I'd love to participate this year, but I'll be on my roadtrip <http://www.aprilhl.net/projects/roadtrip>(which I'll post about soon!) ... so I'm not sure I could do something 2x2, because I don't know what tools I'll have available. but I could send y'all all a letterpress postcard and use it as an opportunity to practice my handwriting, if that's okay? looking forward to it! ~april hannah llewellyn (aprilhl) www.aprilhl.net | 256-777-3912 On Fri, Jun 17, 2011 at 1:24 PM, ILSSA Operator < operator@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > So far we have 16 YESes for the Festival to Plead for Skills. So if you > were thinking of bowing out this year because you couldn't quite handle > making 50 pieces this year, maybe rethink your participation? > > Please let us know if you will participate by next Friday, JUNE 24. And > we'll send out the final number and the updated directory to all > participants soon afterward! > > best wishes, > your co-ops > > ---- > ALL ABOUT THE FESTIVAL below > ---- > email if you have more questions! > ---- > > dear ILSSA, > > It is that time of year again! Time for us to count the heads (and hands > and hearts, but we'll stick to heads, as they are easiest to count) of those > who plan to participate in the 3rd Annual Festival to Plead for Skills on > Thursday, July 7, 2011. > > As you may already know, each year on the seventh day of the seventh month > ILSSA celebrates its own version of *The Festival to Plead for Skills*. > The festival is derived from the Chinese holiday of Qi Xi and the Japanese > festival of Tanabata, in which celebrants wish for the betterment of their > own craftsmanship. Instead of wishing, the ILSSA festival is a holiday of > PRACTICING. > > We invite all ILSSA Members to observe this holiday by generating some sort > of small object as iterations of their practice. The resulting objects > should be no larger than 2 inches in any dimension, and should be the > natural result of practicing a skill: using a tool, trying a method, honing > a technique. Conceive of this project as something you can complete entirely > on July 7th. We imagine Impractical Laborers spanning the continents, > practicing together in observance of the holiday. > > After the Festival, we ask that you mail one of each of your objects to all > other participating members, such that everyone can share in your practice > of that day. (International members, you may send one package of all objects > to an Operator, who will distribute your practice with hers.) To that end, > we will send an updated ILSSA Member Directory of all Directory members in > early July, indicating which members are participating in the Festival. If > you have any address changes, regardless if you're participating in the > Festival, be sure to let us know! > As each member handles his or her own postage and box-making for the > accumulated objects (see template below) there is NO FEE to participate. But > in order for all members to know how many objects to make, we do need a > headcount! So please write directly to operator@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx to > let us know if you're a YES. > > *AND* > another festival-related invitation: > Did you participate in the 2010 Festival? Would you like to make a guide to > the festival objects: a simple affair that shows images of objects and their > corresponding statements? (See the below 2009 Guide for reference.) If you'd > delight in making 75-100 copies of such a thing, write your co-operators at > operator@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx We are happy of course to cover your > (modest!) material expenses. (Perhaps you didn't participate in the 2009 > Festival and thus did not receive the 2009 guide. If you'd like a copy, > email us! We have a limited quantity available, first come first served.) > > *other news* > We are ashamed that you do not yet have in your hands the last 2010 > Quarterly, but we co-operators will together be sitting and *hand > addressing* those at the end of May, so we can guarantee they will be in > your hands within the first weeks of June. > > And, btw, have you renewed for 2011? This Quarterly will be your last > mailing if you have not, and we would be so sorry to lose you from our > ranks. We'd also be disheartened to remind you that if you do not renew, you > will receive no more publications from us, you will not be listed on the > website, nor in the directory, and thus will not receive anything from the > Festival, nor would you be eligible to participate in the 2012 exhibition at > St Mary's. Gosh! It is SO WORTH the $12, not to mention we need you to stay > strong! (to renew: http://www.impractical-labor.org/join.html, select > "2011 membership", and write a note via Paypal stating you're a renewal, and > THANKS.) > > yours ever impractically, > the co-operators > > > > > *--* > *AS MANY HOURS AS IT TAKES* > ILSSA Operator > operator@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > http://www.impractical-labor.org > > > *--* > *AS MANY HOURS AS IT TAKES* > ILSSA Operator > operator@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > http://www.impractical-labor.org > > > > > *--* > *AS MANY HOURS AS IT TAKES* > ILSSA Operator > operator@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > http://www.impractical-labor.org > > > > >