Circus Ignite!

Circus Ignite! A Benefit for the Dreamtime Circus Peruvian Tour
Saturday, 12/19
at Siberia (formerly Fat City)
314 11th St., San Francisco

9pm-4am
Doors at 9, Cabaret 10-11, Silent Auction 9-2, DJ's 11-4

http://dreamtimecircus.org/events/
$12 online presale
$15-20 sliding scale at the door

DJs, Dancers, roving performers and surprises! Cabaret 10-11pm, silent auction 9pm-2am, djs till 4.

Tim Barsky beatbox storytelling costumes, Dalva fine art

I was a recent finalist in Style Wars, where we had to make fashion do-or-die onstage in five minutes or less, out of trash, onto live models. That scissorfight was the only thing that could have prepared me for the frantic energy of working on Tim Barsky's piece, The Bright River. The show is opening at Climate TODAY and running there for a few weeks in a sort of concert version before heading to Brava for the fully produced theatrical version in the new year. Don't worry, ALL versions are chock full of fly-ass costumes... which I am hacking and chopping together right now (eek!) on the bodies of real live beatbox boys. Stars, splatters, swirls, sparkles, hack/slash/style. Check below for full promo info! Make sure to come out for the lobby party, you know we know how to rock it. You might see me doing last minute embellishments, hunched over a pile of sequins, giggling.
http://thebrightriver.com

Meanwhile, also mark your calendars for next Tuesday, December 8th. I am hanging a ton of paintings at Dalva, including some seldom-seen rarities from the vault, along with amazing Bay Area stalwart Jeffrey Thompson. $2 Trumer Pilsners 7-9pm
http://mediumreality.com
http://homepage.mac.com/jeft/art/index.htm

Climate Theater, anonEvents & 37 North present:

The return engagement of 2005's critically acclaimed hit

THE BRIGHT RIVER
A mass transit tour of the afterlife

Written and performed by Tim Barsky
featuring
Kevin Carnes (Broun Fellinis) – drum set and samples
Alex Kelly (Mark Growden band) – cello and electronics
Carlos Aguirre (Felonious) – beatbox and live looping

"Imagine imagination was a thread, imagine that these words were writ upon water. What if everything after death is just as messed up as it is in life? The rich are still getting richer, the poor are still getting prison -- and everyone still has to rent to pay. So to pay the bills, Quick became a fixer. A missing persons specialist. He brings the dead back to life. And he wants to know: ARE YOU READY to cross over to the other side?"

More info: thebrightriver.com

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=178793017734

Tkts: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/90981

Directed by: Jessica Heidt
General Manager: David Gluk
Set Design: Mellie Katakalos
Lighting Design: Heather Basarab
Costume Design: Rachel Hospodar/Medium Reality
Music Director: Jessica Ivry

"Hop a subway to a restless hip-hop underworld.... A curious and often transfixing amalgam of Jewish, Greek and other folklore, film noir narrative, adventures in mass transit and riveting, beatbox-driven rhythms." - Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle

"Concert" version in the month of December:
Climate Theater
285 – 9th Street @ Folsom, San Francisco, 94103

December 3 - December 27, 2009
Thursday through Saturday @ 8pm; Sunday @ 7pm
Doors open one hour before showtime

Enjoy the Bright River social experience before and after the show with
djs, live music and light fare.
Tickets: Thursday/Sunday $15-20; Friday/Saturday $20-25
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/90981
Easy street parking, close to Civic Center BART/Muni
__________________________________________________________________

"Theatrical" version in January and February:
Brava Theater Center
2781 24th Street @ York, between Bryant & Potrero, San Francisco, 94110

January 8 - February 20, 2010
Thursday through Saturday @ 8pm; Sunday @ 7pm
Doors open one hour before showtime

Experience the Bright River's San Francisco noir underworld environment before and after the show with unique decor, djs, live music, refreshments and light fare. Socialize early and stay after the show for unique live culture in the heart of the city.
Tickets $17-35

Easy Parking located 2 blocks away, right next to SF General Hospital
2500 24th St., San Francisco, CA, 94110
(415) 206-8770
open 24 hours
$1.50/hr, max. $12

More info: thebrightriver.com
Ticketing: brownpapertickets.com, 1-800-838-3006
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/90226

Empty nightclub, getting ready for style wars

Empty nightclub, getting ready for style wars
Originally uploaded by rachelyra

Tonight at mezzanine ! Running with scissors and chopping with abandon....

