LOW LIVES 3

INTERNATIONAL CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Convocatoria en Español:
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=142958439102121&ref=ts

Deadline: March 20, 2011

About Low Lives:
Now entering its third year, Low Lives is an international exhibition of live performance-based works transmitted via the internet and projected in real time at multiple venues throughout the U.S. and around the world. Low Lives examines works that critically investigate, challenge, and extend the potential of performance practice presented live through online broadcasting networks. These networks provide a new alternative and efficient medium for presenting, viewing, and archiving performances. Low Lives is not simply about the presentation of performative gestures at a particular place and time but also about the transmission of these moments and what gets lost, conveyed, blurred, and reconfigured when utilizing this medium. Low Lives embraces works with a lo-fi aesthetic such as low pixel image and sound quality, contributing to a raw, DIY and sometimes voyeuristic quality in the transmission and reception of the work.

Low Lives is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Chez Bushwick, an artist-run organization based in Brooklyn, New York dedicated to the advancement of interdisciplinary art and performance, with a strong focus on new choreography. Chez Bushwick is co-producing Low Lives 3 and is instrumental in extending the platform’s international reach. Low Lives 3 will feature a ‘spotlight’ on Contemporary Choreography throughout the exhibition program.

Artists working in any media are invited to submit proposals for live performance-based works.

Selection Process:
Each Presenting Partner (see list below) will follow their curatorial process to select one performance to take place at their venue. In addition, 30 artists will be selected from artist proposals responding to this Call for Artists, and will be invited to present their work across the Low Lives network. These performances will be transmitted through the internet from a location of the artists’ choice. The Selections Committee will be comprised of Directors and Curators from each of the Presenting Partner institutions. A full-color catalog and companion DVD with information and an image for each participating artist will be produced for Low Lives 3 after the exhibition takes place.

Artists selected to participate in this exhibition will be instructed on how to transmit their performance through a live online broadcasting network. Performances will be projected in real time across the Low Lives 3 network of Presenting Partners and venues. The exhibit will also be available for online viewing, both in real time as it unfolds across political boundaries and time zones, and on the Low Lives website after the event.

Artists interested in participating in Low Lives 3 are encouraged to visit www.lowlives.net to view previous Low Lives exhibition catalogs and performance videos.

Presenting Partners*
Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) (Salt Lake City, Utah) www.umfa.utah.edu
SOMArts (San Francisco, California) www.somarts.org
Real Art Ways (Harford, Connecticut) www.realartways.org
The Performance Art Institute (San Francisco, California) www.theperformanceartinstitute.org
the temporary space (Japan) www.thetemporaryspace.com
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) (Portland, Oregon) www.pica.org
On the Boards Seattle, Washington) www.ontheboards.org
Obsidian Arts (Minneapolis, Minnesota)- www.obsidianartscenter.org
Mindpirates (Berlin, Germany) www.mindpirates.org
Mascher Space Co-op (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) www.mascherdance.com
Living Arts (Tulsa, Oklahoma)- www.livingarts.org
La Perrera (Oaxaca, Mexico) www.laperreraoax.com
Konic Thtr (Barcelona, Spain) www.koniclab.info
Fusebox Festival (Austin, Texas) www.fuseboxfestival.com
Elon University Department of Art & Art History (Elon, North Carolina) http://org.elon.edu/art/
DiverseWorks (Houston, Texas) www.diverseworks.org
Diaspora Vibe Gallery (Miami, Florida) www.diasporavibe.net
Co-Lab (Austin, Texas) www.colabspace.org
Chez Bushwick (Brooklyn, New York) www.chezbushwick.net
Center for Performance Research (CPR) (Brooklyn, New York) www.cprnyc.org
Attakalari Centre for Movement Arts (Bangalore, India) www.attakkalari.org
Aljira, A Center for Contemporary Art (Newark, New Jersey) www.aljira.org
Alice Yard (Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago) www.aliceyard.blogspot.com
Simba Theatre Art International at Village Museum (Dar es Salaam City, Tanzania)

*This list includes Presenting Partners who are confirmed as of 2/22/11. Additional Presenting Partners may be added before the event date.

