Category: News

Photographing African heritage throughout Mexico, and using it as an integral component to understand what it means to be Mexican, the artist presents a different history, one, he assured me, is for the most part forgotten in favor of a heritage which places the narrative of an indigenous

heritage at the forefront. That narrative also becomes problematic, because for all the celebrating of an indigenous heritage, it is relegated to only celebrating that heritage in terms of history, the past. For these reasons Triedo has dedicated himself to documenting marginalized communities living in Mexico, be they indigenous, African, Russian, French, or Mennonite.

Alongside Treido’s exhibit, which has traveled the globe, is the work of renowned photographer William Nord, and artists: Charles Bibbs, Alva McNeal, Maurice Howard, Johnny Bryan, Adeola Aiyeloja, Diane Young, and Carmelita Acid-Hooks.

“Ebano” has arrived with perfect timing to celebrate Black Heritage Month and will be showing at the National Orange Show Art Gallery Fridays and Saturdays through March 1, 2014, except Friday, February 14 and Saturday, February 15. The exhibit opened on Saturday, February 1st with poetry by local poets Aaron Reeder, Elisa Grajeda-Urmston, Maurisa Thompson, Alex Avila, and Roshon Dodson. The event and exhibit were made possible through a joint collaboration between the Mexican Consulate, Carolina Zaragoza Flores, and Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown, who represents the 47th District.

Meeting with Mardis at his Redlands home—which doubles as a constant creative hub for artists—gave the impression of the definite “working artist lifestyle.” Checkered floors, black walls and a variation of visual and sensory effects caused by the inhabitance of creative minds under one roof. I left with a new understanding of Nerdpop, but also the art from Shane Curran and David Arshawsky and tangible references to further understand the games and projects Nerdpop has undertaken. Read on as Mardis describes exactly what the Nerdpop empire is and where it’s headed.

Kimberly Johnson: Some may recognize NerdPop from hosting art and music events in the surrounding cities, some might know the name for having strong roots in the comic and illustrative field; others, however, are yet to be familiar with the brand as a whole. Can you describe what NerdPop is and how it began?

Rob Mardis: Nerdpop is my publishing and content brand. With Nerdpop, I write comics, design games and host events. I also find artists that I enjoy and collaborate with by either publishing and promoting their work or creating new works with them. I realized years ago that in order to make my fiction and games I had to build the support system for me to get them done. That is how Nerdpop began.

Aside from that, Nerdpop is an extension of the fiction that this area created. The Inland Empire, as well as San Bernardino County specifically, has had such a profound effect on me. It is a venue for me to share my ideas and experiences with the larger world.

To do this, I host events to cultivate a scene and artists. I’ve had a couple decent print runs and done a lot of zines with Nerdpop. We also do music and media reviews on the site. Nerdpop is set up to be able to produce a full project from start to finish.

KJ: In what ways would you say NerdPop benefits and utilizes artists of San Bernardino County?

RB: San Bernardino County is a unique place for creatives. The Inland Empire is one of the only places in the world where you are geographically located 1 hour between every kind of natural attraction and surrounded by multiple metropolitan areas. Most creative work is a summer job away in LA, SF, SD or LV. However, living in this area allows for myself and my associates to live fairly cheap and find work in LA or via telecommuting.

For example, Redlands artist David Arshawsky was working with Color Ink Book and I managed to pick him up for some projects over the years in between his commercial work. His work includes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures, Pokemon toys and even the Homies miniatures. Somehow he ended up in Redlands and he’s had a tremendous influence on my ability to produce games for the Nerdpop brand.

KJ: Every month, NerdPop presents a music and art show held at The Vault in Redlands. Can you tell me what types of festivities commence at these events and what guests can expect?

RM: Our once a month events at the Vault are the largest consistent art show/concert in the Inland Empire. It’s a night designed to pack The Vault and connect the fans. It’s not a quiet affair, but a chance to get to know artists and their work. The big change that I will be doing with Nerdpop events this year is expanding to a once a week art competition Thursdays at the Vault and also adding a new once a month Nerdpop Game Day.

KJ: Speaking of the new Game Day, I hear you have a board game on display at The San Bernardino County Museum—that’s pretty wild. Can you give me a little insight on the background of the game as well as how the opportunity for its display at the museum came about?

RM: Trailblazers is on display downstairs at the museum in the center of their stage-coaching exhibit. I designed the game to highlight the history of the Inland Empire along the Bradshaw trail. Players compete by moving resources back and forth while avoiding the obstacles of robberies.

It came about as part of a Wells Fargo grant. I had been working with the museum on their ArtMuse shows and I offered my services as a game designer and product creator. My personal goal is to help non-profit institutions create commercially viable products. Trailblazers was the perfect opportunity. It led to me also doing a game for Calico Ghost Town and their cultural center in the Lane House.

KJ: What types of projects and events can we expect from NerdPop as 2014 unfolds?

