As we begin 2012, take a moment to prepare to participate in democracy. Some have already begun to caucus and many of us will go to polling places in November. If you are a United States citizen, please make sure that your are registered to vote. The coming election will certainly be a important one.
HAIKU MEMO #3
Thankful to people…
artists, lawyers, mothers… who
fought so I could vote.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered: X O
On March 4, 2011, I presented “I Am A Man,” a series of twenty text panels by Hank Willis Thomas, as a “book of stamps.” I imagine them situated among the United States Postal Service Black Heritage Stamp Series featuring “notable Black American” stories. Current forty-four cent stamps in the Black Heritage series include a painting of Barbara Jordan and a stylized portrait Oscar Micheaux; both based on photographs. In 1999, a 33¢ stamp with a photograph of controversial political figure Malcolm X was released. The Willis Thomas text stamps convey collective narratives alongside the USPS portraits.
According to the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, a Cinderella Stamp “looks like a postage stamp, but this imaginary issue is without postal value.” During the 2008 Presidential campaign season, the Shepard Fairey stenciled image of then-Senator Barack Obama, bearing the logo of his Presidential campaign, held great cultural value. The United States Postal Service memorializes figures of the past. A portrait based on a photograph, this iconic blue, red, and white rendition of the Presidential candidate imagined Barack Obama as the history of the future.
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Signed, Sealed, Delivered, X O by M. Liz Andrews, Shepard Fairey, Associated Press, United States Postal Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.LetterToObama.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.LetterToObama.com.
the ashes give air | the air gives ashes
Tonight, I watched fireworks boom and burst over Times Square. I was blocks from this New York landmark at a birthday gathering when I saw the words blazed across the bar television screen three years ago tonight. As Angela Davis reminded us when she spoke in New York City on Halloween, this moment* meant much to many. It was about more than a man. That moment* was not so long ago.
CURATOR. STATEMENT.
Future:
One year from today, on November 4, 2012, LetterToObama will present Live From Chicago. It will mark the 4th anniversary of the historic* moment* of Barack Obama’s Presidential victory in 2008. This Election Event will be the third in a series of fo(u)r to take place over the term(s) of Obama’s Presidency as a part of the LetterToObama project.
Present:
On September 11, 2011, LetterToObama presented Live From New York. This was the second LetterToObama event and marked the Tenth Anniversary of the twin tower attacks. The words “the ashes give air, while the air gives us ashes,” were written and performed by George Emilio Sanchez on the 11th of September for this event. The video presented here is documentation of that day.
Past:
On Presidents’ Day, February 21, 2011, LetterToObama presented Live From D.C. This was the inaugural installment in the LetterToObama event series. These events provide a platform for “artistic citizenship.” Each artwork is presented as a “Letter” to the President. The idea is that art is a space and a medium to convey messages and engage democracy beyond ballots.
The ashes give air / The air gives ashes by M. Liz Andrews is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.LetterToObama.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.LetterToObama.com.
November 4, 2008
Three years ago today, the world was tuned in as we waited….
Liberty, of thee I sing…
This issue of the Fo(u)r 4 features images of two performance pieces: Lady Liberty and Twin Towers. Patricia Faolli and Raquel Mavecq embodied the collapse of the iconic Towers on the tenth anniversary, September 11, 2011. Ladies Katrina De Wees and Lily Mengesha stood up as moving, breathing statues of (the concept of) Liberty at the same event, LetterToObama: Live From New York.
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TWIN TOWERS: PATRICIA FAOLLI & RAQUEL MAVECQ
LADY LIBERTY: KATRINA DE WEES & LILY MENGESHA
Photos by JENNY EOM
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CURATOR. STATEMENT.
Performance offers opportunities for people to sculpt bodies into artistic statements. These 44 photographs document the living memorials these four women collaboratively created of themselves.
- M. Liz Andrews
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS
KATRINA DE WEES believes the process of generating performance/art is an intrinsic form of liberation, personal spiritual or otherwise. She likes to move, think, write and travel between spaces where she can feel the her/(his)tories in the walls.
PATRICIA FAOLLI é um pequeno animal selvagem from the Concrete Jungles of Brasil. She believes that creation of art comes with experimenting with the Tempo-Espaço surrounding us. She is excited by living in Nova Iorque and ringing conflito, chaos, and questionamento to its inhabitants.
RAQUEL MAVECQ prefers the noise. In São Paulo, Brazil, she was born with her eyes open under a clear sky winter day. She sees art making as a statement for existence and believes that late night local trains can tell secrets. Motion to move and be moved.