Rachel Lyra Hospodar

mediumreality.com
sustainable as hell menswear

pandorastrunk.com
independent artists producing narrative entertainment

11/14 Workshop: Fashion as Protest and Inspiration: Punk, Queer, and Freak Fashion

Saturday, November 14th, 2-4pm

Art as Propaganda Workshop
Presented by Rachel Hospodar and Rachel Steinbeisser of Pandora's Trunk

We'll discuss political, environmental, and creative reasons for dressing uniquely, and how we can effect change through the language of clothing. The workshop will cover some basic handsewing and creative patch techniques, and resources for further learning. Please bring any clothes you'd like to creatively patch. We will have reclaimed fabric patches available to work on. Clothing in the service of radical propaganda!

Location: New Valencia Hall, 625 Larkin St, Suite 202, San Francisco. The fee is $10-20 sliding scale, materials included. For more information, please call 415-864-1278 or email baradicalwomen@earthlink.net

In tandem with this workshop, there will be a "Clothes Kitchen" the following Sunday, Nov 22 from 12-4pm - it's a clothing swap with sewing machines and teachers to help you make old clothes into new creative ones. That will take place at The Caretakers - 848 Divisadero @ McCallister, San Francisco.


About the Art as Propaganda Workshop:

Radical Women hosts a revolutionary workshop series that explores the interconnections between art and activism. Each month we'll learn a different skill and history of a radical movement, with an opportunity for participants to create art for a specific community action. Newbie and experienced artists and activists all welcome.

Fall 2009 Series:

Oct 10: Radical Media: The Heresies Collective + Political Zines (Paulina McFarland and Lex McQuilkin of Art XX Magazine)

Nov 14: Fashion as Protest and Inspiration: Queer, Punk and Freak Fashion (Rachel Hospodar and Rachel Steinbeisser of Pandora's Trunk)

Dec 12: Communal Craft and the Suffrage Movement: Banners for Protest and Public Space (Hannah Blair)

garment maker's oath - engineers of style

(with apologies to the veterinary oath, which i am shamelessly adapting here)

I solemnly swear to use my fabulous engineering knowledge and skills for the benefit of society through the protection of human health & style, the relief of suffering at the hands of poor fit and bad design, the conservation of human resources, the promotion of the public good and the advancement of knowledge.

I will practice my profession conscientiously, with dignity and in keeping with the principles of cultural and business ethics.

Sales and Marketing Essentials workshop, bay area

Fashion Business Inc. - Bay Area Presents:



Sales and Marketing Essentials

For start-up and growing apparel and accessory companies, come learn how local star, Sheila Moon, owner of Sheila Moon Athletic Apparel, has built her company from the ground up to include hundreds of accounts and become a household name in the active wear industry.

You will learn about:

· Building Your Brand

· Working With Sales Reps

· How To Choose And Work A Trade Show

· On-Line Selling

· Closing Accounts

· Getting Press



Presenter: Sheila Moon, owner of Sheila Moon Athletic Apparel. The mission of this Portland native and Oakland resident, is to bring fashion to the world of cycling. Sheila combines 15 years of bike experience with a lifetime as a fashion designer to create cycling apparel that is both fashionable and functional. Sheila is in the cutting edge of cycling fashion, offering tailored wool britches and lined jackets that travel from bike to boardroom. She also creates some of the finest cycling basics in the industry. Sheila Moon Athletic Apparel is a woman owned business and every item is created in artisan sewing factories in San Francisco.

When: October 28, from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Where: The Small Business Administration, 455 Market Street, Sixth Floor, San Francisco.

Cost: $30/$15 for FBI members.

Register at www.fashionbizinc.org.

