From the New York Times article:

A painter, photographer, printmaker, choreographer, onstage performer, set designer and, in later years, even a composer, Mr. Rauschenberg defied the traditional idea that an artist stick to one medium or style. He pushed, prodded and sometimes reconceived all the mediums in which he worked.

Building on the legacies of Marcel Duchamp, Kurt Schwitters, Joseph Cornell and others, he thereby helped to obscure the lines between painting and sculpture, painting and photography, photography and printmaking, sculpture and photography, sculpture and dance, sculpture and technology, technology and performance art — not to mention between art and life.

Read the entire article here.

Lamp Show

Originally uploaded by love not fear

Check out the art to be auctioned here.

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Destruction | CreationOriginally uploaded by love not fear

Dismantled a laptop for the upcoming show. Expect to have around 15 pieces in it, 11 of them brand new. Stay tuned for details. Getting ready for the June show, 404: NOT HERE REDUX, featuring some work you’ve seen before, and some brand new work.

Be sure to set aside some time to swing by the Obama offices on Wednesdays or Thursdays through May 29 to volunteer some time.

Wednesdays and Thursdays Obamathons
5:30-8:30 (from now until May 29)
Obama for America Headquarters
218 East Front Street (across from the Trail Head)

Our goal is to identify as many potential Obama supporters as we can and ask them to vote early.

We had a good turnout last night.  Hope some of you can join us there tonight.  You are welcome to stay for as many (or as few) hours as you can spare.  Feel free to bring a friend, and make it a fun, social event.

First Obama Volunteers Meeting/Get Together
Sunday, 3:00-5:00
545 North Avenue East (at Arthur)
Host:  Jocelyn Siler

Meet fellow volunteers who are working in the campus area and help us strategize how best to get out the Obama vote in your neighborhood.   This get together will also provide an opportunity to explore different ways you can volunteer for the Obama campaign.  Again, feel free to bring  a friend.

CBR003284

Originally uploaded by Tariq’s Fantasy World

The 4th semi-annual Childbloom camp is an immersion into creative play and exploration of music, dance, visual art, and theatre for young people ages 7-11. Our week is a trip around the world, traveling through the traditional songs, rhythms, stories, and dance of the U.S., South America, India, Africa, and beyond.

A week-long exploration of music, movement, and story telling for young people ages 7-12
June 23-27th • 9am-2pm • University Congregational Church, Missoula, MT

Activities will include:
Storytelling, theatre, West African drumming, guitar, creative movement, singing, mask-making, and games to create a safe and creative environment.

There will be optional aftercare & recreation available in the afternoons until 5:30 p.m. (there will be an additional fee for this service). Please pack a brown bag lunch for your child. Campers are provided with a healthy mid-morning and afternoon snack.

Heidi Junkersfeld grew up training in tap dance, musical theatre, jazz and madrigal choir, and piano. She graduated with a degree in Physics and a minor in Dance. She has produced various multi-media shows that include artistic mediums such as dance, theatre, spoken word, music and visual art. In 2002 Heidi moved to Ecuador, and proceeded to travel, work, and study in 8 different countries in South America. During her travels Heidi studied Ashtanga Yoga, Capoiera, dance, traditional South American music, contact improvisation, theatre, and contemporary clown. She taught theatre and dance in several schools and Universities, as well as creating travelling multi-media performances all over South America. She now lives in Missoula, teaches yoga, works as the music and movement specialist at the Missoula Community School and the Missoula Community Resource Coordinator for the Missoula County Public Schools. She is part of the art collective Open Field Artists, and is one of the cocreators of the music duo Sueno Lunar.

Nathan Zavalney is a trained and licensed Childbloom guitar instructor. He has been director of the Childbloom Guitar Program of Missoula since September 2000, specializing in teaching guitar to young students. He has 15 years of experience with guitar in classical, jazz, and folk styles. He has performed as a guitarist, vocalist, and percussionist in solo and group settings, including the world music group Drum Brothers and the Mo-Trans modem dance company. During his musical studies at the University of MT. he focused on composition, jazz studies, and classical voice training. Nathan has taught music to students all over the northwest in educational assemblies and in-class instruction, including two years as the music instructor for the Missoula City International School. He has taught private lessons for the last 7 years in both percussion and classical guitar. Nathan also runs Burning the Midnight Oil Audio Productions, through which he has created a variety of music for film, television, dance, and commercial CD release.

