Chad Hanna

photo / Image Editor Untitled Combine 

Texas native and internationally renowned artist Robert Rauschenberg has died. He was born in Port Arthur, Texas in 1925. He saw his first piece of art in France while serving in WWII, and it occurred to him that there was a person behind the painting, a person had actually gone through the process of painting it. In what until then had been a life without art, the revelation was startling.

He was one of the first artists to combine painting with found objects into painting-sculptures which he called, easily enough, combines. His artistic philosophy favored a collaboration between materials rather than the execution of preconceived ideas. He found that he was often disappointed when trying to execute an idea, whereas if he let his curiosity play out he was often surprised.

He died yesterday at the age of 82 from a heart attack following an illness.

If you’d like to check out more images of Mr. Rauschenberg’s work and related images, click here.

Matt Louis started working on Out of the Gutter, a journal of pulp fiction and degenerate literature, in late 2006. He has since put out four issues that have been well-received in the crime fiction community. “I came around to the idea because I think fewer and fewer people read short fiction these days,” said Matt. “So I’m trying to put it in a format that entices people to actually read it and pay attention to it. That’s pretty much the thought behind the whole project: making a journal that people can’t resist at least thumbing through. Because if you can get them to that point, something will pull them in.”

photo / Chad Hanna Out of the Gutter #4 

That Other Paper So when did you get into pulp literature? And when did it occur to you to start your own journal?

Matt Louis Well, it’s not so much that I was into pulp literature. I mean, I enjoy crime fiction and a good read — whatever it happens to be — but the way this all ties into pulp magazines is that a pulp magazine’s objective is to be so sensational that anybody will pick it up and read it. Pulp magazines were designed to get read and bought. Mainly bought, probably [laughs]. So that’s the tie-in more so than the genre or literary tradition of pulp. We want to give people something so visceral — something that just totally goes to the throat — so that they just can’t resist it.

photo / outofpaper Bikes on the road; cars in the water 

Skillshare Austin is a hands-on educational organization that promotes self-reliance and creative, sustainable lifestyles. They are currently compiling a database of skillsharers that will be publicly accessible. They are also planning “interactive workshops which will provide a temporary space for the free exchange of skills and knowledge.” Tonight they’re throwing an event to raise money to fund their first weekend workshop.

Tonight, April 25, at 8pm Austin Skillshare will hold a pedal-in film fest at MonkeyWrench Books’ backyard, screening independent films about bikes. Admission is free, though donations will be accepted if you’re interested in popcorn and/or beer. Vendors will also be selling patches, shirts, and other accoutrements. All proceeds will go to Skillshare Austin.

photo / Chad Hanna  

This Thursday, April 24, the Street Smarts Task Force — an organization that analyzes and addresses the causes of cyclist fatalities as well as improves Austin’s overall layout to make it a safer city for bikes — will bring their recommendations before the Austin City Council in Council Chambers at City Hall between 10am and 12pm (most likely during the 10am hour).

The recommendations (item number 63) have been placed under “consent items” on the agenda and will most likely be passed due in part to the many citizens who filled out postcards in support of the SSTF’s ideas.

Though individuals are not needed to speak in support of SSTF’s recommendations, cyclists are encouraged to show up in cyclist clothing to show support. Cyclists will likewise want to support item number 64.

courtesy /The Finca Project / all rights reserved Maria seedlings (calophyllum brasiliense) — a hardwood tree found throughout the Americas 

Austinite Eliot Logan-Hines, along with three of his friends, co-founded the Finca Project, a nonprofit that operates out of Costa Rica. The organization helps recuperate the rainforest by educating youth and instituting reforestation practices. “What we focus on most,” Explains Eliot, “is striking a balance between human needs and the needs of the ecosystem that supports us.” The Finca Project’s founding and evolution has itself been an organic process.

That Other Paper Tell me about the history of your idea.

