Audrey Penven

The Impossible Girl – Kim Boekbinder

audrey — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:25:41 +0000

In October, Kim Boekbinder came to San Francisco as part of her Impossible Tour. I photographed the show at the Brick and Mortar Music Hall, and posted them here a short time later. But, the day before her show was a day of glitter and photographs. I’m so excited to finally share what we created that day. Here’s a few of my favorites. The full set follows below.

credits:
Audrey Penven – photography
Kim Boekbinder – modeling, being sparkly and fantastic
QTR Nevermore – lighting assistance, glitter throwing

Edwardian Ball, San Francisco, 2012

audrey — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:52:57 +0000

The 12th annual Edwardian Ball spanned three nights. It started off on Thursday, January 19, at the DNA Lounge with Hubba Hubba Revue’s “Wild West Burlesque.” There were clowns, aerial acts, Le Cancan Bijou, knife throwing, and a drunken Edgar Allen Poe.

On Friday night, the Edwardian World’s Faire at the Regency Ballroom. I arrived just in time for this stunning double trapeze act by the Flynn Creek Circus.

Some time later, I went for a ride on Cyclecide’s bicycle merry go round.

For Saturday night was the ball itself. Dark Garden’s Unfortunate Heiresses fashion show, directed by B.Todi featured the work of Kalico DeLafay and Holly Bobisuthi. My photographs were projected as a backdrop for the show.

Enchanting, as always, Jill Tracy was the next to take the stage. She debuted a new song called “The Colour of the Flame”.

While Jill Tracy played this song, Sasha of the Vau de Vire Society, performed on the aerial silks.

The night was filled with more performances, music, costumes and friends. Click through to see the rest of the photos.

Hubba Hubba Revue

Edwardian World’s Faire (Friday)

Edwardian Ball (Saturday)

Stripmall Architecture and Return to Mono

audrey — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 06:53:25 +0000

On Friday night, my original plan was just to go to my first static trapeze class and then go home for the night. Instead, I decided to Do All The Things because Stripmall Architecture (with Unwoman on cello) and Return to Mono were performing at the Rickshaw Stop. So, I shot my first show of the year. Here’s some of my favorite photos from the night. The full set follows below.

Stripmall Architecture

Return to Mono

2011 – a year of many things

audrey — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 10:21:30 +0000

It’s the first day of 2012. Inspired by Molly Crabapple’s post, I decided to write my own post about 2011. At the end of 2010, there was a giant thing I could point to and say, “I helped make that happen.” Since 2011 was a year of many smaller projects, it feels important to take the time to recognize those things.

This was my first year with a digital camera that actually makes me happy – the Sony Alpha 850. I decided to get it after Neil Girling let me play with his. The physical UI was incredibly intuitive, and felt similar to many of the film SLRs I’ve used. I spent the end of 2010 saving up for it, bought it on New Year’s Eve, and received it in early January.

The Post Yule Pyre was one of the first things I shot with my new camera.

That same night, I got a tour of the Defenestration building. I see this wonderful piece by Brian Goggin every day. Getting to walk around the space was really cool.

I made a ridiculous dress for the The Edwardian Ball. The skirt ended up being a gigantic fractal thing made of small triangles of fabric. The construction method made the hemline get longer every time I added another triangle. I haven’t made many dresses, so it was a Learning Experience. Neil Girling took this photo of me wearing it at the ball.

I took photos at the ball as well. This is one of my favorites:

I took a trip to NYC and NJ to visit family and friends. I reconnected with some important people in my life, and walked around one of my favorite cities. Here’s Jim Campbell’s Scattered Light in the snow.

On my trip to the east coast, I read all of Warren Ellis’s Transmetropolitan in preparation for a photoshoot to be done immediately upon returning to San Francisco. I was invited to contribute to a Transmet art book called All Around the World. This is the first time my work has been published in a book, which was really exciting.

In March, I participated in a Syzygryd run at Beyond Wonderland. With the Ardent Heavy Industries crew, I helped with repairs and improvements to the sculpture, and went to San Bernadino for setup and teardown. During the event, I took photographs of Syzygryd and the other art pieces.

I did a shoot with Meredith Yayanos and Dan Cantrell of The Parlour Trick.

My first solo show, Dancing With Invisible Light opened on April 1 at Pictopia.

