SYMBOLISM:

Eclipse is formed when one body’s light is crossed in front of by another creating a darkening affect from an observer’s perspective. In some cases, it is when the shadow of the second body is cast on the first that it will be seen as darker.

Wand is not much different then a stick or rod, except when the word “magic” is added to it. As a rod, it has the properties of a conductors baton, a police weapon or a masturbation device. Add Magic in front of it and the wand transform into an instrument of the imagination, able to create anything out of thin air.

Lightning is a powerful, hot electric discharge, some say from the imbalance of positive and negative ions. Commonly depicted as a weapon of the gods, we revere it’s intensity while fearing it’s hit.

YOUR WEEKLY TASKS:

You are Zeus darkening.

Put it in your hand, add the word Magic, and viola! you’ll be creating electric discharge bright enough to cast a shadow on the sun.

The transforming instrument is the crossing of the two bodies, waiting for the imbalance of ions to be just right.

About Mixtum:

Mixtum is a creative tool for randomly selecting a trio of symbols to help generate unexpected ideas. Mixtum comes from the latin term mixtum compositum. Siegfried Zeilinksi describes the concept in his book Deep Time of the Media: Toward an Archaeology of Hearing and Seeing by Technical Means as, “the mixtum compositum contains two elements that are far apart and strives to fuse two different worlds into one.” Mixtum falls into a long line of tools that utilize the truth and magic of surrealist and chance operations to create fruitful outcomes. Mixtum is a practice that promotes the necessity of chance in play, and also accepts chance intentions as an integral structural element of reality. Play real in chance times.

Learn more at: www.mixtum.org

About the Creators:

Mixtum was created and illustrated by artist/educator/research team of Heidi Gustafson and Yutaka Houlette. Mixtum forecasts are written by Heidi Gustafson.

Heidi Gustafson is an artist and futurist living in Baltimore, MD. She taught preschool for a number of years and directed the experimental Children’s Think Tank (a research group run for and by children). Currently she is making new works and traveling.

Yutaka Houlette is a freelance illustrator, teacher and musician who also lives in Baltimore, MD. He previously ran the art program at the Baltimore International Charter School and currently teaches Pre-K, and heads up curriculum development, at Bolton Hill Nursery School.

Click here to read an article on Mixtum that appear in What Weekly in February

PREVIOUS MIXTUM HOROSCOPES:

Mixtum Horoscope for week of April 26, 2012:

SYMBOLISM:

Mirror, ie “looking glass”, is a surface that reflects wavelengths of light (sometimes sound). Projecting back an image, one will see a certain perspective on reality in the mirror, depending on both the surface material and the viewer’s position.

Teepee is a transportable dwelling. Covered by material from Earth’s creatures, it protects the inhabitants and allows them to feel at home while in continual transition.

Seaweed is an ocean or marine species of algae that looks like a plant or mermaid’s hair. It provides sustenance for humans while being a hiding or living place for many creatures. Additionally, it is important to note that most seaweeds need a secure place to attach themselves to survive.

YOUR WEEKLY TASKS:

It’s a good week to gain perspective by living in an algae teepee.

There two sources for seeing your reflected image: one is firmly attached and underwater, and the other is carried with you, built and unbuilt each time.

What is a reflective surface that is both made out of and hides Earth’s creatures?

Mixtum Horoscope for week of April 19, 2012:

SYMBOLISM:

Fire is a source of heat and light hidden within certain (some say all) things, let out through combustion. Producing flames and colors, this magical burning entity can destroy in seconds, bring light, create heat and make smoke, all essential elements of the life cycle.

Sword a sharp weapon made of metals. Used to slice things into parts or to stab through. It creates chaos from wholeness. Sheathed it implies hidden power, exposed it is the partner of mythic heroes, leaders, samurai and rogue vigilantes.

Crutch is a tool to support an injury. It can support healing or create depression in the user, as it primarily restrains or holds back the injured part from being used too soon. Associated often with a forced change of pace, or altering of habitual movements.

YOUR WEEKLY TASKS:

Your injury is a hidden source of power, find a way to make it come out of the sheath as a burning flame.

To support healing, consider putting yourself in a more crippling position: hold up the source for all to see?

Put your crutch thing directly in the fire to create a weapon of chaos.

