EASTER ISLAND PROJECT: CONTRIBUTE A SEED.

Announcing the inception of

The Easter Island Project

a creation of Tiffany Lee Brown and you,
a community of friends, artists, & supporters.

I would be honoured if you would contribute a seed to this collective creation.

The first seed was sown March 30 in
New York City, and took the form of a bird
representing new beginnings and travel,
offered by tattoo artist PJ Blanchard.

Your seed might be a snippet of original
music, a clip of video, a slip of paper containing a few short words, a miniature bit of artwork, a tiny object of significance to you, or an action
documented however you like.

After the seeds gestate, I will perform
a ritual on Easter Island in the South Pacific, in August, 2009, followed by a performance in Portland with music collaborator
Eric Hausmann.

Themes appearing in "House Bound" will be
further developed and explored in a series of
happenings and actions during the nine-month
gestation of The Easter Island Project.
Thank you for being part of it.

Seeds, details, & updates:
zzEasterIslandProject@gmail.com
(remove the zz's) or at
www.magdalen.com

TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR "HOUSE BOUND"

I'll be performing and presenting video in "House Bound" on April 13 in Southeast Portland. Advance tickets are on sale, and reservations are required. Donors and sponsors will be invited to a private performance the evening of April 12. Two lucky donors may join me for dinner courtesy of 3 Doors Down.




I'm still looking for: wine donations, financial support, and volunteers to work in the show. Please email me personally at zzzmagdalen23 at gmail.com (remove the z's) if interested in helping.

"HOUSE BOUND" DELIVERS UNUSUAL, IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE

Works Corps artists create a one-day kinesthetic salon of art, food, performance, and installation at Performance Works Northwest, premiering April 13.

PORTLAND -- You are fêted, fed, and lulled to relaxation. You move through installations and films, connect with performers in intimate spaces. Then the walls start closing in.


Welcome to the house that Works Corps built. "House Bound" is an intimate kinesthetic salon of installation and performance with roving audience participation, in which five women artists investigate the tension between solo and connectivity, individual and relationship, freedom and claustrophobia. Co-presented by 2GQ, the show takes place at Performance Works NW, which selected Works Corps as a grant recipient for its new Alembic series. Space is extremely limited, and reservations are strongly recommended.

Work Corps artists are Clare Carpenter, Emily Stone, Lilian Gael, Nora Robertson and Tiffany Lee Brown. The group first came together to perform in 2GQ's works-in-progress series, Public Works, at the Someday Lounge. Artist bios, press release, and photos are available via the links below.

Ticket price includes hors d'oeuvres, chocolates, tea, and wine; $15 advance, $20 at the door. Volunteer opportunities available.

"House Bound" by the artists of Works Corps
April 13, 2008 throughout the day
Various showtimes - RESERVATIONS RECOMMENDED
at Performance Works NW
4625 SE 67th Avenue, Portland, 97206

RESERVATIONS & INFORMATION:
Phone: +1 503 475 2306
Email: housebound@2GQ.org
Tickets online: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/29632

SPONSORS:
The Cooley Gallery at Reed College
3 Doors Down cafe
Plazm magazine
New Seasons Market
Bruce Chaser, DC, at Hawthorne Wellness Center
P!x Patisserie
the back room
Steve Fritz Photography
Julianna Rowe, Windermere Cronin and Caplan Realty Group, Inc.
Oregon Dept of Kick Ass
Bitch magazine

DONORS:
Reva Basch
Robert Bumstead
The Ozer-Gortikov Family
Howard Robertson

HUGE THANKS TO:
Vanessa Renwick, Stephanie Snyder, Kathy Bergin, Josh Berger, Kirsten Evans-Orville, Claudia Knotek, Doe Hatfield, Linda Austin, Steve Fritz, Cheryl Wakerhauser, Amy Williams

ARTIST BIOS: ~ Click here

WORKS CORPS: ARTIST PHOTOS (including print-quality for press): ~ Click here

PRESS RELEASE: ~ Click here

BECAUSE WE ARE HERE & WE ARE REAL: A Workshop

BECAUSE WE ARE HERE & WE ARE REAL
Goddard College at Centrum, Port Townsend, Washington
February 29-March 7, 2008

Workshop Leader: Tiffany Lee Brown

Open creative doors, aid character development, help prepare for public appearances, and provide for unusual healing opportunities using techniques I've developed or ripped off from established theatre practices. Centered walks, psychophysical gestures, and relational moments with both objects and people will be featured. Source practices include eurythmy and Mikhail Chekhov Technique, in which I was certified at the University of California at Berkeley.

Who might want to participate?

- Artists who want their energy and creativity to flow freely
- Actors, dancers, and performers who want to improve their character work
- Writers who would like to expand their means of creating characters
- Writers who seek new tools for better visceral, "on the body" writing
- Anyone looking for helpful techniques of public presentation
- Anyone interested in using their own bodies for emotional self-healing
- Anyone who wants to tap into different parts of themselves, and allow those parts full expression

Please wear comfortable shoes and bring with you one small, sturdy object that feels significant for whatever reason moves you that day. We will do a gentle warmup with stretching and vocalizing, followed by indoor walking and discussion. This workshop is appropriate for all abilities, genders, etc. Sometimes, energy and movement work can bring up tough issues. If you have special physical or emotional concerns, please contact me before the workshop. Goddard students: I am on FirstClass under the name Tiffany.Brown .

GARGOYLE JOURNAL RELEASES CD: Gargoyle 52

Gargoyle magazine has been publishing adventurous literature in Washington, DC, since the late 1970s.

Gargoyle 52 is one of the journal's CD releases, focusing on spoken word and music that includes lyrical exploration. I have two pieces on the disc, listed under the name "Passiflora," both of which are collaborations with Derek Ecklund of Mesmer.