I leveled up in fabrication skills by taking a welding class and learning to use a laser cutter at TechShop.

At the end of April, I photographed the box trucks of Lost Horizon Night Market in Oakland. This photo is from a western saloon.

At the Bay Area Maker Faire, I shared a table with Meredith Scheff. I showed Dancing With Invisible Light prints and explained the process of creating the images with a Kinect and an infrared camera.

In June, I projected lace shadows in a staircase for a shoot with Jill Tracy. Mike Estee and I designed and built a slide projecting device to use with a flash. Jill later used some photographs from this set in her new website design.

June 18 was the 5 year anniversary game of Journey to the End of the Night. I helped out with checkpoint 2B where the players created a graffiti wall.

In July, I did a shoot with Jill Tracy and David J. These photos haven’t been posted publicly yet.

In August, I danced in a crowd for a Sleepytime Gorilla Museum film called “The Last Human Being”.

Nicole Aptekar created a series of laser-cut paper artworks for a show at Satellite 66. I photographed these pieces for her.

A group of us in San Francisco came up with a plan to bring Hannah Hart of My Drunk Kitchen to San Francisco. She hosted a gameshow, “My Drunk Iron Chef Kitchen”. I photographed this event at Chez Poulet. A blog post about this is coming soon. Until then, the full set of photos is here.

When Sleep No More was scheduled to end in the first week of September, some friends and I came up with a plan to see it. This involved throwing the Coilhouse fundraiser party, the Black and White and Red All Over Ball, in NYC. I helped out with some planning and setup, and took photographs during the event.

I made another ridiculous dress, this one for the Black and White and Red All Over Ball and inspired by the Constructivist theme of Coilhouse Issue 6. That’s me in the back on the left. I also made Nicole’s dress. (photo by Steve Prue)

At Burning Man, I camped with Death Guild and photographed fights in Thunderdome.

Back in San Francisco, I signed up for an Intro to Aerial Skills class at Circus Center. The class ended in the beginning of December. I’m stronger now than I’ve ever been, and I’m capable of doing some interesting things in the air.

I did a glittery shoot with Kim Boekbinder when she was in San Francisco for her Impossible Tour. The photos from the shoot aren’t posted yet, but here’s one after we joined in with an Occupy San Francisco march down Market Street.

I taught myself python and got involved in a few software projects.

Myrrh Larsen came to San Francisco for a show, and we did a rooftop photoshoot with costume and photo assistance by QTRNevermore (she’s helped me with many shoots this past year).

Frustrated with the quality of articles about women artists on Wikipedia, I finally created an account and started editing.

2011 had the usual assortment of event photography, with quite a bit of burlesque (primarily Hubba Hubba Revue), concerts, and circus performances.

Among other Occupy Wall Street solidarity events in the Bay Area, I participated in the West Coast Port Shut Down, marching to the Port of Oakland on December 12.

I’m sure I’ve forgotten to include some things, but this is a pretty good review of the year. I collaborated with many amazing people. I did things that were new and difficult for me. The year was wonderful and terrible, sometimes both at once. In the last moments of 2011, Eden Gallanter gave me a tarot reading with the beautiful deck she made. It was the perfect way to end the year and give me hope for 2012. At midnight, I stood on the roof with some of my closest friends, watching fireworks in the distance, feeling the pulse of a living city. I’m excited about another year with these people who inspire me constantly

Lots of people helped make 2011 what it was. Thank you to all my collaborators, friends, and family. I love you all.

Echoes Made Visible

audrey — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 08:17:02 +0000

In November 2010, Bill Fontana’s Sonic Shadows was installed in SFMOMA. Ambient sounds of the museum itself danced across the walls and through people’s heads. For the last days of the installation, Deborah Slater choreographed Echoes Made Visible, a performance for the partially transparent fifth floor bridge over the atrium. Watched from below, the seemingly weightless dancers moved through angles and light. These photographs are from the 3:00pm November 5, 2011 performance.

Dancers: Melissa Caywood, Kelly Kemp, Wendy Rein

Kim Boekbinder at the Brick and Mortar Music Hall

audrey — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:12:14 +0000

Kim Boekbinder played the first show of her Impossible Tour in San Francisco on October 16, 2011, at the Brick and Mortar Music Hall. The tour was pre-sold on Kickstarter. For a show to happen, enough people in had to fund it. San Francisco was one of the first shows to be successfully funded. The love was really obvious that night. Together, we brought her to San Francisco, and she played a really amazing show.