Mixtum Horoscope for week of April 12, 2012:

SYMBOLISM:

Butterfly is a winged insect, who lives in a constant transformational state – from an egg to a caterpillar to flying beauty, to pollinator or ant destroyer. A butterfly is our primary example of metamorphoses on a visual scale.

Bed a man-made place for the body. An intimate space built for protecting the instinctual or mysterious experiences of life: dreams, sex, sickness, dying, sleep. A place where one can be restored, usually only by submitting to the body’s natural processes.

Blood is the elixir of life. A drop of blood can tell the entire story of a creature, an innate autobiographer in the form of a liquid vessel. This red substance carries all abilities within it: the ability to bring poison or dispel it, to circulate health or deliver sickness, to give life or take it.

YOUR WEEKLY TASKS:

Add wings to each drop of your blood for a smoother transition while dying, dreaming, or sleeping.

Lay down your most intimate autobiography to complete your transformation.

Be more metamorphic with your blood circulation while in bed.

Mixtum Horoscope for week of April 5, 2012:

SYMBOLISM:

Infinity means limitless, unboundedness or a belief in the unending. A symbol associated with strange mathematics and the expanse of the universe.

Map is a symbolic aid to understanding landscapes. Sometimes they are physical landscapes, other times they are complex invisible networks of particles or waves. Bees make maps to pollen sources by dancing, humans make dances by drawing their actions and places on the stage – both show a way of identifying stuff in relation.

Rain, water which falls to Earth, fertilizes, sustains and destroys life. A flood from rain, means emotion, tears, intense or cleansing release from things held within. A part of many rituals, this kind of water, is often seen as a divine intervention, bringing a sense of nourishment, a sense of washing away…

YOUR WEEKLY TASKS:

Find a limitless, symbolic aid to catch your tears.

Using cartography, become an infinite, divine intervention.

Capture a drop of rain and look within to see a map of the expanse of the universe, from a cloud’s perspective. (For the extra ambitious, you can then create a map of what you see in the raindrop).

Mixtum Horoscope for week of March 29, 2012:

SYMBOLISM:

Balloon is a holder of breath, a signifier of different kinds and temperatures of air. A skin and a substance together, the balloon body is a temporary dismissor of gravity, always first ascending, before losing air and returning to the nearest thing that will catch the remains.

Rope is made of many smaller strands bound tightly together. Often mistaken for a snake in the night, or ‘cut in two’ by a magician, the rope can be an illusion in the mind of man, a tool or a weapon in the hand. An object of restraint, it holds things together or holds them back. An object of duration, it frays and loosens.

Centaur is half horse, half man, a conflicting “world of half-selves” manifest in a single creature. Characters of our mythic imaginations, they represent qualities of living, dwelling in deep caves, a representative self from the other side.

YOUR WEEKLY TASKS:

Pay attention which you want to be doing: restraining or releasing your more gravity defying half-selves?

If you are bound together tightly and feel as though you are forever floating, perhaps you should consider what your hooves are going to do once you hit the ground.

Remember it is an illusion, and you are really just special air and myth.

Mixtum Horoscope for week of March 22, 2012:

SYMBOLISM:

Whale is the largest creature, with the biggest brain. A producer of nuanced underwater frequencies, occupier of the underworld, ancient and powerful.

Satellite is a distant communicator, our first defender and a macro and microcosmic spy. Made by man’s hands, encircling the planet, it is the primary cartographer of the Earth’s skin.

Ghost is clearly invisible to most. They are the most controversial of the dead, left-over energy, messengers and perhaps even costumes, which cover another, more hidden, shadow of reality.

YOUR WEEKLY TASKS:

Create a hidden reality that maps the ancient occupiers of the underworld.

Wander the oceans in search of nuancing your distance communications with the dead.

Look to produce frequencies that can invisibly infiltrate the micro and the macrocosm.

Last Saturday marked the American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM)’s 14th Annual Kinetic Sculpture Race.

Kinetic Sculptures are amphibious, human-powered works of art custom-built for the race which AVAM hosts each May on the shore of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. The eight-hour race (officially titled the East Coast Kinetic Sculpture Race Championship) covers 15 miles—mostly on pavement, but not without stretches of mud, sand, and a trip into the Chesapeake Bay.

