Pilsen, Little Village \\ Pink Line
Sunday, February 7, 2016
*All event descriptions written by the organizing artists with editorial support from 2FR staff
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Mineral Rights
Richard Medina
Photo: Greg Reigh
Roving Gallery Installation \\ Times & Locations Vary
Box Gallery is an experimental exhibition space that takes the form of a 6″ x 6″ x 6″ cardboard box. Mineral Rights is a self portrait of a 17-year-old Chicago-area artist who owns an acre of land in northeastern Arizona.
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Sunday Mournings
3A
Photo: Laura Mitchell
Site-Specific Performance + Installation \\ Cermak + Marshall \\ 8:00 AM-8:00 PM
Sunday Mournings was a public participatory performative installation.
As a community we celebrate a new day for Chicago. Through objects and gestures we let go of what hurts us, put to rest what we no longer wish to endure, and honor what we wish to mourn. So that we may have enough room within ourselves for healing. So that we can come together and heal as a city. It’s a place to end our problems and hope for a better city. Let’s wake up to a beautiful Sunday morning, Chicago.
Sunday Mournings was initiated by 3A, which consists of Bobby Dunbar, EzE & DJ Rigo.
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FORT (at the Edge of Chaos)
John Harness & Grace Needlman
Photo: Noah Davies
Interactive, Immersive Performance \\ Private Residence \\ 10:00 AM-5:00 PM
We built a giant pillow fort!
FORT was a comforting, playful environment for confronting uncomfortable realities. Pillow forts are imaginative and nostalgic, evoking the first places where we, as kids, experienced agency, where we ruled. At the same time, forts represent exclusion, sovereignty, and the desire to hide from conflict. FORT asked audiences to explore this contradiction. This interactive performance invited participants to first build and then inhabit a massive pillow fort overtaking an average Pilsen apartment. Participants journeyed into their anxieties, and broke out of their shells; considered: What does it mean to build a wall?
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The Prarieland Seed Shop
Slow Pony Project
Photo: Noah Davies
Installation + Performance \\ Slow Pony Project \\ 12:00 PM-4:00 PM
Stella Brown literally set up shop for the 2nd Floor Rear Festival by converting Slow Pony Project, a previous butcher shop, into a seed shop and installation of prairie taxonomy. Brown responded to human induced shifts in our global ecology, and the collective anxiety over preserving what is left. Locally, there has been resurgence of the Chicago Park District’s restoration of native prairie landscapes in various forgotten parks around the Chicagoland area. Although naturalists seek to re-create these environments as pristine replicas of the past landscape, the repercussions of the initial urbanization has already occurred, shifting natural space into human designed space. By selling the prairie seeds, Brown packaged and distributed elements of this landscape as a way of encouraging the viewer to participate in the renewal process through their own garden technology. While the prairie restoration project designates public land to recreate something similar to the previous prairie habitat, we also have the opportunity to co-exist with these landscapes in our private spaces. Gardening can be a tool for promoting these habitats in co-operation with our homesteading; the prairie can thrive on in our yards, roofs, and alleys.
Curated by Liz McCarthy, with high-fives to Bart and Miranda Winters. *Family-friendly
stellajbrown.com / facebook.com/SlowPonyProject
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Barter for Knowledge / Trueca Por Sabiduria
APT 512
Workshop \\ Barret Park \\ 12:00 PM-6:00 PM
Gabriela Ibarra and Gilberto Sandoval, formally known as APT 512 Collective, planned a day of alternative instruction that was inspired by the Trade School Co-op. The concept was to create a day of “communal happenings” that consisted of workshops led/attended by individuals who wouldn’t normally have the access to institutionalized learning environments. By removing the need for “credentials”, APT 512 created a safe space where anyone from children to adults could participate as both instructor and student. It was called “Barter for Knowledge” because rather than paying for a workshop, APT 512 encouraged interested participants to bring in an item (of the instructor’s choosing) in exchange for their help, time, and expertise. *Family-friendly
Workshop Schedule:
Yoga with Carina Yepez \\ Barter item: Something that grows from the earth (or a hug)
An introduction to a 45min Yoga class to connect the mind, body and soul. A fun way to learn, play, and maybe even break a sweat in a supportive environment. Participants didn’t need to be able to touch their toes; they just had to be willing to try.
Painting with Teens \\ Barter item: Oil painting sticks
An exploration of standard materials through experimental techniques and painting surfaces. Led by two young teens/aspiring artists.
Observational Drawing Games \\ Barter item: Favorite recipe or meal recommendation
Katia Perez led a drawing session that focused on building observational skills and practicing communicating visual language to others. The object of the workshop was to not only be able to follow drawing instructions, but to learn about successful communication. The group rotated roles in a playful exercise similar to Pictionary.
