light is like water

Strange yet wonderful cover art by gali erez for Gabriel Garcia Marquez's short story, La Luz es como el Agua or Light is Like Water. (Excerpt below)

Pues habían abierto tantas luces al mismo tiempo que la casa se había rebosado, y todo el cuarto año elemental de la escuela de San Julián el Hospitalario se había ahogado en el piso quinto del número 47 del Paseo de la Castellana. En Madrid de España, una ciudad remota de veranos ardientes y vientos helados, sin mar ni río, y cuyos aborígenes de tierra firme nunca fueron maestros en la ciencia de navegar en la luz.

For they had turned on so many lights at the same time that the apartment had flooded, and two entire classes at the elementary school of Saint Julian the Hospitaler drowned on the fifth floor of 47 Paseo de la Castellana. In Madrid, Spain, a remote city of burning summers and icy winds, with no ocean or river, whose land-bound indigenous population had never mastered the science of navigating on light. 

Read the whole story here.

[marketplace] painted wood, sticks and slices

Painted sticks from Ginette Lapalme, and acrylic elm slices from reclaimed wood for sale at focuslineart.

[marketplace] sierra and bianca, together cocorosie

The last of my contemporary American Indian series, featuring musical duo Cocorosie:

(screenshots from Cocorosie's Lemonade)

From a Cherokee background, sisters Sierra and Bianca Casady as children were nomads. They moved around almost every year, living in Hawaii, California, New Mexico, and Arizona. Without formal education, they grew up learning art in the "real world." During summers, they would join their now estranged father on vision quests on various American Indian reservations--these experiences continue to inform their music. Now they are both based in France.

Their music has been characterized as "freak folk" experimental (think Devendra Banhart meets the childish voice of Joanna Newsom), mixed with hip hop, opera, electronic, the blues, and misc. sounds like owls cooing and children's toys. Basically, it's very unique and not for everyone.

For me, sometimes it's discordant and even difficult to listen to. But the moments of delicate melodies and Sierra's opera trained voice cut through the mess, and you suddenly learn that you're tearing up and you can't stop listening to it. My favorite: the album version of Werewolf, one of the few songs I have on continuous repeat. 

They recently came out with their fourth album, Grey Oceans (2010). When asked about the inspiration for this album, Sierra spoke about the earth returning to its primeval, natural elemental beings--which are reflected in the androgynous/mystical/fantastical look of Lemonade and Smokey Taboo. 

They will be playing in Brooklyn's Music Hall of Williamsburg September 15.  

the sketchbook project, I challenge you

To me, a sketchbook is a beginning. It's a place where not fully formed ideas can play for a little while. It's a testing ground. Now imagine a library that houses thousands of sketchbooks for you to check out and thumb through. Not only that, you can contribute your own. I just love this idea.

The Brooklyn Art Library is accepting participants for its annual Sketchbook Project until October 31, 2010. Participants receive a moleskin and a theme--they are due January 15 for the 2011 tour around the country, and you can also have them digitize it on their website. Anyone from anywhere in the world can apply.

I just signed up, and my theme is "And then there were none."
I'm getting an extinction/Lorax vibe.

If you have any ideas for me on that theme, please let me know. And if you decide to sign up (I challenge you!), feel free to drop a comment on what theme you chose.

One of my favorite submission so far comes from Alinac, with the bold theme: Dirigibles and Submersibles.

(Alinac's sketchbook at ArtHouseCoop.com)

And a big thank you to Kat for the heads-up.

[marketplace] native heritage print blankets

Wrap yourself in these comfy, wool blankets from Pendleton meets Opening Ceremony, inspired by prints and patterns from the Yavapai and Sioux tribes. 

landmark legislation putting an end to the violence

(Amnesty International, Maze of Injustice)

Finally, the bill that inspired my American Indian series:

On July 23, 2010, the US House of Representatives passed on July 23, 2010 the Tribal Law and Order Act introduced by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), in order to finally address the human rights violations detailed in the previous post.

This act intends to enhance and improve communication and coordination between Tribal law officials and state and federal authorities. It will also bolster tribal law enforcement--if convicted by tribal courts now, a rapist only gets a one year sentence--and health services. If these gaps are filled, maybe rape cases against Native Indigenous women will no longer fall through the cracks. Maybe, hopefully, perpetrators will know that they can no longer do such heinous things with impunity.

But this is just a start. For more information, and to lend your support, visit these sites:

Amnesty International
Coalition to Stop Violence against Native Women
Pretty Bird Woman House shelter
NYTimes article

violence against American Indigenous women

This is Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North and South Dakota.  In February 2003, a 21-year-old woman was brutally raped and beaten by four men. At first she was brought to the Indian Health Service Hospital but later taken to a hospital in Bismarck, in critical condition. She spoke to police there, but sadly, died two weeks later. A year later, her case was closed and the perpetrators never identified. When Amnesty International contacted the Chief of Police there, they could not even find a record of that case. It was as if legally, it never happened. But for that young woman, it cost her her life. 

More than one in three American Indian and Alaska Native women will be raped in her lifetime; they are 2.5 times more likely than any other American woman to be sexually assaulted. 

This is because, before last week, perpetrators could basically rape with impunity due to exasperating jurisdiction issues between tribal, state, and federal levels. For example, tribal prosecutors cannot prosecute crimes committed by non-Natives, and 86% of these sexual assaults fall into this area.The confusion over which authority has jurisdiction leads to poor investigations or no response at all. Additionally, tribal law enforcement are often underfunded, and places like Standing Rock are such large territories, that there just aren't enough police. Within the Tribal Health Services, there are also no protocols for rape kits so there's no evidence for prosecution.

When Amnesty International released their report, Maze of Injustice, their interviewees all said that they didn't know anyone in their community who had not experienced sexual violence.

This is a serious injustice, following a chain of human rights abuses against American Indians throughout history. Learning that there is a climate of impunity in the US, that sexual violence can be the norm--it's infuriating and terrifying.