stellargirl returns

are you coming to barcamp philly?

I've been a total blog slacker these last few weeks, but I actually have a pretty decent excuse. I've been really busy helping plan BarCamp Philly, happening on Saturday November 8th at UArts, as well as putting lots of effort into keeping the BCP website so fresh and so clean and totally up to date.

I am super excited about BarCamp and you should be too!  Chances are, if you know me personally, you've already heard me go on about it, but if you haven't, I will give you the nutshell summary.  BarCamp is an ad-hoc user-generated (un)conference where likeminded people come together, usually in a setting where people can break into groups (classroom situations are ideal), share thoughts and ideas, participate, collaborate, etc.  There are no pre-planned speakers or schedules. The attendees are the presenters (if they so choose).  Check out some of the people coming to BarCamp Philly!

The event is totally FREE to attend and you even get a t-shirt! You'll also get the opportunity to chat with people who are doing cool stuff all over the Philadelphia region. We've even got some great folks from NYC coming, and I am sure points further than that.  We have plenty of fun events in the works before and after the event, so be sure to visit the BarCamp Philly website often to stay on top of things.

Last but not least, registration is required. It's really key that we have a sense of how many people are attending and we do have to cap it at some point to make sure that we don't exceed capacity of the event location.  So if you are thinking of coming and haven't formally registered yet, please do it today!

playing the building

If you have the chance to get up to NYC before August 24th, I highly recommend you take the trip to Lower Manhattan to see David Byrne's Playing the Building installation.

From David Byrne's website:
Creative Time presents Playing the building, a sound installation in which the infrastructure, the physical plant of the building, is converted into a giant musical instrument. Devices are attached to the building structure — to the metal beams and pillars, the heating pipes, the water pipes — and are used to make these things produce sound. The activations are of three types: wind, vibration, striking. The devices do not produce sound themselves, but they cause the building elements to vibrate, resonate and oscillate so that the building itself becomes a very large musical instrument.

My friend Gina and I headed down to the exhibit this afternoon. It's totally free, but you do have to sign a waiver before you enter.  It takes place at The Battery Maritime Building, a magnificent old industrial building, located at the very bottom of Manhattan. 

Once you make your way upstairs, you are presented with a humble church organ in the center of the space, with a network of cables rising to the ceiling, each one representing different sounds of the installation, some like flutes, others like metal tapping on the tall columns. What comes out is not so much a melody, but a connection to the structure of the building, to metal and masonry, to pipes and air, to all the people who came to play before you... and after.  

Here's a video of me playing:

View the full set of photographs here >>

The installation runs every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 6pm until August 24th and is FREE.

Playing the Building
10 South Street, New York, NY (Map)
31 May – 24 August 2008

More Info:
Creative Time
Boing Boing interview with David Byrne
David Byrne

art for the cash poor

Another fun event on the horizon in Philly is this weekend's Art for the Cash Poor.  It is occurring on Saturday and Sunday June 14th and 15th from 1 to 6pm each day at The Crane Arts Building. It's a great place to find new treasures for your home / yourself, gifts for friends, etc.  I went last year and there was live music, local microbrews flowing, and lots of friendly faces.  Here's the event description from InLiquid:

AFTCP is a chance to meet local artists and purchase artwork at bargain prices. View a vast array of media, including photographs, paintings, prints, jewelry, clothing, and hand-made books, with nothing priced above $199. There will be food from top local restaurants and libations available, and live music for your enjoyment while you peruse the artwork.

Art for the Cash Poor
June 14-15
1-6pm
Crane Arts Building
1400 N American St. (MAP)

reminder: ignite philly THIS wednesday 6/11!

Just a friendly reminder that Ignite Philly is mere days away! I know many of you already have it on your calendar and have intercepted it numerous ways across the blogosphere, but some of my readers aren't plugged in 24/7... so this is for you!

For more information, check out an article profiling the event in Friday's Philadelphia Business Journal. Also, the Ignite Philly website has completely up to date event and speaker information, and the twitter updates have been rolling in.

If you're still having doubts, you should come for this guy, Geoff DiMasi, an Ignite Philly founder and one of the Philly creative community's biggest champions:

ignite philly is coming on june 11th!

"If you had five minutes on stage what would you say? What if you only got 20 slides and they rotated automatically after 15 seconds?"

Come to Ignite Philly on Wednesday June 11th at Johnny Brenda's and find out! This is a FREE event!

"Ignite is a series of speakers talking about inspiring projects for 5 minutes. The presentations can be serious, funny, or somewhere in between. We just hope that it would help ignite something in someone."

Featured speakers include: the iSepta guys, Alex Hillman of Indy Hall, Scott and Marisa of Fork You, Kristin Thompson of the Future of Music Coalition, 100K house, and many more!

Stay tuned by visiting the Ignite Philly website and by following ignitephilly on Twitter. Also, check out all the event details on the Ignite blog (the source of all of great quotes above).

Many thanks to the powerhouse of creative minds at P'unk Avenue and The Hacktory for bringing this event to our fair city.

IgnitePhilly
June 11, 2008, 6pm
Johnny Brenda's. 1201 N. Frankford Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19125

these colors are my friends

philly: a colorful place

IMG_8188,
originally uploaded by stellargirl.

I had some friends down from Brooklyn this past weekend for fun, flea market-ing, crafting, and art-seeing, among other things.  Inviting friends to visit is a good way to get a healthy dose of arts & culture. Kayte of love forever wrote a really great post about the trip on her blog, so I will pass the sparkly baton to her!

captured origami

origami,
originally uploaded by stellargirl.

i saw this show the other night... friend of a friend (of a friend?) of my sister. this crazy guy, j.ruggiero is not only in a rock band AND MEDICAL SCHOOL, but quite an amazing origami artist! Click here to view the invite and to contact the artist.