Proxart Magazine (Issue 2): Summer 2010
Proxart Magazine: Summer 2010 is officially available for download in 2 sizes:
SPREAD & MOBILE
Click here to get tips on reading this thing!!! Read more…
Suburbia: The State of Being Modern Art
Several months ago, I accompanied my American Images photography class to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. After roaming from exhibit to exhibit, we stopped in a room on the third floor. This particular room was filled with roughly twenty enlarged photographs, ranging from a vibrant image of burning palm trees (“Desert Fire #1, Burning Palms” by Richard Misrach) to several images of the suburban landscape. When asked by the tour guide which images we were least drawn to, it was unanimous that the photos of suburbia appealed to no one. However, when I looked closer at these images, I realized that both were based locally in Santa Clarita. One image was of tract homes, and the other was Joe Deal’s “Magic Mountain, Valencia, California.”
After coming to this realization, I first felt as though my betrayal had been exposed. I then began to feel a sudden affinity with these photographs—images of my home. I was isolated in that four-walled room filled with spectators. The experience I had with these photographs was strangely reminiscent of my experience with the suburbs. From far away, everything looks the same; but from within, you really begin to see the threads that tie the city together. Each thread is an essential part of the whole. Read more…
SET Season Opening, 7/31 5pm
Have you heard about the SET Theatre Group? Well, start paying attention. These guys are doing some rad stuff for the live theatre world here in the suburbs. Using a small space, they’ll transform your normal, every day, hum-drum production into one that you are (quite literally) right in the middle of. It’s quite the experience.
This morning, we got an email from them that said:
Stop by and help the SET Group celebrate our first season in our new space! Grab some food, wine, and some great conversation as we announce the shows, the directors, and give you more insight to come check out The SET Group’s productions and events at The SCV Space! We are looking forward to seeing you there!
We know what you’re thinking: “Can I go?” Well, no. See, we think they’re too cool for yo… YES, please show up! This Saturday night at 5pm: You owe it to yourself to be there.
Freebie: Alma Juarez Desktop + iPhone background
Yo. Here’s a freebie. All you’ve got to do is click one or both of the links below, and you’ll get some shiny new desktops for your computer and iPhone (sorry Blackberry users). It’ll be the easiest thing you do all day – I promise!
These desktops feature work from our Issue 2 cover artist, Alma Juarez.
p.s. Download the magazine here (in spread or mobile format), if you haven’t already.
Taking the ‘burbs to the city
We’re not entirely sure how it went down, but a (newfound) friend of ours named Thomas Gapen ended up documenting the past few months of our work to produce an interactive documentary about art in the suburbs on DailyNews.com. In the documentary you can check out an interview they did with me (Nate) about why we do what we do, and interviews from some of our favorite local (to Santa Clarita) artists and businesses (here’s looking at you, Brave New World and Antioch!).
Morphing a sleepy, suburban community full of soccer moms into a vibrant, artistic zone is not an easy task. Proxart is tirelessly partnering with other artists, businesses, community organizations and government agencies to make it work.
To get the full story, pick your poison here:
- Article
- Interactive feature (if it’s not working you’ll need to update your Flash player, unfortunately)
This whole thing is happening folks. Gone are the days of artistic and cultural ignorance in the suburbs. Not because of what we’re doing, but because of what you’re creating.
Let’s keep going, shall we?
Shine Your Shoes for the Fat Lady
-Greetings
I recently just finished an incredible novel by J.D. Salinger entitled, “Franny & Zooey”. The book is basically about a 20 year-old girl (Franny) in college who tries to please everybody and gets frustrated easily by people that don’t adore her, and her cynical, sailor-mouthed older brother (Zooey) who repeatedly discourages his younger sister until finally getting through to her.
After repeated attacks on her actions from Zooey, Franny is left to weep to herself in the living room. Hoping to make amends, Zooey calls Franny and tells her, “An artist’s only concern is to shoot for some kind of perfection, and on his own terms, not anyone else’s.”
