Katie Hargrave

Lincoln speeches, with all the duplicate words removed

2012-01-13T11:00:00.001-06:00

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we engaged great civil war, testing whether, or any so, can long endure. Met here on battlefield of. Have come portion it as final resting place those who gave their lives might live. Is altogether fitting proper should do.

But larger sense not - consecrate - hallow ground. brave, living dead, struggled,, consecrated far above poor power add detract. World will little note, nor remember, what say, never forget they did.

Us,, rather be unfinished work which, thus nobly carried. Task remaining before from these honored take increased devotion cause last full measure highly resolve shall died vain; birth freedom; government people, perish earth.

2011-08-16T09:20:00.000-05:00

2011-06-06T15:20:00.001-05:00

2011-06-06T15:02:00.001-05:00

Big River

2011-05-28T07:04:00.002-05:00

The news about the Mississippi River flooding has been, well, overflowing. I've been following it closely... the Iowa River floods, and everyone in town seems to be talking about the 500 year flood that happened in 2008, worried it will happen again. On top of that, I'm working on a project for Northern Spark, a one night festival happening in Minneapolis-St. Paul. The project I'm working on, Mississippi Megalops, is aboard a steamboat in St. Paul, on the Mississippi river.

My last of my infrequent posts on here showed the source image for this flag, a 1944 Army Corp of Engineers image of the various paths the lower Mississippi has taken over the centuries. It is an incredible image, and it was made in the wake of the Army Corp's work to create a flood plan for the Mississippi following the great flood of 1927. In that flood, the river was over 100 miles wide in parts (that's almost 1/2 the distance between Iowa City and Chicago, if you can imagine. I always thought it was incredible that this river is a mile wide in parts.

My interest in making this flag, a flag for a fictitious nation or state of the Mississippi River, came in part from listening to this incredible podcast with Lisa Brooks, who spoke about the place of rivers for Native Americans, at the center of territories instead of as borders. Imagine if I-80 was a border rather than a corridor....

2011-04-15T09:27:00.000-05:00

Sugar Shack: End of Phase 1

2011-04-05T11:18:00.004-05:00

The end of sugaring season came a few weeks ago. And this is what we have to show for it.

The spiles are worn, but will be able to be used again next year, and we ended up with 3 1/2 pints of walnut syrup. We also taught 20+ people how to tap. Now we're planning the next phase: sugar beet planting. Out at Walnut Farms, we hope to have a planting pancake breakfast, letting folks come and try walnut syrup in exchange for a bit of help laying in the rows of sugar beets.

Neither of us have planted SBs before, and we've heard they can get to be the size of a basketball. We're also planning on getting working on making the Sugar Shack livable/usable with a boil down stove, ventilation, storage for our materials, and a library. It'll be great, we hope.

Shadow States of States

2011-04-05T11:16:00.003-05:00

My MA show, Shadow States of States, is installed and ready to go. I sorta love and hate it right now, but either way, here is a photo of the best part.

Ebb and Flow

2011-03-01T11:01:00.003-06:00

After a week long lull, the sap is running again. I tapped five trees this morning. If you want to do your own tree, now is the time, at least Iowa City (and anywhere else that temps are above freezing during the day and below freezing at night). The season is already longer than last year.

Wanna know what that fine print says? Oh, just that in 2005, a mysterious syrup smell invaded Manhattan, leading some to cry "terrorism." In reality, it was a leak of fenugreek from a fake maple syrup manufacturing plant in NJ. It wafted across state lines making people think, "leggo my eggo." Terrorism and table syrup? Avoid it all and make your own.

Sugar Shack

2011-02-24T15:18:00.002-06:00

In the late 1830's Abolitionist David Lee Child began a sugar beet plantation in New England, attempting to create an alternative to slave-grown cane sugar. Since then, sugar has perhaps never left its place as a controversial product: high-fructose corn syrup, genetically modified crops, food safety and security, munitions production, anarchism, neo-colonialism, environmentalism, you name it. The history and the expectations of sweetness remain so ingrained in our culture and on our taste buds.

The politics of sugar production are fraught with slavery, environmental degradation, and negative health effects of industrial sweeteners. In a moment where high fructose corn syrup made with governmental subsidies is what we put on our pancakes, and with a history of DIY resistance, it made sense to learn how to tap trees and grow beets, in an attempt to create a model for sugar production and sustainability. In "Sugar Shack," a new project I am developing with UIowa Professor and friend David Dunlap, those expectations are challenged and history is played out through the production of two crops of sugar: sugar beet molasses and walnut, birch, bitternut syrup.

The sugar produced will not taste like white sugar purchased from the super market. Instead it will be earthy beet molasses or buttery syrup made from lesser known syrup producing trees. But perhaps we need to realize that what we are used to is not always best for us, best for the environment, and so forth.

We started tapping trees on his property--know as Walnut Farms-- and at my house. We've hosted a spile making workshop, a tour of Walnut Farms, and a sample boil down, resulting in 1/2 pint of syrup from one week production from ten trees. Not enough to feed an army, but enough to learn how to do it on your own.

Hopefully more about this evolving project will be posted here as time goes on, but I'm excited by the collaboration. We're building a sugar shack out of the materials from a tower he built on his property years and years ago, and he's weaving the history of his accidental farming into the historical narrative I'm fleshing out. So far, its super fun.

Sugaring Season

2011-02-15T09:23:00.002-06:00

We've been experiencing unseasonably warm weather here in Iowa, and that meant a rush to get some taps into trees and make syrup. Ten people came over on Sunday to learn how to carve spiles out of simple dowel rods or other scrap wood, and how to set up a home tapping system.

Here are some photos. My walnut out back has already, in two days produced almost a half gallon of sap! Hopefully much more to come...

Iowa Neo Mountaineers

2011-01-15T16:08:00.002-06:00

I have finally gotten around to putting the INM's work on my website.

We're starting to plan our new season, which will include any or all of the following:

Tours of abandoned railroad grades
Pipelines
Activist landmarks
High/Low ground (flood grounds)

If you're interested, I'll post more here as it develops, or as always, shoot me an email.

The Mythic Creature

2011-01-09T19:08:00.001-06:00

might as well be a griffin or a phoenix.

Trains of Thought

2011-01-05T10:17:00.002-06:00

Opening Friday at Detroit•Work, I'll have my piece "A Reenactment intended to connect the world" in the show "Trains of Thought."

The show runs through February 4th.

A New Year, a cold one.

2011-01-04T20:51:00.003-06:00

I'm ushering in 2011 with a cold. I was in Mexico on the beach eating popsicles with my family, only to come home to empty Iowa City with a cold. So it is movies and tea and bed for me. But with boredom come lists, more lists, and new years resolutions. Here are a few:

In 2009, my NY resolution was to bake all my own bread. With the exception of when Sara Black came to visit me and I freaked and bought a loaf, I succeeded.

PT and I also decided on a no pants 09, and we succeeded until February break, both failing on the same day and showing up to a meeting in matching outfits, without planning.

In 2010, my NY resolution was to make beans from dry instead of canned. I succeeded except when I had the Intermedia department over for a meeting and wanted to make hummus last minute.

In 2011, I resolve to a) make yogurt from scratch, b) read more books, watch less trashy TV on the internet, c) have more dinner parties (to that end, I'm taking the beet festival and Johnny Appleseed Bday party to heart and doing Iron Chef style dinner parties every month)

Do you resolve anything?

And a list.

I traveled to:
Philadelphia (a lot)
Spain (Murcia, Madrid, Cartagena)
Italy (Venice, Padua, Rome)
Switzerland (was that this year, yes?)
Portland, OR
Seattle
Western Mexico
and MO, KS, NM, AZ, CA, NV, WY, NE
three new states, three new countries, some art, and some other junk along the way.

Independent Company of Newburyport

2010-12-03T13:46:00.000-06:00

In progress.

tent

2010-11-24T21:49:00.002-06:00

i was looking at $29.95 tents today at target with my mom. i want to go camping. pls.

Mast Presevation Clause and White Pine Floor

2010-11-15T08:54:00.001-06:00

" ... for better providing and furnishing of Masts for our Royal Navy wee do hereby reserve to us . . . ALL trees of the diameter of 24 inches and upward at 12 inches from the ground, growing upon any soils or tracts of land within our said Province or Territory not heretofore granted to any private person. We . . . forbid all persons whatsoever from felling, cutting or destroying any such trees without the royal license from us . . . upon penalty of 100 pounds... for every such tree so felled... without such license had, etc. etc ...."

i cannot tell a lie

2010-10-18T08:11:00.000-05:00

my house smells like cherry pies. i cannot tell a lie.

Airport carpet samples

2010-10-03T10:24:00.002-05:00

I've already been asked today four times if I have good reading material. Currently at CID airport, my four books will hopefully get me through CID->ORD->PHL->Barcelona->Alicante and then two bus rides. Last night four books felt like a lot. Today, I'm already skeptical.

See you in a week, maybe.

Pimms summertime

2010-07-25T09:41:00.004-05:00

Been making Pimms cocktails for my summer afternoon and dusk enjoyment.

Best of all, making them with cukes from my(!) very(!) own(!) garden(!)!

Good thing I've got dozens of cucumbers getting ready.

A reason not to be an expert

2010-06-20T04:42:00.002-05:00

I am in Murcia, Spain right now, doing research for an upcoming biennial called Manifesta. The Action Mill is one of four groups of artists/people who do stuff in the "real" world that have "real" effects. The four groups were put in a set and filmed having a discussion about criticality in art production, questioning how it relates to changing destructive systems. It was a hard couple of days having interesting discussions, needless to say.

This is an image of the cathedral in Murcia, which has an incredible carved stone chain from the Baroque period (if it ain't baroque...don't...uugh). Once the artisan completed carving the chain, the patron had his eyes plucked out so that he would never be able to make another.

If that's a reason not to be good at anything, I don't know what is.

Lamplit

2010-06-20T04:38:00.000-05:00

Keith Lemley and Taryn McMahon

when am i going to get over my thoreau stage?

2010-05-25T07:28:00.003-05:00

listen (to a mostly complete draft of a pathetic love story) here.

