Moyra Davey - Speaker Receiver

"Kunsthalle Basel is delighted to announce 'Speaker Receiver', the first institutional show in Europe of works by Moyra Davey. Born in Canada in 1958, the artist lives and works in New York. Davey's practice encompasses photography, film and video, as well as reading and writing. She conceives of the latter two activities as inseparable and equally significant techniques of working: her alert, incisive readings of philosophy and literature prompt new writing, which in turn reflects back on already existing texts, building, as it does, on fragments, memories and quotations."
like you, Sternberg, Duke, KUNSTHALLE, YouTube - Moyra Davey on Choosing Photography, Moyra Davey on Finding Ideas and Working with Multiple Media, Moyra Davey on Documentation and the Transition from Analog to Digital

The City Lights Pocket Poets Series

Wikipedia - "The City Lights Pocket Poets Series is a series of poetry collections published by Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights Books of San Francisco since August 1955. The series is most notable for the publication of Allen Ginsberg's literary milestone 'Howl', which led to an obscenity charge for the publishers that was fought off with the aid of the ACLU."
Wikipedia, City Lights

At San Quentin - Johnny Cash

Wikipedia - "At San Quentin is a recording of a live concert given by Johnny Cash to the inmates of San Quentin State Prison. As well as being released on record the concert was filmed by Granada Television."
Wikipedia, YouTube - San Quentin, Folsom Prison Blues, Wanted Man, Boy Named Sue, He Turned The Water Into Wine, June Carter & Johnny Cash - Jackson, June Carter & Johnny Cash - Darlin' Companion

On the Passage of a few People through a Rather Brief Moment in Time: The Situationist International 1956-1972

"A video documentary combining exhibition footage of the Situationist International exhibitions with film footage of the 1968 Paris student uprising, and graffiti and slogans based on the ideas of Guy Debord (one of the foremost spokesmen of the Situationist International movement)."
UbuWeb

Censorship

Nikolai Yezhov, standing to the right of Joseph Stalin, was shot in 1940. He was edited out of the photo by Soviet censors after his execution as a form of damnatio memoriae.

Wikipedia - "Censorship is suppression of speech or other communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient to the general body of people as determined by a government, media outlet, or other controlling body."
Wikipedia

Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde

"For van Doesburg, there was an underlying unity between the anarchic Dada movement and the more ordered aesthetic of De Stijl. ‘The Dadaist spirit pleases me more and more’, he wrote to Tristan Tzara in October 1921."
Tate, Antonio Miranda, Google - "Letters from the avant-garde: modern graphic design"

Gilligan's Island

Wikipedia - "Gilligan's Island is an American television situation comedy created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz and originally produced by United Artists Television. The series featured Bob Denver, Alan Hale, Jr., Jim Backus, and Tina Louise, and aired for three seasons on the CBS network, from September 26, 1964, to September 4, 1967."
Wikipedia, Slash Control, YouTube - Gilligan's Island, Gilligan and The Skipper are Killed

The Sonics

Wikipedia - "The Sonics are an American garage rock band from Tacoma, Washington, originating from the early and mid-1960s. Among The Sonics' contemporaries were The Kingsmen, The Wailers, The Dynamics, The Regents, and Paul Revere & the Raiders. This movement is credited with founding Seattle's music scene which survives to the present."
Wikipedia, YouTube - Psycho a Go-Go, Boss Hoss, Strychnine, The Witch, Have Love, Will Travel

Che Guevara in popular culture

Wikipedia - "Appearances of Argentine Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara (1928–1967) in popular culture are common throughout the world. Although during his lifetime he was a highly politicized and controversial figure, in death his stylized image has been transformed into a worldwide emblem for an array of causes, representing a complex mesh of sometimes conflicting narratives. Che Guevara's image is viewed as everything from an inspirational icon of revolution, to a hipster logo of radical chic."
Wikipedia

Parliament Funkadelic - Mothership Connection - Houston 1976

"It was Halloween night and Parliament Funkadelic was about to tear the roof off the Houston Summit, ready to bless the crowd with their cosmic brew of interplanetary funk. George Clinton, Bernie Worrell, Bootsy Collins and the rest of the P-Funk collective were riding the success of their first Top 5 R&B hit, 'Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker),' a track that had earned them the kind of radio play that would bring the masses out to see them live in a stadium-sized arena."
YouTube - Swing Down Sweet Chariot, Dr. Funkenstein, Cosmic Slop, Do That Stuff, Gamin' On Ya, Standing On the Verge of Gettin' It On, Undisco Kidd, Give Up The Funk, Funkin' For Fun, Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples, Children of Productions, Comin' 'round the Mountain, P-Funk Wants to Get Funked Up

