I am pleased to inform you that The Yes Men Fix the World will be screening this Friday, March 19th at the Senator Theatre at 7pm!

For trailer and film info/screening info, check out: http://www.theyesmenfixtheworld.com/

if you are not familiar with the Yes Men you should be.
Check out their past projects here.

A few words from Mike of the Yes Men:

Hello All- THANKS for your support! We finally got a booking in Baltimore, at the
beautiful Senator Theater this Friday March 19th! I hope that I can meet
you there for a 7:00 screening. I’ll be doing the question and answers with
a special guests: Margaret Flowers from Physicians for a National Health
Program, for whom we will be trying to raise a bit of cash in their
last-ditch efforts to get some action on public health care. I think it
will be a very special evening. This is our last theatrical booking, last
chance to see the 35mm print of the film with an audience… and the film
is most fun with an audience. I will bring some special prizes that will be
awarded by lottery. Vivoleum candle anyone?  Please help us get some people
through the door- we have no advertising budget. Facebook it or email or
whatever! By the way, the film plays throughout the week. Best, Mike Bonanno
The Yes Men
senator website: http://www.senator.com>

creativity and social interaction should be encouraged without thought of profit.

all parties are capable of creative equity. nothing is limited/scarce/precious.

design embraces categories and unique skill sets, but eliminates divisions between them.

skills and knowledge, like commodities, are meant for redistribution amongst all parties.

as facilitators and cultural producers, our main commodity is social interaction and its perpetuation/stimulation.

never leave an interaction not having learned something, or questioned previously held beliefs.

encourage generosity over exclusivity.

there is never a reason to stop or end because there is no failure.

the design center is a flowchart where everything circles back to the beginning.

there is no shame in desperation or frustration or disagreement. these are natural in the social sphere.

there will be no progress without ingenuity. if there is no budget, how can it be done for free? if there is no space, how can one be created? if there is no know, how can parties listen harder until there is an answer?

there are no requirements to traffic in traditional definitions of received concepts, including, but not limited to: space, performance, media, need, or collaboration

ideas and production are more important than hierarchy, and action determines infrastructure, not labels.

the end of over-stimulation is boredom.

“Love & Heartbreak: new works by Katy Keefe and Samuel Payne” opens at The Metro Gallery on 14 January 2010 and runs though 27 February 2010. Intensely personal and layered with texture, Keefe’s paintings, drawings and photographs are inspired by the romantic, Payne’s violent installations and works-on-paper by heartbreak and scorn. Despite the immediate contradictory nature of the two perspectives, the works are thematically united under the auspices of passion, devotion and enlightenment. Using totems and hero worship, Keefe glorifies while Payne simultaneously destroys. The dense works of the two artists are aesthetically complex compositions constructed meticulously of accumulating detail and narratives. The work is both genuinely personal and universally metaphorical. Keefe and Payne utilize their joint belief in the constant presence of separation and division to establish a dialogue regarding heaven and hell, the dichotomy of brokenness, and the question of power and rule in daily life. “Love & Heartbreak” is an exhibition of journeys, failures, enlightenment, and common experience.

Katy Keefe is a Chicago artist working in painting, drawing and installation. Her new Love series comes from recent enlightenment that begins with a singular person and extends to an entire population. Drawing on patterns of hope, growth and defeat, they address the truth self: one that can be filled with struggle while simultaneously projecting true love. Her brightly colored paintings are a kaleidoscope of plant life, earthy soils, depictions of her recent lover and natural psychedelic experiences found in the woods. These works exist to inspire, awe and transport. The Love series is a reconfigured reality lush with stimulation.

Samuel Payne is a Seattle-based artist working in painting, video, and installation. His new Heartbreak series takes the struggle of American ideals of lovesick cowboy notions and intermingles them with his own emotional turmoil. Traveling the American soil has become a vital aspect of Payne’s artistic process and manifests as a patchwork in his new work. Stacks of cowboy hats, heartbroken maidens, cacti, and narrative structures involving figures such as Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings and the like are a few of his inspirations. The Heartbreak series is constructed with a particular brand of airiness and humor, owing to Paynes’ uniquely complicated style.

Design Conversation #11 : SOUND | Baltimore Experimental Music Aesthetics and Instrument Design–A High Zero Festival Panel Discussion
Wednesday 02 september 2009

the convo featured speakers from the High Zero festival and foundation:

Dan Conrad
Neil Feather
Peter Blasser
Stewart Mostofsky

these folks enlightened us in many ways, in no particular order, including, but not limited to, the following:

-playing a single stringed pvc pipe, with two pick-ups, and later, a newly-developed acoustic version
-musing on inspiration and motivation as a creator/designer/musician/human being
-explaining the history and mission of the High Zero foundation and festival
-making really, really loud noises
-wearing a jagermeister hat
-showing images of previous experiments and on-going works
-attempting to encapsulate 20 years of the creative process in 10 slides and 15 minutes
-hunting deers in different languages

pizza was generously donated by Joe from Joe Squared to keep everyone full and happy. Much thanks.

for more information on the excellence you missed, (i know you missed it, i was there.) go to www.highzero.org

see you at Design Conversation #12 : BICYCLES