Portland

2010-05-18T18:08:00.003-05:00

Yesterday it looked like this in Portland. Today, my feet won't get dry and I am cold cold cold. Pacific Northwest?

walking shots

2010-05-12T20:57:00.002-05:00

Transmissions to change the way we think about us

2010-04-17T13:30:00.002-05:00

Exhibition I've been coordinating opens today at hesaidshesaid.us in Oak Park. Information below:

/////

We send dozens of emails, we talk on our cell phones while driving, and we g-chat while at work. We are arguably more connected than at any moment in history, and yet these forms of communication do little to make us feel connected. Somehow a handful of emails never get responded to, we screen our calls, and we pretend to be "invisible" on chat. We have facebook, twitter, and other social networking websites, and yet we continue to read about increased alienation associated with these methods of communication. When we were in middle school and played a game of telephone, our efforts at communication necessarily failed, but our collective bonds were strengthened by the changes that occurred in the space between the first and the last transmission. Flashlight Morse code between neighbors, and Pig Latin on the playground were not easier to understand than picking up the telephone or speaking in the common tongue, but something else was gained beyond ease.

The projects collected here are about the potentialities of communication. These projects point to the promise, the unexpected nature, the potential failures and successes of communication experiments. Culling from historical archives and our own childhood as research, these projects are situated in the mundane with a desire for the transformative.

/////

Angela Regas reflects upon social networking and online dating in her essay, "Looking for Love." Beginning with harmless trolling of Craigslist missed connections ads, she finds herself in a trailer smelling of cat pee. And yet, she's still at it.

A Literal Letter Service writes custom letters for you! Fill out a form and the two employees write and mail correspondence based upon your requests, free of charge.

Astrodime Transit Authority attempts to connect Bumpkin Island to mainland Boston through tin can telephone networks. Their motto: "We can!"

Onboard the 1977 Voyager spacecraft, Carl Sagan's Golden Record carried message of human life. This solid gold record included no instructions for use; rather the cover of the record showed obscure diagrams of Earth's position within the solar system, binary code depicting hydrogen atoms, and wavelengths for sound. The relative scale of the Voyager spacecraft to the universe is such that the likelihood of discovery is slim if not nil. Yet Sagan and NASA's collaboration acts as a time capsule for the hopefulness of early space exploration. Jimmy Carter summed it up: "This is a present from a small, distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts and our feelings. We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours." Recorded originally at 8 1/12 speed, here are a series of aluminum dub-plate replicas recorded at 33 1/3 speed.

The Golden Spike connected the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific railroad lines, creating the first transcontinental railroad. The railroad effectively ended the American notion of wilderness, as the entire continent was now able to be crossed with relative ease and speed. The event was marked with members of each railroad company's executives hammering in the last spikes. When the final spike was driven into the ground, a telegraph wire was attached to the rails, which was to send a Morse code "dot" to each coast. The telegraph wire failed to send the signal, and instead a transcontinental telegraph was sent hours later to newspapers on each coast saying only, "Done."

Join in sending off helium balloons with your messages to whoever might find them. No additional postage necessary if mailed within the United States.

Flag Singer Showdown

2010-04-10T17:46:00.002-05:00

I have broken two Singer sewing machines while sewing historically accurate colonial American flags.

first it was this one:

then this one:

is there a conspiracy?

Gold things

2010-03-31T11:54:00.001-05:00

2010-03-25T08:27:00.000-05:00

sewing outmoded american flags should be my full time job, please.

Bonjour!

2010-03-15T05:05:00.001-05:00

I am drinking coffee and walking around, talking about neutrality and playing with chocolate with the Swiss.

Actually, though that sounds like a vaca, I'm working. This is what I am doing.

time warp

2010-03-06T12:21:00.002-06:00

We went to the DQ because it is March, spring, and the 58th year of the DQ's existence. And we got a Banana Split and listened to classics. And the guy at the counter asked me and E if we came back from a costume party. But we were just matching the setting.

Sugaring Season

2010-03-02T08:03:00.002-06:00

The cold finally broke here in Iowa City. The last two days have been above freezing, and I have seen people wearing all kinds of inappropriate clothing. I've heard many people proclaiming: "Spring!"

But it is not spring, it is another season: Sugaring Season.

After living in New England, Maple syrup from local trees is something I look forward to. And after learning how to tap a tree last year, this year I try myself. But I try the local local: the walnut tree in my backyard. Sources say it tastes great. The sap is sweet. Put your requests for walnut shaped glass containers of syrup now!

Betty Rymer at the Betty Rymer

2010-02-22T08:02:00.003-06:00

For the last seemingly ba-billion years, I've been working with my lovely collaborator Amber on a project that finally launches today.

You may remember my travels to Nashville to do research (if that's what you call staring at replicas and eating mounds of popsicles). Or perhaps you've been in my company (on FB or otherwise when I whine about massive cake baking extravaganzas.

Today bettyrymer.com launches. Take a peak (but don't stare at my html too closely, you might get dizzy).

SOUP

2010-02-03T23:18:00.001-06:00

** my pals do this great thing. mini grants are the future. see below.

We all struggle to find the money to fund our projects – the frames, the travel expenses, the 2,000 pounds of clay. We also all have small excess incomes – the daily coffee, the small change at the end of the day, the dinner out. By combining these small excesses, we can fund projects that need more than that small excess.

We will be coming together to eat, fund an exciting project, and talk about economic sustainability for the arts.

Saturday, February 5th
7:00pm
913 E. Jefferson St.

Please bring a dish to share and $5.

If you wish to be considered for the SOUP grant, please submit a proposal of no more than 300 words by noon, Saturday, February 5th to pspaceone@gmail.com and join us that evening. Everyone attending will have an equal vote in determining who receives the grant, which will be awarded at the conclusion of the meal.

Information about the inspiration for this idea can be found at http://incubate-chicago.org/sunday-soup/ and http://publicspaceone.wordpress.com/

liberty bell

2009-12-26T18:08:00.001-06:00

hello from Philly!

New Year, New Decade

2009-12-21T12:39:00.002-06:00

Because I have been finishing up all my little tasks for the year (submitting grades, finishing grant applications, dotting Ts and crossing Is), I feel like the year is already over. And it is. And when I look at my calendar for next year, it seems as if 2010 is already over too. Ugh.

But like last year, I like to do a few roundups of things I accomplished this year and things I hope to accomplish next year. Like in 2008 I read 88 books. In 2009, after realizing that I forgot almost everything about almost every book, I vowed to read less. I succeeded! I read 57 books. Congratulations me.

More importantly are the life skills: In 2009 I vowed to bake all my own bread. Yes, done! In 2010, I will refuse to buy canned beans or yogurt. I'll make my yogurt from my own cultures and make dried beans. What a little homemaker.

And finally, travel. In 2009 I went to two new states: Wyoming and Minnesota (hi minneapolis readers!). In 2010, I hope to round out the rest, because I said I'd do it by 2010, we'll just present I said 48 contiguous by the end of 2010. So that leaves me with Montana, Idaho (how great, since I just learned that Idaho doesn't exist), Kansas, North and South Dakota, and Washington and Oregon. I can do that, maaaaybe.

What about you?

Love and Death of Joaquin Murieta

2009-12-14T19:43:00.002-06:00

If you have some time to spare, this three part radio play is worth it... even if it is in real player. ugh.

It is about the legendary California bandit Joaquin Murieta. Murieta may be the precursor to Zorro...the original novel off of which this is based was written in 1854 by John Rolin Ridge AKA Yellow Bird, a Cherokee author whose own life is a bit Zorro-like.

More on all of this soon.

april showers bring mayflowers. what do mayflowers bring?

2009-11-26T18:18:00.003-06:00

stomach aches.

Summit!

2009-11-24T13:51:00.001-06:00

I just spent the last few days hanging out with the Action Mill. It was grand. More news from our meetings to come.

hello from boston.

2009-11-21T06:56:00.001-06:00

i slept on a sleeping porch at a mansion in Somerville last night while Pennie and the crew who run the place played music late into the night. i checked my watch at 2:45, surprised they were still up while i hung out in my 0 degree sleeping bag.

today is the day, however, and i'm up before eight to go have meetings with the action mill and much more.

i don't live here anymore, and i may never again.

how i learned to carry railroad ties

2009-10-21T19:01:00.002-05:00

the day before my sister's wedding, i went to menards and purchased three railroad ties. i thought they'd fit in the back of my brother's minivan, but when i tried to close the trunk after two burly guys with a forklift placed them there, i realized they would not.

in august i helped a friend move, and so she helped me move railroad ties. the two of us huffed and puffed three ties about twenty feet. they were in the middle of my studio floor, and they looked like they'd never move again.

when i set up the project in the gallery at studio arts, i convinced three friends to help me put them on a dolly and place them in the space. we did it, but i dropped one of the ties on my hand. not so fun.

then i watched this

before i had to take the show down today. i moved all the ties by myself, with ease. i stacked them neatly in my studio. after moving two, i called in my friend derek. he thought i wanted help. i wanted him to watch to prove that i could do it. they're neatly stacked in the corner. nice.

now the gallery is super clean, repainted even.

images of the project (poor images) online here.

Jesse James: New Project

2009-10-19T15:04:00.003-05:00

I've been ranting about Jesse James too much in the last little bit. Here is a mostly done draft of an audio piece about him.

Take a listen.

devouring

2009-10-17T08:59:00.002-05:00

" 'Read,' or 'Eat! Swallow!' the book that is given to you. And we never stop (speaking of) devouring books, whether they taste bitter or sweet, of honey or poison."

Jean-Luc Nancy, "On the Commerce of Thinking: Of Books and Bookstores."

prep

2009-10-14T09:05:00.001-05:00

my studio is a mess. if you can believe it, it is worse than this photograph. now i have a stack of cut plywood and photographs, an overhead projector and a stack of cottonwood branches. ugh.

sara and dan

2009-10-12T11:22:00.002-05:00

my sister got married. and there were a million pictures.

and now my fridge has more cake than should be legal.

Iowa Iowa Iowa

2009-10-04T17:29:00.003-05:00

I moved to Iowa City, Iowa more than two months ago now, but it seems that I have been out of town every time something great has been going on here. And so, Iowa City still feels like I don't know it. This weekend changed that, at least in part.

Works in Progress arts festival for in progress works happened Thursday through Saturday, with Lucky Dragons as the 'keynote.' The whole conference was magical, and I think that in many ways, WiP's byline: "providing artists with a forum for presenting works-in-progress to a discerning, yet sympathetic, public" is the ideal for a conference. Every time I walk away from one, I want to rework what I've presented anyhow, but the future tense of the comment section was nice. The work ranged from things I was really interested in to the absurd to the boring, but the structure helped. Kendra Greene collected punchlines, which she read (without the jokes). Katie McGowan talked about brain respiration, the latest craze. Josh Eklow talked about buying a gun, and then Charlton Heston showed up with the Strawman and Mudwoman from Sudden Brick Works. None of these can I completely understand or explain, but they were damn nice and funny and great.

