Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
GTA IV
I've been a fan of the GTA series since the get go, so I'm really looking forward to playing this. I don't own a PS3 (working off a dinosaur PS2) so I'll just have to convince Iano MeNoFemBo to buy the game for his console and then basically, move in.
Has anyone bought / played it yet?
Official site
Man stabbed while waiting to buy GTA IV - London Times
Is GTA the best game title ever? - Wired
some trailers:
Has anyone bought / played it yet?
Official site
Man stabbed while waiting to buy GTA IV - London Times
Is GTA the best game title ever? - Wired
some trailers:
Scarlett Johansson - 'Falling Down'
This isn't the official video, (that one is here) but I have to say, I love her version of this song.
Glasto!
The lineup is here (via The Guardian)
Also playing are Fight Like Apes. Go Apes! Hotpress has those details.
Monday, April 28, 2008
UnaRocks articles of the day
McCain and his money - Slate
Fired: the most powerful woman on Wall Street - New York Magazine
Dutch banning magic mushrooms - BBC
The top ten plays in the forthcoming Dublin Gay Theatre Festival - GCN
Watch Amnesty's new waterboarding 'advert' - Telgraph
The Countertraffickers: rescuing the victims of the global sex trade - New Yorker
Amy Poehler interview - Village Voice
Tom Ford ad banned: "scene evokes an offending and abusive act against women, which degrades the dignity of the person." - frillr
Jesus doesn't save: Carly Smithson gets the boot - Advocate
On Miley Cyrus - Vanity Fair
Al Franken means business - Atlantic Monthly
new Irish EP round-up - State
Fired: the most powerful woman on Wall Street - New York Magazine
Dutch banning magic mushrooms - BBC
The top ten plays in the forthcoming Dublin Gay Theatre Festival - GCN
Watch Amnesty's new waterboarding 'advert' - Telgraph
The Countertraffickers: rescuing the victims of the global sex trade - New Yorker
Amy Poehler interview - Village Voice
Tom Ford ad banned: "scene evokes an offending and abusive act against women, which degrades the dignity of the person." - frillr
Jesus doesn't save: Carly Smithson gets the boot - Advocate
On Miley Cyrus - Vanity Fair
Al Franken means business - Atlantic Monthly
new Irish EP round-up - State
Fight Like Apes to tour with We Are Scientists
After a jaunt around Britain with the Von Bondies earlier this year, FLApes will return from their recording outpost in Seattle (pictured) to spend a few more days on the road.Apart from their upcoming Club NME dates in the UK, the Apes will also share the stage with We Are Scientists on the Coventry, Preston and Leeds dates in June.
Rock.
The Apes on Other Voices:
Forward to the Past, Ladyfest, following one's Instinct...
I had SUCH a fun weekend in Cork. It began rather dodgily. Didn't get much sleep after Republic of Loose (great last gig in the Academy; danceoffs, anger, tunes, far too much vodka though) and was set a mission (by myself) early on Saturday morning to pick up Brian and Tainer Bang from a party in Clanbrassil Street to get the road on the show.
When I arrived, Tainer Bang was wearing cat face paint, so I knew it was going to be one of those weekends. Eventually we picked up Fionn, made it to Dun Laoghaire (Bert balloon in tow), got some wheels and hit the M50, crispy M&Ms and Emerald sweets agogo.
Over the course of the journey there were several very frightening Back To The Future happenings (freaky), which led us to believe that we had gone Forward to the Past and were now setting up various gags to confuse ourselves from the future. If you know what I mean. Seriously though, it was very random. At one point, a Delorean came out of this big cloud of dust towards us (not joking), and then at another point, Anthony randomly called me to say Back to the Future 2 was on TV.
We got down there and decided the atrium of the Clarion would be the perfect place to set Bert the balloon free (if he had not somewhat deflated. Shame.) Ragin and Rosie were in full Ladyfest mode, so we hit Eddie Rockets (had to find an American-style diner to continue the Forward to the Past plot) and then Cyprus Avenue.
Party Weirdo rocked. Best. Drummer. Ever. We Should Be Dead were actually very lively. Really enjoyed them. There was a really cool vibe, and loads of zines and stuff to pick up (I bought a revoluntionary women stencil book) and a good crowd. After that we went to a club called Instinct, where you couldn't see two feet in front of you because of all the dry ice. Probably for the best.
Yesterday was chill town. Went to see Step Up 2: The Streets (amazing) and then Zing @ Cyprus Avenue, and then began the long journey home, stopping only for chips. Wouldn't have minded staying down last night, but had to be up super early for the Tubridy Show this morning.
