UPCOMING EVENTS / PAST EVENTS

MOCAD hosts musical, literary, and artistic events throughout the year. Check back often or contact us at info@mocadetroit.org if you would like to be kept up to date on upcoming events.

Thursday, June 18
MUSIC: BLACK DICE W/ WOLF EYES and AWESOME COLOR

BLACK DICE — the massive experimental rock trio pays a long-overdue return visit to Detroit at the MOCAD. With their new record REPO, this Brooklyn trio has never worked harder at crafting a set of concise, sonically battering, or flat-out bizarre tunes than on this collection of fringe-surfing tone bombs. Yet a new roadhouse blues band philosophy has simultaneously emerged, allowing the group to loosen up and casually toss off a record packed with blurry hooks and zoomed in riffs. "Repo" irreverently mulches the sounds and images of radio, TV, and Internet into a fertile compost pile squirming with new, raw life.

With the Wolverine State's own noise legends WOLF EYES — Wolf Eyes have evolved into a single super-organism. A rich tapestry of wires and pedals inextricably link Nate Young, John Olson, and Mike Connelly and their respective towers of homemade electronics, guitars, horns, gongs, etc. It all has fused into a single, monolithic machine-entity. Their sound is rotten with metal, reeds, consciousness-erasing islands of black doom, bass-heavy rippers, late night free terror jams, and pure mayhem.

As if that weren't enough, AWESOME COLOR opens — Awesome Color is a group of noise provocateurs and impressionists, ace players with Punk rock flair, inspired citizens of a small modernist nation of musical, visual, and literary outrage on the outskirts of Brooklyn, or a rainbow amalgam of all of the above at once. Following a non-stop touring schedule after their debut release (including stints with Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth in the US, UK, and Europe), the band took their honed brand of turbo chemistry into the studio and created the highly anticipated latest record, Electric Aborigines.

Black Dice on Myspace:
www.myspace.com/blackdicemyspace

Wolf Eyes on Myspace:
www.myspace.com/therealwolfeyes

Awesome Color:
www.myspace.com/awesomecolor

Saturday, June 13
PRESENTATION: GARY PANTER

Prolific comic artist and punk art prankster, Gary Panter, has influenced multiple generations of artists. From his iconic designs for album his work creating covers for albums by the Screamers and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, his involvement with seminal LA punk zine/label Slash, the frequent appearances of his Jimbo strip in Art Spiegelman's RAW magazine and, most popularly, his groundbreaking designs for, Pee Wee Herman's children's show, Pee Wee's Playhouse in the 1980's. Providence Rhode Island's legendary artist collective Fort Thunder owes a debt of gratitude to Panter. He designed artwork for the most recent Dirtbombs LP. He has also worked with Frank Zappa and Philip Stark. Such notable contributions have left Panter in the rare position to leave an indelible mark on contemporary pop culture while remaining able to
retain an uncompromisingly underground status.

For this special event, Gary Panter will engage the audience in a live drawing session that will culminate in a one hour slide show and presentation by Mr. Panter of his work and influences.

Thursday, June 11
FILM AND PERFORMANCE: TRUTHEATERTHEATER AND IMAGINARY COMPANY

Trutheatertheater and Imaginary Co. present tales about the unbreakable spirit of love in the form of a 40 minute live performance entitled “The Unbroken Circle of Broken Things”. A mix of puppet theater and chaotic multi-media performance, with an 8 foot tall shadow screen, homemade lighting tricks, far out costumes and the story of Axon – the last woman on a small island who must decide whether to cut down the last living tree. She is a cold soul in a desperate land, but before she can strike her axe three spirits emerge from the tree to tell their tales with humor, song, magic, and an old trunk that may hold the key to another realm. Axon must decide whether these are false visions or if she can transcend time and space and leave her worries behind. Meanwhile, the stars bare witness and create the constellation of the axe to commemorate the story.

Trutheatertheater consists of four touring artists – Peter Glantz, Erin Rosenthal, Roby Newton, and Leif Goldberg. These four fermented in Providence, Rhode Island as part of Fort Thunder, The Looney Bin, The Dirt Palace and other “ethereal ponds of passion”, the legends of which have become highly influential fodder for the imaginations of a successive generation of DayGlo art punks. Trutheatertheater has performed in places as varied as abandoned transportation buildings, the woods of northern Ontario, and as the featured performers at the RISD Museum's celebrated show: Wunderground: Providence 1995- 2005.

