Exhibition - Strange Fire Collective

Exhibition: Call and Response: Art as resistance 
March 31 
 Syntax Physic Opera, Denver, CO
Curated from our first open call for work, Call and Response: Art as Resistance features artists making work in response to the current social and political climate in the United States. This exhibition is hosted in collaboration with the Center for Fine Art Photography, Colorado Photographic Arts Center and Month of Photography Denver. 
About Strange Fire
The Strange Fire artist collective is a group of interdisciplinary artists, curators, and writers focused on work that engages with current social and political forces. We seek to create a venue for work that critically questions the dominant social hierarchy and are dedicated to highlighting work made by women, people of color, and queer and trans artists. 
Our collective practice is centered around increasing the visibility of meaningful work and creating dialogue and community through publications, exhibitions, and events.   We are committed to making our projects accessible, affordable, and socially relevant. 
Strange Fire was formed in 2015 by Jess T. Dugan, Rafael Soldi, Zora J. Murff, and Hamidah Glasgow.

Political Intervention #1 - response to Trump Candidacy

 

Political Intervention #2 - In response to Trump Travel Ban  1/27/17 -Executive Order 13769, titled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United .... The Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015, which was previously passed by ... shooting that occurred on the same date, Trump used Twitter to renew his call for a Muslim immigration ban.

Exhibition - FEED zine

Our FEED zine was created as a reaction to the first one hundred days of the new regime.

Barb had been following the Twitter feed @RogueSNRadvisor as a respite from the REAL news.  Lindsay had been exploring neuropsychological marketing by rendering industrial and fast food logos as abstracted feel-good auras. These elements came together in FEED, a compendium of Trump crisis and diet-management reports.

"The notion that decent, well-meaning folks are keeping vigil on Trump from inside the palance walls is a form of escapism, like alcohol or James Bond movies. Properly understood, it's not fake news; it's fiction as self-care."  --Katy Waldman  "Rogue Twitter Feeds as Liberal Self-Care"  - Slate Magazine

The project, #3 of our "political interventions,"  was recently exhibited at Magnum Foundation's AWAKE Book and Zine Bazaar.

also featured at the Ithaca College - ITI Symposium exploring creative, publishing and curatorial work by an international roster of artists, June 30 and July 1, 2017

Research - Industrial Food News

Both General Mills Inc. and ConAgra Brands Inc. are facing lower sales due to the lessening demand for processed foods. General Mills has found that removing synthetic food dyes promotes sales, as consumers turn to organic and synthetic-free foods.

"Reddi-Whip is advertising its use of 'real cream' rather than hydrogenated oils, and 'no artificial growth hormone'. Hunt's is promoting how it peels its tomatoes with steam, rather than chemicals. ConAgra's website for Hebrew National hot dogs brags that they have no artificial flavors, no fillers and no byproducts because 'the shorter the ingredients list, the better.'" writes Annie Gesparro.

Grocery stores are seeing a growing demand for hot, fresh foods as opposed to boxed pasta with powder sauces. Grocers are promoting their fresh goods instead their cereals, cookies, and other processed treats.

"...Grocery-store chains around the country are building new stores that have less space for traditional packaged foods in the center aisles and more for in-store restaurants and fresh meals shoppers can take home." writes Annie Gesparro.

In other news, Pringles can inventor Frederic J. Baur had a bizarre final wish - to have his ashes buried in a Pringles can. Upon his passing, the family chose to place his ashes in a can of the original flavored Pringles, at rest with his invention forever.

RIP Frederic J. Baur