Fresh Stuff From Michael Aaron Williams in Austria

"From Michael: 'some of them had white roses in them to symbolize how street children are vulnerable to losing there innocence on the streets.'"
Wooster Collective

Myst, Riven

Wikipedia - "Myst puts the player in the role of the Stranger, who uses a special book to travel to the island of Myst. There, the player uses other special books written by an artisan and explorer named Atrus to travel to several worlds known as 'Ages'. Clues found in each of these Ages help reveal the back-story of the game's characters. The game has several endings, depending on the course of action the player takes."
Wikipedia, W - Riven, Myst Worlds, amazon, YouTube - Myst, Riven

Ho Chi Minh Trail Project

"In cooperation with the Long March Project, the Ho Chi Minh Trail project will be run in Beijing from June to September, 2010. Its theme is ‘from creation to rehearsal’. The Long March Project is one of the most influential curatorial projects in China promoting the development of Chinese contemporary art and discourse."
Ho Chi Minh Trail Project, (1), Photo Gallery

Ernest Cole

Wikipedia - "Ernest Cole (1940 - February 19, 1990) was a South African photographer."
Wikipedia, NYT, YouTube

The Shrine – Lagos

"In the past week the Nigerian authorities have finally succeeded in closing the legendary Shrine venue in Lagos. The Shrine club originally formed part of the 'Kalakuta Republic' founded by Fela Kuti in the early 70s (which also included a recording studio and commune), and was the stage where Fela developed the Afrobeat sound. It’s not the first time the venue has been closed by the authorities – The original Shrine was already destroyed in 1977 – but unfortunately it appears this latest closure may be final."
Laboca, Aphrodesia, amazon, YouTube - Lagos Jump - Visit to Fela's Shrine, Live at the Africa Shrine(Fela Death)

Orson Welles - The One Man Band (1995)

"ORSON WELLES: THE ONE-MAN BAND is a fascinating glimpse at this extraordinary man's final years - made with the cooperation of Oja Kodar, Welles' longtime companion, to whom he bequeathed a wealth of unedited films and fragments when he died in 1985. Granted exclusive access to Welles' heretofore unseen archives - and drawing from almost two tons of film cans containing fragments, shorts, project ideas, and sketches - the filmmakers are led by Kodar through the rich but unfulfilled Welles legacy."
UbuWeb

The Subway Issue

"The Subway in Pictures. A gallery of New York Times photography documenting 10 decades of New York City’s subway system."
NY Tiimes

Classified X

"A history of the racially stereotyped portrayal of African Americans in cinema. Written and narrated by Melvin Van Peebles, director of 'revolutionary' film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. Van Peebles is no angel, his films have been called exploitative, but this history is powerful. Watch ALL 6 PARTS to see how stereotyped representations have evolved from early cinema to today."
YouTune - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Leaked Cables Offer Raw Look at U.S. Diplomacy

"A mammoth cache of a quarter-million confidential American diplomatic cables, most of them from the last three years, provides an unprecedented look at bargaining by embassies, candid views of foreign leaders and assessments of threats. The material was obtained by WikiLeaks and made available to a number of news organizations in advance."
NYT - State's Secrets, Wikileaks, Guardian, Spiegel, YouTube - Pentagon Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg on Upcoming Iraq War Wikileaks Docs (Part 1 of 2), (Part 2 of 2)

Vintage Curt Teich linen postcards 1930s-50s

"A portion of my collection of linen postcards from the 30's and 50's"
flickr, Wikipedia - Curt Teich, jitterbuzz

Pills and Thrills: Fred Tomaselli’s Transports

Car Bomb, 2008
"When Motherless Brooklyn author Jonathan Lethem announced in April that he would be relocating from Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, to the white-collar, academic enclave of Claremont, California (where he’d take over David Foster-Wallace’s teaching slot at Pomona College), the borough felt a twinge of old-time, Brooklyn Dodgers–style rejection. Fortunately for dwellers of Kings County—and others who hold resident New York bards dear—Fred Tomaselli was simultaneously putting the finishing touches on the installation of his latest crackerjack show: his unabashedly gorgeous, conceptually expansive midcareer retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum."
The Paris Review, Wikipedia, James Cohan Gallery, white cube, BOMB, YouTube - Fred Tomaselli

Graffiti

Wikipedia - "Graffiti (singular: graffito; the plural is used as a mass noun) is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property. Graffiti is any type of public markings that may appear in the forms of simple written words to elaborate wall paintings. Graffiti has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. In modern times paint, particularly spray paint, and marker pens have become the most commonly used grafitti materials."
Wikipedia, playdo, YouTube - Graffiti Tools