Submission Requirements (Note: Incomplete applications will not be considered):
- Artists can submit written proposals for previously created works or new work to be considered. You may include links to artist websites or other web destinations
- Only proposals for live performances will be considered
- Duration of proposed works must be under 5 minutes
- Artist statement including how work relates to Low Lives exhibition concept
- Up to 4 jpeg images, no larger than 300 dpi, that support your proposal
- Artist Bio
- CV or Resume
- Email complete materials to keoqui@gmail.com with Low Lives 3 Submission in subject line

Eligibility:
In an effort to allow the Low Lives platform to include as many artists as possible, artists who participated in Low Lives 2 are not eligible to participate in Low Lives 3.

Important Dates:
March 20, 2011: Submission deadline
April 1, 2011: Artists notified on selection
April 29, 2011: Low Lives 3 Exhibition- Day 1 - 8:00pm – 11:00pm (U.S. EST)
April 30, 2011: Low Lives 3 Exhibition- Day 2 - 3:00pm – 6:00pm (U.S. EST)

Founder/Producer/Curator
Jorge Rojas is a multidisciplinary artist and independent curator. He studied Art at the University of Utah and at Bellas Artes- El Nigromante in San Miguel de Allende, México. Rojas employs both traditional and new media, as well as performative elements to investigate communication systems and the effect of technology on artistic production, social structures and communities. His work and curatorial projects have been exhibited in galleries and museums across México, the United States, India and Brazil. Since 2009, he produces and curates Low Lives, an international, multi-venue exhibition of live, networked performances. Born in Morelos, México.

Co-Producer
Chez Bushwick, an artist-run organization based in Brooklyn, is dedicated to the advancement of interdisciplinary art and performance, with a strong focus on new choreography. Since its inception in 2002, the organization has been acknowledged as a new model for economic sustainability in the performing arts, offering New York City's only $5 subsidy for rehearsal space, and thereby fostering the creation, development, and performance of new work. Chez Bushwick is also responsible for a number of monthly performance programs that encourage artistic freedom, collaboration, and creative risk-taking. www.chezbushwick.net

More info & Updates
For additional information please contact Jorge Rojas: keoqui@gmail.com

For updates, follow Low Lives on Facebook

_______ . _______ . _______ . _______ . _______

Low Lives 3 - April 29 - 30, 2011
Announcement and call for proposals coming soon!

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Low Lives: Selections @ TRAMPOLIM
22 video-performances
A selection from Low Lives performance series

January 13 - 14, 2011
GALERIA HOMERO MASSENA
Rua Pedro Palácios, 99, Cidade Alta
Vitória, Brasil

ARTISTS, WORK TITLES, and LOCATION of PERFORMANCES
(In order of appearance)

Vienne Chan- Auto-Cannibal _Germany, Kelly Kleinschrodt- Jump _México, Martin Zet- Night Averment _Czech Republic, Jeanne Jo- Roulette _United States, Osvaldo Cibils- Multimedia Head _Italy, Robert Crosse- Hold Still _United Kingdom, Joe Nanashe- Michael & Me _United States, Agni Zotis- Meditator _United States, Adam Trowbridge- Hole of Society: On The Passage of a Small Dog through a Rather Shallow Amount of Water _United States, Luke Munn- Suite for Webcam _Germany, Migdalia Luz Barens-Vera- Cover Yourself _United States, Elizabeth Leister- I can see you, you’re not here _United States, Profesor Bazuco aka Juan Obando- International Public Address _United States, Mike Smith and students from University of Texas- A 2010 Streaming Class Portrait _United States, Linda Ford- Self Discipline (Live in the Studio) _United States, Francesca Fini- Cry Me _Italy, Marcus Civin- American Rifle 3 (Excerpt) _United States, Lawrence Graham-Brown- Ras-Pan-Afro-Homo-Sapien (Bloodsucker Version) _United States, Marcus Vinicius- Resistance _Brazil, Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz- Ask Chuleta _United States, Gabrielle Civil- MN – MX _United States, Rosamond S. King- Supplicant _United States

