FCK YEAH FOWLER

Buy Local wall text, all images courtesy of the author

I originally wrote this piece for Hyperallergic but it didn't work out time-wise. I loved this show so much I wanted to share it.

While the vast majority of the New York art world gathered for Armory Arts Week, I decided to do something quite the opposite: explore the art world in my own backyard. North Brooklyn had a formidable showing during Armory week, as Williamsburg hosted “Brooklyn Night” (affiliated with the Armory events), Bushwick hosted its renowned “Beat Nite” and Greenpoint bloggers The Greenpointers held a Greenpoint gallery tour.

Detail of a Susan Fang piece

Well-aware that my very own Greenpoint neighborhood is home to tons of artists’ studios and notable galleries, I was curious to see who would appear on the tour. As I began following the map, I realized about half of the locations were bars and cafes, making it kind of difficult to see a lot of the work (dim lighting and all). Deciding to power through, I ended up at the Franklin Street home of the Fowler Arts Collective.

BIG LOVE FOR LITTLE LUNGS

In tandem with Little Lungs' reunion shows this weekend, If You Make It did a digital re-release of their first EP, Hoist Me Up. I wrote a "liner note" to introduce it.

In 2007, I was in a band called Cheeky with 3 friends. Angela Boylan was our drummer. She was (and is) my favorite drummer to play with, but Angie had sort of secretly been writing songs on guitar on her own for years. She had a stockpile of songs she was waiting to play with a band.
Not long after I learned of Angie's secret songs, Little Lungs started practicing. Aside from being our sister/brother band, Little Lungs were some of my closest friends. So I was really excited for it.

Read the full piece and download the album (if you haven't yet) at If You Make It.

"A MOST ADMIRABLE SLUT"

Photo by Linda Rosier, 1992

After Rush Limbaugh's maddening comments about Sandra Fluke, I was pleased to write a piece for the NY Daily News at their Pageviews blog on the history of the word "slut."

More than 500 years before Rush Limbaugh called Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a “slut,” Geoffrey Chaucer used a form of the word to describe an “untidy man” in "The Canterbury Tales." “Why is thy lord so sluttish, I thee pray, And is of power better clothes to bey,” he wrote in the 14th century poem.

But in the ensuing centuries, the would come to take on different meanings – and much more provocative ones, as Limbaugh’s crude use of the word reminds.

According to what linguist Lisa Sutherland told the BBC, the noun “slut” was first used in 1402 by Thomas Hoccleve, in much the same way Chaucer used the related adjective. In his “The Letter of Cupid,” Hoccleve refers to “the foulest slutte in al a town.”

Read the full article here. I didn't mention Kathleen Hanna (pictured above) or riot grrrls, though you know I had them in mind all the while.