In conclusion, Ladyfest rocked. Am all about getting out of Dublin for weekends. Apart from this weekend though, which is going to rule.
(PS: all these photees are Fionn's - stolen from Facebook TM.)
When I arrived, Tainer Bang was wearing cat face paint, so I knew it was going to be one of those weekends. Eventually we picked up Fionn, made it to Dun Laoghaire (Bert balloon in tow), got some wheels and hit the M50, crispy M&Ms and Emerald sweets agogo.
Over the course of the journey there were several very frightening Back To The Future happenings (freaky), which led us to believe that we had gone Forward to the Past and were now setting up various gags to confuse ourselves from the future. If you know what I mean. Seriously though, it was very random. At one point, a Delorean came out of this big cloud of dust towards us (not joking), and then at another point, Anthony randomly called me to say Back to the Future 2 was on TV.
We got down there and decided the atrium of the Clarion would be the perfect place to set Bert the balloon free (if he had not somewhat deflated. Shame.) Ragin and Rosie were in full Ladyfest mode, so we hit Eddie Rockets (had to find an American-style diner to continue the Forward to the Past plot) and then Cyprus Avenue.
Party Weirdo rocked. Best. Drummer. Ever. We Should Be Dead were actually very lively. Really enjoyed them. There was a really cool vibe, and loads of zines and stuff to pick up (I bought a revoluntionary women stencil book) and a good crowd. After that we went to a club called Instinct, where you couldn't see two feet in front of you because of all the dry ice. Probably for the best.
Yesterday was chill town. Went to see Step Up 2: The Streets (amazing) and then Zing @ Cyprus Avenue, and then began the long journey home, stopping only for chips. Wouldn't have minded staying down last night, but had to be up super early for the Tubridy Show this morning.
In conclusion, Ladyfest rocked. Am all about getting out of Dublin for weekends. Apart from this weekend though, which is going to rule.
(PS: all these photees are Fionn's - stolen from Facebook TM.)
Friday, April 25, 2008
Loose Lady
I'm off to see Republic of Loose this evening for their last gig of the Loose's Academy residency, and then me and Tainer Bang are road trippin' it up (or down) to Cork for Ladyfest in the morning, where we shall meet up with Ragin Spice and Rose to tha E.If you're at the Fest of the Lady - say yo! I'll buy you a drink.
Whatever you do this weekend, have fun and play safe.
Whatever you do this weekend, have fun and play safe.
Rock
Una
x
Xpose, Fashion Evolution and the stigma of the 'launch band'
Last night, myself and YoCo went to TV3's Xpose party in Krystle (the programme was celebrating its first birthday and demonstrating a fine exhibit of art eating itself as the Xpose team were actually filming and reporting on the party as celebrity news, which no doubt will be broadcast on Xpose this evening.) We left after a drink because it was too jammers and also had both committed the unforgivable faux pas of not dressing in red as the dress code dictated.
After that, we went down to Fashion Evolution, a rather 'I'm-not-quite-sure-what-this-is' event, which combined a talk on ethical fashion (a lot about organic cotton according to those who paid attention), a guestlist full of fashionistas and some music.
It got me thinking about the concept of 'launch bands', as Dirty Epics were playing and as Lili recently mused, they have a habit of playing launches.
Playing launches is a tricky habit (Star Little Thing were also on the bill last night. They've played a couple of launches too, but this probably has more to do with their association with Thinkhouse PR who organise such events. Come to think of it, hi to Andrea and Matt who we bumped into last night.) A launch band needs the following thing; a cool factor, vaguely known (and by vaguely known, you need to be actually quite well known, as the audience you are playing to will generally be media-savy, but a little less knowledgeable on the grassroots music scene), and visually appealing. You need to get the crowd - and a launch crowd is generally a mishmash of magazine/music/feature journalists, PR people, liggers, socialites, models, promoters and 'media heads' - to think "this is a cool band. I'm cool because I'm at this launch listening to this cool band. This brand / event / product is cool because they have this cool band playing. I'm cool."
But where do you go from launch-ville? It is a bit of a Hotel California. Dirty Epics have played a lot of launches - in my opinion - because they ammassed a large amount of press attention in a short space of time, thanks to a pushy job done by their well connected managerial / PR machine. They have no doubt improved as a band (indeed, I complimented the lead singer last night when we were talking after their set about the performance of their rather catchy pop/rock number 'The Cure') from getting time playing live, but there's a huge chasm between entertaining liggers and entertaining real music fans.