Floreciendo con Lulu \\ Barter item: A can of condensed milk
Lulu, also known as Joseph “Joemama” Mora’s mother and one of the sweetest mothers on earth, taught how to make a floral bow (for gifts/decoration) out of a single strand of ribbon. **She will be taught this class in Spanish, but APT 512 members were present for translating.**
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“Just throw more glitter on it”: A Templehead Retrospective
Templehead
Photo: Noah Davies
Retrospective Exhibition \\ Church of Templehead \\ 1:00 PM-3:00 PM
“Four years ago I started writing a rock opera as part of an artist residency at Reversible Eye gallery. Halfway through its completion the gallery owners announced that due to unforeseen circumstances they were moving to the west coast asap. I was given the option of taking over the space, and even though I knew nothing about running a gallery and it wasn’t something I had ever imagined myself doing, my partner Mike and I decided to give it a try, at least until the rock opera was finished. We rechristened the gallery Templehead and with lots of love, blood, sweat, tears, epic mistakes and miraculous luck, we made it our own. In the three years since then we have put on two large scale performances, hosted countless art, music, and community events, created original programming, and over time developed the house rules that reflected what we felt Chicago needed. Though we called it a gallery, Templehead has always been our shapeshifting home where anything and everything was possible.
Last month Mike received a job offer that’s too good to turn down at a company an hour outside the city. Since we made the decision that it was time to move on, I’ve thought a lot about what Templehead has meant to me. I wanted to do an event that showcases some of the work we’ve done and the artists we’ve collaborated with over the years. and when we were invited to participate in 2nd Floor Rear Fest it seemed like the perfect opportunity.”
With work by CHRISTOPHER ALLMAN, EFREN ARCOIRIS, JERRY BOYLE, LAURA CALLIER, AMANDA JOY CALOBRISI, HEATHER GABLE, HERE , MOLLY HEWITT, SARA HEYMANN, JOSE HERNANDEZ, KIAM MARCELO JUNIO, MANAL KARA, LY LA, APRIL LYNN, PETER OVERMAN, JENNY PULSE, ISABEL MCGUIRE, CHARLES E. ROBERTS III, OLIVE STEFANSKI, AMANDA STILWELL, JULIA ZINN and more TBA.
facebook.com/ChurchOfTemplehead/
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Editions
Salon 1812
Photo: Noah Davies
Pop-up Shop \\ Salon 1812 \\ 1:00 PM-5:00 PM
Salon, a concept beauty studio and artist space, hosted a pop-up shop featuring exclusive, short run editions of clothing, jewelry, objects, and printed matter from artists + makers.
Exhibitors include: Adam Jason Cohen, Afternoon Faun, Aleia Murawski, Alex Wallbaum, Bill Fulara, Deal Paracuelles, Emily Wiss, Eugenia Viti, First Ladies Vintage, Jill Rahn, Leah Zimmerman, Lindsey Snell, Richard Heaton, Tara Jaggers, and more.
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Cultura y Tradiciones
Matthew Silva
Photo: Laura Mitchell
Interactive Gallery \\ La Sala Gallery \\ 2:00-4:00 PM
“The formation and internalization of ideas and identity are explored through food. My project highlighted the tortilla, one of the most consistent items that appears on a table during meals in a Mexican household. The tortilla is passed along hand to hand, linking individuals for a brief moment. This symbolizes the formation of identity of the family and the identity of those individuals linking into one unit. The dynamics that form a family, their beliefs, their ideas and the traditions that they build are passed between them as if passing the tortilla. These ideas or tortillas are consumed, internalizing and strengthening the identity of the individual and the family as a whole.”
Special credit to Analia Gonzalez and Isela Salazar.
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Neighborhood Dances
Victoria Bradford
Photo courtesy Victoria Bradford
Site-specific Performance \\ 1738 W. 18th St. \\ 3:00 PM-3:30 PM
Victoria Bradford has spent the past year researching and cultivating a body movement vocabulary in an attempt to articulate the continuing crossover between her current dance practice and deep roots in a variety of disciplines, from sculpture and video to comparative literature. In the process, she has established a thoroughly considered protocol for generating still and moving images out of work that intervenes daily on the sanctity of public spaces with her own unique movement dialogue and done so, at times, while facing the risk of arrest and incarceration. Bradford has also honed contemporary art notions of documentation as art object and developed intriguing new methods for cataloging that data to construct an attendant “anti-archive.” That is, an archive that, rather than functioning purely to store and preserve data, serves the fundamentally critical function of recovering lost information, history. At little over a year with 500 sequential daily performances and counting, Neighborhood Dances is just hitting its stride, today providing Bradford with the raw material of movement documents necessary to push further and ply much, much deeper into these philosophical explorations of the heart of place, movement, and experience of them in the embodied, never-quite isolated mind.
