anti-factory

5:48pm: Leavin' on a jetplane!
I'm leaving tomorrow night for almost three weeks for this awesome thing... Ten other artist friends of mine are going out, too, so we're a-gonna have a raucously good time in the Philippines all together. Helllloooooo Third World, place of my birth!



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Galleon Trade is a series of international arts exchange projects, focusing on the Philippines, Mexico, and California. Taking the historic Acapulco-Manila galleon route as its metaphor of origin, these exhibitions seek to create new routes of cultural exchange along old routes of commerce and trade.

"GALLEON TRADE"
July 24 to August 16, 2007
An international exhibition spread over three galleries in Metro Manila, Philippines
organized by Jenifer Wofford

Featuring Works by Mike Arcega, Eliza O. Barrios, Enrique Chagoya, Jaime Cortez, Reanne Estrada, Richard Godinez, Julio Cesar Morales, Gina Osterloh, Johanna Poethig, Stephanie Syjuco, Megan Wilson, and Jenifer Wofford

for details: http://www.galleontrade.org


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Gallery Openings:
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July 24: opening at Mag:net Cafe High Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
July 26: opening at Green Papaya Art Projects, Quezon City
July 28: opening at Gallery Katipunan, Quezon City


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Related Events:
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July 25: 3-6pm
Panel discussion
Pontifical University of Santo Tomas, Espana, Manila

Filipino American Writers & Scholars Lecture Series,
The event will be additionally sponsored by the UST VARSITARIAN.
Roundtable speakers: Jenifer Wofford, Galleon Trade curator; Lucy Burns, scholar-participant, UCLA; May Datuin, scholar-participant, UP-Diliman; Megan Wilson, artist-participant; Jaime Cortez, artist-participant; additional participant TBA.


July 27: 4:30-6:30pm
KRITIKA KULTURA Lecture Series. Reception to follow.
Ateneo De Manila University

Roundtable speakers: Jenifer Wofford, Galleon Trade curator; Eric Reyes, scholar-participant; Norberto Roldan, curator, Green Papaya Arts Projects; Johanna Poethig, artist-participant; Stephanie Syjuco, artist-participant


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Background:
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Galleon Trade is a series of international arts exchange projects, focusing on the Philippines, Mexico, and California. Taking the historic Acapulco-Manila galleon route as its metaphor of origin, these exhibitions seek to create new routes of cultural exchange along old routes of commerce and trade.

Galleon Trade should not be seen as a single exhibition: it is entirely about reciprocity and gathering momentum, to create a road map that will make future arts alliances and exchanges like this much easier. Starting in Manila, but continuing to California, Mexico and beyond, Galleon Trade will facilitate further discussions between artists, curators, gallerists and scholars from all 3 places to explore strategies for sustainable exchange.

Galleon Trade I comes to the Mag:net Galleries in Metro Manila, Philippines, from July 24 to August 16 2007. The Luggage Store Gallery will host Galleon Trade II for 2008, which will bring Mexican and Filipino artists to California. Galleon Trade III sails for Mexico for in 2008/2009.

11:03pm: ==> even more items in store!
i'm moving 'em out! a few new hoodies, and some great tops and dresses for the summer :). I'll be leaving town next Tuesday for a few weeks and really want to clear out as much inventory as possible, so i'm posting things online like a mad woman... whew!

http://www.anti-factory.com

8:20pm: "Altered States" opens Thurs 7/12 at Kala Art Institute!
Yep, I'm a bit slow to tell everyone, but tomorrow night (Thurs) I'm having an opening with Packard Jennings and Scott Kildall as part of our residency program at Kala Art Institute in Berkeley. "Altered States" uses video, animation, and real and virtual space to create alternative visions of the world as we know it...

Smash reality--let's party!

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"ALTERED STATES"
Packard Jennings, Scott Kildall, and Stephanie Syjuco

July 12 - August 18, 2007
Opening Reception: Thursday, July 12, 6-8pm

Kala Art Institute
1060 Heinz Ave (at San Pablo)
Berkeley, CA 94710
http://www.kala.org


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The Kala Gallery is proud to present the second of our three-part exhibition series, Residency Projects, featuring work by Packard Jennings, Scott Kildall and Stephanie Syjuco.

Kala Fellowships are awarded annually to eight innovative artists working in installation, video, digital media, printmaking, and book arts. Fellowship artists are selected from a competitive field of applicants from the United States, South America, Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia. Recipient artists receive a financial award and up to six-months residency at Kala’s studio facility followed by an exhibition of their new work.