Dirty Epics have found themselves in the position where they have had endless column inches (one female member of a popular Irish band told me it was a "fucking disgrace" that the Dirty Epics lead singer graced the cover of the Sunday Tribune magazine, saying that they had not proved themselves as a band, yet their image - and contacts - were irresistible to the mainstream media. Niall Stokes of Hotpress thinks they're great too, lauding the band to the extent that they featured on the cover of the Hotpress year book) yet an uncertain footing in the ACTUAL ('non-launch') music scene. Cue Laurel and Hardy head scratching: "what do we do now?"
"They're just a launch band, really," a music PR agency worker told me recently when we were talking about the band. And that person was not speaking with admiration that a new-ish band were getting the opportunity to play such illustrious gigs. No, that person was speaking with more than a hint of disdain.
Maybe they can get out of the launches and into the real scene. Maybe I'm over-thinking this whole issue. Maybe they will come out with great tunes that will win over a solid fanbase and not just more slots at fashion shows and product launches. Or maybe they've done things the wrong way round - gunning for press coverage without having their own product beefed up enough to withstand the attention at a credible level. Either way, it's an interesting sub-industry of fashionable bands. Personally, I wish them all the best.
Dirty Epics: 'The Cure'
After that, we went down to Fashion Evolution, a rather 'I'm-not-quite-sure-what-this-is' event, which combined a talk on ethical fashion (a lot about organic cotton according to those who paid attention), a guestlist full of fashionistas and some music.
It got me thinking about the concept of 'launch bands', as Dirty Epics were playing and as Lili recently mused, they have a habit of playing launches.
Playing launches is a tricky habit (Star Little Thing were also on the bill last night. They've played a couple of launches too, but this probably has more to do with their association with Thinkhouse PR who organise such events. Come to think of it, hi to Andrea and Matt who we bumped into last night.) A launch band needs the following thing; a cool factor, vaguely known (and by vaguely known, you need to be actually quite well known, as the audience you are playing to will generally be media-savy, but a little less knowledgeable on the grassroots music scene), and visually appealing. You need to get the crowd - and a launch crowd is generally a mishmash of magazine/music/feature journalists, PR people, liggers, socialites, models, promoters and 'media heads' - to think "this is a cool band. I'm cool because I'm at this launch listening to this cool band. This brand / event / product is cool because they have this cool band playing. I'm cool."
But where do you go from launch-ville? It is a bit of a Hotel California. Dirty Epics have played a lot of launches - in my opinion - because they ammassed a large amount of press attention in a short space of time, thanks to a pushy job done by their well connected managerial / PR machine. They have no doubt improved as a band (indeed, I complimented the lead singer last night when we were talking after their set about the performance of their rather catchy pop/rock number 'The Cure') from getting time playing live, but there's a huge chasm between entertaining liggers and entertaining real music fans.
Dirty Epics have found themselves in the position where they have had endless column inches (one female member of a popular Irish band told me it was a "fucking disgrace" that the Dirty Epics lead singer graced the cover of the Sunday Tribune magazine, saying that they had not proved themselves as a band, yet their image - and contacts - were irresistible to the mainstream media. Niall Stokes of Hotpress thinks they're great too, lauding the band to the extent that they featured on the cover of the Hotpress year book) yet an uncertain footing in the ACTUAL ('non-launch') music scene. Cue Laurel and Hardy head scratching: "what do we do now?"
"They're just a launch band, really," a music PR agency worker told me recently when we were talking about the band. And that person was not speaking with admiration that a new-ish band were getting the opportunity to play such illustrious gigs. No, that person was speaking with more than a hint of disdain.
Maybe they can get out of the launches and into the real scene. Maybe I'm over-thinking this whole issue. Maybe they will come out with great tunes that will win over a solid fanbase and not just more slots at fashion shows and product launches. Or maybe they've done things the wrong way round - gunning for press coverage without having their own product beefed up enough to withstand the attention at a credible level. Either way, it's an interesting sub-industry of fashionable bands. Personally, I wish them all the best.
Dirty Epics: 'The Cure'
Track o' the day: Ladyface - 'Crocodile Tears'
Probably one of my favourite Dublin transvestite electro-pop duos (well, like, top five anyway) LADYFACE has unleased another very danceable track called 'Crocodile Tears'. You can check it out on their Bebo page.
Ladyface: better than Neosupervital?
Ladyface: better than Neosupervital?
