"Sugar & Snails" video premiering at Olympia's Capitol Theater tomorrow during Arts Walk - Sat, April 24 - Noon-1pm

My 9 year old niece, Phoenix, and I made a new video especially for
the free screening of films and videos by local artists happening at the Capitol Theater tomorrow afternoon, Noon-1pm (Saturday, April 24th):

Sugar & Snails
by Phoenix Irish & Bridget Irish
2010 / DV / Color / Sound / 3:38 minutes

"World-renown snailologist, Dr. Phoenix, takes us on a sugar-laced journey through the Westside - the seedy underbelly of Snailopolis,
cotton candy, a playground - all aboard the Spin-a-tron!"


The screening is just the start of a day-long Arts Walk event at the theater
- stick around after the films for the "Olympia Free Choir," a fun-centric
community choir, and Olympia’s own "Forever Young" a group of seniors
who show us that they too can rock!

A selection of visual art by Avanti High School students will also be featured
in the OFS Lobby Gallery and fantastic illustrative artwork by Reuben Storey
is currently on exhibit in the theater's mezzanine gallery.

Public art project: "Match Game" bench still on view in downtown Olympia at 222 Capitol Way N

In 2009, I was one of 5 artists selected to decorate a bench for the downtown Olympia bench project sponsored by the PBIA (Parking & Business Improvement Area board).

The photo-based design features shots I've taken around
Olympia over the past 8 years and includes such Oly favorites as
the Artesian Well on 4th, the Farmer's Market, and Capitol Lake.


It's titled the "Match Game" because the photo montage is comprised of 28 pairs of images mixed-up on the bench so viewers can play a game by finding the matching pairs. Some are easy to find, while others present a bit of a challenge, making it a fun game for all ages.

If you haven't had a chance to check it out before, it is installed in front of the scrumptious Bread Peddler, at 222 Capitol Way N - between State and Olympia Aves, and across from the Olympia Community Center.

Solo screening (program of short work) hosted by FEMINIST FORM @ Gallery 1412, Seattle, April 24th

hello, FEMINIST FORM continues next Saturday, April 24, at Gallery
1412! Please come, it would be great to see you there. And tell your
friends, family, colleagues, neighbors, lovers, teachers, partners...

Take note of our NEW LOCATION - at Gallery 1412 (Seattle)
1412 18th Avenue on Capital Hill

FEMINIST FORM
presents video and film work by:
Bridget Irish

Saturday, April 24
Doors open at 7:30pm
Screening begins at 8pm

Gallery 1412
1412 18th Ave.
Seattle, WA 98122
$5 - $10 Sliding Scale

Feminist Form is happy to present film and video work
by Olympia-based artist Bridget Irish. A Northwest native,
Irish has been making short films and videos for 20 years.

For Feminist Form, Irish will be showing some rarely screened early work
on Super 8 and 16mm film, followed by more recent work on video.
Her work is primarily non-narrative and often abstract in nature,
presenting subjects through such approaches as single frame animation,
portraiture, performance, and documentary. Her artistic practice also includes
performance, photography, installation, visual art, music, and writing.

still from "Shot in Bernie's Garage" (16mm, 1991-1998)

Bridget Irish has screened, performed, and lectured nationally and
internationally, including On the Boards, 911 Media Arts, Artist's
Television Access, Tollbooth Gallery, Robert Beck Memorial Cinema,
Sarah Lawrence, UCLA, The Art Institute of Chicago, Guyana’s SASOD,
Chéries-Chéris: le Festival de Films Gays Lesbiens Trans & +++ de
Paris, Tacoma Art Museum, and the Northwest Film & Video Festival.

Bridget has curated film and video programs for Ladyfest 2000 (Olympia),
Progression Project One Conference (Boise State University), Homoagogo,
CoCA Seattle, and the Olympia Film Festival's CINE-X Series.

