3rd Ward DJ Set: Clueless Edition

This week's installment of 3rd Ward DJ Set pays homage to our 90s fave Clueless. Knee highs, plaid skirts, fedoras--as if we'd ever forget.

Enjoy!

Love,

3rd Ward

#1. Fake Plastic Trees, Radiohead

#2. Supermodel, Jill Sobule. Yes, she invented "I Kissed A Girl" pre-Katy Perry, but we like this jam too.

#3. Kids in America, The Muffs

#4. All the Young Dudes, World Party. We love David Bowie's version, but this is probably how we first learned about this tune.

#5. Rollin' with the Homies, Coolio. This is when the girls met "Elt'n".

Hey, Weekend!

Hey Everybody!

This week's installment of Hey, Weekend features a fun mix of photography, film, music, and NYC Pride. We're excited about this heat, and if you aren't just headed to the beach--we got you covered.

We'll see you next week!

Love,

3rd Ward

#1

FRIDAY, 6/22 // PHOTOVILLE

June 22 to July 1, 2012

Why call it a festival, when you've got a town? This pop up photography village is made of freight containers transformed into temporary exhibition spaces in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The scope is huge: exhibitions, lectures, hands-on workshops, nighttime projections, a photo dog run, a camera greenhouse, and a summer beer garden amid food trucks.

image courtesy of Photoville

#2

THROUGH 7/11 // BAMCINEMAFEST

 We're lucky that all the celebrated films from Cannes, Sundance, SXSW (and more) come to us here in NY first. Even better that it's in Brooklyn! Besides the motley of flicks we want to check out, we want to see Jon Krasinski (Jim from The Office!) play half of an LA couple, whose lives are stirred up when a woman moves in with them.

photo courtesy of BAMcinemaFest

 #3

SATURDAY, 6/23 // GHOSTFACE KILLAH HEADLINES LYRICIST LOUNGE 20TH ANNIVERSARY 

Doors Open @ 6:30. Def Jam core artist GHOSTFACE KILLAH, hailing from the Wu-Tang Clan pantheon, headlines this birthday celebration for the legendary Lyricist Lounge.  Special guests include: CAMP LO, ASTRO,  FARAH BURNS, RAH DIGGA, KID CAPRI, and more!

photo courtesy of Celebrate Brooklyn!

#4

SATURDAY, 6/23 // I LOVE VINYL @ LE POISSON ROUGE 

Keep listening to Hiphop after the Ghostface show is over. This party features NYC DJ heavy-hitters who know how to play the classics we wanna hear. If listening to 90s music does you right, or you prefer traveling even farther back into the funk and soul era, then this is where you need to be. 

photo courtesy of ilovevinyl.org 

#5

SUNDAY, 6/24 //  NYC PRIDE MARCH 

March begins at Fifth Ave and 36th St and proceeds south to the reviewing stand at Fifth Ave and 8th St before turning west down Christopher St to Greenwich St.  

Grand Marshals of this year's pride: Cyndi Lauper, Kiehl's president Chris Salgardo, the first same-sex couple to legally marry in New York, Phyllis Siegel and Connie Kopelov! 

Pride // NYC courtesy of bestofnewyork.com

Soundscapes + Glitches: Interview w/ Artist Phillip Stearns

Our Art Haus // Rock series is an interview or feature about artists and musicians we love.

Tumblr's pick for Art Takes Times Square // image courtesy of artist

Phillip Stearns is tumblr’s Pick for the Art Takes Times Square contest, hosted by our fam at Artists Wanted. We wanted to catch up with Phillip, who’s also an instructor here at 3rd Ward (he’ll help you make DIY Synthesizers! Audio Amplifiers!)

3W: How did you come up with the name "Pixel Form" ? There's another dude with this as the name of his website. Have you ever thought about collaborating with him?

PS: The name’s falling slowly in disuse. Do you have info on this other guy?

3W sends Phillip a link to a nature photographer’s website.

PS: Well, the reason I'm moving away from it...other people are using it--it's too easy. I use my real name now.

3W: Is there a different mood between your visual and audio work?