State's first 'Irish-y' cover
After luring us in with REM and Muse, Irish musician Gemma Hayes gets the shot. At least it's not Madonna. If I see one more Madonna magazine cover I'm going to... um, give out more about it?
New festival alert: DNA
The Chancer reveals MCD are planning a 'Digital Noise Art' festival for Dublin October.
Not to be confused with the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival and also, not to be confused with Analog.
Altogether now: *bleep*
Not to be confused with the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival and also, not to be confused with Analog.
Altogether now: *bleep*
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Dirty Dozen: Vol 88
1. LCD Soundsystem and MGMT - 'All My Children'
2. Black Kids - 'I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You' (The Twelves remix)
3. White Lies - 'Death'
4. Aeroplane - 'Whispers' (Hercules and Love Affair remix)
5. Glen Hansard - 'Everytime' (Britney cover)
half a dozen. Harlem Shakes - 'Sickos'
7. M.I.A. - '$20'
8. The National - '11 Daughters of the Soho Riots'
9. Lil Wayne - 'Ride For My Niggas (Sky's The Limit)'
10. Regina Spektor - 'Hotel'
11. Sammy Bananas - 'All The Girls'
dozen. Baby Dee - 'Teeth Are The Only Bones That Show'
2. Black Kids - 'I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You' (The Twelves remix)
3. White Lies - 'Death'
4. Aeroplane - 'Whispers' (Hercules and Love Affair remix)
5. Glen Hansard - 'Everytime' (Britney cover)
half a dozen. Harlem Shakes - 'Sickos'
7. M.I.A. - '$20'
8. The National - '11 Daughters of the Soho Riots'
9. Lil Wayne - 'Ride For My Niggas (Sky's The Limit)'
10. Regina Spektor - 'Hotel'
11. Sammy Bananas - 'All The Girls'
dozen. Baby Dee - 'Teeth Are The Only Bones That Show'
Edel hangs up her (radio) mic
It's Edel Coffey's last show on Phantom tomorrow. Crysies. Edel has always entertained me mucho with Access All Areas - and played my requests when I sent her semi-abusive txt messages. So thanks for the music Edel!
You rock.
Image She's A Killer
Check out this month's Image magazine for some photees from the Angel She's A Killer launch party. Rock! There's also some stuff on Dublin Streets, a blog that truly rocks.
Monkey videos from Malaysia
Monkey fight! I get freaked out when some angry monkeys get too close for comfort in the Batu caves:
Monkey News! Tiger delivers a news report on the behaviour of monkeys in the Batu caves (and I forget how to zoom out):
Monkey News! Tiger delivers a news report on the behaviour of monkeys in the Batu caves (and I forget how to zoom out):
new Stagger Lee demos
Check out 'Stagger Stomp' and 'Scarlet Fever' from one of the most awesome Irish bands around on their MySpace.
Stagger Lee play Crawdaddy (POGO live / Psychotic Reaction) this Saturday.
Stagger Lee play Crawdaddy (POGO live / Psychotic Reaction) this Saturday.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
IMRO Best Of Tour Showcase
This is on Friday @ the Village, the first band are hitting the stage at 8pm.
Playing on the night are Halves, Hybrasil, Grand Pocket Orchestra, New Amusement, The Brothers Movement, Cashier No 9 and The Kinetiks, which is a pretty great line-up.
If anyone wants tickets to the gig, just mail me at jacksgraff@hotmail.com, I've got a bunch of double passes spare.
(Kinetiks pic by Lili.)
Tegan and Sara remix
Check out this remix of Tegan and Sara's 'Back In Your Head' by Tyler Fedchuk's 1/2Alive.
J-Wolf says: "1/2Alive is made up of djs Tyler, My!Gay!Husband! and Tony X and they host a madness dance party in Vancouver I once was lucky enuf to attend."
Ze original:
J-Wolf says: "1/2Alive is made up of djs Tyler, My!Gay!Husband! and Tony X and they host a madness dance party in Vancouver I once was lucky enuf to attend."
Ze original:
Joyrider luvs Bebo
As Jazz Biscuit points out, if you are expecting a judge to go easy on you for killing two people while joyriding, then you probably shouldn't act like a dick on your Bebo page as the BBC is reporting.
Crystal Castles containing sweat, broken shoes, vodka, and so on
So, Crystal Castles last night.
I went for pints with Tribune heads after work in Diceys and then went to Andrew's Lane with Mackers. There were a million (maybe less) hip kids hanging out at the gig. I felt old. But their clothes and haircuts were pretty cool, in fairness.