Occupy Oakland and San Francisco

audrey — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 22:34:35 +0000

I wasn’t there on the night of October 25, when police used tear gas and rubber bullets against peaceful protesters as they marched through downtown Oakland. Working late in San Francisco, I watched in horror as my twitter stream exploded with first-hand accounts of what was happening there. Read more on Boing Boing. That article has a collection of excellent photos and many links that tell more of the story.

Prepared for a long night, I joined Occupy Oakland’s General Assembly after the park had been reclaimed. The crowd was huge and in good spirits. A thousand voices spoke at once as the People’s Mic. I heard and repeated the message that the people in Tahrir Square in Egypt planned to march in solidarity with Oakland. My eyes watered then, and I cried a few days later when their photos were posted.

Another announcement in the General Assembly was that Occupy San Francisco was being threatened with a late night raid by the police. MUNI buses full of cops were staged nearby. They needed more people on the ground in Justin Herman Plaza. So, many of us crossed the bay to join them.

Upon arrival, a friend asked if I had the phone number for the National Lawyers Guild written on me yet. I rolled up a sleeve, and he wrote it for me. All throughout the night, there were people wandering through the crowd with sharpies, making sure everyone had the number.

Rumor spread through the crowd that the buses full of police had moved to Treasure Island. No one had photos or could say this for sure, so Aaron Muszalski and Ian Baker drove to Treasure Island to confirm. The rumor was true. They posted photos. Ian asked them what they were doing on Treasure Island. Their answer was “training exercise”. They followed the cops when they moved, keeping us updated with twitter. As they headed toward San Francisco, the crowd formed a protective ring around the camp. Eventually it became clear that a raid was unlikely and the camp was safe for the night.

Full set from Oakland:

Full set from San Francisco:

Release party for Unwoman’s Uncovered album

audrey — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:26:42 +0000

Uncovered Volume 1 is the latest album by Unwoman (Erica Mulkey). She recorded cello versions of songs written before she turned 15. On the Kickstarter page for this project, she said, “They all recall a specific juvenile or teenage moment of musical connection and identification. Recording them now that I’m a grown-up is particularly special.”

Every retelling of a story changes it in some way. While the songs were familiar pieces of a 1980s childhood, they also feel very new. Also, she made me like a Michael Jackson song. Anyone who knows me should know that’s not an easy thing to do.

On September 29, 2011, Unwoman had a release party for the album at The Uptown in Oakland. The night included guest musicians (Felix Macnee, Laela Peterson-Stolen, and Whitney Moses), dance performances (Laura Elisabeth, Amina Zareh, Irina Xara, Isa Shisha, Natalie Nayun, and Mo Awobo), and visuals by Mediapathic.

Hubba Hubba Revue: That Old Time Religion

audrey — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:00:45 +0000

For the July Hubba Hubba Revue at the DNA Lounge, the theme was “That old Time Religion”. As usual, it was a hilarious and sexy show.

It was an absolute joy to photograph Kara Nova’s act. Her skill and strength is incredible.

Jenny Atomik did an amazing rope performance.

See the rest of the photos after the jump.

Soriah, Jill Tracy, and Mercury’s Antennae at the Red Devil Lounge

audrey — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 08:00:04 +0000

I first heard Soriah at Orbis Nex when that place still existed. The room was full of thick fog and was lit by candles. Accompanied by dancers wearing feathers, his voice vibrated through the room. It was an intense and magical night. When Jill Tracy announced that she was performing with Soriah, I knew I had to go.

They performed at the Red Devil Lounge last Wednesday (September 21, 2011). The red and black space felt perfect for this show.

The night opened with a set by Mercury’s Antennae.

Jill Tracy performed next. Any night that I get to attend one of her performances is truly a delight. Soriah joined her on stage for a song or two, which was beautiful.

Soriah is a performer of Khöömei (Tuvan Throat Singing). Listening to his set was more like being transported to another place than listening to music. I overheard someone at the show say that it was a full-body experience. This felt true for me as well.