Kinetic Sculpture Racing traces its roots to Ferndale, California in 1969 when artist Hobart Brown upgraded his son’s tricycle into a five-wheeled pentacycle that was part of a race down Main Street. (Hobart did not win.) Over the decades since, the California race evolved into a three-day, all-terrain Kinetic Grand Championship including treacherous sand dunes, water crossings, and elaborate sculptures and costumes.

If you weren’t able to make it out this year, please enjoy this photo essay from Larry Cohen:

Amidst last week’s public meeting on the new Bromo Arts District in Downtown’s west side, the creative force known as the EMP Collective was preparing its latest production, A Brief Narrative of an Extraordinary Birth of Rabbits, which opens this Friday. The play marks the second original production to emerge out of the collective’s incubator space (creatively named EMP) at 306 W Redwood Street.

EMP moved into their new digs in late 2011, after receiving an Operation: Storefront Grant from Baltimore’s Downtown Partnership to activate downtown’s forgotten Loft District. The multi-use arts venue serves as a rotating art gallery for developing artists and doubles as a rehearsal/performance space for theater and music events, workshops, film screenings, and experimental collaboration.

With the proposed Bromo Arts District designation, the area could soon be buzzing with similar hubs of creative activity and large-scale collaboration. For now, EMP is spearheading a movement which strives to defy boundaries, cross disciplines, and remain on the cutting edge of experimental multi-media performance.

A Brief Narrative of an Extraordinary Birth of Rabbits, by Austin-based playwright C. Denby Swanson, opens this Friday and runs at EMP from May 10th – 20th. It tells the true-life tale of Mary Toft, a pregnant English peasant who in 1726 chased a rabbit through a field for supper. Something (too bizarre to give away here) happened, and, miraculously, Mary began to birth pieces of rabbits. She became a national sensation, drawing the attention of the Royal Court and bringing people the country ‘round to witness and examine her maternal impressions.

That story was a hoax. EMP’s production is not.

Mary is a dreamy, imaginative young woman. Kitty, her pragmatic sister, dreams of only one thing: a child. Mary reluctantly agrees to give surrogate birth to Kitty’s child. Everything goes according to protocol until Mary gives birth to a rabbit instead. . . followed by 24 more. . .

Hosted by the Stork himself (yes, that one) and featuring a three-ring circus of puppets, hospital magic tricks, giant vaginas, and people turning into animals, A Brief Narrative of an Extraordinary Birth of Rabbits explores issues of infertility, creation, science, and the imagination.

A Brief Narrative of an Extraordinary Birth of Rabbits will be a regional premiere for the work, and represents the first non-devised work EMP Collective has chosen to produce, yet it remains in the spectrum of their multimedia-driven, provoking theatre. The playwright Swanson graduated from Smith College, the National Theatre Institute, and the University of Texas Michener Center for Writers where she was a fellow in play- and screenwriting. Formerly Artistic Director of Austin Script Works, Swanson currently teaches at Southwestern University. Her works are published by Smith & Kraus, Heinemann, and Playscripts, Inc.

A Brief Narrative of an Extraordinary Birth of Rabbits combines puppets, big sets, and a fair level of absurdity. If you’re a fan of EMP Collective, you already know what I am talking about. If you have yet to dip your toe into the magical waters of this energetic group of artists, don’t miss this chance to experience something awesome.

DATES:

May 10 – May 19

Pay-what-you-can Preview - Thursday, May 10

Opening Night - Friday, May 11

Arts Industry Night ($10 for artists) - Monday, May 14

Special performances Thursdays-Saturdays and Monday

All performances at 8PM

Click here to purchase tickets

For more information, please visit www.empcollective.org

Click here to read a full story on the EMP Collective from earlier this year!

I never got to bed earlier than 3 AM over the four-day span of the Maryland Film Festival (MFF).  Even so, I only saw nine shorts and five features out of the forty-plus features and seventy or so shorts offered.

But the MFF is about way more than screening films. It’s about living, for a few days anyway, in an alternate universe where everyone you meet is making a film, acting in a film, planning a film, or simply an enthusiastic, card-carrying cinephile.  The festival brings together a crazy creative sub-set of Station Northiness, indie cinema, barhopping, the arts and tech communities, restaurant action, social networking, and a sense of a subculture reunion that is both local and worldly. It is a super-great event for Baltimore, and once again we heap praise and thanks on Jed, Eric, Scott, Rahne, Angie, Skizz, Megan, Mika, and all of the other incredible staff and volunteers that work their butts off all year to make this happen.