Individually, members of Trutheatertheater have published their work in Picturebox, Inc, shown at the Whitney Museum, performed in theaters and rock clubs globally, and distributed on DVD by Load Records. Notable former projects include Forcefield (Art Collective), Urdog (band), Milemarker (band), Near Earth Object (puppet show), Califunya: The Most Beautiful Show That Ever Lived (live variety show with Becky Stark and Miranda July), and produced the Lightning Bolt Power of Salad DVD on Load Records.

Visit Imaginary Company at their website and on Youtube

Friday, May 8, 2009
THE GRAND BAZAAR
A Souk at MOCAD

Where you will find:

× Great vintage clothes selected by Julie Taubman, Linda Dresner and Elle Elder from area collectors. Vintage furs. One-of-a kind accessories. Select artists jewelry, vintage jewelry.

× Antiques, Collectibles and Contemporary Treasures for the Home selected by Linda Powers and Sandy Seligman.

× Special silent auction of chairs by noteworthy artists from Europe and the U.S., including Barry McGee, Joel Shapiro and Keith Sonnier. Silent auction closes at 10PM.

× Live Auction Includes great artwork by important artists. Bid for trips to exotic places, stays at homes that are never available to rent.

VIEW AUCTION ITEMS AND VENDORS HERE

VIEW TICKET INFO / BUY TICKETS HERE

The food will bring you closer to Marrekesh.
The music will take you back in time.
This party will transport you to another place, an exotic world.

Schedule

5:30PM — First dibs on the bazaar. Drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and exotic entertainment.

7:00PM — Dine by the light of the campfire. Live auction of prized art, trips, wine, and more

8:30PM — Party and search for treasures at the Bazaar

BAZAAR CONTINUES ON SATURDAY, MAY 9 FROM 11AM TO 4PM.

The net proceeds from the 2009 Benefit will support significant MOCAD initiatives this year.

Thursday, April 30 at 7pm
PANEL: IS DETROIT REALLY THE NEW BERLIN?

This panel discussion will focus on “New Urban Models” and how Detroit may be a unique incubator for those ideas. The successes and failures of models presented by other cities, and how they may be implemented in the city of Detroit today, will be explored by a panel including:

Anirban Adhya —Detroit Studio and SYNCH Research Group, College of Architecture and Design, Lawrence Technological University
Luis Croquer — MOCAD Director and recent New York transplant
Catherine Kelly — Publisher of The Michigan Citizen newspaper
Gina Reichert — Design 99
Jim Yanchula — Manager, Urban Design & Community Development City of Windsor

for more information visit these links:
College of Architecture and Design, Lawrence Technological University
Design 99
The Michigan Citizen
Windsor, Ontario Urban Design & Community Development

Saturday, April 25, 2009, 7pm
MICHIGAN AIDS COALITION PRESENTS: DESIGN FOR LIFE: DENIM
Admission $40

The Michigan AIDS Coalition is pleased to announce the first annual Design for Life: Denim, a fashion and art experience featuring custom design pieces using Carhartt denim jackets as raw material. The event will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 25, 2009 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD). Tickets are $40.

A select group of 100 creative individuals were invited by the Michigan AIDS Coalition to participate in Design for Life: Denim, including top designers, architects, chefs, musicians, artists and stylists.

The evening will be hosted by Ongina, a former cast member of the hit reality show “Ru Paul’s Drag Race.” Also featured will be aerial dance by Detroit Flyhouse and aural ambience by DethLab. Hors d’oeuvres will be served, accompanied by a cash bar.

For more than 20 years the Michigan AIDS Coalition has provided high-quality and innovative HIV/AIDS prevention and education services. Sponsors include HOUR Detroit, Emerald City Designs, Carhartt, MOCAD, Black Star Farms, Metro Times and Just for Us.

Tickets can be purchased by credit card by calling Robert Thomas at 248-545-1435, ext 105; or contact him at rthomas@aidsprevention.org. Or call to reserve your ticket and pay at the door.

