Curated by Donna de la Perriere & Joseph Lease

Featuring Francesca Pastine in the Front Gallery

Exhibition runs: May 28 – June 14, 2008
Opening Reception: Friday, May 30, 6-9 PM
Gallery Hours: Wednesdays - Saturdays, 1-6 PM

The work in Alterations manipulates and recontextualizes the actual pages of the New York Times and ArtForum magazine. Pastine’s Artforum Excavations series is an archaeological investigation. Through a process of cutting, slashing and digging, Pastine alters the form of the glossy, oddly proportioned magazine. In this aggressive act of "gutting", she creates a visceral topography of decades of art trends. Re-forming the magazine is also a sly way of manipulating the art scene rather than being manipulated by it. The Invisible Women Series came about from Pastine’s continuing investigation into the invisibility of women's’ work. She blocks out photographs and text through a process of burnishing the newspaper page with a 9B graphite pencil. The result resembles graphite-leaf with the untouched image embossed on the surface. The women are rendered invisible, and the work of covering them mimics the repetitive and often unseen efforts of household tasks. This process is also employed for the Iraqi Casualty series. Pastine edits the content and imagery of the news story by selectively blocking out large areas of the newspaper. The time-intensive task of burnishing the page with graphite serves as a penance for her impotence in the face of the insurmountable tragedy of the Iraqi war.

Content is reconfigured as a result of Pastine’s physical interventions with these print mediums. The sensory process of taking in information is made visceral. In this manner, she draws attention to the physicality of objects that are mentally consumed, and then discarded. Through these alterations, Pastine not only subtly shifts cultural output, she also prompts viewers to engage in an embodied experience of disembodied information.

Featuring Erika Anderson in the Ticket Booth

Monday, June 9 - Tuesday, June 10, 2008
7:00 pm, complimentary drinks and hors d’oeuvres provided
$5 suggested donation
RSVP in advance to kristen@thelab.org

Rough Cuts is a series of work-in-progress documentary screenings that are produced every other month at The LAB. Each evening one rough cut of a feature-length documentary will be screened, followed by a moderated conversation about the film led by guests who are either accomplished filmmakers or established film professionals. These post-screening discussions are designed to give the filmmaker a better, more objective sense of what is working and not working with his/her film, with particular attention paid to improving the film’s structure and narrative clarity. We hope that the series also provides a welcome space for local filmmakers, film professionals, and fans of documentary film to meet and talk.

SUBMITTING TO ROUGH CUTS:
The LAB is currently accepting submissions for the June series. There is a $10 submission fee, payable to The LAB. To be considered, you must fill out the Rough Cuts application (Click here to download). Submissions must arrive by 5:00 p.m., Wednesday May 21st. Selections will be announced on Wednesday, May 28th. For the complete information about the selection process, click here: Rough Cuts further information. Specific questions about Rough Cuts can be sent to Chris Holbrook at cholbrooke@yahoo.com.

OPEN CALL

Seeking fashion and jewelry designers, models/performers
Deadline to respond: May 22, 2008

Calling all fashion designers, models, and performers! We would like to invite you to participate in The LAB's third annual Striptease Auction and Fashion Trunk Show. The runway auction and trunk show will take place on Saturday, June 21 from 7-10pm, and the trunk show will take place Friday - Sunday, June 20-22 from 1-5pm.

Designers: During the live auction fashion show, items will be auctioned directly off models and given to the highest bidder. There is no fee to participate in this event, The LAB only asks for a donation of one look or outfit to the auction runway show (approximately 10-12 looks will be selected for the runway). Designers can provide their own model/performer or we will choose one for them. The LAB takes a 25% commission on trunk show sales. There will be a limit of 15 6’ x 6’ spaces for the trunk show; participation in the trunk show is not required. Designers participating in the trunk show must be present during the June 21 event to assist with sales; they do not need to be present June 20 or June 22. Works that cannot fit into the runway show will be included in the trunk show. There will be a $15 ticket price at the door for guests; participating designers will be given three free tickets to give out as they please. We hope you will participate in this exciting event; please respond to kristen@thelab.org with your name, full contact information, and a weblink or several jpgs of your work (images of proposed runway looks are especially helpful).

Models: The LAB is looking for both non-traditional and traditional volunteer models for the striptease auction runway show. Nudity is not required. Performers of all kinds are especially encouraged to participate. Please sign up to be on the list of models by emailing kristen@thelab.org; include your full contact information, height, size, recent photo, and performance or modeling background if any.