Bad-Ass Here: Quintron & Ms. Pussycat at Aurora's Media Archeology Festival (Orange Show)

Media Archeology Hits Below the Technology Belt

Aurora's biggest and bestest annual festival of unclassifiable a/v performance starts this Thursday, April 19 and runs through April 21 at Aurora, Domy, and Orange Show. MEDIA ARCHEOLOGY: BELOW-FI is curated by musician/a/v curator Nick Hallett, and brings to town BRUCE MCCLURE, RAY SWEETEN, NAUTICAL ALMANAC, DYNASTY HANDBAG, TRISTAN PERICH, QUINTRON & MISS PUSSYCAT, and MIGHTY ROBOT. If you are interested in live, multimedia performance that crosses platforms, genres, and astral planes, Media Archeology is the festival to attend. Plus, it's fun, like a big nervous party.

Pictured: Dynasty Handbag who performs Friday, April 20, 8:30pm at Domy Books;

A Buzz That's Never Been

Aurora is abuzz with international publicity and blog posts surrounding the exhibit "Never Been to Houston," which was co-curated by Aurora Picture Show and Jon Rubin. With information being posted in Croatia, Italy, and Scotland, Aurora really is BIG in Europe. Here are some of the highlights:

Italy
Iran
Scotland
Croatia
More Croatia Coverage
And More from Croatia

Anyone speak Italian? And, for those who want to hear more, join us for a gallery talk with Jon Rubin (on his first visit to Houston!) at 6:30 p.m. April 11 at Lawndale, 4912 Main.

Kia Neill Joins the Aurora Team

Welcome Kia Neill! In addition to being our fabulously friendly new membership contact, Neill is a fine artist, who completed her MFA from The University of California, San Diego in 2005, and her BFA from The Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio. She grew up in the northern suburbs of Chicago, and relocated to the Houston area last summer from Los Angeles, CA. Neill is very excited about Houston's immensely vibrant and arts-supportive community, and the many relevant and bracing contemporary artists, writers and collectors that reside here. We hope we have hooked her into staying a long time;-)

Never Been To Houston

This image (by Lindsay Perth, Edinburgh, Scotland) is one of 100+ photos that make up the exhibition Never Been to Houston, curated by Aurora Picture Show and Jon Rubin, at Lawndale Art Center through April 14. More than 20 worldwide participants (who have never been to Houston) were invited to contribute photos of what they think Houston might look like, using their own city as the subject. The contributors upload images every day to a photosharing site that is projected live on a large projection screen at Lawndale gallery. The exhibit evolves daily, as the contributors continue to add photos and respond to other contributions. Read all about it in the Houston Chronicle.

Contributors include:

Blue Rihn Productions: Jan Van Woensel & Vanessa Albury (New York, NY USA); Takayuki Yamamoto, Japan (Nagoya, Japan); John Marriot (Toronto, Canada); Lindsay Perth (Edinburgh, Scotland); Francesco Nonino (Bologna, Italy); Elena Perlino (Saluzzo, Italy); Sean McFarland (San Francisco, CA, USA); Amirali Ghasemi (Tehran, Iran); Peter Edmunds (Canberra, Australia); Ana Rodriguez (Quito, Ecuador); John Marriott (Toronto, Canada); Marko Pekica (Zagreb, Croatia); Elia Patricia Pekica Pagon (Zagreb, Croatia); James Charlton (Auckland, New Zealand); Jon Rubin (Pittsburgh, PA USA); Eiji Watanabe (Nagoya, Japan); Sean McFarland (San Francisco, CA, USA); Heidi Hove Pedersen (Copenhagen, Denmark); Kurt Keifer (Seattle, WA USA).

Anna Bids Auf Wiedersehen

After three months as the Aurora Intern Extraordinaire, Anna Ballheimer bid us Auf Wiedersehen in order to finish her degree in Cultural Design in Dinkelsbuhel, Germany. Ballheimer was the force behind the newly organized and appropriately "pretty" Aurora video library, and also served as Aurora's main functionability barometer with her famous catchphrase, "That is not working, girlfriend." Though we realize the importance of completing her undergraduate degree, we hope she'll come back to Aurora soon to remind us who's the boss and shower us with more German chocolate. God speed Anna to Germany and back.

Dance Power

The January screening of the DC cable access show Pancake Mountain turned into one big kiddie mosh pit at Aurora Picture Show. Learn the latest dance moves (through photographs) from these hipster toddlers and tweens on the Aurora Flickr site. Warning: Kids, don't try these moves without a parent or adult companion nearby. You could bust a groove or break something expensive.

Read Amy O'Byrne's report on her PM visit to Aurora Picture Show.

The success of Pancake Mountain has lead the Aurora powers-that-be to revive our Popcorn Kids screening series. You and your small humans will love coming to Popcorn Kids events, which highlights alternative kids shows geared toward pre-K through elementary school-age children and their parents. Check our website for updates on the series, or e-mail suggestions for kids screenings to Andrea Grover.

On a related note, those Dutch are planning to use dance floor energy to power their nightclubs!

Photos by Steve Patlan

Sundance Bound

Aurora foxes Grover and Harvey are heading to Sundance this week. Naturally, our main purpose is R & D (research and development for you non-NASA types), so we will be seeing the latest in short films and animated shorts, documentaries and naturally investigating just how one makes a margarita in a dry state like Utah. Tough job, but someone has to fall on the sword........Wish us luck an let us know if anyone else is heading there as well.

For you name-droppers, artists from past Aurora screenings at Sundance 2007 include Nick Broomfield, Paul Chan, Martha Colburn, Mike Plante, Nicolas Provost, Jay Rosenblatt, and Travis Wilkerson, plus our friends Chris Wilcha (The Target Shoots First), Mark Elijah Rosenberg (Rooftop Films) and Ruby Lerner (Creative Capital) will be there to share their brains.

