#chicago art book fair

[artistsonthelam]

Published a new blog post! Includes a visual recap of MdW (my and Artists on the Lam's first art fair!) in the second half, as well as some personal art news.

[copperbadge]

I had a very successful and entertaining day today, as you guys can probably tell from the posts I made. There's a few more queued posts of stuff I didn't get to post in-situ, so enjoy that!

Some anecdotes I did not post about from today:

-- I can't remember the last time I queued for a museum. Mostly because if it's not one of "my" museums, like the Field or the Art Institute where I know the best ways in, I'm attending on a weekday deliberately so that I am not amongst the crowds. The line to get into the British Museum was a full block long, but to be fair it only took me ten minutes from opening to get inside. I was mostly amused by the people who a) didn't understand how museum entry works or b) didn't understand how to stand in a line without also blocking foot traffic on the rest of the sidewalk.

-- Almost got in a fight with someone, a definite first for me in a museum. I got salty with a guy who touched a sculpture when he knew he shouldn't, and he got up in my face, and I think genuinely the fact that I knew what the sculpture was called and he didn't confused him so badly he backed down. So if you're looking to defuse a situation via confusion, the phrase "Hey, don't fucking touch the Lamassu and we won't have a problem" worked for me.

-- The British Museum is great but among other issues (looted objects, weird relics of museum-specific imperialism, etc) it does suffer from poor display design in places. I'm okay with that, I kind of like old museums that are a little fucked up, even as I acknowledge that old fucked-up museums also have old fucked-up messaging. They appear to be trying on that front, but they could use a display placard overhaul. At one point I found an object in a case that appeared to be a carved human leg bone, and while I'm not a Bone Specialist there was also absolutely no placard about the bone at all. (I looked it up in the collection later using other objects in the case as reference, and it's just noted as "bone".)

-- I did have a great time overall; I saw most of the museum and then had a fancy meal, as documented. I was especially pleased to get to sample their coronation chicken since I collect tastings of coronation chicken, and I think they either used molasses in it or the bread had some, and either way it's grist for my mill as I start to develop The Chicken Salad War. After lunch I went on the hunt for a few last things, but I could feel myself getting tired and Becoming Unmedicated so I decided to leave a little early, which was the right choice, and gave me a little time to do some exploring.

-- @neil-gaiman did a post a while ago about stuff to see in London which I saved, and while I mostly planned my own journey, I did stop at Atlantis Books on his recommendation, which was well worth it. The woman working the till left me alone until I was ready to buy my book, then praised my choice (always a good move) and made a few minutes' small talk about my visit from America while she was ringing me up. Also I have never seen such a variety of Tarot decks for sale in my life. It was extremely impressive given the entire shop is roughly the size of my bedroom in Chicago.

All in all an excellent day out in London. Tomorrow I'm traveling to meet up with a friend, so probably fewer photos, but day after tomorrow I'm bound for Amsterdam so expect Rijksmuseum photos! I did not get into the Vermeer exhibit sadly, but I still want to see the museum and I'm on a quest for freshly made stroopwaffels and authentic gjetost, so I'm excited for the journey. I thought this trip might be one small anxiety after another -- would I be okay on the plane, would I get on the right trains, etc -- but I'm feeling more confident now, and I think between my early-bird tendencies and the ADHD meds I kicked the jet lag pretty quickly. I'm off to bed in a few, because tomorrow is an early day, so I guess we'll find out then how much I really kicked it....

[missroserose]

13 books meme

@introvertia tagged me in this (thank you, lovely, you're such a positive influence on my reading consistency <3) So let's talk books!

1) The Last book I read:

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. Absolutely destroyed me—90's science fiction, examining the paradoxes of faith and the difficulties of cross-culture exploration, seasoned with a hefty dose of grief and frustrated desire. Might as well have been written for me.

2) A book I recommend:

The Wicked & The Divine, by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie. A sprawling examination of the celebrity-industrial complex, cultural and individual objectification, and the dark side of fandom culture. Well worth reading through in its entirety.

3) A book that I couldn’t put down:

Starling House, by Alix E. Harrow. I'm a sucker for a fierce and driven heroine who makes things happen by sheer force of will, despite the odds being against her. Between that and the deliciously spooky atmosphere, I adored this book.

4) A book I’ve read twice (or more):

<i>Good Omens</i>, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Hardly an original answer on this website, but it's a classic for a reason <3

5) A book on my TBR:

Victor Lavalle's The Changeling, thanks to @introvertia's recommendation. I know nothing about it but I'm looking forward to reading it!

6) A book I’ve put down:

The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield. I know that the accepted formula for self-help books is to present your one theory and explain why it solves every problem in the known universe, and I hate it, which is probably why I don't read a lot of self-help books. Needless to say, around the time this dude claimed that Hitler wouldn't have become a mass murderer if he'd followed the book's advice, I gave up in disgust.

7) A book on my wish list:

Honestly, I don't have many? I've been enjoying reading from the library, in part because my bedroom is already showing the strain of previous book-buying sprees.

8) A favorite book from childhood:

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, by Tamora Pierce. I read the entire Alanna series numerous times but I think this was my favorite—I really loved seeing her come into her own independence and learn a new culture (and one that accepted her unusual gender presentation).

9) A book you would give to a friend:

Again, depends strongly on the friend...but I can think of more than a few who'd enjoy the old-school gothic fairytale setting and viciously driven heroine of A. G. Slatter's All the Murmuring Bones.

10) A book of Poetry or Lyrics you own:

Hm...does the script to Hedwig and the Angry Inch count?

11) A nonfiction book you own:

The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson—they practically issue you a copy when you move to Chicago. (In fairness, it's a cracking read.)

