CricketToes

Attention Filmmakers: Time for 48 Hours of Madness--Again!

According to an equal mixture of reliable and not-so reliable sources, it takes anywhere from 9 days to 15 months to shoot the average 2 hour film, and 6 days to 3 weeks to shoot the average 7 minute short film/video. The main differences between a frantic, clipboard-throwing schedule and a leisurely, get-me-another-cocktail schedule is, of course, budget and the artistic flip-floppin' skills of the director.

But we know that real filmmakers don't need no stinkin' 6 days to shoot an awesome short film, don't we? Hell, they don't even need 3 days! All they need is 48 hours, and that includes shooting, editing, special effects, ADR--that's Additional Dialogue Recording or Automated Dialogue Replacement, depending on who you ask--and several trips to the liquor store. Am I right? Right on!

Well, for those of you who'd like to prove you/me/us correct to whole wide world, your chance has come in the form of the annual--surprise!--48 Hour Film Project, slated to take place June 14-16, 2013, right here in Milwaukee. Sweet short film/video gods be praised!

Early Bird Registration is now open for the fiscally responsible moving picture makers among us, saving them a precious $20, which they can squirrel away until the inevitable equipment failure happens at either the very convenient time of 3:27AM on Saturday morn or 7:16PM on Sunday night--psst, all films are due by 7:30PM Sunday.

So get on over to the website and register now for 48 Hours of Filmmaking Madness! And remember, kids, always check to see that your equipment is plugged in before ya think it's broken and ya freak out. If it is, freak away!

(Thanks, Jared!)

Related:
Short Film Proves Artists' Greatest Unifier Is Disunity
The Art Tim Hetherington & Chris Hondros Left Behind

Bring Your Own Artistic Creature To Life In The DanceLAB--Mwahahaha!

The process of artsy creation is always complicated and always messy, and anybody who tells ya different has never gotten his/her brain dirty--all right now, y'all know what I mean, sheesh! In the most obvious yet poignant metaphor in English literature, Mary Shelly told us so in her Gothic novel Frankenstein--a.k.a The Modern Prometheus. While she narrates nearly nothing of what must surely be a gruesome procedure of animating inanimate matter, we gather all too well that the process of bringing a new creation into this world is filled with both wonder and terror. Ask any mom--she'll tell ya that plus more than ya ever wanted to know!

So if that's the case, if it's so damn tricky and scary to create, why do we do it at all? Fair question, kids. Ya gotta be at least half off your nut to even try, right? Well, yes, but being half off your nut just means you're human, so that's no excuse, and being human means you not only try in spite of the tricky/scary but because of the tricky/scary, right? Right on!

In that spirit, Danceworks invites you and the artistic partner of your choice to apply for participation in its DanceLAB Art to Art 2013, an experimental performance event featuring works created by multiple two-artist teams who practice different disciplines. It's an artsy cross-pollination hootenanny!

One stipulation: One member of each team should be a choreographer or at least know a little sumpin' sumpin' about choreography. Pretty sure dancing along with the Glee gang in your living room doesn't count, but if you got the gumption and a high level of what-the-hell attitude, I'm not gonna tell ya you can't apply.

For the rest of you in film, music, theatre and visual arts, all you gotta do is find yourself one of those fancy dance types to partner with and you're good to go. Easy peasy!

Go to the Danceworks website to download the Art to Art 2013 application--it's under the DanceLAB tab--so you can face the wonder and the terror together!

(Thanks, Elyse!)

Related:
Video Confession: 3 Guys, 3 Beers & Modern Dance

RedLine's Runway Design Competition: That Is So RePurposed

Throughout the centuries, high fashion has suffered mightily from what can only be described as acute cases of silliness, disfunction and waste. Take the ginormous, neck-straining wigs so popular with the French royal woman in the late 1700s--twas not so much work by the time the guillotine got its way. Or the layers and layers of petticoats worn under ball gowns in the Victorian era--each set enough to clothe a small village and all its draft horses, too.

Now, the existence of these and many other atrocious examples does not mean that what we drape over our naked, vulnerable selves should simply be functional and boring, conveying a level of visual appeal about as hot as a potato sack, but isn't there some way we can make high fashion more relevant and less wasteful? Huh? Isn't there?

Funny you/me/we should ask because Milwaukee's art incubator RedLine has just put out the word that it's looking for fashion designers, artists and students to apply for its 3rd Annual RePurposed Runway Design Competition. You read that right, kids--each outfit must be made from stuff that's lived a previous life but now yearns to "find itself" in the exciting world of Fashion with a capital F!

Here's what you need to submit:
• Name, Address, Home Phone, Cell Phone and Email Address.

