Codename: Guppy

I wanted to create a male character, for the "Lost Treasures" event (facebook page) coming up in Kenora, Ontario, to acknowledge the fact that most killings-of-women in this world... are at the hands of men. Husbands, brothers, fathers, lovers, sons, lovers, friends and strangers.

It would be simplistic and wrong, however, to say that men are inherently prone to kill women, by nature and testosterone. They/We are programmed by cultures, religions, mass medias, ancient archetypes and legends, corporate environments, etc., etc. I want this piece to reflect upon the anguish of two human potentials lost, when a man kills.

That's not to let us off the hook; the male gender has given the world "honour-killing", "murder-suicide", "serial-killer", "date-rape". "scorched-earth", "mutually assured destruction"...
So on, and so on.

---

[Pics click to enlarge.]

I started out by playing with the spare parts and various heads-in-progress lying around the studio.



Once the head was chosen; I scrapped the huge arms and started papering/taping the figure.







I added another pre-made papier mache fragment to the back of the head to bulk it out. I think that I am going to leave the piece unpainted for the Kenora event. It radiates some real emotion, without being individualised, this way.









Lay it down, to get at the underside. I think that I will put some metal weight in the base of one leg to make it "stand".



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tim Giago article

Ledger Art

"The Plains Indian Ledger Art Digital Publishing Project (PILA) was conceived as a way to keep this irreplaceable historic and cultural information intact, address the challenges of research and public access to the Plains Indian ledger books, and preserve the images for future generations."

NARF myspace page.

"The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) has announced its 2nd Annual National Call for young Native artists, ages 15-35 years old. NARF is seeking art entries for its 2nd Annual Art Show in Boulder, Colorado-Modern Day Warriors: Empowering the Young Voices of Native America . The dynamic art exhibition will celebrate and highlight present and future generations of modern day warriors for Native rights. It will also place focus on the fact the Indian Wars Never Ended-they have merely changed venues from the historic battlegrounds of our ancestors to courtrooms; the media; schools; communities; Congress; and the modern day world around us... DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES IS 5PM, FRIDAY OCTOBER 12TH, 2007!"

The Seventh Annual Festival of Native Film & Culture

"(formerly known as the Native American Film Festival & Cultural Weekend) is currently accepting submissions. All feature length and short film Native American and indigenous work produced after January 1, 2007 is eligible for consideration. The Festival will take place at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs, California, March 5 - 9, 2008... Film submission entry deadline is December 15, 2007."

Indigenous nations hit hard by hurricanes


The Fenimore Art Museum September 22-December 30, 2007.

"Being Indian: The 6th Contemporary Iroquois Art Biennial, an exhibition featuring the works of Native American artists Peter B. Jones and George Longfish"

AIEA 2007 Native American Youth Conference October 18 & 19, 2007 Phoenix Arizona

Nike has designed and produced a shoe, based on the Native American foot.

"...the Air Native N7 is designed with a larger fit for the distinct foot shape of American Indians, and has a culturally specific look. It will be distributed solely to American Indians; tribal wellness programs and tribal schools nationwide will be able to purchase the shoe at wholesale price and then pass it along to individuals, often at no cost."

How is this for a great idea? The New Zealand government has opened a "wiki" so that the citizens can write the new law on policing. Police wiki lets you write the law.

"Superintendent Hamish McCardle, the officer in charge of developing the new act, said the initiative had already been described as a "new frontier of democracy".
"People are calling it 'extreme democracy' and perhaps it is," he said.
"It's a novel move but when it comes to the principles that go into policing, the person on the street has a good idea ... as they are a customer," he said.
"They've got the best idea about how they want to be policed."
NZ Police were reviewing the old Policing Act, from 1958, which had become "anachronistic" and was "written for a completely different age, not policing of today", Superintendent McCardle said."

Columbus Day is approaching again, United Native America was formed...