Sunday Oct 25 Pandora's Trunk presents Runway Storytime Adventure

Pandora can't be contained inside of her trunk any longer! She is rolling out the red carpet and splashing around the gold paint because the thousand and one fabulous nights are upon us at last. Sunday October 25th at Brava Theater, this group of independent artists is coming together again to present multimedia storytelling like it's never been done before. Advance tickets are available at a discount on our website http://pandorastrunk.com/events/index.html. There are lots of different pricing options so that rich and poor citizens alike can experience the wonderment of our storytime adventures in high style.... buy multiple advance tickets for even greater savings (and shared good times)! We just put up all the artists' photos and links so check em out so you know what you are in for, ten times as much performative amazingness as ever before. http://pandorastrunk.com/conspirators/index.html

***************

Pandora's Trunk 1001 Fabulous Nights

a runway storytime adventure in three acts
multimedia fashion performance, live music, & lobby bazaar with indie clothing, art, micro foods, and more!

at Brava Theater
2781 24th St near Bryant
Sunday October 25th
7-11pm
8pm showtime

$6 poorboy special 6:50-7pm
$12 in advance
$15 at the door
http://pandorastrunk.com/events/index.html

Brand new narrative fashion adventures are coming, from the cutting edge of Bay Area sustainable artistry.
featuring designs by:

medium reality :: sustainable as hell menswear
miss velvet cream :: for tomorrows urban nomads
ghetto goldilocks
tamo design
dollymop
tj hooker
gelareh design
curiouser & curiouser
...and many others!

including performances by:

fou fou ha :: animated slapstick cabaret
sf boylesque :: re-imagining vintage burlesque
dreamtime circus
...and a special surprise guest!

live video and other wizardry :: ammo sf
live music :: surly, diana mccullough, phantom power

lobby music :: rostam (bibisf) & audiobird

http://pandorastrunk.com





As always, the designers of Pandora's Trunk could not do what we do without your amazing support and love. Thank you for checking out the links below, and forwarding the event to any friends you think might be interested!
Our Facebook event page:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=156925004798&index=1
become our fan!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/San-Francisco-CA/Pandoras-Trunk/147473945721

Ten pounds in a Five Pound Bag, a-hey!

Things are falling into place for Pandora's Trunk upcoming October 25th event!! Last night the musical director and I took ourselves to a warren of rehearsal spaces off of 6th st in soma, counting rats and junkies on our way in. We watched Michael play a gourd with a saxophone reed jammed onto the end of it and brainstormed ways to shoehorn some more magic into our Trunk. scroll down for some cool links on our fashion ancestry.

Tickets on sale now!!

Pandora's Trunk presents
1001 Fabulous Nights
a runway storytime adventure in three acts
multimedia fashion performance, live music,
& lobby bazaar with indie clothing, art, micro foods, and more!

at Brava Theater
2781 24th St near Bryant
Sunday October 25th
7-11pm
8pm showtime

$6 poorboy special 6:50-7pm
$12 in advance
$15 at the door
pandorastrunk.com

featuring designs by:

medium reality :: sustainable as hell menswear
miss velvet cream :: for tomorrows urban nomads
ghetto goldilocks
tamo design
dollymop
tj hooker
gelareh design
curiouser & curiouser
...and many others!

including performances by:

fou fou ha :: animated slapstick cabaret

sf boylesque :: re-imagining vintage burlesque

dreamtime circus

live video and other wizardry by:
ammo sf

Today on the inspiration train we are having tea with Paul Poiret. "Poiret was notorious for throwing lavish parties, and plays featuring his designs. Such famous parties, as, "The Thousand and Second Night" (based on The Arabian Nights), on June 24th, 1911 hosted over 300 guests required to dress up in 'Oriental' costuming. In cases in which guests attended improperly attired, they were requested to either outfit themselves in some of Poiret's 'Persian' outfits, or leave. "
images:
http://www.metmuseum.org/special/Poiret/king_of_fashion_images.asp
wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Poiret

Let's hope that our Thousand and One Fabulous Nights designers can avoid Poiret's sad fate. We promise not to run off and serve the military.

Late summer events announcement

Summer's over? Are you kidding me? I'm not sure where it went! We're getting ready for San Francisco's hot and sunny fall and excited for our upcoming October 25th multimedia fashion extravaganza. Yes, you're invited. Can't wait? Sneak peeks this weekend and throughout October. Hope to see you there! Can't make it? stay tuned to the website for our videos and photos! check out this photo shoot from this summer: http://pandorastrunk.com/events/2009july.html

This weekend:

Summerland street fair at mint plaza
http://www.summerlandmintplaza.com/
Saturday, Sept. 26 11am-5pm

The 10th Annual Expo for Independent Arts!
http://artsandmedia.net/expo/
Saturday, Sept. 26 11am-6pm
Golden Gate Park Music Concourse (between the De Young Museum & Cal Academy of Science) .... the Bay Area's only grassroots connection fair for independent arts, music & culture

catch us at these other events coming up:
Castro St Fair - October 4th
Decompression - October 11th

.....and.......
Pandora's Trunk presents
1001 Fabulous Nights
a runway storytime adventure in three acts
multimedia fashion performance, live music,
& lobby bazaar with indie clothing, art, micro foods, and more!