PS: My sound based work is more abstract, challenging, intellectual, and the visual art has been influenced by the presentation medium (online and social media), becoming more playful and full of color. My year-long project Year of the Glitch was started with the thought: "I'm gonna do a glitch a day." I chose tumblr because it seemed like the best way to share info. The audio doesn't get as many notes as the visual.

PHILLIP'S MOST POPULAR TUMBLR POST:

Everybody Loves GIFSPhillip's Glitch Textiles:

Glitch Textiles, courtesy of artist

"It's this perfect conceptual loop--this kitsch momento is being used to visualize corrupted memory. And in the process, it becomes a new memory." 

Check out: Phillip Stearns’ SoundCloud

3W: Tell us about your sound art. 

PS: I come from a background of audio engineering.  By using pure mixer feedback, tones can be intermodulated to create rhythms. Some sounds mimic melodic sequences, some are pure noise. All the pieces I do with this are improvised. My work Anopthalmia is named after a disease, when one is born without eyes. It’s part of a larger collection, Macular Degeneration, which has to do with blindness or loss. These feedback loops create a sonic landscape. It's sort of like Mario Bros. You can never go back. It's a journey, a path, and I'm wandering through.

Optic Vasculature // Artist Unknown

"I'm not visually impaired, but it's on my mind. I've worn glasses since kindergarten."

3W: Has your work ever stumped you? 

PS: I'm often stumped on the technical side of things. The stumping becomes part of the process, and the piece actually changes. The work is so tied to the technology that is producing them. The final piece is somehow different from the original idea, and includes the technology that created it.

3W: How do you include the spectator in your performances?

PS: I'm creating an experience. Some of the work is more involved. If I use stroboscopic lights, [it is] exclusive in that epileptics cannot participate. For those who can experience the work, it's going to be unique to the individual, because everyone's central nervous system is operating at a different speed.

"It's not a question of interactivity it's a question of immersion."

 
3W: What's a guilty pleasure?

PS: Whiskey comes up first. Specifically, scotch. Does that sound pretentious?

3W: No, we can relate! 

PS:  And dark chocolate.

3W: Who is your favorite composer/musician?

PS: I wanna give a shout out to all my friends. Phil White, Pete Edwards (Casper Electronics). I just did a residency with the two of them. I've found them to be incredibly influential figures. Tristan Perich. Richard Garet. Jeff Donaldson!!!!

3W: What are you listening to right now?

PS: This English artist, Clark.  Let me see if can play a tune over the phone.

PS plays it over the phone, we love it!

PS:  It’s like when you have time to meditate in the city: mental stimulation, spiritual serenity.

Sign Up for Circuits Classes with Phillip Stearns:

Audio Amplifiers 
DIY Synthesizers

Intro to Circuits w/ Daniel Fishkin

Phillip Stearns' studio is based in Bushwick, and hails from the birthplace of SXSW. After veering off the engineering and physics path to pursue music technology at the University of Colorado, Denver, Phillip earned his Master’s at Cal Arts in music.

Be Part Of Make Music New York, NYC's Largest Music Festival

Iannis Xenakis' Persephassa performed on Central Park Lake for MMNY 2010

New York is an exceptionally musical place every day of the year, but there's one day when it gets really musical. That's because of Make Music New York, an annual festival that takes place on the first day of summer and features hundreds upon hundreds of free concerts throughout the city.

This year Make Music New York is happening on June 21 from 10am to 10pm, and if you're musically inclined or interested in hosting a performance, you have until April 21 to register and finalize your own event. The folks at MMNY can help you coordinate your concert with others in your neighborhood, secure the necessary permits and promote it through Time Out New York, Metro New York and WNYC.

Past MMNY highlights include an amazing rowboat-based performance of Iannis Xenakis' Persephassa on Central Park Lake (check out the video clip above) and Punk Island, in which dozens of punk bands invaded Governors Island. Of course your event doesn't need to take place on an island or body of water. It could be anything from a "acoustic sidewalk setup to a full-scale amplified block party." For the last two years the festival has featured over 1,000 concerts, so sign up, tune up and hit the streets.