• 2-3 .jpg images--either on CD or free floating within the email ether--of recent samples of garments you've made, created from recycled materials or not. FYI, if you send a CD you ain't gonna get it back, so don't burn a copy of your encrypted fashion manifesto on it and cheerily delete it from your computing device, 'kay?

• Designer/Artist statement describing your work. Keep it under 500 words 'cause nobody needs to hear your "inspiration" story about when you saw Kirstie Alley in a muumuu and you knew it in your bones that you could find a way to squeeze her into a plus size, bullet cup corset with fabulous results.

• Idea for your garment for this year's competition.

The theme is Environment And Water, so ya know you'll be able to come up with something that just screams, "I'm sustainable and transparent!"

Check out full details here. Deadline is Friday, March 1, 2013.

(Thanks, Lynn!)

Related:
Fashion Crosses The RedLine
Fashion, Schmashion--Let's Wear Some Art!

Attention Photogs: CoPA Wants To Give You 500 Smackers!

You read that headline right, oh ye who spend countless hours gazing through a viewfinder to compose a still shot of perfection, the Coalition of Photographic Arts (CoPA) wants to give you a chance to score $500 to do with as you wish--though hopefully you would use it toward the pursuit of your art and not, say, a giant bottle o' booze that serves 100 or more.

The program is called the Artist Incentive Award and all you gotta do is pen an essay based on the following deep subject: What contemporary photography means to you and how you see your photography fitting into your future plans as a Fine Art Photographer. Easy peasy!

The Artist Incentive Award is open to students enrolled in a degree program--two or four year--and CoPA members in good standing--that means you've paid your dues and whatnot. The winner of each category will receive $500.

Now, just so ya know, the deadline is technically Friday, October 14. But don't panic, kids, because Cricky's pal Angela Morgan--CoPA's Communications Committee Co-Chair and a phantastic photog in her own right--has extended the deadline until midnight on Monday, October 17. Whoot!

Go to the Artist Incentive Award webpage on the CoPA website for more details.

Good luck and good writing!

(Thanks, Angela!)

Related:
CoPA Members Show: A Ginormous Exhibit Of Photographic Goodness!
CoPA Celebrates Its B-Day with Bloody Bidding Combat

RAM Boldly Announces New Fellowships

In these bleak times of diminishing financial breaks in the artsy world, the Racine Art Museum (RAM) has just announced a brand spankin' new fellowship opportunity, called--surprise!--the RAM Artist Fellowship program. Well, whoot and hooray!

Open to visual artists livin' and slavin' away in the Racine/Kenosha urban corridor--that's east of I-94 for those of you who can still afford the luxury of automobile upkeep and use its concrete pathways for geographic reference--the program will hand out four $2,500 fellowships in 2012. Beyond the much needed dough, fellows will get their work exhibited at RAM's Wustum Museum of Fine Arts from August 31 through November 30, 2013.

According to the press release,

"These competitive fellowships will recognize artists, at all stages of their careers, who are creating outstanding work in all media, including painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, bookmaking, sculpture, installation, film/video, fibers, glass, metals, wood and ceramics."

Gotta say, that's a rather broad and bold statement--what with the two very prominent "alls" within it. One hopes that the good folks at RAM and the generous program sponsor, the Osborne and Scekic Family Foundation, will live up to their brave words.

The fellowship prospectus will be available in July at the RAM website for all you Racine/Kenosha visual artists bold enough to apply.

Related:
The Macro-Good Of Micro-Funding

A Marathon Of Perfect Words

As consistently stunning as it is to me--and perhaps to some of you--I am often asked, "Cricky, what's the secret to becoming a halfway decent writer?" After gathering myself from the impact of that colossal compliment and mentally stifling my initial instinct to answer, "Why don't ya ask me something simple, like the secret to world peace?" I nonetheless manage to muster up a far less snarky reply by saying, "Practice, practice, practice."

While this is indeed the best on-the-fly answer I've squeezed out of my noodle to date--one which I've stolen from others and seems to placate the majority of inquirers--there are a few key details left unsaid: Listen to, read and write poetry. That's right, poetry.

Now before you frantically click away in fear to find the latest video documentation of the very best jackassery humanity has to offer, let me just share a little mantra you can use to soothe your spirit as you read on: Poetry is not your enemy, poetry is your friend. Repeat while clicking your heels three times. Ha! That's a joke, people!

Okay, so now that you're feelin' as loose as Judy Garland did, well, most of the time--bless her talented, tipsy soul--I shall explain why the exposure to and the writing of poetry is the foundation to becoming a better wordsmith in general. You ready? Then let's do it.