There’s no way I can write about all the films, but I can offer a view from where I sat on the merry-go-round.  I attend the festival both as film-lover and filmmaker.  Since I am in post-production on my feature Rows I have a real interest in seeing what other indie filmmakers are doing and how they are doing it. Of particular interest to me is the loosely knit group of New York-ish filmmakers that might be inadequately labeled as an outgrowth of the so-called Mumblecore school.

While there is no formal entity to put a label on here, this de-facto collective of filmmakers includes actors that direct, and directors that act, editors that shoot, cinematographers that act, actors that produce, and so on, and one can define the group by the over-lapping credits on their large body of mostly micro-budget DSLR work in features and shorts.  Together they could start a studio–a neo-United Artists, say, but that sounds a bit too corporate!

This group was represented in no fewer than seven feature films (plus some shorts) screened at the 14^th MFF–something like 17% of the features screened. Some of the multiple-hat wearing names include Joe Swanberg, Kate Lyn Sheil, Amy Seimetz, David Lowry, Ti West, Sophia Takal, Adam Wingard, Kris Swanberg, and others that have been represented in this or past Maryland Film Festivals (and in Hollywood) like Robert Longstreet , Alison Bagnall, Lena Dunham, Greta Gerwig, the Duplass Brothers, Andrew Bujalski, and Aaron Katz.

Ninety-nine Per-center Cinema? I won’t deign to assign a new label to this group, but together with their millennial cohorts across America (and the world) they represent a kind of next-wave aesthetic that stands in contradistinction to Hollywood’s present mega-movie conglomerate-ized advertising synergetic CGI orgy of spectacular, innovation-free popcorn cinema.  Are we in the midst of a movement?  Ask Andrew O’Hehir, writer, editor, Salon.com’s film voice, and this year’s Opening Night Shorts host.  Thursday night Andrew said we may look back twenty years from now and see a new cinema “golden age.” I think so, too.

Here’s a sampling of films and encounters I had during the marathon sleepless weekend:

The Opening Night Shorts displayed dazzling passion. Director Cutter Hodierne moved to Africa to shoot a fictional Somalian Pirates movie (in neighboring Kenya) with a stunning cast comprised of locally drafted non-actors. Fishing Without Nets wins the award for getting the most prop automatic weapons past Kenyan police officials.   Robert Longstreet kills in Cork’s Cattlebaron.  The Kook re-opens the Heaven’s Gate cult: so funny it’s kinda scary how true it is.

Zach Weintraub’s feature The International Sign for Choking is a carefully observed work of minimalist romantic obsession and emotional self-destruction, notable for its controlled pictorial qualities and excellent existing-light cinematography by Nandan Rao.  Choking makes for a stark stylistic contrast to Sun Don’t Shine, Amy Seimetz’s Badlands-esque detour with inept lover-killers played by Kate Lyn Sheil and Kentucker Audley.  These terrific actors make the stupidity of the characters’ behavior hilarious and poignant, and the utter futility of their actions endearing.  As with a number of the films screened, this viewer at times experienced hand-held camera fatigue.

The MFF’s great tradition of showing vintage films (A 3-D, a silent, a John Water’s pick) was augmented this year with a package of balloon-themed shorts offered by Josh and Benny Safdie.  Their new short, “The Black Balloon,” seemed a brash and uncomfortable fit with the film it pays homage to, the 1956 French Classic, The Red Balloon. Seeing this excellent print of The Red Balloon was, dare I say it, magical. Sadly, my schedule did not allow for screening my favorite, the WTF Shorts program.  My other regret was missing Bobcat Goldthwait’s God Bless America. Goldthwait was a genial presence at the fest, and hung around an extra day to soak in the films and the vibes.

As the big crowd emptied the auditorium at MICA following the Baltimore–based film Luv, directed by Sheldon Candis, a new line was forming for the late–night screening of V/H/S. This horror omnibus, hosted by Joe Swanberg, was a blast.  The various directors, including must-watch-for triumvirate Radio Silence, offered up innovative, resourceful, drop-dead funny shockers that, though rendered in the “found footage” manner, managed to avoid any sense of horror clichés.  This is the best thing since sliced and diced bread. While comparisons were made to the 80’s Creepshow and Spirits of the Dead from 1968, I found the DNA locus of this form in the indelible Dead of Night from 1945.