Andrew's Lane Theatre (or 'ALT') is a pretty cool venue. It's simple as; a dimly lit room half the size of the old Temple Bar Music Centre room (graffitied by Maser), a bar at the back, toilets upstairs and a smoking on the kerb scenario. Great location though, and brilliant to see that a performance space in the centre of town is being kept a performance space and not turned into apartments.
So the gig itself was quite like their last one in Kennedy's (but longer and on a bigger stage), I was up the front for all of it with Mackers, jumping and sweating buckets. I really enjoyed it, even if the sound was a bit muddy and it was sometimes hard to decipher what song was actually going on. I don't know how it went down down the back because the room is quite flat and I'm not sure what the views are like elsewhere other than being squished up against the stage. 'Alice Practice' got the biggest cheer.
Anyway, it was fun, self-aware, and very, very sweaty. The sole was also ripped from my shoe (my cool pointy silver shoes I bought in Malaysia, crysies) such was the energy of the jumping, dancing and stamping: Dansies took a photee of it, which hopefully I can steal from him and display here.
Was anyone else there? What did you think?
I went for pints with Tribune heads after work in Diceys and then went to Andrew's Lane with Mackers. There were a million (maybe less) hip kids hanging out at the gig. I felt old. But their clothes and haircuts were pretty cool, in fairness.
Andrew's Lane Theatre (or 'ALT') is a pretty cool venue. It's simple as; a dimly lit room half the size of the old Temple Bar Music Centre room (graffitied by Maser), a bar at the back, toilets upstairs and a smoking on the kerb scenario. Great location though, and brilliant to see that a performance space in the centre of town is being kept a performance space and not turned into apartments.
So the gig itself was quite like their last one in Kennedy's (but longer and on a bigger stage), I was up the front for all of it with Mackers, jumping and sweating buckets. I really enjoyed it, even if the sound was a bit muddy and it was sometimes hard to decipher what song was actually going on. I don't know how it went down down the back because the room is quite flat and I'm not sure what the views are like elsewhere other than being squished up against the stage. 'Alice Practice' got the biggest cheer.
Anyway, it was fun, self-aware, and very, very sweaty. The sole was also ripped from my shoe (my cool pointy silver shoes I bought in Malaysia, crysies) such was the energy of the jumping, dancing and stamping: Dansies took a photee of it, which hopefully I can steal from him and display here.
Was anyone else there? What did you think?
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Am I late to the party...?
I have been away, but I didn't realise Panti was hosting a This Is Pop Baby tent at the Electric Picnic. Funsies!
There's nothing on the main stage yet though.
There's nothing on the main stage yet though.
Crystal Castles tonight, yay
Yes, yes, there are a million bazillion gigs on these days. It. Is. Crazy. What can you say? Over the next few days, I plan to go to CC tonight, New Amusement @ Anseo on Thursday, Republic of Loose @ the Academy on Friday, Ladyfest in Cork at the weekend, Gemma Hayes at Tripod next Tuesday, Ain @ Whelan's next Thursday, The Hacker @ Spy next Friday and so on and so forth.Maybe the most, I'm looking forward to this gig tonight. I'm also looking forward to checking out Andrew's Lane Theatre as a venue for this kind of shindig. Don't know how that will go. I actually had a dream about the gig last night. It was in a tiny shed and there were maybe seven people sitting on the floor and Crystal Castles performed with no mics or instruments or anything and I met these two girls who had travelled to China to see the support band 'Fonz' and missed them. I don't think 'Fonz' is a real band. Actually, who is supporting tonight anyway?
Abortion Girl: Is this art?
Saw this on Perez. It reminds me of one of the plots in Joe Stretch's new novel 'Friction', where two characters in an attempt to find 'new sex' end up staging multiple abortions.
Here is Aliza Shvarts in her own words:
"For the past year, I performed repeated self-induced miscarriages. I created a group of fabricators from volunteers who submitted to periodic STD screenings and agreed to their complete and permanent anonymity. From the 9th to the 15th day of my menstrual cycle, the fabricators would provide me with sperm samples, which I used to privately self-inseminate. Using a needleless syringe, I would inject the sperm near my cervix within 30 minutes of its collection, so as to insure the possibility of fertilization. On the 28th day of my cycle, I would ingest an abortifacient, after which I would experience cramps and heavy bleeding.
"To protect myself and others, only I know the number of fabricators who participated, the frequency and accuracy with which I inseminated and the specific abortifacient I used. Because of these measures of privacy, the piece exists only in its telling. This telling can take textual, visual, spatial, temporal and performative forms — copies of copies of which there is no original.
