Possum Slim.

By Michael Lee Johnson


 

105

Possum Slim

drinks gin,

talks with the dead.

“Strange kind of folks

come around here,

strange ghosts”

he says, “come

creeping pretty regular.

Just 2 ghosts,

the only women I ever loved,

the only women I ever shot dead.”

-1975-

(Revised 2011)






Michael Lee Johnson is a poet, freelance writer and small business owner of custom imprinted promotional products and apparel, from Itasca, Illinois.  He is heavily influenced by  Carl Sandburg, Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, Irving Layton, Leonard Cohen, and Allen Ginsberg.  His new poetry chapbook with pictures, titled From Which Place the Morning Rises, and his new photo version of The Lost American: from Exile to Freedom are available at Lulu. The original version of The Lost American: from Exile to Freedom, can be found at here.

THE WEEK/WEEKEND: MAY 10-17.

EDITOR’S PICKS:

Stephen Hannock: Recent Paintings: Vistas with Text @Marlbourgh

Jacqueline De Jong’s Situationist Times, 1962-1967
http://boo-hooray.com/the-situationist-times/de-jong-situationist-times/
05/09/2012-05/25/2012

Boo-Hooray is happy to announce an exhibition of original art, publications, photography, ephemera and manuscripts related to Jacqueline De Jong’s vanguard publication The Situationist Times, celebrating the 50th anniversary of its first issue. A total of six issues were published: Issue 1 in May of 1962, and the final issue in December of 1967. A seventh issue was compiled but not published. The Situationist movement produced periodicals: Internationale Situationniste (twelve issues published between 1958 and 1969) and the German Gruppe SPUR publication SPUR (six issues from August 1960 to August 1961). There were other examples: Drakabygget (Scandinavia), Heatwave (UK), Black Mask (USA), King Mob Echo (UK). Dutch artist and graphic designer Jacqueline de Jong joined the Situationist International in 1960. De Jong suggested the publication of an English language newsletter in November of 1960, to be co-edited with British Situationist Alexander Trocchi.

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THE WEEK: MARCH 12-16.

EDITOR’S PICKS: 

Fiction Magazine 40th Anniversary Celebration
http://www.housingworks.org/events/detail/fiction-magazine-40th-anniversary-celebration
03/15/2012-03/15/2012
7pm-

Celebrate the new issue and Fiction’s 40th anniversary with contributors Sheila Kohler, Jerome Charyn, Brendan Kiely, and Kesi Foster.

OPERA ON TAP.
http://barbesbrooklyn.com/calendar.html
03/16/2012-03/16/2012
8pm-

OPERA ON TAP. Opera is fun. Most people don’t seem to realize how much fun it really is. In order to prove it, Opera on Tap has taken its act to barrooms where they found out that beer on tap enhances the operatic experience. The company is made up of young singers and instrumentalists who relish the direct contact with audiences not inhibited in their reactions by the looming menace of giant chandeliers.

Kris Kuksi
http://joshualinergallery.com/index.php
03/08/2012-04/07/2012
11pm-6pm

With its cautionary title, Triumph skewers the hubris and folly of human ambition. This cavalcade of epic works references mythology, the occult, and organized religion, and uses age-old techniques of visual storytelling to voice personal angst. Depicting grand themes with extravagant embellishments, Kuksi’s assemblages of small, mass-produced materials are intrinsically narrative. Like gilt Baroque altarpieces, their stunning excess of detail is the ideal vehicle for the artist’s critique of power and piety. And like those early works of public art, they appeal to the viewer to transcend the strife and striving associated with greed.

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Mother, Edith, at 98 By Michael Lee Johnson.

Edith, in this nursing home

blinded with macular degeneration,

I come to you with your blurry

eyes, crystal sharp mind,

your countenance of grace

as yesterday’s winds.

I have chosen to consume you

and take you away.

“Oh, where did Jesus disappear

to,” she murmured,

over and over again,

in a low voice

dripping words

like a leaking faucet:

“Oh, there He is, my

Angel of the coming.”

Michael Lee Johnson is a poet, freelance writer and small business owner of custom imprinted promotional products and apparel, from Itasca, Illinois.  He is heavily influenced by  Carl Sandburg, Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, Irving Layton, Leonard Cohen, and Allen Ginsberg.  His new poetry chapbook with pictures, titled From Which Place the Morning Rises, and his new photo version of The Lost American: from Exile to Freedom are available at Lulu. The original version of The Lost American: from Exile to Freedom, can be found at here.

