Itso Cash & Laxmi Luthra
Notes on the Desert
Sunday, June 30 @ 7:00PM

‘The desert is spread everywhere but can always reach new depths.’

Michael Strogoff invites you for a pair of talks by Laxmi Luthra and Isto Cash.

Luthra will bring three seemingly disparate videos into relation through a close analysis of what speaks through them and what we can hear about contemporary existence by listening: a DLP Cinema-Texas Instruments trailer, a french pantyhose advertisement shown in movie theaters in the early-1970s, and a promotional video highlighting advances in the military-industrial mimicry of four-legged animal mechanics for robotic warfare.

Cash will present a snapshot of recent uses of the theory of abstraction in artistic discourse, including discussion of gallery and museum installations by Allan Sekula and Reena Spaulings, and will explore why this theory, innovative in the mid-19th century, might be having an afterlife in the early 21st.

Abstraction, mediation, and a good time will be had by all.

Micheal Strogoff
124 E. El Paso St
Marfa, TX
http://www.michaelstrogoff.com

Tonight marks the return of Marfa Film Festival, with a free screening of Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, directed by David Lowery (who coincidentally cowrote Yen Tan’s Pit Stop, which starred our friend John Merriman). Showtime is 9pm at the Marfa Golf Course, preceded by an opening kickoff party at 7pm.

Check out the complete program and schedule for Marfa Film Festival on their website:

http://www.marfafilmfestival.com/

The 2013 program includes work by Mark Jarrett, Daniel Patrick Carbone, David Lynch, Kelly Sears, Brent Hoff, Wim Wenders and others. Welcome back MFF!

When all of the susurrus around this Playboy Marfa, Marfa Girl, Prada Marfa, 60 Minutes, Donald Judd thing dies down and the camera crews and installation teams go home, we’ll dial up this fresh video full of San Carlos horse races, Pinto Canyon cruising, Las Pilas cannonballs and DQ snacking from Shorthorn MVP Duemolly, Lebarton, Ben-Yehuda and all the next gen rap cats, skate bros and synth class alums in the Stomach Club crew and remember why everybody covets a piece of this Far West Texas/North Mexico vibe. Get more Duemolly at Stomach Club.

The summer rains have arrived early here on the Marfa Plateau, and there’s New Growth at the end of the double (!) rainbow. Thanks to Ballroom visitor Vineet for passing this photo along.

Hyperallergic is asking a number of questions about the new neon Playboy sign that was installed on highway 90 west of Marfa earlier this week. They’re not alone either, and curious readers looking for more local perspective would be well-served to lurk around the expectedly heated debate on the Marfa Public Radio Facebook page, or read in-depth local coverage from the Big Bend Sentinel.

While the Playboy installation is apparently curated by Neville Wakefield, Playboy’s Creative Director of Special Projects — who was also the curator of Ballroom’s 2011 AutoBody exhibition — it should be said that Ballroom has no direct connection to the installation. Or, as Hyperallergic puts it in their discussion of the inevitable threats of vandalism,

Prada Marfa, the now iconic piece of sculpture by artistic duo Elmgreen and Dragset (which has drawn a fair share of undue comparison to the Playboy project particularly by people outside the art world), was disfigured mere days after its opening and has sustained
numerous acts of vandalism over its eight odd years in existence. When prompted for comment, some speculated on the KRTS Marfa Public Radio Facebook page that the Playboy installation would be “vandalized to the extent of non-use within a month,” while another was more succinct about his thoughts: “target practice.”

This also means that the mildly NSFW spambot Twitter account @sexynudes is now showing up for the first time in our Google Alerts with their coverage of the Playboy project, a somewhat less than auspicious development when it comes to monitoring Marfa’s online presence.

Lucas, 49, had spent the previous six years as a Midwest League pitching coach for the Twins and had been in the Twins organization for 15 years, the same length as former hitting coordinator Bill Springman, whose contract was not renewed

He sat out Friday loss in San Antonio, the first game he missed because of a coach decision since days before broke out in New York three years ago.
He was killed along with four others at a house party early April 15, 2014.
Regardless there was a lot of celebration happening when the final horn went, officially making it the first back to back men’s hockey gold medals for Canada at the Olympics since 1948 (St.

Auburn prides itself on its “family” atmosphere, which means fans who have been around the longest often benefit most.
Well, for a brief but very memorable historic moment, we experienced the real Harper unplugged.

Nick Parker tied the game 1 1 just 1:10 later, but Pat MacIsaac would give the Wildcats a 2 1 lead after one period with a goal of his own with 19 seconds remaining in the opening frame.

An opening at Marfa’s Michael Strogoff …

daniel r small
expert witness
June 7 – June 29, 2013
Opening: June 7, 6-8PM

Expert Witness is a new project by Los Angeles based artist Daniel R Small.

The exhibition will feature Daniel’s photographs and sculptures as well as the release of a limited edition publication of the same name, published by Colpa (SF, CA).

Curated by .

To my husband’s’ dismay I also plan to skydive he’s afraid of heights

Reporters have thrown this pitch at coaches before.
I usually leave the Everest window open when running the Sandra burn in do I can watch the temps.