"This piece — in its textual and sculptural forms — is meant to call into question the relationship between form and function as they converge on the body. The artwork exists as the verbal narrative you see above, as an installation that will take place in Green Hall, as a time-based performance, as a independent concept, as a myth and as a public discourse.
"It creates an ambiguity that isolates the locus of ontology to an act of readership. An intentional ambiguity pervades both the act and the objects I produced in relation to it. The performance exists only as I chose to represent it. For me, the most poignant aspect of this representation — the part most meaningful in terms of its political agenda (and, incidentally, the aspect that has not been discussed thus far) — is the impossibility of accurately identifying the resulting blood. Because the miscarriages coincide with the expected date of menstruation (the 28th day of my cycle), it remains ambiguous whether the there was ever a fertilized ovum or not. The reality of the pregnancy, both for myself and for the audience, is a matter of reading.
"This ambivalence makes obvious how the act of identification or naming — the act of ascribing a word to something physical — is at its heart an ideological act, an act that literally has the power to construct bodies. In a sense, the act of conception occurs when the viewer assigns the term “miscarriage” or “period” to that blood.
"In some sense, neither term is exactly accurate or inaccurate; the ambiguity is not merely a matter of context, but is embodied in the physicality of the object. This central ambiguity defies a clear definition of the act. The reality of miscarriage is very much a linguistic and political reality, an act of reading constructed by an act of naming — an authorial act.
"It is the intention of this piece to destabilize the locus of that authorial act, and in doing so, reclaim it from the heteronormative structures that seek to naturalize it.
"As an intervention into our normative understanding of “the real” and its accompanying politics of convention, this performance piece has numerous conceptual goals. The first is to assert that often, normative understandings of biological function are a mythology imposed on form. It is this mythology that creates the sexist, racist, ableist, nationalist and homophobic perspective, distinguishing what body parts are “meant” to do from their physical capability. The myth that a certain set of functions are “natural” (while all the other potential functions are “unnatural”) undermines that sense of capability, confining lifestyle choices to the bounds of normatively defined narratives.
"Just as it is a myth that women are “meant” to be feminine and men masculine, that penises and vaginas are “meant” for penetrative heterosexual sex (or that mouths, anuses, breasts, feet or leather, silicone, vinyl, rubber, or metal implements are not “meant” for sex at all), it is a myth that ovaries and a uterus are “meant” to birth a child.
"When considering my own bodily form, I recognize its potential as extending beyond its ability to participate in a normative function. While my organs are capable of engaging with the narrative of reproduction — the time-based linkage of discrete events from conception to birth — the realm of capability extends beyond the bounds of that specific narrative chain. These organs can do other things, can have other purposes, and it is the prerogative of every individual to acknowledge and explore this wide realm of capability."
Yale News: Abortion as a medium for art
Here is Aliza Shvarts in her own words:
"For the past year, I performed repeated self-induced miscarriages. I created a group of fabricators from volunteers who submitted to periodic STD screenings and agreed to their complete and permanent anonymity. From the 9th to the 15th day of my menstrual cycle, the fabricators would provide me with sperm samples, which I used to privately self-inseminate. Using a needleless syringe, I would inject the sperm near my cervix within 30 minutes of its collection, so as to insure the possibility of fertilization. On the 28th day of my cycle, I would ingest an abortifacient, after which I would experience cramps and heavy bleeding.
"To protect myself and others, only I know the number of fabricators who participated, the frequency and accuracy with which I inseminated and the specific abortifacient I used. Because of these measures of privacy, the piece exists only in its telling. This telling can take textual, visual, spatial, temporal and performative forms — copies of copies of which there is no original.
"This piece — in its textual and sculptural forms — is meant to call into question the relationship between form and function as they converge on the body. The artwork exists as the verbal narrative you see above, as an installation that will take place in Green Hall, as a time-based performance, as a independent concept, as a myth and as a public discourse.
"It creates an ambiguity that isolates the locus of ontology to an act of readership. An intentional ambiguity pervades both the act and the objects I produced in relation to it. The performance exists only as I chose to represent it. For me, the most poignant aspect of this representation — the part most meaningful in terms of its political agenda (and, incidentally, the aspect that has not been discussed thus far) — is the impossibility of accurately identifying the resulting blood. Because the miscarriages coincide with the expected date of menstruation (the 28th day of my cycle), it remains ambiguous whether the there was ever a fertilized ovum or not. The reality of the pregnancy, both for myself and for the audience, is a matter of reading.
