One of our all time favorite publications, The Journal of Aesthetics and Protest, has just released the online version of the long awaited issue #8. The theme: No other time than here No other place than now From JAP:

Jordan Martins, "Strange Attractions" @ Elastic Arts Foundation, 2830 N. Milwaukee, 2nd Fl Thursday, Dec 15, 8 - 10 pm Strange Attractions is a project based the Chicago-specific tradition of hand-painted, block-letter grocery signs which have come to be associated with Hispanic markets.   By exaggerating the expressive colors and gestural rhythms of the original signs,  Jordan aims to build patterns that simultaneously attract (fluorescent colors, bold shapes) and conceal (by undermining legibility). In this sense he sees them relating both to natural camouflage and bright plumage used by animals to attract mates, or broader notions of visual stimuli to affect or sculpt behaviour.

Juan Chavez directed his students to do this installation in the front window of the Co-Prosperity Sphere. Reception 6-9 this Friday.

Our friends Plural, in collaboration with The Center for Book Technology, will be exhibiting Living Book, 2011 at Carrie Secrist Gallery Project Room December 10, 2011 – January 15, 2012. In addition to our work in the Project Room, Derek Chan will be exhibiting his stunning work in the main gallery. at Carrie Secrist Gallery 835 W. Washington Blvd / Chicago, IL Opening Reception: December 10 / 5:00 – 8:00pm Living Book, 2011 is a multi-media installation environment created by Plural and The Center For Book Technology. Living Book transforms the gallery space into an automated book production facility. Using custom-software, viewers in the space are captured in-real-time (every 60 seconds) from an overhead camera and projected onto the wall. Each capture is then printed onto single pages of a book in production. In addition, a keyboard allows viewers to author their own page(s), creating a spontaneous performance environment where a database of individual choices becomes a collective narrative. The Living Book Production Facility will be open 5 hours a day, printing a single page every 60 seconds, resulting in a 300-page book at the end of each business day. Each week will become a collection of 5 books. Living Book 2011 will become a collection of 25 books. Hours of operation: 11:00am – 4:00pm Tuesday – Saturday / December 12, 2011 – January 15, 2012

Monday December 5th ushers in another session of the Co-Prosperity School Fall/Winter session. We are now accepting members. You should be one. Email coprosperityschool@gmail.com for contact. The Co-Prosperity School is an Artist-Run School for and about the advancement and understanding of contemporary Chicago Art. Through guest speakers and class member presentations we will shine a light on the contemporary art scene of Chicago. One of our goals is to break down the panel discussion dialogue of Chicago’s art and bring it to a more informal group discussion format in which shapers of Chicago’s Art World themselves tell of the contemporary scene.   Members can discuss their own work, or the work of others over beer at big table. The school is our collective effort in understanding what makes the art ecology of Chicago so mysterious, seductive and sometimes depressing. Past guests have included: Tricia Van Eck, Michelle Grabner, Curtis Mann, Daniel Tucker, Hamza Walker, Paul Klein, Duncan MacKenzie,  Cody Hudson, Carolne Picard, Jason Foumberg, Carrie Gundersdorf, Shannon Stratton, Juan Chavez, Tom Torluemke, Tom Burtonwood, Aron Packer, James Duignan, Nandipha Mntambo, and Barbara Koenen. You should join us. It's $150 for the 8 sessions. We start orientation on December 5th, 2011, at the Co-Prosperity Sphere in Bridgeport, the Community of the Future. This session we welcome in some rad people- Scott Speh, Owner of Western Exhibitions Rebecca Zorach- art historian, writer, critic, organizer Micheal Workman- Director of Bridge arts publishing, writer, critic Louise Lincoln- Director DePaul University Art Museum Stephanie Burke and Jeriah Hildwine- writers, socialites, artists Edie Fake- Artist Ok see u at class.

Map of the Heart is a series of participatory, public art projects combining true stories and the collective imagination of the individuals of a community to develop audience-interactive visual fictions. Please help our Friend Hoyun Son, raise some funds to present her Chicago leg of the project. Any amount will go a long way.