CURATOR
Jorge Rojas _México / United States

 

Call for Entries

The Poetry Projection Project: A WritersCorps Film Event
Entry Deadline: March 27, 2011, 5 p.m. PST
Screenings: April 16 and 19, 2011

The Poetry Projection Project is a new video contest held by WritersCorps, an award-winning creative writing program for youth. WritersCorps calls on filmmakers and video artists of all ages to create work based on selected poems by WritersCorps students. Videos will be screened during National Poetry Month in April 2011 at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, the San Francisco Public Library, and online at WritersCorps.org.

WritersCorps will award two $150 cash prizes, one prize to the best film made by an adult age 21 and over, and one prize to the best film made by a young person age 20 and under. Entries will be juried by a special guest from the film industry: filmmaker Peter Bratt.

Youth ages 12 to 18 will also have the chance to create videos from their own writing in a series of workshops hosted by WritersCorps and TILT (Teaching Intermedia Literacy Tools) at San Francisco’s Main Library in March 2011. The student work created in these workshops will screen at the Poetry Projection Project, but will not be eligible for the contest. Click here for more information about the workshops.

In keeping with WritersCorps’ mission of helping youth through creative expression, the Poetry Projection Project engages filmmakers to explore the power of young people’s words and voices.

Guidelines
Videos must include the entire text or audio of one poem by a WritersCorps student, found here: Poetry Projection Project - The Poems. Videos must credit the student and San Francisco WritersCorps.

Total Running Time: Videos must not exceed 5 minutes in length, including credits.

Styles: Submissions can be in any style or genre of video, including, but not limited to, narrative, experimental, film art/video art, documentary and animation.

Family Friendly Content: Videos must be suitable for screening at family venues that are open to all ages. Accordingly, we strongly discourage film contest submissions which contain nudity, sexually explicit imagery, profanity, or graphic depictions of violence.

Screening Format: If your entry is selected for public screenings at the Poetry Projection Project, you agree to provide an exhibition copy on DVD or as a QuickTime file under an Apple ProRes 422 codec.

Entry Form: All submissions must include a completed Entry Form and Release and Agreement. If you are under 18, consent from a parent, guardian or teacher is required as well at time of submission. There is no entry fee.

Deadline: Submissions must be uploaded to YouTube by 5 p.m. PST on March 27, 2011.

Evaluation Criteria
Videos will be judged on the basis of creativity, originality, quality, and artistic merit.

Submission via YouTube
All contest submissions must be uploaded via YouTube for judging. The use of YouTube for contest submissions does not imply an endorsement of the site or its parent company by WritersCorps.

Note: You may not see your video on YouTube immediately after uploading. Uploads can take time and all videos will first be reviewed by a site moderator. Be sure your uploads are complete and visible on YouTube by the contest deadline. We recommend allowing time for unforeseen difficulties. All videos posted to YouTube will be subject to YouTube’s privacy policy and may also be subject to applicable public records laws.

Please include the URL of your video in the entry form.

Questions?
Please email ppp@writerscorps.org or call 415-252-2546.

Click here for the online Entry Form.

 

How the rich soaked the rest of us

The astonishing story of the last few decades is a massive redistribution of wealth, as the rich have shifted the tax burden

• Comments (211)

• 
• • Richard Wolff
  • guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 March 2011 16.10 GMT
  • Article history

When the Cadillac Eldorado made its debut in the 1950s, wealthy Americans were paying a top rate of tax of 90%; today, the top rate of tax is 35%.

