Thursday, November 5, 2009

every now and then

 
 

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Wednesday, November 4, 2009

electricorchid: forests are fractal: the forest floor has a...

 
 

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via guerrilla mama on 11/4/09



electricorchid:

forests are fractal: the forest floor has a forest all its own

Lynn Valley | British Columbia


 
 

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Frida Kahlo

 
 

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via Raven's Eye by maia on 11/4/09

"Espero alegre la salida - y espero no volver jamás - FRIDA"

via Frida Kahlo, Chronology, timeline, time line, Biography, Bio.

frida's last diary entry the day before she died.


 
 

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Why the Casting Process is One Cloaked in Privilege

 
 

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via The Thirty Mile Woman by cocacy on 11/3/09


breslinAB A few years ago, one of my first critical pieces was published by Popmatters.com. In this piece, I took issue with the idea of non-gay actors playing gay actors in TV and film. My argument lies in the fact that 1.) straight actors were in essence acting out what they assumed was "gay" behavior, 2.) they marginalized the number of roles available for "gay" actors, and 3.) that this falls under a cloud of privilege that has played out in various capacities in the History of the casting process in American Hollywood theatre, film, and television.

I realize that there were many things that I left out, over-emphasized and under-emphasized in one of the first public, published essays of my career (so please forgive me of these errors) but overall I think the question I raised is indeed a legitimate one — when an actor is given a role where they are to "play" a person who happens to be gay, disabled, Black, etc. and said actor is not, does this present a problem that links to privilege or should a "challenging" role like this just be given to a talented actor?

Currently there is quite a brouhaha brewing in New York over the casting of Abigail Breslin to play Helen Keller in an off Broadway production of The Miracle Worker, which is set to open later this Winter. The 13 year old star is already an Academy Award nominated actress of some note, having appeared in films such as Little Miss Sunshine. The concern comes from a number of deaf and blind actors who have objected to Miss Breslin's casting because she is not deaf or blind. According to Executive Director of The Alliance for Inclusion of in the Arts Sharon Jensen, by excluding a deaf or blind actor from these roles, they are being marginalized in the casting process for roles that speak to their particular experience, not to mention the larger artistic and ethical issues at stake here. Most notably, is it offensive, unethical, an example of the inner workings of privilege for a hearing, seeing actor to play "deaf/blind" Helen Keller?

I explored this issue in my prior essay around the topic of sexuality but this subject can certainly take on any number of identities. Privilege is generally a said advantage (by advantage I mean social advantage by way of gender, race/ethnicity, color, sexuality, class, etc.) that engenders you with exemptions from certain social liabilities and uncomfortable and/or painful experiences. In the world of casting, these privileges are often played out vigorously. Blackface (and Yellowface) were frequent forms of entertainment and to this day, diversity along the lines of race and ethnicity is still a problem in Hollywood. In Restoration theater, women were forbidden to become actors and their roles were assumed by men.

And the contemporary examples of this are endless: Felicity Huffman in her Academy Award nominated performance as a transgender person in Transamerica, Jessica Alba playing a Black woman in Honey, Sean Penn playing a developmentally disabled adult in I am Sam, etc. etc. etc. Some time ago I told a colleague how much I enjoyed the film Milk, particularly Sean Penn's performance of the gay-rights activist and politician. After I finished my praise of the film, she told me that her professor, an openly gay man, had many issues with the film, most notably that he felt as if Sean Penn was parodying/mimicking a common stereotype of gay behavior and lifestyles. Needless to say, I fell silent.

The person behind the casting of Breslin publicly stated that he was looking for a star, someone whose star power would comfort the investors behind this project and he didn't know of any deaf/blind pre-teen actors who fit this bill. Prior to this casting, the Alliance had problems with the same company when they cast a hearing actor in the role of a deaf character in a production of Carson McCullers' The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. The producers claimed to have auditioned a number of deaf actors but in the end went with a hearing actor because he was the best actor overall.

I think this Abigail Breslin fiasco introduces important questions into the casting process. Surely the folks on the other side of the debate have a sound argument: shouldn't the best person for the job be chosen? If money is the issue and fiscal concerns are paramount, does the weight of a mega-star (or at least a well-known actor) take precedence over broader artistic concerns and ethics?

