As you read this, DTLAB should be wrapping up our July schedule. Last event of July will be our 34th event. And the month will close beautifully with an Evening of Ramadan Poetry. The reading will consist of a dozen readers (at least), curated by Tanzila Ahmed and Naazneen Diwan.
For the month of Ramadan this year, a group of poets decided to partake in Poetry-A-Day for Ramadan, creating one piece of poetry/prose/art each day in an effort to reflect and meditate on the holy month. There are no rules, except to create something daily.
I can’t think of a better way to wrap up an amazing (and challenging) month of July. So if you’re reading this before Thursday night has passed, come join us at Traxx Bar for what promises to be a beautiful night.
BUT!
I wanted to take a little break from filling you in on what’s been going on with DTLAB (you probably needed the break anyway) and let you know of a project that Writ Large Press, and yes, DTLAB, has thrown our support behind.
Performance artist, social activist, and our dear friend Kristina Wong has kicked off an insane and amazing Kickstarter project.
She is raising funds to buy two (2) ridiculously expensive court side tickets to ONE Lakers game in the upcoming season…so she can will her true love, Jeremy Lin, into marrying her. It is sheer LINSANITY.
Don’t worry. She’s not a stalker. In fact, Kickstarter thought she was a stalker and originally rejected her project.
But she had to point out to them that she is an artist. Furthermore, she was just being a fan like any other crazy face-painted fan at a sporting event.
TO BE CLEAR: This project is a self-satirizing critique of fandom, class and access, racial stereotypes, gender and the institution of marriage. Jeremy Lin is a public figure who many people are obsessed with and project the meaning of their own lives onto. There will be other fans in the stadium who will yell his name, wear an outrageous costume, or scream “I want to have your baby!”– this is all within the bounds of being a basketball fan. Everything that I am proposing in this performance art project also falls within the bounds of being a basketball fan. I will not forcibly make contact or threaten Jeremy Lin, nor break any laws or rules of conduct in the Staples Center. I will do as I have done in previous iterations of this project… WILL him to notice me with tongue-in-cheek humor.
Where does WLP/DTLAB come in? Well, we will be hosting the “wedding”!!!
So give a few bucks! Give a thousand!! GIVE HER YOUR COURTSIDE LAKERS SEATS IF YOU HAVE THEM!!!
In case you don’t know who she is, you should. Here are a couple of videos to introduce you to the irresistible force that is Kristina Wong.
Kickstarter: I Will Marry Jeremy Lin
