http://www.avclub.com/articles/rip-paprika-and-perfect-blue-director-satoshi-kon,44534/

Watching James, Jack, Paul, Greg, and KT hang and prep the art for this weekend was inspiring! I nearly broke into song with joy when I spied the performance room, all dolled up and ready for so many guests! (Yes, a (!) was completely necessary in that post!)

All that got me thinking about some of my favorite art experiences. One set of artists in particular come to mind as a personal favorite.

Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller have always been able to charm the socks straight off my feet.

The first work I saw was Her Long Black Hair, which was an interactive walk with narration through Central Park.

Recently, I experienced Murder of Crows in Berlin, another piece where participants are beckoned into the center of a room together to experience a multimedia story together.

The thing I love the most about the works are that they ask the viewer to participate.

So many times we go to a museum, and when we try to get a closer look at the work, an alarm goes off, or a security guard asks you to step back.

With Cardiff and Miller, we are asked to become a part of the work. We are essential to the work’s existence.

I hope this weekend at Art In the Time of Plagiarism you will feel like you are essential to what we do….because guess what….YOU ARE DEAR FRIENDS!

Prints. For the sake of art. For the sake of theatre. 6 prints are rarin’ to be viewed and bought by you this Friday.

Join me for some music and art and fun at Art In The Time of Plagiarism. FRIDAY!

1741 N Western Ave
Friday, June 25th 7pm-12am OPENING RECEPTION
featuring beer, wine, and entertainment.
Saturday, June 26th 10am-5pm OPEN HOUSE
Come on, feel the art!

You are invited to ART IN THE TIME OF PLAGIARISM, a very special art show featuring an exciting variety of artworks for sale. By special agreement with the artists, a portion of the proceeds go to support future work by THE PLAGIARISTS. There will be lots of items to choose from: paintings and prints, jewelry and knits, cartoons and photographs- offered at a price range that fits every pocketbook. Artists whose work will be represented include: Nice Lena, Knit and Pearl, Dav Yendler, Peter Axelsen, Sam Booker, Megan Roche, Dan Grzeca, Nancy Peters, Daniel MacAdam, Lindsay Verstegen, Edelweiss Cardenas, Avery Blair-Wilson, Adrienne Glover, Tony Fitzpatrick, and Kaitlin Byrd. Admission is free! Cash and checks will be accepted as payment for artwork. Unfortunately, we cannot accept credit cards.

Monster by Kaitlin Byrd

“Woah”

“What”

“Look over there…Wait! I don’t  him to notice we’re looking…”

“Who?”

“Right there.  On that table”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Really?”

“He’s fantastic.”

“Are you sure it’s a “he”"

“I don’t know that it matters.”

“It is pretty cute.”

“Pretty cute? That’s the understatement of the year.  This is magic.”

“Uh-huh.”

“That enigmatic smile.  Those piercing eyes.  He’s got a secret, but we’ll never know what it is-”

“I really think its a she-”

“He’s so complex, so unnerving.  He’s like nothing I’ve seen before.”

“I mean that looks like girl hair.”

“This really challenging everything I’ve ever believed about monsters in the past.”

“You are really falling hard, aren’t you?”

“I never realized how empty my life has been until this moment.”

“Well…Looks like it’s for sale for 15 bucks.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Such a small price to pay for a lifetime of happiness…”

Come to Art in the Time of Plagiarism next week.  You never know who you might meet.

Bucktown Loft
1741 N Western Ave
Friday, June 25th 7pm-12am OPENING RECEPTION
featuring beer, wine, and entertainment.
Saturday, June 26th 10am-5pm OPEN HOUSE
Come on, feel the art!

