October 28, 7 p.m. "Curation & Art" at SFCurators Salon, Madrone Studios

Red door in SFs Mission District photo by Doug Millison

Please join us October 28, 7 p.m., in San Francisco's colorful Mission District for "Curation & Art" with artist & gallerist Jiri Szeppan, AJS Gallery, Brussels & Doug Millison, Junkyard Knife. Mind-boggling art, stimulating talk with curators & Web professionals on the cutting edge at Madrone Studios, 1417 15th St. More details at http://JunkyardKnife.com

What about the people?

Please join us on October 28! SFCurators Salon presents"Curation & Art" with artist and gallerist Jiri Szeppan of AJS Gallery, Brussels and Doug Millison, Junkyard Knife

"Curation & Art" with artist  and gallerist JS of  Brussels and Doug Millison, Junkyard Knife, El Cerrito. Immerse yourself in mind-boggling art, stimulating talk with curators & Web professionals on the cutting edge at Madrone Studios, 1417 15th St. in San Francisco's Mission District. This event is free. 

JS combines the most personal expressions -- drawings, calligraphy, photography, collage -- with the most common materials gleaned at the Brussels flea market. As a curator, he handles all details of exhibits, solo and with visiting artists, and traveling shows. In his own fine art practice he curates elements from memory, imagination to produce a profusion of artist books, paintings, sculpture, digital movies, and art installations/interventions. 

"Curation & Our Art" includes a preview of The Concrete Jungle Book, a hybrid graphic novel in the form of a scrapbook, a project co-authored by Doug Millison, plus the world premiere public screening of the novel's animated trailer video produced by NYLON Films of London & New York, HD video and this screening courtesy of TCJB co-author Steve Porter and the trailer's producer, Annette Porter. 

Fancy, festive, holiday-aware, creative dress encouraged with door prizes + the usual fun as we mix and mingle with light refreshments & beverages. 

Door prizes include signed original The Concrete Jungle Book art work, and wine.

 

Happy Birthday, Alice!

So glad you were born this day, that you survived growing up so far away, so you could become my partner in life, companion, friend, and wife.  Where would I be without you? A wonderful woman, mother, nurse, daughter, sister, human being. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALICE!

Curation & Our Art: an illustrated encounter with JS, Brusssels & Doug Millison, Junkyard Knife, SF Bay Area, feature presentation at SFCurators Salon, 28 Oct 2011

JS combines the most personal expressions -- drawings, calligraphy, photography, collage -- with the most common materials gleaned at the Brussels flea market, in his series of artist books. 

The talk centers on the way J curates AJS Gallery exhibits in the context of the ongoing curation of memory, imagination, and artistic creation -- illustrated with images from his books, letterpress printing, paintings, objects, BESITOS digital movies, installations, and other works.

Doug will focus on The Concrete Jungle Book, a hybrid graphic novel wherein the protagonist and nominal author of the book curates his own comics, prose narration, and collage in a scrapbook that recreates the story of his life from age 8 to 18. 

The presentation includes the world premiere public screening of the animated trailer video for The Concrete Jungle Book produced by NYLON Films, video and this screening courtesy of TCJB co-author Steve Porter and the trailer's producer, Annette Porter.

The presentation  also examines J's artistic response to The Concrete Jungle Book and at the JUNKYARD KNIFE collaboration that began with the two-man show curated by J at AJS Gallery in November 2010.  

Curation & Our Art takes place at the SFCurators Salon, 7 pm,  28 October 2011

Including original art works & posters on display by JSz and Doug Millison, plus multiple video projections on 18' tall seamless white walls at Madrone Studios, 1517 15th St., San Francisco 94103 http://MadroneStudios.com, in the Mission District near 16th St. BART 

Contact Doug Millison on Twitter http://twitter.com/dougmillison, on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/dougmillison for more information or to get on the guest list.

We the People, not We the Corporations

"Doug Millison: I am the 99 percent" photo by Doug Millison

We the People, not We the Corporations. Liberation aside, what's it mean for all of us who have to work for them, craft their messages, sell their stuff?

The #OccupyWallStreet movement signals a sea change in the attitude towards corporations, the investment community that sustains them, and the relevant regulatory and governmental infrastructure.

Even if this protest wave should fail to create significant structural change, the growing perception that corporations lie at the root of current woes, means new challenges for companies, employees, and the brands that for consumers represent the daily face of so many corporations.

I've been spending a lot of time in recent months closely watching brands on the Web and in social media. Some few years ago, I co-authored a book called Firebrands: Building Brand Loyalty in the Internet Age. What does #OccupyWallStreet mean for corporate strategies and business tactics that rely on public confidence and trust in their brands?

Expect a nauseating wave of brand messages designed to reinforce the notion that corporations and their products, services, and CEOs have our best interests at heart. Some reactionary companies will instead target the anti-OccupyWallStreet crowd and seek to reassure them that their brands will rescue them from worrying social turbulence.

The companies that back up their claims with concrete steps that help them regain public confidence, will best withstand the coming years of blame and litigation that seem certain to follow the past decade's excesses.

Personally, socially, #OccupyWallStreet feels liberating. I don't know for sure what expectations might in fact be unrealistic. I'm ready for #OccupySanFrancisco. 

Yet I know that stronger protest waves have been channeled into the two-party system in the past. Whether that happens or not, it seems clear to me that this activist wave is here to stay…and their anti-corporate messages. 

I expect that the younger folk among us, just now coming of age, will find ways to use technology to help corporations change their ways, so they can serve society instead of raping the Earth and its inhabitants, human and nonhuman. That's my hope.

We are the 99 percent

"Curation & Our Art' an illlustrated encounter with JS, Brussels & Yours Truly

JS combines the most personal expressions -- drawings, calligraphy, photography, collage -- with the most common materials gleaned at the Brussels flea market, in his series of artist books. We'll talk about the way J curates gallery exhibits in the context of the ongoing curation of memory, imagination, and artistic creation in his books, letterpress, paintings, objects,  digital movies, installations, and other works. I'll touch on THE CONCRETE JUNGLE BOOK, a novel wherein the protagonist and nominal author of the book collects his own comics, prose narration, and collage in a scrapbook that recreates the story of his life from age 8 to 18. We'll look at J's artistic response to TCJB and at the JUNKYARD KNIFE collaboration we began with the two-man show curated by J  in November 2010.  SFCurators Salon 28 October 2011 - 7 pm, at Madrone Studios in San Francisco's Mission District. Special thanks to Jody Radzik for polishing the design of this flyer.

This holiday shopping season, support local and independent artists, designers, and crafters!