Highlight - Kathleen Quillian and Gilbert Guerrero
Introductory Note
Dear friends of the Wandering Rocks Revolving Doors Collective:
High time to send out this first WrRd newsletter - apologies if you have been perched at the edge of your seat, awaiting news. The pace has picked up fivefold since I arrived in Dublin this past St. Patrick's Day and bit by bit word is getting out around Dublin about the new kids in town. Thus far the city and its city-zens have offered up a kind, if blustery, welcome. There is still much to do with less than 7 weeks remaining until the June 10th start date but, the project is almost taking on a life of its own (which is wonderful since someday I would like to have my own back!)
Enjoy the news and be in touch. - Cheers, Susan Sakash, Creative Director, WrRd collective
Artist B&B (Bed on Bloomsday) Scheme - Your chance to do good at $30 (or 25 Euro) a pop Let us sleep! One thing we have fast determined is that in Dublin, nothing is free, particularly during the heavily touristed summer month of June when lodging costs shoot through the roof. The majority of the collective plans on being here for some portion of the 2 week event, but several of the artists may have to cut their stay short due to these high costs. In order to defray their costs as much as possible, we have begun the Artist B&B scheme whereby you can sponsor a one night stay for one of the WrRd artists for only $30. You can either select the artist you wish to sponsor or just make a general donation (which, if you are in the US, can be tax-deductible). As a thanks to you, we will be sending all donors a picture of their selected artist tucked in, away from the elements, nightcap optional. The whole scheme, complete with Sally Strother's overtones, is available by visiting http://www.newgroundcenter.org/WrRd/artistbb.php
Newest News in Brief
Locations, locations, locations - One of the most entertaining aspects of my arrival here in Dublin has been the chance to confront the reality of Dublin's modern cityscape with James Joyce's Dublin of 1904. Much of my first couple of weeks was devoted to riding round the city, getting hopelessly lost then found and all the while taking digital images of possible locations for the various projects. If you are interested in viewing any of the locations where WrRd projects will be sited, and to catch a mere glimpse of the urban labyrinth that is the Dublin City Centre, you can find some images up on our website: http://www.newgroundcenter.org/WrRd/siteshots.php - we are still looking for locations, specifically for indoor and outdoor video projection in case anyone has a suggestion.
WrRd has an office - The Sculptor's Society of Ireland (http://www.sculptors-society.ie) have generously offered WrRd space in their warehouse office to use between now and June. Not only are we now well connected with phones and internet, but this situation also gives us access to SSI's well-bred and highly knowledgeable staff, who provide the informational backbone of the Irish art community.
It's all in the presentation - I've made WrRd presentations at two VERY different events here in Dublin, the first being hosted by the International Festivals and Events Association and the Association of Irish Festivals Events my first week here in Dublin and the second just this past week at the monthly meeting for the Dublin Art and Technology Association (http://www.data.ie/events/data18.php - go to EVENTS and then DATA 18). Both presentations were well-received and have generated not only valuable contacts but a general buzz about the event here in Dublin.
Donations and Support - We are extremely grateful to our existing sponsors and all of those who have already donated to the WrRd project (see sponsorship page on website - http://www.newgroundcenter.org/WrRd/sponsorship.com) and are working hard and long hours to secure the additional funding and in kind support necessary to make WrRd a success. The WrRd fundraising campaign is still in full tilt - check out the details on how you can make an online tax-deductible donation at http://www.newgroundcenter.org/WrRd/funding.php. Key to making WrRd a successful international exchange between the WrRd collaborators and the city of Dublin is the highly visible presence of the 19 pieces and the participating artists here in Dublin to be achieved through an active publicity campaign (brochures, postering, web notices, etc) in the weeks leading up to and during the event. Any support - be it a financial donation, volunteer work, in kind donation of materials and equipment, printing expenses, lodging, food - would be greatly appreciated as would suggestions as to untapped resources we might be missing.
Artist Spotlight - Kathleen Quillian and Gilbert Guerrero
Kathleen Quillian and Gilbert Guerrero (San Francisco, CA U.S.A) are recently returned from Mexico City where they completed Stage 2 of their WrRd project, the tongue-tie able International Transentient Cartiographicacy Project. Whereas stage 1 was to create a web-based, conceptual map of Mexico City using information gathered from the personal experiences of friends, family and acquaintances, stage 2 captured their wanderings as a collaged video of the people, sites, and sounds encountered during their two weeks stay in Mexico City, in which the interactive map serves as their sole physical and spiritual guide. They are now back in San Francisco editing this video and realigning their thermostats in preparation for stage 3 - a week long video installation that incorporates mobile video projection onto various structures around Dublin City Centre. The piece hopes propose to its' observers new ways of viewing the topographical and social landscapes of these two urban environments through juxtapositions that are at once conflicting and complementary, humorous and reflective. You can check out the interactive map and stills taken from the video work in progress by visiting http://www.dprojx.org/projects/itcp/map/about.html. Both artists are eligible for Artist B&B funding as well as general donations which can be made on their website to help defray the costs of this ambitious transcontinental event.
Posted by Kathleen at 12:00 am | Comments (1)
April 1, 2004
we're back!
It was the day we were flying out of Mexico City and the latest we could check out of the Hotel Montreal was at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. This isn't bad as far as hotels go, but our flight wasn't leaving until 5:30pm. We couldn't help all the energy we still had. We were so used to waking up early every morning, grabbing double lattes at the local Coyoacan coffeehouse and being on the street with the camera on. The experiences we never had flashed before our eyes. We should be out there shooting all the things we missed! It was our last day in Mexico City. We decided against running around any more. Besides, there was so much pop culture on the TV to catch up on! Like BH-9er with spanish subtitles, E! chronicling the lifestyles of American celebrities in a mix of both spanish and english, classic movies shot in Mexico City in the '40s, '50s, and '60s on the Pelicula channel and the latest Britney Spears video on MTV Latino America (http://www.mtvla.com). The only thing we had to do this morning was to get breakfast downstairs in the hotel restaurant.
