[spectre] VARIEDADES: ANARCHY! Saturday, July 9th, 2011 . 5-9PM at Echo (LA) with the Electronic Disturbance Theater 2.0 and b.a.n.g.lab

[micha cárdenas]

Electronic Disturbance Theater 2.0 and b.a.n.g.lab (Ricardo Dominguez,
Brett Stalbaum, Micha Cárdenas, Elle Mehrmand, Chris Head)

VARIEDADES: ANARCHY!

Saturday, July 9th, 2011 • 5-9PM

Echo, 1822 West Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA

Tickets $7.00: http://www.ticketweb.com/fb/3756175

VARIEDADES is co-hosted by writer and performer Rubén Martínez and
playwright and cultural activist Raquel Gutiérrez, and directed by
Colin Campbell. Each edition is focused on a different theme and
brings together artists across generations and disciplines. The third
installment of VARIEDADES, a regular performance salon at the Echo in
Echo Park, will focus focus on…ANARCHY! The bill features the
legendary Exene Cervenka of X and The Knitters fame, and founders of
East L.A. punk Los Illegals… and on the other end of the generational
spectrum, Chicano Son, a collective of young Eastside musicians fusing
traditional music and radical politics. The evening also includes
Richard Montoya of Culture Clash, interdisciplinary artist Marcus
Kuiland-Nazario and the radical poet-techie of Electronic Disturbance
Theater 2.0 and b.a.n.g.lab, creators of the Transborder Immigrant
Tool, which helps migrants find their way to water in the desert. In
addition, Iranian-American multimedia artist Amitis Motevalli will
present and discuss an original short film.

There will also be special surprise guests—activists and artists all
addressing the inspirational, wildly misunderstood, extraordinarily
diverse world of anarchy, especially as it relates to Southern
California.

Background on the “anarchy” theme:

100 years ago, Mexican journalist and revolutionary Ricard
Flores-Magón lived in Los Angeles at a time of tremendous political
ferment—on both sides of the border. The term “anarchy” had widely
divergent meanings depending upon who uttered and who heard it and it
was often linked in the popular imagination with violent
radicalism—the “terrorism” of the day.

But then there were the anarchists themselves, a motley cohort united
only by their belief that a world free of capitalism and government in
general was not just a theoretical possibility but realizable here and
now. Flores-Magón spent years in Los Angeles trying to do just that,
even establishing a commune in Edendale (about a mile and a half north
of the Echo where we’ll be performing!) with equitable gender roles
and an attempt at sustainable living. For attempting to enact his
principles, he was jailed and convicted several times and ultimately
died in federal prison.

Los Angeles is no stranger to dreamers and idealists. Across the 20th
century and into the 21st the region has been a proving ground for
radical and alternative communities of all kinds. And of course
radical L.A. is alive and well today—from the Midnight Ridazz
deconstructing the auto-distopia of the city with their guerrilla
cycle riding to community farmers pitting sustainable agriculture
against agribusiness.

VARIEDADES is inspired by the Mexican vaudeville shows in 1920s Los
Angeles in which Martínez’s grandparents were regular performers.

The series is made possible by a generous grant from the Material
World Foundation (http://www.georgeharrison.com/mwf/main.html) and Liz
Garo and The Echo

213.413.8200
http://www.attheecho.com
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=111934395562479




-- 
micha cárdenas
PhD Student, Interdivisional Media Arts and Practice, iMAP, University
of Southern California
Provost Fellow, University of Southern California
Co-Author, Trans Desire / Affective Cyborgs, Atropos Press, http://is.gd/daO00

blog: http://transreal.org