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A Donald Trump supporter poses with a gun while attending a rally for Trump on the first day of the Republican National Convention in July (Photo: Getty Images).

A Donald Trump supporter poses with a gun while attending a rally for Trump on the first day of the Republican National Convention in July (Photo: Getty Images).

Trump supporters are shooting their guns in the air.

November Is…

Speaking of, Alysa Landry has an excellent article up at ICTMN, about spending the last forty-five weeks writing about all the U.S. presidents, and their impact on Indigenous peoples: Indians Are Invisible: What I Learned Researching US Presidents. Highly recommended reading. The whitewash goes deeper than anyone thought.

McCrory Defeated. Updated.

pat-mccrory-govx750

In a tiny bright spot, McCrory was defeated, and that means the rollback of HB2. Thanks to all those North Carolinians who voted their sense of right, and gave McCrory a very well deserved boot to the arse.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Democrat Roy Cooper was ahead by just a few thousand votes. Cooper has 2,280,398 votes compared to 2,276,059 for McCrory.

The Human Rights Campaign and Equality North Carolina issued a late-night news release elaborating on their win.

“We are confident that once the results are certified, Roy Cooper’s victory will be confirmed,” they wrote. “By electing Roy Cooper their next governor, North Carolinians have sent a powerful message across their state and this country that the days of anti-LGBTQ politicians targeting our community for political gain are over. While McCrory may have been surprised by the overwhelming opposition in this state and across the country to his discriminatory politics, the same will not be true for lawmakers who are considering doubling down on anti-LGBTQ extremism in the future. This is a wake-up call.”

Via The Advocate.

UPDATE: McCrory refuses to concede.

A Day of Mourning.

dystopian-nightmare

Welcome to the nightmare, writ large in the greasy crayons of greed, hate, ignorance, and fear. This is not my country, I stand without one. I don’t know what this place is anymore, outside of a place where terror resides and flourishes, a place where people are proud to be stupid and violent. I’ve felt broken many times in the past, but I don’t know that it’s ever bit quite as deep as this day does.

It took us an extra 32 years, but we finally reached 1984.

Thijs Biersteker: Plastic Reflectic.

All images courtesy the artist.

All images courtesy the artist.

When plastic material sits in our ocean for long enough it starts to degrade into nano plastics, a type of microplastic material that can traverse cell walls into fat and muscle tissue. This is a dynamic that Dutch designer Thijs Biersteker recently explored in his latest installation Plastic Reflectic, an interactive mirror that uses motion tracking technology to turn the spectator’s reflection into a silhouette made from hundreds pieces of real trash. “Turning us…slowly into plastic,” the artist explains.

Known for his psychedelic cloud installations and cancer punching bags, Biersteker constructed his new project on a horizontal pixel grid that houses 601 real pieces of plastic trash sourced from all over the world. Each piece of trash acts as a float and is pulled on and off the surface grid by 601 mini waterproof engines hidden under a pool of black biobased water.

The Creators Project has the full story.

Conservation Lab: Ancient Japanese Scroll.

Conservators working on Hanabusa Itchō’s 'Death of Buddha.' All photos courtesy of MFA Boston.

Conservators working on Hanabusa Itchō’s ‘Death of Buddha.’ All photos courtesy of MFA Boston.

If you visit the Museum of Fine Arts Boston these days, you can witness conservation in action on an enormous Japanese hanging scroll, which is currently being remounted in the Asian paintings gallery. Hanabusa Itchō’s masterpiece The Death of the Historical Buddha was painted in 1713 and entered the MFA Boston’s collection in 1911. Though it was last on view in 1990, the scroll hadn’t been treated since 1850. “Usually these scrolls are remounted every 100 years or so, which is why the project was a priority,” Jacki Elgar, Head of Asian Conservation at the museum, tells The Creators Project.

As time goes on, scroll mounts can begin to fail or damage the painting, she explains—this is the most common reason for treatment. A painting might also become a candidate for remounting if the mount is inappropriate (for example, a 16th century painting that is mounted in a 20th century style), or if it was put inside a frame by a Western collector, in which case it can be returned to its original, hanging scroll format.