For more information, please visit www.aidsprevention.org

Sunday, April 19th from 1-3pm
FAMILY DAY: DRAWING OUT A STORY

Compelling characters are the backbone of good fiction, whether they're sinister villains, noble heroes, or comedic goofs. Comics presents an author with an interesting challenge when creating characters, in that the cartoonist must learn to deliver information about the characters both visually and narratively. Join cartoonist Jerzy Drozd for an interactive discussion on the process of creating a comics character, followed by a hands-on activity where participants will be invited to create their own characters and a comic strip about
them. Paper and pencils will be supplied for all participants, but all are invited to bring their favorite drawing tools.

Jerzy Drozd began his comics illustration career at 19,
self-publishing his own comic books. He is the contributing editor of Sugary Serials, a comics anthology that specializes in all-ages comics
serialized online and collected in print. In 2006 he completed his 197-page online graphic novel, The Front, a retelling of the first comics story he self-published. Drozd’s main passion has always been
comics, and he enjoys sharing his enthusiasm with others. In 2005 he began performing workshops at schools and universities. He worked with ArtServe Michigan on their Literacy Arts Comic Book Project, teaching the comics art form to Detroit 3rd and 4th graders. He recently lead a professional development workshop for teachers at The John F. Kennedy
Center for the Performing Arts, and is a co-organizer of the Kids Read Comics convention scheduled for June 12-13 in Chelsea, Michigan.

Thursday, April 16th, 2009 at 8pm
READING: DETROIT CITY POETS AND PRINT CULTURE, 1960’S AND 1970’S

An evening dedicated to the poets and print culture of an enigmatic period in Detroit’s literary history. At the intersection of social, economic, and political unrest, poetry and print production provided a medium for collective communication. While content and form were often shaped by Detroit’s jazz rhythms, production was fueled by genius. This evening’s reading is part of a local oral history project dedicated to the collective history of Detroit’s poetry and print
culture from the 60's and 70's. The event features poets and artists from Detroit’s legendary Artists Workshop, Alternative Press, Broadside Press, and Lotus Press, including Detroit poet laureate, Naomi Long Madgett, John Sinclair, Melba Joyce Boyd, Bill Harris, James Semark, George and Chris Tysh, and others.

Thursday, April 16th, 2009 at 6pm
PRESENTATION: DETROIT UNREAL ESTATE AGENCY

A short presentation of a two-week interdisciplinary collaborative art project that proposes a number of new way to value and use the city of Detroit.

Following President Obama, leaders in Europe, China and elsewhere promise financial stimulus packages to rescue our cities and our way of living. But will this money do the trick? Tax foreclosures, social fragmentation, budget crisis at every level of government, a dearth of leadership have intersected to create a growing state of emergency.

There is a need to catch up with the credit crunch and find means to influence the economic forecast and determine its urban outcomes. History shows that the recovery of society depends for a great deal on individual inventiveness and collaborative resourcefulness. Stimulus packages put together by communities themselves and based on local commitment have shown to be more sustainable and resilient.

The collapse of the free market ideology creates a sense of emergency and the opportunity for a new kind of artistic agency. Decline and decay is also creation and growth of something else if we can reframe our expectations. Detroit, in many ways the schoolbook example of the residue city, is often framed as a leftover space after the neoliberal economy considered it unworthy as a working space. We, on the contrary, see in Detroit how a new movement of artists, farmers, activists, musicians and
other are developing and producing a culture of and on its own.

The Detroit Unreal Estate Agency has the goal to turn the story of Detroit and the ways of evaluating and developing the city’s potential upside down, and create alternative practices to work in her empty urban space. Instead of dismissing the city as a place of shrinkage, decay and poverty, we intend to learn from the ways in which its inhabitants are using its space and how they qualify it.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009 at 7pm
READING: BILL BERKSON AND BARRETT WATTEN

Bill Berkson is a poet, art critic and teacher who was recently honored by the San Francisco Bay Guardian with the 2008 GOLDIE Award in Literature. His appearance at MOCAD is in promotion of his most recent book of poems, Portrait and Dream: New and Selected Poems (Coffee House Press).

