3.2.2006 | Thurs

TNT: "Levsha: The Tale of the Cross-eyed Lefty from Tula and the Steel Flea"

7p, $3-5 suggested, all ages

The Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art and SPACE Gallery are pleased to present the Portland premiere of a new film by David Wilson, Director of the Museum of Jurassic Technology. The film, "Levsha: The Tale of the Cross-eyed Lefty from Tula and the Steel Flea" is drawn from a beloved 19th-century novella by Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov. Levsha relates the tale of two Tsars, a curmudgeonly General and a poor but astonishingly deft young gunsmith from the small town of Tula. The screening coincides with the ICA’s announcement of its upcoming exhibition of space exploration in contemporary art, titled Space Is the Place.

3.3.2006 | Fri

First Friday: Plugged In

5-8p, Free, All ages

In conjunction with the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, which presents "Plugged In Fest III," its third biannual exploration of artists using electronic or digital technology in their work. The CMCA exhibit runs from March 4th - 12th. The SPACE show features installations by Diana Rust and Walter Ungerer, Janet Allen, Nathan Stevens and Yeshe Parks, Thomas Callori, N.B. Aldrich, and Noah Vawter. Additional works by Julie Levesque, Irina Danilova and Hiram Levy, Carl Klimt, Bianka Craanen, Andy Hurtt and Guy Marsden.

3.4.2006 | Sat

Felting and Fibers Workshop

2-5p
Ages: High school and up
Materials Fee: $10.00
Instructor: Kate Cox

Pre-registration required by Thursday, March 4, 5:00pm. Please call SPACE 828-5600 or email
nat @ space538 . org

In this afternoon workshop you’ll learn to make felt from all natural wool fibers using the traditional practices of both wet and needle felting. We’ll start with the basics and move quickly to explore ideas such as 3-D masks, plush cups and bowls, flowers, a book of felted drawings and much more. Each participant will have 2 projects completed by the end of the workshop to take home, and the skills necessary to continue exploring and creating any felting project.

About the instructor:
Kate Cox is a Portland based artist who has been working in fibers and textiles for the past five years. While her artwork is sculptural and installation based, Kate has also worked professionally in the textile and design industry.

3.4.2006 | Sat

Of Montreal w/ The M's

8:30p, $10, 18+  

Of Montreal returns to SPACE in March with material from their newest album The Sunlandic Twins. Peppered with beats from the eighties on top of the traditional Of Montreal sound, The Sunlandic Twins has quickly become an Of Montreal favorite. It’s the outfit’s finest work and the most adventurous to date. Bandleader Kevin Barnes says “The Sunlandic Twins is my foray into 21st century A.D.D. electro cinematic avant-disco. My aim was to place the mirror ball choral acrobatics of the shamelessly ambitious 70's and 80's studio wizards into a more chimerical mien.  Oh, and you can dance to it as well."     

3.9.2006 | Thurs

Plugged In Artist Talk

7p, Free  

Hear some of the artists from the exhibition discuss their work.    

3.10.2006 | Fri

The Wood Brothers
with Emilia Dahlin

8:30p, $8, 18+

Medeski Martin & Wood bassist Chris Wood brings his free jazz and rock and roll background to this collaboration with his brother Oliver, whose roots are soaked in blues and southern music. Oliver sings and plays guitar and Chris plays bass, forming a rootsy, folksy Americana sound. The brothers’ debut album, "Ways Not To Lose," produced by John Medeski, will be released on Blue Note Records, March 7, 2006.

3.11.2006 | Sat

The Lunchbox Series with Timothy Basil Ering: A Curious City and SPACE Event

11a, $3 / person, $5 / family, 4+

The father of "Frog Belly Rat Bone" returns to Lunchbox with a hilarious trip into the Gods’ kitchen.  Mr. And Mrs. God argue and compete to create the best features for the new planet Earth.  If you had all the raw materials at your fingertips to create a world and all its creatures, what would it look like?

3.11.2006 | Sat

Dan Higgs and Michah Smaldone with Our Poor Neighbors

8:30p, $6, 18+

Daniel Higgs, frontman of Lungfish (Dischord Records) has produced some of the most profound music and art in the past 20 years. Higgs has amassed a loyal following and garnered respect from a wide variety of artists from punk to folk and all that is in between. Higgs is a real beacon of truth in an age of musical smoke and mirrors--Bonnie Prince Billy covered the Lungfish Song “Love is Love” on his newest album. Also featuring Higgs' musical bretheren Micah Blue Smaldone and Our Poor Neighbors.

3.15.2006 | Wed

Acorn Productions Presents: Power Grab

7:30p, $5 sugg., All ages

Naked Shakespeare presents "Power Grab," an evening of scenes featuring some of the bard's most conniving villians, scurrilous fools, and resourceful heroines.  Acorn Production's Shakespeare Ensemble brings to life scenes from many of well-known and slightly obscure plays, including Julius Caesar, The Merchant of Venice, Measure for Measure, Othello, and Troilus and Cressida.

3.17.2006 | Fri

Plugged In Live

8p, $5, All ages

Following the electric theme of the Plugged In gallery exhibition, tonight's show features several Maine artists. Paul Bosse, aka The Beat Mechanic, wows and awes us with his percussive loops and modulations, accompanied by stylized visual effects by Raphael Di Luzio. Crank Sturgeon mystifies and shocks us with electronic mahem. Also featuring the SPACE debut of Ascona, a collaborative venture between artists small em and deaf dot, who combine ambient, experimental and hip-hop sounds with video.

3.18.2006 | Sat

DIY Stop-Motion Animation Workshop

10a - 4p, $30, preregister by calling SPACE,

An introduction to stop-motion animation with Portland artists Alex Endy and Tim Burns. Open to film buffs, artists, control freaks, and anyone else in high school and beyond who wants to learn low-budget, do-it-yourself film-making, with an emphasis on readily available materials and technology.  Students will learn to use digital cameras and free, downloable software to produce moving pictures. About the instructors: Alex Endy has given workshops in shadow theater, rod puppetry and toy theater for hundreds of students in Maine and New York City, and was a recent participant in a panel on paper arts at MECA.  He last performed in “Anerca” at the St. Lawrence Arts Center and in “La Bella Dormente” at the 2005 Lincoln Center Festival. Tim Burns graduated from Maine College of Art with degree in painting and a self-designed minor in animation. Tim has since been performing and touring with the art-rock band Phantom Buffalo, while teaching cartooning and animation classes to students in the Portland area. 

3.22.2006 | Wed

French Toast w/ Phantom Buffalo

8:30p, $6, 18+

French Toast is made up of  three mulit-instrumentalists, including past players in Fugazi, Make Up, Nation of Ulysses. Recording with Dischord, their post-hardcore sound has been called sparse but deliberate. Phantom Bufallo opens the evening with much aplomb. If you haven't seen them you've been under a rock; if you have, then you know what's good for you.

3.28.2006 | Tues

Akron Family with Jackie-O and Rick Bishop

8:30p, $8, 18+

Akron Family plays Devendra Banhart-like freak folk, with songs that start in a Beatles-inspired place and inevitably erupt into skronk before settling into country sweetness; folk-raised spirituals dart through Led Zeppelin territory, '60s rock and general psychedelia are also major themes. Jackie O returns to SPACE (they played with Godspeed a few years back) with their multifariously genred noisy scrape and grind. Rick Bishop hails from Sun City Girls. His album titled "Salvador Kali" is a good indicator of the breadth of his influences.