REDACTED RUBBINGS:

“Nothing cuts off self-determination more efficiently than eradicating its language. Replacing it with misdirecting prattle… is a magnificent coup for those who would like to keep us wary of one another.”  - Miya Tokumitsu

I’ve started on a new project that I’ve been turning over in my head for several years. I’m making wax rubbings of historical markers, like how some folks make grave rubbings. But I’m not interested in the entire marker: I’m focused on finding very specific wording that drives an overall narrative, and excluding all the other text on the plaque. Rather than setting out to make every historical marker look bad, I’m suggesting that the language these plaques impart is important, and in some cases quite manipulative.

Example: there are several official markers in Pittsburgh that “honor” various labor strikes, and yet most of them end with the phrase “the strike was broken.” Does this make collective action sound like a reasonable way to win demands, now or at any time in the past? If any significant peoples’ uprising is doomed to get the National Guard or Army called on them, with maybe even a Gatling gun rolled out, why bother in the first place? Language in museums and on educational signage guides a narrative, which guides our understanding of how we got to the place we’re in now. Importantly, it also guides how we relate our understood histories to what we want to make out of the world we now live in. This is my starting point.

Currently my process involves a huge roll of Tyvek paper, some black and blue crayons I melted into little cupcake molds like I’m your kindergarten teacher, a small ladder, and a high-vis vest. A friend helped me realize that I should embrace the performative aspect of going out and doing these rubbings, so I’ve been honing the right costume (Bored Municpal Worker Man). A big part of this turns out to be the subterfuge involved in actually going out and doing the rubbings, which has already involved trespass, harmless lying, and a bit of the usual daylight boldness needed to push boundaries as to what is actually “public”, and what appears as public but is actually wholly private.

In this beginning, I’m working with regional markers put up by the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. As this project evolves, I want to take it on the road and do this work around the country.

It all parallels the work I did with the Howling Mob Society, which amazingly was ten years ago. And that reminds me, check this out: one of our historical markers from that project was recently moved (by an unknown entity) to a new pole after the one it had previously been installed on fell over… moving our sign into a new realm of legitimacy!

These “redacted rubbings” are one of the first gallery-destined projects I’ve worked on in a long time, and I’m interested to find places to show these pieces on some walls. Are you involved in an art space and want to chat about showing these rubbings as this project evolves? Get in touch!

8 BELLS SCRIMSHANDRY:

One effort at slowing down the pace of life has been my continuing focus on scrimshaw engraving, and my blossoming semi-alter-ego as 8 Bells Scrimshandry. What better way to slow down than by practicing an arcane craft that takes hours? I’m entering the third year since I decided to take scrimshaw seriously as a personal practice, and I feel like I’ve hit a good stride with the style and line work even if I’m constantly seeking to improve my technique. Lately I’ve been moving away from jewelry a bit and working on these small wooden boxes, thinking about little beautiful functional objects for living spaces.

Bookmark me for your holiday shopping, and use the coupon code “SCRIMLOVE” for 10% off anything in the shop! Please don’t ask about commissions though… I just don’t have enough time to keep up with them on top of all of the ideas I’m trying to find space to do!

WEST VIRGINIA MINE WARS MUSEUM:

This summer the folks on the board at the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum are having me design merchandise for us to sell that I would personally wear, because if you know me you know I live on the razor’s edge of contemporary fashion. I helped set up an online shop for the museum, and Kim handles the orders down in Matewan. Know that if you buy a t-shirt from us, it actually helps us out! They’re printed locally and they look good. What museum has cool merch? Not most. Get it. Watch out for embroidered Realtree camouflage caps this autumn, and a reproduction vintage paisley bandana from the 1920s I’ll be working on over the winter...

Inside the museum, I’ll be putting together a new temporary exhibition this winter with board member/historian Chuck Keeney. We’ve got hold of a whole bunch of Major General Harry Hill Bandholtz’s personal and military gear, and Chuck and I are making a show of it. First time we've mixed up the interior in a little while, so that's exciting!

AND if you think you can make it down to Matewan in a couple weeks, we’re hosting our annual fundraiser as a big supper party! Unfortunately I can’t be there this year, but it’s going to be a blast!

Do you know of any new people’s history-related project spaces I should know about, especially that are looking to hire an exhibit designer/consultant? Tell me about it!

APPALACHIAN MOVEMENT PRESS:

The big thing this past winter/spring was the publication of a fairly long research article I wrote last autumn, the previously undocumented history of Huntington, West Virginia’s Appalachian Movement Press (1969-1979) in Signal: a Journal of International Political Graphics and Culture. You can now get a copy of the journal here, and you should: it’s always really well put together and even if you find my article to be tedious and dry, you might like the spread on anti-fascist stickers.

The fun part post-publishing: I did a few public presentations of this project, which I really enjoyed. One such event was at the venerable Interference Archive in NYC, and a podcast episode developed out of that event + a follow-up interview, which you can listen to here.

I’m down to travel to talk about any of my work, so if you’ve got the resources to bring me to your classroom or workshop, get in touch!

JUSTSEEDS:

I got my hands on an old tabletop platen printing press, a Craftsmen Machinery Imperial 5x8.  It needs a lot of work -- to be dismantled and rebuilt -- and I’m excited to dive into that this autumn. It prints small images only, but that’s OK: I’ve actually really been enjoying carving small blocks these last couple of years, and I’m excited about continuing that  thread. With this new press I can increase the number of prints I run for any edition, which increases the number of people I can gift them to or sell them to (for cheaper if I’m printing more). I like that. I also just dropped $200 on new ink rollers, so I think that means I’m really doing this...

Check out my page at Justseeds to see all the prints I currently have available!

Over the winter, Justseeds worked with some of the organizers of the new Poor People’s Campaign to create a popular education portfolio for PPC activists and organizers to use during regional and local teach-ins. It’s what I would call “service design”: the PPC determined which quotes and slogans they wanted participating artists to work on, and we either selected or were assigned something from their list. From that point we had the freedom to design. Here’s the print I created.  Justseeds member Mary Tremonts and I just opened a show with this portfolio at Pullproof Studio, a new screenprint workshop in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh City Paper dropped off a short little article about  the show (I'm pretty tired of being quoted out of context but it's almost inevitable).

Right now we’re working on a new portfolio with Escuela de Cultura Popular Mártires del 68, the vast collective we met with in Mexico City at this time last year! Check out my design for the project.
AND I’ll have a couple older pieces in an upcoming Justseeds coloring book...