Last night there were rumors that Missoula’s newest hip place to eat, 515 would be closing. It was supposed to be all hush-hush, apparently, and there was a blowout party for selected invited guests. A phone call to the restaurant at 7.20PM this evening confirms that 515 has indeed closed its doors permanently.

It’s a shame. This town needs more variety in its dining choices, especially downtown.

Good luck, Paul and Carrie.

The only CD I ever checked out of a library that I never returned was “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts”, the David Byrne/Brian Eno collaboration. (After many overdue notices arriving in the mail, I went down to the library, told them I’d lost the item, and paid for it. they now have another copy in their stacks). I loved MLITBOG for a lot of reasons, the layered sounds, the samples, the beats, the moods that it created. At the time, I was already familiar with David Byrne’s solo work as well as his work with The Talking Heads, but I had only heard about Eno. Since then, I’ve come to love Eno and his work with a variety of other musicians, including his production work with Devo, Talking Heads, Jane Sieberry (now Issa, who, like Reznor, gives her music away for free) and especially James and the “Laid” and “Wah-Wah” albums. Eno, the “non-musician”, is most known for his prolific catalogue of ambient music, including the fantastic “Music for Airports”, as well as being an amazing record producer and contributor to such movies as David Lynch’s “Dune”.

Eno has always been fascinated by technology and how to twist and bend it for his own purposes. He’s experimented with generative music, music that composes itself, and has branched out into visual art as well, creating a computer game that generates a possible 77 million paintings, chosen by Eno himself. He is currently working on the soundtrack for the multi-player game Spore, “that allows a player to control the evolution of a species from its beginnings as a multi cellular organism, through development as a sapient and social land-walking creature, to levels of interstellar exploration as a spacefaring culture.” [Wikipedia].

I’m here to make the case that Trent Reznor is the new Brian Eno.

Reznor got his start in Cleveland creating what would become Pretty Hate Machine by himself after-hours at the Right Track Studio where he worked as an assistant engineer and janitor. He became proficient at manipulating sounds and bending technology to his own purposes as well, just as Eno learned to do. He’s produced many record albums, including a handful for Marilyn Manson, as well as the phenomenal “Natural Born Killers” soundtrack and the “Lost Highway” soundtrack. His subtle contribution to Tori Amos’ “Past the Mission” on her “Under the Pink” album showed how quiet he could be when he needed to be. It was also the first time I can remember hearing him sing quietly while someone else took the spotlight.

Reznor’s original music from id Software’s video game “Quake” was long one of my favorite ambient pieces of music to load into iTunes when I needed to get some work done and didn’t want to be disturbed. He expanded his fascination with technology and its possibilities with the release of “Year Zero” and its companion alternate reality websites/reality game and subsequent user-submitted art in 2007.

Eno once predicted that music would one day become user-modifiable constructs, and imagined a day when future generations would look at past generations in wonder, asking in wonder, “you mean you listened to the same music over and over?”. Reznor took that idea and ran with it, releasing “The Hand that Feeds” from his dismal “With Teeth” 2005 release as a multi-track Garage Band download that fans could get for free and remix as they pleased. His newest release “Ghosts I-IV”, was released in a variety of formats, including a free torrent seeded by NIN itself. “Ghosts” was released as with a Creative Commons license (no copyright), and Reznor announced yesterday that the tracks can be used to participate in a NIN sponsored film festival on You Tube.

Talk about user generated content.

The album itself is supurb. I’d love to hear Eno’s thoughts on it. Those of you who haven’t hear it, go grab it at NIN’s official site and give it a listen for yourself. Grab the torrent if you’re familiar with the technology.

“Ghosts” ranges from smooth and quiet piano to the heavy muddy guitar and keyboard laden layers we’ve come to expect from Reznor. I’m looking forward to what people come up with, and might even make a contribution myself if I can find some time along with everything else I have going on.

NIN Ghosts Film Festival on YouTube

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Big Sky Documentary Film Festival - Closing Night

Originally uploaded by love not fear

The festival has come to a close. I watched over 21 films this year. In the coming days, I’ll be reviewing them here, so drop by and see how they were. In the meantime, you can check out my ratings of the films.

Thanks to the organizers of the festival, once again, for a great week.

Live for fun Spread joy

Originally uploaded by love not fear

Today is one of my favorite days of the year. The opening of the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. I’ll be running projection on a handful of films, as well as helping out in any other way that I can. Check back here for quick movie reviews, musings and other thoughts. Now through February 20th.

Check out my want-to-see calender, sign up for your own calender, see some films.

Gots to go.