"This ambivalence makes obvious how the act of identification or naming — the act of ascribing a word to something physical — is at its heart an ideological act, an act that literally has the power to construct bodies. In a sense, the act of conception occurs when the viewer assigns the term “miscarriage” or “period” to that blood.
"In some sense, neither term is exactly accurate or inaccurate; the ambiguity is not merely a matter of context, but is embodied in the physicality of the object. This central ambiguity defies a clear definition of the act. The reality of miscarriage is very much a linguistic and political reality, an act of reading constructed by an act of naming — an authorial act.
"It is the intention of this piece to destabilize the locus of that authorial act, and in doing so, reclaim it from the heteronormative structures that seek to naturalize it.
"As an intervention into our normative understanding of “the real” and its accompanying politics of convention, this performance piece has numerous conceptual goals. The first is to assert that often, normative understandings of biological function are a mythology imposed on form. It is this mythology that creates the sexist, racist, ableist, nationalist and homophobic perspective, distinguishing what body parts are “meant” to do from their physical capability. The myth that a certain set of functions are “natural” (while all the other potential functions are “unnatural”) undermines that sense of capability, confining lifestyle choices to the bounds of normatively defined narratives.
"Just as it is a myth that women are “meant” to be feminine and men masculine, that penises and vaginas are “meant” for penetrative heterosexual sex (or that mouths, anuses, breasts, feet or leather, silicone, vinyl, rubber, or metal implements are not “meant” for sex at all), it is a myth that ovaries and a uterus are “meant” to birth a child.
"When considering my own bodily form, I recognize its potential as extending beyond its ability to participate in a normative function. While my organs are capable of engaging with the narrative of reproduction — the time-based linkage of discrete events from conception to birth — the realm of capability extends beyond the bounds of that specific narrative chain. These organs can do other things, can have other purposes, and it is the prerogative of every individual to acknowledge and explore this wide realm of capability."
Yale News: Abortion as a medium for art
Monday, April 21, 2008
a brace of MySpace wanderings
Lily Allen has a couple of new tunes on her page. 'I Don't Know' is the generic moaning about fame after your first album buzz, but it's not bad. Completely different to her previous sound though. She sounds fragile, not ballsy.Codes are back from recording in Wales and have posted a blog full of stories about Charlotte Church, frog suits and other things.
um, that's it!
question of the day
Can one really attend a vodka launch at the Shelbourne hosted by a Russian billionaire if one is wearing dirty Converse runners, jeans and a trilby that smells faintly of beer?
*update*
this is what happens when I txt Tiger my reservations about attending such an event while dressed scruffily and that I may need to go home and change:
Tiger: fuck it. if there's any hassle getting in we'll just leave. it's only a launch party.
Me: did you know it's being hosted by a russian billionaire?
Tiger: YOU'RE a russian billionaire.
Me: your ma is a russian billionaire.
Tiger: and that's how we're getting in.
Me: Da
Tiger: Nyet
*update*
this is what happens when I txt Tiger my reservations about attending such an event while dressed scruffily and that I may need to go home and change:
Tiger: fuck it. if there's any hassle getting in we'll just leave. it's only a launch party.
Me: did you know it's being hosted by a russian billionaire?
Tiger: YOU'RE a russian billionaire.
Me: your ma is a russian billionaire.
Tiger: and that's how we're getting in.
Me: Da
Tiger: Nyet
Heathrow/Deathrow
Managed to get out of London eventually.
I'm beginning to think that Heathrow employees must be more pissed off about the continuing fiasco at that airport than the customers themselves. Imagining working at Heathrow? You'd have to lie about your job to taxi drivers anyway for sure, just to prevent being drawn into a conversation about how shit your place of work is.
I wasn't flying out from terminal 5, but even terminal 1 was all fucked up. There was a stand off between airport security and a bunch of people who refused to go some crazy roundabout way for their flight connection "what kind of sense does that make?" one of them screamed before the poor battered security dude just snapped "none" followed by, "listen, I'd knock this whole fucking place down so you could get through, only I'd get told off then, wouldn't I?" The travellers retreated, and the security dude cast a nervous glance towards his superior who was traipsing up one of the several unneccessary ramped corridors that sigh under Heathrow's low ceilings, turning the sprawling mess of an airport into a chronically shite labyrinth of suspended doom.
Anyway, I got through, and then while on the plane, eating my 49th Kinder bar and reading the Guardian, the pilot made a bit of a 'I'm-pissed-off-but-I-have-to-be-professional-so-I'm-going-to-adopt-a-sarcastic-tone-instead' announcement: "hello, everyone. They're very good here at Heathrow. They've closed one of the departing runways to allow planes to land on it instead. So we'll be another thirty minutes on the ground."