Over the last half century, the richest Americans have shifted the burden of the federal individual income tax off themselves and onto everybody else. The three convenient and accurate Wikipedia graphs below show the details. The first graph compares the official tax rates paid by the top and bottom income earners. Note especially that from the end of the second world war into the early 1960s, the highest income earners paid a tax rate over 90% for many years. Today, the top earners pay a rate of only 35%. Note also how the gap between the rates paid by the richest and the poorest has narrowed. If we take into account the many loopholes the rich can and do use far more than the poor, the gap narrows even more.

One conclusion is clear and obvious: the richest Americans have dramatically lowered their income tax burden since 1945, both absolutely and relative to the tax burdens of the middle income groups and the poor.

Historical tax rates for the highest and lowest income earners

Consider two further points based on this graph: first, if the highest income earners today were required to pay the same rate that they paid for many years after 1945, the federal government would need far lower deficits to support the private economy through its current crisis; and second, those tax-the-rich years after 1945 experienced far lower unemployment and far faster economic growth than we have had for years.

The lower taxes the rich got for themselves are one reason why they have become so much richer over the last half century. Just as their tax rates started to come down from their 1960s heights, so their shares of the total national income began their rise. As the two other Wikipedia graphs below show, we have now returned to the extreme inequality of income that characterised the US a century ago.

Share of national income taken by top tranches of earners

The graph above shows the portion/percentage of total national income taken by the top 1%, the top tenth of a percent, and the top 100th of a percent of individuals and families: the richest of the rich. The third graph compares what happened to the after-tax household incomes of Americans from 1979 to 2005 (adjusted for inflation). The bottom fifth of poorest citizens saw their income barely rise at all. The middle fifth of income earners saw their after-tax household income rise by less than 25%. Meanwhile, the top 1 % of households saw their after-tax household incomes rise by 175%.

Relative increases in net household incomes of Americans from 1979 to 2005

In simplest terms, the richest Americans have done by far the best over the last 30 years, they are more able to pay taxes today than they have been in many decades, and they are more able to pay than other Americans by a far wider margin. At a time of national economic crisis, especially, they can and should contribute far more in taxes.

Instead, a rather vicious cycle has been at work for years. Reduced taxes on the rich leave them with more money to influence politicians and politics. Their influence wins them further tax reductions, which gives them still more money to put to political use. When the loss of tax revenue from the rich worsens already strained government budgets, the rich press politicians to cut public services and government jobs and not even debate a return to the higher taxes the rich used to pay. So it goes – from Washington, to Wisconsin, to New York City.

How do the rich justify and excuse this record? They claim that they can invest the money they save from taxes and thereby create jobs, etc. But do they? In fact, cutting rich people's taxes is often very bad for the rest of us (beyond the worsening inequality and hobbled government it produces).

Several examples show this. First, a good part of the money the rich save from taxes is then lent by them to the government (in the form of buying US Treasury securities for their personal investment portfolios). It would obviously be better for the government to tax the rich to maintain its expenditures, and thereby avoid deficits and debts. Then the government would not need to tax the rest of us to pay interest on those debts to the rich.

Second, the richest Americans take the money they save from taxes and invest big parts of it in China, India and elsewhere. That often produces more jobs over there, fewer jobs here, and more imports of goods produced abroad. US dollars flow out to pay for those imports and so accumulate in the hands of foreign banks and foreign governments. They, in turn, lend from that wealth to the US government because it does not tax our rich, and so we get taxed to pay for the interest Washington has to give those foreign banks and governments. The largest single recipient of such interest payments today is the People's Republic of China.

Third, the richest Americans take the money they don't pay in taxes and invest it in hedge funds and with stockbrokers to make profitable investments. These days, that often means speculating in oil and food, which drives up their prices, undermines economic recovery for the mass of Americans, and produces acute suffering around the globe. Those hedge funds and brokers likewise use part of the money rich people save from taxes to speculate in the US stock markets. That has recently driven stock prices higher: hence, the stock market recovery. And that mostly helps – you guessed it – the richest Americans who own most of the stocks.

The one kind of significant wealth average Americans own, if they own any, is their individual home. And home values remain deeply depressed: no recovery there.