The 2010 2011 statement also contains updated epidemiological information from the 2009 pH1N1 pandemic.
Jordan Maher, 16, led the team in scoring in the playoffs with 10 goals and 21 points in 10 games, while 15 year old Adam Dawe was second in the NLMMHL playoff scoring race with nine goals and 16 points in 10 games.
It was hard to get into it the first year of Spartacus.
Hence there is no question of sighting of the new moon.
They concluded that the techniques used “could represent a technological stage between a hypothetical pounding oriented stone tool use by an earlier hominin and the flaking oriented knapping behavior of [later] toolmakers.

Team Ballroom. Not pictured: Jennifer Trammell, who arranged the outing, and Carlos Lujan, who generously pitched in.

Yesterday we cleaned the two miles around Prada Marfa as part of the Adopt-a-Highway program, and we were lucky to have a cloudy(-ish), cool(-ish) day for our inaugural trash duty. We collected 14 bags of trash (!) and came across a few treasures, including a complete calf skeleton (!!) and a high-powered camera lens (!!!). Our tips: Wear boots, avoid white jeans, bring gloves, find camera lenses. See you next quarter.

Hot on the heels of her intense performance as Nazyuta in “Devils at Play“, Susannah Lipsey announces the one-year anniversary of Freda, her Marfa-based “concept and lifestyle store.”

“Hope you all can join us this Saturday 5/25 for a FULL DAY of celebration as FREDA turns 1!” Lipsey writes on MarfaList.

Middle row, from left: Austin Traylor, Walnut Ridge; Keith Heitzman, Hilliard Davidson; Jourdan Wickliffe, StN’y aurait il que le taxi.
Battle pleaded guilty last February to fatally shooting Kelly T.
My hope is that it brings understanding and FRIENDLY conversation to the table.
, professeur à l’université de Hokkaido.
In her statement, Ms.
Their racist owner is coughing in the dustbin of history.

Une source militaire jordanienne confirme

Une source militaire jordanienne a confirm mercredi la chute d avion de l de l dans la r de Raqa, dans le nord de la Syrie, et la capture de son pilote par l Etat islamique (EI), selon l officielle Petra.

The Shea Butter Irrigation System as shot by Marfalogical Exploration

Marfalogical Exploration — a group “travelling Marfa to learn how to be successful as professional artists” — stopped by Ballroom back in March to take some snapshots of New Growth, and to chat with Rosa and Erin …

“Upon arrival in Marfa at 12:30 PM, we went straight to Ballroom Marfa to see Rashid Johnson’s show, entitled New Growth. Rosa McElheny, the Exhibitions & Programs Coordinator and Erin Kimmel, the Associate Curator at Ballroom were kind enough to to meet with us.

We were really inspired by our meeting with Rosa because she was recently in the same position that we are in now, since she completed her undergraduate degree in 2011. We chatted about reasons for attending graduate school and finding residencies- she recommended searching residencyunlimited.org.

Rosa also answered questions that I had about how they organized Ballroom’s Marfa Dialogues program. I was curious about how they recruited Michael Pollan (one of my heros) and Rebecca Solnit, among others in Marfa. Hamilton Fish, published of the Washington Spectator, co-presented Marfa Dialogues. The upcoming program this fall will be held in NYC.”

Glasstire just posted the second article in a two-part series on CineMarfa, the film festival founded by Marfa residents David Hollander and Jennifer Lane in 2011. In short, Glasstire’s Peter Lucas was feeling it. From CineMarfa 2013 (Part 1: The Festival)

“Because it is relatively small, free, laid back, and has an audience heavy in artists and cultural investigators, there was little distinction between the intermingling festival organizers, official guests, and audience members – all of whom were there simply to see films and to share their thoughts and ideas. (Of course, that should be the case at all film festivals, but believe me, it’s rare.) Discussions about the films, and art and life in general, spilled out between screenings onto the front steps, and in pockets at the Lost Horse Saloon and Padre’s Bar and Grill, at the festival’s rooftop cocktail hour at Hotel Paisano and the closing party at the Chicken Coop.”

Lucas also provides an enthusiastic assessment of the festival’s programming in CineMarfa 2013 (Part 2: The Films), including a look at the work of local filmmaker (recently seen in the role of Staff Sgt. Baldy in “Devils at Play”) Joe Cashiola …

“West Texas Cloud Appreciation Society, a Texas-paced, work-in-progress documentary essay by Marfa-based filmmaker Joseph Cashiola, provided glimpses of the area’s diversity of characters and happenings—from ranching and cowboy poetry to punk rock house parties, UFO conventions, and art parades. The wilder life is brought down to earth with shots of the landscape and sky, and by scenes with folks like Marfa bar owner Ty Mitchell and Valentine, Texas artist Boyd Elder. This painted an intriguing portrait of the unique planet that is West Texas, and its screening being packed with enthusiastic locals reminded me that I was in the middle of it.”

In other film news, the Marfa Film Festival is gearing up for its return on June 26, and here at the Ballroom we’re putting the finishing touches on the New Growth film program, curated by Rashid Johnson and Josh Siegel. And, of course, we’re looking forward to the arrival of Alix Pearlstein in July as part of the Artists’ Films International program. Stay tuned for more information.