the nightstar is where we are

 

DIRT PALACE NEWS! AUGUST 2023     WINDOW GALLERY   JULY / AUGUST WINDOW ARTIST ELLEN FOSTER Bringing together some of the collective visual work I have created over the past two years, this installation is my first time doing such a thing at this scale, although some parts were included in the Fourth World art show. It plays on themes of interdependence, isolation, introspection, repetition, and happy accidents. In life, I am interested in unexpected connections and outcomes, as well as working with mistakes and leaning into them. This often comes out in my screen print experimentations where I might mix colors on the screen and let them shift throughout the iterative printing process. While not on display here, I have also created multi-layered prints that are not registered and play with ideas of collage and overlay. Similarly, my improvised sound practice plays on visceral emotive sound and feeling that layer and play with one another as the loops deteriorate over time. Alongside the visual pieces, this installation includes a collage of materials and objects that draw me to them. Some that seemingly have not much in common and others that heavily do. This includes shells from surrounding and far away beaches, an animal skull from the woods near South Kingston, RI, a rusted nitrous canister found on the train tracks that cross Harris Ave. Along with the objects themselves, I have included a still-life oil painting of some materials within my collection. The paper collages and prints on display recall dreamlike and absurd landscapes, themes of which are also reflected in the dreamy fabric “isolation” tent (partially made during a COVID isolation at Dirt Palace) and more brightly fabric collage draped on a pedestal. I have also been gathering and including bouquets of ruderal and healing plants from areas in and near Providence which are significant to me, in an altar-like arrangement within and near my “isolation” tent. Three current drying bouquets are from Dirt Palace and Atlantic Mills parking lots as well as Beavertail State Park. Other dried ones are from Beavertail. Some of the plants included are plantain, chamomile, purple lupine, mullein, purple thistle, and goldenrod. While this installation was set up with my own personal eye for stringing together connections, meaning-making, and color/image juxtaposition, I invite the viewer to find their own connections, meanings, and unintended happy accidental associations. As a multi-media artist, LN Celestine (Ellen K Foster) works with sound, fabric, collage, and movement. They have been playing within and helping to run DIY venues in various cities since 2012 and are committed to helping foment and sustain DIY and liminal spaces for alternative, queer, and underground cultures. LN’s work and interests are interdisciplinary in nature, and always have been. While they started out studying the sciences (physics and astronomy), LN held a deep interest in the history of astronomy, as well as its Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Amateur community that still contributes to the field. This led to an interest in public engagement as well as philosophy of technology and the possibilities for citizen or civic science actions that questioned the current state of technoscience, and reformulated definitions of expertise, knowledge, and systems of logic. These intellectual interests led to academic pursuits in the field of Science and Technology Studies, where they focused on feminist, anti-racist, and queer science and engineering practices. Tangentially, while LN started as a visual artist focusing on oil painting, along the way they have developed and continued a creative interest and practice of dance and experimental sound rooted in the culture of DIY venues, practices, and sharing of outputs. While a resident at the Dirt Palace, they saw a return to visual output through screen-printing, collage, and oil painting alongside their sound practice. They improvise experimental noise soundscapes using viola, voice, a drum pad, and various distortion pedals. LN often plays the viola more rhythmically than melodically, incorporating dry scraping sounds with droney overtones, while leaning into uncomfortable and harsh moments. Storefront Window Gallery Projects are made possible in part through support from the City of Providence Arts Culture Tourism Department   **RAD SHOW ALERT** SAVE THE DATE: SEP 2ND (SAT) Erica Dawn Lyle (music) imogen xtian smith (poetry)  Adjua Gargi Nzinga Greaves (poetry) Anka Raczynska (music) more info to come !!!!!! *******UPDATES******* SES HOUGHTON I’m ses and I moved in in June! This year has been so hectic for me, so it feels nice to settle down. I gave myself a break for a lot of June and now I’m back at it!  I did a front and back design for a shirt for a band and made some flyers, including the one for the Dirt Palace Yard Sale we had at the Wedding Cake house. I felt really proud of the collage I made for the yard sale flyer, but I had to tone it down and cover it in text. I’ve also been working on some flash sheets for tattooing that are turning out really cute!   I’m really excited for the year to come!   NAFFISATOU KOULIBALY o—summer! since the last time we talked, the season has really taken off. i blinked and July was over. i am 24 now. i did not cry on my birthday and i'm grateful to still be kicking and screaming. (i was the first poet to be featured on the new Word Shelter at Wedding Cake House.) it is june, and i am thinking about how the world is going to end. swallowed in a ball of fire. ash raining from the sky.   KAI VAN VLACK My band is on a bit of a break for the summer but we have two exciting New York shows next week. LN FOSTER This is my last post as I bid farewell to the Dirt Palace and Providence. Find me in Philadelphia if you want to say hi! Have been so appreciative of this space and the time spent here, as well as all the amazing people I have lived with and met <3 Here are some pics of my window installation pieces in progress from this past month. And one last image from my favorite escape, Beavertail. YSANEL TORRES Currently painting a mural at The Met High School's Peace St parking lot facade. Come check out the progress at 382 Dexter St, Providence, RI (back lot).   XANDER MARRO Thursday Aug 17th from 6-7pm at the RISD Museum X will be reading excerpts from the book/construction memoir that she has been working on in secret. It's part of the museum's program called "Work in Process". The event is free, and museum admission is free on Thursdays after 5pm, but registration is requested. Here's a link! She will probably read a chapter about wallpaper and Charlotte Perkins Gillman, and maybe one about looking at the corpse of Buddy Cianci laid out in city hall, maybe one about Insulation or installing mechanical venting in bathrooms. Or if it's a shitty day maybe even one about sewage lines clogged with butt wipes.    PIPPI ZORNOZA HARPY will be releasing POISONED WELL, a new cassette October 6th however we just released a track today as a teaser! POISONED WELL the cassette will also feature remixes Robert Inhuman and more! Check out our bandcamp to pre-order