In the hotel restaurant there were about 15 tables at which there was usually no one seated. The waiters always hung out behind the bar eating club sandwiches and flipping through the cable channels. Their company was enjoyable because they liked cool pop music. This morning we found that there were actually other people in the restaurant! But not only that, we could tell at least one of them was an American--he was loud and condescending and despite how many generalizations about the world he could declare he could not speak spanish. Here's a direct quote: "To learn respect, every kid once they reach their junior year of high school should have to go to boot camp. To learn respect, to say Yes, Sir. No, Sir. to their elders. To learn how to march and to follow orders!" and "You Mexican. I American. You try me speak. Yes?!" It went on and on. This guy apparently was military. Who knows what business he was on. The Mexican guy with the thin moustache and black leather jacket finally stopped him mid-sentence and paid the bill. We finished our hot cakes naturales and cocktail de fruta in peace.
We took a taxi to the airport and shot some video before we sat down in Sala B, the waiting room for international travelers. We tried the Charro Negros (Dark Horseman) from one of the many makeshift airport bars. We learned of their existence at my Tia Malena's house. It's tequila and coke. The airport bartenders also squeezed in a lime and added a little salt. Tasty and refreshing! Ask for a "Charro Negro" at any of your local fine establishments!
I was happy to be a few sheets to the wind as soon as we left the ground. The weather was bad and the visibility was low. We immmediately hit a storm blowing over the city. The plane began to bounce and, really, turn on its side. I'm not sure if you realize that I am recovering from a fear of flying. For the first time, the logical, rational part of my brain was coherent, and I should give credit to the book Fearless Flyers, but I remained calm the entire time. The plane would not break apart or fall out of the sky. If it was that bad the (well trained) pilot would coast out of the storm and land us somewhere nearby. But of course, the usual course of action is to steer the plane upwards above the storm. These were the things I told myself as we dipped and bounced through the air. I could almost feel the wings bending and flopping around. But then came the blue skyes and we coasted to Guadalajara, where we had to land and get off the plane and get back on another one and go through it all again! Luckily, the cerveza and booze are free on Mexicana Airlines.
We finally made it back to Oakland International Airport at around 9:30pm. We went through customs and got a taxi. Kathleen happily gave directions to the taxi cab driver (her first time in two weeks!) We were home.
Right now, we're sipping margaritas and doing more unpacking. The sun has set and the cold that comes with the California nights is creeping through. We'll keep blasting our Mexican pop CDs we bought in Tepito until we get tired and have to sleep.
Posted by Gilbert at 12:00 am | Comments (3)
March 29, 2004
the final stretch
So we've hit the final stretch. One more night in lovely Coyoacan, writing our last news items over yet another cup of coffee and then tomorrow we get on a plane to head back to California...finally!
Sunday we treated ourselves to breakfast at the lovely, grand, pink, marble Belles Artes Museum. While watching a closed-circuit video of the Mexico City Symphony (playing in the next room) we dined on a huevos and chile torta and the fanciest nopale (cactus) dish you'll never see (unless of course you come to Mexico City!) and two cups of coffee. We were totally paranoid about being in a nearly-empty restaurant again, but it turned out to be a very reasonably-priced meal for the atmosphere, and of course it filled up after the symphony was finished. Afterwards we wandered around the museum which, like all museums in Mexico City on Sunday, was free. Unfortunately all of the salas where they have special exhibitions were empty but that just meant that we were able to spend more time with the permanent exhibition which is made up entirely of commissioned murals by all of the big names, including Siquieros, Rivera, Orozco and others. They were all extremely political and very impressive in their technique and vision. We got a few ideas in our collective head for a mural in our place when we return! For the rest of the afternoon we wandered around the Historical Center--around the north side of the Zocalo--and shot video of some of the very amazing Spanish colonial architecture in the area. Amazingly, most of the churches and the larger stone structures are still standing, even though they are very obviously sinking into the soft soil of the city (as I mentioned previously). We finally found our way to the Ex Teresa Contemporary Art Museum, almost directly behind the Templo Mayor (the Aztec temple ruins, right off the Zocalo). Again, this is another building which has sunken so far into the soil that it had to be closed for religious gatherings--but the government decided, apparently, that it was fit enough to re-open as an art gallery. So that's what it is now--a very amazing art space, in a former church, that is government-sponsored and dedicated to cutting edge contemporary art exhibits. The building is so crooked that you really feel like you're in one of those fun houses where your perspective is so skewed you can't help but fall all over the place--but somehow that just adds to the scope of the experience. One of the artists that is currently exhibiting in there had the right idea by stacking items on top of very precariously tall pedestals. I don't know how they stay up, but they do--and it's a very nice example of site-specific art, for sure. In the evening we had a very Italian dinner of pizza and lasagna at Cafe Trevi, back near the Belles Artes museum and listened to live Mexi music which was being played in the park right outside. It was a very multi-ethnic experience.
Today we again treated ourselves to breakfast at Sanborns--a department store opened in the early 1900s by two Americans--which turned out to be so popular, it's almost like the Mexican version of Starbucks (ubiquitous!) This branch is housed in an old Spanish colonial Hacienda--a very beautiful building. Afterwards we wandered around Tepito--better known as the thieves market. We luckily got in there right before a crazy rain and hail storm and bought ourselves a bunch of burned CDs of some of the music we've heard while here. It was a fitting end to a wild ride. We have to leave the internet cafe now but will do a wrap up posting after we return to California. Thank you for following us on our adventures. Stay tuned!