Sunday October 25th
7-11pm
8pm showtime

$6 poorboy special 6:50-7pm
$12 in advance
$15 at the door
pandorastrunk.com

featuring designs by:

medium reality
sustainable as hell menswear

miss velvet cream
for tomorrows urban nomads

ghetto goldilocks
tamo design
dollymop
tj hooker
gelareh design
curiouser & curiouser
...and many others!

including performances by:

fou fou ha
animated slapstick cabaret

sf boylesque
re-imagining vintage burlesque

dreamtime circus

live video and other wizardry by:
ammo sf

at Brava Theater
2781 24th St near Bryant

Upcoming events

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Clothing Is a Technology (whether it lights up or not)

Here is the gist of a speech i gave on the Cypress Stage at Maker Faire, at the conclusion of the Pandora's Trunk runway storytime show. It is a topic I feel very passionately about!

It occasionally seems a little funny, right, robots and steam engines and fire and machines all mixed together with knitting, and sewing, and clothes. Garments are a technology, though, turning flat sheets into close-fitting three-dimensional shapes with subtle engineering. This isn't just about design. Garments trap a small quantity of air near your body; their close fit allows this amount of air to be small enough that you can regulate it with your body heat. This innovation is what allowed mankind to leave Africa and settle the temperate zones - without clothing, even here in San Francisco, you would die from exposure. Energy expenditures necessary to heat buildings and public spaces enough for naked people would bankrupt us all. Sorry, nudists. When the wind blows, we need jackets.

This technology has become so ubiquitous that it's unremarkable, like some kind of black box magic that just always works.

This industry that is so basic to our survival, like all modern manufacturers,is now faced with problems of scale and accountability that need innovation to solve them.

We are the designers of Pandora's Trunk and we assert that all manufacturers should be accountable for their ecological footprint, and that communities function best by marshaling their resources locally whenever possible.

Tiny Sewn House

Day two
Originally uploaded by Plusea

Gearing up for the winter half of the year (headlog rush to Christmas) and building some little tiny projects into the schedule that will give me sheer art joy. It's fun to layer things on top of each other, connecting disparate projects and finding venn-diagram ways that they overlap and are relevant to each other. Art can be better at marketing marketable goods than feeding me directly! So, what fun marketing can i make?

Funk n Trunk this Saturday

I'm not doing many straight-up trunk sales any more, but here is an oldie-and-goodie. Many of Pandora's favorite designers will be at Funk and Trunk this Saturday, including Medium Reality sustainable menswear, Pieces, and Tamo.

Summer with a vengeance

Wow, the first half of the year really flew by! June's almost over, the longest day of the year has come and gone, and it's gay pride season in San Francisco. What's happening right now? Working on plans for Pandora's Trunk fall season and about to launch a line sheet offensive on an unsuspecting fashion world. I'm actively looking for suggestions of stores that might fit in with my work! Check out these awesome photos of Pandora's Trunk at Maker Faire.

The long-stalled SF bike plan is finally up for review right now. It was on hold for ages because they had perform an environmental impact review for the impact of installing bike lanes. I wish i was kidding. That part's over now, anyway. yay bikes! Ride one to one of these events tomorrow:

Funk n' Trunk
Independent Designer Trunk Show
Funky fashions, eats & beats!

Sat June 27, 2009
2pm - 7pm
Triple Crown 1760 Market Street, SF
No Cover.

20 Independent Designers
Adornments by Daria
Music by DJ4Life (dj4life.org)
Massage
Full Bar and Champagne Specials!
Delicious Tapas Style Bites

AND....

KöNIG [king of boylesque] is a pageant unlike any other.
Saturday, June 27th @ 8pm.
SOMArts Cultural Arts Center
934 Brannan Street
$15 only.
1-800-838-3006

The Gentleman and the Clown

Here you can see a gentleman demonstrating the Omnidimensional transfragmentary oscillosextant. Maybe this nice lady will show us how it works at Maker Faire.



