August 10th - ISEA
Today the block talk was all about the South Bay hip hop scene as David Madrid interviewed local artists and promoters to showcase what San-Jo is giving to the rap game, where it fits on the ‘hyphy’ map and what the struggle is like for regular people in the area what with the high cost of living in the capital of Silicon Valley.
“Block to Block” with David Madrid
NPR’s LeE then went on to interview filmmaker Lynn Hershman Leeson whose current project – “Strange Culture” was screened during the festival. The film focuses on the arrest of Steve Kurtz of Critical Art Ensemble. He was arrested for being a bio-terrorist though Lynn and others contend that he was really taken to stop him raising awareness of the wrong-doing being done by US agribusiness and governmental germ warfare protagonists.
Lynn Hershman Leeson & her new film “Strange Culture”
Next the talk went to the street outside the ticket booth where wireless technology allowed LeE to talk to anyone who was up for stopping. Without his prompting, a couple of the conversations centered on radio itself – how to do it and the value of community radio projects like NPR. No bribery was involved, honest.
Street Prowling once again
The you-me-the-media thing arose again when Saul Albert, in his “Traffic Island Disks”, found himself interviewed by someone he thought he was interviewing. Today’s episode of the show centered around the coffee drinkers in Starbucks which was conveniently located across the street from Camera 12, the temporary home of NPR at ISEA.
Thursday’s Traffic Island Disks
Thursday’s “Frank Prattle” involved guests Kevin Chen from Intersection for the Arts and Kate Fowle from California College of the Arts. These two - old friends as it goes - talked about the state of play in the San Francisco art scene as far as funding goes, the role of local non-profits, and the increased sense of community. Methane played a role in this episode of the show but we won’t tell you how here.
Frank Prattle: Intersection for the Arts and CCA