12) What are you currently reading:

Skin Folk, a collection of short stories by Nalo Hopkinson. I'm also rereading (or re-listening to) Mike Carey's The Devil You Know, and enjoying it rather better this time around—I think the first time I tried it, almost ten years ago, I was expecting something more along the lines of The Dresden Files and wasn't quite old enough to appreciate the more emotionally battered and worn-down middle-aged protagonist. Now, being a decade older and having lived through a global pandemic and seen rather more of just how terrible people can be to each other...I think it's more my speed. And possibly good research for if I ever get my angel noir story off the ground.

13) What are you planning on reading next?

Definitely The Changeling.

Bonus Round Shelfie?

I'm at a library right now but I might add one later!

Tagging: @klove0511, @sirsparklepants, @emiliosandozsequence, @skybound2, @ihni, @callieb, @lord-angelfish, @redmyeyes, @misschinablue, and @sea-salted-wolverine—no pressure, obviously, but I'd be interested in your answers!

[bestmusicalworldcup]

2023 League of Musicals Alphabetized List of Musicals

Below is the full list of musicals in the League of Musicals sorted by Division.

Division A

Alice By Heart Annie Assassins Avenue Q The Band's Visit The Book of Mormon Cabaret Cats Chess Chicago A Chorus Line Come From Away Company Falsettos Fiddler on the Roof Firebringer Fun Home A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder Ghost Quartet Guys and Dolls Hadestown Hair Hairspray Hamilton Hello, Dolly! The Hunchback of Notre Dame In The Heights Into the Woods Jekyll and Hyde The King and I Kinky Boots Legally Blonde Les Misérables The Lion King Little Shop of Horrors Matilda Moulin Rouge Mozart, l'opéra rock The Music Man My Fair Lady Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 Newsies Next to Normal Octet Once Once on this Island The Phantom of the Opera Pippin The Producers Ragtime Rent Ride the Cyclone The Rocky Horror Show Something Rotten The Sound of Music Spies Are Forever SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical Spring Awakening Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Twisted: The Untold Story of A Royal Vizier Waitress West Side Story Wicked The Wiz

Division B

25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee 42nd Street 1776 Adamandi American Idiot American Psycho Anastasia Applause Bare: A Pop Opera Beetlejuice Be More Chill Billy Elliot the Musical Bonnie and Clyde Bye Bye Birdie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Cinderella (Rodgers and Hammerstein) City of Angels Damn Yankees Dear Evan Hansen Death Note: The Musical Evita Fosse A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum Grease The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals Hallelujah, Baby! Heathers Holy Musical B@man! How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying Jersey Boys Jesus Christ Superstar Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Kiss Me, Kate Kiss of the Spider Woman La Cage aux Folles The Lightning Thief A Little Night Music Man of La Mancha Memphis Monty Python's Spamalot The Mystery of Edwin Drood A New Brain Nine The Pajama Game Passion The Prom The Scarlet Pimpernel Singin' in the Rain Six South Pacific Starship A Strange Loop Sunday in the Park with George Sunset Boulevard Tanz der Vampire / Dance of the Vampires Thoroughly Modern Millie Tick Tick Boom Titanic The Trail to Oregon! Tuck Everlasting Two Gentlemen of Verona Urinetown The Will Rogers Follies The Wizard of Oz (1987)

Division C

& Juliet 21 Chump Street 35MM: A Musical Exhibition 1789: Les Amants de la Bastille Aida Allegiance Amélie Annie Get Your Gun Anything Goes The Art of Pleasing Princes Bandstand Beauty and the Beast Big Fish Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson Carousel Carrie The Color Purple Contact The Count of Monte Cristo Dogfight Dracula, the Musical Dreamgirls Elisabeth Evil Dead: The Musical Finding Neverland Frankenstein: A New Musical The Frogs Funny Girl Godspell Groundhog Day Gypsy Hedwig and the Angry Inch Jane Eyre The Last Five Years Lizzie The Lord of the Rings Love in Hate Nation Love Never Dies The Mad Ones The Magic Show Mary Poppins Mean Girls Merrily We Roll Along Miss Saigon Mozart! Oklahoma! Oliver On the Town Ordinary Days Parade The Pirate Queen Preludes Pretty Woman The Prince of Egypt Priscilla, Queen of the Desert Rebecca Roméo et Juliette: de la Haine à l'Amour The Secret Garden Seussical She Loves Me Shrek the Musical Starry Wonderland You're A Good Man Charlie Brown

Division D

13: The Musical Ablaze The Act Ain't Misbehavin An American in Paris Anne & Gilbert Anyone Can Whistle Av. Larco Back to the Future the Musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas Big River Bran Nue Dae Bright Star Bring It On Calvin Berger Caroline, or Change Clown Bible Crazy for You De 3 Biggetjes The Dolls of New Albion Dorian Gray The Drowsy Chaperone The Fantasticks Fiorello! Fly by Night Follies Frankenstein (Wang Yeon Beom + Brandon Lee) Hans Christian Andersen Hoy no me puedo levantar In Transit Jagged Little Pill Jerome Robbins' Broadway Kimberly Akimbo King's Table Kismet Lady Bess La Légende du roi Arthur Le Passe-Muraille / Amour Le Roi Soleil Les Parapluies de Cherbourg The Light in the Piazza Made in Dagenham Magic Tree House: The Musical Mentiras el musical Notre-Dame de Paris Once Upon A Mattress On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan Phantom (Yeston & Kopit) Raisin Redhead Sarafina! School of Rock The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1964) Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Show Boat Sidd Siete veces adios Soldaat van Oranje The Spitfire Grill Starlight Express Starmania / Tycoon Tarrytown The Threepenny Opera / Die Dreigroschenoper Timéo Wiedzmin The Wild Party (Lippa) The Woman in White Wonderful Town [title of show] Émilie Jolie

[garadinervi]