Ideally this should not be a concern, but this doesn't work both ways. How many times do you see a Black woman cast in a role written for a a White woman? Perhaps sometimes but you certainly could see this the reverse. In fact, Renee Zellwegger's latest film New in Town was written by a Black man who had Gabrielle Union specifically in mind for the part (and even wrote the character as a Black woman) but the part was given to Renee. I have very strong, often unpopular ideas about the topic but I would love to hear what others think….


 
 

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UTNE Reader: 50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World

 
 

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via Charis Circle's by Charis Circle on 11/3/09


Alexis Pauline GumbsAlexis Pauline Gumbs has been named by UTNE Reader as one of 50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World

Alexis Pauline Gumbs is a queer black feminist, and a PhD candidate in English, Africana Studies and Women's Studies at Duke University. Alexis is the founder of BrokenBeautiful Press and the instigator of the Eternal Summer of the Black Feminist Mind multi-media educational movement.

Along with Queer Renaissance founder Julia Wallace, Alexis is embarking on a national multi-media, interactive documentation project lifting up the social organizing herstories of black same gender loving women called the MobileHomeComing Project.

You can see Alexis on Thursday November 5th moderating Founding the Future: A Conversation with Beverly Guy Sheftall & Gloria Steinem


 
 

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314/2009: a poem in three parts--richmond gang rape.

 
 

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via kameelahwrites by kameelah on 11/3/09

in response to the richmond, ca gang rape, i wrote this on october 31, 2009:

part I

when
rape is sport
unending spectacle

a uniform of purple sparkled dress, painted lips, silver shoes
their dark pants

pre-game brandy, hopeful for eternally spotless minds, flexible limbs,
and quiet forgiveness
tickets sold at the door
promises of discounts, special seating, prizes, and replays
"they said she was naked, and if you want to get fucked, go back there"

jeering audiences
insatiable and audible
in the bleachers
beneath bloodied heavenly skies
painted faces catch the light of the pink moon
in time for

the ritual

dilated eyes
stretched smiles/sneaky sneers
and furrowed skin leaves impressions in the dirt
(they are impressed)

crusted blood leads a trial back to somewhere back there
before that moment when

memories carved on her inner thighs
and battered belly
will she ever wear purple again?

"police received a call from someone in the area who had overheard
people at the assault scene 'reminiscing about the incident'"

we reminisce too.
we see ourselves slowly dying for 120 minutes.
under a pink moon
covered in the blood, semen, and saliva of unknown men
who may know us
and no one came to help.

not inevitable or slipshod lapses
they took snapshots
playback/flashback/slow motion
cameras to capture her catapult into hell
two hours

they collect
souvenirs from the carnival games
trinkets to pass on to cousins
playing cards with positions, players, and points
to exchange on facebook, myspace, texts

make a celebratory exit
but not before one last penetration
deep thrust
to add to their sunday morning story time
about how he fucked some nameless girl
at her homecoming dance
in her purple dress
on a saturday night
under the pink moon

"officers found the girl semiconscious and naked from the waist down
near a picnic table"
they report
a feast they had

the sport
with no discernible victor
because we have all lost.

part II (emily dickinson)

that sacred Closet where you sweep --
Entitled "Memory"--
Selected a reverential Broom--
And do it silently

(1273)

part III

she is
a devout
christian girl
who went to church three times a week
enrolled in honors english

and i asked myself
'would they care if she is...
a devout
something other than
who went to school three times a year
enrolled in GED classes because she got tired of school
would prefer smoking
to booking
still illiterate
had a baby on the way?
if she was PRECIOUS

would we care?

 
 

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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

CR's incredible dissolving bag

 
 

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via CR Blog on 10/30/09

Newsstand copies of the November issue of CR come in a revolutionary new bag that simply dissolves in hot water. No waste. No landfill.

Anyone buying their copy of CR on the newsstand this month will find that the issue comes in a transparent bag bearing the words 'This bag dissolves in water'. And it does.

