birds have been getting close to me (#9)

Holy smokes, I feel like I’m rolling down a mountain and there’s 50 hands grabbing at my thoughts pulling them in different directions. I’ll be fine. It’s fine. It’s a difficult time to be thinking/talking about “art,” though, when Chicago has been trying to stop ICE from disappearing people. My mind is stuck on community defense and organization these days, not so much drawing and printing.

HOWEVER, the Chicago Printers Guild Publishers Fair is next weekend, Saturday October 25th downtown Chicago at the Cultural Center. I will (along with many other folks) have a table selling my prints and zines. Please stop by! Going to make some new toner transfer prints, at least, if not a new relief print. While you’re downtown, you can check out the excellent show “All for Print. Print for All. Archiving 16 Years of the Chicago Printers Guild” on the 9th floor of the Harold Washington Library, up until the end of the year. I’ve got a print up there, too.

Birds have been getting a lot closer to me lately. I’m choosing to believe that this is a good omen and NOT that they are surveillance devices sent by the state. (Thank you, autocorrect, for figuring out ‘surveillance’ from the four letters I got right). I suspect that this bird behavior has to do with my tendency to eat crumbly baked goods outside, but I don’t know. I will be friends with them.

Speaking of surveillance, here’s a new video from Benn Jordan (his channel is excellent) about the Flock Safety cameras that are being installed everywhere to track us and give our info to law enforcement. Turns out that license plate readers make mistakes, which has resulted in innocent families being tracked down and held at gunpoint by the police. Way to go, guys! They’ve now created software that uses your leaked personal data (that Flock has compiled/bought and stored from various internet data leaks) along with data they’ve collected to AUTOMATE INVESTIGATIONS. It goes into how companies like Walmart, Home Depot, And Lowe’s collect every detail possible about us and give it to ICE or whatever nefarious group wants it. Wild. Benn has tons of interesting videos diving deep into all kinds of modern issues, as well as music.

Music! That reminds me: do you like music that makes you feel like lying down? The good folks at Stretchmetal captured my latest live set on video (which was A YEAR AGO, somehow). In a time where big capital entities are trying to destroy music and culture at every turn, Stretchmetal has been a beacon of hope. I’m proud of this improv set. I wander a bit, and pause, and dwell, and get a little lost. Recommended if you like ambient/drone/shoegaze. Put it on while you clean the house, or walk around, or meditate, or melt into the couch.