Barrett Watten is a poet, editor and educator often associated with the Language poets. He teaches modernism and cultural studies at Wayne State
University, and has published several books of poetry and literary and cultural criticism. Recipient of the 2004 René Wellek Prize of the American Comparative Literature Association, he has published numerous
critical works as well as his own poetry in various collections including, The Constructivist Moment: From Material Text to Cultural Poetics (Wesleyan University Press, 2003), Progress/Under Erasure (Green Integer,
2005) and The Grand Piano Parts 1-6, An Experiment in Collective Autobiography, San Francisco, 1975–1980.

Friday, April 10, 2009 at 8pm
MUSIC: ROSCOE MITCHELL AND THOMAS BUCKNER
with sculptural environments by Alain Kirili
Doors at 8pm
Performance begin at 9pm
Admission $11 (free for members)
All ages

Legendary free jazz innovator, leader of the Academy for the Association of Creative Music (AACM), and founding member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Roscoe Mitchell graces the MOCAD with an improvised performance. Roscoe Mitchell will perform along with Baritone innovator Thomas Buckner amongst the sculptural environments of Alain Kirili.

Advance tickets available at the MOCAD bookstore and at Peoples Records 3161 Woodward at Peterboro Detroit, Michigan, 313-831-0864 and at Stormy Records 13210 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn, Michigan, 313-581-9322

Will call tickets are available through PayPal:

For more information visit Alain Kirili’s website.

For more info on Roscoe Mitchell visit this website.

Saturday, April 4, 7-9pm
PERFORMANCE: TRIS VONNA-MICHELL
Auto Reverse, 2009

British artist Tris Vonna-Michell featured in the exhibition I Repeat Myself When Under Stress will be performing within his piece Auto-Reverse, 2009. The ongoing work based on the City of Detroit is a collection of images, real and imagined stories and ambient sounds that evoke a passage through the City. The projected images radiate out of the piece to the gallery walls, creating a site-specific collage-like environment of fragments that combine social, cultural, artistic and architectural histories. In his performances the artist narrates stories that add a live voice layer to his multi-media works transporting audiences in created journeys that are at times intensely personal and that challenge the viewer's minds and bodies.

Tris Vonna-Michell has been working on Auto-Reverse since 2007, it is the first time since its creation that the piece has been performed in the city that inspired it. Vonna-Michell has had solo exhibitions at Kunsthalle Zurich and the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam. Vonna-Michell is currently participating in the Tate Triennial, London, England, The Generational: Younger than Jesus at the New Museum, New York, NY and is the featured artist in the Front Room at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Saint Louis, MO.

Places are allocated on a first-come, first served rotational basis. The performance will be repeated 3 times between 7 and 9pm.

Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 7pm
READING: KARYNA MCGLYNN
InsideOut Literary Arts Project's Citywide Poets present
Scratch the Page: An annual visiting writers reading series.

Karyna McGlynn grew up in Austin, TX. She earned her MFA from University of Michigan, where she received the Zell Postgraduate Fellowship in Poetry and a Hopwood Award. Her first book, I Have to Go Back to 1995 and Kill a Girl, won the 2008 Kathryn A. Morton Prize in Poetry and is forthcoming from Sarabande Books. She’s the author of several chapbooks including Scorpionica (New Michigan Press, 2007) and Alabama Steve (Destructible Heart Press, 2008). Her poems have appeared in Fence, Gulf Coast, Indiana Review, Denver Quarterly, Octopus, LIT and Ninth Letter. A former member of five National Poetry Slam teams and a finalist at the 2008 Women of the World Poetry Slam in Detroit, Karyna currently teaches at Concordia University in Austin, where she edits linelinelineline with the multimedia artist Adam Theriault. Her website is www.karynamcglynn.com.

Read more about Citywide Poets and Scratch the Page at InsideOut's website.

Friday, March 27, 2009 at 8pm
MUSIC: NEW MUSIC DETROIT
Admission $9

Avant-garde chamber music and contemporary classical from this DSO offshoot, in a program especially geared towards I Repeat Myself When Under Stress.

The program this evening will feature works by Phillip Glass and Osvaldo Golijov, plus the Detroit premieres of new works by Virgil Moorefield and Marc Mellits.

visit New Music Detroit at their website.