In its most magnificent form, poetry focuses our brains on what is elemental, what is pure and what is basic. This, of course, is not to say that it lacks complexity, but through its intense and deliberate use of perfect words in perfect placement it presents an uncluttered vista at which we may gaze and perceive the true depth of any subject. Also, it very effectively teaches us the skill of elimination, ridding our work of the unnecessary writing that bores the crap out of our readers and ourselves.

Phew! That was a lot to absorb, I'll grant ya, but there's a reason for all that lead-up and it is to encourage you to witness firsthand the power that poetry grants us all by attending Woodland Pattern's 17th Annual Poetry Marathon. You are now free to holler, "Whoozzah!"

Beginning Saturday, January 29, at 10AM and going all the way until 1AM Sunday morning, the gallery space of Woodland Pattern Book Center will be abuzz with the constant stream of perfectly chosen, placed and uttered words, generating what will no doubt be described as an immaculate linguistic maelstrom by those who experience it. And you wanna be counted among them, don't ya? Course ya do.

To you poets, writers, performance artists, and musicians--yes, you're all welcome!--who haven't yet reserved your 5-minute time slot and/or raised at least $35 in pledges, waitin' around for fickle inspiration to kick ya in the caboose, considered yourselves booted and sign-up now!

It all happens Saturday, January 29, at 720 East Locust Street in Milwaukee, and all proceeds go toward Woodland Pattern programming.

Related:
How To Make Writers/Poets (Temporarily) Less Cynical: Pay Them!
Will The Best Poetic Slammers Please Step Forward!

Art Bras Needed To Support A Greater Good

Bras. Most women on the planet wear 'em--or some facsimile of 'em--because, despite the self-indulgent fantasies of those who don't, they're a practical necessity that keep us females comfy and pain free. This, of course, does not mean these garments--known in some quarters as over-the-shoulder-boulder-holders--can't be sexy or artsy or fun.

In this spirit, one of Miltown's sassy erotic boutiques, A Woman's Touch (AWT), has put out the call for submissions to its Uplifting Art: Bras For A Cause contest and fundraising event. Haha! Anybody else just have a crazy, mind-melting flashback to the old Playtex Cross Your Heart Bra ads? No? Well, you're either too young or you've somehow succeeded in avoiding the omnipresent influence of modern advertising and should book yourself on a nationwide tour posthaste so that you may teach others your magical secret.

Anyhoo, as is our custom and right here at CricketToes, we shall post no call for art that does not pay and/or give loads of goodness to others who need it. As it happens, Uplifting Art fits snugly and securely--hehe!--into the latter category as proceeds from the contest and silent auction will benefit ABCD: After Breast Cancer Diagnosis, a very worthy organization located in West Allis that provides free information and one-to-one support to anyone affected by breast cancer.

Okay, so what kind of art are they looking for, you may well ask. Since we began this post unabashedly making mention of a particular type of unmentionable, what would be your best guess? Righto, super smart peeps, it's bras! And not your grandma's could-fit-a-small-child-in-each-cup brassieres, but those created special for this event and made from whatever materials ya fancy--although nothing you'd ever find in a compost pile, please. Deadline is January 9, 2011.

Interested? Go here for more info, to download an entry form and see some examples of art bras. As Amy Moore, AWT's Milwaukee Outreach Coordinator, expressed to me in an email, "Although the ones depicted [online] are all bra-based, we are open to a variety of media if the submission fits our theme for the exhibit," so feel free to liberate your mind--and whatever else is bindin' ya--so you can make great art to support a greater good!

Link (Thanks, Amy!)

Related:
Declare Yourself Slave of Your Domain for the Good

How To Make Writers/Poets (Temporarily) Less Cynical: Pay Them!

There's an old joke that ya know you're dealing with a real writer when the first question that comes out of his/her mouth is, "When do I get paid?" Haha, yeah! The cynicism embedded in that chuckle inducer--effectively perpetuated by us wordsmiths 'cause we're nothin' if not lovably pessimistic good sports--emanates from a sad truth that the fine art of letters is highly under-appreciated and undervalued. I mean, anybody can write, right? Wrong.

Given this reality, it is indeed a great joy to have an opportunity come around every single year that offers writers a chance to score some actual, beg-free dough and respectful recognition. For those of us living and working in the fair state of Wisco, the big break arrives in the form of the annual Wisconsin People & Ideas/Wisconsin Book Festival Short Story and Poetry Contests, which are now accepting submissions. Whoozzah!

Okay, so let's avoid the proverbial beating 'round the bush and send ya directly to the guidelines.

Did ya digest 'em all? Good. Now for the prizes:

Giddy winners of the Short Story Contest will receive cash--yes, cash!--prizes of $500 for first place, $250 for second place, and $100 for third place. They'll also get to read their award-winning stories during the 2011 Wisconsin Book Festival in Madison to their adoring fans, all three of which will appear in the print and online issues of the Wisconsin People & Ideas quarterly magazine. The Number 1 manuscript will have a detailed, no-punches-pulled going-over by a national publisher.