Stilts, clowns, lots of men running around in tight clothes, and a space invader of some kind. I think. Speaker dresses, or something, and a lady inside of a tiffany lampshade? The bellydancer said yes but we don't know yet if it's to bellydance or not. It's always an adventure putting together the script for Pandora's Trunk storytime. We will use whole parts of it over again from show to show but it sort of...evolves... over time as different designers get involved or their presentations change, and the story must adapt. It lives! first Maker Faire rehearsal this Friday night, thank bejesus that Bad Unkl Sista is directing the show this time, won't that make a difference!



Here is your host, mad, quite mad.

Ties for Deano the Hockey Superstar

Deano wanted a tie like the one in my promo materials. That one is gone, daddy, gone but lucky for him I've got two left from that batch. Show & tell!

Rachel Lyra Hospodar

mediumreality.com
sustainable menswear

pandorastrunk.com
art, design, and performance events

craftcon.org
indie craft business conference

Dark Garden Ties!

Sending off a batch of ties & vests to this amazing corset shop in hayes valley, Dark Garden. What they don't know yet is that we used some scraps that I dug out of their trash to applique these bad boys. Can you say reCYCLEd?

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Louise Bourgeois Retrospective

This crazy lady is responsible for the creepy spiders that were/are along embarcadero in san francisco. I did not love the entire show the way I did with lee bontecou but the emotional response these spiders elicited is only *maybe* matched by bontecou's earlier vietnam-era works.

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Growing Pains / Boylesque / PT photos

I have started meeting with a branding consultant. We are developing a logo and some ideas to drive progress for Medium Reality. We talked a little about the differences between that project and the Pandora's Trunk project, and the trouble that many poly-project people have with putting the focus in the right place at the right time. I created Pandora's Trunk because I needed it as a promotional engine for my own work, and wanted to join forces with other artists to work together on those things. It is a great way for creators, who often do their work alone, to have co-workers and peers to interact with professionally on a regular basis.

Ernesto and I have declared that project complete. Not that it's over, just that it has been fully developed, is an awesome independent entity of its own, and has a huge and vibrant community of artists galvanized to produce work with each other. Hooray! Now it's time to focus on my work as one of those artists.

Medium Reality is a men's clothing line produced in San Francisco using recycled materials & sourced by bicycle: sustainable as hell. Look for these clothes to star in Pandora's Trunk runway shows at Maker Faire in San Mateo May 30th and Re-Compression in San Francisco June 6th. Keep your eyes on this space in the next 30 days. We are cleaning house, airing out the warehouse, and due to popular demand putting Medium Reality menswear for sale ONLINE for your international concealing-your-nakedness needs.

If you are in San Francisco check out Boylesque, featuring the debut of our new partnership with them - yes - Medium Reality produced costumes for a troupe of hot male burlesque dancers, stilters, chanteuses, and showmen.

Monthly, next showing tomorrow! April 28th & Wednesday April 29th at 11th & mission in SoMa San Francisco.

San Francisco Boylesque - official website

Wherever you are, check out this awesome slideshow from SF weekly from Pandora's Trunk April 18th in San Francisco.

Medium Reality Sustainable Menswear official website

Pandora's Trunk

Boylesque Jackets: vagabond in tails

These snappy ragtastic jackets are a set of costumes for a vaudeville act here in san francisco.

The full set will hit the stage for boylesque's Das Kabarett: Recess-I$-on April 28 & 29 but you can get a sneak preview tomorrow, april 18th, at Cabaret Deconstructiv. http://pandorastrunk.com Http://mediumreality.com

xoxx
R.

Pandora's Trunk & Medium Reality - upcoming events incl. Cabaret Deconstructiv April 18th 1-5pm

This is the last cabaret runway storytime we will be producing for a while so come and check out this amazing format! Read on for more info on this show as well as several others – an art opening in the Mission, a whole troupe of male burlesque performers (yes you heard me) wearing hot new designs, and of course Maker Faire on May 30th, where Pandora will return to the runway Science Style.