My short story "Mary's Egg" appeared in the journal's huge, gorgeous anthology, Gargoyle 50, along with some excellent writers I've had the pleasure to hang out with over the years: Kathy Acker, Trevor Dodge, Lance Olsen, Kevin Sampsell, Mary Slowik, Lidia Yuknavitch, and Kate Braverman, and writers I'd love to meet someday: Naomi Shihab Nye, Rick Moody, Pagan Kennedy, loads of others. It's an honour to share page space with all these guys...

UPCOMING EVENTS: 2008

Have a smashingly brilliant 2008, everyone! Here's what I'll be up to, among other stuff:

The Wife, the Mistress, & the Prostitute: Plazm at the Back Room, January 11
At Podkrepa Hall, Portland. I'll be on the hot seat, with Plazm's Josh Berger & Jon Raymond, for this back room supper & art/design conversation. With music by Tara Jane O'Neil. Curated and hosted by Stephanie Snyder. $45 includes supper, drinks, and your copy of a book written & pressed specifically for this occasion. Reservations highly recommended. Details here.

"HOUSE BOUND" at Performance Works NW, April 13
Portland, Oregon. I'm thrilled to be creating with the Works Corps again. My own piece will confront the identity of a childless/childfree woman in a culture built around the rituals and archetypes of motherhood and procreation. Audiences must call/email ahead to schedule their spot in this unusual, intimate performance. Details here.

Hypatia Residency, April 16-May 7
Olympic Peninsula, Washington. I am grateful to Hypatia-in-the-Woods for the opportunity to focus on my work in solitude for three blissful weeks, as part of their residency program for artists and writers.

Drowning Rat, May 16-18
Undisclosed location, Oregon Cascades. Oregon's finest private festival of ritual performative madness enters its seventh season. As the founder and reigning Rat Princesse, what can I say? I'm excited.

First Wednesdays Poetry Reading, June 4
Portland, Oregon. Curated by Charles Deemer, this series takes place every first Wednesday, 7-9pm, at Blackbird Wineshop on NE 44 off Fremont. Music, videos, and readings.

"American Battery" at Fort Worden -- POSTPONED
Port Townsend, Washington. My proposal for an installation and performance at the decommissioned military base housing the Centrum arts organization is in the bureaucratic maze at the moment. I hope to work with Tom Cashman, a photographer and videographer stationed in Iraq, along with a non-heirarchical selection of Goddard College MFA students and guest artists. Watch this space for developments...

"Title TK" at Fort Worden -- August 16-17, 2008
Port Townsend, Washington. For this August, I will perform and direct an intimate installation and performance at Battery Vicar on the base, along with three performers who work in movement and dance: Cara Cadawaller of San Diego, Kristen Tsiatsios of Seattle, and Emily Stone of Portland.

"Beyond Walking Practice," August 25-September 2
Black Rock City, Nevada. A followup to the 2005 and 2006 "Burqua Walk" experiments.

Construct/Re-Construct Opening

Construct/Re-Construct
curated by Rhoda London

A group show of work by Portland artists expressing the building blocks that bring an idea to fruition and showing the artists in dialogue with their materials. 2GQ/Plazm co-editor Tiffany Lee Brown and book artist Clare Carpenter of Tiger Food Press present an installation documenting the collaborative process behind their new project, A Compendium of Miniatures.

September 29-October 27, 2007
Cathedral Park Place
6635 N. Baltimore Ave, Portland, OR
(the former Columbia Sportswear/Modern Zoo building)

Opening Reception Saturday, September 29, 5-8 PM
Gallery hours Friday and Saturday only 12-5 PM

Artists: Josh Arseneau, Francesca Berrini, John Brodie, TiffanyLee Brown, Clare Carpenter, Cathy Cleaver, NancyCushwa, Kristina DiTullo, Tore Djupedal, David Hacker,Helen Heibert, Harrison Higgs, Scott Wayne Indiana,James Jack, Horatio Law, Todd Leninger, Seth Nehil,Liz Obert, Kelly Rauer, Anya Shapiro, Benjamin Stagl,Andy Stout, Robert Wilhelm, Karen Willey, Linda Wysong

September 2007 Update: Lots o' Excitement!

My first book is coming out, a new issue of Plazm is coming out, "The End of War" is here, and busy-ness is keeping me away from both the TBA festival and Awareness is Free. Hectic but gratifying: it must be autumn. So here's a rundown on all the stuff…

A COMPENDIUM OF MINIATURES: Publication + Installation
The biggest news first: my first book will be published this month in a limited edition. Book artist Clare Carpenter and I are also exhibiting an installation about the collaborative process involved in creating this work, as part of the group show "Construct/Re-construct" opening September 29 at Cathedral Park Place in St. Johns. See details below.

A Compendium of Miniatures
by Tiffany Lee Brown
(Portland: 2GQ/Tiger Food Press, 2007)
Miniature narratives and rhythmic metaphors redefine the words that tell life's big stories. Limited edition of 50 signed, numbered books hand-bound in silk. Hand-set in Deepdene and letterpress printed in two colors on recyled paper using soy-based inks by Clare Carpenter of Tiger Food Press. Case-bound.

If you'd like to reserve a copy, a limited edition of 50, there are two ways to go about it: …..(1) Credit card purchase at Plazm Books ($55 plus S&H) ….. (2) Check or money order to 2GQ ($50 plus S&H). Contact us for shipping rates to your location & to reserve your copy on the waiting list. Email 2007 (at) 2GQ.org with "miniatures" in the subject line.

PLAZM #29 ~ COLLECTIVE MEMORY: Publication + Release Party
I'm now a co-editor of PLAZM magazine, with longtime editor Jon Raymond and art director Joshua Berger. Our new issue features Yoko Ono, Todd Haynes, JD Samson (Le Tigre), Storm Tharp, Domenick Ammirati, Lidia Yuknavitch, Marvin Bell, and a pull-out poster of Portland music from The Wipers to Nequaquam Vacuum. Oh, and The End of War. And Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis, and Bill Walton, and psychedelic posters, and all kinds of stuff.

