New Oregon Arts & Letters (formerly 2GQ)

ARTS PATRONAGE BEGINS AT HOME

For years, Clemens Starck and Charles Goodrich have made a winter journey from their homes in the Willamette Valley to Stevenson, Washington, to give a poetry reading to a packed house. And, I mean an actual house. Darcy Carter, a resident of the small town perched on the Columbia River in the middle of the Columbia Gorge, empties her living room of furniture, lines up borrowed chairs and a music stand, cracks open a few bottles of wine, and welcomes dozens of local poetry lovers for an evening of recitation and discussion. It is a DIY model of presentation that bears consideration.

BABIES GOT RABIES + PASCHAL COEUR

Bars don't have that blue smoke hanging in the air anymore, but Dunes has apparently decided to remedy this with a smoke machine mounted on the ceiling, which I thought was sort of funny, as if we all need the illusion of a smoky bar even if it isn't actually smoky anymore.  It did make a pretty little glow out of the video installation backing Paschal Coeur and Babies Got Rabies.  Babies came out rocking, a departure from their normal, more introspective, synth-heavy Talking Heads meets Joy Division sort of sound.  Frontman Tim John O'Brien showed up with a considerable presence, a little moody and a little bit pop, like a latter-day Serge Gainsbourg.  Danielle Fish's voice had a lot of angsty sincerity in her Paschal set which was unfortunately buried in her backing vocals for Babies.  The finest song without a doubt was "Burning Things Fall," delivered here with a caustic, driving backbeat and O'Brien's husky, detached baritone.

They have another show coming up at the new Satyricon on Tuesday, March 10th, opening with Paschal Coeur again and also Perspective on Energy + Andrew Cecka.  Looking forward to seeing what rock-electro balance they work out.

---Nora Robertson

ANGELA DAVIS: TONIGHT AT REED COLLEGE

From the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List to Kaul Auditorium, Angela Davis keeps moving. An outspoken civil rights and feminism activist, she ran for vice president of the United States in 1980 and 1984 on the Communist ticket.

Davis has authored numerous books, spoken and taught at top-drawer universities, and inspired generations of women, African Americans, lesbians, Afro-Cubans, and people who advocate for civil liberties and human rights. She'll be speaking Saturday, February 21 at 7:00 PM.

EZRA CARAEFF, JEFF BAKER, AND MORE AT BACKFENCE

 This time, stories of the moment after -- from a woman crossing Eastern Europe in a $300 bashed up car, to a track meet gone sideways. Tellers include Jeff Baker, The O's Book Editor, Ezra Caraeff, The Merc's Music Editor, and musician Vanessa Veselka, to name a few.  And there's hula hoopers for the intermission show.  2GQ's own Nora Robertson will be on xylophone.

CITADEL OF OREGON

Oregon Literary Review celebrates the state's 150th birthday on March 4, hosting a reading from Citadel of the Spirit: Oregon's Sesquicentennial Anthology. Edited by Matt Love, the book contains original essays by Oregon writers and excerpts from historical documents.

Join OLR at First Wednesdays at Blackbird Wine Shop, with readings by Evelyn Sharenov and Joanna Rose and performance by Kate Mann. Oregon Literary Review co-hosts First Wednesdays, a series of readings, performances and wine-tasting at the Blackbird Wine Shop, 3519 NE 44th off Fremont, 7-9pm.

Catch Babies Got Rabies at Dunes

For a little electropop soul in the bowl, drop by Dunes this Tuesday for Babies Got Rabies, now multi-instrumentalist Tim John O'Brien, Travis Evans on guitar/synth, and Danielle Fish on bass/guitar.

 Babies Got Rabies' sound combines electronic aesthetics with an organic grounding, incorporating vintage drum machines, circuit-bent equipment, traditional instruments, and unorthodox recording techniques.  Think a fresh take on Talking Heads, TV on the Radio, Ween, New Order, Brian Eno, and Air. 

FREEZONE: Poetry by Leanne Grabel

We are delighted to present new poetry by Leanne Grabel as part of our ongoing "Domestic Terror" series. These original works redefine our relationship to that hoary old subject matter of domesticity:
home, family, food, and relationship. For submission information, contact neworegonarts@gmail.com .

BREAD

poetry by Leanne Grabel

bread you beast
you yeasted rump of rootstock
bread, you bulbous oblate spheroid
dome of gnarl
you crusted mount
you gilded chew.

BOOK ARTS, INTERDISCIPLINARY EXPLORATION, AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Write and build your own book with Clare, Tif, and your new collaborators in an intensive two-day weekend workshop at the end of February.

"Book Arts, Interdisciplinary Exploration, and the Creative Process" is open to adults of all skill levels. Experienced book artists may find it especially engaging. Sign up by February 19 at Oregon College of Art and Craft or email studioschool@ocac.edu to receive a tuition discount.

Collaborations burst our bubble of solitude and return us to our individual work with a deeper understanding of our distinct voice. Similarly, explorations into unfamiliar disciplines and media enrich our individual creative practices while offering new, challenging opportunities for contextualizing our work. 

AMONG THE PINK ELEPHANTS AT MILEPOST 5

TJ Norris's Pink Elephant art swap got huge this year. Previously held at New American Art Union, with a snug group of visual artists exchanging unsold "white elephant" pieces they'd recently made, the event took place at Milepost 5 last night, and the public were invited to browse the art this time. Fun stuff! A few standouts were Jim Lommasson's photograph from the Katrina aftermath, depicting cassette tapes in mud; Sarah Gottesdiener's faux-naif rendering of the Artist Currently Known as Prince; and a subtle, intriguing little painting, tucked modestly into its oversized frame, painted by Gabriel Liston. Stephen Hayes went all-out, offering a stunning, textural portfolio of prints.