Mixed Media
Looking for Lesbians
A collection of essays, artistic contributions, and two inserted zines, “Cidade Queer, uma Leitora” was developed as part of an 18-month inquiry in São Paulo. Initiated by Lanchonete.org and ArtsEverywhere/Musagetes, the Cidade Queer program was a broad collective inquiry into how can we understand the contemporary city through a queer, intersectional, non-normative lens. The program included a series of encounters, dinners,…
A NEW BOOK OF BEAUTY, INTIMACY, LOSS, AND RENEWAL: ERIC RHEIN: LIFELINES
Institute 193, the innovative gallery and publisher, has announced the publication of Eric Rhein: Lifelines This is the first book from artist Eric Rhein: a unique monograph-memoir spanning three decades of his life and artwork. It features intimate photographs taken between 1989 and 2012—including self-portraits and images of friends and lovers from the period between…
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Paula Nishijima on LUV (red site)
[*In the process of making Luv ’til it Hurts (starting with a two-year staged impersonation by its alter-ego, Luv Hurts), I began working with fellow artists, Paula Nishijima and Brad Walrond. Paula reviewed my organization of ideas & content from its 2018-20 archive (a.k.a. the red site) using her ‘swarm’ methodology to understand patterns, and…
HIV 2020: Aprendizajes para narración audiovisual con voz propia
[*For HIV2020, Juan De La Mar screened his autobiographical film, De Gris a POSITHIVO as part of a panel on 1st person narration along with Mariana Iacono, Jorge Garrido and Erick Cid.] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqDEXTEgBRc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQWYMLOM9ro “De Gris a POSITHIVO” es un documental autobiográfico sobre mi experiencia y la de mi familia tras ser diagnosticadx VIH+. Compartiré…
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Exquisite Corpse
[*The working group that comprises Luv ’til it Hurts–Brad Walrond, Paula Nishijima & Todd Lanier Lester–asked designer / installation author, Jakub Szczęsny to tailor Exquisite Corpse expography to the first 15 artists featuring in a traveling show on HIV and related stigmas. We envision that Exquisite Corpse will change from location to location. Szczęsny’s exhibition…
luv rules
When I first put out tent pegs for Luv ’til it Hurts (LUV), I framed it as a two-year period of R&D. The duration of the R&D is the (art) work. This is because I could guarantee to perform ‘research and development’ for a period that I determine duration. I aimed the process at a…
Codename: Exquisite Corpse
[*When the project began, I wrote a piece entitled Why Make an Open Work? where I used some borrowed ‘game storming’ graphics to show the chaos needed within a project before it comes to a point. This logic showed up again when Adham Bakry made LUV’s first design elements (see image). While I don’t imagine…
Game of Swarms descends upon LUV
Game of Swarms will be thus a communication device as well as a register of the artistic research upon how dynamics of networks in nature can be used as a tool to understand new ways of relationality among humans and non-humans—based on the distribution of agency, rather than the centralisation of powers. *** Collaboration is…
1986: An Elegy for Our Coldest War
Could Be The Ballroom was always our Nuclear optionA rock scrabble bunker become a threshing floorHow we survived our Coldest War A Mother a Father an entire house full of babiestucked into mangers woven out of street corner filamentlimber enough to parent those of us: born with and with out parentswith and without islands begat…
More instructions for afterlife (next-LUV) designer
[*In February and back before Covid19 suspended travel (and life as we knew it) a group of LUV peeps met in NYC to work on the ‘next-LUV’ or an afterlife for Luv ’til it Hurts, a project that I originally charted for only two years. Those two years are almost up. We received some instruction/planning questions…
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Learning from We (SOMOS)
[*Back at the end of 2019, a group of eight called SOMOS (or ‘SOMOS Mais’) formed in São Paulo to coordinate activities for December 1, International AIDS Day. The idea at first was that a collective might form to continue working together on our HIV-related artworks after the big holiday; however, the group didn’t stay together.…
A Visit With El Santo Taller de Cerámica (Bogotá)
*Spanish below EN LTIH: Do you prefer being called Sergio or El Santo? ES: You can call me anything, I like both, Sergio is the name that my parents gave me, and El Santo is the name that I gave to my work, I’ll tell you a little bit more about the story of El…
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What would you do tomorrow if it was the last day of your life (VIHda)?