Funk History

Funk History 1/8, 2/8, 3/8, 4/8, 5/8, 6/8, 7/8, 8/8

Skip James

Wikipedia - "Nehemiah Curtis 'Skip' James (June 9, 1902 – October 3, 1969) was an American delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter."
Wikipedia, last.fm, YouTube - Devil Got My Woman (1966), Skip´s Worried Blues, Cherry Ball Blues, Crow Jane, I'm So Glad (1931), Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues

Marwencol

"After being beaten into a brain-damaging coma by five men outside a bar, Mark built a 1/6th scale World War II-era town in his backyard. Mark populated the town he dubbed 'Marwencol' with dolls representing his friends and family and created life-like photographs detailing the town's many relationships and dramas."
siff, IMDb, Netflix

Sun Ra - "Space Is the Place" (1974)

Film still from Space is the Place, 1974
"Avant-garde jazz musician Sun Ra stars in the movie version of his concept album Space Is the Place. Not following a linear plot line, this experimental film is a bizarre combination of social commentary, blaxploitation, science fiction, and concert performance."
UbuWeb

Robert Palmer

Wikipedia - "Robert Allen Palmer (19 January 1949 – 26 September 2003), born in Batley, Yorkshire, was a Grammy Award-winning English singer-songwriter. He was known for his distinctive voice and the eclectic mix of musical styles on his albums, combining soul, jazz, rock, pop, reggae and blues."
Wikipedia, last.fm, YouTube - Addicted To Love, Simply Irresistible, I didn't mean to turn you on (remix)

The American Friend (1977)

Wikipedia - "The American Friend ... is a 1977 film by Wim Wenders, loosely adapted from the novel Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith. The film is of the neo-noir genre, and features Dennis Hopper as career criminal Tom Ripley and Bruno Ganz as Jonathan Zimmermann, a terminally ill picture framer whom Ripley coerces into becoming an assassin."
Wikipedia, amazon, YouTube, 1

Ohio Players

Wikipedia - "The Ohio Players were an American funk and R&B band, most popular in the 1970s. They are best known for their double #1 hit songs 'Fire' and 'Love Rollercoaster'."
Wikipedia, last.fm, YouTube - Love Rollercoaster, Fire 1974 Live , Skin Tight, Who'd She Coo

100,000 Fleeing Hilda - Boke Press 1967

Mimeo Mimeo

A Thanksgiving Prayer - William S Burroughs

"Thanksgiving Day, Nov 28,1986 first appeared in the chapbook Tornado Alley, with illustrations by S. Clay Wilson. Gus Van Sant then made a short film of Burroughs reading the text. This poem resonates today as exposing what has gone horribly wrong in the USA, or maybe what has always been wrong."
YouTube - Thanksgiving Prayer - William S Burroughs

Pet Shop Boys - 1985-1989

Wikipedia - "Unperturbed by the low chart position, the band returned to the studio in August to re-record 'West End Girls' with producer Stephen Hague. Released in October 1985, this new version initially entered the charts at a similarly low position, but began a slow rise, so that, by January 1986, it achieved the top spot."
Wikipedia, YouTube - West End Girls (Live 1986), West End Girls, It's A Sin (Live at The Roxy 1987), Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money), Suburbia, I Want A Lover, One More Chance, It couldn't happen here 1988, Two Divided By Zero, Love Comes Quickly

The Upsetters

Wikipedia - "The Upsetters was the name given to the house band for Jamaican reggae producer Lee 'Scratch' Perry. The name of the band comes from Perry's nickname of Upsetter, after his song 'I Am The Upsetter', a musical dismissal of his former boss Coxsone Dodd. The Upsetters were originally Gladdy's All-Stars, led by pianist Gladstone Anderson and it was they who originally recorded the international hits 'Live Injection' and 'Return Of Django'."
Wikipedia, last.fm, Roots Archives, YouTube - Return of Django, Holiday Dub, Dry Acid, Guns of Navarone, One Step Dub

Jazz Age

Wikipedia - "The Jazz Age was a movement that took place during the 1920s or the Roaring Twenties from which jazz music and dance emerged. The movement came about with the introduction of main stream radio and the end of the war. This era ended in the 1930s with the beginning of The Great Depression but has lived on in American pop culture for decades. With the introduction of jazz came an entirely new cultural movement in places like the America, France and England. The birth of jazz music is often accredited to African Americans but expanded and modified to become socially acceptable to middle-class white Americans."
Wikipedia, Jazz Age Culture, Jazz Age Chicago, YouTube - To Live In The 1920's, Flappers - The Roaring Twenties

Gert Jan Kocken

Gert Jan Kocken