-- John Ruscher

Ear To Mind To Stage: NYC Music Organization Premieres Contemporary Piano Music At Carnegie Hall

Jenny Q. Chai

Earlier this year we told you about the new Ear to Mind website created by 3rd Ward Web Design teacher David Karlins, and this Thursday, April 19 the NYC music organization will present the Carnegie Hall concert that inspired that new online destination.

The concert is a solo recital by acclaimed pianist and Jenny Q Chai, who will perform the world premiers of "Parallel Lines," a piece by composer and Ear to Mind co-director Inhyun Kim, and "Current," by Taiwanese composer Ashley Fu-Tsun Wang. The program also includes the US premier of "Innige Cavatina" by Italy's Marco Stroppa, as well as works by Debussy, Ligeti, Messiaen, Kurtág and Schumann. With the concert's diverse selection of works, Chai presents a broad musical survey. "I feel a sense of contentment programming creative concerts, mixing and matching old and new works, so as to highlight what is most special in each piece," she says. "After all, nothing comes from nothing, and new music is very much connected to that which came before."

For more information check out Page4Music's podcast interview with Chai, Kim and Ear to Mind board member Ruyi Lu.

The concert starts at 7:30pm this Thursday at Zankel Hall, which happens to be both Carnegie Hall's oldest and newest performance space. The hall, which New York magazine says "feels like a sacred underworld swathed in sea glass and forest green," hosted Carnegie Hall's very first concert, a 1891 piano recital, before splitting off to become a theater then cinema during the 20th century. It was revamped and reunited with the world-renowned music venue in 2003. Grab tickets for Ear to Mind's concert here.

-- John Ruscher

This Sunday: Joshua Kirsch Fills Art Mana Fest With The Sounds Of 'Sympathetic Resonance'

In 2010 Joshua Kirsch turned the 3rd Ward lobby into an incredible musical instrument with his interactive installation Sympathetic Resonance. We actually asked him to install it again when we curated Wired Magazine's holiday pop up store that winter. So for those that may not have caught his work in our lobby (or those that just want to see it again) Kirsch will be presenting Sympathetic Resonance once more this Sunday as part of the Art Mana Fest in Jersey City.

"I had a blast deciding where all the different marimba key modules would go," Kirsch says of his time with us back in 2010. "The 3rd Ward lobby provided an excellent canvas in which to explore the different possibilities." Since that installation, Kirsch has had the chance to overhaul and refine the piece to improve the functionality and durability of Sympathetic Resonance. "Also, I've added the ability to fine tune the angle of each module to a degree hundreds of times more precise," he says. "This allows me to create installations with perfectly sweeping curves, something which would have been impossible before."

For the Art Mana Fest he will also present Oculus, which features 18 leg-like extensions that can all be manipulated by turning a central hub. "I knew it would work, but I did not know exactly what it would look like until the piece was finished," Kirsch says. "What resulted in the end was something that resembled an 18-legged spider a lot more than I expected, which I really like."

For his exhibition's opening, which takes place this Sunday, March 11 from 1-5pm, Kirsch will perform a three-minute piece that he composed specifically for Sympathetic Resonance, and jazz and classical musicians will also use it in ensemble performances. "Of course, a lot of the afternoon will be left available for guests to try their hand at playing the installation," Kirsch says. "From experience, I can tell you that some 'heart and soul' will definitely make an appearance or two."

Sympathetic Resonance will be on display through April, and musicians can even enter to win a $1000 cash prize by performing their own music on Kirsch's sculpture.

-- John Ruscher

NYC's Kailyn Kent Captures Live Bands In Gorgeous Color Sketches

YACHT at Santos Party House - by Kailyn Kent

Last spring Kailyn Kent wanted to draw more people. "But I hate asking people to hold still and pose," she says. At the time she was helping run The Cave, a music venue in Minnesota, and she soon found that the subjects she was looking for were right there on the stage. "I started drawing shows, and couldn't stop," she says. "I kept doing it when I moved here to NYC—I drew a show my first night here, actually."