Sunday, March 22, 2009 at 2pm
READING: BARRY SCHWABSKY WITH TYRONE WILLIAMS

To compliment both current exhibitions at MOCAD, Barry Schwabsky and Tyrone Williams will read their own poetry.

Schwabsky is an American art critic and poet living in London. He writes regularly for The Nation and for Artforum, where he is also co-editor of international reviews. He has published several books, including his new collection of poems, Book Left Open in the Rain (Black Square Editions).

Tyrone Williams teaches literature and theory at Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH. He is the author of two books of poetry, c.c. (Krupskaya Books, 2002) and On Spec (Omnidawn Publishing, 2008). In addition to publishing several chapbooks, a new book of poems, The Hero Project of the Century, is forthcoming in 2009 from The Backwaters Press.

Saturday, March 21 at 3pm
DISCUSSION: BARRY SCHWABSKY AND LUIS CROQUER

Visiting poet and art critic Barry Schwabsky will discuss the place of art criticism and contemporary art, with a focus on their future in the post-industrial world. He will be in conversation with MOCAD Director, Luis Croquer.

Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 7pm
PANEL DISCUSSION: BLACK IMAGES/BLACK WORDS: FROM ROOTS TO FLAVOR FLAV

A panel discussion focusing on themes of representation discussed in Black is Black Ain’t, moderated by head of the Black Theater Department at Wayne State University. The panel discussion will feature the perspective of Tunesia Turner, Rochelle Riley, Thomas Harris, and special guests.

Michael Dinwiddie is a playwright and professor at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, New York University. He was an inaugural Disney Fellow at
Touchstone Pictures, and served as a staff writer on the hit ABC-TV series HANGIN' WITH MR. COOPER. Michael's stage plays have been produced in New York, regional and educational theatre. His drama HANNIBAL OF THE ALPS was produced at the Detroit Repertory Theatre in 2005, and Michael is currently working on the authorized biography of pioneer Detroit businesswoman and personal motivator Maxine Powell.

Henrí Franklin is a born and raised Detroit talent. He graduated from Cass Technical High School before finishing the B.A. program for Theatrical Arts at Wayne State University. He is a founding member of the Detroit based Project Theatre Company. He loves his city and gives back to the community by mentoring youth in not only theatre, but life as well.

Aku Kadogo is a producer, director, choreographer, teacher, and performer. Ms. Kadogo is the Director of the Black Theatre Program at Wayne State University.
She has an on-going collaboration with Tyree Guyton and the Heidelberg Project, she has directed for WSU, in Seoul, Korea, in 2008 she was the Associate Director on Les Misérables for Theatre of the Stars and in has been an associate choreographer on RENT since 1998,. She spent 1998 and 1999 travelling to the Central Desert of Australia to research and create OCHRE & DUST, an installation featuring Pitjantjatjara storytellers, commissioned by the Adelaide and Perth International Festivals 2000.

Rochelle Riley is a columnist at the Detroit Free Press, she offers her commentary on social, political and cultural issues on National Public Radio (NPR) and WDIV TV Local 4. The Michigan Press Association has twice named Rochelle the state’s Best Local Columnist. In1996, her debut Courier-Journal column demanding a museum to honor boxer and humanitarian Muhammad Ali helped spur an $80 million capital campaign to build The Muhammad Ali Center, which opened in 2005. She is the author of two essay collections, “From the Heart” and “Life Lessons."

Tunesia Turner has contributed to several landmark movements in Detroit. As a vocalist, she recorded with the legendary Mike Banks and Jeff Mills. She is also a founding member of Detroit hip-hop band Black Bottom Collective. Tunesia also owned and operated Fundamentals Relaxation Spa, which was featured in Essence magazine. This advocate for women has always made sure that her activity has a social bent. Her action-ist philosophies were shaped by early grassroots work with Powerbase, an upstart 1990’s activist group that has sprouted some of Detroit’s most forward-thinking professionals.

Sunday, March 15, 2009 from 1-3pm
FAMILY DAY: DECONSTRUCT/RECONSTRUCT

"Deconstruct/Reconstruct" will be a workshop for all ages exploring the various strategies artists use to create meaningful collages.