*****
Pandora’s Trunk presents Cabaret Deconstructiv: the Clown Edition!
Saturday April 18th 1-5pm

In the cutthroat world of runway design, there isn't a lot of room for levity, or playfulness... BZZZZT! THHHHBT! Pandora's Trunk is blowing a raspberry in the face of tradition. Presenting afternoon runway storytime series Cabaret Deconstructiv, *The Clown Edition*! Each designer's models represent thematic characters in our remixed runway show, where fashion and design is at the center of storytime. Set to a live original score, local designers showcase their best new and reconstructed garments, which our narrator TJ Hooker spins into a mind-blowing clowntastic fairytale. Yes, with free sangria.

Pandora's Trunk presents Cabaret Deconstructiv
Saturday April 18th
http://pandorastrunk.com
Design microbusiness showcase, show-off, and sale 1-5pm
Cabaret runway show & sustainable storytime at 2:30&4pm
Climate Theater
285 9th St., climatetheater.com
cover charge by sliding scale from $4
Refreshments * Live music

Delights for the eyes and various other body parts presented in a microbusiness show-off, where cleverly & sustainably operating folk are hanging out with trunksful of goodies to show and tell, and sell. Keep your ass and your money local and find out how your neighbors are building the future with... fun! Don’t forget to grab a free back issue of Craft Magazine to celebrate the upcoming Maker Faire!

*****
*Also coming up*….

*****
Opening Reception
Secession Art & Design gallery/boutique/workspace
Friday April 17th 6:30-9:30
http://www.secessionsf.com/
3361 Mission St (across from 30th St Safeway) SF CA

*****
Announcing a splash first hit in a whole new style of collaborations! Pandora’s Trunk designers have started a new program of costume sponsorship for SF Bay Area performers who we think need to be rocking a cutting edge style to go along with their world-class performances. You’ll barely have time to miss Cabaret Deconstructiv. Be sure to check out advance and discount tickets!

Sf Boylesque's monthly DAS KABARETT is now presenting its fourth episode, Das Kabarett: RECESS-I$-ON on April 28th & 29th. In a time of budget cuts and global economic crisis, Boylesque is throwing caution out the window and staging their largest show yet. More dancers, more singers, more musicians, more flesh, and more laughs add up to more fun for all! Free wine, giveaways, and complimentary treats are de rigueur complements to the debut of Das Kabarett’s newest family members, The Barnaby Sisters, styled by Medium Reality. Surprise musical guests are sure to delight at the vagabond arcade begining @ 7:30.

This show will act as a benefit for Food Not Bombs (http://sffnb.org/), a 28 year-old, world-wide organization dedicated to the principles of nonviolence, providing free vegetarian food and literature to anyone without restriction. Every dollar collected provides 4 meals to the hungry.

Tuesday 28th & Wednesday 29th @ 8pm.
Mama Calizo's Voice Factory
1519 Mission Street
$20 discounted advance tickets
save an additional 10%
www.sfboylesque.com
1-800-838-3006

*****
Pandora's Trunk in May

Pandora's Trunk is happy to announce a trip to San Mateo for Maker Faire, the biggest & bestest showcase of all things patched together, hacked on, welded up, soldered to, folded from, and made out of every kind of cool thing you can imagine. This special runway storytime presentation will follow immediately after the traditional Swap-O-Rama-Rama remade fashion extravaganza, and present top-notch professional design talent from the Bay Area and beyond in a narrative fashion storytale set to live music. Keep your eyes peeled for the return of one of SF's prodigal designers - Lara Grant will be taking a break from hacker school in New York to create and showcase a pair of sonic dresses. Prepare to be amplified!

Saturday, May 30 5:45 pm
Maker Faire
http://makerfaire.com
San Mateo

If you’ll think back way back when, you’ll remember all the ticket and special magazine giveaways we have done in years past… we love Maker Faire and Maker Faire loves us! Be sure to check out this awesome event; it’s a nexus of love, support, and idea generation for all sorts of bay area folks who are, very officially, Up To No Good.


Till next time,
xoxxxxx

R.

Maker Faire & Urbanography

Just posted up a bunch of photos from a shoot this past weekend. Check out this amazing location! I was a model this time. This was hard for me but loads of fun. It was helpful to have such an easygoing group.
medium reality & urbanography

Also save the date! We are confirmed to perform Pandora's Trunk Storytime Runway Showcase at Maker Faire in San Mateo on May 30th. It's going to be an amazing event - get involved and get in for free! send me a message if you want to help make the runway show happen.