THE WEEK: Sept 14-16.

 ARIAS WITH A TWIST @ABRONS ART CENTER.
September 14-October 16
Wednesday-Saturday | 8 pm
Saturday Late Show | 10:30 pm
Sunday | 7 pm

This updated version of the original deliriously madcap fantasy once again features the soaring song stylings of demented diva Joey Arias surrounded by an eye-popping theatrical extravaganza conjured by a team of puppeteers under the direction of Basil Twist. Channeling lurid celluloid dreams, macabre nightmares and bizarre premonitions, the adventure begins with an alien abduction and concludes with a stupendous Busby Berkeley-esque finale. Along the way, the throaty chanteuse belts out pop, rock and jazz standards in addition to some original tunes by Alex Gifford as Twist and company work their magic with vintage marionettes, anatomically correct puppets and fantastical scenic elements.

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THE WEEKEND: Sept 2-5.

BRIAN M. VIVEROS: RETURNING ART TO THE UNCLEAN @ LAST RITES.
Opening Reception: Saturday, Sept 3rd, 7:00pm-11:00pm.  Show runs Sept 3rd thru 25th, 2011.

Known for his strong and sensuous depictions of women, Brian M. Viveros is a master of contemporary iconography paying homage to the femme fatale. While he almost exclusively paints portraits, within the expressions of his women is conveyed such deep emotion and overwhelming sexuality that his work is undeniably erotic. Often without even a hint of nudity, the viewer is seduced with a mere pout and gaze from his subject’s faces.

In what will be Brian’s second showing at the gallery, the opening will feature an all new collection of original paintings, as well as special rare prints from the artist’s own collection; poster giveaway and signing; live “Smoking Army” performance; screening of Brian’s films along with his new short, and much more.

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THE WEEKEND: AUGUST 12-14.


SCREEN SLATE SIX MONTHS.
Saturday August 13th FREE. 9 pm – 4 am.

An open, no-cover party at Screen Slate HQ featuring live music byStrange Rivals, DJing by Colin Beckett and Max Diamond and 16mm projections by Ryan Marino. Spirits available including beer lovingly provided by Brooklyn Brewery. 15 Bushwick Ave., 11211, two blocks from the Graham or Grand L stops in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Introduction to Millinery @3rd Ward.

In this workshop you will be introduced to the old world craft of Hatmaking. The skills involved in making a hat evolved in the 14th century and have hardly changed since. Participants will become familiar with all the basic tools, materials and terminology. Over the four classes participants will handblock a Panama straw hat, and learn to finish and trim it just in time for the Fall.

Interested in more project examples? Check out students work from the class on our tumblr.
ENROLL.

The 2011 American Beatbox Championships presented by The World Beatbox Association (WBA) w/ Rahzel and Rakaa @LPR.

Executive Producer – Chesney Snow Co-Founder/WBA
Co-Executive Producer – Kimberly Knox/ Ubiquita Worldwide
Executive Producer Co-Founder of WBA-Jim Wilde
Sunday, August 14th 2011 at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City will see the undisputed Godfather of Noise Rahzel (the Roots) and Rakaa (DilatedPeoples) headlining the post-championship concert of the 2nd American Beatbox Championships. America’s top 16 beatboxers will battle it out live in an “8 mile style” beat down for the crown of America’s Best Beatboxer. Beatboxing’s finest will go mic to mic as Hasan Salaam and Eternia MC the evening with DJ Boo holding down the Red Bull decks alongside Colin Dean’s Roots & Grooves. (READ MORE.)

28th Annual Roots of American Music Festival 

(FULL SCHEDULE, VARIOUS LOCATIONS.)

ABIGAIL WASHBURN
SID SELVIDGE & SONS OF MUD BOY
SUN RECORDS ORAL HISTORIES
Sat, Aug 13 at 2:00
Hearst Plaza Stage
FREE

Clawhammer banjoist Abigail Washburn has emerged as a gifted singer-songwriter after perfecting the most unlikely of fusions—between Appalachian music and Chinese folk. 
Soulful folk-rocker Sid Selvidge’s astonishing voice takes the Memphis blues to another level, joined by Luther and Cody Dickinson, the sons of the influential late producer-musician Jim “Mud Boy & the Neutrons” Dickinson. Roots of American Music producer Spike Barkin starts the day with an onstage talk with the pioneering alumni of Sun Records, whose stories and recollections are a historical treasure trove.