Speaking of horror, the other film that kept me (and late-night screening pal, David Troy) up till 3 AM was Lovely Molly, from Maryland native Ed Sanchez. Excellent craft, and excellent performances from Gretchen Lodge, Alexandra Holden, and Johnny Lewis make Molly a must-see for genre fans and the non-squeamish.  (Note: Lauren Lakis’s supporting role was reduced to a cameo, but you will get to see plenty of her superb work in Rows!) Lovely Molly presents a real challenge for a genre film–it is a story that is in a sense without a protagonist. The thriller pays like a drama at times, and deals with some subject matter that makes for a difficult marriage with the horror genre. It will be interesting to see how audiences handle this intricately layered, somewhat counter-intuitive piece of gothic cinema. It must be said that on screen, and in person, Gretchen Lodge is an intelligent, mercurial, physically striking, and unique character.  Her tattoo reads, “”if not now, when?” She kind of kicks the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’s ass. Lovely Molly opens May 18 at the Cinemark Egyptian 24, Arundel Mills.

Kudos to the MFF for selecting and winning Dark Horse as the closing night film. Director Todd Solondz generously and hilariously spoke about his new film, the “saddest of his comedies.” (Anecdote: When corporate giant Toys R Us refused permission for shooting in an American store, Solondz took a unit to the Dominican Republic to double the toy store interior.) “Dark horse” is an apt metaphor for the film’s protagonist and for the filmmaker’s work, in that it offers a rare counterpoint view of a dystopian America that few filmmakers can directly confront with such sublime humor and unflinching gaze (perhaps Jody Hill is another filmmaker with the vision to do so).  It’s also a dark horse in the race to win eyeballs in a movie world dominated by the likes of The Avengers. But hey, it was never intended for a four-quadrant audience, just a discerning one.

I lingered at the closing night party, sitting with Ann Haddad, Chris Reed, Rachel Younghans, and Rob Brulinski, re-capping Dark Horse and the festival experience (and having another run-in with hardcore MFFers Barbara Wilgus and Nancy Murray!) It was kind of sad to come to the end of a four-night binge, knowing I had to get up early the next morning, but it was Loads of Fun. I am happy to report that the Maryland Film Festival has its heart, and priorities, in just the right place to promote the art of cinema, and the brand of Baltimore in the arts.

This Friday the Baltimore Rock Opera Society (BROS) debuts their third skull-smashing feature-length production with VALHELLA: The Ragnarøkkoperetta.

A dreamlike depiction of the end of the Norse Gods, VALHELLA follows the journey of three crippled sons of Odin as they are tempted and twisted by the progeny of Loki. Using massively-scaled puppets, hand-drawn animation and the most amazing fantasy sets Baltimore has ever seen, these demi-gods will initiate the foretold apocalypse to a power-metal soundtrack, annihilating the minds of all who gaze as they enact their fate! From the cloud-realms of Æsir to the bowel-churning depths of Hell, prepare yourself for ecstatic fits of epictude!!!

The Baltimore Rock Opera Society was founded in 2007 by a highly energetic troupe of actors, writers, musicians, and artists with the sole mission of producing original, live rock operas in Baltimore. Driven by a vision to unite the talent and energy of Baltimore’s artists in pursuit of producing an art form unlike any other available, BROS has embarked upon a mission of epic proportions.

Essentially plays interspersed with righteous shredding, each BROS piece maximizes production value on a DIY budget. Homemade set pieces and costumes create an awe-inspiring visual context for actors and musicians to tell the story, each song driving the plot while drawing in viewers to interact with performers. BROS thrives on the large scale collaborations that each of their shows cultivate and demand–artists, musicians, designers, and technicians from all backgrounds lend their talents to make these highly involved, face-melting rock operas roar.

When the Baltimore Rock Opera Society (BROS) became the resident theatre organization of the newly-dubbed Autograph Playhouse at 9 West 25^th Street in 2010, their goal was not only to develop original, power-packed musical theater, but to  work with the Autograph to create an exciting new arts venue for Baltimore City.

The Playhouse building itself has a rich performance history that dates back over 65 years. It opened on May 25, 1946 as Homewood Theatre, which, back in its day, hosted such notable performances as Abbott and Costello, Charlie Chaplin, Louis Armstrong, and Billie Holiday.  In 1951 it was remodeled and reopened as the Playhouse Theatre, which stayed open until the mid-80′s. Then, according to City Paper, the 7,500-foot space shuffled between hands for two decades, being put to such creative uses as a church (1989 to 1994), an exclusively African-American-film theater, and a Korean movie house.