Posted by Kathleen at 12:00 am | Comments (2)
March 28, 2004
hugs and headlocks
Yesterday was the most wonderful day of our whole trip. We dedicated it to family and professional wrestling.
We started the day off in San Angel. On Saturdays they open the Plaza San Jacinto to people to sell all sorts of arts and crafts. We found a little cafe that served crepes. I only mention this because Kathleen ordered a delicious chile, creamy cheese and corn crepe called a Poblana. The little old couple who owned the place seemed to have it made. They just played their classic lounge Cumbia and Rumba records all day and served crepes and capuccinos. We blew a bunch of money on trinkets and little artsy crafty things in the plaza and then made our way to the huge flower market on La Avenida de la Revolución to buy a bunch or two to bring with us on our visit to my godmother's sister's family. This is the same market that Kathleen's friend Veronica told us about. It's on our interactive map and it's one of the places where we shot video to use in our installation. At the flower market, I whipped out some more of my broken Spanish and managed to get us two nice bunches of some white and purple wild rose-like flowers.
We took the subway as far as west as we could go, which was somewhere on the border of Chapultapec Park. We were on our way to my godmother's sister's family's house. ...I should stop at this point and say that it's silly to keep saying "my godmother's sister's etc..." and that I'm going to stop. Honestly, I think of Malena as my aunt, as my Tía Malena. When I add all the qualifiers, I think I'm both trying to explain the situation to people who may not understand my relationship to her and its importance as well as also not feeling totally worthy or maybe a little insecure about it. I have so much respect and love for her sister, my aunt and godmother, my Tía Teresa. There's some kind of spiritual and telekinetic bond I feel like I have with her. And she's beautiful and expressive and kisses you on both cheeks multiple times over when you see her. So to keep this short, partially because she lives in Mexico City, my feelings for my Tía Malena are a combination of love and pure fascination. I couldn't wait to see her and meet her family.
With the help of the Guía Roji, the ultimate street atlas to Mexico City, and the second cab driver we found (since the first one couldn't understand what the heck I was saying, as though the place I was asking to be taken was farther than he'd be willing to drive), we were on our way to my Tía Malena's house. (On our way there we passed something called the Irish Institute, which we later found out was a school. All of Malena's kids went there. They send Mexican students to Ireland after they're through with their studies. And every course is taught in english!) At my Tía Malena's house, after a full welcome of hugs and kisses on every cheek, we sat out in their patio and had a delicious lunch. We also had our first taste of good tequila. This is something meant to be sipped from a small shot glass. During lunch, everyone was chatting and laughing. They were celebrating Julio and Mayabel's birthday. Abelardo, the youngest, who's in 11th grade, sat on one side of us and chatted with us in excellent english and my Tía Malena and her husband Alvaro sat on the other. We spoke with everyone in english and understood most of the jokes in spanish and drank lots of tequila. As a parting gift, my Tía Malena gave us a decorative plate from the city of Puebla, as if she'd been reading our minds since we'd been dreaming about owning lots of Mexican ceramic dishes and tiles but couldn't really afford to spend much more. We hope to stay in touch now--with our new found Mexican family! The newlywed daughter Sylvia and her husband Oscar were kind enough to give us a ride in their brand new Volkswagen to our hotel. It was time to get read for Lucha Libre!
We'd heard about Mexican wrestling, Lucha Libre, but another artist from the SF Bay Area who's working on a photography project about the sport invited us to see it up close. We took a train to the small arena in Xochimilco that night. Not knowing what to be prepared for, we left all of our valuables at the hotel. This turned out to be a mistake. We had a blast. At a certain point we were even sitting in the ground floor seats just a few feet away from the ring. Kathleen took a million pictures and I shot a bunch of Super 8. The crowd was small but totally into it. There were these grandmas who kept leaving their seats when the wrestlers were forcing each others' faces into the mat. The grandmas each in turn waved an angry finger and smack their hands on the mat. They blew their noise makers in the wrestlers faces and taunted them. Of course, it was all in good fun. They'd scoot back to their seats with big smiles. Between matches every kid in the place would jump up onto the canvas and it would be a mini-melee of tiny flying bodies. On the way back to our hotels, Charles, the photographer, told us about the many "Luchas" in the city and the fan magazines. Too bad we were running out of time in Mexico City. We'll have to nurture our new obsession from afar.