He recalls a story of when their older brother, Seymour, made Zooey shine his shoes before going on to a radio quiz show for kids. At first, Zooey didn’t understand why he should shine his shoes. He wasn’t going to try to impress the “stupid” audience or host, and besides, they couldn’t see his shoes anyway. Nonetheless, Seymour told him to shine them “for the fat lady.” So Zooey, almost every time he went on the program, made sure his shoes were shined.
He told Franny to do the same; to shine her shoes for no one else, but for the “fat lady”, which in her case, was The Jesus Prayer.
What does this all mean? At Proxart, we shine our shoes before we go on the air. We don’t do it for money or popularity, to make business connections or Twitter followers. Those are all fine, but they’re not the reason why we do what we do. We’ve said “no” to perhaps more opportunities than we’ve said “yes” to. Not everyone likes the way we shine our shoes, or even the shoes themselves. That’s ok, because we don’t shine our shoes for them. We do it for our Fat Lady. We do it for ourselves. We do it for art.
Who/what is your Fat Lady?
The Cycle of Consumer Culture
“Money don’t talk, it screams,” sings Richard Theisen of the Orange County-based band The Union Line. While driving my car through suburban Valencia, this particular lyric seemed poignant and relevant to me—almost crucial even. I listened to the song “Pearls” again with urgency. What influence does money have on us? A more provoking question may be: In what ways has money not affected us yet? Is there any place that its influences have not leaked into the cracks? Since my relocation back to suburbia, I have been overtly aware of how strange the uniformity is. I would argue that this solidarity of appearance is due to the effect that the social media has on us. We are told to buy tract homes in particular neighborhoods, to lease the newest cars, to eat at certain restaurants, and to wear certain clothing. However, with only these options being locally available to us, how can we develop our identities outside of them?
Read more…
Norma Jean’s ‘Meridional’
It’s one of the most difficult things in music to build a sturdy bridge over the gap between the no-holds-barred brutality of hardcore and the sing along melodies of more popular, radio-friendly, music. So many bands over the past few years have attempted time and time to do just that with a very select few (if any) ever successfully doing so. With their latest release ‘Meridional’, Norma Jean have not only built that bridge, but they’ve burned to the ground every other sorry attempt that has come before them.
Songs like ‘A Media Friendly Turn For The Worse’ and ‘The People That Surround You On A Regular Basis’ could be the best that the band has ever written to date. ‘Meridional’ as a whole swings violently back and forth between back-breaking heaviness to beautiful, uplifting harmony without ever letting the listener fall to the depths of confusion and mediocrity below. Most of this gorgeous cohesion can be attributed to the album’s producer, Jeremy Griffith, who takes such care in the details of both the monstrous and the minute that there is no risk of either falling flat. The albums lyrics are another highlight, making even the quietest, most sober moments on ‘Meridional’ heavy under their weight. Vocalist Cory Brandan walks the fine line between singing and screaming for almost the whole record, further illustrating the band’s wide stance over the line between dark and light, a foot firmly planted on either side.
If you had told me in 2002, when I heard Norma Jean’s first record ‘Bless The Martyr, Kiss The Child’, that they would have so quickly and brilliantly evolved into the band they are today, I would most definitely have called you crazy. The shift from the utter chaos and brutality of ‘Bless the Martyr’, to the artful and elegant dance across the bridge they’ve built between two polar opposite musical worlds, is a beautiful thing to behold. If you’re a fan of ISIS, Thrice, or any other band that successfully bridges the same gap, do yourself a favor and check out Norma Jean’s ‘Meridional’ [iTunes link].
Matt Battaglia is in The Victor Ship, and just got himself a blog (click his name!).
THE LAST NIGHT @ ANTIOCH!
So. We thought that Antioch had 2 more nights left in the bag.
But the landlord wants them out! So tomorrow is it!
We have three solid acts:
ALFREDO HILDALGO (MEX | acoustic bohemian)
THE DINING DEAD (USA | alternative rock)
DJ ANDRES SEVEN (COL | progressive house)
and open mic.
So come on out TO THIS PLACE!!!
And let this town know we artists won’t be going away without a fight!