Eliot Logan-Hines Well, the way it happened was I was traveling around Costa Rica with my friend Brenden. He had worked with the coffee cooperative there. When he came back to America he was given a free airline ticket because of some complicated stuff that had happened to him on his way home. So when he was ready to go back to Costa Rica he asked me to go with him. I had just finished college and had nothing to do, so I went with him. And while we were traveling around Costa Rica the opportunity to buy a farm super-cheap just fell into our lap.

photo / enil  

Part I

Shawn comes home from studying — it’s around 9:30pm. Tired and sweaty from his bike ride, Shawn is ready for a shower and some stir-fry.

When he first walks past his bathroom sink he sees what he thinks is a frog — small, shiny, pulsating. When he looks closer, however, he sees that it’s not an amphibian, but a flying rodent: a bat. You don’t expect a bat in your sink.

Really, you don’t think of a bat as a thing that’s ever close to you. Bats flit around in the twilight, surfing between shadow and silhouette. But when you see one in your bathroom sink under those bright lights — its thin-skinned wings partially splayed, the erect radar ears, its scooped-out, beady eyes — all you can think about is how quickly it breathes. That’s what Shawn notices first: the breathing.

Shawn paces around — leaves the room and comes back in, looks at the bat. Eventually he calls his father, an engineer quick with a Texas style solution to the problem.

Work gloves and a pillowcase.

Shawn isn’t too keen on the pillowcase idea — he doesn’t want to have to grab the bat and then put it in the pillowcase — which he’d have to do owing to the shape of the sink: He’s not sure if the bat is going to panic and attempt to fly, scratch, bite. So he opts, instead, for work gloves and a beach towel.

photo / Chad Hanna  

Tonight, April 4, at 7pm The Inside Books Project will kick off their spring work party at The Rhizome Collective located at 300 Allen Street 78702.

The Inside Books Project is a volunteer and donation based organization that supplies Texas inmates with free books. It’s a fact that prisoners who educate themselves while incarcerated have a lower rate of recidivism (returning to prison), and Inside Books aims to supply prisoners with knowledge that will help make their reentry into society smoother, and help them to participate in the society to which they return. The IBP’s workload is almost inconceivable when you consider that Texas ranks as one of the leading incarcerators in the nation with inadequate or non-existent libraries at the prisons that house our inmates. The IBP receives about 900 requests a month.

The work party is a chance for you to come and see what Inside Books is all about, help with backlogged letters, match requests, and just have a good time — they will have live music and drinks tonight and will work into the wee hours of the night. Saturday and Sunday work will get started around 11 am and brunch will be served. The party comes to a close at midnight on Sunday.

courtesy Christopher Felver The cover of Felver’s latest book 

Big Medium, aka Bolm Studios, is bringing some of Christopher Felver’s photography to Austin. It’s a perfect complement to the current Beat exhibit at the Harry Ransom Center. Chris Felver photographed the Beats for over 30 years as well as collected other, “images, text, ephemera, artifacts, and reminiscence,” all of which will be displayed at the exhibit. They will also be showing Felver’s short films The Coney Island of Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Cecil Taylor; All the Notes, History of the Airport, and West Coast: Beat & Beyond.

You will see photographs of and texts by Kerouac, Ginsberg, Neal Cassidy, David Amram, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gary Snyder, Michael McClure, Joanne Kyger, Gregory Corso, William S. Burroughs, Amiri Baraka, and Diane di Prima.

On Thursday from 6pm–10pm, Spider House will showcase Felver’s short films, and he’ll be signing copies of his latest book BEAT. The opening reception of his exhibition will be held on Saturday, April 5, from 7pm–10pm at Bolm Studios/Big Medium where Felver will also be in attendance.

photo / Chad Hanna  

Jamison Stewart, 33, has been living well: He has an Airstream RV on a plot at Shady Grove RV Park on Barton Springs Road — rent on the plot is only $500 a month, all inclusive. In front of his RV he’s constructed a grassy mound for playing Bocce; next to that the fire pit glows, surrounded by lawn chairs presently populated by pretty girls and a couple of fresh-looking guys enjoying the fire on this chilly March night. Barton Springs is a five-minute walk at a leisurely pace. Those of us who aren’t drinking by the fire toss bocce balls in the quaking firelight and ambient, polychromatic twinkle from the lights wound around the awning of his Airstream. “You’ve got a little slice of heaven here, Jamison,” someone says. “Don’t I know it,” he replies. The comment resonates with a certain melancholy — someone cracks a beer.