PARTY: Sept 26, Ace Hotel on SW Stark & 10th in downtown Portland, bands and DJ's (Glass Candy, Hooliganship, Evolutionary Jass Band, more), cheap, all ages, plus art benefiting Veterans for Peace. Please do come. More deets on Plazm #29 here.

"THE END OF WAR": Publication + Exhibit/Benefit Sale
The phrase "the end of war" came to me as a challenge: what does it really mean to imagine the end of war? How would other artists interpret the phrase? We decided to publish a full section devoted to this in Plazm magazine #29, featuring writers and artists including Yoko Ono, Art Chantry, Marvin Bell, Sue Coe, Alex Lilly, Kristen Tsiatsios, Lidia Yuknavitch, David Tarkatover, Devora Neumark, Jamie McMurry, Magdalen Powers, and Rebeca Méndez and Adam Eeuwens.

Benefiting the organization Veterans for Peace, we'll have an "End of War" exhibit and sale at the Plazm #29 release party on September 26. We expect to display works on paper by David Eckard, Art Chantry, Storm Tharp, Kristan Kennedy, Philip Iosca, Horatio Law, and more.


INSTALLATION: Construct/Re-construct
Clare and I are delighted to be part of this show with such Portland artists as Horatio Law, Scott Wayne Indiana, Linda Wysong, Seth Nehil, and John Brodie. Rhoda London is curating this group show of "work that visually and/or conceptually expresses the building blocks that bring an idea to fruition and shows the artist in dialogue with his/her materials."

At Cathedral Park Place in St. Johns, Portland, Oregon, in the former Modern Zoo/Columbia Sportswear location. I believe the opening is Saturday, September 29 but will confirm that with a post to magdalen.com when I have the details.

2 GYRLZ QUARTERLY / 2GQ
The 2GQ website is looking for new writers & bloggers, so if you're into independent publishing, the intersections of performance and/or writing and/or new media and/or literature and/or poetry and/or fiction and/or experimental madness, please get in touch. Send email to 2007 (at) 2GQ.org with inquiries. Other 2GQ projects this year have included the Public Works series at the Someday Lounge and co-publication of "A Compendium of Miniatures" by Tiffany Lee Brown with book artist Clare Carpenter of Tiger Food Press.

GAY DECEIVERS @ TBA/THE WORKS, SEPT 12
Now, this was fun! I got to sit in on a womyn's drum circle sorta jam during the Gay Deceivers set at Wonder Ballroom last night. We all sat onstage throughout their set, so we got to see up-close just how freakin' great they and their videos were. I played two of my favourite instruments: Broken Toy Melodica (formerly owned by a Nat Hema) and Trippy Tibetan Bell (source unknown).

THE WALK
In August, I led a workshop called "The Walk" at the newly-opened West Coast residency for Goddard College's MFA-IA (Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts). Though my walking practice and the actions/interventions/stuff I do on these walks have a public aspect -- they are sometimes briefly visible on sidewalks, streets, & in cemeteries, parks, etc. -- I had been reluctant to explain the work, to make it official, to share it in any contextualized way. The Goddard residency was the perfect place to share the practice with like minds. I continue to work on the main body of these pieces, which are collectively entitled "I Will Follow You to the End of the Earth (and when we get there i won't let you fall)" and experiment with ways to manifest them beyond the ephemeral moments in which they are created.

MORE COMPENDIUM OF MINIATURES STUFF
Clare and I brought our "Compendium" project to the MFA in Creative Writing program at Pacific University, with a combined installation/performance and discussion. We're slated to appear at PNCA and at Clackamas Community College this fall as well.

THIS IS ABOUT ALL I CAN STAND,
So I'm going to stop writing now.

PUBLIC WORKS Calendar

I've been curating and performing in PUBLIC WORKS, a weekly series of live, raw works in progress, experiments, and improvisations. Join us for food, drinks, music, art, readings, film, and movement in an intimate setting.

2GQ presents Public Works
at the Someday Lounge
125 NW 5th Ave
Wednesdays, April 4-May 9
5:30-7 pm
Free

For more info, please see http://www.2GQ.org
Calendar appears here

=== PUBLIC WORKS ARTISTS ===

Works Corps:

TIFFANY LEE BROWN (writing/interdisciplinary)
CLARE CARPENTER (book arts)
LILY GAEL (performance/dance)
NORA ROBERTSON (writing/performance)
EMILY STONE (interdisciplinary/choreography)


Guest Artists:

PECOS B. (April 4) (poetry/hip hop)
GRACE CONSTANTINE (April 11) (belly dance)
ERIC HAUSMANN (April 18) (guitar/film)
JEMIAH JEFFERSON (April 25) (awesome vampire novels!)
JULIAN TULIP (May 2) (new wave + noise + lyric)
SARAH DOUGHER (May 9) (music/voice)
JOSHUA BERGER (May 9) (design/visual art)

MY NEW PERSONAL, COLLEGE, & MISC. BLOG

I'm keeping a new blog at

http://magdalen.blogs.com/goddard

for random links, personal stuff, and ongoing ephemera related to my experiences in the MFA program at Goddard College. Come on over, check it out, and post comments if you have any.

"LITERARY CASH" HITS THE SHELVES AT A BOOKSTORE NEAR YOU

My short story "Reno" appears in the anthology Literary Cash: Unauthorized Writings Inspired by the Legendary Johnny Cash (from Benbella Books' Smart Pop series, 2007).

Pick up a copy at your local independent bookstore, or my local independent bookstore which happens to have a huge selection and fab mail order service -- Powells.com, or if you're feeling sorry for them after their disastrous holiday season, Amazon.com.