Lucky Dragons came on -- Luke Fishbeck -- and he created a prayer circle bizarre performance situation. Wires wrapped in colored yarn, stones used to create magnetic sound fields, the whole audience worked together led by Luke to make something, and I think we all left feeling more connected (sometimes physically, through the noise our bodies made when touching contact microphones and inputs).

Today, Josh and Derek and their ladies went to the flee market with me in the backseat. We wandered around the town, What Cheer, Iowa looking for goodies. I found a plate with a buffalo on it, some bowls that are the same as some my grandfather had when I was a kid, and some funnel cake. Then I took some apples off a nearby tree and we drove home.

See yonders fields of tasseled corn, Iowa in Iowa,
Where plenty fills her golden horn, Iowa in Iowa,
See how her wonderous praries shine.
To yonder sunset’s purpling line,
O! happy land, O! land of mine, Iowa, O! Iowa.

Exploring

2009-10-03T18:56:00.000-05:00

happy birthday

2009-09-27T17:36:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was the day: Johnny Appleseed turned 235 years old. Amber and I hosted simultaneous birthday parties for him. The guests were exquisite. The cider flowed. We talked foraging--from apples to purslane to sumac. We ate, and I gave them the task of furthering Johnny's mission with apple seeds from the best apples I have eaten this year. They were packaged and everyone took one home. If you'd like one too, shoot me an email or leave a comment.

Here are some images. Wish you were there.

Golden Parachutes

2009-09-25T10:20:00.004-05:00

The words Golden Parachutes sounds really raunchy to me. You know why.

President of Brandeis University, Jehuda Reinharz, has resigned. I'm going to reproduce the letters between Reinharz, the board of trustees and the Brandeis community, but first, I'd like to know how that Golden Parachute is going to affect Brandeis. The university was in some bad finances when I left last spring, as indicated by layoffs and the Rose Art Museum. They broke ground on a new humanities center costing millions, but were laying off support staff. And now, Reinharz, the president who forced the University to buy a bigger house for him, the president who didn't show up to Carter's talk, the president who has elbowed the trustees into an awkward situation with the Rose, and who has allowed the trustees to remove Palestinian children's work from the library, will walk away with an untold chunk of change.

And all I got was this lowsy button.

Letters below:

September 24, 2009

To the Brandeis Community:

I wanted to let you know that I have made the decision to step down from the presidency of Brandeis University. I have reached the conclusion that now is the right time for me to focus on the next chapter of my career. I have notified the Board of Trustees and they have requested that I continue in my role for this upcoming academic year and stay on as president until a successor has been selected up until June 30, 2011 if necessary. Following the completion of my term as President of Brandeis, I expect to be the president of a significant foundation, where I can address issues facing the Jewish community at the national and international level.

Serving Brandeis for nearly three decades has been a great honor, which I have enjoyed immensely. Ours is an active, engaged community; one that is both intellectually strong and fiercely passionate; it is one that has never failed to make me proud to be a part of Brandeis. I believe the future is very bright for the University and I am confident that my successor will take Brandeis to even greater heights.

I would like to express my gratitude to all of you who have helped make Brandeis one of the great universities in this country.

Sincerely,
Jehuda Reinharz, President
Brandeis University

Below you will find my letter to Mal Sherman, Chairman of the Brandeis Board of Trustees, and his response.

August 31, 2009

Mr. Malcolm Sherman
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Brandeis University
Waltham, MA 02454

Dear Mal,

I am writing to inform you of my intent to resign as President of Brandeis University. I am letting you know now so that ample time is available to plan for a smooth transition.

As you can imagine, I do so with a great mix of emotions: pride at what we have collectively achieved over these last sixteen years; confidence that this is the right juncture to hand the reins over to the next leader; and a bittersweet feeling of nostalgia and fondness for the Brandeis family that has been my own for almost thirty years. During my tenure at Brandeis, I have had the opportunity to work in partnership with some of the brightest minds in academia.

It is now time for me to enter the next chapter of my professional life. I plan to continue to serve in the non-profit arena at the national and international level where I can address issues facing the Jewish community. I have already been approached by two foundations to run their organizations at the conclusion of my time at Brandeis.

I feel strongly that this is the right time for me personally to move on to a new challenge. Many of the goals that I set out for my presidency have been accomplished. I will leave the University in good condition with a strong foundation on which to build in the future. The Brandeis of today is significantly different than it was sixteen years ago. It is a stronger brand, with a national and international reputation for academic excellence. It is dramatically more diverse in its student body. It offers a substantially larger curriculum with new creative areas of study. It has state-of-the-art facilities that enhance the teaching and learning experience.

The challenges facing all educational institutions of higher learning in the coming years are considerable. I remain steadfast in my commitment to leading Brandeis until new leadership is in place and will work tirelessly with the campus community and friends of the University to ensure Brandeis’ success. I have enjoyed the challenge of leading Brandeis and will always be ready to be helpful in any way I can.

Sincerely,

Jehuda Reinharz, President
Brandeis University

September 24, 2009

President Jehuda Reinharz
Brandeis University
Waltham, MA 02454

Dear Jehuda,

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I accept your letter of resignation with reluctance but with the understanding that you have thought long and hard about this decision. As you know, we would have greatly preferred that you complete your term. But we appreciate your willingness to continue leading Brandeis for this academic year and until a successor has been named. We also understand that your commitment to stay on as President will not go beyond June 30, 2011.

While at this time it is difficult to think about Brandeis in the absence of you as its visionary, we feel fortunate that you will hold the position of President Emeritus, working with the Board and Brandeis following your tenure as president.

When you became President in 1994, you set ambitious goals for yourself and for the University. Your dedication to the achievement of these goals has been extraordinary. While many leaders of higher education are professionally fulfilled after a few years of service and a few accomplishments, your unusually long commitment to the Brandeis community is a testament to your character and devotion.

In partnership with your talented staff and faculty, you have succeeded in strengthening all aspects of the University from the physical plant to the curriculum to university finances. You have guided this University in prosperous and difficult times with an unwavering focus on providing all students with an exceptional education.

Under your leadership, we have witnessed a heightened profile within the international academic community and an exceptionally diverse student body ethnically, racially, religiously and geographically.

One of your accomplishments that I am most proud of as Chairman of the Board is the increase in financial assistance to our student body and indeed that 72% of our students receive some form of financial aid. As we both know, access to education changes one’s life. We need only look at our impressive alumni who have made tangible imprints on all sectors of our society.

Your pursuit of excellence on behalf of Brandeis has been incredible and I feel privileged to have worked alongside you for the past sixteen years. Please know that we all recognize that your hard work and dedication have kept this University on its path of greatness and will allow us to continue to flourish in the future. All of us on the Board of Trustees have the utmost gratitude and admiration for your leadership and stewardship.

Sincerely,

Malcolm Sherman
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Brandeis University

even though we're as american as, there will be no apple pie

2009-09-22T22:14:00.001-05:00

My friends, it is that time of year again. Apples are everywhere. The trees down the street from me are dropping their worm-eaten sweet little things, and the orchards are overflowing (mostly with honeycrisp, but I won't complain). I've gone out and picked sacks of these volunteer apples around town and am currently making a batch of apple butter. And yesterday I made apple muffins with some leftover crab apples. Today, I have spent the afternoon thinking (in my sweet smelling apartment, thank you apple butter) about Johnny Appleseed.

You know, readers, this is not an uncommon experience, me sitting at my desk thinking about Johnny Appleseed. It is no more uncommon than me cracking open a book about Plymouth Rock, or Rushmore, or the Transcontinental Railroad. But this week I do it in preparation for an event: Johnny Appleseed's birthday. He's turning 235 years old, this Saturday, and we're celebrating. We'll say grace, and I'll bust out eight or nine dishes filled with apples and other delicious things.

I've got the Swiss Gourmet (one of my favorites, in homage of another Apple Legend, William Tell!), the Cox's Orange Pippin (hello motherland, England), and some American apples foraged and bought. I've even got some east-coast not far from Leominster (where Johnny was born--thanks Pennie!). If you're in Iowa City (which precious few of you are), stop by the old homestead at 7pm and eat and drink, pre-temperance style.

going to the chapel and we're going to get married

2009-09-22T08:24:00.003-05:00

In Minneapolis, we went to the cemetery to see HHH's grave. While wandering and trying to find it, we passed the mausoleum. My companion said we should go in and see it, as it is quite beautiful. Outside, there are women in pale purple floor length dresses standing around, waiting. There is a big car with the hood up and two men wrapping matching purple streamers everywhere. They're preparing for a wedding. How strange, I thought. How cyclical, my companion thought.

Yesterday, I was rereading Foucault's "Of Other Spaces." There is a section, which I am going to replicate here, that speaks of the cemetery:

"It is a space that is ... connected with all the sites of the citystate or society or village, etc., since each individual, each family has relatives in the cemetery. In Western culture the cemetery has practically always existed. ... Until the end of the 18th century, the cemetery was placed at the heart of the city, next to the church. ...It is in a time when civilization has become 'atheistic,' as one says very crudely, that Western culture has established what is termed as the cult of the dead. Basically, it was quite natural that, in a time of real belief in the resurrection of bodies and the immortality of the soul, overriding importance was not accorded to the body's remains. On the contrary, from the moment when people are no longer sure that they have a soul or that the body will regain life, it is perhaps necessary to give much more attention to the dead body, which is ultimately the only trace of our existence in the world and in language. It is from the beginning of the 19th century that everyone has a right to her or his own little box for her or his own little personal decay; but on the other hand, it is only from that start of the 19th century that cemeteries began to be located at the outside border of cities.In correlation with the individualization of death and the bourgeois appropriation of the cemetery, there arises an obsession with death as an 'illness.' "

What a throwback, then, to be having a wedding at the cemetery. Sure the space is lovely, but aren't you terrified, newlyweds, that the dead are going to infect you? Aren't the dead bodies, rotting in their own little personal boxes with their own little personal decay, going to, as Foucault would make us believe, kill your marriage preemptively. How positively liminal and retro of you!

don't fence me in.

