Exhibition at CentralTrak; Event at The Reading Room

We've been quiet but busy.

We now have a cool crew committed to creating the first POPLAB! More details will be announced soon, but I can tell you it's scheduled to debut at an exhibition that Mike Morris and I are co-curating, which will open at CentralTrak on Nov. 17 – mark your calendars!

The OccuLibrary has been invited to be included in Make Art with Purpose, itself an art project created by Janeil Engelstad. Among other things, its MAP website helps people connect with a selection of other art projects that are designed to lead to positive social and environmental change.

Meanwhile, Danette Dufilho and Anne Lawrence are creating an OccuLibrary-inspired project called the Yankee Doodles Sing-A-Lot Sing-A-Long. This will be a series of programs for kids in which they'll participate in sing-alongs while learning about the songs' historical significance. The first event will take place Sunday, Aug. 19, from 4 - 6PM, at The Reading Room art gallery, in cooperation with the gals from Oil and Cotton, who will conduct a related visual art activity. All ages welcome; I and my literally or figuratively kid-ish friends can't wait! The Reading Room is at 3715 Parry Ave., Dallas.

UPDATE: You can now see video of the Yankee Doodles program at Art this Week (thanks, Richie and Kate!) (Image right by Elijah Sala.)

Updated OccuLibrary needs:

People to help wrangle books for the POPLAB
People to help catalogue them
Grant writers or other fund raisers
People who are good with people
People who can get big things done
People who can get small things done
People with good ideas or advice
And more!

The "GlamROccuLibrarymentary Trailer Shoot 1"

Since we don't have a cart yet, we pulled together a script consisting of short chunks of text describing the project and a bunch of relevant quotations from writers and artists through the ages, and we invited passers-by to read whatever bits they liked best while we videotaped them, with the idea of editing them into a promo. The response was enthusiastic, and we got some great footage, shared some good info, and everyone had a great time. We think we'll do it again.

The second photo shows our ultra-hot GlamROccuLibrarians, Sally Glass and George Quartz. We also made some cool little 'zines to hand out.

We were too busy shooting video to get many photos, so if you happen to have any, we'd love to see them.

If you'd like to get involved, we could use:

POPLAB (bookbuggy) builders
Librarians (real or artificial)
Artists
Grant writers or other fund raisers
People who can recruit others
People who can organize others
People who can pitch in now and then
Make us an offer!

You're invited to help us co- re-create reality, only better!

UPDATE: Nice mention by Margaret Meehan in Glasstire!

An installation of the sandwich boards, 'zines, and props remains on view at the Shamrock (along with the rest of the Fallas Dart Air), on Sat. afternoons or by appt. until 4/28, at 4312-1/2 Elm St. between Peak and Carroll.

FURTHER UPDATE: You can download PDF files of the sandwich boards here. They're standard poster size and print-ready; feel free to use them in your own OccuLibrary incarnations.

OccuLibrary Project Debuts Tonight

At the The Fallas Dart Air, 5 - 9PM, at Shamrock Hotel Studios, 4312 Elm St., Dallas between Peak and Carroll (more details at the link): GlamROccuLibrarymentary: Trailer 1 Shoot (2012), by Carolyn Sortor and Lizzy Wetzel, with performances by Sally Glass and George Quartz. The Fallas Dart Air is occurring the same weekend as the Dallas Art Fair. (Photo right by P. Peniweight).

We haven't got a cart built yet, but we've made some pretty fine printed materials for our p.r. debut (p.r. being 1/2 of what this project is about anyway. You can click on the image below left for a more legible version; or contact us if you'd like a hi-res pdf).

The show also includes work by lots of other great artists: Kristen Cochran, Lanie Delay, Vince Jones, Kirsten Macy, Margaret Meehan, Ludwig Schwarz, Marjorie Schwarz, Edward Setina, Lizzy Wetzel, and open studios of Lily Hanson, Peter Ligon, Marianne Newsom, Brian Ryden, Noah Simblist, Sunny Sliger, and Saul Waranch.


Many thanks to Peter Ligon for creating our illustrious venue, organizing the show, and encouraging us to debut the project there!

(Click on the images for larger versions. B.t.w., if you'd like to help build a cart, pls contact us!)

Intro

Most Occupy camps had library tents, including the camp in Dallas; and when the camps were evicted, the libraries were largely destroyed.  (In New York, e.g., camp librarians had catalogued some 4,000 books, out of which only 802 were recovered, many  in barely usable condition; and their laptops and other property were destroyed.)

We're interested in creating art-assisted reincarnations of these libraries.

More particularly, the project mission is to use aesthetically-informed strategies to lure artists and other citizens toward info that can help empower the 99%, as well as to foster critical and cultural awareness in general.

We plan to begin with the creation of one or two "bookmobile" carts (one of which could live in a gallery or community space, while the other hits the streets). Tentatively called the "People's Occupy Pop-up Library All-terrain Bookbuggy" ("POPLAB"), and possibly consisting of a suped-up, book-filled laundry cart or other mobile unit w/ excessive tires + an eye-catching sign, which could perambulate populated public areas in an amusing/alluring manner. (Click on the image for a larger version.)

Additional evolutions could include a pop-up library installation (the "People's Occupy Pretty-big Top Education + Networking Tent" ("POPTENT")? that could temporarily live in available gallery spaces, school campuses, community centers, etc. It could host performances, art talks, screenings, readings, etc., as well as books, videos, + other materials.

Artist-modified or -created books or information packets + an open-call, blind-curated art show are some other ideas. We'd like to hear yours!