LILY MENGESHA is a neo(n)-native and a post-post-colonial tourist. When she’s not spending her time crafting 5-year-olds into revolutionaries, she fills the rest with sequin portraits and words in motion.
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Liberty of thee I sing… by M. Liz Andrews, Jenny Eom, Katrina De Wees, Patricia Faolli, Raquel Macecq, Lily Mengesha is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.LetterToObama.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.LetterToObama.com.
Fresh
In this issue of the Fo(u)r 4, Ricardo Gamboa uses parody and satire to directly confront specific policies of the administration. His video demonstrates ways in which art can provide an alternate space for democracy.
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THE FRESH PRINCE OF D.C.
RICARDO GAMBOA
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ARTIST. STATEMENT.
You are here. At an intersection. An intersection of people with a stage. It is sacred. We often see politicians or priests take stages. The idea is that they have something to say and a certain implied authority or credibility to which we should listen. You are here. A stage. An opportunity to discuss how we can be here — in this world — together and better.
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ABOUT THE ARTIST
RICARDO GAMBOA is a prolific theatre and visual artist in his native Chicago. An award-winning actor, director, poet, playwright, and visual artist, Gamboa believes art and media are powerful avenues for social change and dialogue. Gamboa’s talents extend beyond his own stage work as one of the Chicago’s most effective, innovative, and reputed youth and young adult theatre educators.
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04 September 2011 by M. Liz Andrews, Ricardo Gamboa is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.LetterToObama.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.LetterToObama.com.
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Sunshine and Rain
On the 50th birthday of President Obama, LetterToObama asks the viewer to remember there is beauty to be found in odd places and our most revered images may be marred. The familiar flag and sky are transformed by artists Amin Swessi and Lily from common images through unique lenses.
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BUCKSHOT AMERICA
AMIN SWESSI
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ARTIST. STATEMENT.
One of a three-part series entitled “I’m a real American,” Buckshot illustrates struggles to make one’s own path and a withdrawal from convention and the mainstream. Using bold colors and deteriorating imagery, it engages the right to bear arms, Corporate America and the honor this nation associates with the military.
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UNTITLED
LILY
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ARTIST. STATEMENT.
It means to be happy. Have a nice day.
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS
AMIN SWESSI:
A classically trained Artist – Amin Swessi explores pop culture and media infiltration through seductive colors and bold iconic imagery; creating compositions that attract an over simulated audience.
www.aminswessi.com
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LILY: (From her mother:) Lily is a mixed media artist; however, she never tires of exploring all the possibilities that the world of art has to offer her. She is an avid collector of all things fancy or interesting; including rocks, feathers, bones and things that sparkle. She is passionate about protecting her planet and will go to great lengths to conserve, recycle, reduce and reuse. Above all things Lily loves to create. She spends much of her free time drawing, painting, cutting, gluing, and creating her works of art. Lily sees the world as a true artist should and finds love, beauty and art in all things. Lily is a soon-to-be first grader living with her family in Kansas.
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August 4, 2011 by M. Liz Andrews, Amin Swessi, Lily is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.LetterToObama.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.LetterToObama.com.
The Bombs Bursting in Air
This is my third annual 4th of July LetterToObama. It is an invitation.
The piece begins with photographs I composed at the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. and the Ft. Logan military cemetery in Denver, Colorado. The song is a Spiritual entitled “Stand Still Jordan.”
Then you hear and see text clipped from headlines of the May 18, 2011 New York Times newspaper. I arranged these words to create a poem entitled, “A composer changed the New York music scene. A Call for Revolution? Probably a Typo.”
The pages of this piece are numbered in reverse order to begin thinking about the ways that Memorials can reach beyond space and time. It is an invitation to the second of fo(u)r events presenting “Letters” to the 44th President through art on September 11, 2011 in New York City. It is an invitation to “artistic citizenship.”
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The Bombs Bursting in Air by M. Liz Andrews is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.LetterToObama.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.LetterToObama.com.
Purple Rain
LIVE FROM D.C. was the first of fo(u)r LetterToObama events presenting “Letters” to the 44th President through art. For this issue of the Fo(u)r 4, view selections from this Presidents’ Day event.
Also, Save the Date for the second event, LIVE FROM NEW YORK, September 11, 2011.
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Welcome to America
VOCALIZATION MEMO #2
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
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ARTIST. STATEMENT.
“Hate is too great a burden to bear…”
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ABOUT THE ARTIST
MARTIN LUTHER KING was an orator who has been referred to as “King of Love.”
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