We are the first magazine anywhere to trial a new packaging material called harmless-dissolve which was created in the UK by Cyberpac. Here's what you do:

1, Take the magazine out of the bag

 

2, Cut off the sealing strip - the glue of the strip is biodegradeable but will not dissolve in water

 

3, Place the bag in a receptacle filled with hot water (60+ degrees recommended by manufacturer)

 

The clear plastic dissolves into the water almost immediately

 

The printed area takes a little longer to break down - here's ours after about a minute

After a couple of minutes, the printed area has broken down sufficiently for it to disintegrate when rubbed between finger and thumb – it's a bit gunky and sticky but washes off straightaway

 

4, Pour the residue down the drain

We are assured that any residue is perfectly harmless. Apparently you can even drink it - we tried, it tastes horrible, so we wouldn't recommend this.

A quick sluice around with water clears up any remaining residue both in the sink and in the receptacle.

CR is working with Cyberpac on a range of experimental packaging solutions. Subscribers received our September issue in an envelope that could be re-used as a binder for our Monograph series (see here), while in October we gave subscribers one of six static prints of images from the Photography Annual (see here).

Why do a bag at all? We needed to bag this month's issue on the newsstand because it contains a free CMYK colour guide from Heidelberg. Rather than using a traditional polybag, we tried this. If subscribers would like one of the colour guides, please contact aminah.marshall@centaur.co.uk and we will send you one.

Subscriber issues come in regular, non-dissolvable, packaging this month - next month, though, we have something special for you.

UPDATE
More details from Cyberpac on how it works, also in the comments below: "The hot water is just to show you the biodegradability at speed. You don't need to boil it, just chuck it on the compost heap! We use this to package fish food as it dissolves in the water releasing the bait.

"Harmless-Dissolve is made from a hydro-degradable substrate which is 5 times stronger than normal polythene. It is a readily biodegradable, water soluble polymer which completely biodegrades in a composting environment, in a dishwasher or in a washing machine. It has no harmful residues and will biodegrade into naturally occuring substances - the bugs love it.

"It's non-toxic and is degraded by micro-organisms, moulds and yeasts. These organisms can occur in both artificial environments, such as anaerobic digesters, activated sewage sludge and composts and natural environments such as aquatic systems and soil. The micro-organisms use Harmless-Dissolve as a food source by producing a variety of enzymes that are capable of reacting with it. In the end the bag becomes carbon dioxide, water and biomass." More here

If you'd like to know more about harmless-dissolve, please contact Will Anderson at Cyberpac, willanderson@cyberpac.co.uk

 


 
 

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Collective Organizing: Combahee Survival Love You!

Can I just say I love you. And all ways you participate! Playlists, videos, photos, being fly, staying fly, teaching ferocity. I just love it. The patterns in our chaos. It's mathmatic, it's magnetic. The love of my sister is like B12...so giddly energizing I could talk about it all day.

This week I want to think about the structures of our love.
In 1977 the members of the collectively organized Black Feminist Lesbian Socialist Combahee River Collective said:

“We believe in collective process and a nonhierarchical distribution of power within our own group and in our vision of a revolutionary society.”

Let's talk it about it for real. What do you think about collective structures, collective decision-making? Talk about it here:
http://quirkyblackgirls.ning.com/forum/topics/collective-organizing

For more history on a collective organizing project, that responded to violence against women check out the podcast for this past Saturday's Be Bold Be Red: http://brokenbeautiful.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/be-bold-be-read-eternal-summer-of-the-black-feminist-mind-podcast-4/

And if you live in Atlanta, join in a conversation guided by QBG Lex about strategies for the future of feminism with black feminist scholar superstar Beverly Guy-Sheftall and white feminist icon Gloria Steinem:

Founding the Future: A Conversation with Beverly Guy Sheftall & Gloria Steinem, moderated by Alexis Pauline Gumbs
Thursday, November 5, 7:30pm (Doors at 6:30) at the Georgia Tech Hotel
Young feminist scholar and activist Alexis Pauline Gumbs will moderate a discussion with feminist icons Beverly Guy-Sheftall and Gloria Steinem about their places in the history of feminism and the possibilities the future holds.
Tickets are $35 for general admission; priority seating is also available. Tickets can be purchased online or in person at Charis Books & More.

Thrilled to be in conversation and community with each of you!
love always,
QBG Lex

Visit Quirky Black Girls at: http://quirkyblackgirls.ning.com
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lainemarie: j-p-g:Nature’s Form (via ©Tiefling)

 
 

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(via loveyourchaos)

 
 

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