"in 1993 as a nation wide grass roots movement to bring about a federal national holiday for Native Americans. The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma fully supports this issue with resolution 91-93. United Native America resolution 1-1 calls on the federal government to stop using our tax dollars to pay for Columbus Day.

Columbus does not rate a federal tax paid holiday in this country. We are standing up against the racial exclusion of Native Americans in our society to include these industries, national television stations, movie industries, national sports industries, national news media and music industries. Bringing about these changes have to take place before America can say it represents all its people equally.

The American Indians helped give birth to this country and helped form the government we have today, this is the true beginning history of America. This contribution and many more are noted in the American Indian heritage month of November resolution passed each year by the United States Senate and signed by the president, please join us in the struggle in the spirit of Crazy Horse, Tecumseh and countless others to live in peace on our land."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ugly Necklace Contest

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tags: native art, papier mache, male figure, paper sculpture, human form, ojibway art, violence, lost treasures, Bingorage, Broken Vulture Art, blog, pics

autumn mush

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Ascent"

This is a painting which I've been putting together for the "Lost Treasures" event, the photo documentation is collected in this album, but the more final version won't be seen until the "Lost Treasures" opening.











"Grandma Moon" mask.See the photo album.

First variation:


Sculpting a second variation:








--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hidden from history: The Canadian Holocaust"

Teutonic "Indians"

Poverty Point archaeology site in Louisiana.

Talk like a pirateday. "Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrr..."

You need the Miro player and it needs your help.

An Ojibwy elder's site, Native Art in Canada.

"My name is Nokomis. I'm an Ojibwa artist and storyteller who grew up in the bush almost seventy years ago. The literal translation of my name means "the great mother" for Nokomis was the spirit who created the Ojibwa in the world. In another context the word can mean grandmother. The name was given to me by my elders at a naming ceremony when it was apparent to them who I would be in this lifetime."

Makah whalers harvest another grey whale, in defiance of tribal injunction and federal law, to protest delays in settling their hunting claim; provoking racist reactions.

"On Sept. 9, the Makah Tribal Council issued this prepared statement: "The Makah Tribal Council denounces the actions of those who took it upon themselves to hunt a whale without the authority from the Makah Tribal Council or the Makah Whaling Commission. Their action was a blatant violation of our law and they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We are cooperating with the National Marine Fisheries Service in their investigation of this incident and will continue to do so."

Goons story, by Tim Giago

Lotus Symphony; the newly free office suite from IBM, supports ODF format.

A new Native directory; NDN411.Com. I you are a dancer, artist, musician, consultant, etc., sign up and list your facebook, myspace and other profiles.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
California Indian trailer:



written, produced & directed by Timothy Andrew Ramos.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tags: papier mache, paper sculpture, sculptor, native art, broken vulture art, first nation, ojibway art, Bingorage, Broken Vulture Art, blog, pics

Good Ancestors

"Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors"
:Jonas Salk

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I recently adjusted the look of the ShovelMask, by adding to and resculpting the left eye. This vid captures the changes, prepaint. This is one of the pieces that I will be showing at the Coffee Landing Cafe, throughout June 2007; International Falls, MN.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A previous posting, with proposal regarding changes to Canada's parliament system.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Indian Country article about First Americans In The Arts (FAITA).

"In mid-April FAITA hosted the 15th annual awards presentation, honoring American Indians for their outstanding performance in motion pictures, theatre and in prime time TV at the Beverly Hills Hilton. The gala's master of ceremonies was longtime actor Wes Studi, who was joined by host, Native comedian Charlie Hill."

FAITA website.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An article about Contemporary Inuit Art.

Article from ParrySound.com

"The federal government and Anishinabek Nation moved a step closer to abolishing the Indian Act.
The Anishinabek First Nation, represented by Grand Council Chief John Beaucage, and the Government of Canada, represented by Minister of Indian Affairs Jim Prentice, agreed Friday afternoon to meet regularly and hammer out the community’s self-governance plan."

New Zealand Herald article.