NEW CONTACT INFO FOR ME...

Hi, this is Tiffany. Due to an absurd number of offers to decrease my girth in some areas of the body, increase it in others, find wealth by sending money to African nations beginning with "N," take on an impressive number of new mortgages with low low interest rates, and meld poetry with the names of pharmaceuticals available without a prescription, I've decided to shut down most of my active email addresses.

If you'd like to reach me, here is a recipe for re-creating my new email address. I'm hoping that the various spambots and spiders out there won't cook with it, but you, my clever friends, will have no problem.

RECIPE FOR CONTACTING MISS BROWN VIA EMAIL:

1 Domain Name
1 login name
1 "at" symbol (like this: @)

domain name:
Use the domain for this website. That's the thing that
follows "www" on the top of your screen. The word
before ".com".

login name:
Take the domain for this website, and add the number 23.
For example, if this was "tranqu1l1ty.com", the login name
would be " tranqu1l1ty23 ".

at symbol:
The alchemical symbol for "I want to send you this
photo of my dog, instantly" is, on American keyboards,
accessed by pressing the Shift key and the number 2
simultaneously, resulting in this sign: @

combine:
Place login name in email header, followed immediately by @.
Then add domain name. Results should look something like
"tranqu1l1ty23@tranqu1l1ty23.com" only using different words,
words that begin with "m."

Blend until batter is smooth.
Bake 23 minutes at 400 degrees or until golden Brown;
serve immediately. Slices may be stored indefinitely in freezer.

Recipe updates, should they be necessary, will appear
at www.magdalen.com.

-----
And if that fails, I can also be reached via the website of 2GQ, the non-profit arts & literature journal I edit. Look under "Contact" on the right-hand side.

Howdy, 2007.

New month, new year, new update. Here comes a big ol' long blog post for your casual reading enjoyment.

Summary: I'll be leading up a works-in-progress series at Someday Lounge this spring called Public Works… Clare Carpenter and I are putting out my first book… Women Take Back the Noise continues to make waves, radio and otherwise… the Johnny Cash book still isn't out… plus some thoughts about where I've ended up this year, artistically and personally.

I close a year of personal and artistic struggle with feelings of optimism. With encouragement and support from my faculty advisers and student community at Goddard College, where I'm earning my MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts, and from friends, family, and especially my partner, I've stepped away from familiar territory and into the sorts of murky depths that can lead to deeper work, "realer" work, or to complete insanity, depending how it all shakes out. It's been scary and frustrating at times, exhilarating and illuminating at others. The risks have included using media with which I am undeniably incompetent (including video), spending more time working and contemplating on a solo rather than collaborative/community basis, developing my relationship to the performance artist's inevitable documentation process, working with the intersection of personal trauma and healing artistic practices, and delving into dark and contradictory concepts--as manifests both in actual creative work and in the dogged, insistent mental clamour that is my intellect at work. I'm feeling both exhausted and a little more grounded after a year of that, and plan to combine that risk-taking with a few structured projects that put me back in collaborative and public contexts more often.

"A Compendium of Miniatures," my first book, will be published this year by 2GQ as a limited edition artist's book in collaboration with Clare Carpenter. We'll be presenting various readings and discussions about the collaborative process at Powell's Downtown, PNCA (Pacific Northwest College of Art), Pacific University's MFA in Creative Writing residency, Clackamas Community College's sustainability conference, and Borders Books. The book itself will be letterpressed, hardcover, case-bound by the artist. All copies in this extremely limited edition will be signed by artist and author. If you'd like to reserve one, please email me or 2GQ.

Details about the Public Works series can be found at 2GQ as well. Hope you'll come by and see the artists and writers at work. And be nice! Buy us a drink! You'll be getting in free. And it takes guts to bring unrefined, unfinished work before a random happy hour audience in Old Town.

The Women Take Back the Noise four-CD compilation continues to make waves, with shows, media coverage, and radio play. A big shootout, er, shout-out as the kids say, to white-hot DJ Ricardo Wang at KPSU in Portland for selecting my track from the compilation for his retrospective of 2006's experimental, noise, drone, and eclectic music. If you missed the "What's This Called" show live on 1450 AM or 98.3 FM, you can download the show here. Most of my music the last few years is released under the name Passiflora, and some of it is available for your downloading pleasure at corporatecollapse.com. (I recommend the Slumber group of songs, a collaboration with Derek Ecklund/Mesmer. Best to download them all, then listen all in a row. That's how they work properly on your brain.)

I continue working on projects and actions relating to walking, healing, trees, stumps, logging, home, trauma, catharsis, ritual, cemeteries, words, sidewalks, furtive art, ephemerality, life, death, and writing. At some point, I expect it will all reveal the secret of life, which is probably something like "Live a life you love, use a god you trust, and don't take it all too seriously." Meantime, it's interesting and relentless, muddy and sticky territory to explore.

As for my personal life: my partner and I had a great Hannukah season in Guatemala, a fabulous Thanksgiving on the Oregon Coast, a lovely family Christmas in Central Oregon, and a smashing New Year's Eve in our new/old home in Portland. Jessica led the traditional broom-sweeping out of that hectic, nasty old year; we all chased it out of the house with screams, hollers, and the clanging of pots & pans. We welcomed 2007 with fireworks, fake avant improv free jazz played on cardboard toot horns, and Veuve Clicquot. May you all have a brilliant new year! I plan to.

PS: I have no idea when the Johnny Cash book will actually, really be available. I'll let you know when it does and you can buy it and read my nice little story.

Women Take Back the Noise

The incredible "Women Take Back the Noise" compilation (Ubuibi Records) is finally out. My track "Belly," with Gail Buchanan, appears under my music name, Passiflora.