Posted by Gilbert at 12:00 am | Comments (2)
March 26, 2004
a mexican grizzly bear story
We've been very concerned and careful about our safety and well-being while we've been here in Mexico City because of all we've heard about how dangerous it is here. The first and the last things we've heard from just about everyone is to "be careful!" So we arrived a little bit paranoid and very much on guard. So far we've had very good luck while we've been here and haven't even gotten sick or anything. But last night we got robbed. There were no weapons and no threats though, just a bill for $955 pesos (approximately $100 US) and a guy in a leather jacket blocking the door of the restaurant. There was nothing we could do but pay the bill considering we had about $2000 worth of equipment on us and who knows what might have happened otherwise? We were at Garibaldi Plaza--the mecca for mariachi music. We arrived early, while it was still light, because we've been warned by many sources that it is a dangerous neighborhood. When we got there around 5pm we were the only ones there that weren't in a mariachi outfit or carrying a musical instrument and as we strolled casually through the square we were very obviously the subject of about 200 pairs of eyes with dollar signs in them. So we quickly ducked out of there and into a nearby cantina to keep ourselves occupied (read: drink beer) until it got dark. This cantina was fine. The waiters were friendly and it was quiet and they had a really cool altar to the virgin in the back, near where we were sitting that we were admiring. It was pretty empty, but that was fine with us. So we just relaxed over the next few hours and drank our bucket of beer and listened to the jukebox and ate the free snacks they gave us and then headed back to the square. But it turned out that we were still the only ones there around 7:30pm and as we walked around, we had every waiter in the area coming up to us and telling us to come into their restaurant and drink beer. We wanted some dinner and we still wanted to be out of the way otherwise we would've had every mariachi musician on us like flies on honey, so we picked a place in the back that had a balcony and ordered two margaritas and a mushroom taco and some chips to share. We kind of wondered why we were the only two people sitting on the balcony but figured that it was because it was still early and there was really no one else there except one group of tourists wandering around the square. The waiters kept asking if we wanted to come inside and finally we said that we would because nothing was really happening outside anyway. And so we ordered two more beers and enjoyed a few of the acts that came out on stage inside. To their credit, the entertainment was really good, including a mariachi band, some traditional dancers and a cockfight, of all things. But after a while we decided that it was time to go outside to check out the mariachis and asked for the bill, which as I mentioned before, turned out to be almost $100!! The waiter informed us that there was a $20 fee for sitting inside and some other fee for the entertainment on top of the miniscule $10 bill that we racked up on food and four drinks. We asked if they could lower this tremendous and ridiculous fee, but they refused. So...we paid the f***ing thing and left. The moral of this story is 1. don't ever wander into a nearly-empty restaurant in a hot tourist area without asking what you're getting yourself into first...and 2. don't ever admit that you are an American abroad. Basically what they wrung out of us was the money that they weren't getting from the busloads of tourists that usually crowd the place on weekends. And I guess they've got to do what they've got to do to stay in business but what they didn't realize was that it put a very bad taste in our mouths (on top of the gross-tasting tacos they served us) about Garibaldi Plaza and the mariachi phenomenon. And as you all know, our dear readers, that we are the very LAST people they should've picked on!! But alas, we got out of the experience relatively unscathed, and got ourselves a good war story out of it.We'll just have to keep ourselves entertained on a much tighter budget from now on. We did manage to find a really great, young mariachi band afterwards (with two women in it!) to agree to play two songs for us on video. They sounded really great and I can't wait to see their performance projected really large throughout the streets of Dublin. The Irish are gonna go nuts over it, I'm sure! Who wouldn't?
Today we spent the day retracing the steps of one of our map contributors, Antonio Soto, through his experience immediately after the big earthquake in 1985. It was a really interesting way to experience that part of the city (the Colonia Roma near the Zona Rosa) comparing the story of such a terrifying and tragic experience with the relative serenity of what we were seeing. I only hope that we can do justice to the story with the footage that we got of our experience. Afterwards, we wandered into a very posh, European-style tapas cafe nearby, called Capicua, and had ourselves some coffee and very fancy french fries with aioli sauce and an asparagus salad and an empanada disguised as a hunk of fried cheese. We were pretty relieved to be eating something other than tacos and flautas. We were sent off with a shot of apple liqueur (on the house) and our noses held a little too high until we got into the subway again. And then our bubbles popped and we found ourselves back in the crowded, hot, swirling masses of the city.
We have been invited to have lunch at Gilbert's godmother's sister's house tomorrow and to celebrate the birthdays of two of her kids (twins). It will be nice to finally be in the hands of caring and trustworthy people. We will finally be able to let our guard down, if only for a little while, before heading over to Xochimilco for a Saturday night lucha libre extravaganza. Wish us luck!
Posted by Kathleen at 12:00 am | Comments (1)
March 25, 2004
ancient mexico field trip
The last two days were a test of cultural education endurance and stamina. We visited the National Museum of Anthropology (Museo Nacional de Antropología) on Tuesday and the archeological site of the ruins at Teotihuacán yesterday.
On Tuesday morning we took the metro to Chapultapec Park. It seemed so similiar to Central Park in New York or Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. And in the same way, it's home to many museums and the national zoo. As soon as we entered the park we found the monument to the Niños Heroes, a group of six youths attending the military high school who found themselves trapped in the park's castle when the United States invaded Mexico City during the Mexican-American War. Rather than surrendering they wrapped themselves in Mexican flags and jumped out of the castle windows to their deaths. The main monument is an epic national piece of work with six giant black columns supporting eagles and a white statue and fountains in the middle, but we made our way around to the back where a memorial with six tiny portraits placed in a semicircle sits. It was very peaceful and tragic (until a little white train giving a tour gave us short notice that we were on the tour path and almost plowed us over, choo-chooing and speeding along like something out of Benny Hill.) Walking through rest of the park we found a small lake where lovers and little families were rowing boats. Charming!
The National Museum of Anthropology, which is also in Chapultapec Park, is a major feat of exhibition design and museum layout. We heard that it was extensive and our guide book told us we should reserve a whole day to get through it, but when I first saw it I thought it wasn't as intimidating as say the SF MoMA with its many floors spiralling upwards or the NY Metropolitan Museum of Art with its five million steps leading to towering greek columns at the doorway. The very first thing we saw when we entered the large courtyard which forms the middle of the museum was a gigantic green pillar carved with ancient designs on one side and diagrams from mathematics and nuclear physics on the other. It was pouring tons of gallons of water from the top about 100 feet above our heads and the water just went straight to the ground below. I was totally impressed (and really wanted to run through it.) It was also the only thing supporting an immense square inverted roof above, which looked like a giant spaceship perched on its head. We decided to start with the first set of exhibits at our right called "Introducción". This took maybe over an hour an a half and covered every indigenous culture in Mexico with mini exhibits complete with video and mannequins grinding corn on stones in houses made of straw and fake mud. The ancient ruins were on the ground floor below. Most of the artifacts were huge stone sculptures and reconstructed ornate walls just sitting out in the middle of the floors. Somewhere right after finishing the room at the middle of the museum, the "Ancient Mexicas" room containing the famous Aztec Calendar, many sacrificial platforms and lots of feathered snakes, we found ourselves staring blankly in the courtyard around the lilypad pool. We were exhausted.