More accurately, Jamison had a little slice of heaven. As of March 22 — the night of the last party at Shady Grove RV Park — Jamison will only be able to enjoy his setup for another eight days. All the residents of the park have to be out of the park by March 31, and Jamison is just about the last one left.

Then the developer will come in and the condo starts to go up. You’ve probably seen the sign if you’ve driven down Barton Springs lately:

Barton Place
Live Where Austin Plays

The developer, Constructive Ventures, pitches the building as highly energy efficient: “Barton Place is aggressively pursuing Austin Energy’s three star green building rating, which requires that recycled/renewable materials, Energy Star Appliances, and other sustainable products and practices are incorporated throughout the design. This commitment to ‘green living’ will continue after move-in, with recycling programs and environmentally friendly community initiatives.” But assuming the building will be highly energy efficient, there are nevertheless concerns from the City of Austin, residents of Barton Springs Road, and Austinites in general.

L.A.’s Dengue Fever is a psychedelic band that features a Cambodian frontwoman who sings in her native tongue. They will play tonight, Friday, March 28, around 8pm at Club De Ville.

I think the trailer speaks for itself. The Unforeseen, a documentary about Barton Springs and urban development, will start its theatrical run in Austin tomorrow, Friday, March 28, at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar. You can purchase tickets at Alamo’s website.

photo / linecon0  

Austin has a new events space 20 minutes east of downtown: The Hundred Acre Forest Wood. The space has open fields as well as forests and can be booked for just about any kind of event you can imagine. They are currently planning to devote several acres to organic farmland and hope to be self-sustainable by 2010. They also have a fully stocked pond if you feel like fishing.

As of right now their first event will be held on May 3, 2008 — The Mixed Media Shower. There will be arts, crafts, and large installations with food and drinks provided by local vendors; live music and outdoor movies will complement the arts, crafts, and food.

They encourage people to bring tents and gear for camping to the event as there will be a meteor shower watching party to round out the night. In the morning they’ll serve breakfast and mimosas.

For more information you can call 512-542-0015 or email rebecca at hundredacreforestevents hundredacrewoodevents dot com.

photo / pokpok  

Austin is full of independent businesses, independent thinkers, students, young professionals, and people who simply enjoy hanging out. The independent coffeehouse is a nexus for all these forces.

Aside from the quality coffee, espresso, and people-watching — one of the coolest aspects of the Austin coffeehouse scene is the complimentary Wi-Fi. So thanks, coffeehouses, for supporting the dissemination of information between coffee drinkers everywhere.

These coffeehouses have been arranged geographically — South, Central, and North. For specific locations, hours of operation, menu selections (most of these coffeehouses serve some sort of food), and additional information simply click on the name of the coffeehouse. For an overview, check out the Google Map at the bottom of the guide.

For those of you who may not know, The Kids in the Hall is a sketch comedy group from Canada comprised of members Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson. Formed in 1985, the group has had much success, most notably with their TV show of the same name (produced by SNL’s Lorne Michaels) that ran from 1989 to 1995.

The humor is clever and absurd — sometimes totally surreal — with lots of gender bending and parody.

Their last tour of North America was in 2000. This year they’re back on the road and headed to Austin. They’ll be performing April 9 and 10 at the Paramount Theatre; doors open at 7pm with the show at 8pm. Tickets cost between $30 and $50.

“You do it and someone says no to you and you keep doing it and someone says no to you and you keep doing it and then someone says yes. It’s a no-no-yes kind of thing.”

“As we were promoting our comic, the more we got around the more we realized there were people doing the same thing we were,” explains Chris Nicholas, organizer of STAPLE! Independent Media Expo. “And it became apparent that there was a need for a show in Austin. I saw enough talent regionally to sustain a show.”

Clinton, rather than stumping, devoted nearly her entire Austin town hall meeting to answering questions in fairly rapid succession.

Sen. Obama focused heavily on economics and education, touching on subjects such as restoring tax fairness, homeownership and the subprime mortgage crisis, strengthening workers’ rights, and combating poverty. He also fielded questions from Austinites.