You are invited to ART IN THE TIME OF PLAGIARISM, a very special art show featuring an exciting variety of artworks for sale. By special agreement with the artists, a portion of the proceeds go to support future work by THE PLAGIARISTS. There will be lots of items to choose from: paintings and prints, jewelry and knits, cartoons and photographs- offered at a price range that fits every pocketbook. Artists whose work will be represented include: Nice Lena, Knit and Pearl, Dav Yendler, Peter Axelsen, Sam Booker, Megan Roche, Dan Grzeca, Nancy Peters, Daniel MacAdam, Edelweiss Cardenas, Avery Blair-Wilson, Adrienne Glover, Tony Fitzpatrick, and Kaitlin Byrd. Admission is free! Cash and checks will be accepted as payment for artwork. Unfortunately, we cannot accept credit cards.

http://www.gingerninja.org/feedtheanimals/

DSC_0355, originally uploaded by LRose17.

The Salon on Monday was a lovely and smashing success. Oracle theatre managed to totally set up shop in the back of the Black Rock, creating a world of shadows, sounds and striking images. I took some photos of the evening and though the Black Rock might be one of the funkiest places, lighting-wise, to shoot photos…some turned out quite well. I especially like this image of our hero in “The Hairpin Turn” as he leans in to listen in on a conversation happening behind closed doors….

The salon celebrated its 1 year anniversary with the Oracle event. TWELVE: A Plagiarist Salon means we have done a full year cycle of these monthly, free events.
From the wikipedia entry for Salon (gathering): A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine the taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace’s definition of the aims of poetry, “either to please or to educate” (“aut delectare aut prodesse est”). Salons, commonly associated with French literary and philosophical movements of the 17th century and 18th centuries, were carried on until quite recently, in urban settings, among like-minded people.

I know I’m a plagiarist so maybe I can’t say this, but I’ll say it anyway.

WE (THE PLAGIARISTS) HAVE STARTED A VERY GOOD THING WITH THESE SALONS. SALONS RULE.

CHECK OUT OUR SALONS EVERY 3RD MONDAY AT THE BLACK ROCK PUB. A DIFFERENT THEATRE/ARTISTIC COMPANY CURATES EACH MONTH. THE BEER IS CHEAP, THE FOOD IS GOOD AND THE FOLKS ARE GREAT.

One of his central topics, throughout his blog, is the pride people seem to take in being/acting ignorant, whether down on the corner or at a podium in the Senate. It is difficult to admit being wrong or confess you don’t know, especially in our culture, where saaviness and confidence are so prized, but I admire those who approach a problem with a doubtful instinct rather than believeing they have the answer. I am always much more moved an affected by writing that tries to tease out the underlying questions rather than advance a predetermined outcome. It can be a rabbit hole, seeking out the central questions rather than paving it all over with certainty – just look at David Foster Wallace – and it’s hard on the ego walking around admitting you have no idea. But admitting you have a problem is the first step. It is only by poking and prodding and questioning our assumptions that we can insure we’re not making fools of ourselves and perhaps, slowly, incrementally, we can take baby step to the truth. Coates calls himself stupid a lot in his writing, but, you know, so did Socates. Not saying that he is Socrates (that would be sort of a reverse Godwin’s law or something) just that it’s not bad company to be in.

PS – Calling yourself a “regular guy” or words to that effect, is not the same as being open-minded and questioning and such statements usually precede an ignorant statement.

For some reason, I normally don’t get all up in arms about remakes of beloved films, the same way I don’t have fanboy fits about film & TV adaptations of favorite books or comics. I like to view them as riffs on the original idea, making it into a sort of canonical document that can be interpreted and reconfigured for further generations. And, let’s be honest, the remake of The Texas Chainsaw massacre isn’t for a moment going to eclipse the original.

Kent: You’re all a bunch of degenerates.
Chris Knight: *We* are? What about that time I found you naked with that bowl of Jell-O?
Kent: You did not.
Chris Knight: This is true.
Kent: Look, it was hot and I was hungry, okay?