In 2010, Billie Taylor saw the opportunity to purchase the building and embrace a lifelong dream. She saw for it a vibrant life waiting to be contained within its walls once again.  Since the beginning, BROS has played a critical role in the activation and restoration of the historic theater, producing epic shows since it opened. Which brings us back to the point.

VALHELLA: The Ragnarøkkoperetta will be performed at the Autograph Playhouse located at 9W 25th Street in lower Charles Village with performances May 11, 12, 13, 18, 19 and 20.

Click here to purchase Tickets!

To read Philip Davis’ interview with the BROS from earlier this year, please click here

As a society built on capitalism, it’s only natural we experience entertainment as an “Artist/Consumer” model.

Let me introduce two guys committed to giving us a little breathing room.

DJ Dubble8 (left) Wendel Patrick (right)

To describe the type of music Wendel Patrick produces would be to miss the point. His music is rooted in hip hop, but feels both classic and contemporary. His records are entirely self-produced and mixed–truly a complete artist. “Wendel Pat” is Kevin Gift, a classically trained pianist who has performed all over the world. He lives and creates in Baltimore, where he has worked as a Loyola University music professor for a decade.

DJ Dubble8 is Erik Spangler, a tour-de-force, personified in the Baltimore music and arts communities. He is an adjunct professor at MICA, a founder of the Mobtown Modern concert series, and earned his Ph.D. in Music Composition at Harvard. I first experienced Erik’s contributions to Baltimore at his inaugural Vigil, an outdoor, sunset to sunrise event. Check out how Erik started this year’s event and contact me if you know of a more forward-thinking performance in the area.

These two friends and culture-curators wanted to collaborate. After a short stroll through Station North following last year’s Artscape, the Boom Bap Society vision was born.

Shifting the Culture

Let’s consider the evolution of hip hop over the last decade. Like most forms of art, there has been a significant fragmentation of genres and fans. (Thank you, Internet).

You have Jay-Z’s brand of “luxury” rap, the teen-punk ethos of Odd Future, the “elderly statesmen” in The Roots, etc. Yet, the Boom Bap Society doesn’t just carve its own niche in the genre; it creates a new reality in which the art form can exist. . . at least, in Baltimore.

A typical Boom Bap Society evening will feature different combinations of carefully curated artists, including Wendel and Dubble8 themselves. I have been to a couple and already seen a harpist, vibraphonist, and full chamber orchestra adapt seamlessly to the Boom Bap universe. Soon there will be a more formal way to “audition” for a spot on a future performance.

What comes of it depends on the moment. Literally. Usually the performing members will meet once prior to the event, not unlike the feeling-out process of a first date. Each performance is as “in-the-moment” and “once-in-a-lifetime” as it gets. Or, in my quoted words, “fucking special.”

Power in Numbers

The emcee, hip hop culture’s “front man,” is mostly synonymous with a braggadocios, ego-driven warrior. This makes sense, given the culture’s competitive nature rooted in the “rap battle.” Survival of the fittest, if you will.

And sure, hip hop artists are also known for sharing the spotlight, à la rap crews, the DJ-and-emcee, the “Rihanna and ______” collab. But the Boom Bap Society takes a different approach, more similar to the jazz and jam band cultures.

The performances are most effective when the musicians are fully mindful that each is contributing to the whole. You can begin to see the broader metaphor of how this relates to our community. The Boom Bap Society can begin to influence both young and seasoned generations who identify with hip hop culture. Fame, iTunes sales, and Twitter trends don’t need to determine success; The performance itself can be enough.

The Boom Bap Society is by far the most promising thing this city’s hip nop community has. Baltimore Club has already put the world on notice; Now the Boom Bap Society has the potential to change the perception of what “hip hop” can be.

There’s power in numbers and the Boom Bap Society embodies this. To be an artist, especially an aspiring rapper, can be isolating, but Wendel Patrick and DJ Dubble8 have created a framework from which all artists can learn, and one similar to the other, proven, DIY art collectives that this city has spawned over the past decade.

Community Hip Hop has arrived in Baltimore, and we’re all invited. Talk about a breath of fresh air.