Ninah Pixie put together this three-CD set of experimental and noise oriented female musicians, including Cosey Fanni Tutti (Throbbing Gristle, Chris and Cosey, Coum Transmissions) and Fe-Mail. Pixie also soldered together one of the wildest pieces of packaging you have ever experienced! It has its own bit of circuit bending in the form of a "noise cookie"; you can fondle the clitlike metal at the center of a flower to make delightful tweaks of noise. It's even got a line out. Yay! Very limited edition of 1000, numbered; includes stickers, pouch, and other finery.

SEPTEMBER UPDATE

Hello, all! I'm just back in from a hectic latesummer & settling back into Portland. Burning Man was brilliant; this year, I drove there with Enrique of Soriah and then camped with a smashing group of performers, artists, and an opera director, from Seattle and San Francisco, including Kristen Tsiatsios and Vanessa DeWolf.

In addition to performing actions and mad shadow puppet theatre with those fabulosas, I enacted the Burqua Walk with photographer Steve Fritz. Photos will be posted as available.

The photos here are also by Steve, stills from my "Let Settle and Open Slowly" piece at the Richard Foreman Mini-Festival at Performance Works NW in August 2006. The other theatre-performed piece I did in August was "Please Rescue Me" at Goddard College in Vermont.

Also, my Bold-Sky reading this month has been cancelled (Bold-Sky closed down). I am not planning any scheduled, official public performances or appearances for the near future. But I'll be writing about TBA (the Time Based Art festival) in Willamette Week and other publications.

My short story "Reno" will be published in Literary Cash: Writings Inspired by the Legendary Johnny Cash, an anthology of works inspired by Johnny Cash and his writings (BenBella Books). Pre-order here. Northwest Edge: a new edition of Northwest Edge is out from Chiasmus Press, including my short story "Jack & Camaro." The book includes a DVD as well. Buy from Powell's here. And there's also Plazm 28 to consider. Jon Raymond, Joshua Berger, and I have made a nice treat for you. It's the 28th issue of Plazm magazine.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

Artist's/Writer's/Person's Statement
Tiffany Lee Brown
August 2006

The creative impulse will hit its chosen artist with a full-body slam, demanding to be manifested as a book, a conceptual performance, a song, a series of newspapers, a game, a guerrilla action, a feast prepared for one thousand invitees. The creative impulse sees no barriers between different media and genres. More importantly, it can channel seemingly disparate elements into the service of a common concept.

I primarily channel the creative impulse through writing, performance, furtive actions, independent publications, online media, music, installations, and events. Ritual acts, collaborative processes, and improvisational experiments figure prominently in my practice. My work explores themes including transformation, language, boundaries, permeability, and ephemerality. I've been an official carrier of a 44% "Permanent Partial Disability Rating" for 15 years (due to fibromyalgia, bipolar disorder, and a severe case of bilateral tendonitis in my arms); now health-related issues are emerging at the forefront of my art, my life, and my daily practice.

Working from personal values of integrity, expansiveness, and responsibility, I hope to effect positive change in the larger world by opening my own little window of experience to audiences and readers. Above all, I strive for the courage to be honest in my work—honest to bashful intimacies and rollicking stories, sweet banalities and exuberant adventures, small-scale achievements and large-scale horrors—honest to all the strange and beautiful things that make us human.

WELCOME TO THE NEW SITE

Welcome to my new home at www.magdalen.com. The former well.com site will no longer be updated.

For August happenings, please see the "July Update" entry below. Enjoy the rest of the summer!

July Update

Seeking Help:

Please email me directly if interested.
Transcriptionist (Contract), Portland, ASAP. Please state rate (hourly or by word) in your email.
Editorial & arts intern, Portland. Unpaid internship in Portland area beginning fall. I will sign for your college credit if applicable.
Editorial & web intern, online and/or in Portland, to work on 2GQ.org. I will sign for your college credit if applicable.

Upcoming Events:

Annie Bloom's Books, Portland
July 12. Opening performance with Emily Stone, followed by a Edie Meidav reading.

Northwest Edge III Release Party, Portland
July 20. Reading/performance as Chiasmus Press presents the newest NW Edge anthology at Disjecta.

The Richard Foreman Fest, Portland
August 11. Unbeatable ontological-hysteric hilarity at Performance Works NW. I will perform in Friday's lineup only.

Burning Man Festival, Black Rock City, Nevada
August 30-September 4. Look for the sparkling burqua and bare feet. That will be me.

Bold-Sky, Portland
September 27. Reading at Bold-Sky series, relocated.

Forthcoming Publications:

Northwest Edge
My short story "Jack & Camaro" appears in the third Northwest Edge anthology from Chiasmus Press, out this month. The book includes a DVD as well.

Literary Cash: Writings Inspired by the Legendary Johnny Cash
I have a short story, "Reno," appearing in an anthology of works inspired by Johnny Cash and his writings (BenBella Books). Pre-order here.

Other Projects:

Plazm 28
Jon Raymond, Joshua Berger, and I have made a nice treat for you. It's the 28th issue of Plazm magazine.

A Compendium of Miniatures
I'm writing this book in collaboration with letterpress and book artist Clare Carpenter, to be published in limited edition by 2GQ in late 2006/early 2007.

Statements & Other Actions
February 2006 + ongoing. Series of actions and performed words ("Statements" series) in Oregon, Vermont, and elsewhere.

Visual Chronicle of Portland
The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) invited me to sit on their selection committee, so I've been viewing slides 2D, pdx-centric art with a bunch of lovely folks like skate/graff artist/Zeitgeist founder Paul Fujita, painter Michael Brophy, and photographer Jim Lommasson. It's pretty wild being the selection committee's token non-visual-artist; I'll be there 3 years, and hope to see more submissions from a wider selection of Portland artists. Start planning now for next year, artists & photographers. Details at racc.org.