2009-09-21T10:36:00.002-05:00

i can't stand fences.

hello star of north

2009-09-18T09:01:00.000-05:00

it is good to meet you Minnesota, even in the dark.

i can't get this song out of my head

2009-09-17T01:22:00.001-05:00

I'm thinking a lot about Jesse James lately, and in between verses of the famous song, I found this in a 1882 newspaper:

"Special dispatch to the Globe-Democrate:
St. Joseph, Missouri, April 3.--The city has never in its history been so thoroughly and intensely shaken with excitement as to-day. The streets are thronged with wild and excited men, who are rushing about, for what they do not know, nor can they tell. About 8 o'clock in the morning a man who has passed here as Charles Johnson drew a murderous Colt's forty-one-caliber revolver, and, aiming at a man who has resided in the south part of the city since November and gone under the name of Howard, from the rear, fired. The ball entered the back of Howard's head, and he fell to the floor a corpse, the blood oozing from the wound in a perfect stream. Howard never spoke a word, but expired almost instantly."

experiments in local local

2009-09-11T21:18:00.002-05:00

View fruit, nuts, other edibles in iowa city in a larger map

take a look at that!

this is my quick (and growing) map of fruit and nut trees (plus other edibles) around iowa city. i've got a growing pile of walnuts in my cupboard, but there are plenty falling right now. eat up! and please add to my list if you know of any!

neighborhoods

2009-09-11T09:01:00.002-05:00

Iowa City, for as midsized as it is, has more neighborhoods than Boston, it might seem. There is Plum Grove historic district, Brown Street historic district, Northside, Goosetown, College Green, Longfellow, Dearborn, and so on.

The areas are decorated, for the most part, with lovely little signs:

(images from Flickr).

Somehow, my street appears to be outside of these mess of neighborhoods. I might be between Goosetown and College Green, or maybe Governor-Lucas district.

What kills me is that the Iowa City Historic Preservation handbook has no maps. Where am I?

Historically Accurate!!!!

2009-09-03T17:28:00.003-05:00

Do you see that, reader? Are you as thrilled as I at the scene? You should be, let me tell you why...

Historically accurate paint. My whole apartment is now painted a fresh coat of valspar Woodrow Wilson Putty, or something like that. Painted the same color as a president's home! Yikes, does it get better? Well, if I had Lincoln White Sash it might be a bit better, but ...

on walden pond

2009-09-01T21:46:00.002-05:00

it must be a regional love, here they're loving grant wood but hating hard on my dear walden pond. twice in one week, Thoreau has been called a hack.

free bike!

2009-08-28T11:29:00.000-05:00

I want! Click on the link to find out more about how you can get one!!!

Jitters

2009-08-24T07:49:00.003-05:00

First day of school. If I was at my parents' house, we'd take a picture in front of the tree on the driveway.

Still, I get first day jitters, though no nightmares this year. Going to puke with excitement.

cookbooks / dinner parties.

2009-08-19T22:28:00.002-05:00

last weekend i was in chicago hanging out with my mom. i was looking for a few books and odds and ends to bring out to iowa. my mom walked into the kitchen, where i was rummaging around. here is our conversation:

"what are you looking for?" my mom said.
"my cookbooks."
"i think i saw them on the bookshelf in your room, second shelf."

so i go upstairs to check, and the second shelf has no cookbooks but does have the publication for judy chicago's dinner party.

The Parthenon

2009-08-17T08:10:00.003-05:00

Amber and I took a road trip to Nashville to do some research on Betty Rymer, the namesake of the Betty Rymer gallery at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where Amber received her MFA. We spent three days in the strange and wonderful city, which was made better by the lists we received from friends and acquaintances recommending different local spots.

The craziest thing we saw was the Nashville Parthenon, which is a full scale replica of the Parthenon in Greece. Neither of us knew it, but apparently Nashville is referred to as the Athens of the South (because of all the schools and all the colonnades probably). This Parthenon was built for the world's fair out of plaster and brick, and like most world's fair cities, the whole thing was supposed to come down shortly thereafter. But the city folks fell in love, and the original structure stood until the 1920s, when it was rebuilt in concrete (and covered in those strange pebbles that make it looks super weird). Concrete feels funny for this structure, even though we both know that concrete dates from classical times (yes, roman, but who is counting?). What is even funnier is that it isn't really a replica except on the outside (which really is stunning, flood lights and all). The inside is an art museum.

We wondered, upon leaving Nashville, how many other Athens there are in this country. I know I've heard of Boston referred to as the Athens of America (there are certainly enough universities there). Any more you've heard of?

Discovery

2009-08-13T11:54:00.004-05:00

Rustel read me a poem when I saw him in Chicago a few weeks ago. It is by Richard Brautigan, or so he says.

Discovery

The petals of the vagina unfold
like Christoper Columbus
taking off his shoes.

Is there anything more beautiful
than the bow of a ship
touching a new world.

Beautiful might not be the right word, but lovely metaphor nonetheless.

windbreak

2009-08-12T20:01:00.002-05:00

It is almost apple time, folks. The first early varieties will be coming in, and it looks like this year will be just as good as the last with all the rain we've been having. Amber and I took a trip down to Wolfe Farms in Monticello, Illinois recently. We brought Ron and Hope five baby apple trees grown from seeds of apples Amber and I ate last season. Ron and Hope have kindly shared some of their expertise (they have over 300 apple trees, mainly heirloom and antique varieties) to assist with our Johnny Appleseed projects. Early this spring we sent two grafts of a tree that was supposedly planted by Johnny Appleseed in Navo, Ohio. Next March, Ron will teach us how to graft so that we can propagate Johnny Appleseed's last tree across the country.

The five baby trees we brought down in 5 gallon buckets. Ron pointed to the windbreak of cottonwood trees and said, "I'm taking those down. I think I'll put your trees in its place." But wait, we asked. Aren't our trees going to be a whole heck of a lot smaller than those cottonwoods? Ron stunned us by telling us that apple trees grown from seed can get up to forty feet tall, and that there is no way of really knowing until they are full grown. Wow. It is pretty poetic and lovely to me that these seedling trees will act as a windbreak to the carefully manicured grafted trees of his orchard.

on vacation...

2009-08-06T12:42:00.002-05:00

I've been traveling a lot and not talking about it too much this summer. Latest travel, leaving this afternoon:

The Ames Pyramid in Wyoming. Taking the train. Then renting a car and driving around conquering the west. Bringing on the road with me and probably some critical theory or whatnot. See you all in a week.

i spy something with my little eye

2009-08-02T20:07:00.002-05:00

at the same time as i am moving into iowa city, heaps of students are leaving their apartments, and leaving their microwaves behind with them. i swear, i saw twenty-five microwaves today.

i also found in my first day exploring: two walnut trees behind my house, mint growing wild, an apple tree, and a pear tree. i think the apple tree is a seedling rather than a grafted tree, but that is based solely on look not on taste. they're not ripe yet.

i don't know a soul in iowa city yet (not really true, my upstairs neighbor seems great, nick and sarah and genesse are here, and i've met several of the fellow MFAs) so i'm sitting in a sea of boxes attempting to make it look like i know what i'm doing.

iowa, oh iowa.

packed.

2009-07-31T20:33:00.001-05:00

tomorrow i will move from this side of the mississippi river. jealous?

Davis Square Tiles Project in the Boston Globe (and a spot on description of yours truly)

2009-07-16T22:02:00.003-05:00

Coming out of an earlier project with the Think Tank that has yet to be named, another project centered in my now former neighborhood Davis Square has been recently getting some attention. The Davis Square Tiles Project was initiated by the Action Mill and has been active since late April. Last Friday, we were on the front page of the Metro section of the Boston Globe.

The article was pretty great, but best of all, how I was described:

"She wears funky glasses, hangs out at the independent coffee shop, and is well aware she is part of the cultural change that some of the former child artists now assess with mixed emotions."

Oh. Yes.

2009-07-08T00:36:00.000-05:00

i'm averaging four popsicles a day.

The Chromatic Diet (and sink, and hands, and everything)

2009-06-22T21:20:00.002-05:00

Sophie Calle and the Cromatic diet (or part of the reason I'll be writing about food a lot).

In 1997, after novelist Paul Auster wrote about a fictional artists named Maria Turner, the artist about whom the text was loosely based acted out the projects of Maria Turner. French artist Sophie Calle began a work called "The Chromatic Diet" and ate foods of different colors each day.

This spring, a friend of mine who lives in Rhode Island, kindly cut a whole pile of plywood for me at the woodshop of an art school where he works. As repayment, he challenged me to create a meal entirely out of beets.

Months later (the work which the plywood was made for has been shown and sold, so the trade is way past overdue), I finally made good on my promise, making seven dishes and a drink, each using beets as their primary color and flavoring. It was a lovely event (12 people in total showed up to sit on my stoop and eat), the food was good (if I can say that about my own doings), but aesthetically, it was amazing. Bright pinks all over (even my dress).
I'd like to make a habit of this, since it gave me a chance to try out a whole heap of recipes and cook for almost a full day.
Here are all the things I made with recipes. Though the inspiration came from many great food blogs, I've been testing and tweaking these recipes over the past months. Since they're fairly different, I think I'm allowed to claim them as my own. Also, sorry not to have better counts on how many each serves, I would guess good servings of six per recipe (unless otherwise noted) though we served 12 on small portions.

First things first, wash your beets, cut off greens (always buy beets with greens attached, they're so good, and so good for you), place beet root in foil and roast at approx. 400 for 40 minutes to an hour. when soft, unwrap and use for all these recipes!

Beet Juice Spritz!

When I spent the summer in Italy when I was in college, the university students began drinking around four with "ora di Spritz." Spritz is basically a white wine spritzer with a glug of Campari or Aperol (Aperol was what I preferred, which was apt, as I was living in the city of its origin - Padua - and it is made with (among other things) rhubarb). Sometimes they add an olive for good measure. My version adds beet juice from all the roasted beets I prepared.

-roast beets in foil for 40 minutes to an hour at 400 degrees (or wherever around that). when soft, set aside beets for millions of other things, strain the juice that has collected in the foil.
-1 part beet juice to 4 parts Aperol makes your bitter.
-mix white wine, seltzer, beet/aperol mixture in equal parts. serve over ice.

Citrus Beet Salad

This is a citrus beet salad twisted.
-peel and section 4 oranges and 4 grapefruit.
-dice 4 roasted beets
-mince 10 leaves mint, washed and dried.
-1/4 cup black olives, thinly sliced
-1/2 lime, juiced
-olive oil, salt, pepper to taste.

toss and serve (by itself or over greens, we were lucky to have it over greens Pennie and Aaron grew)! tastes different than any beet salad I've ever had.