She performed with Dr. Frockrocket's Vivifying (Re-Animatronic) Menagerie
and Medicine Show in 2001, and the Sex Workers Art Show National Tour
in 2006 and 2007. She has taught in the areas of new media studies
and video and film production at UC Berkeley, The Olympia Film Society,
and The Evergreen State College.

One of Bridget’s newest photo-mation videos will be screening at SIFF
(Seattle Int’l Film Festival) this May, and a narrative short she
co-wrote and co-stars in will be showing at Inside Out Toronto.

More information on Bridget Irish’s work can be found at
www.bridgetirish.com, http://bridgetirish.blogspot.com,
and www.filmanddestroy.org

Feminist Form is a screening series of feminist and queer media from
the Pacific Northwest. Feminist Form continues from its new location
at Gallery 1412.

Please forward this announcement widely!

Looking forward to seeing you there.

"Cruising the Urban Inferno" screening at SIFF (Seattle Int'l Film Festival) this May!

May 26th, Weds @ SIFF Cinema
http://www.siff.net/festival/prelaunch.aspx
- more details to follow!

CRUISING THE URBAN INFERNO FROM THE 4^th FLOOR
2009 / 3:57 minutes / featuring music by SEDAN






Cruising the Urban Inferno from the 4^th Floor is a city portrait and stop-motion/time-lapse animation piece composed from over 2,000 digital photographs, shot over 4 days, from a 4^th floor room at the Patricia Inn, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Each photo was taken by hand (rather than remote), with a point and shoot camera which involved physically maneuvering the camera during various shots to achieve particular visual effects such as swirling and superimposition. Editing with an intention to simulate movement was performed in-camera. Although a couple of sequence sections were shifted during the final video editing process, they are presented chronologically by day and none of the images are repeated.

“Cruising the urban inferno” is taken from Susan Sontag's essay, Melancholy Objects, and is in reference to Baudelaire’s concept of the flâneur, or one who voyeuristically strolls through city streets. The area in which I was staying is an intersection between Chinatown and Gastown, on the edge of the downtown core, and home to many non-profit organizations that provide assistance to the drug users, sex workers, impoverished, and homeless who congregate or reside there. The street and alleyway I have documented in particular feature some of these individuals, including needle exchange volunteers. With this in mind, and careful observation, the viewer can glimpse various interactions and activities that are characteristic of and commonplace in this particular section of Vancouver.

SEDAN is Danny Sasaki on drums and Scott Seckington on piano
www.myspace.com/sedansedan

HAIR ZINE - No. 1 is out now - and Issue 2 is on the way!

hair
Issue One - February 2010

features interviews with
Tobi Vail, Danny Sasaki and Joaquin de la Puente,
plus haikus by Jean Nagai

Copies are available for purchase at Last Word Books (http://www.lastwordbooks.org/)
and Orca Books (http://orcabooks.com/) in Olympia,
and on-line at Ms Valerie Park Distro:
http://msvaleriepark.blogspot.com/2010/02/hair-zine.html

- it's even available for check-out from the Timberland Regional Library!


Here's what Ms Valerie Park Distro has to say about hair:
"Olympia artists Bridget Irish and Hannah Horovitz bring you a zine all about hair. Interviews ensue. Tobi Vail (Bikini Kill, Spider and the Webs), Danny Sasaki (Sedan), and Joaquin de la Puente (Olympia Film Society) all have their say. Going grey, feminism, metal dudes, skateboarding, Dippity Doo, hair donation, skinheads, racism, Judas Priest and more are covered in this surprisingly fascinating zine. There are also five haikus from Jean Nagai, a braid rubbing, idioms, and an Odyssey quote."

Issue Two is scheduled for release late April/early May,
and will feature an interview with the infamous hair stylin' maverick,
Shaun Surething, of Seagull Salon in NYC (by Lisa Darms),
as well as hair stories from Hannah's mom and dad,
Sarina Eastman's mom, and my mom!

In the meantime, you can make an appointment with Shaun here:
http://www.shaunsurething.com/cutting.html