Radio Happy Hour: The Final Episode
August 12, 2011
Radio Happy Hour, the radio show not on the radio, has announced the end of their 2+ year run as the Village’s best variety show. After a US tour, appearances on public radio, feature articles in NY Post, Nylon, and many other places, the hit comedy show is ending its run. “Secretly, I was always surprised that anyone ever came to see a murder mystery on a fake radio show, or that anyone ever agreed to be on the show. Apparently, New Yorkers have a real appetite for idiocy,” says show host and head writer Sam Osterhout.

Launch party for The Midnight Archive at The Coney Island Museum
Friday, August 12th

COMPLIMENTARY “MIDNIGHT MARTINI’S” AND SPECIALTY DRINKS FOR ALL!

Please join us for the launch of the new web series “The Midnight Archives: Tales From the Observatory.” The series is the work of many time Observatory presenter Ronni Thomas (Alias Ronni Raygun) of the IKA Collective and is centered around the esoteric and always exotic personalities that spring from the Brooklyn Observatory. It attempts to briefly document some of the truly unique people, talents and objects from around the world who gather there on a weekly basis. Mummies, Taxidermy, 18th century robotics, early French demonic 3d horror… its all here.

JAMES BROWN dance party w/JAMES CHANCE live and more @Zebulon 

Sat Aug 13

Williamsburg, Brooklyn – Zebulon (258 Wythe): James Brown dance party w/DJs Jonathan Toubin and James Chance plus a live performance by JAMES CHANCE AND THE J.C.’S (playing 2/3 James Brown and 1/3 Contortions songs! Supergroup featuring James Chance, Ivan Julian (Richard Hell and the Voidoids), Robert Aaron (avant-jazz legend who’s also played with everyone from B-52s and Blondie to Afrika Bambataa and Wu Tang Clan), Kim Clark (Defunkt and dozens of jazz projects), and Richard Dworkin [James White and the Blacks, Alex Chilton, etc), JAMES CHANCE SOLO, JAIL BAIT, and more at Zebulon…

AND ON SUNDAY
 NEW YORK NIGHT TRAIN’S DJ MR. JONATHAN TOUBIN!  @ UNION POOL.
August 14

Twig Terrariums @MAD.
Saturday, August 13, 2011 – 11:00 am to 6:00 pm

Each Saturday in August join Brooklyn based artist collaborative Twig Terrariums as as they reveal their processes in creating small worlds within antique, vintage, and new glass containers.

Generative crowd sourced sculpture with music performances @ Devotion.
Opening: Friday, August 12th, 2011.

Sol LeWitt knew that artists of many diverse types use simple forms to their own ends. Musician and multimedia artist, Morgan Packard believes that simple rules, when allowed to unfold, create the splendor of the world. In Euclidean geometry the simplest non-curved flat shape is the triangle, and the simplest non-curved three-dimensional shape is four triangles connected by their edges—the tetrahedron. In this crowd-sourced artwork the public is invited to create tetrahedrons from recycled office paper and a few pieces of tape while musicians perform. Under Morgan’s direction the participants will attach the vertices of the tetrahedrons to create a constantly expanding sculpture, filling the gallery with a geometric wonderland intersected by sonic vibrations.

InDigest 1207 Reading Series w/ Matt Bell , Michael Czyzniejewski and Robert Lopez
Sun., August 14, 2011 / 7:00 PM FREE

InDigest 1207 Reading Series
InDigest also presents InDigest 1207, a reading series that takes place monthly in New York City and quarterly in Minneapolis. In addition to their own work, readers are encouraged to bring in something that has informed or influenced them in some way. The result is often funny, sometimes strange, but always interesting, showing us how we are all constantly influenced by what we see, hear, and read.


PORTAL: Perspectives on Video Performance Contemporary Video from Sydney @ Regina Rex.
Friday, August 12th

Curated by Janis Ferberg, organized by Stephen Truax
Portal is pleased to present a one-night screening of video works by Sydney-based artists engaged with performance mediated through video at Regina Rex in Ridgewood, New York.
This selection of work offers an alternative point of entry to the practice of performance, whereby video is used not as a medium for documentation, but rather as an end in itself.