Temporary Monuments: The Work of Rosemary Mayer, 1977-1982 [Soberscove Press, Chicago, IL, 2018], Marie Warsh (editor), talk presented by Soberscove Press, NY Art Book Fair, New York, NY, September 22, 2018

(image: Rosemary Mayer, Some Days in April (from Temporary Monuments) installed at the property of Bruce Kurtz, Hartwick, New York, during the week of April 17, 1978. © The Estate of Rosemary Mayer, New York, NY)

[mechanical-bull-rental-chicago]

Mechanical Bull Rental Chicago

Mechanical Bull Rental in Chicago offers a thrilling and unique entertainment option for events and parties in the Windy City. This popular attraction is perfect for various gatherings, from corporate events and birthday parties to fairs and festivals. Whether planning a western-themed event or simply looking for an exciting activity to engage guests, a mechanical bull can provide hours of fun and challenge for riders of all ages and skill levels.

Riding a mechanical bull is exhilarating and safe, thanks to modern equipment and trained operators who ensure that every participant enjoys their ride while minimizing the risk of injury. The mechanical bulls are designed with soft padding and adjustable speeds, making them suitable for beginners and more experienced riders. Operators can control the speed and difficulty of the ride, allowing for a customized experience that matches the rider's comfort level and skill.

When renting a mechanical bull in Chicago, you can expect professional service from start to finish. The rental company will typically handle the bull's delivery, setup, and operation, allowing you to focus on enjoying your event. They will provide a trained operator to manage the bull and ensure the safety of all participants. This service includes setting up the inflatable mat around the bull providing riders awith cuswith cushioned landing area.

In addition to providing entertainment, a mechanical bull can serve as a great icebreaker and crowd-pleaser. Guests will love cheering on their friends and family as they attempt to stay on the bull for as long as possible. It creates a lively and engaging atmosphere that encourages participation and interaction among attendees. Plus, it offers plenty of photo opportunities, allowing guests to capture memorable moments from your event.

One of the critical benefits of mechanical bull rental in Chicago is its versatility. It can be used indoors and outdoors, making it a suitable option for events held at various venues, including banquet halls, community centers, parks, and private residences. The rental company will work with you to determine the best setup for your location, ensuring that the bull is placed in a safe and accessible area.

If you're considering mechanical bull rental in Chicago, booking early is essential, especially during peak event seasons. These rentals are in high demand, and securing your booking in advance will ensure you have the bull reserved for your desired date and time. When contacting rental companies, be sure to ask about their packages, pricing, and any additional services they may offer, such as event planning or other entertainment options.

Mechanical bull rental in Chicago is an excellent way to add excitement and entertainment to your event. It provides a unique experience that guests will remember long after the party. Whether hosting a small gathering or a large celebration, a mechanical bull can elevate the fun and leave a lasting impression on your guests.

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[hospitalterrorizer]

diary290

7/5-6/24

friday - saturday

it is done!!!!!!!!!!!

i will probably do a proper post for it tomorrow, some time, like in the noon (not that it will get any people to listen really)

but here's the linxx!

and then here's the cover art!

#so funny (if you want to see what's going on, you should probably open it up in a separate tab and look at it zoomed in to see all the junk going on)

i'm glad i did the watermarks on the pics at the bottom there, it makes it kind of look uncomfortable, or like seedy i suppose, which helps a lot w/ what the cover is aiming for.

i think basically it's as good as i could have gotten it, the cover. i do like it, i feel like maybe i could do it better, if i planned it out more, maybe it looks like a mess to anyone else, it's kind of one intentionally but i mean, maybe in a bad way it's one too.

also, on bandcamp i wrote a big-ish thing about the album as it was made, here it is:

likely in progress since october of 2022, certainly in progress since november of 2022, finally complete in july 2024. these are songs about nothing especially. this album has seen: two apartments, one move, two jobs, a cockroach infestation, a mass shooting at the neighboring school of our last apartment, my girlfriend surviving the shooting because she was in a different building and he wanted to kill teachers because he did not get a job, the most traveling i've done in my life, myriad illnesses, various canker sores, working out through being sick, not recovering sooner because i had to work out because it would upset me to not complete the ritual as i normally do, the worst sore throat of my life, an ear infection, the starting of a public diary, the maintenance of a public diary, ants on the windowsill, ants in the flour, long standing friendships growing longer, shedding of irritability, regrowth of the irritability, self disgust of varying levels and varying causes, scrubbing the floor naked, bruising my knees at the melt banana show and bruising my knees doing kneeling squats and bruising my knees doing other things, the uneasy orbit of a sleep schedule (an asteroid almost, in capture, then, crashing), several remasterings, 2 computers, an apartment that's a single room, an apartment of multiple rooms cheaply constructed, inflation, grocery store packages changing graphic design, rotten fruit, eaten fruit, my girlfriend's mother loving then hating then loving us, rabbits in grass, rabbits on concrete, bird corpses and living birds and horses in a field for the rodeo and the bulls kept across from them moaning of a captivity under moonlight, the construction and completion of the las vegas sphere (orb of prosperity), numerous nightmares about being murdered, denver colorado, kyoto, tokyo, takeshita-dori street, all the green, a place where sad old gay men convened and sang karaoke remembering their youth in old mecha anime theme songs, a fashion magazine photographer speaking in english to me (stumbling in a beautiful way) "i hope to see you again one day", arizona and the asu campus, a strange fall fair where a woman told me to hold two pumpkins to my chest so it'd be like i had breasts (she seemed supportive), the strange trump-loving foodtruck that served elote that my gf liked, my most recent live performance with thomas since 2018, my girlfriend learning korean, completion of multiple books, falling in love with foucault as i did when i first read him in college, meeting people for the first time, meeting some for the second, sleeping on a bed in chicago, loving chicago, people staring at me in public, children staring at me, wondering if children hate me because at my root there is something wrong with me and everyone except me can tell, being published in various online journals, the coming first publication of my work in print, in a journal people hold in their hands of flesh, nothing special, everything special, stretches of relative silence, all the meaningless stuff, all the stuff i don't want to tell you because i like it too much. i already gave you too much, most likely. you will not have a sense of any of this as you listen to the record. i put it here, i don't know why. this album is 32 songs, 47-ish minutes long. you can click a button on a web site to listen to it, and you will hear it. 