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artist websites:
http://www.stephaniesyjuco.com
http://www.kildall.com
http://centennialsociety.com/durham.html

3:19pm: "Forged Realities" on the radio!
Just got word from the curator of the exhibition "Forged Realities" that I'm a part of in Beijing was featured on the radio program Pacific Time and aired on Thursday! Awesome! I think it's carried by NPR affilliates and is on KQED in the Bay Area. Check out the archived broadcast on the website and note that I am prominently at the front of the description, along with the Counterfeit Crochet Handbag Project! Yippeeeee! And if you need visuals, this is what they were talking about:




I guess I've used up three minutes of my fame, so I have only 12 left. Gotta use 'em wisely :) lol

2:27pm: I love zombie movies!
I am such a sucker for zombie movies, especially the crop of new ones that have come out in the last ten years: "Dawn of the Dead" (2005), "28 Days Later" (2004), "Shaun of the Dead," etc. etc. etc. I mean, who wouldn't be thrilled to see a bunch of humans holed up in a shopping mall fending off hordes of zombies? It's become common to start deconstructing them as societal metaphors and the latest movie "28 Weeks Later" has been receiving rave reviews, most notable in today's New York Times.

I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THIS MOVIE! I loved 28 Days Later and from the sound of it, the sequel will kick butt. Ohhhhhhh! i'm having a hard time just thinking about it...

5:08pm: NO MORE ANONYMOUS comments
Look, guys. I'm not going to allow any more anonymous comments on this blog or any others I have, for that matter. If any show up, they will be automatically deleted. People's senses of civility seem to unfortunately go out the window when they're shielded by some kind of "anonymous" curtain. I've had it. No more. Some jerk left a horrible comment about the highway crash I mentioned in my last post. It doesn't deserve to be left online.

Fair's fair, and this is fair warning.

3:17pm: why my commute will be more hellacious
This happened early this morning on a stretch of freeway I travel on regularly:



A big ole tanker truck carrying tons of gasoline overturned and exploded, melting two freeway sections and is going to cause the most ridiculous commuting backup here in the Bay Area. It basically connects the Bay Bridge to Oakland and the drive is already incredibly congested and silly considering the bridge is undergoing major construction.

The even crazier thing is that I was driving this exact stretch about three hours earlier coming back from having dinner with kurt's brother in oakland. I guess there are little things to be thankful for, at least.

Agh!

12:44pm: Otto von Busch is RAD!
(cross-posted from my Blogger blog):



I posted a previous snippet months ago on the artist, activist, and fashion PhD candidate Otto von Busch, but only today stumbled on a fabulous interview article with him on the We Make Money Not Art website. I love his projects and in all disclosure I also have to say I'm taking part in a show he's organizing in Istanbul in the fall, which I feel extremely psyched and lucky about.

Here's to a true fashion hacker!

http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/009391.php

and also this awesome free PDF book he published, "Abstract Hacktivism," on activism, technology, and creative resistances: http://www.isk-gbg.org/99our68/AbstractHacktivism.pdf

2:28pm: FINALLY: Beijing photos!
agh, this took me forever to go through and after a week being back, they're all uploaded to my Flickr account. and even after culling, there's still several hundred of them. if ye are so inclined to wade thru them, check it:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49646846@N00/sets/72157600084208631/

I still haven't had a chance to put commentary on most of the photos yet--maybe in a few days? :)

otherwise, here's a short selection:

9:21pm: because i'm a dork...
...and i like to share dorky things.

first batch: from my friend Sarah who i went to Stanford with and we're always joking about how ridiculously over-the-top that experience was. documented wrong test answers from some type of high school, it looks like:









doh!

and exhibit B: fellow counterfeit crocheter Suzy just sent me photos of her handmade Chanel and YSL Mombasa bag....AMAZING! Does she rule, or does she rule?

10:19pm: Anti-Factory spring things!
Hey, I almost forgot: a few days ago I posted new Anti-Factory spring designs onto my Blogger blog! Only a few left but check out the new "Nekko" style. Sassy and graphic all together :)

10:49am: creative legal recourse?
so, an ex-student of mine emailed me all in a tizzy because she walked into an anthropologie store here in san francisco and saw a store display that is strikingly similar to artwork she's been making and showing around town. she's pretty distressed and is wondering if there's any legal recourse for her--she's an artist struggling to make ends meet and feels like it's terrible to see a large corporation cribbing her aesthetic and visual metaphors.

the question here is a big one: visuals are in the public domain in that each of us sees things we like and then consciously or unconsciously integrates them into our output or sensibilities. no one can copyright a style, you know? but then again it's pretty awful to see someone (or a large company, even worse) sort of ripping off your idea and turning it into a marketing ploy. and you get left behind because you were the little guy who couldn't get it together enough.

below is an image of her artwork--a video still, actually. she incorporates painting and video into projections that are time-based but makes still images and sculptures based on these images. one whole series was of floating islands:



and this is the photo she sent me of the anthropologie store display:




I mean, no one "owns" the idea of floating islands. And i can think of other artists who's work this reminds me of, but then again, it also seems like the store display designer could definitely have seen the artist's work and cribbed it. It's a bit hard to say.

Sadly, I don't think anything can be done about it. It reminds me of the time when Urban Outfitters contacted me to see if I would sell my Anti-Factory clothing through them in limited edition batches. The first thing that came to my mind was that they would take them, sell them in the stores, but also figure out a way to make very similar ones to incorporate into their next product lines to cut me, the middlewoman, out of the equation. But at least in that case they actually asked first, eh?

