Thursday, May 31, 2012

Next silkscreen workshop is Tuesday, June 12 at 7 pm



Make your own t-shirts, posters and more! $45 gets you this great workshop, teaching you the basics of silkscreening shirts and posters + 1 month's worth of 7 day a week access to our studio to create your very own goodies. Stop by or email alchemy.of.time (at) gmail.com to reserve a spot!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

JUNE ART SHOW: featuring CHRISTOPHER HARRELL


Announcing the newest art exhibition at Cairo, featuring “Last Words”, by artist and graphic designer Christopher Harrell. The show features a collection of mostly typographic posters printed on an old Vandercook letterpress. The words are mostly true and mostly come from the last lines of books.

Artist Statement:
“I have always thought that Words held a sort of power. My work is inspired by/copies the words we read on books and screens everyday. I find the separation of a line from the body of work that it has come from an interesting juxtaposition that may or may not tell us something about nostalgia or ourselves or something similarly impressive sounding. I hope my work will someday help me understand what they meant when they wrote, “Aurum Nostrum non est Aurum Vulgi”.”
http://cargocollective.com/brotherfire





Opens Thursday, June 14th, from 7-9 PM, show runs through July 8th.

See you then!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Next silkscreen workshop is Tuesday, May 29 at 7 pm



Make your own t-shirts, posters and more! $45 gets you this great workshop, teaching you the basics of silkscreening shirts and posters + 1 month's worth of 7 day a week access to our studio to create your very own goodies. Stop by or email alchemy.of.time (at) gmail.com to reserve a spot!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Naked in the Name of Art: Sarah Galvin Gets Her Gear Off for Poetry.


Sarah Galvin never ceases to amaze. The first time we met, circa 2008, she was dressed as a party drug. The last time we met, about a week ago, she was dressed in absolutely nothing at all. 

Who is Sarah Galvin? You may know her as your weekly Chow Bio-logist from The Stranger**, you may know her as a hilarious blogger of "abandoned snacks"on Pedestretarian, or you may know as your ticket-taker/popcorn scooper at a local independent movie theater. You also may know her as a poet and a member of APRIL, which stands for Authors, Publishers, Readers of Independent Literature, (who, incidentally, do a lot of their printing here at Cairo). Regardless of how you know her, Sarah Galvin is the shit. 

Our interview began as most interviews do, covering the typical ground of general education (future grad student at UW) and good familial advice ("My mom always said, 'People can go to hell.'"). We even got onto the subject of "spicy poprocks", but it wasn't until we started talking about our photo shoot (specifically the final look) that things really started heating up. 

In order to spark your imagination without giving it all away, I'll leave you with Sarah's words before we shot her third look, "Wait! How is my hair?! If I'm going to be naked, my hair has to look PERFECT."

Scroll down to read our awesome interview and to see some serious pics. 

**Attached is a link to her interview of Cairo's new neighbors at Thomas Street Deli!

The Photos (more here!):
Sarah's "before" outfit.
 Awesome planet shirt + dance moves.
 Exclusive Cairo silkscreen design and Iacoli and McCallister Necklace.
 Sarah supports the arts. 
 I must say, as I adjusted her necklace, I felt a little bit like Jack Dawson. 

The Interview: 

You write the Chow Bio for The Stranger. Has anything you've tasted completely blown you away? 
Szechuan Pepper. Its not a food, its a seasoning. If you put a bunch of it in your mouth and chew its kind of like a spicy savory poprock. Also, the carrot juice thing at Montana happened to me. It's called 20/20 Vision, I think. It's only 6 bucks and 1000 times better than any cocktail. 

Where did you come up with concept for your blog, The Pedestretarian? 
I've always been fascinated with discarded and abandoned things. Stories about abandoned things that I find will form by themselves in my head. I'm also really into writing about  food. When I was writing an article on the Chow Bio, I thought about how funny it would be to write about food I found on the ground. Then I realized that it was a  great blog idea. 

According to The Stranger's website, you'll 'try anything once'. Is this true?
Just about. There have been occasions when I ate things I wouldn't normally eat for The Stranger. Being a vegetarian is an obstacle as a food critic. But you know, I ate a bunch of bacon last week. For work. I do what I have to do. 

You also work at a popular independent movie theater… Do you ever draw inspiration from characters that might come in?
Oh, we definitely have some characters. My favorite is this lady that is about 6 feet tall, always wearing super short skirts and Ugg boots. She just goes to movies all day. Whenever she comes in, she'll buy her ticket and goes in the bathroom and opens a can. I always thought it was beer, but it might actually just be Fanta. 

How would you describe your personal style in 3 words? 
Psychedelic, Ghost, Dandy. 

Who are your fashion influences? 
Vivienne Westwood, Jacques DuTronc, Willy Wonka. 

Where do you like to shop?
Mostly everything I wear is from the Goodwill bins. My shoes are made by Goodyear, so I can only assume that they are made from blimps! 