“De Gris a POSITHIVO” Documental Autobiográfico de Juan De La Mar que hace parte de Luv ’til it Hurts, se encuentra seleccionado para “Media Library 2020 – Visions Du Réel, Festival Internacional de Cine de Nyon”. “De Gris a POSITHIVO,” an Autobiographical Documentary by Juan De La Mar, who is part of Luv ’til it…
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Still
Eric RheinCommunion with Oak (self-portrait)1998, gelatin silver print, 20”x16” I walk with the shadows of the men I’ve known, and loved, and tasted, and feel, even still, the warmth of their breath against my skin. Eric Rhein 1992 _____________________ Eric Rhein is an artist living and working in New York. He has exhibited widely…
I wanted to elaborate more on the concept of ‘transcendence’
Image: ‘Hummingbirds’ (Installation of 6), 2016, by artist Eric Rhein I wanted to elaborate more on the concept of ’transcendence’, mostly because I have some reservations about it. BUT, the fact that HIV is a disease that you live with took me to the place of transcendence. I departed from Eric’s work and paid especial attention to it. The aesthetics…
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Fresh Designs for Love Positive Women 2020
[On the occasion of Love Positive Women 2020, a project by Jessica Lynn Whitbread and partners around the world, Colombian graphic artist, Power Paola offered some new Spanish-language designs, which can be used for years to come as well. I met Power Paola through Daniel Santiago Salguero, who convened the Luciérnagas laboratory. Thanks Daniel and…
Conversa com Vinicius Couto (PT/EN)
[*Early this year I got the chance to talk to Vinicius Couto in São Paulo about three strands of his work. The article contains images from a performance he made in São Paulo, Rio and Cairo. I was particularly interested in his idea of getting HIV+ people together, as well as what he says on…
Coming Out of the Web 2.0 Closet
[*Five or so years ago Canadian artist Niki Singleton and I made a Facebook project called Coming Out of the Web 2.0 Closet. We both had a story whereby ‘friends’ or family members had used social media to shun us or tell us we were going to hell or something similar for being gay, and out. A couple…
artHIVism, Condom Art & a lifetime of caring
[*A longer EN language interview is available below for download; Todd Lanier Lester interviews Adriana Bertini for LUV.]TLL: We met first in Barcelona at the 14th International AIDS Conference in 2002. I don’t remember too much about the trip, except that I was presenting a poster with a colleague on community sensitization work on HIV/AIDS we’d done…
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Candles & Hearts #LPW2020
[*Working together with the City of São Paulo office of Human Rights, George Ferraz prepared (styled) two downtown cultural spaces for Love Positive Women 2020 with the theme of Yemanjá and using the posters designed by Thiago. A message from the Office of Human Rights was distributed along with Valentines Day cards. The Human Rights flier encourages HIV+ women…
Scrapbook, Love Positive Women 2020 (#LPW2020)
[*When I asked NYC-based artist Thiago Correia Gonçalves if he’d like to help make a Love Positive Women event, he proposed making Bobó (shrimp and cassava stew) for Yemanjá, the goddess for fishermen who is celebrated on February 2nd in Brasil. When I asked poet Brad Walrond to participate, I’d already seen a poem ‘Yemaya’ in his…
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Behind the Curtain #LPW2020
Behind the curtain “أنا مريضة إيدز ونفسى أتعامل كبنى آدمة، معملتش حاجة غلط علشان المجتمع ينبذنى ولما بمرض مش بلاقى دكتور يعاملنى كويس، وبقيت أخاف من الناس فاضطرت لارتداء النقاب خوفا من تعرف الناس على شخصيتى عند اللجوء لتلقى العلاج. ” “فى عام 2006 ظهرت الأعراض الأولية كإسهال وترجيع وسخونية، وفقدت الكثير من وزنى فبعد…
Bobó for Yemanjá #LPW2020
[*When I asked Thiago if he’d like to make a meal in NYC–something we’ve done together a few times in São Paulo and once in Bamako–he said yes and immediately suggested making an offering to Iemanjá. We’ve worked together since 2012 (usu. on Lanchonete.org projects), and I imagined that the idea would be good. When I heard Iemanjá…
Love Positive Women in AR/PT/ES
[*It is very exciting (and an honor) to get to imagine and implement ideas for Love Positive Women 2020 in Khartoum (Sudan), New York City (US), São Paulo (Brasil) and other places in South America. Designer Adham Bakry (Port Said/Cairo) came up with a version of the Love Positive Women insignia in Arabic and Gustavo Marcasse in both Portuguese and…
Cidade Queer, a film
Watch: Queer City / Cicade Queer, by Danila Bustamante. Bodies that listen, dance, resist, manifest and become visible in our contemporary city. Bodies that dance the sounds of funk music, rap, samba, voguing, waacking, among other sonic styles of contestation, resistance and struggle. Through talks, dinners, experiences and exchanges, a city seeks to discuss how…
INGABIRE “Gift” (2005); #LPW2020, pre-A
Watch: INGABIRE “Gift” (2005), by Jesse Hawkes. For its first Rwandan Film Festival in 2005, the Rwanda Cinema Centre helped several young directors and groups of actors to make films on important issues in Rwanda. The film “Ingabire” was based on an original musical theatre piece that was created by a group of high school…
Please, touch me (PT/EN)
[*Alberto Pereira Jr. first made ‘Please, touch me’ for a 2019 workshop in São Paulo. His production notes are the third in a series that also includes a project abstract #movingtarget and creative writing, ELE. xo, Todd] PT Instigado por um workshop realizado no instituto Itaú Cultural, sobre estigma e produção artística contemporânea em relação…
Instructions from next-LUV designer for NYC mtg
[*Polish artist and architect, Jakub Szczęsny is helping to lead ACT III. LUV’s denouement is gonna be a blast! Stay tuned!!]