In a round-house fashion MOCAD will be transformed into a “meaning-making” factory with various art stations that utilize traditional and contemporary methods of collage: projections, lights, transparencies, scissors, and glue will be used to create faces, objects and places from drawings, magazines and other media into new meaningful works of art. Participants are encouraged to bring material such as photos, cereal boxes, and magazines to personalize their collages.

Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 7pm
FILM and DISCUSSION: FINALLY GOT THE NEWS
Dirs. Stewart Bird, Rene Lichtman & Peter Gessner
(55min., 1970)

May 1968 saw a deeply influential, unauthorized “wildcat” strike at the Dodge Main auto plant in Hamtramck and Detroit, Michigan that ignited the organizational, intellectual, and direct action movement that would become the League of Revolutionary Black Workers. Through interviews with the members of that movement, footage shot in the auto plants, and footage of leafleting and picketing actions, Finally Got the News, filmed in part by League members, documents the League's fight against institutional racism within the unions. The film also deals with the League’s efforts to build an independent black labor organization that, unlike the UAW, would respond to worker's problems, such as the assembly line speed-up and inadequate wages faced by workers of all races and ethnicities within the community.

An open talk will follow at 8pm featuring General Gordon Baker, former League member and instructor, Black Men in Unions; Kathryne Lindberg, Professor of English, Wayne State University, Jonathan Flatley, associate professor of English, Wayne State University. This open discussion will be moderated by Lolita Hernandez, Lecturer in Creative Writing, University of Michigan and author of Autopsy of an Engine.

Informational links about the League of Revolutionary Black Workers:
"The League of Revolutionay Black Workers (A Historical Study)" by A. Muhammad Ahmad
Marxists.org
Wikipedia.org
PSReview.or

Friday, March 6, 2009 at 8pm
MUSIC: PSYCHEDELIC HORSESHIT with special guests: CIRCUITS DES YEUX and BAD PARTY
Doors at 8pm
Performances begin at 9pm
All ages
Admission $6.00

Sometimes the finest of new forms are born from the sincere echoing of old ideas. By inspired misinterpretation or willful reinterpretation.

In the rush for something new there are valuable messages quickly disregarded due to their primitive honesty. Time has proven though, that the ideas with the greatest longevity are often voiced by those with the energy and enthusiasm to do so with a certain degree of brutality and uncertainty. Through the right eyes, the well worn is fertile ground for exploration.

Whether it be the fuzzed out rock of proto-punks like the Stooges and the Modern Lovers, the harried ineptitude of modern primitives like Jandek and the Shaggs, or the grim electronics and gritty celebrations of urbanism of Suicide and Big Black. All of these ideas can be touched on briefly, then cast off to be presented as something entirely new and all your own. It is each generation’s privilege to discover those hidden gems, nearly lost in the sea of information, and to celebrate them in their own way.

MOCAD is proud to present three such boundary-pushing acts: Psychedelic Horseshit from Columbus, OH, Circuits Des Yeux from Lafayette, IN, and from Detroit, MI, Bad Party.

Visit Psychedelic Horseshit on Myspace.

Visit Bad Party on Myspace.

Visit Circuit Des Yeux on Myspace.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009 at 6pm
LECTURE: DEXTER SINISTER

In 2006 the design and publishing collaborative Dexter Sinister established the Just-in-Time workshop and Occasional Bookstore in a basement on New York City's Lower East Side. Their working model runs counter to the traditional Fordist Assembly-Line style models of publishing, where writing, design, printing and distribution are handled by specialists. Dexter Sinister collapses these practices into one activity - they act as authors, editors, and designers, make use of local cheap machinery and investigate alternate distribution strategies. Dexter Sinister is the pseudonymous compound name of David Reinfurt (founder of ORG) and Stuart Bailey (co-founder of the arts journal Dot Dot Dot). In this lecture they will present the history of their work.

Visit the Dexter Sinister website.

Saturday, February 28, 2009 at 7pm
READING: TYEHIMBA JESS
InsideOut Literary Arts Project's Citywide Poets present
Scratch the Page: An annual visiting writers reading series.

Tyehimba Jess’ first book of poetry, Leadbelly (Verse Press, 2005), is a winner of the 2004 National Poetry Series. He won the 2001 Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Poetry Award, an Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowship in Poetry, and a Chicago Sun-Times Poetry Award. He is also a member of the creative writing faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Jess' fiction and poetry have appeared in numerous collections and anthologies as well as a non-fiction book, African American Pride: Celebrating our Achievements, Contributions, and Legacy (Citadel Press, 2003).