Interlinkocity

I am experimenting with syndicating myself using free webtools... Interlinking everything so that, for example, when i upload files to flickr, it posts them to facebook for me. When I tweet on twitter it shows up in four different places on the web - including to your left if you are viewing this in its original form. I am trying to find all of the ways that i can to tell people about things all across my internets at once, posting all my juicy content in as few keystrokes as possible...leaving more time for the making! sometimes it's a delicious way to share event photos and artistic products, sometimes it can slip over into self-referential madness.



I'm experimenting with using internet widgets across all my different websites! I want YOUR feedback - tell me if it helps you to find out about stuff, or is annoying and repetetive, or even worse dysfunctional.

Pandora's Trunk Spring Save the Date

Pandora’s spring series is once again bringing you storytime fables told in fabulous style, with fashionable morals and immoral fashions all tied up in a canvas sack with a bow on top. Design and performance from a whole host of humans including powerhouse Bad Unkl Sista and newcomer Aradia Sunseri as well as Surly on viola and our inimitable narrator TJ Hooker, otherwise known in certain circles as Khadijah from the House of Salad.

Pandora's Trunk presents
Cabaret Deconstructiv
pandorastrunk.com
Saturday March 14th
& Saturday April 18th
Design microbusiness showcase, show-off, and sale 1-5pm
Cabaret runway show & sustainable storytime at 2:30&4pm
Climate Theater
285 9th St., climatetheater.com
cover charge by sliding scale

Refreshments * Live music

Delights for the eyes and various other body parts presented in a microbusiness show-off, where cleverly & sustainably operating folk are hanging out with trunksful of goodies to show and tell, and sell. Keep your ass and your money local and find out how your neighbors are building the future with... fun!

pandorastrunk.com

Bad Unkl Sista
TJ Hooker
Aradia Sunseri
Surly on viola
GhettO GoLdiLOcKs
Medium Reality
Estar
Miss Velvet Cream
Curiouser and Curiouser
Pallas Ravae
Domini
Cotton Candie Couture
Tamo Designs
Re:Finery
5733

Runway & Walkabout Models
Val Cunningham (Modeinstyle)
Jade Rivera (Curiouser & Curiouser)


March's show will be about growth and exploration, disasters averted. April is clown month at Climate and we are going to take part with clowns, monsters, an evil force and overflowing joy. At one of these two shows we are going to premiere the Medium Reality fashion/music/art video that Aharon Bourland (of happy red robot fame), Totter Todd, and Fkir Elderfae have been working on - featuring TJHooker esq. as well as Medium Reality and GhettO GoLdiLOcks clothing. hooray! Let's all make more awesome art-love together, hm?

New photo shoot complete sets!

some recent photo shoot sets have finally been processed and I actually have time to post them! here are a few, check out them all!

http://mediumreality.com

medium reality clothing
revellray photography

Compostmodern conference this weekend - and beyond!

Compostmodern is fertile ground for sustainability. Presented by the San Francisco chapter of AIGA and the AIGA Center for Sustainable Design (CFSD), this interdisciplinary conference explores the range of design thinking necessary to create a socially and ecologically responsible society. http://www.compostmodern.org/

Compostmodern 09 will be held at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco on Saturday, February 21. The event will be webcast live and will be available for 90 days following, encouraging online participation and satellite events at AIGA chapters and educational institutions everywhere.

LoveBOMB & Harold & Maude

It's been a quiet start to the year at Medium Reality & Pandora's Trunk, focused on moving the studios again (back to our old digs downtown!) and producing a video project. I wanted to let you know about some upcoming events, fresh goods, and all the usual amazingness, both flash and substance.

LOVEBOMB: A lover's soiree.

Join us for swanky beats, sexy clothes, lingerie, burlesque dancers, and a whole lotta hubba hubba.
Also featuring a day spa for all your pampering needs and cute little gifts perfect for the occasion.