[…]

The conservation of Death of Buddha continues in the MFA Boston galleries until January 16, 2017. To learn more about the conservators—who have all completed extensive ten-year training programs in Japan—click here. The Creators Project has the full story, this would be fascinating to see. If you have the chance to go, do it!

Breaking: 1 Dead, Multiple Victims Shot at California Polling Station.

Police are responding to an active shooting in Azusa. (KTLA-TV Channel 5).

Police are responding to an active shooting in Azusa. (KTLA-TV Channel 5).

One person was killed and at least three others were wounded Tuesday in an active shooting near a polling place in Azusa.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Capt. Jeff Scroggin said police were dealing with at least one suspect who was heavily armed.

At least one of the victims was headed to the polling station to vote, a law enforcement source told The Times.

Officers arrived about 2:02 p.m. in the 300 block of North Orange Avenue to find multiple shooting victims and a man with a rifle. The gunman immediately fired at least 20 shots at police, said the source.

Under a hail of gunfire, officers took cover and returned shots at the man, who retreated into a home in the 500 block of Fourth Street, said the source, who requested anonymity because the case was ongoing. No officers were injured in the shooting.

[…]

Azusa Union School District issued a lockdown for Slauson Middle and Mountain View Elementary schools about 2:15 p.m., officials said. A nearby daycare center and preschool was also locked down.

Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan said the shooting was affecting two polling stations at Memorial Park, a preschool, and Dalton Elementary school.

He urged voters to avoid the area and “if necessary, cast a ballot at an alternate polling location.”

Oh, this is so bad. So very bad. My heart to the victims, and the family and loved ones of the person who was killed, for no reason at all. The word at the moment is this person is still at large. If you are in the area, please, please, do whatever you need to do to be safe. This is a bloody nightmare, and we all know who we can thank for this one.

Full story at the LA Times.

Seven Young Artists…

Today, Americans will decide who will be the 45th President of the United States of America. An online exhibition considers the national and international consequences of this election. The group exhibition entitled, Pulling Down The Walls, organized by Galerie Number 8, examines some of the bigger issues—immigration, race, gender and equality—of the year. Featuring artists, Campbell Addy, Ivan Forde, Justin French, Nicolas Henry, Hector Mediavilla, Leonard Pongo, and David Uzochukwi, the pop-up show uses portrait, landscape, and reportage photography, to show what’s at stake in this presidential election. Read and see more at The Creators Project.

Justin French, Patriot, 2015, 20 x 30 inches. © Justin French.

Justin French, Patriot, 2015, 20 x 30 inches. © Justin French.

 

Hector Mediavilla, Latingo Border #6, 2010, 48 x 60 inches. © Hector Mediavilla.

Hector Mediavilla, Latingo Border #6, 2010, 48 x 60 inches. © Hector Mediavilla.

Boooooks.

books

We voted here in town before heading to Bismarck, and the polling station was as it ever is, with some townspeople hanging out, having coffee and breakfast from the table laden with handmade goodies. Had a chat with people about the turkeys, and other stuff, then got to the business of voting. Small towns are great places to vote. Then it was into Bismarck, book store being the first stop. It’s been a while, but the radar was going off, and for good reason, too. I was thrilled to see another Brom – for those who aren’t familiar, Brom is a talented artist who started writing some years back. I highly recommend his first book, The Child Thief, which is based on Peter Pan, but it’s no Disneyfied retelling. It’s a dark tale, which deals with unsettling issues, such as child abuse. All of his books include colour plates of his artwork, usually key characters in the book. I was quite surprised to see the second book in Ken Liu’s dynasty series, this one follows The Dandelion Dynasty. That man is one fast writer! Very excited to get my hands Black Panther. Just started it, but so far, it’s very good, and I’m in love with Ayo and Aneka, they deserve their own book, and their own movie. The Carlisle Indian Industrial School arrived very quickly, and is so very poignant.

I also bought this little candle in a tin, tangerine, juniper, and clove, a scent I not only want to breathe in, but to eat and bathe in too. A brilliant blend. Also, a surprise package at the post office today – more wonderful smelling soap from Marcus, and a complete surprise – thank you so much!