Vashti Bunyan

some things just stick in your mind

Listen, if your man is telling you you’re hot—or your woman, whatever—just fucking believe it. Why would they lie? If they didn’t like you, they wouldn’t be with you! Body size is not something you can hide. It’s not like they haven’t seen you naked. Just trust them. If they’re saying they’re attracted to you, they are.
- April Flores

via fuckyeahfemmes

i have a new roomie. and i really like her music - you should check her band ROUGE out. ---- >>>> <<<<----- their song modern lovers II is my fav.

their bio is too freakin cute:

One day, when a young woman named Jessica was at work, a strange feeling overcame her. Trying to ignore it, the feeling became so strong that she dropped what she was doing, slapped her boss, burst out of the building, and ran down the street with a sense of urgency, and duty. Her legs did not stop moving until the earth trembled with pleasure. Before her stood a house that pulled her in like a familiar yet sinful lover. Before entering she cried out loud to the heavens: "I am about to embark on the most fantastic journey of my life!" Inside, Kelly had no idea that her song had reached Jessica's ears, but when the blonde babe kicked down the door and began singing along like it was her destiny... Kelly felt the tingling sensation of the union between them. Beats, riffs and melodies were catapulted out into the atmosphere, like ancient Chinese fireworks. They found their outfits in the back of a truck, and the dream became reality. They are excited to be recording their second EP with the help of Heather Kirby (Ohbijou), Evan and Geordie Gordon (The Magic), and Tim Brunton (The DUrbervilles). Its anticipated release is the hot and steamy summer of 2010. Stay tuned for more fabulous tales from the loins of ROUGE. note: this story is entirely fictional except the part where they found their outfits in the back of a truck... and the crap about the album is true.

women without men

In her feature-film debut, renowned visual artist Shirin Neshat offers an exquisitely crafted view of Iran in 1953, when a British- and American-backed coup removed the democratically elected government. Adapted from the novel by Iranian author Shahrnush Parsipur, the film weaves together the stories of five individual women during those traumatic days, whose experiences are shaped by their faith and the social structures in place.

With a camera that floats effortlessly through the lives of the women and the beautiful countryside of Iran, Neshat explores the social, political, and psychological dimensions of her characters as they meet in a metaphorical garden, where they can exist and reflect while the complex intellectual and religious forces shaping their world linger in the air around them. Looking at Iran from Neshats point of view allows us to see the larger picture and realize that the human community resembles different organs of one body, created from a common essence.

SHIRIN NESHAT
Iranian-born visual artist Shirin Neshat is known for her hauntingly beautiful explorations of Islam and gender relations. Over the past 15 years, Neshat has created provocative expressions drawn on her personal experiences in exile, and on the widening political and ideological rift between the West and the Middle East. Her potent statements in still and moving images evoke the struggles that define her.

Born in Qazvin, one of the most religious cities in Iran, Shirin Neshat is perhaps the most famous contemporary artist to emerge from that country. Neshat left Iran just before the Islamic revolution (1979) and the fall of the Shah. Her consequent visits to Iran after the revolution led to the creation of a body of work which launched Neshat’s artistic career, however, since 1996 she has not been able to return to her country due to the controversial nature of her art. After receiving her degree in art from the University of California at Berkeley, Neshat moved to New York, where she continues to live and feel the pull and push of her roots. She examines her homeland from a distance, as well as in closer perspective on her travels across the Middle East.

On today’s complicated global stage, Neshat’s voice is unmistakably relevant. She first gained prominence with Women of Allah (1993-97), a series of photographs depicting women in veils carrying guns with their skin covered in Islamic poetry. These arresting images reflected Neshat’s sense of how the revolution had changed the Iran that she knew, especially the lives of women seeking freedom, rebelling in martyrdom and militancy.

By 1998, when Neshat began experimenting with film and video installations, she met Iranian artist/filmmaker, Shoja Azari. They began a collaboration which has led to numerous important video pieces such as the trilogy—Turbulent (1998), Rapture (1999), and Fervor (2000)—about gender roles in the restrictive Islamic society. In the first two cinematic statements, she immersed the viewer literally in the middle of the works, which were projected on two screens, each occupied by actors of one sex. The men and women are physically separated here in art, as in real life. In Turbulent, Azari performed the role of male singer while Sussan Deyhim, was the female singer. Here Neshat explored singing as a metaphor for freedom, inspired by an Iranian ban on women singing. In Rapture, she continued her theme with a story about women moving across the desert, and how a few eventually break free to leave on a small boat. Fervor expressed the passionate yearning of a couple who can only make contact with their eyes, closing the trilogy with an emphasis on the common ground shared between the sexes.