credits

released July 5, 2024

Girlfriend - let me live, took me places, bought me food, let me cook, let me clean. m.b. ghul + clout jesus - voiceover/narration on track 1. please read his story here:

thomas / me and my kidney - let me use his microphone and audio interface to record extra vocals on panic! at the costco and au naturale. please listen to his music here:

georges bataille - wrote the sentence which i lifted for the album title (letter to kojeve where he begins talking about unemployed negativity) thomas hardy - wrote tess of the d'urbervilles which i quote on the final song. neighbors - let me scream and didn't ever complain or call the police. hospital terrorizer - i screamed and i wrote the songs and i made the cover and stuff.

but since i am on my blog i guess i can get into more detail about the record, and i also feel like anyone who reads this / has been reading this, you have actually seen what it's been like, the hostility of the little bit of writing i did for the album isn't really pointed back here, it's not necessarily a pose it's just like, i dunno, as a thing to make, there's so much time and effort, and most of that's invisible, that's not being said in a self pitying way, it's more about how that's the case for so much music, which makes it interesting, i think.

anyway, there's one song here called 'i didn't think before i started a diary' which isn't really about this diary, i wrote that song prior to even starting this, it's about something weird you can see w/ people who do have diaries on the internet, where some people like, years after they're done being updated, things like that, or even just posts / miniature diaristic stuff, of archiving all that, when really this is more about the practice/act than an archive to reach into history with. it was also inspired by a piece of poetry by a friend though i don't know if i could even find it. it's written from the perspective of someone wanting to archive a person, and i kept thinking about that from the other side. that's really the only song i have so much to say on i think, because the others are either a little more personal or a little more obvious, there's lots of political things, the song hell baby works off of a reference to hideshi hino's hell baby, the manga where a deformed baby is thrown into a dump and she is revived by flaming ghosts and wanders back to her family and then is shunned once again. it's really tragic.

anyway i know i said i'd have more pictures from yesterday to post but i've been busy all day with trying to get everything like ready enough, some songs feel a little odd still but that just seems like how they are, it's only 2 that feel a little odd and idk, if i really hate them eventually i will just remaster them and release them together or something but they sound good to me, i think i'm caught off guard by them because there's a newness about them, because i worked on one up to the last bit here, and another was the product of an error related to a crash where the .wav came out normal but the mp3 came out strange sounding i think, so i had to go back and re export. either way both sound good/cool just unexpected to me, and i am someone who had expectations that were precise about those songs, specific things about what frequencies were blasting when and how stuff sat, and then that's just new now.

tomorrow i have to make like... 3 posts inside the internet world, to make people maybe look at my album, and then it will be entirely/totally out of my hands, it will truly be over then, that's like the advertising period i get, lol, one day.

anyway i am super super tired right now, so i will sleep,

byebye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[columbosunday]

in my experience tabling at zine fairs as someone who makes all their own shit like prints and staples and cuts everything by hand.... i dont really care if people are getting shit printed on nice printers and stuff. like the people doing that are keeping a dying art alive. like riso printing, screen printing, printing press etc etc. it's all just politics about the specific word zine. which unfortunately may have been co-opted to mean a broader type of printed book/artwork. but in my experience real life zine community is way accepting of cheaper materials and low-fi process. i have friends all over the country, in different countries who are working on running zine workshops to get the idea out there to more people. i guess it can be daunting to apply to table at zine fairs, so maybe we all need to work on making that a more accessible process for people. but i don't think it's fair to say simple, cheaper material based zines are not actively sought after. quimbys in chicago is literally full of printer paper hand drawn pen and pencil zines. also lots of zines are collaborative so the idea that an applications process for a zine makes it invalid is kind of dumb to me... just some very not concisely formatted thoughts idk 🤷‍♀️

[bg-sparrow]

Summer Reading/ Writing/ Arting

Thanks to @jowritesfanfiction for the tag! (Sorry it took me so long to respond! I love being tagged, so thank you thank you thank you!)

Rules: Follow the directions in bold.

Anyone can join! I'm tagging @jayisnotdrawing, @professorsaber, and @retro-hussy if you guys wanna play!

Describe one creative WIP project you’re planning to work on over the summer.

I am currently working on 3 projects! I am making moodboards and writing 100-word drabbles for McFly July, writing a currently-untitled one-shot based around the Part 3 duel, and wrapping up the last two chapters of Once Upon a Time in the South!

Recommend a book

Uhhh, let's go with Devil in the White City by Erik Larson because I finished listening to that audiobook to and from NYC when I went to see Back to the Future: The Musical this past Saturday. It's about the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and serial killer H. H. Holmes picking off people who stayed in his murder hotel there!

Recommend a fic

I'm going to recommend a Part 3 sickfic born out of a roleplay I did with @daryfromthefuture called Lean on Me (When You're Not Strong) because I recently reread it and forgot how much fun I had writing Doc's part in it! So much hurt/ comfort. So much Doc taking care of Marty. You're welcome. :)

Recommend music 

Hmm. I've been on the hunt for new music myself, but I'll go ahead and put here the playlist I made for The Doom of Marty McFly that I never shared, featuring songs in the fic and an "upbeat frenemies" vibe:

True Love (feat. Lily Allen) - P!nk

My Life Would Suck Without You - Kelly Clarkson

Can't Get You Out of My Head - Kylie Minogue

Please Don't Leave Me - P!nk

Should I Stay or Should I Go - The Clash

Ballroom Blitz - Sweet

Shake It Off - Taylor Swift

We Are Going To Be Friends - The White Stripes

[banffcentrelibraryandarchives]

Understanding Artists' Books

The Paul D. Fleck Library & Archives holds over 5,000 artists' books - and the collection continues to grow through a combination of donations and purchases every year.