The Dissident Arts Festival @Brecht Forum.
Saturday August 13th6th Annual Celebration of Progressive Culture
Steve Bloom, Robert Gibbons, Judy Gorman, Sara Goudarzi, Kevin Keating, Gwen Laster, David Lippman, The NYC Metro Raging Grannies, Radio Noir, Mary Ellen Sanger, Secret Architecture, Jackie .Sheeler, Upsurge! & Angelo Verga. Festival Organizer: John Pietaro

Now a Manhattan mainstay, the Dissident Arts Festival was founded in upstate NY in 2006 with a primary goal of establishing an annual showcase of politically progressive music, poetry and performance art—perhaps the only such vehicle in the nation. This Festival has sought to bring together a wide variety of sounds and styles, tearing down boundaries, bending rules and infusing the arts with the strongest, most radical activism, where folk-protest song meets free improvisation and contemporary composition. Featured among our past performers and speakers were actor/raconteur Malachy McCourt, folk legend Pete Seeger, poet Louis Reyes Rivera, revolutionary hip hop group ReadNex Poetry Squad, protest/garage band The Last Internationale, labor luminary Henry Foner, topical singer Bev Grant, ‘anti-folk’ singer Lach, jazz artist Ben Barson and filmmaker Kevin Keating (“Giuliani Time”). And we presented tributes to Woody Guthrie, Paul Robeson, Bertolt Brecht and Phil Ochs along the way. As of 2010, the Festival became affiliated with NYC’s Brecht Forum, a center of Left education and culture which has proven itself the perfect host of the Dissident Arts Festival. This year, Dissident Arts focuses on the improvisational and modernist heart of Protest Music while also featuring topical folk/acoustic performance, radical film and revolutionary poetry.

FringeNYC? The New York International Fringe Festival (FringeNYC) is the largest multi-arts festival in North America, with more than 200 companies from all over the world performing for 16 days in more than 20 venues. In addition to 1200 incredible performances, FringeNYC includes…..(READ MORE.)

Sanda Weigl@ Cornelia St. Cafe.

Saturday, August 13, 9:00 PM

OH THE SHARK HAS PRETTY TEETH DEAR, SONGS OF THE WEIMAR ERA
Sanda Weigl, vocals; Anthony Coleman, piano 

From Noam: The Noam Faingold Orchestra will play a set, then it’s members and some special guests will play contemporary chamber music by Jeremy Forbis, Jacob Druckman, Kurtag and others, and then we will play another set of Aleatoric pieces by Christian Wolff, Terry Riley, Louis Andriessen and others.

http://www.noamfaingold.com

THE PALMS

Saturday, August 13th
Noon through much much later…
$10 arrive before 3pm : $20 after

Sunday, August 14th
Noon through Midnight
$10 all day + Cheap Drinks

3rd Ward, Macro-Sea, Artists Wanted, TheDanger and Chashama have spent the past several weeks building out a fantastic oasis in the creative heart of Queens. A couple blocks from PS1, we are opening The Palms, a late summer ode to the Boca Raton Resort Pools of the 1940’s (with more music, spectacle and hedonism).

Lemonaids: A collaboration between Jason Fritz/Matthew Momchilov
Going Green@ Crossing Art.
SANKALPA: Art Therapy in India.
Music in the Garden Series @  The Noguchi Museum
The Official Bass Island After Party featuring: FreQ Nasty (Giveback.net) , Virtual Boy (Alpha Pup records) , Proper Villains (Nightshifters/Play Me Records) andWilly Whompa (Muti Music) @LPR
CAN’T HEAR THE REVOLUTION.
FLOAT: FIELD OF DREAMS
I Am Still Alive: Politics and Everyday Life in Contemporary Drawing

LAST CALL:

Accrochage @Carolina Nitsch
Matthew Brand, Christine Nguyen and Letha Wilson: Every Photo Graph Is In Visible, at Churner & Churner
Im Schatten der Made (In the Shadow of the Maggot)

 

The Weekend: June 10-12.


FIGMENT ON GOVERNOR’S ISLAND

JUNE 10-12

FIGMENT is a forum for the creation and display of participatory and interactive art by emerging artists across disciplines. FIGMENT began in July 2007 as a free, one-day participatory arts event on Governors Island in New York Harbor with over 2,600 participants. Since then, FIGMENT has grown significantly each year—in number of projects, duration, participants, volunteers, fundraising capability, exhibitions, locations, overall level of commitment and participation, and public support. (READ MORE.)
FULL LISTING OF EVENTS.