On a more personal note, Neshat explored her own displacement in Soliloquy (1999). Again using duo projections, she places an image of herself in the Middle East on one screen, and an image of herself in the West on another, visually revealing the split between the two very different cultures that are both a part of her life.

a new generation for feminsim

Today I wore a sweater to school that had the f-word on it.





I thought I would get quite the beating from my peers, and I was totally wrong. And kind of disappointed! Which sounds horrible (it's a good thing that I can be openly feminist at school) but I guess I'm just bored. What was so great about dressing up in middle school was when people got really confused and sometimes even angry and had the most entertaining responses, but now a lot of them think they're supposed to like my outfits because some magazine does, and as a result, I am never challenged. The best was when people found out about this blog, and said things like, "Wow, I would not have guessed you care about fashion." Which I loved -- I don't want to look like someone who cares about fashion. Now everything is justified by the attention this blog receives, the same way I dislike the logo placement on my Miu Miu collar, as if it makes the oddness somehow okay. My goal for this school year was to wear outfits that confuse the people I'm surrounded by every day, challenge beauty ideals...I know it's cheesy to post inspiration quotes, but these are not the kind you will see pasted onto a photo of a sunset and tumbled:

"I like making images that from a distance seem kind of seductive, colorful, luscious and engaging, and then you realize what you're looking at is something totally opposite. It seems boring to me to pursue the typical idea of beauty, because that is the easiest and the most obvious way to see the world. It's more challenging to look at the other side." -- Cindy Sherman

"I know when I first started, I said things like, 'It's really great to be beautiful and powerful and sexy,' and I take a little bit of that back now. What I was saying was that you don't have to look a certain way or have a certain hairstyle to be a feminist; that just because a girl wears lipstick that doesn't mean she's not a feminist. But now I realize that I wasn't really challenging the standard of beauty. A friend said to me, 'Why is it so subversive to be beautiful in the traditional sense? I think it's much more subversive to create your own form of beauty and to set your own standards.' She's right." -- Kathleen Hanna

Speaking of Kathleen Hanna, this sweater is actually courtesy of her! It was made and given to her by Jim Drain and Elyse Allen and the label says Happy Banana. I had breakfast with her and my pal Wendy when I was in New York and it was definitely a highlight of my Fashion Week, even though it was not actually a part of Fashion Week and we hardly talked about fashion. We talked a bit about the politics of it though, and when I mentioned the kinds of things that are, like, really really important to the Internet at this time of year (seat placements, who got shot by which street style photographers, more stupidity) Kathleen said, "Who cares? People are dying," so quick, in one breath, and it was like...duh! I mean, seriously, what a wonderful thing to hear and mindset to get in during a time I have such a love/hate relationship with.



Via TAVI's blog

i love this woman!

TOO CUTE

sounds like: a beach storm & the morning after

blue hawaii ----> get their ep for free here ---->>>>>

taking stock of the good things in life

THE GOOD THINGS IN LIFE // SUMMER

Midnight bonfire on a sandy beach
Watching a pink sunrise while lying on the pier
Communal breakfasts, dinners, snacks and smoke breaks, communal everything!
Being barefoot all the time
So much productivity that you nearly lose your mind
Waking up to birds singing outside
Wild hair
Feeling inspired all the time
White wine in my studio while listening to Bruce Springsteen
Watching the sun set over Etobicoke from the rocky point on the south shore
Hoola hoops
Morning sex in hot weather with the fan blowing at us from the corner by the window
A healthy work schedule for myself and others
Gardening
Girl packs walking together in search of damage after a really bad storm
My girl pack
Eating food straight from the fire like little savages
Catching wild animals doing private things (like cleaning their babies, not having sex, you pervert!)
Singing loudly to myself while bike riding in the dark from Ward's ferry docks
When making things at any given moment becomes second nature
Nudity among friends
The Lighthouse ghost
Grilled cheese and coffee at the marina
Kissing on a picnic bench
Watching the moon rise
Fire, Whiskey and Sun
---yuula benivolski

New M.J!