"A unique and critically endangered sub-species of mountain gorilla came one step closer to extinction this week after a band of suspected African rebels attacked ranger posts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Virunga National Park killing one wildlife officer and wounding four more.

The group, said to be part of the Mai Mai rebel movement which has been known to eat gorillas and believes it is impervious to bullets, then threatened to kill mountain gorillas in the area if there were any reprisal attacks by the rangers or the government."

Article about public Graff wall at Venice Beach.

"You spend all day here on a production," says Dytch, a legendary homegrown graffiti artist, "and kids are literally waiting to roll you out."

"The only Good Indian..."
:General Philip Sheridan (1831-1888)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tags: papier mache, paper sculpture, modeling clay, sculpt, mask, eye, native art, FAITA, Bingorage, Broken Vulture Art, blog, pics

melamine green

"The Seeker" Papier mache human figure; adding solid green background colour.
Previous postings: here, here, here.







--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Random resouces, news and stuff:

The secret history of the Potato. Originating from South America.

"For a simple, brown tuber, potatoes have a long and storied history. Ancient Incans worshipped them; the Irish blamed them for a famine. Today, they are the fourth largest food crop in the world."

New Squamish artists are Carving a future from the past.

Photos and commentary from United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues; Sixth Session.

No verdict this week, in abuse trial of former Anglican minister Ralph Rowe.

Basket-weaving techniques, from "The Language of Native American Baskets".

House Alive.

"Cob, natural building, natural design & appropriate technology."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Fort Frances Drive". My tour of Fort Frances; jig music by James Cheechoo.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tags: papier mache, native art, resources, paper sculpture, human figure, Bingorage, Broken Vulture Art, blog, pics

laughing rats and paleface

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Seeker"; continuing to evolve. Donning temporary paleface makeup and undergoing phase change. Smaller pics click to enlarge.













--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Random resources, news and stuff:

"Canada's copyright czar lied about money from entertainment execs". Article at BoingBoing.

You have probably heardthe phrase "Mitochondrial Eve"; but, what does it mean?

"The Mitochondrial Eve of 200,000 years ago (ME for short henceforth) is NOT our common ancestor, or even common genetic ancestor. She is the most-recent common ancestor of all humans alive on Earth today with respect to matrilineal descent."

A cool, simple monopod/bipod/tripod construction for your camera, at Instructables.com

An excellent outline for novel development, in ten steps, at Ingermanson.com.

A handy timeline of human history, from 60 000 BCE, to 4 000 BCE.

Native Wellness Institute

"The Native Wellness Institute will host four Regional Wellness Gatherings in 2007, AND for the first time, NWI will offer FREE REGISTRATION FOR ALL! We especially want to target individuals who have never been to a wellness gathering before. Travel and lodging will be at your own expense. There will be no registration fee and all conference activities will be FREE."

Nat. Indian Educ. Assoc.

"The National Indian Education Association is membership based organization committed to increasing educational opportunities and resources for American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students while protecting our cultural and linguistic traditions."

The Indian Summer Festival is accepting nominations for their music awards; Deadline is May 15, 2007.

"The Indian Summer Music Awards seek to honor the best American Indian music that has been commercially released between the period of March 2, 2006 and March 1, 2007. "

Cottage leasers on Lake of the Woods will not have their leases renewed, by The Rat Portage Band of Ojibway.

An interesting blog, Global Guerillas, discussing the emerging field of "open source warfare" that is challenging the traditional forces of the world's nation-states.

"Networked tribes, infrastructure disruption, and the emerging bazaar of violence. An open notebook on the first epochal war of the 21st Century."

Another blog list; this one is of "power-words" for your resume.

The Not For Sale Campaign, to end global slavery, which has tendrils into our own back yards.

"I read in a local paper that one of my favorite Indian restaurants in the Bay Area had been trafficking women from India to wash dishes, cook meals and other tasks. The story came out when a young woman, Chianti Pratipatta died of a gas leak in an unventilated apartment owned by the proprietor of the restaurant, who forced Chianti and others into slavery under threat of reporting their illegal presence to the authorities..."