Yesterday was our big archeological day. We got up extra early and rubbed tons of suntan lotion all over our bodies in anticipation of scaling the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon in Teotihuacán. We took the metro as far north as we could get and then took a bus for another hour. When we got there it was dusty and hot. We could see right away that we were going to be doing tons of walking. We paid our way in and set out on the nopal cactus-lined gravel path. At about every 25 feet on the way there, a merchant came up to us and pulled a shiny parrot or aztec whistle made from Sculpey out from under a felt cloth, revealing the "ancient" treasure, and tried to sell it to us. There were more merchants near the pyramids selling blankets and sombreros like the ones from Chevy's. We kept trudging along, trying to move fast because it seemed like the number of blond girls and guys in Oakleys with Texas accents was growing. Since it was the middle of the week we were also surrounded by squadrons of school kids on field trips. They were kind of cute, running around everywhere speaking Spanish and all dressed in identical sweatsuits with the name of their school and professor embroidered on the back. We walked along the long strip called the Calzada de Los Muertos (Avenue of the Dead) to the Pyramid of the Moon. Even though it's the smaller pyramid of the two, the steps are steep and narrow and nearly at a vertical. I probably could have jumped onto someone at the bottom without touching a single step on the way down. Yikes! We shared a Clif bar at the top and got some good footage. Not long later we were dehydrated and already feeling the sunburns radiating from our noses and shoulders (I gave pobrecita Kathleen my hat because the top of her head under her hair was getting burned.) We still had one Clif bar, a few sips of water and just a little bit of patience left for all of the tourists so we pushed ourselves to climb the Pyramid of the Sun and then headed back to pass out in the hotel room. Whew! What a day...
Posted by Gilbert at 12:00 am | Comments (4)
March 22, 2004
a soul's replenishment
I am happy to announce that we finally and completely made up for all of the vegetables that have gone missing in our diet here so far in Mexico City with our dinner this evening at an ALL VEGETARIAN TAQUERIA. We're pretty sure Gilbert was drinking a cocktail of pineapple and beet juice with his carrot and cabbage flautas while I was chewing on delicious wheat glutten, tomato and guacamole tacos with a cranberry and hibiscus juice blend. But we don't know for sure because the waitress could only explain what was in our dishes by pointing to a poster on the wall that showed all the fruits and vegetables you could possibly ever imagine together in one frame. So we shrugged our shoulders and chowed down, letting all of the vitamins and minerals that have gone sorely lacking thus far to sink it at their leisure. The only drawback to the meal was the constant peircing screams of the child of one of the four thoroughly progressive, peirced and dreadlocked Mexicans sitting across from us--obviously out on the town from their commune quarters (we're from San Francisco remember, so we can spot these things rather easily.) This evening's meal beautifully topped off our past two and a half days of spiritual replenishment, beginning with floating down the waters of Xochimilco and ending with a visit to the Virgen de Guadalupe...
Yesterday, as you all know, was the first day of spring--which for a large amount of the population of Mexico City means heading over to Cuicuilco--in the south of the city, near la Ciudad Universitaria (University City) to visit an ancient pyramid. On this day, people arrive in droves, all of them dressed in white, and charge themselves on the energy of the pyramid by sitting quietly (or lying face down) on the top of the pyramid, or humming to themselves and then reaching their arms toward the sun (whenever it appeared through the clouds). While we are unsure of the significance to so many people now (does it have anything to do with the Catholic faith?) it is said that this pyramid was the spiritul center of a settlement that existed around 600-200 B.C. Apparently this is a once a year (maybe twice a year) event and so we decided to check it out. Whether you are into the ritualized activity or not, you certainly get a really nice view of the city from on top of the pyramid and a lovely afternoon in the sun with friends, family, neighbors and other Mexico City residents. Afterwards, we headed over to our beloved Coyoacan neighborhood for bodily replenishment, having eaten nothing more than a donut with coffee all day thus far. We found a really great tamale stand right off the main square with some really fancy tamale blends (mine had molé, almonds and pineapple while G's had some kind of herb found in the southern part of Mexico) as well as atole--the cornmeal hot chocolate we'd heard about and were dying to try. After this very delicious meal, we headed next door to the bar and had a few (okay, eight) beers (between us!) while sitting amongst the college kids and watched the crowds wander by. This weekend was apparently the first cultural festival in Coyoacan with lots of crafts and music and entertainment. After our libations and relaxation we started back towards the hotel, only to be stopped by the lovely sounds of two musicians--a local husband and wife duo, on violin and guitar respectively. After they finished their set, we decided to buy a CD of their music from them and ended up talking with them for about forty minutes. They noticed that we had been videotaping them and told us that the last song they played ("El Indio Digitalizado" or "The Digital Indian") was for us. They kindly gave us their phone number and email and told us to contact them before we leave for California, which we might just do if we can find the time amidst our busy schedule because we liked them very much.
