by Allen Richardson and Jim Richardson   February 11, 2005 The Free Republic of Duluth provisional government has come to focus on the Situationists as part of its ongoing study of Autonomy and art, and in particular, cultural experiments fueled by art�s ability to alter consciousness. Eight men and women assembled in 1957 to form the Situationist International. The salient point about the…

by Valerie Valentine   February 2, 2005 Marie Sheppard Williams breaks through the icy �Minnesota Nice� to a warm place of fearless humanity. Her first book from Coffee House Press, The Worldwide Church of the Handicapped is a hilarious and irreverent take on the social work field. Williams was a social worker for many years. In another intimate portrait, her most recent book �The Weekend Girl,� published…

by Chris Godsey   February 1, 2005 At the Bell, �Birds in Art,� a globally prestigious wildlife art exhibition organized annually since 1976 by the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, runs through Feb. 6 and features, according to the Woodson Web site, �the very best contemporary artistic interpretations of birds and related subject matter.� In Northeast, the Bird x Bird Winter Exhibit and Sale�a 15-artist…

by Jaime Kleiman   January 28, 2005 Even the Fringe Festival staff looked nervous. Maybe it�s because the Minneapolis Theatre Garage was full of anxious theatre artists, a potentially rabid bunch, all of whom were gathered there for the first ever Fringe Lottery, a new � and fair � way for the Minnesota Fringe Festival staff to choose approximately 150 shows from about 300 applicants. Previously chosen on…

by Rachel lee Joyce; Sheila Smith   January 24, 2005 As the barista at my morning coffee shop, my neighbor�s dog, and my co-workers with adjoining cubes would enthusiastically testify, I detest mornings. And I am wont to share my cranky disposition with all man or beast that cross my path before a thermos of light roast and 11 am. Add to that my attitude problems with authority figures and my feelings…

by Lightsey Darst   January 17, 2005 So you�ve written a sensitive poem, replete with reverberant images, layered emotions, and luxe sounds, and now you want other people to see it. I hate writing it as much as I hated reading it for the first time, but to submit that poem and get it published you have to leave the mental room in which you wrote the poem. You will get rejection letters, some of them…

by Glenn Gordon   January 7, 2005 Photography shows people who might never see your work in person what that work looks like. A photograph can never have the tangibility of the work itself, but it has tremendous power to communicate�or miscommunicate—what the thing is like. If you’ve done a piece you’re proud of and want to try to publish it, submit it for jurying, or just want a print of it in your…

by David Galenson   January 7, 2005 ONE DAY IN NEW YORK CITY in 1964, Andy Warhol took an aspiring actress named Holly Solomon to 42nd Street. Once there, Warhol tested a number of photo booths until he found one with high contrast. He then left Solomon in the booth with $25 in quarters. Two hours later, hot and bored, Solomon emerged from the booth with a shoebox full of pictures. She later gave the box…

by Kathleen Kvern   January 5, 2005 The New Year has given mnartists.org a new look and increased site enhancements. We want to introduce you to what�s happening on the site and how you will benefit from the changes. First, however, the staff at mnartists.org would like to thank Robin Dowden, Director of New Media at the Walker Art Center, and her amazing team, Eric Williams, Nate Schroeder, and Brent…