Experience the Boom Bap Society monthly at The Windup Space. The next event is Wednesday, June 6. Performances typically run from 9:30pm-12:30am.

Photo Credits: Bernard Feinsod/Brick Exposé Urban Media & Kevin Gift

When I hear the term industrial designer, images come to mind of cavernous warehouses or musky garages, spaces with everything covered in an equal-parts mixture of rust particles, dirt, and ash. Where, with every item you analyze, it gets harder to distinguish between tools, scraps, or pieces of other, larger pieces of art. The kind of ominous environment where everything dangerous is placed so precariously that if you were to trip on, say, a welder, the only certainty is that you would hit your head on something hard and sharp, with a good chance something would fall on top of you once you’ve grounded.

So when I walked into the home and studio of Nikkuu Design’s Melissa Moore and saw a living space composed of clean lines and simple color schemes, it became apparent that my preconceptions of industrial design were not only out the window, but had vanished down the block.

Born in D.C., Moore grew up with a passion for biology. As a child she built her own toys and games, dismantled household objects and reconstructed them to see how they worked. Biology and design aren’t as different as they might seem, said Moore–at the core they’re about exploring the intricacies of complex objects.

After attending Saint Mary’s college, Moore found herself teaching middle school math and science–a noble  undertaking, but not enough to keep her creative drive at bay. Moore said that when she was hired at a charter school she found some freedom to combine science and art, but still she was stifled. “I wanted to combine the two studies more,” said Moore, “but I also knew that I didn’t want to be in a classroom much longer. I love teaching and it’s something I will always do, but designing has definitely become my most dominant passion. Finding ways to combine both are also part of my mission. ”

Nikkuu’s first products were focused primarily on lighting, but as her vision grew, her products expanded to include furniture and jewelry. There are chairs made from old pallets, light boxes with live plants in them, and fixtures who’s “ropes” or “chains” are actually intricate knots tied into extension chords creating a unique esthetic in an object that previously was nothing more than utilitarian. Her favorite material by far however is clear acrylic. “I am very much into clean line and minimalism which is why I love this material. So much can be done with it but it is so simple. I can manipulate it easily and I like how it makes the object seem accessible while being contained at the same time.”

Now some of you may not know this, but the design world, as creative as it may be, tends to be a predominantly white male dominated business. It’s still a lot like Mad Men, only with less blatant misogyny in the office, and the racial prejudices are on a more subconscious “we just try not to talk about it” kind of level. Which is why Melissa Moore is a trailblazer conquering at least two different mountains in the industry. Being an industrial designer who is female and African-American.  Moore epitomizes the types of role models that need to exist in this industry if we are ever going to completely do away with the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryces in the world.

These days Nikkuu Design has reached a point of “I actually have products that people are excited about, it is time to expand” and is growing through collaboration with other industrial designers as well as converting the first floor and basement of a property Moore rents out into a studio space and collective design studio. The group came out of an economic need to pool resources and find other industrial designers in Baltimore, being a city mostly containing graphic designers, web designers, and architects. The group is made up of industrial designers (recent SCAD graduates) and clothing/textile designers all working together to share tools, equipment, skills, and resources while helping to form a unique interdisciplinary design studio that does not yet exist in Baltimore. Which is frankly the type of “making it work” people should be doing more of anyways so long as their profession allows it.

Melissa Moore and Nikkuu Design are the epitome of the new philosophy that if you can’t find a job that fits all that you are,  make one up. In her case her drive, experience, and dedication has made her As an exciting emerging designer who can serve as an example of trying to carve a niche for themselves in a world that struggles between letting go of the old way of finding a career and the new, more exciting world of creating careers using the passions you already have.

“I feel like I have infinite ideas and am always designing in my head. I am very influenced by infrastructure and architecture. I’m excited about assembly, process, nature, and countless other things that help to create the complexities in the world. My design philosophy is to use the least to create the most. My focus is on combining elegance, industrialism, and functionality to create products that are fresh and maybe even a bit confusing. People often comment on how they have never seen anything like what I produce and that is exciting to me. That’s part of why I do it” –Melissa Moore, Nikkuu Design.

Moore recently launched an Indiegogo Campaign to fuel her latest endeavors. Please take a moment to contribute here http://www.indiegogo.com/lightingproduction

For more information on Nikkuu Design, please visit the website here www.nikkuudesign.com