Today we decided to go to the north of the city to pay our respects to the Virgen de Guadalupe--the Patron Saint of Mexico. The tunic of Juan Diego on which her image was emblazoned was housed for hundreds of years in a basilica which was constructed on the original site where she was first seen by the peaseant in 1531. Over the years, the original basilica began to sink into the soft soil, so a new basilica was constructed nearby in the 1970s--a building which was described very nicely by our guidebook as having "all of the mystical aura of an airport terminal." It is truly a postmodern experience to view a deeply religious icon while floating by on one of the four conveyer belts beneath it while half of the crowd is praying and the other half is taking pictures (or video, as the case may be). But we left her flowers and imposed our wishes upon her in the case that she heard us and accepted our equally postmodern beliefs of the whole affair. Afterwards we wandered through the ubiquitous sea of vendors in search of the perfect souvenir of our experience--which ended up being two t-shirts, a keychain, a small figurine for G's dashboard and a plastic container about the size of a lunchbox with a small diorama displaying Juan Diego's siting of the virgin (complete with a gigantic fake rose that lights up when you plug it in!)
After our lovely, spiritual weekend I think we may finally be ready to head back downtown again....
Posted by Kathleen at 12:00 am | Comments (1)
March 21, 2004
from rushing rivers to slow canals
It couldn't have been hotter at 11am on Saturday when we hit the Zocalo--Mexico City's central plaza. It seemed like it was a giant flat stone block dropped in the middle of the city, with taxis and buses endlessly encircling it and people flowing all around and over it. Not only was it Saturday so everybody was out, but both the Festival de Mexico and the Spring equinox brought everyone else to the main square. When we came out of the subway we were able to watch some Aztec dancers performing their Spring rituals in front of the main cathedral. It's a heavily "charged" spot since one of the main Aztec temples is buried beneath. (This was the Spaniard's way of showing that the Aztecs were finished and that Catholicism reigned. They even built the cathedral from the destroyed remains of the temple. Some say you can still see stains of the sacrifical blood on the cathedral stones.) So with no real destination, we decided to wander. We figured maybe we could get a look at the Ex-Teresa contemporary arts center. Craig Baldwin told us about it and gave us the name of someone to contact there. Apparently, it's a stone's throw from the main square....well, maybe on any other day.
Because of some type of construction, we couldn't pass the palace which is directly on the square, so we decided to go around it. We were immediately caught in the flow of an open-air market--kind of like a flea market but with 10 million more people. We went with the flow, hoping to find the other side of the palace. Looking further down we could see it kept going on for miles. We tried to turn a corner. Every street was just like the last. The blue tarps, yellow umbrellas, sweaty sun hats, wheelbarrows full of fruit covered in chile, bicycles, taxis--and sometimes even a bus--pushing through every now and then, all went on forever. We later found out that this is only the largest open market in the world! After being groped more times than she could count in the sea of strangers, Kathleen informed me that we needed to get out of there ASAP.
We didn't know where we were when we finally made it out. It was some kind of tiny village plaza. We were happy there wasn't really anybody else around or anything at all going on there. So, what next? Would there be any way at all of getting across to the Ex-Teresa? Would there be any way to protect Kathleen's nalgas on the way there? It didn't take long to decide to backup to plan A, which was to go to Xochimilco, the preserved pre-hispanic land of flowers and canals. We jumped on the first bus we could find. On the bus ride out of the center, we could still see the arms and legs of the market stretching out all around us. The storefronts on all the main streets seemed dark and shut up, but, on the sidewalks right in front, market stands were bustling. After about a half hour we entered the village of Xochimilco. A man on a bicycle pointed us in the direction of the Embarcadero, or the piers where the boats took off into the canals. We walked a few blocks and noticed the man riding beside us. He kept riding ahead to every corner and pointed the way. We didn't know it but he worked for one of the boat companies, which was fine. He took us to our boat and brought us beer and took our money. We had the entire boat, which seats around 20 people, for two hours at 350 pesos, which is about $32 US. The canals were filled with boats carrying people having a family picnic for a birthday or just to be out and with teenagers who were blasting Mexican pop, singing, drinking beer and dancing. There were also little boats floating by with ladies and men cooking tacos, quesadillas and corn on a stick and selling candy apples, flowers and tchotchkes. Mariachis had their own boats and they tied themselves to yours if you paid them for a song. We were worlds away from the Zocalo. We only wondered why we hadn't come earlier. I'm still trying to figure out how we could start something like a XochimilcoSF or Oakchimilco.