Tonight: Reading at Borders Books

i'll be reading at Borders Bookstore, SW 3rd & Morrison in downtown Portland on June 12 at 7 pm, together with Paulann Petersen and Jay Thiemeyer. come on down.

tif

Guest Editor, Plazm * http://www.plazm.com/magazine/
PLAZM 15th Anniversary PARTY: June 24 @ Disjecta

Phase One @ Towne Lounge, Portland

Phase One: this weekend.

hello, peeps! i'll be doing a short performance-thingy around 9:15, and a short reading later (say at 11?). for those volunteering in the performance bit: please show up at 9 pm, grab a beer, and wait for instructions from the stage. you'll be kneeling or sitting on the floor for a couple minutes, so miniskirts might not be the best idea. it will be swift, painless, and fun. and thank you!

Phase One (Words + Music)

Stacy Levine -- Tiffany Lee Brown -- Corrina Wycoff -- Deborah Woodard -- Robert Medina

Sunday May 28 @ Towne Lounge
"The Place with the Green Light"
714 SW 20th Pl, just south of Burnside
Portland, OR 97205 (503) 241-8696

Update, Readings, & Publications

Upcoming Events:

Literary Cafe (Radio broadcast + streaming)
March 6, 9:30 pm. I'm among the women writers interviewed on this episode of the Literary Cafe. KMUN 91.9 FM Astoria, or online streaming at kmun.org

Words & Music at Towne Lounge, Portland
May 28. Performing words + music with Stacey Levine, Deborah Woodard, & Corrina Wycoff

Bold-Sky, Portland
September 27. Reading at Bold-Sky series.


Forthcoming Publications:

A Compendium of Miniatures
I'm writing this book in collaboration with letterpress and book artist Clare Carpenter, to be published in limited edition by 2GQ in late 2006.

Northwest Edge
I expect to have two fiction pieces in the third Northwest Edge anthology from Chiasmus Press.

Man in Black
And a short story, "Reno," in an anthology of works inspired by Johnny Cash and his writings (BenBella Books).


Current Projects:

Plazm 28
Plazm magazine returns this spring! I'm editing a new issue in collaboration with Jon Raymond and art director Joshua Berger. Stay tuned for details.

Soapstone
This month, I'll be on a residency at Soapstone, the women writers retreat founded by Ursula K. LeGuin. Here's to writing in the woods in near solitude!

2GQ
Performance, literature, local events, & other good things are happening at 2GQ.org. Clare and I are also working on a book of our own work (see below).

Visual Chronicle of Portland
The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) invited me to sit on their selection committee, so I've been viewing slides 2D, pdx-centric art with a bunch of lovely folks like skate/graff artist/Zeitgeist founder Paul Fujita, painter Michael Brophy, and photographer Jim Lommasson. It's pretty wild being the selection committee's token non-visual-artist; I'll be there 3 years, and hope to see more submissions from a wider selection of Portland artists. Start planning now for next year, art-peeps. Details at http://www.racc.org/publicart/collections.php.

MFA-IA
I've begun a Master's degree program and hope to earn my MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts within the next 2.5 years.

Literary Cafe, March 6 on the air

I was recently interviewed for Kerri Buckley's monthly show on Oregon Coast radio, the Literary Café. This month, Kerri features women writers in honour of Women's History Month. Broadcasting Monday, March 6th at 9:30 pm Pacific Time, the show can be heard online at kmun.org or on the airwaves on KMUN 91.9 FM Astoria, KMUN in Wheeler and Manzanita at 88.9FM; and on KTCB in Tillamook at 89.5 FM.

Bike Nazis in the Oregonian

My "Commuting Etiquette" commentary for Portland's daily newspaper, The Oregonian, about bicyclists vs. car drivers vs. Tri Met buses vs. pedestrians, has fanned the flames of our vicious local transportation war. Join in the fun at a blog near you! I even earned a spot on a muttering right-wing Republican blog, where I'm called a "communist coffee drinking Critical Mass supporter" yet quoted at length. On the brighter side, the piece is also being used in an educational forum as an example of how to write clear, persuasive prose. All this fun for one little rant! It almost makes me want to give up poetry.

Reading at Clackamas College

Writer, performer, editor, and interdisciplinary artist Tiffany Lee Brown will read Tuesday, February 21 at 7:30 pm in the Winklesky Literary Arts Center at Clackamas Community College. She will read from two new works-in-progress and from her ongoing interdisciplinary project about bipolar disorder, CANDY BLUE.

Brown is currently the editor of 2GQ and is editing the spring 2006 issue of Plazm magazine, in collaboration with Jon Raymond. Her writing appears in periodicals including Utne, Bookforum, Tin House, and Venus, and in books and anthologies such as The Bust Guide to the New Girl Order (Penguin, 1999), The Clear Cut Future (Clear Cut Press, 2003), Northwest Edge: Fictions of Mass Destruction (Chiasmus, 2004), and Covert Culture (St. Martin's, 1996). Her performances have been presented at Performance Works NW, the Portland Rose Festival, Enteractive Language Festival, the Dark Arts festival, and Burning Man, among others.


READING URL:
http://depts.clackamas.edu/english/2006/02/tiffany-lee-brown-ccc.html


DIRECTIONS:
Clackamas Community College
19600 South Molalla Avenue, Oregon City
Winklesky Literary Arts Center
Roger Rook Hall, Room 220

Campus Map: http://www.clackamas.edu/maps/campus/

Directions from Central Portlandia:
* Take SE MARTIN LUTHER KING JR BLVD / OR-99E S. for 4.7 miles
* Merge onto OR-224 / CLACKAMAS HWY / SE MILWAUKIE EXPY toward CLACKAMAS / ESTACADA. Drive 4.0 miles.
* Merge onto OR-213 S (toward I-205 S / OREGON CITY / OR-224 / ESTACADA.)
Drive 3.4 miles on 213.
* Merge onto OR-213 / CASCADE HWY S via EXIT 10 toward PARK PLACE / MOLALLA. Drive about 4 miles.
* Turn RIGHT onto MOLALLA AVE. Drive .1 miles.
* The road inside the campus curves gently right. At the roundabout, take a right and park in the 2-hour lot.
* Roger Rook Hall is the nearest building, due east.