Kent has been regularly sketching shows around the city ever since. Her work requires a good vantage point, but she hasn't had much problem getting close to the stage. "Being a small girl with a sketchbook helps," she says. "My favorite place is near the speakers, because you're close but not straight on—but I'm afraid I'm developing tinnitus." Once she's found her spot, she'll take out her crayons and knock out a few sketches over the course of a band's set. "One show sketch takes one to two songs, usually," she tells us.

What does Kent do when she's not sketching shows? "I go to shows and dance! I also draw other events. Surreally, Maurizio Cattelan saw me sketching at 285 Kent, and invited me to draw at his gallery Family Business, which was a thrill. I'm also cartooning over a series of very long scrolls—10 to 30 feet each."

Some of her favorite bands to sketch include Brooklyn groups The Babies and Dinosaur Feathers and Portland electropop band YACHT (see above). "And I was very starstruck drawing James Murphy and Pat Mahoney of Special Disco Version last fall," she tells us.

Hit the jump to see more of those sketches. Then check Kent's show sketches archive or Tumblr blog for more, and keep an eye out for her the next time you're at a show. "I love the various scenarios and connections I share with people," she says. "If you spot me at me at a show, I'd love for you to say hi! I might draw you."

Dinosaur Feathers at Tammany Hall - by Kailyn Kent

Special Disco Version at House of Vans - by Kailyn Kent

Ducktails at Glasslands - by Kailyn Kent

At Family Business Gallery - by Kailyn Kent

INC at Glasslands - by Kailyn Kent

-- John Ruscher

Essential Event: 3rd Ward Member Matthew Murphy and Ryan Scott Oliver Combine Photography And Music For '35MM'

 

When 3rd Ward member and virtuosic dance photographer Matthew Murphy first told us about 35MM--an "evening-length multimedia musical" that he's been creating with composer Ryan Scott Oliver--the Kickstarter campaign for their project was around half of the way to its goal (and we were about the same distance from fully comprehending the unique and amazing production that they were putting together.)

Now that the Kickstarter campaign is finished, funded and then some, 35MM will take place on Wednesday, March 7 and Monday, March 12 at Galapogos Art Space in Dumbo. We caught up with Murphy again, and he helped us really wrap our heads around the piece. Read on below, check out some of Murphy's images and a video of one of Oliver's songs after the jump.

"We've lovingly coined the phrase 'Musical Exhibition' to describe 35MM," he says. The production brings the musical talents of Oliver, who is also currently writing the musical version of Freaky Friday for Disney Theatricals, and Murphy's photographic mastery, which we highlighted in January. "Full disclosure, we've been a couple for the past two-and-a-half years, so the evening really is a labor of love in the truest sense of the word," Murphy tells us.

"Originally Ryan went through my photos when we first started seeing each other and he was drawn to a handful of them so he created songs based on what he saw in the images," he says. "Sometimes the image would be literal and the story would connect immediately, while other times it would be a more abstract image that Ryan would spin a tale out of."

As those songs began to accumulate, Murphy shot more photographs for the project, and they presented the songs for the first time at Urban Stages in December of 2010. "A year later Ryan really began to shape the piece by adding musical transitions that reflect on the art of photography as a way of documenting time while also stopping time," Murphy says. "Each song is its own isolated story, but our hope is that the audience feels like for each four-minute burst they are immersed in a new world both visually and aurally."

"Some may be asking why we are doing a Monday and Wednesday evening and the reason is because we were determined to have some of Broadway's hottest young talent, which meant we had to work around their show schedules," he adds. And he's not kidding. 35MM's five-person cast features Lindsay Mendez (Godspell), Alex Brightman (Wicked), Jay Armstrong Johnson (Hair, Catch Me If You Can), Betsy Wolfe (Merrily We Roll Along, Everyday Rapture), and Ben Crawford (Shrek). "They are going to blow everyone's minds," he says.

"Our director, Jeremy Bloom, has been working with them over the past week and solidifying all of the ideas for how we will present the images," Murphy says. "We have a spectacular projection designer Aaron Rhyne who is creating an installation that will allow us to deconstruct some of the images when needed and present them in their full form at others."