Playlist for February 6th and 7th by Todd Mattei (toddmatteiart.com)
victoriaeleanorbradford.com / neighborhooddances.com
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Here in Space
Alex Palma & the Dojo Collective
Photo: Noah Davies
Interactive Gallery \\ The Dojo \\ 3:00 PM-5:00 PM
Here in Space was an exploration of how people see themselves in the physical world and online. The nature of ever-evolving social media grows in complexity almost every week, and Here in Space strove to help audiences understand their actions and how they define themselves on Facebook, Snapchat, and other online spaces. The Dojo presented a space and voices that attempt to understand the world and our current time, with the hope that their artists, speakers, and guests could learn from one another.
Here in Space was a gallery and presentation featuring work by Alex Palma, Rachel Bell, Daniel Kyri, and more.
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Hot House
Uptool in collaboration with
Julia Klein, Curt Miller & John Szczepaniak
Photo: Laura Mitchell
Outdoor Exhibition \\ Backyard of Private Residence \\ 3:30 PM – 6:00 PM
Hot House was an outdoor exhibition indoors. New works by Julia Klein, Curt Miller and John Szczepaniak inhabited, were sheltered by, and warmed a backyard greenhouse. Materials included plastic sheeting, conduit, living plant matter, non-living plant matter, hot chocolate, backyard bocce ball, and an artist-made HVAC.
juliakleinjuliaklein.com / curt-miller.com / johnszczepaniak.com
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Chorus//Chorus
Malik Lemon, Lindsey Sherman, & Gordon Pond
Photo: Laura Mitchell
Musical Performance \\ Eco \\ 5:00 PM-6:00 PM
Chorus//Chorus was an auditory experience made to push into a new sonic area that could not be possible without the cohesion of the musical group’s members. Alone, tones can be achieved and new sounds can be explored, but they lack the depth made possible by exploring new sounds with others. With the focus on the Chorus effect pedal and its modulation capabilities, Chorus//Chorus artists attempted to make sounds that had never before been heard by the listeners. All of the group’s members—Malik Lemon, Lindsey Sherman, and Gordon Pond—are explorers of sonics who came together through shared tastes in modulation of electric guitar and bass tones. Inspired by the sound around them, they focused their creativity through chorus modulation and affecting dry tones into unique sound.
warik.bandcamp.com / notforyouchicago.bandcamp.com / horsemassage.bandcamp.com
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PiNK EYE: New Classics Vol. I & II
PiNK EYE
Photo: Laura Mitchell
PiNK EYE: New Classics Vol. I
Installation + Pop-up Bar \\ naomi FINEARTS \\ 6:00 PM-8:00PM
Photo: Laura Mitchell
PiNK EYE: New Classics Vol. II
Performance + Video Screenings \\ 1618 Gallery \\ 7:30 PM-11:00PM
PiNK EYE: New Classics was a one-night event of video and performance work curated by the Pilsen-based artist collective PiNK EYE, replete with archival footage/ephemera from The Bijou Theater and exhibited in collaboration with naomi FINEARTS and 1618 Gallery.
Utilizing the vintage gay porn films and ephemera of Chicago’s recently defunct gay adult theater/sex club Bijou, PiNK EYE: New Classics examined historic and current representations of sexual fantasy, authenticity and queer identity. With the closing of Bijou, a site of “classic” gay-male presenting individuals, PiNK EYE: New Classics sought to respectfully pay homage to a legendary Chicago sexual institution while offering a critical space for new queer ideas to emerge.
This inaugural PiNK EYE event was made possible through the collaborative programming efforts of Performance Director; José Hernandez, Moving Image Co-Curator; David Nasca, Exhibition Director/Founder; Jonathan Sommer and Production Manager/ Moving Image Co-Curator; Julia Zinn.*21+
Day 2 Event Curators:
Erin Delaney + Egon Schiele (Eco) | 2016 Curatorial + Production Fellows
Erin Delaney and Egon Schiele have been collaborative partners since 2013. Co-operating a live/work space on Pilsen’s 21st street called Eco, the pair has curated weekly music and performance shows for the duration of a year. Enthused by the fast pace of Do It Yourself arts community, Egon and Erin create installation works for local venues, are key players in the experimental punk band Daymaker, and facilitators of DIY community outreach meetings. The ambition of this pair is to facilitate a respectful and healthful community. Within Chicago’s South East side Erin and Egon have rooted an open door space that promotes Underground and Unnerving artworks, emphasizing the joy of coming together to create.
2nd Floor Rear 