But what is an artists' book?

Well, part of the (usually exciting) challenge of artists' books is that they're difficult to define. For the Emily Carr University Art and Design library, the artists' book collection "encompasses books conceived, crafted, published, produced or altered by an artist, designer or collective with the intention of creating an independent art work ." But for the Smithsonian Library, "[a]n artist’s book is a medium of artistic expression that uses the structure or function of 'book' as inspiration—a work of art in book form." Our collection sits somewhere in between, encapsulating works in both of these definitions - and some works that are beyond either. In our library, you'll find do-it-yourself zines and handmade chapbooks from small presses, sculptural pieces, weavings, objects, comic art, flipbooks, and dozens of other specific forms.

Our collection began in 1985, when the director of the Walter Phillips Gallery, Lorne Falk, handed Bob Foley (Banff Centre's first full-time librarian) a suitcase's worth of artists' books and said, "These are yours, you should do something with them." Through a meeting with AA Bronson, an artist who founded Art Metropole and the New York Art Book Fair, Foley expanded the collection by developing relationships with publishers and distributors. Since then, the collection came to include artists such as Dieter Roth, Ed Ruscha (whose artists' book Every Building on the Sunset Strip inspired the creation of this tumblr page!), Barbara Kruger, Joseph Beuys, Mieko Shiomi, Yoko Ono, Gertrude Stein, and John Cage.

Please take your time to explore our tumblr and our library catalogue - and if you ever get the chance, please come and explore our artists' books in person. The library staff are always excited to answer questions or help you find what you're looking for.

If you'd like to read more about artists' books, consider these books:

Aarons, Philip E. and Andrew Roth, editors. In Numbers: Serial Publications by Artists Since 1055. Zurich: PPP Editions, 2009.

Arnar, Anna Sigrídur. The Book as Instrument: Stéphane Mallarmé, the Artist's Book, and the Transformation of Print Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011.

Castleman, Riva. A Century of Artists Books. New York: Museum of Modern Art; distributed by Henry N. Abrams, 1994.

Drucker, Johanna. A Century of Artists' Books. New York: Granary Books, 1995.

Phillpot, Clive. Booktrek: Selected Essays on Artists' Books since 1972. Zurich: JRP Ringier, 2013.

[void-flesh]

love your collection! whats a good start for a clueless person like me to get into zines? how do you find them?

Omg hello!!! Tysm <3 There's a few places! My suggestions are mainly US based since I live here but should be a place to start. And as I have mentioned before I love a numbered list:

1. Zine Distros: shops/business that function sorta like distributors for bigger books. Good ones to check out are Brown Recluse (zines by BIPOC) Crapandemic (Goth and subculture zines) Wasted Ink Zine Distro, Neither/Nor Zine Distro are all cool ones

2. Specialty Bookshops: Quimby's is the big name in Zine brick and mortar shops, they have a location in Chicago and in NYC, but other bookshops that have zines are Elliot Bay Books, Bluestockings Bookstore, and South Street Art Mart

3. Zine fairs: kinda like comic cons, but much smaller and all about zines

4. Zine archives and libraries: Barnard Zine Library is hella cool and has a huge collection, many of which are online or you can request scans of, they have a lot of early riot grrrl zines and feminist zines but the collection is vast and covers a lot of other topics. Other personal favorite is the queer zine archive

5. Etsy & online: etsy has the most zines I've seen of the usual online retailers, but you can also scroll thru the zine tags on social media and fins some really cool ones!

There's also lots of zines on how to make zines, so if you feel like you wanna try ur hand at writing one there's lots of resources out there <3

[dan6085]

To determine the top 50 Broadway musicals of all time, we can consider various factors such as box office success, critical acclaim, cultural impact, and lasting popularity. Here is a list of 50 musicals that excel in these areas:

1. **The Phantom of the Opera** - A timeless love story with memorable music and stunning visuals[1][2][3][4][5].

2. **Les Misérables** - An epic tale of redemption and revolution with powerful songs and a gripping narrative[1][2][3][4][5].

3. **Hamilton** - A groundbreaking hip-hop musical about American history and identity[1][2][3][4][5].

4. **The Lion King** - A spectacular adaptation of the beloved animated film with unforgettable music and puppetry[1][2][3][4][5].

5. **Wicked** - A reimagining of the Wizard of Oz story that explores themes of friendship, power, and prejudice[1][2][3][4][5].

6. **Cats** - A whimsical and imaginative musical about a community of cats seeking a new life[1][2][3][4][5].

7. **Chicago** - A seductive and cynical musical about crime, fame, and justice in the jazz age[1][2][3][4][5].

8. **The Book of Mormon** - A hilarious and irreverent musical that satirizes religion and culture[1][2][3][4][5].

9. **The Producers** - A farcical musical about a failed Broadway show that becomes a massive hit[1][2][3][4][5].

10. **Rent** - A rock musical about love, art, and community in the face of adversity[1][2][3][4][5].

11. **Miss Saigon** - A tragic love story set during the Vietnam War with stunning music and spectacle[1][2][3][4][5].

12. **Beauty and the Beast** - A magical musical adaptation of the classic fairy tale with memorable songs and characters[1][2][3][4][5].

13. **The Music Man** - A charming and nostalgic musical about a con man who falls in love with a small town[1][2][3][4][5].