Murphy himself will be finishing up the last images for the song "Why Must We Tell Them Why?" this week right here at 3rd Ward. Check out those images and video below and grab your tickets before they're gone.

-- John Ruscher

UbuWeb Offers Up A Vast Treasure Trove Of Avant-Garde Art

Still from a Salvador Dalí television spot - watch it on UbuWeb.We all have those moments, don't we? You're trying to get work done, but it's just not happening. So you click on over to YouTube for some cat-on-a-vacuum videos, or to [insert any gossip website here] for some juicy tidbits, or to Facebook to see what your friends (and people you haven't spoken to in twelve years) ate for breakfast today. Sure, those escapes can be necessary, but when you finally turn back to your work, you tend to feel a bit dirty, like you've just consumed too much digital fast food.

For a more healthy and enriching diversion we recommend UbuWeb, a website that'll provide a long-lasting diet that's high in intellectual and artistic nutrients. Founded way back in 1996 by poet Kenneth Goldsmith, UbuWeb is a gold mine of artistic goodness, offering a range of materials from "all strains of the avant-garde, ethnopoetics, and outsider arts," including a huge collection of film and video art, an eclectic sound archive, an anthology of conceptual writing, and the always-fascinating Outsiders section, which highlights "broader cultural trends toward the legitimization of Outsider work, be it in the visual, musical, or literary arts."

There's an overwhelming amount of stuff to check out on UbuWeb, so after the jump we've culled five choice nuggets to get you started.  Here they go:

The Blank Generation - Amos Poe's film offers the earliest look at New York's punk scene, featuring Patti Smith, Talking Heads, Blondie, Television and many others.

Salvador Dalí videos - A collection of television ads and other strange moments with the famed surrealist.

Tellus Audio Cassette Magazine archive - The entire decade-long collection of the bimonthly audio publication, which featured works by many experimental and avant-garde downtown New York artists, from Fluxus icon Alison Knowles to Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo to turntable innovator Christian Marclay.

Videos and audio by Mike Kelley - A range of work by the acclaimed interdisciplinary artist, who died earlier this month.

Curated Top Ten lists - Lists of of UbuWeb goodies curated by a wide range of notable figures, including renowned designer Paula Scher, New Yorker music critic Alex Ross, graphic novelist Warren Ellis and Whitney Biennial curator Jay Sanders.

-- John Ruscher

Contemporary Music Organization "Ear To Mind" Asks David Karlins To Take Their Vision From Mind To Screen

David Karlins and Ear to Mind co-director Inhyun Kim meeting in the conference room.

Since its beginnings in 2010, contemporary music nonprofit Ear to Mind has relied on a typical cookie cutter blog-style website as their online home. It did the job, but with an upcoming concert at illustrious Carnegie Hall, the organization decided they'd like something more original and reflective of their adventurous artistic identity. For that they turned to 3rd Ward Web Design teacher and prolific author David Karlins.

"They felt it was essential to create a Web presence more in keeping with the creative energy and spirit of what they are all about," Karlins says. He met up with Ear to Mind co-director Inhyun Kim and worked to create an online destination that achieves just that.

"A substantial focus of my Web consulting involves working with artists, musicians, performers and particularly venues, organizations that promote the arts," Karlins says. "While my main activity is writing books and developing online teaching materials for publishers like Dummies and teaching material for Adobe, I do keep my fingers on the pulse of cutting edge Web challenges by continuing to do design projects."

Karlins' upcoming book is Web Sites for Dummies All-in-One. Here at 3rd Ward he teaches classes including Web Design with Adobe Creative Suite (both regular and condensed) and Intermediate Web Design // CSS3 and loves soaking up our positive vibes. "My meetings with the principles and people involved at 3rd Ward allow us to absorb and bounce off the diverse activity and creative energy here, and in turn feed into my work on books, my live and online classes, and the teaching materials I create here," he says.

The Ear to Mind Carnegie Hall concert that prompted Karlins' design work happens on April 19 and will feature pianist award-winning Jenny Q Chai playing a variety of music, including the world premier of a new composition by Inhyun Kim.

-- John Ruscher