CANDY BLUE: Tongue premieres this week

CANDY BLUE: Tongue

A performance piece by Tiffany Lee Brown
featuring Nurse Kitty as herself

Friday, 25 November
Liberty Hall, 311 N. Ivy St
(1.5 blocks west of Vancouver Ave, 1 block south of N. Fremont)
7-11 pm, all ages, FREE

The Language of Con$umption
at the Enteractive Language Festival
Celebrate International Buy Nothing Day
with 2 Gyrlz Performative Arts
& the Portland Cacaphony Society

Performances by Micah Perry (Cliché au Lait)
Make toys for the infamous SantaCon rampage
Music with DJ Try My Cabbage
Confess your con$umer sins in exchange for Mmmm, Beer!

More about EL-fest: www.2gyrlz.org

CANDY BLUE
CANDY BLUE is an interdisciplinary exploration of bipolar disorder, also known as manic depressive illness. EL-fest 2005 sees the premiere of the second performative episode, "Tongue." The first episode, "Belly," debuted at Performance Works NW in Spring 2005. The spoken word and noise soundtrack for "Belly" will appear on Oakland-based Ubuibi Records compilation Women Take Back the Noise this winter. In addition to future performances, the CANDY BLUE project will encompass a collaborative book with award-winning book designer Joshua Berger and an online performative publishing experiment.

TIFFANY LEE BROWN
Tiffany Lee Brown is a writer, performer, and interdisciplinary artist based in Portland. She has performed and presented collaborative work at Performance Works NW, PICA, the Portland Rose Festival, the Irish Drama Association Festival, the Burning Man festival, and in EL-fest every year since its founding. Her writing is published in The Clear Cut Future, Gargoyle, NW Edge: Fictions of Mass Destruction, Slow Trains, and Tin House, among others. The editor of 2 Gyrlz Quarterly (2GQ), Tiffany is the recipient of the Mark Goodson Award for Distinguished Theatrical Talent, a grant from the City of Portland, and residencies to Caldera and Soapstone. She is bipolar.

NURSE KITTY
Nurse Kitty is an actual psychiatric RN who understands the asymmetry of the relationship between mental health providers and clients. She seeks to illuminate this dilemma by participating in "CANDY BLUE: Tongue." In real life, Kitty aligns herself and her practice with the client's goals, and seeks to compassionately care for her clients in all stages of life, health, and illness.

BUY NOTHING DAY
International Buy Nothing Day is an informal annual day of protest against consumerism observed by some social activists, a day when participants refrain from purchasing anything during one day. It was founded by Vancouver artist Ted Dave and subsequently evangelised by the Canadian Adbusters magazine. The idea behind the event is to focus on the plight of the world's poor, and on what the organisers see as the wasteful consumption habits of the First World. Celebrants often observe the day not only by not buying things but through culture jamming activities like the Whirl-Mart and other forms of radical expression. In the US and Canada, Buy Nothing Day supporters celebrate on the day after American Thanksgiving. That day, often called "Black Friday", is one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

Upcoming Performances - EL-fest

I will be hosting an event November 3, and performing November 25 and November 27, at EL-fest in Portland. The Enteractive Language Festival calendar is now available on the 2 Gyrlz website.

2GQ presents "Regarding Language," a very special night of readings, performances, and word games at the Heathman Hotel Tea Room on First Thursday, November 3. Dress exquisitely! For details, click here.

In addition to hosting "Re:Lang," I'll be performing a performance piece called "Tongue," part of the Candy Blue series about bipolar disorder, at The Language of Con$umeri$m. I'll also play music as part of the alpha wave-inducing orchestra in Brain Waves Speaking the Language of Slumber.

Katrina Benefit Reading Oct 16

I'll be reading at the writers' Katrina Benefit on Sunday, October 16th, at the ACME in Portland (SE 8th and Main). I should go on sometime in the 3:15-4:30 slot. Details TK.

I'm in the new Gargoyle...

The latest installment of DC-based literary journal Gargoyle is a gorgeous, mammoth anthology of some 500 pages. My story "Mary's Egg" is published therein. The book features newly-discovered unpublished work by Kathy Acker along with poetry and fiction from Lidia Yuknavitch, Rick Moody, Lance Olsen, Trevor Dodge, Naomi Shihab Nye, Kevin Sampsell, and many others. Available from
amazon.com.

Soapstone Residency Announcement

I'm delighted to report that Soapstone, a residency retreat for women writers, has selected me for a residency in 2006. Thank you, Soapstone!

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES & EVENTS

July 1: Performing improvisational music + words at The Gone Orchestra's reunion show onKBOO 90.7 FM, in Portland and streamed online. Midnight. (Portland + Internet)

Aug 12-13: The Richard Foreman Mini-Festival at Performance Works NW. "Some of the most adventurous talents of the Portland area create short pieces based on text from avant-garde playwright/director Richard Foreman...assigned only 10 days prior to the show! Participants include Linda Austin & the Boris & Natasha Dancers, Gregg Bielemeier, Kerry Sorci, Tracy Broyles & Christine Calfas, Tim DuRoche & Lisa Radon, Catherine Egan, Tiffany Lee Brown, Heather Perkins, Byran Eubanks, David Abel, Bonnie Merrill & Merril Lynn Taylor. Katie Griesar & Danielle Vermette, Angelle Hebert & Phillip Kraft. Different show each night." I'll probably be on Saturday. (Portland)

Aug 28-Sep 6: Burning Man/BORG2.
Various performances, solo & with Soriah. (Black Rock City, Nevada)

Autumn, date TBD: "Belly," a sound/music collaboration between me-as-Passiflora and Gail Buchanan, to appear on the Ubuibi Records compilation Women Take Back the Noise, which includes exclusive tracks from Cosey Fanni Tutti and others. "Belly" is based on a performance text that is part of my ongoing CANDY BLUE interdisciplinary piece about bipolar disorder.