Cutting the taxes on the rich in no way guarantees social benefits from what they may choose to do with their money. Indeed, their choices can worsen economic conditions for the mass of people. These days, that is exactly what they are doing.

 

LISTEN TO THE DISCUSSION WITH:

ADAM BRADLEY, MARK ANTHONY NEAL, & TOKI WRIGHT

Over the past 30 years rap and hip-hop have emerged as a powerful and influential cultural force. Midmorning examines the power and the poetry of rap music, from the "old school" to the present day.

Guests

• Adam Bradley: Associate professor of English and author of the "Anthology of Rap.
• Mark Anthony Neal: Professor of Black Popular Culture in the Department of African and African American Studies at Duke University.
• Toki Wright: Professor at McNally Smith School of Music in St. Paul, MN and professional rapper/hip-hop artist.

Resources

• About Adam Bradley
• Mark Anthony Neal's blog
• About Toki Wright

 

New Skool Rules - International Hip Hop and R&B Conference, April 1-3 in Rotterdam

 

New Skool Rules, the biggest International Hip Hop and R&B Conference returns in 2011 from April 1st till April 3rd in Rotterdam (Holland)

The international urban music industry will yet again be making major breakthroughs in 2011.

The global scene will yet again be represented on April 1st through 3rd, and once more make way for music professionals seeking to “network and exchange” in an absolutely unique setting and format.

The first edition of the New Skool Rules conference in 2009 had proven to be the ultimate international breeding ground for music professionals around the globe, reaching over 900 delegates from over 20 countries. Major as well as underground and indie contributors to the “urban” scene were represented, with delegates from; Def Jam, Universal, BET, VIBE, MTV (USA), Konvikt, Interscope, AllHipHop.com, WEA, Sony ATV, EMI Publishing, Warner Music and Talpa Music Publishing present.

The 2009 event had proven to be a networking haven for established and upcoming professionals in the music industry where new business relationships were founded, talents scouted, and knowledge exchanged."The New Skool Rules Conference was an eye-opening experience to say the least. It was a true revelation to witness so many different cultures congregate under the Hip-Hop banner, all sharing experience and information." Chuck Creekmur (USA) – AllHipHop.com

The conference will provide a platform for industry professionals to get a taste of international talents, network and exchange knowledge with other giants in the industry as well as with upcoming and established artists. In 2009 for example, upcoming artists, producers, bookers and managers we’re able to network and collaborate live with international artists such as Bishop Lamont, Fredro Starr (Onyx), LMFAO, Rock City and Verse, among others.

Nothing less can be expected for the 2011 edition as the New Skool Rules 2011 experience will start to make its mark in 2010 already, with various international collaborations and competitions scheduled. In 2011 the programme will feature over 30showcases, 12 master classes, 12 workshops, 12 panels, 3 after-parties, speed-date
sessions and much more.

For more information/ticket purchase, visit www.newskoolrules.com

 

 

Video: Sout al Horeya,

'the sound of freedom' (in Egypt)

 

A solidarity protest song titled Sout al Horeya, 'the sound of freedom', by Moustafa Fahmy, Mohamed Khalifa, and Mohamed Shaker. (Press the 'cc' button in the YouTube player for the translation.)

"I went down and I said I am not coming back, and I wrote on every street wall that I am not coming back.

"All barriers have been broken down, our weapon was our dream, and the future is crystal clear to us, we have been waiting for a long time, we are still searching for our place, we keep searching for a place we belong too, in every corner in our country.

"The sound of freedom is calling, in every street corner in our country, the sound of freedom is calling..

"We will re-write history, if you are one of us, join us and don't stop us from fulfilling our dream.

(Update) Video with English subtitles

 

 

 

 

Ice T

 

The Art of Rap: Movie Trailer (Rough Language)

 

Ice T’s forthcoming film, The Art of Rap. Taking you back to the streets where it all began, Ice T shows how the rap game first started and how things have changed since then. In the early days of hip-hop, rap music was raw and emotional, it was about your struggles and what you were going through at the time. “Rap music saved my life,” he says, acknowledging that if it hadn’t been for rap he would be in a very different place today. The film features emcees like Treach, Grandmaster Caz, Immortal Technique, Kool Keith and more and is scheduled for release early Fall 2011.