Saturday, February 7th @ Club Mighty | 119 Utah Street
2:00 pm - 7:00 pm

...and when the mood gets swanky and everyone is feeling sexy...
Burlesque ~~ from 4:00 to 6:00.
Performances by:
Les Moquettes Coquettes
Cheese Puffs

---
Edible Love Chocolates - ediblelove.com
S&G Clothing - sandgclothing.com
KAYO - www.kayoanimeclothing.com
Ellamental - www.ellamental.net
Hipsterr Belts - hipstirrbelts.com
Caraucci - caraucci.com
Silver Lucy Design - silverlucydesign.com
Miranda Caroligne - mirandacaroligne.com
Sarah McAlister Jewelry - goblingblinggo.com
Minerva's Attennae
Ghetto Goldilocks
MoDA Sandrita
Medium Reality - mediumreality.com
Lucid Dawn - lucidawn.com
Phoenix Rising - phoenixrisingartists.com
Kiyumi Jewelry - kiyumijewelry.blogspot.com
Tamo Designs - tamodesign.com
Danielle DeRoberts (Onerary)
Kucoon Jewelry - kucoondesigns.com
Curiouser and Curiouser - curiouserandcuriouser.vpweb.com
Refinery
Wee Hats by Justin Credible
Alkemy Designs - www.godessalchemyproject.com
Booty Boutique - www.bootyboutique.com
....
and more.


DJ's..
Haj (Subswara, NYC)
Robb Green (Shameless)
Mozaic (Glimmer of Dope)
Obi-J (False Profit)

I will have some rad new clothes there, the leading edge of my own personal embroidery revolution. Send some vector graphics my way if you want to see 'em on the clothes.

Also if you are feeling feisty, or even a little curmudgeonly, Harold and Maude might be for you. If you haven't seen this hilarious 1971 cult classic, come see it at Brava Theater, the fabulous restored vaudeville house where we held our December runway show. They are opening their doors for us to invade again. Join me!

Harold and Maude
Thurs, Feb 12th
Brava Theater Center
2781 24th St, at York near Bryant, SF
$5 suggested donation
doors open at 7:30, show at 8.

Harold and Maude, one of the weirdest and most inspirational classic love stories about an unusual love affair, is a fabulous way to beat the February blues, connect with your loved ones, and I promise you won't be squicked out by it if you're not feeling the loving spirit. Well, maybe a little, but not by butterflies and sunshine and googley bedroom eyes, just by effing weird awesomeness.

fractal wood burning pt1 of 3

fractal wood burning pt1 of 3
Originally uploaded by Æther

Stuff like this seems so embryonic but compelling... This spring seems to be shaping up to be all about art/technology intersections and fashion/music intersections. In my spare time this summer i want to make a music server that you can cuddle with.

Happy Inauguration Day

Let me first say, before erupting into (mostly) unqualified joy at what is happening, that for the last few months I have been unable to stop thinking of the one-drop rule. It's ironic, understandable, and a more than a little sad that this racist rule invented long ago to increase the reach and human properties of slave owners would continue to inform the way we imagine identity in this country. I am a huge proponent of self-determination, and believe people should be able to draw their own identities. It is no small wonder that anyone growing up brown in this unequal nation would want to ally themselves in identity with others suffering from the same depradations. I deplore the divisive nature of this conception, though, where I as a mongrel american am supposed to be somehow 'other' from people who fit this same description. I have no doubt that I have benefited from looking like those in power in this country. I have also repudiated these benefits wherever I can, dressing in rags and with my blond hair chopped and raggedy and teeth gnashing.

In the last century, a people I consider my people were gathered up and wholesale slaughtered, a full third of this diasporic nation erased. What shocked me a few years ago was finding out about the boatload of refugees that was turned away from every nation, wandering the seas until they sank. And yet, in claiming myself a one-drop jew, I alienate myself from my father's Catholic family, coming to this nation in their own way to flee persecution and poverty. (And where does this leave the Latino contingent of my family, emigrated in 2008 tto Miami?) I honor all these parts of my heritage but even as I do, I cast them away as a way of defining myself.

I think of the urban public schools I attended in Pittsburgh, and the books we read by Richard Wright and Chinua Achebe. I thought of The Women of Brewster Place when painting black ladies' faces on brick walls for Song For Coretta, a play about Coretta Scott King's funeral I am working on right now at Brava Theater. I am reminded of my travels across the US, and reminded of the time in Portland in 2001 when I found The Men of Brewster Place in a book store, sitting down right then and there to read the whole thing.

I just watched G Bush get into a helicopter and leave the White House. I see a new man, a good man, standing there.

This is the year I will finish editing my book about America, and I tell you here and now that I honor my past but cast off these other mantles of identity and declare myself, simply, an American. Call me or yourself what you like but we are also this thing together.

Oh what a thing to be on this day!