101 Hidden Tips & Secrets For Photoshop

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tags: seeker,papier mache,paper sculpture,human figure,Bingorage,native art, Broken Vulture Art, blog, pics

goodbye good fences

The Nunavut government had formerly declared that Polar bears were not in decline, but they have backtracked, and are now admitting that bear numbers are in decline.

As the arctic polar icecap continues to melt, questions about Canada's sovereignty in the arctic will grow. What does that mean? Nation states and merchant shippers around the world are looking forward to the day when The Northwest Passage [Walrus Magazine article on Arctic sovereignty] opens up, saving time and money on an east-west trip that avoids the fees and canal of Panama, or the dangerous route around the Antarctic-ward tip of South America. The rub, is that the Northwest Passage is considered by other countries to be an international "strait" [Wikipedia def.] and not an internal Canadian waterway. Already, "mystery submarines" have endangered Inuit hunters on the sea and chased sea mammals into the smaller bays with their sonar blasts. Canada has been treating the Arctic archipelago as a third rate neighbourhood for some time, anyways. Inuit families were forcibly relocated from Northern Quebec to Resolute, in the fifties, in order to serve as human "flagpoles" for a federal government that was (and is) unwilling to spend the money to actually develop the promised infrastructure and assert true Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic. Don't worry Canadians; if we aren't willing to do it, the US will take it over for us and start spilling oil over everything.

John Shiwak, Inuit Canadian soldier killed in WW1.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mohawk protestors close VIA Rail line, between Toronto and Montreal/Ottawa. What is not being widely reported is that the quarry site (under land claim) which has been a catalyst for the protest, is an illegal dump site, including highway materials; which may explain government of Ontario reluctance to investigate.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Seeker, updated. Smaller pics click to enlarge.

This papier mache dude had his left arm broken off during a ride in the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship parade, last summer. "Before" shot:


The left arm has been replaced with a Whitetail Deer antler. A new, small face relief was tested in "heart position", then moved under the torso.


The right hand is made more realistic by adding fingers and conversion of existing finger into a thumb; styrofoam "Adam's apple" added.


Paper "musculature" and "skin" added to the right arm, "adam's apple" and second face.


Paper details added to neck profile, shoulders, ribs and "adam's apple".


"After" shot:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Random resources and stuff:

I've only taken a quick peek, but there is much info. at Sleeping Crow: Red Tao. Perhaps let me know, if this site (or any of the sites I list) is useful to you.
:Eric

Northwest Coast First Nations Lecture Series at the West Vancouver Museum; April 18, May 9, 23, Jun 13, Jul 4.

You have probably heard the story of Canadian engineer Maher Arar and his illegal kidnapping and "rendition" to torture in Syria, by US authorities acting on Canadian (false) information.
Now, there are calls for Canadian journalists to reveal their sources for the campaign of leaked disinformation unleashed by Canadian officials to cover their asses; by smearing Arar, incognito.

AIROS; Native Radio Network. Streams and podcasts

The City of Calgary is seeking "Expressions of Interest" for public art.

The City of Calgary Public Art Program, in conjunction with the Utilities and Environmental Protection Department, is seeking Expressions of Interest (i.e. Request for Qualifications) from experienced artists with a demonstrated ability to design and produce integrated public art within environmental and/or ecological projects relating to water. Relevant experience working on interdisciplinary design teams and riparian restoration projects, as well as related construction and project management skills will be considered an asset.

"Top 20 Words You Use in Speech or Copywriting That Make You Look Stupid When You Misuse Them." Link

Bad Astronomy is a blog that seeks out junk science in pop-astronomy and explains the 'right stuff'.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tags: mohawk, deseronto quarry, arctic ice, northwest passage, canadian sovereignty, inuit, polar bears, papier mache, paper sculpture, human figure, seeker, ojibway art, native art, maher arar, science, Bingorage, Broken Vulture Art, blog, pics