Posted by Gilbert at 12:00 am | Comments (6)
March 19, 2004
road rules
We almost lost Gilbert this morning to a cab that didnt stop. We were crossing the street and the cab was turning onto it and he was faster than we were, so..... Luckily Gilbert had the good mind to jump out of the way at the last minute. You see, there are no such things as traffic rules here in Mexico City. You think Im kidding, but Im not. I have yet to see a stop sign. They have speed bumps on some of the corners, but thats it. We went over to San Angel, which is a bus ride over to the west of where we are in Coyoacan--very close--and very cosmopolitan. And we were able to observe traffic at its height, for the better part of the day as we walked up and down Insurgentes, which is a main street in the city which runs all the way to the city center. It seemed to be rush hour over there all day. Its really quite amazing. There dont really seem to be aggressive drivers (as what we would consider in the US) because they are all aggressive--normally--they just have to be. There were policia stations all along the median in the middle of the street, presumably to keep watch over the traffic (although maybe its for more, I dont know). Anyway, we wore ourselves out walking up and down Insurgentes about 37 times, trying to find 1. Museo Carillo Gil (a cool contemporary art museum) and 2. a walkman so that we could finish transcribing our interviews for our project (the one we brought developed some sort of bizarre technical glitch in which we could hear the radio just fine but nothing coming from the tapes, which were moving in the machine...we just couldnt figure it out...but thats just to explain why our map is only halfway filled in right now.) So, of course we kept getting sidetracked and confused by all the new sites to observe and by the time we got to the museum, we were both exhausted. There were four exhibits at the museum (including alot of video) of which I could probably only understand about half. I thought maybe the language of art would transcend the language barrier, but I was wrong. Especially considering that it was conceptual art--for which, as we all know, explanations are key. I guess I just take that for granted in my snooty little art bubble that Ive been floating around in. But I took it as a lesson--so much so that I had a dream about it last night in which somehow the song--the 12 days of christmas--was translated (by me, the artist) into a pizza pie and offered as some sort of contribution to a group activity. And of course no one in my dream had the slightest idea what I was trying to convey. So there you go..... I did learn (yesterday in the museum) that green, in fact the same color that we painted our bathroom, is a standard color in Chile for institutional spaces--hospitals, schools, etc are all painted that color, because its supposed to be calming, which I thought was interesting. But anyway, back to Mexico, weve gotten very good at figuring things out pretty quickly and were able to flag down a bus to get back to Coyoacan (because thats how you do it here) and make it back to our hotel room exactly two minutes before it started pouring down rain (including thunder and lightening). So we took that as a sign that we should just stay in and take it easy and finish up what we should have done before we left California (with the interviews) so that we could be more fully engaged with Mexico City while we are here. They have a really great channel on cable, called Los Peliculas (I think), that shows all old Mexican films (from the 50s mostly, it seems). I watched them while G transcribed interviews, over two cups of coffee, french fries, a bowl of fruit and a slice of cheesecake. Coffee has become a staple for all of our meals here and we have yet to have bad cup. I swear. The coffee here is just amazing. After we finish up here at the internet cafe, we are going to head down to the city center and see just what everyone is talking about--the Zocalo! This weekend we plan to head over to Xochimilco (land of flowers) and float around on boats on the water there. Apparently thats what Mexico City resident do on weekends. And then on Sunday, the first day of spring, we are going over to the pyramid in Cuicuilco to observe the spiritually engaged charge themselves on the energy of the pyramid. Our friend Veronica told us about it in SF, and the information was confirmed here by our favorite cab driver, Javier Martinez.....and now for another cup of coffee....
Posted by Kathleen at 12:00 am | Comments (3)
March 17, 2004
El Dia de San Patricio
With a burst of confidence and the daylight breaking through the curtains, I jumped up and down on the bed this morning full of untamed energy, eager to face the day. Kathleen and I were going to get serious and get this project moving full speed ahead. Over huevos rancheros in the hotel restaurant, we worked out our plan... to stay put in Coyoacan. Our rationalization: it is the neighborhood second only to downtown as far as what it has to offer (and as far as being a "neighborhood", its population is about the same size of San Francisco.) We decided we still had a lot to do here and that it was OK to take our time. Besides, we knew which bus to take: C-O-Y-O-A-C-A-N.
Our first stop was the Museo Nacional de las Intervenciones. "Intervenciones" is a nice way of saying or generalizing Invasions. The museum is dedicated to the entire history of conquest, colonization, invasion, and foreign intervention in Mexico. Its also home to a reproduction of a monument that was erected in memory of the Irish soldiers serving in the American army during the Mexican-American War who switched allegiance to defend Mexico. We commemorated St. Patricks Day in Mexico City by visiting the monument.
We spent the rest of the day wandering new streets and shooting video. Eventually, we made our way to a taco stand, "Tacos Manolo" in the evening. Again there seemed to be something weird going on with my spanish, which Im leaning more toward thinking must be a cultural gap. It took me about fifteen sentences to order a mushroom quesadilla (but for some reason ordering beer never seems to take more than a raised eyebrow.) Kathleen happily scarfed down six tacos full of pork (al pastor) in front of me, only four days after declaring herself a vegetarian. ("They were only 50 cents!", she exclaimed.)
So whats next? Evening has fallen. Were being nerds at an internet cafe. We failed to find margaritas late last night, perhaps with San Patricio on our side we wont fail again tonight...
Posted by Gilbert at 12:00 am | Comments (2)
March 16, 2004
que bueno!
Our first day in Mexico City and so far were adjusting okay (for a couple of Americanos). Things are different here--but just a little bit different--so were kind of stumbling around--moving in slow motion. For instance, I cant figure out how to type an apostrophe on this keyboard...theres an ñ where it should be....so please bear with me...It took us about an hour just to figure out how to get to the main square in Coyoacan--even with all our maps. We finally went into a mens shirt store to ask directions from a nice looking, older gentleman and his blonde haired, blue eyed smiling assistant. We thought we were getting shooed away, but then realized that we were actually being beckoned inside (politely, I presume--underhanded). He told us to get on the bus that said C-O-Y-O-A-C-A-N....(he wrote it down on a piece of paper) So thats what we did. And only took us about 6 minutes. The buses are very tiny and barely stop at the bus stops so you have to be ready to jump out. We decided to get off with a couple of older ladies near the square--we thought itd be our safest bet. So we kind of wandered around and then found a nice little coffee place on a corner that was roasting beans on the premises. It turned out to be really delicious coffee! We then spent the next hour trying to figure out how to call Gilberts godmothers sister, Malena (we had to get the right calling card and then figure out which of the fifteen numbers we needed to dial to reach her). G had to go back to where we got the card and explain just how the tones sounded...boop, boop, boop, he said...to find out what that meant. She told us the phone was busy (and has been all day, were assuming, because we have yet to get through). So then we had a lovely late lunch at Cafe Frida, which is right on the plaza, and finally were able to get our bearings a bit.....to back up a little bit...we never got a proper meal yesterday with all the travelling we did and ended up at our hotel at midnight eating lonchibon productos, fresh from the reception desk microwave (see photo)....so we were very glad to finally have some good food....In the late afternoon, we went to the Frida Kahlo house, half of which was unfortunately closed for repairs. But we got to walk through half of the house and through the garden and get an idea of some of her inspiration. Apparently she was born in the house and also died there (her ashes are there). We got all kinds of ideas for how to decorate our place (which is strangely kind of similar already). Our first project is going to be a stove with an opening for a wood fire. I, unfortunately, am no help at communicating with anyone here. I just nag Gilbert to get directions or to buy me lotion for my sunburn (already). And hes been very helpful and so far hasnt yelled at me. And he even sounds like he knows what hes saying (to me anyway) We get alot of confused faces, but people can still figure out what hes saying and answer him politely. Hes very worn out right now from all the communicating, I guess and is just sitting here next to me staring at the screen with his famous frozen grin. Were in a cool little internet cafe that has the computers partially sunken in the counters with fish swimming in tanks all over the place. Its the only one we could find that has a USB connection so we could upload pictures. But apparently there are many all over the city. So we intend to keep posting....
