Submissions for the SNAP! shirt contest

SNAP! magazine is having an ongoing t-shirt contest. I threw together a few 'Don't Diss Yoko' shirts in the hopes that one would win. Vote here:

http://snapme.ca/content/t-shirt-design-competition/2009/07/23/kirsten-mccrea

Everyone is always hating on Yoko Ono. She's almost universally despised in North America, which I think is pretty culturally revealing. People claim to hate her because she is "weird" and "broke up the Beatles", but beyond that they know almost nothing about her! Yoko Ono was a well-known and respected performance artist before she hooked up with the man whose fame completely overshadowed hers, and she was hugely important in the popularization of performance art and the legitimization of non-traditional art forms. She ran her own avant-garde gallery out of her apartment in New York, and was an early member of the legendary group Fluxus.

I think that the hatred for her stems from some sort of gross cultural inability to shake off the idea of a the siren who drains a mans virility (hence her reputation as the Beatles breaker-upper), and discomfort with the image of a powerful and sexy Asian woman at the height of the Vietnam war.

So I say DON'T DISS YOKO. She's awesome. It's totally fair to hate her if you know her work and have an informed opinion, but no naive hating!

Vote here:

http://snapme.ca/content/t-shirt-design-competition/2009/07/23/kirsten-mccrea

PAPIRMASSE art subscription MONTREAL LAUNCH!!!!

It's the official Montreal launch of Papirmasse next week! Come to the SNAP! salon for cheap art, cheap drinks, and good music. July 23, 8-11. More information on the art-subscription Papirmasse at www.papirmasse.com

And if you aren't in Montreal, remember that Papirmasse is

it is only

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO MUCH TO ANNOUNCE!!!

Holy moly, we've been BUSY.

We're going to take the numerical approach here, to make sure we don't miss anything!

1) Papirmasse, the mail-art subscription we publish, is

it is only

YES!  That's only $60 for ***12*** signed and editioned art prints!   And they come in the mail every month!!!  What are you waiting for?  These are limited edition.  There are only 1,000 subscriptions available.  If you miss out, how else are you going to fill your house with art and have tons of amazingly unique presents at the ready for birthdays that sneak up on you?

You can go straight to our Etsy store to sign up, or, if you're new to the whole concept of Papirmasse, you might want to visit the website.  Which brings us to:

2)

YES!  We redesigned the website.  It is now WAY nicer.  The main page looks the same, but we highly recommend you scroll through the issues published so far, and also: click on the 'papirmasse in the news' button at the bottom, where you will see stuff such as:

3) The beautiful magazines that have been hyping us up.

Parlour Magazine out of Edmonton listed Papirmasse as one of their favourite things in their breakthrough Lady Gaga issue:

and SNAP! magazine, out of Montreal (and one of the best things about Montreal too!  Make sure to pick up a FREE copy if you are ever in this beautiful city) wrote a short piece about us in their latest issue, below.

It is extremely well written and articulates many things about the mail-art project better than we ever have, so props to them.  An excerpt from the article appears on our 'in the news' section, and the entire issue can be browsed on their website.

4) The June issue of Papirmasse is out!  Look what you get for $5!  Articles about corporate graffiti and the art market on the back.  17" x 20".

Here's the May issue. 12" x 18".

And April - a reversible book!!! Each page measures 5.75" x 8.75"

See all this and more at www.papirmasse.com

Okay, 5) is a digression, but our studio mate Evil Alice put up a great tour of our shared studio space, 100-Sided Die, on her blog.  Thanks Alice!  Now you can see where I work!  Remember how badly I wanted a real studio?

Also, 6) I might have some buttons for sale at the Warped Tour, courtesy of Thoughtcrime Ink.  I submitted 20 designs to them, so we'll see which ones they choose to print (if any, no pressure Jeff!)

And 7) No more t-shirts for a while.  I am sick of the tormented waiting and weird highschool popularity contest feeling.

That's it for the next few days at least!  I do have some art shows coming up though, so I'll be back with more news before too long.

Older but a Gooder

I did this Deerfish a couple years ago, and came across it again recently.  You know what?  I really like it!  It's for sale this month at Usine 106U in Montreal.  If it doesn't sell there, look for it at my etsy shop soon.

New Design UP, Out and About

Vote at Threadless.  There's a Flash file and everything.  It looks way cooler than this.  Click on the link below or here.