among friends

This post was originally intended for a post on another blog about my dad/music, but I think it belongs here too.

Download The Flying Lizards – Move On Up (Curtis Mayfield Cover)

In 1980, white British women sang a song written by black pioneer of funk Curtis Mayfield in 1971.

Searching for “move on up” in google also leads me here. Move-on-up is a social networking site for politically conservative African-Americans.

This “Move On Up” idea is pretty compelling because it’s a phrase that continues to circulate in different ways.

For all those curious cats out there, if you want to chase down some information on the elusive Pope.L, check out these links. They highlight some of the driving forces behind his work. His projects are also quite interesting in and of themselves.

* William Pope.L at Rutgers

* The Art of Public Disturbance

* William Pope.L: The Friendliest Black Artist in America

* The Black Factory

-Eli

When John first told me about William Pope.L’s idea of mashing and contrasting E.T. and Emmett Till, the 14-year-old boy who was brutally lynched for allegedly whistling at a white woman, I thought it was interesting. I was not prepared for the anger and hurt unleashed by E.T.², the mash-up of the documentary The Murder of Emmett Till with the movie E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, projected onto one screen in Ryan Gym.

The discussion afterwards and the Conversations du Jour the next day made me realize how far my ignorance goes. E.T.² stirred up extreme emotions: voices were raised, a person cried, and I simply had not foreseen it. There are some things that I just don’t get, and that upsets me.

Pope.L’s Haver-performers are a veritable smorgasbord of funky awesomeness.

Here are a few facts about the eclectic eleven.

Did you know that Merrie has a hamster named Bluto?

Did you know Waldean danced on stage with Estelle at Swarthmore?

Did you know Sarah harvested bees last summer for research on pollination?

Did you know Jesse spent three weeks at a Buddhist monastery in Taiwan?

Did you know Rob has a job walking Maya, an Italian Truffle Hound?

Did you know Adam has been to the Pyramids in Egypt?

Did you know Simon looks kind of like Mischa Maisky, also a cellist?

Did you know Thea was at Obama’s Inauguration?

Did you know Caitlin was in Bryn Mawr’s production of The Love of Three Oranges?

Did you know Peter is in a band called The Yes Effect?

Did you know John is an East Asian Studies major at Bryn Mawr?

[fergcorp_cdt]
view the gallery | view the teaser video

Daniel Kojo came to Haverford today. This matters because he has a painting series called “Afronauts.” Black aliens? Ok, the connection to Pope.L’s impending ET^2 performastravaganzathon is too uncanny not to mention it here. Why is this such a money metaphor right now? I like it, but I don’t know if this Kojo guy makes it work for me beyond the cool sound of the word”Afronaut,” which Slate tells us is a big deal in music now. I can’t decide if this is a trendy fantasy that’s about to get played out or if it will stick around.

Lil’ Wayne on rap rivals: “I just eat them for supper, get in my spaceship, and hover.”

ET and Emmett Till. Alienation and alienation. These themes will be central to Pope.L’s performance in March. Ever since our presentation on Wednesday, I’ve been thinking about the ability of images to connect us with a historic moment. Few pictures are more potent than the horrifying image of Emmett’s brutalized face. The now famous photograph galvanized an entire nation to act in outrage at the atrocities of first Emmett’s death and then his murderer’s acquittal. Time magazine recently ran an article showing a series of images depicting the civil rights movement, culminating in the election of Barack Obama. The first image of this series was a smiling picture of a Emmett Till. The narrative of images spanning Till’s own story—from innocence to transformed mutilation and death—carry enormous symbolic weight. They remind us both of the successes of the civil rights movement, as well as the sordid history from which our country is still recovering. Read the rest of this entry »

hey all,

glimpses of greatness were witnessed at our meeting on wendesday. hearing about everyone’s preliminary stunts and final projects in detail was both enlightening and fun! each project is totally unique, from pope.l’s otherworldly performance shoot, to jen’s remake of a fleetwood mac album, to nao’s comfort station, to harrell’s fieldtrips. especially exciting will be the flurry of preliminary stunts in the coming weeks, including mashup karaoke, giant birthday parties, the et^2 screening, and anonymous valentines. the air at haverford is getting more spontaneous and creative by the day. many thanks to the faculty, students and non-haverpeople who have assisted among friends so far!

thanks to john muse, here are some pics of the joyous event.

among friends Meeting!

Happy Eli and Ali!

Sam speaks!

Jane explains!

Love, Ali

As you may not know, E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial is going to be a big part of Pope.L’s upcoming performance. In preparation for the big day, I’ve been doing some research on Steven Spielberg, watching some of his movies and generally getting familiar with the material. Not being very familiar with his work, I was a little surprised at some of what I found. Read the rest of this entry »