RM: We are working on a game called “Son’s of the Empire” which is our entry into the End of Time—another creative project Nerdpop has formed. The story focuses on the apocalypse archetype, but set in the Inland Empire. There’s no real heroes, just perpetual black. The game speaks to what people have to do to survive.

This is what I’m doing to make sure the Inland Empire and some of the things that have been done here are remembered as well as dramatized. A work set in the Inland Empire that makes people understand why this area is important; the importance of our politics, plus the strange people that keep it going. Riverside artists Pavel Acevedo will be my first contributor to this series.

Nerdpop will be working on less dramatic projects as well, and they’re all utilizing Inland Empire artists. Artist Phillip Rollins from Redlands, is illustrating a Tarot set and I am writing a prose story to go along with it. San Bernardino artist, Shane Curran, and I will be finishing comic issues #2 and #3 of the Nerdpop series “Designers.” Every character in that series is based off of a historical figure or someone we’ve fictionalized. On top of that, David Arshawsky is sculpting all kinds of miniatures and toys for Nerdpop comics and projects.

We’re sponsoring Brettwjayne on twitch.tv as well as starting our own online streaming channel. It would consist of my artists doing Bob Ross-like painting walk-throughs, play-testing of the Nerdpop games, some talk shows and then a bunch of aggregation. I’ve been thinking about live streaming my events and some of the work that goes on there as well.

The Nerdpop Board Game “Founders” will start release in April also. My proposal for Nerdpop Game Day will hopefully be approved to take place at the San Bernardino County Museum by the end of April. Lastly, Thursdays at the Vault of Redlands, I will be hosting a weekly art competition with cash and print prizes.

For more information check out Nerdpop.net

The Review will hold their second annual film festival on Feb. 1 from 6-9pm. The event will be held in the theatre of the college’s Rancho Cucamonga campus. Michelle Dowd, Advisor for The Review notes, “The films all cover an array of comedy, drama, documentary to musicals. What’s great about this festival is that budding film directors do interesting things experimentally that you don’t really see in mainstream films. I don’t think many people really get the opportunity to see these things. You can watch stuff on Vimeo, but not many get to see it on the big screen sitting with other people and get the whole experience. I think it’s unique.”

The event is in commemoration of the release of the journal’s 11th volume which will be premiered during the festival and available for purchase. The festival will, of course, include the main attractions of the evening—independent films from students as well as filmmakers abroad—but will also feature music performances from Los Angeles act, Pixikill and Chaffey natives, FutureLove. Of the several enticing amenities surrounding this festival, let us not forget that this evening of films, tunes and food is 100% free and open to the public.

The Chaffey College Review has worked tirelessly to offer a journal of creative exploration that resonates with college peers and the public alike. They have as well set out to execute the same with their upcoming festival. “It is completely student run—completely. I am faculty advisor, but those students chose every single film that was in there, said Dowd. “I think what happens with a festival that is completely student run is you get a perspective of young people. I think that it’s really great to get a perspective from students who are just at the beginning of their careers and thinking about what speaks to them.”

Join The Review in celebrating honest literature, captivating visual art and innovative filmography at the second annual Revenge of the Chaffey Review Film Festival on Feb 1.

Stollenwerk’s careful curation provides a cosmopolitan and impactful assemblage in the relatively small space. Amy Sarkisian’s “fraternal prankster” sculptures, which include one with shoe mirrors, are natural foils to the darker works of Candace Lin in the media of video and vagina dentata-esque silicone. Yoshie Sakai’s campy autobiographical soap opera video project, in which she appears to play most of the characters, is housed in a domesticated room of its own within the museum, while LA-based The Miracle Whips’ queer femme art-burlesque performances are bawdily screened on a red velvet draped television, framed with gynocentric fill-in-the-blank cards. Fay Ku’s Aeon Flux-sinewy subjects, naked but for the impossibly extensive coils of shibari braids encircling and restricting them, present a commentary on the very public relationship between women and their hair. Also working in a graphite and paper medium, Evona Lynae’s elegant grotesqueries, in her own words, “fabricate figures in the midst of their transformations.”

Unruly is an artistic affront, in the best way possible, to the notion that “woman” has a narrow, restrictive definition. The works are challenging, bold and even frightening, as works of contemporary art should be.

Amazingly, Unruly is free and open to the public and in our own backyard (no trek to Los Angeles required!), running through March 15 during the museum’s open hours (M-Th 10:00am 4:00pm, Sat noon – 4:00pm, closed Friday, Sunday and holidays). This Smithsonian-quality show is not to be missed. It is not for those with delicate sensibilities, but those with a taste for new and exciting art will not be disappointed.

Soltes met Harrison in the mid 70’s when she was a dance student at the American Society for the Eastern Arts program in Berkley. Harrison and his partner Bill Colvig were there making Gamelan Instruments. Gamelan refers to a collection of instruments made in Indonesia, such as metallophones, xylophones, kendang (drums), gongs, and bamboo flutes, to name a few. In the Indonesian tradition these instruments are made for a particular village and musicians travel to that village to perform with those instruments. A very different process than that of European performances.

