Megawords at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Beginning in January 2012, Megawords will call the Philadelphia Museum of Art home for three months. As part of Zoe Strauss: Ten Years we will create a publishing studio and bookshop in the museum, program music performances, host a panel discussion about what belongs in a city, conduct workshops and classes, screen films and hold office hours in the museum. We will also publish a new issue of Megawords and an original edition of artists books.
Our installation is located in the South Auditorium Gallery and admission is free.
We are excited about meeting everyone who visits the show, and about working with Zoe and the museum staff on this amazing collaboration. We hope you’ll join us!
Find out more here:
philamuseum.org/exhibitions
megawordsmagazine.com
zoestraussbillboardproject.com
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We’ll be very busy during the show! All of our our activities center around four actions:
Making Connections
We like having conversations with people. We like spending time with with them, observing and documenting their creative and learning processes. Activating spaces like the publication studio give us the amazing opportunity to directly interact with our audience. The Megawords space will be comfortable for all, and evoke a sense of freedom of spirit and function, free from inhibition.
Visitors to the space will become intimately involved in the project. They can write on the walls, converse with us, draw in sketch books, take photographs, make publications and browse our collection of books and magazines. We will learn from each other. Ideas will move between people from different cultural, social and economic backgrounds, and geographic locations. Perceived boundaries will be chipped away.
Producing New Work
Our installation will include an active publishing studio that includes the tools needed to make short-run publications. We will conduct workshops to teach others how to make their own books and zines. We will also print and bind a special edition of eight artists books, as well as other zines and posters.
We want our projects to inspire and empower others. We believe that with hard work and dedication, and a bit of creativity for good measure, anyone can start their own project, make their own magazine or short film, curate their own show, or create their own music. You owe it to others to get something going! Don’t live under the tyranny of asking permission or waiting for someone to tell you it’s ok to start.
Asking Questions
So much of our work centers around exploring the borders of public/private space and what happens when these walls break down or are purposefully broken down by individuals. During our time at the art museum, we’ll be asking a lot of questions: how can the museum become more of a civic space or a town hall, a real place for exchange and dialogue?
We believe that all art has value and relevance. How can a museum communicate this to a wider audience? How can its programming reflect the vibrancy and changes that take place outside it’s walls?
We also want to examine the structure and relationships within the museum. We want to ask questions about the way things are done and boundaries that are in place, including the mundane and bureaucratic. There is a lot to be learned on both sides. How can we adapt to different ways of doing things, different methods, different settings? How can we learn to negotiate and work together?
Inspiring Others
In our book shop you will find shelves stocked with new and used books and magazines. These books will be for sale, but commerce is not the point (we’ll be selling the books at just above cost).
Our aim is to define a cultural space and to position the books as objects of discussion, exploration, explanation and departure. The books we’ve chosen cover a wide range of topics: music, film, urban affairs, photography, fiction, philosophy, cycling, etc.. They are a living, breathing reading list that encourages the contemplation of different world-views and are an important source of inspiration for us. We hope that by sharing these books, we can demonstrate the direct link between being excited by the work of others and producing one’s own work.
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Schedule of Megawords Events
January 14
Zoe Strauss Exhibition Opening Dance Party
Saturday, January 14, 2012
8:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m.
Great Stair Hall & East Balcony
Paid tickets required
Event tickets: $8 ($8 Members)
Sponsor tickets: $50 ($50 Members)
Please come to the opening party for the exhibition Zoe Strauss: Ten Years. Featuring DJ David Dye of WXPN and a celebrity guest DJ, this late-night dance party will bring together art lovers, Zoe Strauss fans, and proud Philadelphians. Join us in the Great Stair Hall at 8:00 p.m., and don’t forget your dancing shoes! Tickets include Philly-inspired snacks, complimentary soft drinks, cash bar, and free parking in the Museum’s Parking Garage or valet bike parking.
Advance tickets can be purchased online or by calling (215) 235-SHOW and are required by January 12, 2012.
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January 21 through April
Megawords Office Hours
Megawords Installation Space, South Auditorium Gallery
We will be in our space every Friday between noon and 6pm. Stop by and say hello!
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January 21st
Zine Workshop
11 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Megawords Installation Space, South Auditorium Gallery
FREE! – Space is limited; tickets required
An introduction to material production using your own ideas and resources. Zine-making demonstrates a direct path from concept to realization of a physical object. Regardless of your medium of choice, this process empowers your creative voice by encouraging you to execute your ideas and put them out into the world. Start making things happen now!
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Feb 5
Film Screening
2:30 p.m.
Van Pelt Auditorium
FREE – Tickets required!
We’ll be working with Temple University Urban Archives to screen a selection of short films that explore the city, architecture and art. More info and details soon. This is a must-see event!
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March 2
Art After 5 – Music is a big part of our lives and practice. To celebrate this, we’ve put together musical performances with
the West Philly Orchestra and Drummer Chris Powell.
5:00 p.m. – 8:45 p.m.
Great Stair Hall
Paid tickets required
FREE with admission
5:45 – 6:45
West Philadelphia Orchestra
Made up of a diverse and accomplished lineup of Philly musicians, West Philadelphia Orchestra is an unusual ensemble in today’s musical world. They began playing Romanian songs, Serbian brass band tunes, Macedonian folk-dance songs, Bulgarian wedding music, and various klezmer tunes in late 2006, and have continued expanding and refining their sound and repertoire. As much a community as a band, WPO’s liveshow always feels like a celebratory event, even in a concert setting. With their pounding drums and shimmering brass sounds, they inspire audiences to hold hands, dance, and sing along.
7:15- 8:15
ADVENTUREDRUM
ADVENTUREDRUM is a new dance band led by Philadelphia percussionist Christopher Sean Powell (Need New Body/Man Man). This community-based project brings together local musicians, performers, and artists to explore rhythms constructed from sampled sound, exotic percussion, synthesizers, traditional drums, and drum kits. Merging new sounds and ideas with traditional drumming, this is a dance band for the future. These are the drums of tomorrow…today!
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April 1
Belonging: A Conversation about Cities in Flux
2:30 p.m.
Perelman Media Room (located in the Perelman building,
across from main building)
FREE – Tickets required!
We’re very interested in the future of cities. We’ve asked Diana Lind to help us put together a panel discussion about Cities in Flux:
Cities’ populations, boundaries and identities are constantly changing. While the market often pulls cities in opposite directions of gentrification and vacancy, policymakers and community leaders try to mediate these trends. These actions beg the question: Who and what belongs in a city? In cities around the country, everyone from artists to philanthropists are leaving their imprints on local school systems, urban agriculture, historic preservation, media, art and many other aspects of urban life in order to make the city their own. This panel discussion will gather a distinguished group of experts, artists and practitioners for a provocative dialogue on the topic of spatial, political, and cultural belonging in American cities.
Invited panelists include: David Simon, Creator, Treme; Toni Griffin, Director, J. Max Bond Center, CCNY; Rebecca Solnit, Author, Infinite City; Camilo José Vergara, Artist, Invincible Cities; and Anthony Smyrski, Artist, Megawords. (Panelists subject to change.) Moderated by Diana Lind, Executive Director, Next American City.
FOR INFORMATION ON OTHER EVENTS DURING THE SHOW, PLEASE VISIT PHILAMUSEUM.ORG/ZOESTRAUSS10YEARS