Who do people say you look like?
It's about 50/50 between a young Roger Daltrey and Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate.

If you could invite any 3 people to dinner, who would you invite and where would you take them? 
Screaming Lord Sutch, Joe Wenderoth, and John Waters. I would take them to the Water Wheel. It's a dive bar in Ballard that looks like the set of Barbarella. 

Are there any books you won't read on principle? 
I expected to like Harry Potter, but I only got through the first 50 pages. People wouldn't stop asking me if I had read those Dragon Tattoo books so much that I just didn't care to read them anymore. 

What are you listening to right now? 
Bounce! I am super into New Orleans Bounce music. Big Freedia and Messy Mya. It's the perfect thing to listen to while I write: it has the exact energy I do when writing.  Oh, and the band Venom. Dance hiphop music and hair metal. 

What is something you have accomplished lately that you are chuffed about? 
I am getting published in the Pacific Poetry Project, which is pretty cool. 

What do you hope to achieve with your writing? 
Well, I guess the shortest answer is that sometimes when I write, I feel like I have a glimpse of something beautiful and full of energy.  I would like to be able to give that to others too. I would like that to show through to other people when they read it. I would say my writing is pretty grotesque sometimes, but for me it's about the joy of being alive, which includes the grotesque parts, too. Kind of like Jean Genet, who takes the grotesque and makes it beautiful: to embrace all parts of life. 

What's next? 
Well, I am going to grad school at UW for Poetry. I'm going to keep writing for The Stranger. I guess I would like to become a professor, or write full time for The Stranger.

Wise words that you live by? 
 When I was about 12 years old my grandpa called me, said "Hello Sarah", and then just said, "Jump on stage with a blast from the orchestra." Then he hung up. I knew exactly what he meant.

Thanks again to Sarah for making my afternoon THAT much more interesting. You'll always be the coolest.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

"Guess What!" I Interviewed artist C.M. RUIZ!


This Thursday, May 10th, marks the date of Cairo's newest art show, featuring work by C.M. Ruiz

The artist's work is ubiquitous in the Seattle music scene, featured primarily on show posters and album covers, and in Capitol Hill's Arabica Lounge. C.M. is also one half of CMRTYZ, a local production company with Ty Ziskis that "loves to throw parties, hold art exhibitions, produce clothing, and put out records of our friends bands"(2012). 

"Fungi Girl", a zine exclusive to Cairo for the month of May, is C.M.'s most recent exploration into the concept of psychedelia, illustrating one girl's adventure through a surreal world after taking hallucinogenic mushrooms. Coinciding with the Fungi Girl zine release are original works of art will be on display and for sale for the month of May. 

C.M. recently stopped into Cairo for a chat, a cup of coffee, and an in-depth tutorial on navigating the Mushroom Necklace website. Check out our photos and interview below, and make sure to stop by on Thursday, May 10th for the release party! 

Photos
 CMR

CMR SHY

Sneak Peek of 'Fungi Girl' zine art

The Interview: 
What is your full name?
Carlos Michael Ruiz Bautista Dominguez Soto


Tell me about the new Fungi Girl zine.
Well, I've been working on my diary journal comic, which is really simplistic and straight forward. I've been thinking about illustrating one that was really complex and detailed. I thought it would be cool to have an art show around it too, that was a mix of Xerox and illustration. The concept of Fungi Girl was inspired a lot by Mushroom Necklace, Legend of Zelda, Fungi Girls the band, Brian Standeford, Devon Varmega, 1960's pop psychedelia, and early 90's druggie psychedelia.  I've pulled from a lot of different influences while creating the zine, so the beginning of the process is kind of different from the most recent work. 


How would you describe your personal artistic style?
Sort of like "bad thrash metal" kind of art, but with a lot more design theory to it. I feel like so much art design is so precise. Especially how you're taught in school: there is too much thought put into it. So if something is a little too polished in my art, I just like to rattle it.

What are some your favorite pieces that you have published? 
I really like the Fungi Girls LP and the Deep Sht 7-inch covers I did. Also, this Jay Reatard/ Thee Oh Sees show poster I did for The Crocodile. 



When did you first start designing posters?
In 2006, after I moved to Seattle. I moved to Seattle because I bought a Catheters record, so I went to a lot of Tall Birds shows because The Catheters were broken up by that time.  I used to go to their all ages shows and I would just offer to make posters. The first poster I ever did was an Unnatural Helpers, Tall Birds, and The Ax show at The Funhouse. 

How did you get started drawing? 
We used to go to church several times a week when I was a kid and I would draw to pass the time. In high school I drew all the time because I was really into comic books and Marvel trading cards. I used to come home from school and watch the History Channel and draw for hours. You'd think I would be better at it by now.


Tell me about your tattoos.
I have a cat that I got for 20 dollars in Chattanooga, commemorating my first visit to the south, which was a grand old time. Then I got "DUDE" stick and poked by Rocky Banks when I was living in New York last summer. Then she tattooed a beetle on my other arm during SXSW this summer. 