Beet root Hummus

-1 roasted beet (pealed)
-2 cloves garlic
-1/4 cup tahini
-2 cans (or 2 cups) chick peas, drained and rinsed
-1/4 cup olive oil
-spash of lemon juice
-salt to taste

Mix it all up in a food processor. The most amazing color you've ever seen. Try and not eat it. Try. Serve with veggies or home made bread or pita.

Wilted Beet Greens with Pine Nuts

In the early summer when you are thinning your garden, use those baby beet greens for this recipe. Or go to the farmer's market and stock up. I'm lucky that my local Stop and Shop stocks beets with greens attached. I hear that other grocery store shoppers aren't so lucky.

-wash beet greens from one bunch beets (maybe 2 or 3 cups) throughly (they're usually really sandy, lately mine have had helicopters from the trees mixed in, which are not so tasty!).
-slice and discard thick stems.
-heat 2 tbs olive oil in wide skillet, add 2 cloves garlic, 1 shallot or other white onion diced.
-add chopped beet greens and cover. allow the greens to wilt, mixing every once in a while. if the pan gets too dry, add a few tbs of water at any time.
-while cooking, toast 1/4 cup pine nuts in another pan.
-add salt, pepper, cayenne pepper to taste.

Serve hot.

Beet and Fennel Soup, Chilled or Hot.

We have fennel growing wild in our garden (garden isn't really what we have, rather a bunch of flowers, lemonbalm, fennel and wild onions, but who is keeping tabs), so it was nice to use it for once.

-4 roasted beets, skinned.
-1/4 c. water
-1/2 onion, roughly chopped
-4 cups vegetable broth (I think that's one container)
-1 large fennel bulb chopped
-1 granny smith apple, chopped
-2 teaspoons vinegar
-2 teaspoons lemon juice
-salt pepper to taste
-greek yogurt and fennel leaves for serving

Bring broth, fennel bulb and apple to a boil in saucepan. Simmer until the fennel is soft, about ten to fifteen minutes. Add onion and beets to the broth, stir. Puree. Stir in salt, pepper, vinegar, lemon juice. I chilled it, but my roommate serves it hot. Spoon into bowls, add a tablespoon of yogurt and a sprig of fennel. Enjoy.

Beet and feta tart

This recipe can use roasted or unroasted beets. I've done both with little difference in the results. If I am roasting a whole bunch of beets and don't quite know what I'll do with them, the roasted is fine. If I want this and I've just gotten home from work, I'll use raw.

For Crust:
-2 sticks chilled butter
-2 1/2 cups flour (1.5 whole wheat tastes best)
-1/4 c water
-pinch salt

Divide evenly, pat into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill while preparing filling in the fridge. You'll use only 1/2 for this recipe. Make an apple pie!

Filling:
-Skin 2 medium beets, grate or chop finely.
-4 eggs
-1/2 cup feta
-salt and pepper to taste.

Spread all that stuff evenly over the crust in a pie or tart pan. Bake at 350 until set (about 30 minutes).

Vegan Beet and Beet Green Risotto

My go to vegan recipe for having people over for dinner. The color is outstanding, and it makes a huge pot. It even tastes better the second day as leftovers. For those of us, ahem, who love the cheese, add some Parmigiano-Reggiano at the table.

-3 medium roasted beets (with greens, chopped)
-1 cup white wine
-1 big container of vegetable stock (what is that, 4 cups, I don't know)
-1 cup water
-1 small onion, diced
-2 cloves garlic
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-2 cups Arborio rice
-2 tablespoons lemon juice
-salt and pepper to taste

Peel roasted beets, chop greens and set aside. Over medium heat, heat oil and add onion and garlic. Do not brown. Once caramelized, add the rice, stir vigorously for 1 minute. Add white wine. Stir sporadically (most recipes say you need to stir all the time, but I was doing everything else at the same time, and I was more than fine. I am also notoriously relaxed about directions in the kitchen, so...). Once the wine is absorbed, add the vegetable stock and water about a cup at a time, waiting for the previous cup to absorb before adding the next. Stir. After two cups, stir in beet greens and beets. Continue to add water or stock and stir. After everything is absorbed, you'll notice a change in the rice, as the starches come out. It will be creamy, unlike most vegan dishes without any soymilk or nutritional yeast. Season with salt and pepper, add the lemon juice and take off heat. Stir one last time. Let sit for five minutes before serving. The lemon juice will mellow pretty quickly.

And FINALLY Beet Chocolate cupcakes

This recipe is tried and true, adapted from Pinch My Salt, I use it all the damn time to impress people with slightly purple incredibly chocolate filled cupcakes. They taste damn good.

-2 C. whole wheat flour
-2 teaspoons Baking Powder
-1 teaspoon Baking Soda
-pinch salt
-1/2 C Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips (I insist on the Ghiradelli, and it matters)
-1/2 cup chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds

-1/4 C. butter
-2/3 C. Ghiradelli chocolate chips
-1/4 cup brown sugar (i have skipped this, as I have a friend who doesn't eat sugar, and it tasted fine. the original recipe calls for three times as much, so think about that. beets are so damn sweet you don't really need that much).
-2 eggs
-2 beets, pureed
-2/3 cup yogurt
-1 teaspoon vanilla (I've skipped this and never known the difference, but, yeah)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. This will make about 16 muffins, so get that ready. I use silicone muffin liners, and in a year, they have more than paid for themselves, so that is something to think about.

Combine the first five ingredients (before the line break), set aside. In a saucepan, melt chocolate and butter on low. set aside to cool. In another bowl, compine eggs, sugar, vanilla, yogurt and chocolate mixture. Mix this with the dry ingredients. Spoon into cups, fill about 3/4 of the way. Bake for about 15 minutes (my oven, which runs hot, always needs 17 minutes, but that's just me). They're done when a toothpick comes out clean.

Yes! Enjoy. xoxo.

i like to ride my bicycle.

2009-06-16T21:14:00.002-05:00

when i was in high school, i used to tell my friends that i wanted a pick up truck. they always asked me, "why?" to which i would respond. "to haul stuff. like rocks."

i just got my version of a pick up, but oh so much better. look how nice.

and another view.

the lovely mechanics at Open Bicycle made the changed while i waited (it isn't really waiting when you're chatting with amazing people...). the first thing i hauled in my new basket...

beet chocolate cupcakes back to the boys at Open as a thank you. Open is Zack and Joshua and a whole community of bike folks around Somerville and greater Boston. i suspected (based on what i know of Josh and Zack) that the space would be populated with hip hip hip fixie kids, but while i was waiting, a girl came in with her boyfriend's forgotten mountain bike, two BMX bikes, and an older gentleman wandering in. they also run Chorus Gallery out of the same space, and i am damn happy they do. seen two nice shows there so far, certainly the young artists of New England that wouldn't find a venue otherwise. Open is creating a real community and making us all very happy.

i love me some bike riding, but getting back on my bike after the new handlebars (made by Velo Orange, i cannot describe the difference it makes. i never want to get off this bike ever. ever ever. and damn, it looks good, no? in fact, i'm in such a bikie mood that i rewatched The Flying Scotsman after going for a long ride this afternoon. yes yes yes!

idle talkers

2009-06-09T23:02:00.001-05:00

"One can throw away a chair and destroy a pane of glass, but ... [only] idle talkers regard the state as such a thing or as a fetish that one can smash in order to destroy it. The state is a condition, a certain relationship among human beings, a mode of behavior between men; we destroy it by contraction other relationships, by behaving differently toward one another ... We are the state, and we shall continue to be the state until we have created the institutions that form a real community and society."

-Landauer, Gustav. 1910.

Iowa, oh Iowa

2009-06-09T13:25:00.003-05:00

I am moving to Iowa City, Iowa to begin an MFA in Intermedia Arts (beware, outdated website ahead) at the University of Iowa.

It is too bad that Iowa has such a bad state song (it is to the tune of "oh tannenbaum").

2007 2009

2009-05-18T09:43:00.003-05:00

Davis Square Tile Project / Community in Question

2009-05-11T20:53:00.000-05:00

Beginning in 1977, the MBTA and the Cambridge Arts Council began collaborating on a project intended to invigorate a much lived space, the Boston subway system (or the T as it is known to locals). The project, named Arts on the Line, began at the same time as serious planning for the Red Line extension into Cambridge and Somerville (Porter, Davis, and Alewife stations were created, and many of the older stations were retrofitted to accommodate longer six car trains), and commissioned artists to create installations in and surrounding the subway stations. Every station that was redone from the late seventies through the 1980s had shiny new art installations, many by local artists. The project took one percent of funding for T improvements to spend on art, which seems like a very small amount, but for a system that is perpetually in debt, like the MBTA, the program was slashed.

Now, roughly twenty-five years after the Red Line extension, serious discussion surrounding another T extension is commencing. The Green Line, which currently ends at Lechmere in Cambridge, is proposed to extend into Union Square and Ball Square in Somerville as well as College Ave near Tufts University, ending all the way out at Rt. 16. The project is a requirement due to the Conservation Law Foundation law suit against the state for the infamous Big Dig, as a way to mitigate the air pollution with disproportionately affects Somerville residents.

In early April, descended on Somerville (and Medford) to investigate and facilitate a conversation on the potential benefits and problems of the Green Line extension. Just how would if affect the area it was planned to enter? And could we look to the Red Line extension of the 1980s as a prediction of what would occur? We created a reader and lead a walking tour for a conference at Tufts, and began thinking about another branch of the project.

Looking at the Arts on the Line project, members of the Action Mill and the Think Tank joined up to work on the Davis Square Tile Project, a Distributed and Participatory Public Investigation (DPPI). In the Davis Square T Stop, 249 tiles were created by a local artist and students at the Powderhouse Community School. These tiles were installed in the station. Now, decades later, we are attempting to contact the makers of these tiles in order to ask just how Somerville has changed for them in the years between. Might these 249 voices act as a sampling of families in Davis Square at the time, and perhaps indicate what is to come in neighborhoods like Ball Square?

airports.

2009-05-01T19:55:00.000-05:00

I used to get great work done at the airport. Amazing work. Such good work that when I could swing it, I would get to the airport even an extra hour early, like sometimes after getting through security giving myself three hours to sit and write, read, think. No longer.