Planning on posing this summer? A little recreational posing? Why not do it with the support of props designed just for this purpose. It might be a relief to have a some help in this department, after years of free-form (and let’s face it, often inaccurate) posing. For your convenience, eleven professional props will be installed in Union Square Park in New York, all summer. If you fill a little posing coming on, hurry over.

Eleven Heavy Things
Miranda July
May 29 - October 3, 2010
Center Lawn, Union Square Park


If you're lucky enough to be in New York City this summer, then you'll have the chance to visit these new sculptures from Miranda July! Eleven Heavy Things lets you get a photo of yourself wearing an intricately painted lace head-dress cloud, stick three parts of your body through a super cool slab, and find a stranger to hug on top of a box that asks you to hug a stranger - and then maybe feel funny inside afterward! Whatever you do, it's a place to let go of your inhibitions -- or to just be a voyeur and watch people interacting with these fun social sculptures.

Eleven Heavy Things is on view in the center lawn at Union Square until October 3rd!

via got a girl crush

summer goal

I have a new friend! her politics and fat positive feminist activism is super duper inspiring! for instance:

Maylee Todd Takes us on the Soul Train!

fuckyeah! new maylee todd!
xx

LAS ROBERTAS


Cry Out Loud is comprised of ten mesmeric pieces that go from cold to sweaty, always keeping a cohesive charm that enforces the practice crying out loud as long as one smiles out loud. It’s this kind of fainted subtext that raises Las Robertas from the crowd of punky chicks trying to exemplify today’s riot girl. -club fanograma

Las Robertas - Back to the End from Diego Arias on Vimeo.

“I know I’m the shit, I know I’m the shit”

on repeat

Record Club: INXS "Need You Tonight" from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

Not sure how i feel about this. I love the art of reclamation, and i have a vast amount of respect for Eve Ensler's work with VDay, however its a troubling territory when a woman as smart ( white and privileged ) as her begins telling the stories of people of color...slightly problematic. She has far too much power and privilege so her feminist politic reminds me of second wave feminism. Nonetheless, this talk is full of energy and inspiration about the erasure of the collective girl cell in all of us.

Fontanelle Gallery presents Lesbian Art Show, a Dada-inspired exhibition that explores lesbian culture and features mixed media collage, drawings, sculpture, and installation, by Azsa West and Mary McAllister.

Azsa West and Mary McAllister cohabitate in majestic Portland, Oregon where they met and fell in love. They belong to a group of talented young comrades who inspire each other through conversation, ambition, and creativity. Their activities are infused with the desire to strive towards a unique and personal definition of being lesbian. West and McAllister are interested in documenting this ethos, from studying its roots as represented in historical literature and photography, to producing and participating in contemporary queer culture.

Lesbian Art Show represents the timeless and chaotic style of Dada, the intimacies of Left Bank lesbians in the 1920s, and the revolutionary spirit of queer ephemera combined with personal experiences from a recent European adventure, lesbian lifestyles, strange habits, the need for order and documentation, large type, and perhaps most importantly, true love. The works on view often utilize textual diagrams to illustrate ideas. Through graphs, maps, exquisite corpse, and Venn diagrams, they deliver their observations and revelations. In addition, there will be an installation constructed collaboratively with Aubree Bernier-Clarke, and finessed with respect for historical representation and compassion for community.

Azsa West attended California College of the Arts and the Pasadena Art Center where she studied art direction, photography and book arts. She is currently an art director at Wieden+Kennedy in Portland and recently had several drawings featured in Girls Like Us Magazine published out of Amsterdam. Mary McAllister studied photography and printmaking at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. She is one of the co-founders and dj’s of Gaycation, a popular monthly dance party in
Portland.


http://www.fontanellegallery.com/LesbianArtShow.html

Wangechi Mutu, This You Call Civilization?

Wangechi Mutu’s work boldly explores the contradictions of female and cultural identity, drawing the viewer into conversations about beauty, consumerism, colonialism, race, and gender. Her representations of the human form are disturbing and transfixing, at once utterly complex and strikingly direct.

I'll break your heart

Dear world,
Ths sun was shinning today. I can smell spring. and finally, thanks to the babes in warpaint my joy is coming back! I have been waiting for these wonderful women to realease a new video for what seems like forever! The aural and ocular beauty combination of this exquisite song/video just made my week!

Rebel Girl: Kathleen Hanna on Archiving Riot Grrrl, Tearing Down Idols, and Awkward Turtles