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Socket Wrench
[*A few years ago (2013), graphic artist Beldan Sezen was in the Netherlands and needed some quick photos of a historic scene. The graphic short she was making is called HOMOE, set in 1964 pre-Stonewall NYC, about a man remembering the homophobic murder of his neighbor “back in the day.” We decided to trade my…
#movingtarget
alvos desde sempre porque não hegemônicos corpos reclassificados incômodos inconformes marginais seculares preto feminino não-binário trans intersexual refugiado positivo imigrado expulso indígena . sacrificado . Mas em movimento! . Body Work and conception: Alberto Pereira Jr. @albertopereirajrBody Art: DIG Ferreira @digferreiraImages: Flavio Melgarejo @ffmelgarejo See also, by Alberto Pereira Jr: #ELE Please, touch me (PT/EN)
Capitalismo Viral
[*Bruno Mendonça e Felipe Caprestano – Terra Falsa (parte do projeto “Nenhuma Intenção Revolucionária”)] O uso da palavra vírus para além do campo das ciências biológicas teve início a partir da década de 1980 com o desenvolvimento da cultura hacker, assim como ao longo da mesma década foi sendo assumido por outras áreas.Essa passagem conceitual…
Act 1 is Over
[ACT I entailed a lot of things, and one of the most significant outputs is a GAME made by project members and artists/designers in Egypt. There is also this very cool GIF made by Brazilian designer, Gustavo Marcasse. Overall, ACT I was meant to be rather playful! Now, we’re working on ACT I.5 in support…
Using one ‘project’ to see another
This article is a field [luv] note to Luciérnagas and friends in Bogotá. I was there for a project by Daniel Santiago Salguero and his HIV+ peers. Fireflies, this is the word in Spanish for fireflies. Speaking of fireflies, I met some luminary folk while in Bogotá Like Jackie … as far as I know she is the only woman in Luciérnagas,…
LUV game feedback from São Paulo + Somos Mais + AIDS Walk
About a month before the São Paulo AIDS Walk (now in its 3rd year), which was also on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2019, a group of positive folk and peers began meeting on Tuesday nights for a drink. The idea of a Sarau came quickly after the name of the motley group, Somos… or Somos Mais. We are visual artists,…
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LUV game feedback from Bogotá + Luciérnagas
As I detail in Relatory Bogotá, I got to take part in the final piece of Luciérnagas with artist Daniel Santiago Salguero, offering me up-close access to a performance intervention in Bogotá’s Botanical Gardens on a Friday night with thousands of people around enjoying the cool night.
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LUV game feedback from Grenoble + Ankh Association
The first public presentation of Exposition Points de Vie, organized by Ankh Association and dedicated to people living with HIV in Egypt, took place on October 26th in Grenoble, France. The exhibition gave light to their experiences, joys, and difficulties. It involved the interactive game by Luv ‘Til it Hurts, a Falafel party, and Karaoke.…
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Medicine Man
“Medicine Man.” (40×30 inch), by Issa Nyaphaga.(Mixed media) paint from 2013 – 2014.Santa Fe, NM – USA. “HIV-AIDS Stigma Free.”- Issa Nyaphaga Photo by Oumar Mebouack
puppy luv + cloth hearts
So George and I had this idea for an intervention in the São Paulo AIDS Walk, which happens on or around World AIDS Day, December 1 (yesterday). A group of us (somos) made a poetry, film and performance sarau, Somos (Mais) Sarau Transante was on Saturday evening, November 30 to get us in the mood for the intense day…
Wrap love in latex – Interview with Juan De La Mar
TL: Hi Juan, If memory serves this is a line in your film, De Gris a POSITHIVO … ‘wrap love in latex?’. I think it is when you are walking in the streets of Bogotá (all wrapped in plastic wrap). Juan, first, I really appreciate your film, and furthermore it was great to have it privately…
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Metamorphine Machine Furiosa XXX’s Psyche Pictorial Part III
For all responses, see: MetaMorphineMachineFuriosaXXX
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Metamorphine Machine Furiosa XXX’s Psyche Pictorial Part II
For all responses, see: MetaMorphineMachineFuriosaXXX
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Metamorphine Machine Furiosa XXX’s Psyche Pictorial Part I
For all responses, see: MetaMorphineMachineFuriosaXXX
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Relatoría Sesión #6 – Disidencia Sonora