Read more about Citywide Poets and Scratch the Page at InsideOut’s website.

Read about Tyehinba Jess at http://voices.e-poets.net/JessT/home.html

Sunday, February 15th from 12-4pm
FAMILY DAY: REPEAT THE BEAT: EXPLORING REPETITION

Join MOCAD and Living Arts in a dance workshop that explores the creative spirit that lies within repetitive movements and gestures. Repetition will be highlighted as a recurrent strategy in contemporary dance practice, with its ability to control, refine and hone our movements. The stage for family interaction will be set as a live DJ and professional dance instructors guide students on a journey through this exploratory program.

For more information on Living Arts visit their website.

Saturday, February 14, 2009 at 3pm
PANEL DISCUSSION: I REPEAT MYSELF WHEN UNDER STRESS

Trevor Smith, Curator of Contemporary Art, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA, and Thomas Trummer, Project Manager for the Visual Arts at Siemens Arts Program, Munich, host a discussion with I Repeat Myself When Under Stress participating artist Hans Schabus.

Saturday, February 14, 2009 at 12pm
TOUR: HAMZA WALKER

Experience Black Is Black Ain’t with Associate Curator and Director of Education at the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, Hamza Walker.

Friday, February 13, 2009
OPENING NIGHT: BLACK IS BLACK AIN'T and I REPEAT MYSELF WHEN UNDER STRESS
6pm to 8pm: Invited guests' and members' preview

MUSIC: The Sea and Cake with special guests The Raw Truth Ensemble
8:30pm doors
9:30pm music begins
Admission $10.00 (free for members)
Cash bar for 21 and over with ID
All ages are welcome

Pop art or art pop. The Sea and Cake present their effortlessly breezy, jazz inflected, pop for the opening night of I Repeat Myself When Under Stress.

Joining them will be Detroit’s own Raw Truth Ensemble featuring past and present AACM members Michael Carey (reeds), Skeeter CR Shelton (reeds), Djallo Dajakate (percussion), Gregory Cook (double bass), Andrea Jackson (bass violin).

Visit the Sea and Cake website.

Watch a live performance by The Raw Truth Ensemble.

Friday, February 6, 2009 at 8pm
MUSIC: THE NECKS, with special guests: Pink Eye
Doors at 8pm; The Necks at 9pm; Pink Eye at 10pm
Admission: $12 (free for members)
All ages

Australian sonic nomads, The Necks explore the loneliest outer-reaches. Theirs is a celestial terrain where structure and texture erode as entropy overtakes forethought, the resonance of the earth often being the lone remnant of a one hour improvisational performance.

The Necks’ otherworldly drone conjures the spirits of their inter-dimensional ancestors. While not so regimented that their sound should be regarded strictly as “jazz”, fellow astral wanderers Alice Coltrane, Albert Ayler and Sun Ra leave their collective footprint all over the soundscapes carved out by the trio of Chris Abrahams (piano), Tony Buck (drums), and Lloyd Swanton (bass).

The Necks’ process of creating transcendent sonic environments draws a straight line from the works of deconstructivist composers Phillip Glass and Steve Reich, to the two-note drones of 70’s krautrock bands Neu! and Faust, and the cacophonous guitar symphonies of New York’s Glenn Branca
in the 1980’s.

Their forward leaning tendencies, coupled with a keen ear for the past, have made The Necks an enduring underground phenomenon throughout their twenty year existence. They have performed alongside many of the most important names in pop, punk, noise and jazz. The list of their live collaborators reads as a who’s who of the 20th century avant-garde, from Japanese noise musician Keiji Haino, and anarchistic Dutch art
punks the Ex, to New York jazz scene luminary John Zorn.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) takes great pride in hosting the first Detroit performance by these legendary Australian innovators to inaugurate its 2009 exhibition season and in anticipation of the upcoming exhibition I Repeat Myself When Under Stress co-organized
with the Siemens Art Program.

Vist The Necks' website.
Audio & video of The Necks performing live.

For music by and information on Pink Eye visit their myspace.