14. **Sweeney Todd** - A dark and thrilling musical about a vengeful barber and his accomplice[1][2][3][4][5].

15. **Jersey Boys** - A jukebox musical about the rise and fall of the iconic singing group, The Four Seasons[1][2][3][4][5].

16. **Oklahoma!** - A classic musical about love, community, and the American frontier[1][2][3][4][5].

17. **My Fair Lady** - A romantic musical about a Cockney flower girl who is transformed into a lady[1][2][3][4][5].

18. **Fiddler on the Roof** - A heartwarming and poignant musical about a Jewish family in Tsarist Russia[1][2][3][4][5].

19. **Evita** - A powerful musical about the life and legacy of Argentine first lady Eva Perón[1][2][3][4][5].

20. **A Chorus Line** - A groundbreaking musical about the hopes, dreams, and fears of Broadway dancers[1][2][3][4][5].

21. **West Side Story** - A modernized version of Romeo and Juliet set in New York City, with a score by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

22. **Into the Woods** - A Sondheim musical that weaves together several classic fairy tales, exploring the consequences of wishes and the complexities of life.

3. **The King and I** - A Rodgers and Hammerstein musical about a British schoolteacher who becomes the governess for the children of the King of Siam.

24. **Annie** - A heartwarming musical about a young orphan who finds a home with a wealthy businessman and helps him to rediscover the meaning of love and family.

25. **Grease** - A fun and energetic musical about a group of high school students navigating love, friendship, and identity in the 1950s.

26. **Guys and Dolls** - A classic musical comedy about a group of gamblers and their romantic entanglements, set in New York City.

27. **Pippin** - A magical and whimsical musical about a young prince searching for meaning and purpose in his life.

28. **A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum** - A farcical musical comedy about a slave who tries to win his freedom by helping his master woo a courtesan.

29. **The Pajama Game** - A romantic musical comedy about a labor dispute at a pajama factory, featuring the hit song "Hernando's Hideaway".

30. **Kiss Me, Kate** - A musical comedy about a divorced couple who star in a production of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, with Cole Porter's classic score.

31. **Man of La Mancha** - A musical about the life and adventures of Don Quixote, featuring the iconic song "The Impossible Dream".

32. **Cabaret** - A dark and provocative musical about the decadence and turmoil of pre-World War II Berlin, featuring the hit song "Cabaret".

33. **Sunday in the Park with George** - A Sondheim musical about the life and work of artist Georges Seurat, exploring the relationship between art and life.

34. **Assassins** - A Sondheim musical that explores the lives and motivations of historical figures who have attempted to assassinate U.S. presidents.

35. **Falsettos** - A musical about a gay man, his lover, his ex-wife, and their son, exploring themes of love, family, and identity.

36. **The Light in the Piazza** - A romantic musical about a young American woman and an Italian man who fall in love in Florence, featuring the hit song "The Light in the Piazza".

37. **The Full Monty** - A musical about a group of unemployed steelworkers who decide to become male strippers to make money, featuring the hit song "Let It Go".

38. **Avenue Q** - A puppet-based musical about a group of young adults navigating love, friendship, and career in New York City, featuring the hit song "The Internet Is for Porn".

39. **Billy Elliot** - A musical about a young boy who dreams of becoming a ballet dancer, set against the backdrop of the 1984-85 British miners' strike.

40. **Next to Normal** - A musical about a suburban family dealing with mental illness, exploring themes of love, loss, and healing.

41. **The Drowsy Chaperone** - A musical comedy about a man who listens to a cast recording of a fictional 1920s musical and imagines the show coming to life in his apartment.

42. **In the Heights** - A musical about a community of Dominican Americans living in Washington Heights, exploring themes of identity, community, and ambition.

43. **The Color Purple** - A musical based on the novel by Alice Walker, exploring the lives and struggles of African American women in the early 20th century.

44. **Grey Gardens** - A musical about the lives of Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, Little Edie, who were the aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

45. **The Bridges of Madison County** - A musical based on the novel by Robert James Waller, exploring the love affair between an Italian-American housewife and a traveling photographer.

46. **Fun Home** - A musical based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, exploring the relationship between a cartoonist and her father, who owned a funeral home.

47. **Dear Evan Hansen** - A musical about a socially awkward high school student who becomes embroiled in a lie that spreads throughout his community, exploring themes of mental health, identity, and connection.

48. **Come From Away** - A musical about the true story of the small town of Gander, Newfoundland, which took in thousands of stranded passengers after the 9/11 attacks.

49. **Hadestown** - A musical based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, exploring themes of love, loss, and the underworld.

50. **Jagged Little Pill** - A musical based on the music of Alanis Morissette, exploring themes of family, addiction, and identity.

These musicals have stood the test of time and continue to captivate audiences with their compelling stories, memorable music, and innovative productions.

Sources

[1] List of highest-grossing musical theatre productions - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_musical_theatre_productions

[2] 15 of the best stage musicals of all time - Classical-Music.com https://www.classical-music.com/features/works/best-stage-musicals-of-all-time

[3] The Most Popular Broadway Musicals Of All Time - Ranker https://www.ranker.com/list/the-most-popular-broadway-musicals-ever/constance-bennet

[4] Top 50 Best Broadway Musicals - Facts.net https://facts.net/best-broadway-musicals/

[5] Top Ten Best Broadway Shows Ever Made - NYTix https://www.nytix.com/articles/top-ten-best-broadway-shows-ever-made

[practicefortheheart]

hello I heard you are potentially in the market for audiobooks … let me Provide

(these will all be queer lol)

firstly! if you use libby to read, you can bookmark at any place in the book and go right back there if you’re wanting to make fan art (but it is easier with an ebook).

I agree with anon, The Last Binding trilogy is great and each narrator has some fun interpretations, like that lisp for that one guy.