Oct 27-Nov 27: The fourth & final Enteractive Language Festival (EL-fest). (Portland)

Nov 3: Celebrate First Thursday with RE: Language, an EL-fest show produced by moi & 2 Gyrlz Quarterly. Participants include Lance & Andi Olsen; more readers & artists TBD. (Portland)

Nov 25: Debuting "Tongue", the second performance piece for my ongoing interdisciplinary work about bipolar disorder, CANDY BLUE. Part of The Language of Consumption and International Buy Nothing Day.

BOOKS, BREAKS, & BELLIES

3-part Update:

Water Line Press has just published The Human Growth Experiment, a hardcover anthology collection featuring myself and 6 other Northwest women poets. It is currently available at Eagle Harbor Books on Bainbridge Island (call +1 206 842 5332).

Also, thanks to all who attended Cabaret Boris & Natasha a few weeks back (and thanks for your very kind words about it). Debuting "Belly," Part the First of my "Candy Blue" performance project was a bit scary, but I'm glad I could do it in a supportive environment with a full house.

Last up: my tendonitis & other health problems are preventing me from typing and writing at present. If you see no posts here, or I don't answer your email, that's why. I'm down to awful dictation software and some typing help from friends and 2GQ interns. (Thanks fer the help, kids!)

Kevin Tours, Charlie Speaks.

This weblog is primarily devoted to flogging my own precious projects and publications, but I'll provide pointers to other stuff occasionally. Please see my Magdalen Sez website if you'd like to read regular rantings and ridiculous reflections.

Anyhow: my charming & talented Portlandia writer friends Kevin Sampsell and Charles D'Ambrosio have upcoming events you should know about. Kevin will tour the country with The Insomnia Reader, which he just edited for Manic D Press. Tour info is on McSweeney's; it kicks off Feb 10 in Portland at Powell's Hawthorne at 7:30 pm.

Unfortunately, that's the same night Mr.D'Ambrosio will celebrate the publication of his knockout essay collection, Orphans, by the delightful Northwest upstart Clear Cut Press. (By "essays," they mean gorgeous and hilarious meditations on life in the Northwest, life as a writer, life in the rain—wonderful stuff.) The party features readings by the author and Stacey Levine, films by Matt McCormick, and music by someone sekrit. 7:30 pm, New American Art Union, on SE Ankeny between 9th and 10th in Portland.

EXQUISITE LANGUAGE AVAILABLE ON POWELLS.COM

2 Gyrlz Quarterly's "Exquisite Language" issue is now available from Powells.com for a mere $6.95.

Features exquisite corpses from dozens of musicians and writers: Poppy Z. Brite, Alan Sparhawk (Low), Jessica Bailiff, Nate Query (Decemberists), Douglas Wolk, Douglas Rushkoff, Alaura O'Dell (formerly of Psychic TV), Elissa Schappell, Julian Tulip, Rob Tannenbaum, Richard Speer.

Plus Burning Man... DECLASSIFIED: free subversive art postcard!... Northwest festivals, new fiction by Susannah Breslin, interview with David Chandler (DJ Brokenwindow/Solenoid), reviews, more.

Each issue features a letterpressed cover and was hand-bound by yours truly and a staff of gorgeous young nymphs. For more info, t-shirt sales, subscriptions, please see our site at 2GQ.org.

Upcoming Appearances

THIS WEEK, JANUARY 20: During the Inauguration Day Protests in the streets of Portland, I'll be celebrating Emperor Bush's re-coronation by singing in a ritual performance based on the Tibetan Nechung Oracle Ceremony, with Soriah and other performers. Go check out the parades downtown and in the North Park Blocks, late afternoon.

SAVE THE DATE: Yrs truly is threatening to perform at Cabaret Boris & Natasha at Performance Works NW on March 4-5. Shows start early at 7 pm. I've also been asked to read at Wordstock April 23-24, though that's still tentative.

I'm safe; thanks for asking.

I arrived home from India and Thailand before the tsunami hit. Thank you for your concerned emails. Though we all spent a week in a beach village that was wiped out, I and all my friends are safe. (Even the ones who were in Sri Lanka for the wave...)

Gargoyles, Weddings, & Bill Hicks

Newsbits from the Land o' Tif: I'll be away for a while and it's unlikely I'll post. Instead, I should be lighting candles and floating them down Thai rivers during the Loi Krathong festival in Sawankhalok and being part of my friends' wedding in Chennai, India.

Writing: Gargoyle editor Richard Peabody claims he's going to publish my story "Mary's Egg" this winter. Hurrah! I know it's fashionable for writers to pretend to hate their work, but I actually love this odd little slip of a thing and I'm delighted she'll be out there in print soon.

And: our friends at the Stare network have partnered with Soft Skull Press on a new project about the amazing comedian Bill Hicks. Perhaps you'll be contributor? Read more at whatwouldbillhickssay.com.

Event Photos - Exquisite Language

Among our performers were:
Haiku Inferno
Sarah Dougher
Linda Austin; also below, with WW review
Nora McCrea, pictured left

Our delightful patrons included a cute baby, a balcony full of splendid people, raffle winners & raff-MCs, and that cute baby & friends again. Plus we created and read aloud Magnetic Poetry.

Our crew included the charming Tamara reprising her duties as 2GQ's official Raffle Elf, 2 Gyrlz Quarterly consulting art director Josh Berger, Andrew Hansen on sound with Technical Director Jonathan Wright, and Magnetic MC Miss Tif Eye.