Posted by Kathleen at 12:00 am | Comments (10071)
March 14, 2004
Detritus Projects at-a-glance
Despite the heat and all of the other events that were happening yesterday, many of our friends and family braved the great Bay divide for our house-warming/going away party and got a first viewing of our place. Here are some images of "the Projects" and some gifts that we received for those of you who couldn't make it yesterday. We intend to have more events here in the future--screenings, salons, parties--and when we finally get our first floor fixed up with the gallery, we want to have exhibits here too. We're very excited about our big trip to Mexico City but we'll miss our place, as you could imagine! Call us when we get back and we'll schedule you in for sandwiches and tea while we work to complete our project for Dublin!
Posted by Kathleen at 12:00 am | Comments (4)
March 14, 2004
Preparing for Mexico City
Tomorrow afternoon we'll be flying to Mexico City. It wasn't only until yesterday morning that we made hotel reservations. We're staying at the Hotel Montreal in Coyoacan, the famous neighborhood where Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera lived in their Casa Azul. This trip is both scary and exciting. We don't know what to expect, who we'll meet, where we'll go, and if we'll be wanted, where we're staying every night,... We'll be there for 15 days. I already feel like it's not going to be enough. Last night we had our first party, as a combination housewarming and going away. Some people came up to us to wish us well--they thought we we're leaving indefinitely. And we were... When we first started telling people about it back in October, I know I really wanted to experience the city in a way that would be impossible as an ordinary tourist. We were going to do this by becoming residents, by living there and opening our own studio, by making art and meeting people. We're still going to be expriencing the city in an amazing way because of this project, but you'll see us again, when we return at the end of the month.
Keep checking this news page. We're going to be writing on it and posting pictures while we're there. We'll also be checking our interactive map and using it as a guide to figure out where to go next. If you have any stories that could lead us to some place new in Mexico City, please post it. We'll also be adding to the map ourselves, as we experience the places you've been to, and posting our own stories.
Posted by Gilbert at 12:00 am | Comments (2)
February 24, 2004
the benefit party was a success!
Thank you, deeply, to all who came, drank beer, and donated money!
We had so many plans and ideas for how to integrate Irish and Mexican culture but were unable to do them all. For those who came, they saw what kind of concoction we were able to pull together. For those who weren't able to come, we'll tell you! We had projected videos from different Irish and Mexican films (Bunuel's Mexican Bus Ride, In the Name of the Father, Frida, The Butcher Boy, Michael Collins, to name a few) plus a bonus face-off between Riverdance and a lucha libra video, darts, chips and salsa, lucky charms, lot's of beer, music and dancing. We also had altars to celebrate our favorite Irish and Mexican heroes: James Joyce, Emiliano Zapata, Sam Beckett and Frida Kahlo. The night wouldn't have been quite the same without their presence. In the evening, Max y Teo, two Mexican conjuntos who are often seen playing around the Mission, came and played all their hits. And we also had a special visit from Virginia, The Tamale Lady--another famed Mission District figure--who came and sold us her delicious tamales.
We were able to raise quite a bit of money and have lot's of fun in the meantime. But really the idea was to get everyone as excited as we are about the project and the cultures we are focusing on. Keep up the fight for international transentience!
Take a look at some of the pictures below.
Posted by Kathleen at 12:00 am | Comments (1)
January 18, 2004
movin' on up!
Detritus Projects is in the hay-ouse!! In Oakland, that is! We signed the sublease yesterday on a three leveled live/work space in a gigantic warehouse where we will be surrounded by artists, animals, plants, a few babies and lots of industrial detritus. We move in February 1st and invite everyone to drop in to come see it if you're in the Fruitvale neighborhood. Needless to say, we're very excited! And if you have any furniture you'd like to donate, bring it along. We have plenty of space for it! We will also accept home appliances (stove, coffee grinder, garlic press, washing machine, microwave), matching linens, pillows, curtains (red velvet for when we host film and video screenings), dishes, house plants, house paints (brick red, rust, black, white, neon green, plaid...no purple, please, we prefer eggplant), futon cover, drywall, skillsaw, drill and any knick-knacks or tchotckes you think would look nice in such a setting. We'll be busy over the next few weeks, packing up and moving. But in the meantime, we're still working on the interviews for our ITCProject and preparing for our big fundraiser benefit extravaganza at ATA on Feb. 22nd (more on that soon!)
Posted by Kathleen at 12:00 am | Comments (2)
J