The Will Darling Adventures by KJ Charles — Cornell Colins reads this trilogy and he is FANTASTIC. he is so extra! he’s perfect for these books (set in 1920s Britain, queer men caught up in spy shenanigans and a conspiracy and danger!). this would be a great follow up to The Last Binding, it hits a lot of the same notes.

The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros — Maxwell Glick narrates this creepy and dark supernatural exploration on jewishness in Chicago at the time of the 1883 world fair. gird your loins and prepare to love so many characters! Glick does a fantastic job bringing them to life; I was immersed.

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles — this one is read by Martyn Swain and maybe it’s just bc I’m not British, but hearing all these diverse British accents aloud made this story feel more real to me. it takes place in Regency Kent where there are black market crime rings and murders and LOTS OF MUSHY LOVE!

I’ll stop there for now but you’ll be amazed how great audiobooks can be once you get past the thought of a human reading a sex scene in your ear alfjskfjdkskelsfkels (that was my biggest barrier). it’s great because of the vivacity of good read-aloud storytelling. not all are winners but there are sooooo many good ones out there.

I mean, I think most of the books I've read the last few years were queer (apart from some I had to read for my book club and non-fiction).

Thanks for your suggestions! I will check them out.

Yes, the explicit scenes needed some getting used to! It took a while before I could forget it was an actor reading them out loud and you know, having to act them out in a way?

Tbh my dad was a great storyteller and it is comforting to have someone tell you a story when you're doing things around the house, or making your way to work or just lying in bed with your eyes closed. There is some nostalgia in that.

[grandhotelabyss]

On Nabokov* and Bellow- I love and respect both, especially Bellow’s determination to use every register of the language, but I do have qualms with him- mostly a kind of lingering unease about his proximity to Strauss and that whole UofC elitist-classicist thing. (To be fair, in the novels themselves I think it’s mostly denatured by streetwise Jewish humanism and the schlemiel quality of most of his protagonists, but all the same one sometimes thinks they can faintly detect something lurking in the depths between the words.)

*I think we have the same qualms about Nabokov, so I won’t enumerate em here

Amis claims that when we say we love an author, we only mean a handful of books. Accordingly, what I have no qualms about is the sequence Augie-Henderson-Herzog. The rest I am either not that interested in or not that familiar with, partly for the reasons you mention; the Strauss-Chicago thing—I assess it only from a distance—is culturally sterile on its own and is in its philosophical supremacism deadly for an artist. Existing in tension with other, more disruptive tendencies, however, as it also did, strangely, in Sontag, it can be fruitful.

Re: Nabokov: Amis wrote an essay about 15 years ago where he conceded that the master probably did have a thing for 12-year-old girls considering the frequency with which they appear, pantingly described, across his oeuvre. I've long suspected this has to be final turn of the screw in interpreting Lolita. If Humbert's not renouncing something real, a desire depicted as metaphysically authentic irrespective of morals, then the novel is without emotional ballast or philosophical point. It's only about a pathological case, the very possibility mocked and dismissed in the preface. But when we allow that the book legitimates Humbert's desire if not its fulfillment, largely through the eroticism of its prose, we undermine the already shaky case for the Kantian moral therapy it is supposed to administer according to Rorty and others, as if the only point were to treat others with kindness, a recommendation that may be made without either the mythical apparatus of nymphetology or the aestheticization of pornography. Lolita really is closer to certain Platonic gay novels, not only Death in Venice but also Billy Budd and Dorian Gray; these don't shy from implicating their authors in the forbidden desire the authors' gaze transmits in the very course of narratively surrendering, this to elevate art over eros. An unspoken and unspeakable consensus about the differing natures of male and female sexuality irrespective of gay/straight, as well as Greco-Roman aesthetic precedent, leads us to tolerate the scenario more when the object of desire—real desire, thus painful to be renounced even if it must be renounced, as in the Phaedrus—is a boy rather than a girl. Hence we squeamishly deny what Lolita is actually about, missing both the true nature and the true cost of its greatness. My uncharacteristically moralistic hope is that we have progressed past the point where we need to illustrate this philosophical thesis with this subject matter.

[pennstateuniversitypress]

Q&A with Mary Ann Calo

The author of African American Artists and the New Deal Art Programs discusses the significance of New Deal art projects, the Harlem Artists' Guild, and more.

How were the New Deal art projects significant to the history of African American art?

Historians have tended to think of the New Deal art projects as having had a generally positive effect on the development of African American art. The immediate purpose of the projects was to provide financial relief in the form of employment for artists during the Depression. In practical terms, the projects gave Black artists who were eligible time to work and unprecedented access to materials and instruction. There was strong consensus among participating artists that opportunities offered by the art projects at least partially redressed the chronic disadvantages and isolation they had faced. These art projects thus functioned as mechanisms to advance their careers and facilitate their entry into the mainstream of American cultural life.

My primary focus is on the programs of the Federal Art Project (FAP), the largest New Deal arts initiative, administered by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1935 to 1943. The FAP was a branch of Federal Project Number One, which encompassed multiple government-supported initiatives to provide work relief not only for artists but also for writers and creative practitioners in theater and music. In a departure from historical accounts that concentrate on individual accomplishments within the FAP, I shift the analytical focus to educational projects such as Community Art Centers. These facilities, some of which were established to serve racially segregated populations, combined opportunities for technical instruction and art appreciation with a social service mentality. While centers in Harlem and Chicago have long enjoyed public visibility and distinction, I expand the discussion to include lesser-known initiatives in the South, noting the vast differences between specific locales.

The book moves beyond accounts of artists who personally benefitted from the projects, and the works they produced, toward broader issues informed by the uniqueness of Black experience and circumstances. I argue that the revolutionary vision of the New Deal art projects must be understood in the context of access to opportunity mediated by the realities of racism and segregation.