I moved to Boston two years ago, started coming to visit Boston almost a year before that. It was the silence of airtravel between Boston and Chicago that helped me write my thesis. I took night flights into Boston, sweeping in to meet my advisor. I took day flights over the mountains when I looked at apartments. I read long, theoretically complicated books on these planes. I wrote term papers.

The airport is a nonplace, a liminal space, a space that is neither here nor there. And an airplane is even worse. There are no electrical outlets, no internet, no telephone. All you bring on your carry on is all you have, that and the SkyMall.

Though I can't recall when the shift came, the airport in Boston now plays radio. Boston Logan International Airport has its own radio station. It sounds like radio in the movie theater. Chicago O'Hare plays CNN. No longer do I have the silence split only by a stranger's conversation.

Yesterday I read a quote from Bob Dylan about young people listening to earbuds when walking around, young people always behind their iPhone. He said we were not living like that. We are disconnected from the real world (I don't put real world in scare quotes because I don't think Dylan would have, I think he must genuinely think there is a real, able to be felt and understood real world). This morning on the subway to work, I looked across from where I was standing to see a grey haired middle aged man with bright orange sticking out of his ears. Earplugs. How funny not to hear the roar of the subway tunnels. Across from him sat a young woman, she also had bright orange coming out of her ears. They looked at each other and smiled while everyone else on the train avoided gazes, read the ads, or read their books. Today in the airport, I pulled my earplugs out of my messenger bag to drown out the Coldplay and conversation. I molded the earplugs so as not to hear you. And so, I wonder, does the beaming radio make our insularity worse?

Visual Stimulus Package

2009-04-26T16:51:00.002-05:00

The lovely space that I worked with last year is having a 501c3 fundraiser. The folks at Proof in South Boston are rad, hail from Chicago, and consistently put on a good show. This 1-day-party-extravaganza will have work from 40+ artists, including myself, silent auction style. If you're out of town, you all can buy online.

Find out more / BUYBUYBUY!

The One Way Library

2009-04-19T15:30:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago, a bunch of friends and collaborators were in town from the Think Tank that has yet to be named presenting at a conference and working on a project. It was lovely and wonderful, but to my mind, better than the conference was the hang out/theory talk/stirring up time. Hanging out around a table is wonderful, and I am hopeful that many new or revved up explorations will come out of it.

One example of this came out of talking with the Action Mill folks. They are all around great, thoughtful, and generous, as their One Way Library project demonstrates. Nick and Jethro handed Heath and I copies of The Long Haul by Myles Horton, which I have just devoured and would recommend you pick up. On the inside front cover is a sticker that states the "conditions for accepting this book:"

1) Don't let it sit on your shelf--read it now.
2) Take everything you read with a grain of salt.
3) Pass it on to someone who will find it useful.

How great. I read and read and read, and I give away books just about as fast as I read them. I love doing that (especially with as frequently as I move--more on that soon), but I hate the idea that I give someone a book I love, and they either a) never read it, or b) read it and then let it sit on their shelf to never be read again. The informal compact the Action Mill has created with the One Way Library ideally breaks those frustrating trends.

I always joke that my bookshelf is a good indication of books I feel lukewarm about. Everything good has been given away, like, for instance, Don DeLillo's White Noise, which I have bought and given away THREE TIMES. Another great idea from the Action Mill!

Paulo Freire and Educational Models as Art Practice

2009-04-01T22:56:00.002-05:00

This is a much shortened piece of something I've been working on for the last little bit. I spoke about this today at a museum conversation at Brandeis. What do you think??
____

On the occasion of the international biennale Manifesta 6, New York based artist and organizer Anthon Vidolke gathered what he called “An Incomplete Chronology of Experimental Art Schools”.[1] The theme of the 2006 biennale was “Notes for an Art School.” The form was a three-department post-graduate art institution that investigated the changing needs and roles of art education.[2][3]

Though the alternative art school has garnished some attention from critics, the increasing trend for artists to create educational platforms focusing not on art education but on the broader educational spectrum has received comparably little attention. Indeed, these platforms have yet to be placed into the conversation of participatory art practices, most specifically art historian Grant Kester’s designation, Dialogical Aesthetics.

Set apart from Relational Aesthetics artists like Harrell Fletcher of Learning to Love You More who invites participants to perform a series of assignments, documentation of which are published in an online community[4] or Rikrit Tiravanija who cooks Thai food for collectors, allowing the dinner to be artwork, dialogical aesthetic works have a clear social aim, according to theorist Grant Kester.[5] Indeed, even the term is an amalgamation of relational aesthetics and the desire to co-create humanity put forth by educational theorist Paulo Freire.[6] Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed calls for a dialogical learning, where the educator and the student engage in conversation and action, what Freire deems praxis.[7] It is only through the student and teacher agreeing to a compact of mutual learning and respect that equality might be achieved. In this talk, I focus on three educational platforms as art practices.

Portland based Red76 organized the “Laundry Lecture Series” beginning in late 2003 and continuing sporadically throughout 2006. Red76, run by Sam Gould with the assistance of various collaborators, states in their mission, “The guiding constructs thread between many of these initiatives being the facilitation of discussion, thought and action within public space, as well as the examination of what that space can be, and where that space may reside at any given time”.[8] For the “Laundry Lecture Series,” that space was the pedagogical setting and the Laundromat. These generally distinct spaces were placed in conversation for the purpose of the “Laundry Lecture Series”. People were invited to speak on areas of interest and expertise while utilizing the function of the space, doing laundry. The “Laundry Lecture Series” expands the space of the classroom by moving it from structures designed for learning to the spaces we find ourselves in every day. The quotidian nature of the space’s prescribed use also creates a contact zone of the laundromat, allowing those using the space for its original function to contribute to the discussion and discover something new while the wash and dry cycle finishes. A space and time that feels like a chore becomes a space for possibilities, both pragmatic and symbolic.
The “Sundown Schoolhouse” is a semi-mobile school-like institution developed by artist and architect Fritz Haeg. Self described as a series of “events, happenings, gatherings, meetings, pageantry, performances, shows, stunts, and spectacles,”[9] the “Sundown Schoolhouse” began in 2006 in Haeg’s home in Los Angeles. Frieze Magazine characterized the events as:

“part performance, part workshop, part seminar, intended to create a sense of convivial community among people who might otherwise never meet or consider one another’s professional interests as in any way relevant to their own”. [10]

Haeg pushes back from the language of the art world, eschewing relational aesthetics in favor of questioning what it means to collaborate.[11] He intends to bring people into conversation and collaboration on a variety of topics. The school is characterized by an open enrollment as events are publicized online and via an email list. “Sundown Schoolhouse” creates space and community through a diversity of approaches and topics.

A library is a place for learning, but as Walter Benjamin wrote in “Unpacking my Library,” personal libraries are as much sites for potential learning as they are investigations into the collector, “for what else is this collection but a disorder to which habit has accommodated itself to such an extent that it can appear as order”.[12] New York based artist Martha Rosler, active since the 1960’s, brought together her collection of more than 7,700 volumes in 2007 at e-flux’s New York space.[13] Though removed from the original context of her Brooklyn home and Rutgers’s University office, the materials retained their original organization. The project functions somewhere between an archive – personal papers, clippings, and photo albums are scattered throughout – and a library. In addition, a series of reading groups are scheduled using books culled from her library; Anton Vidolke organized the first, getting “some thirty people reading and discussing Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin, creating the sort of discursive space that gives rise to contemporary art at its finest”. [14]

In looking at these projects as a group, we are seeing a variety of types of institutions, functions, and desires. Together, the projects of Red76, Fritz Haeg, and Martha Rosler have a collective interest in creating spaces and fostering community that allows for a mutual process of learning, not unlike the pedagogy put forth by Paulo Freire. His pedagogy looks to the development reality through action and reflection, pursued with revolutionary love between the oppressed and the oppressor.[15] “They [teachers and students] discover themselves as [reality and knowledge’s] permanent recreators.”

However, there is the potential with alternative educational models as art projects that they continue to oppress the very constituents they intend to empower. This is because, though these projects are interested in co-creating reality through the symbolic act of creating space on the small scale of an individual project, at times these projects create vessels to be filled rather than platforms on which to build. With a vessel, the contents matter little and the materials form to the shape of the container; whereas a platform is little more than a space where things might potentially be created. Educational projects purport to be democratic, creating content together; however, in looking at the minutiae of each project, they can be viewed as more or less liberating, more or less democratic, more or less interested in increasing the humanity of the participants, as Freire would call for. We must address these projects in terms of authorship and audience, asking, where these projects fit into the trajectory of art production and the role of the art institution within society.

In each project, one artist is given authorship and authority over the project, which intends to speak for the participating group. Freire writes, “Any situation in which ‘A’ objectively exploits ‘B’ or hinders his and her pursuit of self-affirmation as a responsible person is one of oppression. Such a situation in itself constitutes violence, even when sweetened by false generosity, because it interferes with the individual’s ontological and historical vocation to become more fully human”.[16] The structure of the art market is such that the name of a famous artist, such as Martha Rosler or Fritz Haeg, can produce the same capital returns that the former fetish object could. Even when collaborators dialogue, still, one voice reigns supreme.
Freire writes: “But to substitute monologue, slogans, and communiqués for dialogue is to attempt to liberate the oppressed with the instruments of domestication. Attempting to liberate the oppressed without their reflective participation in the act of liberation is to treat them as objects which must be saved from a burning building”. [17]

In the very worst instances, Freire likens the educational system to the bank: students are filled with the facts given by the teachers like deposits to an account. “The more completely she fills the receptacles, the better teacher she is. The more meekly the receptacles permit themselves to be filled, the better students they are.”[18] And “the more the oppressors control the oppressed, the more they change them into apparently inanimate ‘things.’”[19] The passivity implied by this model is not far from the notion of the art object, which the artist imbues with meaning in the act of creation. In the model of the educational system as art project, the students participating function in much the same way that Freire warns against, and in the display and discussion of such projects, they are represented finally as a singular art object created by the artist.

And then, what happens next? If the audience is inanimate, by that I mean that it actually matters little who is in the audience, then so what? What is at stake? What can be done, can the work actually do anything? If the audience is inanimate, is any more possible than the dialogue that can occur when looking at a painting?