What keeps you in Seattle?
The weather. I like everything here…I like the people and the scene a lot. 


Where are your favorite places to hang out in Seattle?
I like to go to 3 girls bakery in the market, Bimbo's on a slow night when my friends are working, The Streamline Bar in Queen Anne, The Smoke Shoppe in Ballard, and The Funhouse.
What are your plans for the summer?
I got no plans. 

Where is your favorite place to do karaoke, and what are your favorite songs to sing?
I really like ggnzla karaoke at The Cha Cha. I usually sing Roy Orbison's 'You Got It' or Bruce Springsteen's 'Hungry Heart' or John Lennon's 'The Ballad of John and Yoko'.

What are you listening to right now?
Blasted Canyons. Shit, they're so good. My favorite local bands right now are Ponytime and Redbook. The Feelies are my rainy day record. 

What are you working on for the future? 
An installation for the NEPO House 5k Don't Run, something for the summer exhibition called 'The Record' at The Henry art gallery, my sine, and individual projects for Totokaelo. 

C.M. also recently won our annual T-shirt design contest! Pick up a shirt on Thursday, sold exclusively at Cairo. 

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Making Magic with Craft Spells


Craft Spells were in town! I have been waiting to meet up with these guys for months, and was super excited to hear that they were all finally back in Seattle. The boys stopped in for a few days during their west coast tour leading up to the release of their new EP, Gallery, and I was lucky enough to catch their performance at UW's Huskyfest, where Cairo had a silkscreen booth set up for the weekend. 

Justin, Jack, and Javier stopped by Cairo last week for a quick interview, where we talked about Craft Spells groupies in Singapore, "Yeah, they read somewhere that I liked orange juice so they brought us all juice boxes...", the immortal genius of The Chromatics, and sleeping until 2 PM. 

The photo shoot was it's own monster to tackle: Jack only wanted to wear one thing, Javier wanted everything, and Justin was too overwhelmed with options. In the end we got them all in an outfit, but not without littering the entire floor of the space with clothes. What a trip. Thanks again for stopping in, gentlemen. You made the afternoon very worthwhile. 

Check out their interview and some photos from the shoot below. For more pics, head to Cairo's Tumblr

The Photoshoot
 J
 JS
 JDS
All I said was "loosen up" and this is what they came up with... 

**Like the clothes you see? Everything can be found in-store at Cairo!

The Interview: 

You are sort of a California band and sort of a Seattle band. Which do you identify with the most? 
None, really. We are just an All-American band. Classic American band. 
JDS We think of ourselves as 4 Bruce Springsteens, if you will. 

What is something you like to do when you're all in Seattle? 
We like going to Fish Fry. We're big fans of fish and chips. And we usually go to KEXP too. Tonight we are seeing Real Estate at The Neptune. 


Where did the name Craft Spells come from? 
Back in college, I was obsessed with shamanism, and how they could cure their tribe by singing songs. I felt like I was crafting spells in my room, like a shaman. 

What were some inspirations for the new EP, Gallery?
The Durutti Column, The Wake, and moving back to California.

What band or musician would most like to collaborate with (from any time in history)? 
J Vini from The Durutti Column. 
JDS Let me look through my IPod. 
JS The Beatles?

What are your signs? 
J Libra
JDS Taurus Gemini?
JS Gemini 

What are you listening to right now? 
J The new Chromatics album.
JS Frankie Rose.
JDS Let me keep looking through my IPod...

If you had to eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
J Mashed potatoes. Hands down. 
JDS I would just say potato, so I can make it a bunch of ways.
JS I would say empanadas. 

Have you ever been starstruck?
J Recently, Javier and I met OMD in Singapore. We got a photo and gave them our album. That was really, really rad. 
JDS When I went to the Grammies, Skrillex bought popcorn next to me. He's so short. I couldn't stop staring. 
JS I went to Paul McCartney's school in Liverpool and I got to shake his hand when he visited. 

What are three words you would use to describe your personal style? 
J minimal. neutral. hardly. 
JDS church. goth. surfy. 
JS mystical. father figure.

What was your first concert?
J Alanis Morissette. My dad took me. It was wild. She dropped her guitar and ran around stage and started playing everyone else's instruments. A lot of respect for her after that show. 
JS Bob Dylan. I saw him when I was seven with my parents. 
JDS I think it must have been The Killers? 

Do you have a personal motto?
JDS If you want to G.E.T., you have to A.S.K.
JS I'm with stupid.
J I really don't "live by" anything. It's hard to restrict your life to one sentence.

If you had a band dinner and were able to invite one extra person of your choice, who would you each invite?
J Cee-Lo Green.
JDS (Cee-Lo Green!? Then I would not attend this dinner.) I would invite Freddie Mercury. Just so I could watch that mustache consume food. 
JS Mark Hoppus! 

Determined to see Craft Spells before they finish the tour? The band will be playing Sasquatch Festival on May 26th at the Gorge in George, Washington. Don't miss it!