Aurora Makes Headlines

While the Aurora staff would like to think that we have trendsetting status (at least among the four of us), we were thrilled to find out that the Greater Houston Convention and Visitor's Bureau has graced us with that recognition (don't laugh). This week, Aurora Picture Show, will be honored along with The Art Guys, Chloe Dao, Rick Lowe, Carolyn Farb, and Lauren Anderson, as part of Houston's "headliners and newsmakers" event in appreciation of local media. We'd like to thank the fans, without which none of this would be possible, and the academy, of course.

Pancake Mountain Is Here

This weekend, Scott Stuckey's alternative kids show, Pancake Mountain, comes to Aurora. Amy O'Byrne, one of the show's producers and characters is arriving with new footage from episodes 9 and 10 featuring acts like Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins, Built to Spill, The Flaming Lips, X and more.

The first 10 people to each showing will receive free Yummy-Scrummy Pancake Mountain pancake mix!! So, make sure to beat the competition and be the first through the door. Shows are on Saturday, January 13th at 10 am or Sunday, January 14th at 3pm.

Creative Capital Grant Applications Open Soon!

2007 is the year for Film/Video (and Visual Arts) grant applications to the world's greatest funder for artists: Creative Capital Foundation. What makes Creative Capital Captain? They don't just give you cash--they provide professional development support, and real life funds for things like childcare, a personal assistant, and other items which open up new paths to productivity. The online inquiry form will be available beginning February 5 - March 5, 2007. Go get it! You can check out past fundees on the Creative Capital Channel website.


Pictured: Still from Jem Cohen's Chain, a previously funded Creative Capital film/video project.

Aurora Announces New Headquarters

1524 Sul Ross: Aurora's Future Office/Library
Originally uploaded by Aurora Picture Show.

Great News. Aurora announces our new headquarters. Starting December 15th, Aurora Picture Show is moving on down to the Montrose, taking over a house at 1524 Sul Ross, in the heart of the Menil Campus. The new digs will have room to showcase Aurora's video library, and enable us to make it available by appointment for any and all film fans. Just imagine your own private A/V Geeks marathon! Screenings will still be at Aurora, 800 Aurora Street, complete with disco ball and everyone's favorite under-five hosts, Gigi and Lola. Come by and see us next time your at the Menil.

Bill Daniel on CINEMAD

Reading in FUNdamental.

Read an interview with Bill Daniel (at Aurora December 16-17, 2006 with WHO IS BOZO TEXINO), who tells all to CINEMAD:

http://www.iblamesociety.com/cinemad/interviews/billdaniel.html

This excellent interview is conducted by MIKE PLANTE, no relation to Robert.

Aurora eBay Super Seller Sale Sells OUT!

Aurora posted a few must have books, DVDs, and CDs here:

Aurora Holiday Shop

John Edward Ross and Laura Harrison on KUHF 88.7

Planning to come to Elements this weekend at Aurora? Listen to a preview and interview with the two artists on KUHF.

Phantom Captain a Hit

The reviews are in and Phantom Captain is a hit! Andrea Grover's Apexart exhibit showcasing the art world's use of "crowdsourcing" has received notices in Flavorpill, Gothamist, Saatchi Gallery, and now Time Out Magazine. Read the latest from Time Out here...

Mini Fundraiser Fumiko-style

Former Aurora board member and volunteer champion of the world, Fumiko Chino, has surprised us with an eBay on-line auction benefiting Aurora Picture Show. Featured items are anime and manga DVD titles (Orphen, Saint Selva, Sister Princess, Gravion Zwei, Wandaba Style, and more), and a mixed lot of Farscape DVDs! Bid here, bid now, viva Aurora!

Anna Travels 4719 Nautical Miles!

Aurora has a wunderbar new intern, Anna Ballheimer! Anna hails from the idyllic town of Dinkelsbuhel, Germany where she was raised in a family-run youth hostel-- a 500 year old grain storage facility. She has a degree in Cultural Design, which Anna describes as "something between making art and selling art." Besides working in the family business, she also worked in a castle, which gave us slight inferiority complex when she first came to Aurora. Anna is working diligently on the future Aurora public video library. Check back for the grand opening.

Anna illustration by Annika Mayer

Aurora Adds a Guy

Welcome Guy Harrison, Aurora's new Facility Manager! A long-time Volunteer Coordinator for the Aurora, Guy has finally been suckered, I mean hired, as a full fledged Aurora staff member. Besides his time at Aurora, Guy spends his daytime hours working away at School of the Woods Montessori. While he can sometimes be found repairing and building things around the school, his main job consists of waving and greeting all the kids on the playground in response to "Hi, Mr. Guy." At home he hangs out with three dogs (Iggy, Trixie and Buddy) and two cats (Squeaky and Lucy) and a motorcycle (which he hasn't named). He's all giggly with pleasure at being part of the Aurora crew!

Aurora Friend Takes on ANT

Local filmmaker and Aurora friend Laura Harrison has Texas on her side. Harrison just received a grant from the Texas Filmmaker's Production Fund (from Austin Film Society ) to help her complete her documentary ANT, about the 70s art/architecture collective Ant Farm, who were best known for the iconic land-art piece Cadillac Ranch. Harrison has previously received grants for the film from the Graham Foundation and Cultural Arts Council of Houston and is aiming for a finish date of Spring 2007. Also the force behind the films Secret People (2000), Thurmond, W. Va (1995) and more recently, Voting in America, Harrison is well on her way to an ant-tastic production, no doubt! Congrats Laura!