Were the federal art projects fair? Were they equitable?

While other divisions of Federal One, such as theater and writing, had units dedicated to African American culture, by design the FAP was “race blind.” But historians of the New Deal visual art programs have long had to reconcile optimism about expanded opportunity and nondiscrimination with the fact of low African American participation numbers, especially in the creative divisions. I examine the skill and relief requirements of the FAP in terms of their impact on choices open to African American artists and the emphasis within project administration on the primacy of educational, rather than creative, work in the Black community.

The elaborate skill classification system of the FAP, which distinguished between various levels of preparedness to perform certain kinds of work, contained obvious (but unacknowledged) pitfalls for African American artists. For example, individuals seeking to qualify for the creative divisions, which would provide support for time spent in the studio, were asked to furnish information on their training as artists and their exhibition history. This was a challenge for Black artists who lacked opportunities to attend art school or regularly show their work. Administrators were preoccupied with ensuring equal access to the benefits of the projects but disinclined to challenge existing norms of segregation or examine their consequences.

How crucial are archives and documents in writing African American art history?

Archival repositories and primary documents have always been essential to writing the history of New Deal art projects. Accounting for African American experience within them is hindered, as in many areas of American cultural history, by insufficient interest and a fragmented archival landscape. Because Black artists were largely overlooked during the documentary phase of early research on the New Deal art projects, when statistics were gathered and standard histories were being written, the task of tracking and sorting relevant data has been an ongoing challenge. And while a great deal of progress has been made in recent years, participation and program records are dispersed and not easily aggregated for purposes of analysis.

How did the Harlem Artists' Guild function, and to what extent was it a Popular Front organization?

On its face, the Harlem Artists Guild’s (HAG) was a prototypical artist advocacy organization of the New Deal era. But its agenda was also rooted in discourses about race and culture that had evolved decades earlier. In that sense, while emblematic of the impulse to unite and organize in the 1930s, the HAG existed in a different space of cultural meaning and significance.

The activities of the HAG can, to an extent, be located within the context of Popular Front ideology, which emphasized coalition building in the interest of maximizing the impact of progressive forces. Traditionally, New Deal historians have tended tend to think of the HAG as an offshoot of the Artists’ Union (AU). This suggests that it derived its energy from the dominant activist organization of the majority culture. I describe the nature of its alliances with groups central to this period, such as the AU and the American Artists’ Congress (AAC), but also with the National Negro Congress (NNC) and local civic organizations. This is consistent with more recent historical approaches that raise questions about the extent to which civil rights organizations such as the NNC may have intersected with this cultural energy and stimulated it.

African American Artists and the New Deal Art Programs: Opportunity, Access, and Community is now available from Penn State University Press. Learn more and order the book here: https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-09493-9.html. Save 30% w/ discount code NR23.

[tommystonsils]

tagged by @westerberg thank u so much!!! 💜💕💖💞💗

1. relationship status: single :(

2. favourite colour: oooh lots!! lavender, forest green, bubblegum pink, and seafoam to name a few!

3. favourite food: I also don’t have a straight answer to this bc i Love Food. Pierogi are a big one, but so is kimchi ramen. Also a rly good hamburger is the way 2 my heart. Oh and I’m a fan of figs. Figs w goat cheese, roasted, w herbs, in jam, YEEEAAAHHH

4. last thing i googled: literally the word seafoam bc “seafoam green”, seafoam is one word and not two……

5. dream trip: listen man i have been trying to plan a trip to minneapolis for like three years now and all sorts of shit always came up and i had to make a whole new plan every time. i love the midwest with my whole heart, if someone asked me “hey we could either go to chicago or italy” bon voy-a-gee i’m taking chicago every time. also i’m supposed to be going to mpls next summer so FINGERS CROSSED. also a huge ireland/scotland/wales trip would be so fun.

6. time: 7:52

7. last book you read: oooh it’s a boring book for school BUT i am currently reading The Hobbit and it’s rapidly becoming one of my favorites ever.

8. last book you enjoyed reading: Lemon Jail by Bill Sullivan. it’s about an hour and a half read, super short, probably some of the funniest Replacements anecdotes and it also gave me an even bigger appreciation for what Bill went on to do after being the mats’ right hand man. I’ve also read this like 5+ times now.

9. last book you hated reading: my case studies textbook for applied learning theory because my professor wrote the book and the structure of the case studies are extremely bloated and the dialogue is comically bad. anyway

10. favourite craft to do: paint + also i have a bedazzler……..

11. most niche dislike: when “new vinyl” comes out and you buy this overpriced reissued record and put it on your record player and it rains rice krispies on your stereo w all them snap crackle pops. stop trying to make new records sound old!!! i have literally had new records skip parts of songs bc the grooves were pressed incorrectly!! i’m not a fan of newer reissued records bc they all have that “we’re trying to make this sound old and beat up for your vintage vibes” thing

12. opinion on circuses now and in history: do not like them. many of them were once human zoos, the whole “freak show” with traveling circuses still happens at state fairs and it’s just rly gross and ableist. not to mention animal abuse which was literally the reason my family Never went to the circus. although i completely agree w @westerberg on ur comment about Paul bc yes!! i rly appreciate stagecraft and the art of show business.

13. do you have a sense of direction and if not what’s the worst way you ever got lost: sense of direction is REALLY BAD. i live on the east coast (floriduh) so I’ve tried the whole directional thing with looking at where the sun is but nope! worst way i’ve gotten lost was in middle school trying to find a class in a hallway that wrapped around, so I was speed-walking, panicking in a circle for a few minutes after the late bell.

tagging @kelly-jeanne @awesomgrlgr8job @nettys-girl !! c:

** i just realized i numbered this wrong LMAO im fixing it