In the Poetry Contest, the top three award takers will be lavished with money prizes of $500 for first place--a.k.a. the John Lehman Poetry Award--$100 for second place, and $50 for third place. Like the fiction writers, Best Poets 1/2/3 will have their work published in the print and online issues of Wisconsin People & Ideas. A special gift designed just for the first-prize poet is a three-hour CD recording/editing session at Abella Studios.

Deadline for both contests is December 15, 2010, so jump on it, kids!

Link (Thanks, Jason!)

Related:
Finally, Kudos & Cash for Writers

Calling All Tune Noodlers & Tune Lovers!

It's been a whole year since the folks over at Woodland Pattern Book Center proved themselves full-fledged members of the Nutty Club by hosting the first ever, all-day music and sound extravaganza to help the Alternating Currents Live concert series stay live. And even though they could have easily walked away from that challenging yet fantastical experience, mumbling, "Did we really just cram a minimum of four acts into every hour for eight straight hours and survive?" and vowing never to duplicate the madness, they're gonna do it once more with the 2nd Annual Music Marathon & Benefit this Saturday, August 21. Why? Because their dedication to this unique performance series will never die. Also, just like Ole Cricky here, their long-term memory is completely shot--hehe!

Last year's event was by all accounts a spectacular success--Whoot!--so in order to stage a repeat, they need every musician, sound artist and aural tinkerer interested in plucking, strumming, pounding, and/or singing in front of a warm and welcoming crowd to sign up by calling 414-263-5001 right now.

It matters not what you play--a tuba or a saxamophone, a washboard or a laptop, a viola or a kazoo--ya just have to able to do it for ten minutes. Got three songs just over three minutes each? Great! How 'bout two five minute ditties? Sweet, let's hear 'em! Or maybe you've been waiting for just the right venue to premier your ten minute epic? Your time has come!

All performers are asked to raise at least $25 in pledges, which is nothin' for a suave and persuasive peep such as yourself. In fact, I hear you're so good that you should be able to muster much more than that in donations and maybe a couple of homemade pies to boot.

For those of you who'd rather participate in the 2nd Annual Music Marathon & Benefit through the act of listening, get thee to Woodland Pattern Book Center, 720 E. Locust Street in Milwaukee, this Saturday. It's 8 bucks at the door and runs from 1PM to 9PM.

Link

Related:
A Marathon to Keep Alternating Currents Live

Artists, Musicians & Dancers Needed As Soon As Now!

Hey there! Nice to see ya. Glad ya could stop on by. Ya know, I'm not a betting gal, but I'd say odds are better than those on a wrestling match between a cockroach and an elephant that you're here readin' this post because you're one of three artsy types in one of the following sticky situations--these are only examples, your own experience may vary:

1. You're a visual artist sittin' around admiring your latest series of phenomenal works, drinkin' a cold one and feelin' mighty satisfied, but you're wondering where, oh where you can show and sell these masterpieces tout de suite--that's fancy French for now!

2. You're a musician or one of a group of 'em and you've just cranked out some crazy hot tunes while beatin' the heat in your basement and you're thinkin', "The world must hear this life changing music immediately, but how can I possibly find a venue worthy of the urgency I feel?"

3. You're a dancer, troupe of dancers and/or choreographer and you've just rehearsed a sweaty, mind-blowing new movement piece for the umpteenth time and it's finally ready to be presented to the dance lovin' masses, but you're at a loss as to where you can locate a stage posthaste.

Eh? Was I right? Haha, I knew it!

Okay, so now that we've worked out who you are--more or less--and where you're at--give or take--I've got some fantabulous news for you: The Walker's Point Traveling Arts Festival is just the solution you need and it's happening this Saturday, July 24, in Milwaukee from noon-9PM!

That's right, the organizers of the very first Walker's Point Traveling Arts Festival are seeking artists to sell their work, musicians to make the crowd shake its collective booty and dancers to entrance and mesmerize the young, the not-so-young, and the as-long-as-I-got-one-lung-workin'-I'm-gonna-live-dammit crowd.

Jenn Turner, director of Bucketworks, gave me the lowdown thusly:

"Yeah, we're definitely still looking for artists and performers. There is a commission that is being taken (it's $25 for a table and 10% of sales) [and] it's going to the Walker's Point Association. Bucketworks might be willing to contribute to paying the performers if they would be willing to give us a lower rate."

Hear that? With just a bit o' friendly negotiation, everybody has the opportunity to get paid!

Call Jenn now at 414-305-1324 x702 and tell her Cricky sent ya.

Link (Thanks, Jenn!)