Laboratorio Luciérnagas Relatoría 24 Agosto sesión #6 disidencia sonora artista invitado: Mauricio Rivera Henao lugar: Adorno – Liberia Relatoría: Mauricio Rivera es artista sonoro, también trabaja con video e instalaciones. Tiene una pregunta constante por el territorio. Disidencia = contra hegemónico Obra: un diálogo con el lago Titicaca Paisaje sonoro: retratar los paisajes en término…
Eu tive Aids por 2 meses
_____________________________________ Support Marina Vergueiro’s crowdfunding for the PROJETO EXPOSTA _____________________________________ Eu tive Aids por dois meses.Há 7 anos, eu tive Aids por dois meses.AIDS.AIDS mesmo.Olha só.Não morri.Eu continuo aqui.A Aids não.Ela vazou.Evaporou de mimE sumiu.A Aids é coisa do meu passado,Desde que me tornei indetectável.Já o HIV sobreviveuAssim como eu.O HIV é um vírus que…
Relatoría Sesión #4 – Arte / Fronteras
Laboratorio Luciérnagas Relatoría 27 Julio sesión #4 Arte y fronteras políticas Invitadas: Melissa Guevara Artista Laura Echeverri Abogada derechos humanos Relatoría: Melisa Guevara es artista Salvadoreña. Habló del libro “Luciérnagas en el Mozote” que contiene narraciones y testimonios sobre la masacre (1981) mas grande que ha sucedió en américa latina, 900 muertos perpetrados por…
Relatoría Sesión #3 – Arte / VIH
Laboratorio Luciérnagas Relatoría 13 Julio sesión #3 Arte / VIH Invitados: Fernando Arias José Fernando Serrano Juan Betancurth Relatoría: Fernando habló de su proyecto de residencias Más arte más acción. Dice que para el arte debe accionar. También habló de la importancia de la crítica En diálogo con José Fernando se tocaron los siguientes temas:…
Relatoría Sesión #1 – Contexto del cuerpo en las Artes
Laboratorio LuciérnagasRelatoría 15 junio sesión #1 Contexto del cuerpo en las Artes (para artistas y no artistas) Escuchamos la pieza sonora de John Cage “canción para Marcel Duchamp”. Hicimos cuadernos de notas para tomar anotaciones. ¿Por qué del laboratorio? Lineamientos. Cada uno habló de cómo se relaciona con los contenidos del laboratorio Contexto del cuerpo…
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The Gathering
Introduction In “A Conversation with Eric Rhein,” an interview on this website, Eric was asked about some writing he’d done: a text which corresponds with many of the themes in his recent exhibition, Lifelines. Eric followed-up with this memoir, written in 1998, and we are happy that he’s shared it with us here. The Gathering…
A Conversation with Artist Eric Rhein
New York based artist Eric Rhein speaks about his two exhibits, Lifelines, whichhave been on view in his home state of Kentucky.Lifelines is an exhibition at two locations in Lexington: at Institute 193 throughJuly 27 th , and the Lexington’s 21c Museum Hotel, through the end of August.Todd Lanier Lester, of the Luv ‘til it…
House of Zion Debut at Luv ‘Til It Hurts Launch
[*Before Pony Zion took part in Cidade Queer and Luv ’til it Hurts, I had the opportunity to attend one of his workshops in Lecce, Italy. xot] In his own words, Pony Zion describes his motivation for sharing his dance performance and choreography on the occasion of Luv ’til it Hurts’ NYC launch: “This is one…
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HIV/AIDS Testimonial Art Story
Joyce McDonald is an artist in many senses of the word. She is, of course, a literal artist: a talented painter and sculptor whose works often capture in stark relief the gamut of emotions she’s experienced throughout her colorful life. Joyce is also a weaver of words: not just as a poet or a songwriter (she…
Love Heals
Being invited to write as an artist, to be celebrated for the campaign Positive Affirmation Day, felt great. I had a sense of pride, a warmth, a worthiness, feelings that I am learning to cultivate, so sure, I’ll support Love Positive Women, tell me more… “Luv til it hurts” “Ummm” Now I feel unsettled,…
$oropositiva
Piece: $oropositivaCollage on greaseproof paper and serigraphy30x 40 Micaela Cyrino, 30, is a visual artist and militant of sexual and reproductive rights, blackness, and HIV / AIDS, in her artistic work and in her participation in groups such as Coletivo Amem. She graduated in Visual Arts from Santa Marcelina University. (São Paulo, Brazil)
Letter Report
Hi all this is a report that the musician that worked with me producing and thinking the music of my last completed worked named “Fantasia casi soneto después de una lectura de dan(c)e” sent me
Coletivo Amem – São Paulo <> NYC
Coletivo Amem is a São Paulo-based artistic collective that promotes festivals, performances and debates focusing on race, class, gender, and public health.