Soltes has had a long and distinguished career as a dancer, music producer, and filmmaker and has recognized and appreciated visionary musicians from all parts of the world throughout her career. Her friendship with Harrison had a profound influence and was the primary inspiration for the Harrison House Music & Arts residency program.

Soltes was with Harrison as he explored Arizona and Utah looking for a place to build in the desert. Finally a young composer friend, George Zelenz, introduced him to Joshua Tree. He bought an acre of land and began building a straw bale house. As a skilled instrument builder, also interested in the relationship of architecture to acoustics, Harrison designed the house with that in mind. The ‘great room’, with its exotic eastern influence and cathedral-like scale was built with specific musical proportions. As Harrison designed and built the house with help from friends, Soltes filmed the process. On the afternoon it was completed, she waited for him to arrive with her camera poised to capture his reaction. While waiting she discovered the floor was wonderful for Indian dance and told Harrison. He responded, “This place is for you, too dear.” The house was completed almost a year before Lou Harrison died.

The residency program was initiated after Harrison’s death, when composer Terry Riley asked if he could hold a concert in his honor. Luana Lynch, a Joshua Tree resident told Soltes she could bring an audience. “It was classical North Indian music and I thought people would leave at the intermission, but nobody left,” Soltes said. “I knew this was a special place, a special community, and a special house that he built. It’s proving to be that. Artists come here and very often do their best work.”

Through a series of synchronistic events Soltes bought the Harrison house, moved into a house nearby and started the residency program. There is currently no application process, although Soltes is considering starting one. “I invite artists whom I have known over the years, some who were closely associated with Lou and others whom I meet in my travels,” said Soltes. Residencies can last anywhere from a few days to a few months and Soltes believes in making each residency a deeply productive experience. Every artist is fully supported with transportation, food, and amenities, allowing them to focus solely on their work.

When Ted Quinn (Founding member of Radio Free Joshua Tree and the Listening Lounge) wanted to perform at the Harrison House, Soltes asked him, “Have you ever done a concert of your own original songs?” This challenged him and gave him the impetus and occasion to gather and publish “Things Worth Keeping: Ted Quinn” a songbook of his own work.

“It was an honor to play in this place where I’ve seen many great artists, ranging from Fred Frith of Henry Cow to a 30 piece Gamelan orchestra,” said Ted Quinn. “Eva’s passion, as a dancer, presenter and film producer makes her a true renaissance woman and a precious gift from Lou Harrison to our artistic community.”

The SHS Foundation has been funding the residency program for the last four years. In addition, Soltes is grateful for the generosity of private donors. For instance, the composer John Luther Adams was there for two weeks under the sponsorship of Sue Bienkowski, and the John S. Knudsen Trust will be sponsoring the upcoming residency of Danny Paul Grody and Kenric Taylor, two young musician/composers from the Bay Area.

In 2013, Music & Arts hosted a night of Balinese music and dance performed by the Cal Arts Gamalan Burat Wangi. Directors Nanik and Nyoman Wenten are long time friends of both Harrison and Soltes and were part of the program where Soltes studied dance. “For ten years we had talked of staging a Gamelan performance under the full moon,” said Soltes. “Last May we made it happen.” An outdoor stage was constructed specially for the performance, and has added an entirely new component to the venue for future outdoor events. “It was a very special evening that we dedicated to Lou, his mentor Pak Cokro (father of one of the gamelan directors) and Sam Scripps who sponsored the American Society for Eastern Arts Program where we all met in the early 1970’s.” That event precipitated the buying of a new house for Soltes, allowing for more parking by offering walking access from the street behind the Harrison House. It also provides Soltes with a new home and studio to pursue her own work.

“Lou Harrison: A World of Music” the feature documentary by Eva Soltes had its world premiere in 2012 and has been screened at festivals and venues around North America over the past two years. The completion of this phase of her work now allows Soltes time to edit three other films, as well as dance and music projects of her own. “Artistic performances have always been a part of my life,” Soltes said. “I realized a big dream a few years back when I invited an ensemble of musicians trained in the same classical Indian tradition that I practice, to accompany me in an Indian dance performance. For the moment, however, I’m happy to be programming the work of others.”

Soltes will be one of the performers in the upcoming “Desert Stories” series on February 1st at the Black-Box Theater in Joshua Tree.

“[Harrison House Music & Arts] is a labor of love,” Soltes said, “I am fortunate that my profession and passion are one. I often feel that artists and the value of art to our spiritual wellbeing and growth are under-appreciated and underestimated. I believe it’s important for everyone to do what they can to make the world a better place. I found something that I can do alongside developing my own creative projects that inspires and supports new art and living artists.”

For information on programs go to: www.harrisondocumentary.com