Wednesday, September 24, 2008

MOCA - Engagement Party - Oct. 2, 7-10pm




Finishing School has been invited by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) to be the inaugural participant in Engagement Party.

Engagement Party is a dynamic new initiative developed to engage innovative Los Angeles-based artist collectives. Over a three-year period beginning in October 2008, selected groups will participate in three-month residencies during which they will present a public program at MOCA Grand Avenue on the first Thursday of each month from 7 to 10pm. The goal of Engagement Party is to involve new artists and new audiences while reiterating MOCA's commitment to imaginative critical analyses of contemporary art in Los Angeles. Made possible by a major Artistic Innovation Fund grant from The James Irvine Foundation, MOCA's Engagement Party will host 12 artist collectives over the next three years.



For the first event, Finishing School will be presenting Executive Order Karaoke. Featuring special guest host Tammy Tomahawk, Executive Order Karaoke is a public action in which participants are invited to sing their favorite mixes of George W. Bush's executive orders to popular music. The evening will be filled with special guests, games, and prizes.

Executive Order Karaoke will happen on Thursday, October 2, 7-10pm at MOCA Grand Avenue, Sculpture Plaza

We hope to see you all there.

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Monday, September 22, 2008

Soundwalk 2008



We presented PIO: stand /deliver at Soundwalk 2008 in Long Beach, CA. Fun was had by all, especially Zach and Kit, who performed stand / deliver for Huell Howser.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Conflux 2008


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

We presented "Open House" at this year's Conflux festival. Things went very well. The afternoon was filled with great conversations and domestic exploration. Matt and Todd were the perfect hosts. Their home is amazing. Their city is unlike anywhere else on the planet. The streets are truly alive. We are very grateful for Todd and Matt opening their home to the city.

via Conflux's Web site

Conflux is the annual New York festival for contemporary psychogeography, the investigation of everyday urban life through emerging artistic, technological and social practice. At Conflux, visual and sound artists, writers, urban adventurers and the public gather for four days to explore their urban environment.

People from a wide variety of backgrounds and cultures come together at the festival to re-imagine the city as a playground, a space for positive change and an opportunity for civic engagement. The Village Voice describes Conflux as a “network of maverick artists and unorthodox urban investigators… making fresh, if underground, contributions to pedestrian life in New York City, and upping the ante on today’s fight for the soul of high-density metropolises.”

From architects to skateboarders, Conflux participants have an enthusiasm for the city that’s contagious. Over the course of the long weekend the sidewalks are literally transformed into a mobile laboratory for creative action. With tools ranging from traditional paper maps to high-tech mobile devices, artists present walking tours, public installations and interactive performance, as well as bike and subway expeditions, workshops, a lecture series, a film program and live music performances at night.

Since 2003, when we had 30 mostly local artists and a small audience, the festival has grown to include over 100 artists from across the US, as well as Australia, Canada, Japan and many European countries. As our annual call for artists becomes more and more competitive and we receive hundreds of entries, the quality of projects increases and we are now proud to present what we feel is the most innovative work being produced in the field of public-space arts.

Conflux is produced by Glowlab, a Brooklyn-based organization supporting emerging art and technology inspired by the everyday life of cities. Glowlab operates as a nomadic initiative, collaborating and consulting with host galleries, arts groups and individual artists around the world. We’ve worked with arts organizations including Eyebeam, the New Museum of Contemporary Art, the Van Alen Institute and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, as well as local universities such as New York University, Hunter College and Parsons. Conflux has been reviewed in publications including the New York Times, the Village Voice Flash Art and Art Review Magazine and covered on numerous arts blogs and cultural websites such as Flavorpill, Nylon, Rhizome and Gothamist.

Conflux is attended by people of differing backgrounds who share a common desire to understand, explore, and ultimately heighten their enjoyment of the urban environment while learning how to sustain and improve it. Conflux visitors are introduced to the ways cutting-edge artists utilize performance, visual art and music to address topics including the environment, sustainable development, the increased presence of technology in cities, emerging trends in social/local networking and ways we can humanize the urban experience by encouraging dialogue amongst communities.

As a fiscally-sponsored project of Fractured Atlas and the Brooklyn Arts Council, Conflux has received support from the New York State Council on the Arts, Artists Space, the Puffin Foundation and the Independence Community Foundation.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

wankstazz 2007



our sources tell us that the "wankstazz" are an underground bike gang terrorizing the streets of los angeles.

via thejamesboulton.com/

Be Agua Amigos

We may like this...

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Tyra vs Oprah's fans

watch them both at the same time!



FS is going to MOCA



MOCA is starting a new Artist in Residence program called Engagement Party and we have been selected to be the first residency!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We will be announcing specific programming info asap

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Little Pharma - Physic Garden




Sorry for the long absence. We have been swamped with a lot of really fantastic projects. We will be presenting Little Pharma - Physic Garden at Fringe Exhibitions in the Fall. The installation will open on October 11. Please mark your calendars. Here is the press-release that we wrote for it:

The Little Pharma Physic Garden is a participatory installation that promotes education, community involvement, natural beauty, relaxation and renewal.

Our garden model is based on several specific European gardens established by monks in the 16th and 17th centuries. Their calling was to encourage and empower the public to be directly involved in their own health and well-being and to promote the study of herbal medicine, known then as the "physic" or healing arts. The monks involved the public in community gardening and demonstrated the many uses of plants and the tradition of the plant world as the most common medicine source. These gardens also provided a place of natural rest, meditation, and spiritual renewal for many weary urban dwellers.

The Little Pharma Physic Garden includes a research library, seed bank, a publicly maintained herbal medicine garden, meditation vistas, and a workshop area. Additionally, the public is encouraged to participate in several events hosted by Finishing School and collaborators throughout the run of the exhibition. There will be an herbal medicine course, meditation events, and a gardening workshop as well as a pharma-themed costume workshop and bicycle tour. Details for the events, TBA.


Addtionally, portions of the Physic Garden are currently on display at Cypress College. Click here for more details.

Addtionally, portions of the Physic Garden are currently on display at Cypress College. Click here for more details.