The whole Urban Outfitters/Johnny Cupcakes shenanigans from a few years back is another example, it seems....

10:27am: thank you thank you thank you!
cross-posted from the other anti-factory blog:



awesome image sent to my by my friend bob callaway (no, i did not make it!). from an art exhibition in Philly by artists Aryon Hostleton and Alison Macrina. Tres chic!

bob's awesome. he runs an artblog called art fever and is at almost all the art events you can think of. a true lover of the arts...

10:59am: don't ask...
don't ask me why i find this so amusing...

12:13pm: Three things! heads-up!
Hey all, despite the fact i'm moving slowly today with what appears to be an impending illness (ack!), THREE annoucements to make:

1. NEW anti-factory items are for sale at my anti-factory blog! check it out!





2. Artist Anna Von Mertens is speaking this Thursday as part of the Object Agents lecture series I curated at the California College of the Arts. Anna's work is amazingly conceptual and crafty--consisting of intricate hand-stitched textiles, they record historical battles and information in an attempt to grapple with narrative and personal involvement. Her color-field work is highly personal and at the same time references Bauhaus aesthetics. Check her website to see her different projects.





3. I'll be giving an artist talk this Wednesday along with Packard Jennings at the Kala Art Center in Berkeley. Packard and I both have artist residencies there and are in the midst of several projects. Press release and info below:



Kala’s Fellowship program includes a series of artists’ talks by our current Fellows. Over the next several months, each of the eight artists will give a brief presentation of their work and discuss their current residency projects at Kala. On Wednesday, March 14 at 7:00 pm. Kala will host the second in our 2007 series of gallery talks with presentations by Fellowship Artists Packard Jennings and Stephanie Syjuco.

Artist, activist and provocateur Packard Jennings works in a combination of print, video and sculpture to explore the political realities of global consumerism. Combining equal parts humor and cultural criticism, Packard creates ad hoc installations and subversive infiltrations of public and semi-public spaces. Packard’s work has recently been exhibited at Southern Exposure, Di Rosa Preserve and Catherine Clark Gallery in San Francisco plus the Analix Forever Gallery in Geneva, Switzerland. For a preview of Packard’s work, please see his website at: <http://www.centennialsociety.com>http://www.centennialsociety.com

The highly acclaimed work of Stephanie Syjuco ranges from sculpture installations and digital prints to video works. Her projects address issues of capitalism, globalization, black market and counterfeit products. Stephanie’s work has been exhibited internationally in addition to the Haines Gallery, SFMOMA and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in the Bay Area, and at the Whitney Museum, PS1 and the Drawing Center in New York. For a preview of Stephanie’s work, please see: <http://www.stephaniesyjuco.com>http://www.stephaniesyjuco.com

Please mark your calendar and plan to join us for an interesting evening with Packard and Stephanie on Wednesday, March 14 at 7:00 pm. This event is free-of-charge and open to the public, so invite a friend. Refreshments will be served.

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whew! long week!

7:00pm: kitchen shenanigans and PODLUCK!


Wednesday night a friend of Wendy's had a birthday party at her house and invited Fierce Antler to play. Needless to say, everyone was crammed into a ten-by-ten square foot kitchen and the countertops were packed with people, folks jammed up in the hallway and crowding the band. It was awesome and fun, truly...













Last night was "Pod Luck" at Mike's studio, where we all had a super bootlegger of a time raiding each other's itunes and ipods for music. With the right hacks, you can get EVERYTHING you want. I spend five hours harvesting from others and now I can honestly say that I have oodles more music than I think I could ever listen to. Just in time, as I pretty much exhausted my current collection and absolutely can't afford to spend money on new albums...ha! take that, you fucking awful music corporations!

9:34am: Renegade? To do or not to do...
(cross-posted from the main Anti-Factory blog)



Yo crafty folks! It's that time of the year again and Renegade Craft Fair has an open call for entries for their New York event...

I've never done a craft fair before and am seriously thinking about it. But then I have to wonder: what are the returns, exactly? I mean, I don't want to be crass about it, but is it monetarily worth it? Don't get me wrong, I know a lot of love is shared and the social networking is always a blast. But dudes, I live in CALIFORNIA. Which means a $300 plane ticket to fly to NYC, lug all my stuff there, rent (or share) a tent/canopy thing with someone, plus pay the booth fee ($200 total, or $100 if split with someone). After I expense all my meals and travel costs, I have to make BANK in order to have it either break even or turn a profit.

So to those who've sold/been/vended there before:

--do people buy items $50 and up at Renegade? My tops and sweaters run from $50 up to $90...is that too much?
--any of you travel from very far to do so?
--what are the plusses?
--what are the minusses?
--also, this year it's being held in a drained swimming pool? huh? it kind of looks scary...

Would love to hear!

xo

8:15pm: Do I know you?
Alas, this is a private blog, for friends only. If I know you (either in the internet land or in the real-life land), shoot me a message if you want to be a part of the action!

For Anti-Factory clothing-related news and blogging, please visit the official website and blog