It’s possible that reading comics, especially at the time I started, with all the ret-conning and reimaginings and updated origin stories, planted an early seed in my brain about the possibilities inherent in updating a great idea/character/story for successive generations. And doing theatre, with its impermanence and need for immediacy and new interpretations probably fed into this. It’s probably the same attitude that led in part to me being part of a group called The Plagiarists, that make adaptation and reconfiguration part of our mission.

“Moles and trolls, moles and trolls, work, work, work, work, work. We never see the light of day. We plan this thing for weeks and all they want to do is study. I’m disgusted. I’m sorry but it’s not like me, I’m depressed. There was what, no one at the mutant hamster races, we only had one entry into the Madame Curie look-alike contest and he was disqualified later. Why do I bother?”

Anyway, all this is meant to defuse any perception of me as a raving purist or nostalgic old fuddy-duddy when I stand athwart history and scream “STOP!” at the group of maniacs who have decided they want to remake Real Genius. Not only is this one of the defining 80′s comedies (an era that was rife with great comedy, as I have argued many times before) it is a film of great personal value to me and many others. For an enormous nerd with social awkwardness issues, Real Genius provides a relatable protagonist (awkward Mitch), hope for the future (handsome genius-prankster Chris, Mitch’s relationship with Jordan), and roadmap for mentally healthy living (fight the man – non-violently, pick a field that fascinates & challenges you, don’t be a dick, and preserve your sense of humor at all costs). Plus, it’s funny in an offhand, not-even-trying way that recent films seem to have lost track of.

Mitch: You know, um, something strange happened to me this morning…
Chris Knight: Was it a dream where you see yourself standing in sort of sun-god robes on a pyramid with a thousand naked women screaming and throwing little pickles at you?
Mitch: No…
Chris Knight: Why am I the only one who has that dream?

I have heard the complaints about George Lucas and Transformers and GI Joe and all the talk about “raping my childhood” and not taken it particularly seriously until now. Now, they’ve finally come for my childhood, I guess. Seriously, remake The Breakfast Club or House Party or whatever, even make a stupid sequel but leave Real Genius alone. Bastards.

DSCF1301, originally uploaded by LRose17.

…including adding extra wrist support when generating orange rind.

The Plagiarists make a LOT of magic happen…
from play about shipwreck, to generating berry cobbler.

Many facets. One Company.

In some ways, I’m tempted to say:

 ”Too soon, underwear models, TOO SOON.”

Somehow I’m not sure Giracault could have ever known…

THEY RAN OFF WITH THE MONEY
AND LEFT US WITH THE ROPE

DSCF1114, originally uploaded by LRose17.

This is Paul.

Paul is one of the newest members of The Plagiarists and Technical Director on THE WRECK OF THE MEDUSA. We love Paul. We love his writing, we love his style, we love the guy he is. You know another reason we love Paul? Because he can be the driving force in making something from nothing but plans and designs.

Tools.

Tools and Plans.

Taking a break to come up with a plan of attack.

See Paul delegate to people that help him.

See Paul come up with ways to make things work.

See Paul Rule. Go Paul Go.

THE WRECK of the MEDUSA opens April 8th!
March is almost over and that is WEIRD, but that means April is just around the corner…

Check out photos from the Saturday, March 20th run of the show here! Do it!

As with all journeys, there comes that fork in the road, not a turning point, but a marker that indicates the next phase in the journey. There is still much to accomplish, and plenty of enthusiasm to make sure that it does. There is a sense of trepidation that accompanies what’s working now, and what has yet to work.  The mechanics of the show are being introduced to the performances and there is a level of trust that is being made with elements that, for now, are closer to the horizon as well but need attention nonetheless. Some things are becoming routine and others are still foreign, but we all are moving forward, little by little, line by line, prop by prop, with the temperance that the next port of call is where we will need to be too. This is the best part of rehearsal for me because it the time when rhythms and patterns begin to form and what was preconceived before the journey is either embraced or reformulated. We might feel frustrated, or optimistic, or stagnant, or enthusiastic, or adrift, but for this length of the journey, we are right where we need to be.