[1] Vidolke, Anton. “Exhibition as School in a Divided City.” http://www.manifesta.org/docs/02.pdf (accessed November 25, 2008).
[2] e-flux, The Best Surprise is No Surprise. JRPIRingier: Zurich. 2006: 167.
[3] e-flux, “Manifesta 6.” http://www.e-flux.com/shows/view/3270 (accessed December 1, 2008).
[4] A selection of which were later published in a book of the same name.
[5] Kester, 110.
[6] Kester does not directly state this, however, his work draws upon Freire from the onset.
[7] Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Continuum: New York. 51.
[8] Gould, Sam. “Red76 History.” http://www.red76.com/history.html (accessed December 9, 2008).
[9] http://www.fritzhaeg.com/salon.html
[10] Trainor, James. “Anyone Home?” Frieze Magazine. 99 (2006).
[11] Haeg, Fritz. “Sundown Schoolhouse Sessions Fall 2006.” http://www.fritzhaeg.com/schoolhouse/seasons/fall2006.html (accessed December 1, 2008).
[12] Benjamin, Walter. “Unpacking My Library” in Illuminations. New York: Harcort and Brace. 1968: 59.
[13] Since its initial installation, Martha Rosler’s library has traveled to Antwerp and Frankfurt with more locations planned.
[14] Valdez, Sarah. “Martha Rosler’s Bookmobile.” Art on Paper. 11.3 (2007): 18.
[15] Freire, 51.
[16] Freire, 55.
[17] Ibid, 65.
[18] Ibid, 72.
[19] Ibid, 69.

Appendix: List of Institutions
New Museum's Night School, New York, 2007-2008
http://www.newmuseum.org/event_series/night_school

United Nations Plaza, Berlin, 2006-2007
http://www.unitednationsplaza.org/

Martha Rosler’s Library, New York, 2007-present
http://www.e-flux.com/projects/library/

The Public School, Los Angeles, 2008
http://thepublicschool.org/

EduFactory, transnational and web based, 2007-present
http://www.edu-factory.org/index.php

Copenhagen Free University, Copenhagen, 2001-2007
http://www.copenhagenfreeuniversity.dk/

Informal University in Founding, Berlin, 2004-present
http://www.jackie-inhalt.net/main.html

Manoa Free University, Manoa, 2004-2008
http://www.manoafreeuniversity.org/

Sundown Schoolhouse, Los Angeles, 2006-Present
http://www.fritzhaeg.com/schoolhouse.html

School of Missing Studies, Balkans, 2005-2008
http://www.schoolofmissingstudies.net/

Homework, New York, 2007-present
http://www.homeworkproject.org/

The School of Panamerican Unrest, various American locations, 2006-present
http://www.panamericanismo.org/

Pegagogical Factory, Chicago, 2007
http://www.stockyardinstitute.org/PedagogicalFactory.html

The Exploding School, Copenhagen, 2007
http://www.dismalgarden.org/pages/exploded_school_contents.html

Learning Site, Copenhagen, 2005-present
http://learningsite.info/

Red76's Laundry Lecture Series, Portland, 2004-2006
http://www.red76.com/

have you read this?

2009-03-17T13:35:00.002-05:00

this is the statement from the Rose family on the closure of the Rose Art Museum.

cold feet.

2009-03-11T15:52:00.005-05:00

For those of you who know me well, you'll know that I am a little bit anxious, a little bit nervous, a little more likely to read a lot about how to do something rather than just try it myself. For that reason, I've spent the last few weeks, maybe months, reading about sprouting and pickling. And I am am, to say the least, terrified. Or I was. Petrified. Everything I was reading had incredibly complicated explanations, and each resource said something quite different.

Finally, though, I came across a website with a few tutorials that are quite simple. They are so foolproof that they must be shared. I think it was a sign that his two tutorials are the two things I've been wanting to try. Jason Unbound tells us how to make kimchi and sprouts.

The kimchi still has at least another day to ferment, but the sprouts are mM! so good, I'm already eating microgreens, sprouting my second batch, and giving them to friends. Here are some images in case you were not sure of my success.

NPR roundup

2009-02-08T14:34:00.002-06:00

Though much of the information regarding Brandeis' Rose Art Museum's closure has been posted elsewhere, a few people who follow my ramblings asked me to post what I've been finding, so for the time being, I will continue to do so. I hope the repeat isn't too mundane for those of us in Boston / Waltham.

This is the NPR "All Things Considered" roundup. Collector David Genser talks about his frustration and Prez. Reinharz's piece is particularly interesting.

Enjoy. More to come, I'm sure.

Reinharz: "I screwed up"

2009-02-05T17:01:00.002-06:00

This is the latest:

Dear Members of the Brandeis community:

The past ten days have been extremely difficult for all of us. I have heard from many of you and listened carefully to your criticisms and constructive suggestions. I have read every message on the faculty list serve, and the thoughtful letter sent to me by a group of faculty last night. I have also heard from students, staff, alumni, university presidents and complete strangers about my statements regarding the vote by the Board of Trustees concerning the Rose Art Museum.

In retrospect, I wish I had handled the initial statements I made in a far more direct way. Unfortunately, those statements did not accurately reflect the Board’s decision authorizing the administration to conduct “an orderly sale or other disposition of works from the university’s collection.” The statements gave the misleading impression that we were selling the entire collection immediately, which is not true. The University may have the option, subject to applicable legal requirements and procedures, to sell some artworks if necessary, but I assure you that other options will also be considered. The Museum will remain open, but in accordance with the Board’s vote, it will be more fully integrated into the University’s central educational mission. We will meet with all affected University constituencies to explore together how this can best be done.

I regret as well that I did not find a more inclusive and open way to engage the Brandeis community in the deliberations that led to the Board’s decision.

I take full responsibility for causing pain and embarrassment in both of these matters. To quote President Obama, “I screwed up.”

Having learned from this experience, I will do my best, as will the entire administration, to work together with all of you in a collaborative manner. We must cooperate as we move forward to confront our financial crisis. But we also have to take bold steps. Obviously, we have many tasks ahead of us regarding the curriculum and the budget.

In meetings with members of the faculty and with students in the past few days, I have been heartened by the enormous reservoir of good will, imagination and willingness to work hard to guarantee that Brandeis will continue to thrive as a first-rate institution of higher learning.

Sincerely,

Jehuda Reinharz

I urge everyone to see that this statement does not in any way mean that the Rose Art Museum will not close, nor that this is solved. We must continue to pressure the administration of Brandeis University to remain committed to, as Reinharz states, "the University's central core mission."

Wow. What a few days.

A Rose is a rose is a rose

2009-02-04T21:36:00.003-06:00

I'm sure many of you have been following the growing discussion about the potential closure of Brandeis University's famed Rose Art Museum. As a student of the university, I have been spending the last week reading though the thoughtful responses, keeping my ears open on campus, and my mind working in an effort to begin to formulate a position and a response to the administration's decision.

Before beginning to unfurl the University's tenuous relationship with the Rose Art Museum within the context of the potential changes happening throughout the greater university, I should give a short biographical note. I am a second year graduate student in Brandeis' interdisciplinary program, Cultural Production. The program is only in its third year, and the two big buzz words "cultural" and "production" in practice for us students ends up being a mixture of museum studies, anthropology, community engagement, and the arts. Beyond being a student at Brandeis, I am an employee of the university working in the Robert D. Farber Archives and Special Collections Library with primarily with materials relating to the history and development of the University. I am also a young artist and curator.

The closure of the Rose is being couched in the financial hardship of the university; however, it appears from accounts by previous donor Lois Foster that this is not the first time discussion of the museum's closure has surfaced. While the university is seeing a decrease in its endowment of over twenty-five percent, Brandeis is certainly not the only institution with similar problems. Indeed, the giants likeYale and Harvard are seeing similar plummeting figures. Sure Brandeis and Harvard are Apples and Oranges, but when Brandeis University (even when joking) sees itself as a comparable school to the ivy leagues, the idea that artwork is not a large portion of the university's mission to create whole liberal arts students with a humane education is absurd. Indeed, it makes us question if the closing of the university museum is not a part of the larger plans to reorganize the structure of the university (also framed as a reaction to the financial times, the university has discussed laying off roughly ten percent of its faculty and more staff in a move to create mega-majors and thus save on administrative costs) in some new plan that the rest of the university community has had little say in policy decisions.

In discussing the language used by Jehuda Reinharz, Peter French, other administrators, and the PR firm of the university, we must ask what we will trade the Rose for? Though the word at Brandeis has been layoff staff or sell the art, really, no one administrator is saying that if we sell the work we will not layoff staff and faculty. Most of us at Brandeis are sure that more staff layoffs are coming and that the faculty will be reduced by roughly ten percent in the next five years. This is not an either/or situation. This is getting your cake and eating it too. What do the students and community of Brandeis gain by having the museum close? It seems that this is an issue of lack of transparency. There is the ominous feeling at Brandeis (tomorrow a funeral march will take place on campus) that the situation is in actuality far worse than we have been led to believe and that the administration is frankly just not letting on. We are being told that four PhD programs will be closed. One of the best Brandeis professors I have worked with is losing his job. 70 staff members were laid off with little notice. And yet, at a recent graduate student meeting with deans regarding the financial situation, we were not being told what is really going on. We are instead in limbo being asked to trust in the administration at the very same time they are making PR blunders like this fiasco. Though calls for openness have been put forth, we are facing the same general numbers of a $10 million budget deficit and less donations. Just what does that mean?

To be selfish, in these last two points I will address my own position in relationship to the Rose. As a student studying at Brandeis and looking to go into careers in the museum field and working as an artist, hailing from an institution with such little concern for the arts will reflect quite poorly on me. My degree, for which I will be in debt for many years, is worth, I suspect, less than I paid when potential professional contacts see my name next to Brandeis University on my CV. What a shame. I ask the university how it might have a degree offered with an emphasis on museum studies when there is not a museum on campus? To look beyond myself, what about those studying fine arts, art history, or receiving a post-bac in studio arts from Brandeis. It will be interesting to have to position myself against the policies of this institution for the remainder of my working life. I fear I will be justifying myself and condemning this university for long to come.

Finally, the Rose's remarkable collection will leave another hole in the Boston art community. LEF foundation has decided to no longer fund visual arts. Art Interactive closed, Axiom lost its director, MIT's Bill Arning is leaving, Harvard's museum is closed for the next few years, and at least eight other galleries (just off the top of my head) are closing in the Boston area. Without this collection, how will other institutions in Boston pick up the slack in post-war American art?