BULLETIN BOARD!!!!! ************************* ***UPDATES FROM OUR BOARD!!!*** Becci Davis will be presenting Bloodstone and Home - her recent explorations as part of the RISD Museum's Series Work in Progress - this Sunday August 6th 3-4pm August 19th is JR Uretsky's Birthday - Give them a hug!   ************ SOME UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES:   Wedding Cake House Residency Applications Live. Deadline August 21st! Check out our Website for more info ********************** INTERLACE PROJECT GRANT  APPLICATIONS LIVE! DUE SEPTEMBER 12th   FOR MORE INFO & TO APPLY - Go HERE https://www.interlacefund.org/project-grants ************************* TAG (African and Indigenous Heritage Teaching Artist Grant) Applications Live! Due September 19th!! FOR MORE INFO & TO APPLY - Go HERE https://www.interlacefund.org/taggrant ************************* The RISD's museums 2024 Research Residency for Artists applications are live. This residency is for artists and designers over 18 years old living in the Providence metro area (college/graduate students and RISD employees are not eligible). Please circulate this opportunity to your friends and neighbors. The deadline to apply is Tuesday, September 5 at 11:59pm. This upcoming cycle will focus on the theme of archival absences, inspired by the upcoming Nancy Elizabeth Prophet exhibit. Here is a brief blurb on the opportunity— Starting in January 2024 through December, the research resident will have the opportunity to deepen their artistic practice and their relationship to artistic research. This call for applications is inspired by Nancy Elizabeth Prophet: I Will Not Bend an Inch, an upcoming exhibition that celebrates the work and legacy of this underrecognized 20th-century sculptor. As much of Prophet’s work has been lost or destroyed, the exhibition is also an invitation to consider how we understand history from material evidence and how systemic racism has created absences in history, archives, and museum collections. The 2024 Research Residency poses the question, what can be made by exploring or experimenting in these absences? This opportunity combines expansive research methods, artistic practice, and an openness to experimentation within the context of an arts institution. One selected artist will receive a stipend of $10,000, professional development support, and the opportunity to work closely with museum collections and staff. Please note: housing and/or studio space is not provided.