 

 

Meklit Hadero

 

Dub Colossus In a Town Called Addis

This project brings together an extraordinary but little known African musical heritage, a labour of love recording in a makeshift studio in down-town Addis Ababa and then a journey back to Real World to capture for the first time ever in the UK some of Ethiopia's finest performers.

 

Dub Colossus

• from United Kingdom

This project is the vision of Dub Colossus - Dubulah - aka Nick Page. Composer, guitarist, bass player and programmer Nick started his music career with Michael Riley (Steel Pulse) and has since worked with a long list of notable artists and eccentrics. In 1990 he formed Trans-Global Underground with Tim Whelan and Hammid Man-Tu, produced-wrote-played six albums before leaving in 1997 to form Temple of Sound with Neil Sparkes.

 

Dub Colossus in a Town Called Addis was inspired by meeting, writing and working with Ethiopian singers and musicians in Addis Ababa in August 2006. The collaboration between Dub Colossus and these amazing musicians covers Azmari and traditional styles as well as the popular singing styles of the 60s and 70s.

 

 

 

Singer Sintayehu 'Mimi' Zenebe is known as "the Edith Piaf" of Ethiopian song and owns the Doku Club in Addis, a venue devoted to traditional Azmari music. Fellow singer, Tsedenia Gebremarkos, is a well-known and respected performer and radio presenter, and winner of a Kora award as the best female singer in East Africa in 2004.

 

Master saxophonist, Feleke Hailu, is also a classical composer, lecturer and Head of Music at the Yared Music School. He is part of a dynastic tradition that stretches back far beyond the classic hits his father arranged for the Ethiopiques series's legend Mahmoud Ahmed.

 

Extraordinary pianist Samuel Yirga is an exciting new discovery - a young prodigy of classical and ethiojazz and student at the Yared Music School.

 

They are joined by Teremage Woretaw who, with his plaintive voice and messenqo (one-string fiddle), is a youthful carrier of the ancient Azmari tradition.

 

Mimi, Tsedenia, Feleke, Samuel and Teremage all travelled to Real World Studios to finish the album, and for most of them this was their first time travelling out of Ethiopia.

 

The other musicians who took part in the recordings in the makeshift studio in downtown Addis were Bahta Gerbrehiwot (one of the great Ethiopian singers of the 1960s), Fasika Hailu on a traditional harp (the krar), Getachew Werkley on flute, Desta Fikra and Tawebe Tadesse on vocals.

 

 

 

__________________________

 

Dub Colossus update a 1978 classic by one-hit wonder Jamaican duo

Remember this? The 1978 hit Uptown Top Ranking by one-hit wonder Jamaican duo Althea & Donna.  This video is of their Top of the Pops performance from back then.

Fast forward to 2011 and all the signs say it has aged just the way a good classic should, and, though covered a few times since its first appearance, is ready for a new interpretation of and for a new generation.

Dub Colossus is the brainchild of British producer and multi-instrumentalist Nick Page aka Dubulah. He went to Addis Ababa in 2006 to collaborate with musicians and explore traditional Azmari styles, 60s Ethiopian pop, Ethio-jazz and 70s Jamaican Dub Reggae. His explorations led him to various talented musicians, so he decided to put together a band.

Watch lead singers Sintayehu 'Mimi' Zenebe and Tsedenia Gebremarkos give the tune a Habashe twist at their live performance in North London’s Dingwalls.

If you want to embed the track you can grab it from SoundCloud

 <span>Uptown Top Ranking (Radio Edit) by RealWorldRecords</span> 

Uptown Top Ranking (Radio Edit) by RealWorldRecords

>via: http://www.thisisafrica.me/new-releases/detail/1319/Dub-Colossus-update-a-197...