Tree Town Sound

Yes, it was a week ago that Pussy Riot took the Stamps community and the Michigan Theater by storm, but a visit like that really makes an impact and a week later it is still on our minds. So many people felt truly and deeply affected by the duo after their very open and candid on-stage discussion.

Stamps senior Matt Rosner (pictured above with Pussy Riot’s Nadya and Masha) gives this thoughtful reflection:

"As we sat in an audience of 1700+ local community members, fragmented messages that poured from the stage came in waves of Russian, then in English.  As Nadya and Masha took turns speaking in their native language, I felt as if I was no longer sitting in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but rather some high stakes press conference taking place in a small Moscow basement.  

The two seemed unfazed by the intentionally tough questions from Chrisstina.  As they began to answer the questions, whether about their personal lives or past performances, Nadya and Masha often veered into candidly talking about their current work and the issues that were on their minds.

(via Weaving a Bridge Back to Fiber Sculpture’s Unraveling History)

Despite being a craft dating back over 30,000 years, fiber work only started to get sculpturally experimental in a serious way in the 1960s and 70s.

Art Outta Town, a program run by Arts at Michigan, is taking a trip to Grand Rapids this weekend: Saturday, October 4th.  Sign up to go here.

Holy Mackinaw! 

It’s not every day you wander the stacks of Special Collections to discover a 1960 edition of Call of the Wild by Jack London…bound in a lovely cover made of green, plaid, wool mackinaw.  

Mackinaw is a material that was made known by American loggers, and is a staple of the true outdoorsman.  In fact, in Alex Kershaw’s biography of Jack London, he mentions the famous author wearing the very material which makes this book so distinct.  

"…he sat in silence one night, a confused blur of cap, mackinaw (coat), and moccasins" (69).

So if you’re looking for a good book to keep you warm at night, this one might actually be able to (literally) do the job. 

-Kelly 

London, Jack. The call of the wild. With an introd. by Pierre Berton and illus. by Henry Varnum Poor.  Los Angeles, Printed for members of the Limited Editions Club at the Ward Ritchie Press, 1960.

This weekend Detroit lights up with DLECTRICITY — a nighttime art and light festival featuring over 35 artists from all over the world, including our very own Heidi Kumao and Osman Kahn!

There is a great map available on the DLECTRICITY website. Don’t miss exhibits #4 or #22.

Heidi is also giving an artist talk at 6pm on Saturday at the Detroit Artist Market (4719 Woodward Ave, Detroit MI 48201).

I Dig This Track premiered another song from my forthcoming record process today.

JUST SOME EMO KIDS GOING ON OUR FIRST TOUR!

"The Brooklyn Book Festival is going to be like New York Fashion Week for tote bags." - @gmpaiella

Album Arts #1.