I'm interested and hopeful about what comes next at Brandeis surrounding the Rose. Students are riled up and beginning to do and say some interesting things, which we anticipate to gain momentum over the course of the semester. The faculty have voted to create a special committee to investigate. Dollar signs have cropped up on all of the Rose Art Museum signs so that they now read "RO$E Art Museum." I have faith that there is more wiggle room to be had with the administration, particularly with the board of trustees, the faculty senate, and so forth. Public pressure can go a long way, but I doubt we'll see a change in the policy and opinions of Jehuda Reinharz and the development office (who have warned not to criticize the decision). We shall see.

Linconiana and Brandeis

2009-02-04T19:29:00.002-06:00

I just wrote this piece about Brandeis' collection of Lincoln memorabilia in honor of the bicentennial coming up. Check it out if you've got a second. Handling this stuff makes me giggle.

Brandeis Rose Art Museum to Close! WTF?

2009-01-26T18:25:00.001-06:00

I just got this email from Brandeis. All I gotta say is WTF?

The global financial crisis and deepening national economic recession require Brandeis to formulate and execute decisive plans that will position the university to emerge stronger for the benefit of our students. To this end, our response to the crisis is to focus and sustain our core academic mission. I am writing to tell you that the Board of Trustees met today and voted to close the Rose Art Museum. The decision was difficult and was reached after a painstaking assessment of the university’s need to mobilize for the future and initiate a strategy to replenish our financial assets.

The Rose has been a marvelous addition to the Fine Arts program, and we are grateful to everyone who expressed their love for art and admiration for Brandeis’s academic mission by helping to create, build, and support the museum. Choosing between and among important and valued university assets is terrible, but our priority in the face of hard choices will always be the university’s core teaching and research mission. Today’s decision will set in motion a long-term plan to sell the art collection and convert the professional art facility to a teaching, studio, and gallery space for undergraduate and graduate students and faculty.

Attached you will find the university’s public statement. I will be writing to the community shortly to update you on other initiatives currently under discussion by the faculty and the administration.

Sincerely,

Jehuda Reinharz

Let's do this together, in this year, to remember what we were not here to experience

2009-01-25T12:38:00.002-06:00

As a part of the Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration, on his birthday (February 12), at 9:30 central time, you ought to read the Gettysburg Address. Out loud. Wherever you are. School children everywhere are doing it. So should you. Here is more information.

And in case you want to memorize it (or print it, or whatever), here is the text:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

for luck

2009-01-10T09:25:00.002-06:00

"For luck you carried a horse chestnut and a rabbit's foot in your right pocket. The fur had been worn off the rabbit's foot long ago and the bones and sinews were polished by wear. The claws scratched the lining of your pocket and you knew your luck was still there. ... In those days, you did not really need anything, not even the rabbit's foot, but it was good to feel it in your pocket."

-Hemingway, A Movable Feast, 91-96.

Great Space, Great Lakes

2009-01-10T09:20:00.002-06:00

I don't know many folks in Ohio, but in case you're stopping through Cleveland, I'm lucky to have a project up at SPACElab, the project space for SPACES, an artist run non-profit thats been around for thirty (!) years. They've got some great other work up as well, and they are wonderful to work with (for anyone with a rogue project they're wanting to find a home for...).

The project is called, "Great Lakes, Great Memorials, Great Fears" and it looks to a post-War of 1812 treaty, the Rush-Bagot Treaty, disallowing big guns on ships in the great lakes. Ships were disassembled in Canada and the US and monuments were built to this little known piece of legislation.

In early 2001 construction began on the land where the US monument stands, retrofitting a women's state hospital into condos. The monument (and the building) were behind construction fencing and thus, noone could access the monument. Later that year, following the September 11th attacks, the US started rearming ships without addressing the treaty or notifying the Canadian armed forces.

I resolve.

2008-12-31T11:50:00.004-06:00

As my flight back to Boston was canceled today, I've got some time to sit around at my parents house and think about what I'll do rather than shop for New Years foods (champagne, black eyed peas, southern greens). As such, I've decided on some things. I resolve to pay more attention to where I am in 2009, to live more deliberately, to ground myself. I'll bake more bread, read more books, use less, talk more, do more yoga. What about you?

in illinois

2008-12-17T23:14:00.001-06:00

it is 10 degrees and i am sleeping below three comforters, but i am very cozy (i've missed you illinois).

Hall-Hoag Collection of Extremist Literature in the United States

2008-12-04T17:44:00.003-06:00

Something I wrote for Brandeis lately...

In a Boston Globe article from May 7th, 1967, independent collector, archivist, and researcher Gordon Hall is quoted: “What I do is essentially engage them eyeball to eyeball. Confrontation on a daily basis. No one else does it.” [1] Hall was speaking of his interactions with the extreme left- and right-wing groups whose materials he painstakingly collected for the better part of his life. A portion of these materials is among the Hall-Hoag Collection of Extremist Literature in the United States held by the Brandeis Special Collections Department. This summer, I had the pleasure of spending dozens of hours combing through Hall’s collection of over 5,000 objects, performing minor preservation work on the materials and creating a digital finding aid to the collection. Presented here are a few of the interesting finds from the 42 linear feet of materials.

Gordon Hall was an American soldier in the Pacific theater of World War II. During his time in service, he was introduced to many left-wing political ideas while fighting against the fascist ideology that would later come to resemble some of the writings of right-wing groups in America. Though he never finished high school, his studious nature made him curious about both sides of the political and religious coin, and his investigations into the history and aims of political organizations began. In the same Boston Globe article he wrote: “communism is bad, but this [anti-Semitism and racism] are just as bad. As far as I can see, there are two extremes worth fighting and I guess that’s what I really want to do.” [2] The materials in the collection date from the late 1940s through the early 1980s. Together, they act as a barometer of the political climate during the postwar period.

As with all archival collections, the materials tell us as much about their time as they do about our own moment. Such materials as the Manion Forum Organization brochure demonstrate the importance of the media and street organizing in creating a movement. Not unlike the campaigning in this most recent presidential election cycle by thousands of volunteers, the tools of the Manion Forum Organization, a conservative club “concerned about liberals, socialists, and communists,” were radio and television advertisements, the distribution of printed materials, and door-to-door volunteers. The brochure’s graphics of countless modest homes are paired with the caption: “The Manion Forum Penetrates Millions of American Homes Every Week.” The map on the opposite side shows the potential reach of radio, television, conservative clubs, and campus radio networks across the U.S.

Similarly, the Student Voice newspaper dated February 25, 1964, includes two stories that seem quite relevant in today’s political climate. The paper discusses an effort coordinated by the Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee (SNCC) to register African American voters in Georgia. The effort resulted in “‘at least 100’ attempts to register to vote” throughout Southwest Georgia. On the facing page, two white businessmen stand with the Atlanta NAACP president with signs of economic frugality, noting “wear old clothes this Easter” and “Easter frills or Freedom. You cannot have both now.”

The striking graphics employed by various organizations are themselves interesting. Throughout the collection, several right-wing organizations employ the well-worn Liberty Bell motif; a few of these include the Liberty Bell Press from Missouri, which investigated communist activity within the U.S.; the publication Through To Victory, a Christian anti-communist organization; the Liberty Belles, a female-only organization interested in reining in government power and spending as well as eradicating communism, socialism, and anarchism; and The Liberty Bell, an anti-Semitic publication.

Though some of the materials are independently well known, like the Weather Underground publication Prairie Fire, together this collection is an invaluable gathering of materials relating to extremist movements within the United States. Several are shocking, and all are sectarian. This cursory glance does little justice to the breadth of the collection. More materials will be on view at the upcoming Archives & Special Collections Show and Tell event in early 2009. For more information, please contact the Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department at ascdepartment@brandeis.edu.

[1] Boston Globe. May 7, 1967. pp. 28-35.

[2] ibid, 29.

Posted by

in reykjavik

2008-11-29T13:49:00.002-06:00

the guys who stock the vending machines at the airport do so on razor scooters. and security uses them as well. no backing up noise.

Familiar Strangers

2008-11-20T15:06:00.003-06:00

A coworker today told me a story: every day she walks the same way to work, down Mass Ave between Porter and Harvard Square. Every day she sees the same man, a sort of skinny Santa she says, and they give each other the little eye lift hello as they pass. But she recently changed her route and hadn't seen him in a while. Then, today, she ran into him in an entirely different place. She smiled and he burst into laughter. The familiar stranger.

In a small city like Boston, sometimes you think you know it all. You've met the major players and you get it. Then you get an email like this:

To which you respond:

And, like the concept that Tim Devin tells me about when we meet a week later, we are familiar strangers, interacting in a city, looking at each other's work on the web, and only when we see each other outside of that context, do we begin to converse. Though unlike familiar strangers, it isn't jarring but reassuring that there are people here I'd like to work with and get to know.

Tim's most recent project is called "i left this here for you to read" and is a publication that might work like a Temporary Autonomous Zone from Hakim Bey in that it momentarily changes the way you think about others and changes your space. It, like Tim's other work, is romantic and cares about revolution on a person to person level. Unfortunately, I can't tell you more than what I think of the project based on what I've read about it because I've never seen the publication. Short runs of 50 copies are distributed across the country with a diverse pool of objects, writings, artworks included for the happenstance audience to find. These zines are left on park benches, doctor's offices, buses, you get the picture. Upcoming issues will include the likes of Reverend Billy, Steve Lambert, and 14 year olds from Florida. I look forward to coming across these on the streets!

an open letter to global warming

2008-11-17T06:59:00.002-06:00

global warming,

i know i am supposed to hate you and fight against you...and i try to. i mean, i bike and walk and recycle and don't take plastic cups and use my own bags, but when its 65 on saturday and then going down to the thirties...i'm not ready for this plummet. besides. i'm going to have to turn on the heat. and this oil tank sitting in my basement is not only going to cost me bank, but its my little piece (well, one of them) in this war in the middle east which i would like to stop. so please. heat back up so i don't have to use that shit.

thank you.
katie

what do we do now?

2008-11-10T13:58:00.001-06:00

it is not the change we seek

2008-11-04T23:09:00.002-06:00

this "is only the chance to make that change."

well said, president obama.

tomorrow

2008-11-03T06:43:00.000-06:00

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this is where i'm voting tomorrow, what about you?

mr. obama, i'm voting for you!

2008-10-22T06:49:00.001-05:00

i just got my new voters registration in the mail and none too soon (i'll admit i was starting to get worried!). so it is official, i'm voting for obama!