So after all that, even the chewing gum-stained, cabbage-smelling Dublin airport nearly feels positively palatial. Nearly.
Yes, travelling through Heathrow sucks. But imagine working there? Shudder.
I'm beginning to think that Heathrow employees must be more pissed off about the continuing fiasco at that airport than the customers themselves. Imagining working at Heathrow? You'd have to lie about your job to taxi drivers anyway for sure, just to prevent being drawn into a conversation about how shit your place of work is.
I wasn't flying out from terminal 5, but even terminal 1 was all fucked up. There was a stand off between airport security and a bunch of people who refused to go some crazy roundabout way for their flight connection "what kind of sense does that make?" one of them screamed before the poor battered security dude just snapped "none" followed by, "listen, I'd knock this whole fucking place down so you could get through, only I'd get told off then, wouldn't I?" The travellers retreated, and the security dude cast a nervous glance towards his superior who was traipsing up one of the several unneccessary ramped corridors that sigh under Heathrow's low ceilings, turning the sprawling mess of an airport into a chronically shite labyrinth of suspended doom.
Anyway, I got through, and then while on the plane, eating my 49th Kinder bar and reading the Guardian, the pilot made a bit of a 'I'm-pissed-off-but-I-have-to-be-professional-so-I'm-going-to-adopt-a-sarcastic-tone-instead' announcement: "hello, everyone. They're very good here at Heathrow. They've closed one of the departing runways to allow planes to land on it instead. So we'll be another thirty minutes on the ground."
So after all that, even the chewing gum-stained, cabbage-smelling Dublin airport nearly feels positively palatial. Nearly.
Yes, travelling through Heathrow sucks. But imagine working there? Shudder.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Je returne
Back from France. Twas loads of fun; treehouses, wine, good food, nice chilled time.
In London now. Back in Dubtown tomorrow.*
Just ate my weight in chicken.
Rock.
*or maybe not. Forgot to book a flight home. Oopsies.
In London now. Back in Dubtown tomorrow.*
Just ate my weight in chicken.
Rock.
*or maybe not. Forgot to book a flight home. Oopsies.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Londing ----> France
Went to Club Motherfucker on Saturday night. It was fun stuff; a new-rave/screamo band, beers, lots of nice suited indie kids.
Then had some Turkish food. I'm addicted to this one place in Dalston that does the best chicken shish. EVER. So yumsies.
Watched Shortbus last night for the millionth time after listening to the United match on the radio. (Sorry Anthony.)
Off to Nice now to stay in this treehouse.
Byesies!
Then had some Turkish food. I'm addicted to this one place in Dalston that does the best chicken shish. EVER. So yumsies.
Watched Shortbus last night for the millionth time after listening to the United match on the radio. (Sorry Anthony.)
Off to Nice now to stay in this treehouse.
Byesies!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Justice get their fashion-label on.
J Wolf has the skinny. What next? Daft Punk motorbike helmets? Klaxons limited edition neck ties? A Place To Bury Strangers coffins? Holy Fuck dildos? Hot Chip Specsavers range? Karen Cheeri-Os?
Bored, now.
Bored, now.
bassist leaves CSS
"CSS announce today that bass player Ira Trevisan has left the group for personal reasons. CSS drummer Adriano will take over the bass duties, and live the band will work with a session drummer (a friend of the band) from now on. The band said "It will be feroche!"
"Talking about her departure from the band Ira said "I decided to move forward and dedicate more of my time to fashion and other projects. Just a big change of priorities, as I will never stop playing music. I am also a bit worried about climate change. People should care more and do something about it. I decided to fly less. CSS will always be in my heart. They said goodbye to their bass player, but they won a new life time fan. In health and sickness, in happiness and so forth. Blah blah blah, so help us God."
"CSS' second album will be released in the UK in July. They are back in the UK in May for a string of UK dates on the MTV Spanking New Music tour. More news on both the album and upcoming live dates to be announced soon."
Friday, April 11, 2008
Happy Weekend
I'm off to London town tonight and France next week, so blogging might be patchy.
Have a good weekend.
Rock.
Have a good weekend.
Rock.
new venue alert
'Donnybrook Stadium'? I presume this is Wesley, jes? Where the Leinster Leinsters play? There were no gigs there before its redevelopment, were there?Anyway, Michael Buble (pictured) is playing a gig there on July 26th.
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