VANESSA I. PAULSEN255 South 2nd Street #2 • Brooklyn • New York • 11211 • 917 923 3140 • supervipgala@gmail.com

SELEctEd work: PErSoNAL ProjEctS

make it rockMy father, Don Paulsen, had some intriguing adventures working as a music journalist in New York City in the 1960s and 70s. He had the rare opportunity to spend time with virtually every major rock legend of the time. As editor for Hit Parader magazine, he was invited into recording sessions, hotel suites, rehearsals and press conferences, and backstage at clubs, concert halls and TV studios.

Along with a tape recorder, notebook, and pen, Dad brought a $30 Kodak Pony camera to his assignments. He tried to remain in the background and observe these talented musicians going about their everyday activities. When the image was right, he took a picture.

He captured many candid views of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton with Cream, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Sonny & Cher, Jim Morrison & The Doors, Janis Joplin, the Who, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Frank Zappa, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Beach Boys, Smokey Robinson and the Temptations, the Byrds, the Lovin’ Spoonful, Mamas & Papas, Simon & Garfunkel, Marvin Gaye, Chuck Berry, the Animals, the Rascals, Moby Grape, Bo Diddley, the Four Tops, Howlin’ Wolf, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Tom Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Isaac Hayes, B.B. King and many more.

Please enjoy this opportunity to participate in the 1960s music scene. Make Bob Dylan point out something unique. Try to outshine James Brown. Give Eric Clapton a new guitar riff. If you’ve got even more to give, you might even get a copy of interviews my dad did with all the members of both the Who and Cream.

And if you don’t have a camera with you tonight, you can look for yourself on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/vipgala/

Enjoy!

For the Spring 2010 Lost Horizon Night Market, a fleeting gathering of box trucks full of surprises, I created an installation called Make It Rock dedicated to my father, using photos taken when he was a rock journalist in 1960s New York.

The walls of my truck were lined with covers of Dad’s old magazines - Hit Parader, Song Hits, Rhythm & Blues - and there were three giant photos of rock stars that anyone could pop into, becoming part of a fleeting moment in time.

dylan’s crush“Bob really had the hots for Cher,” admitted a friend of folksinger Bob Dylan. “He thought she looked really great and he wanted to meet her. When he found out she was recording in New York, he told me, ‘We gotta get into that session.’”

October 1965, Sonny & Cher were in New York to tape an appearance on the Hullabaloo TV show. Sonny Bono decided to put out a new single and within 48 hours, he organized a monster recording session that had the whole Greenwich Village music scene abuzz. Assembled together in the Atlantic Records studio were an all-star back up band that included the Lovin’ Spoonful (who were also on Hullabaloo that week), jazz flutist Herbie Mann and top session players from New York and LA.

My dad got in thanks to his press badge and his friendship with the Spoonful. He watched as Cher pouted and hid in a tiny soundbooth while Sonny coaxed and conducted the large group of musicians rehearsing “But You’re Mine.” After several takes and playbacks of the song, someone yelled, “Hey, Bob Dylan’s out in the hallway!”

Everyone rushed out to gawk at the newly electric Dylan - from a respectful distance. A cause célèbre since plugging in at the recent Newport Folk Festival, Dylan’s records were scaling the pop charts. Nearly everywhere he went, two burly bodyguards chased away autograph seekers and photographers. But Sonny Bono had strong publicity instincts and led his wife Cher right over to Dylan. As they tried to figure out how to get the conversation started, Cher glared reproachfully at her husband while Dylan nervously shifted his eyes.

Dad approached the trio cautiously, holding his camera like a peace offering. Unexpectedly, Bob flashed a rare smile for the photographer, pointed at Cher behind Sonny’s back and posed for just one photo. A few minutes later, having finally met Cher up close, Dylan disappeared. This was probably the only expression of Bob’s secret crush.

All photos by Don Paulsen

dylan’s crush“Bob really had the hots for Cher,” admitted a friend of folksinger Bob Dylan. “He thought she looked really great and he wanted to meet her. When he found out she was recording in New York, he told me, ‘We gotta get into that session.’”

October 1965, Sonny & Cher were in New York to tape an appearance on the Hullabaloo TV show. Sonny Bono decided to put out a new single and within 48 hours, he organized a monster recording session that had the whole Greenwich Village music scene abuzz. Assembled together in the Atlantic Records studio were an all-star back up band that included the Lovin’ Spoonful (who were also on Hullabaloo that week), jazz flutist Herbie Mann and top session players from New York and LA.

My dad got in thanks to his press badge and his friendship with the Spoonful. He watched as Cher pouted and hid in a tiny soundbooth while Sonny coaxed and conducted the large group of musicians rehearsing “But You’re Mine.” After several takes and playbacks of the song, someone yelled, “Hey, Bob Dylan’s out in the hallway!”

Everyone rushed out to gawk at the newly electric Dylan - from a respectful distance. A cause célèbre since plugging in at the recent Newport Folk Festival, Dylan’s records were scaling the pop charts. Nearly everywhere he went, two burly bodyguards chased away autograph seekers and photographers. But Sonny Bono had strong publicity instincts and led his wife Cher right over to Dylan. As they tried to figure out how to get the conversation started, Cher glared reproachfully at her husband while Dylan nervously shifted his eyes.

Dad approached the trio cautiously, holding his camera like a peace offering. Unexpectedly, Bob flashed a rare smile for the photographer, pointed at Cher behind Sonny’s back and posed for just one photo. A few minutes later, having finally met Cher up close, Dylan disappeared. This was probably the only expression of Bob’s secret crush.

All photos by Don Paulsen

dylan’s crush“Bob really had the hots for Cher,” admitted a friend of folksinger Bob Dylan. “He thought she looked really great and he wanted to meet her. When he found out she was recording in New York, he told me, ‘We gotta get into that session.’”

October 1965, Sonny & Cher were in New York to tape an appearance on the Hullabaloo TV show. Sonny Bono decided to put out a new single and within 48 hours, he organized a monster recording session that had the whole Greenwich Village music scene abuzz. Assembled together in the Atlantic Records studio were an all-star back up band that included the Lovin’ Spoonful (who were also on Hullabaloo that week), jazz flutist Herbie Mann and top session players from New York and LA.

My dad got in thanks to his press badge and his friendship with the Spoonful. He watched as Cher pouted and hid in a tiny soundbooth while Sonny coaxed and conducted the large group of musicians rehearsing “But You’re Mine.” After several takes and playbacks of the song, someone yelled, “Hey, Bob Dylan’s out in the hallway!”

Everyone rushed out to gawk at the newly electric Dylan - from a respectful distance. A cause célèbre since plugging in at the recent Newport Folk Festival, Dylan’s records were scaling the pop charts. Nearly everywhere he went, two burly bodyguards chased away autograph seekers and photographers. But Sonny Bono had strong publicity instincts and led his wife Cher right over to Dylan. As they tried to figure out how to get the conversation started, Cher glared reproachfully at her husband while Dylan nervously shifted his eyes.

Dad approached the trio cautiously, holding his camera like a peace offering. Unexpectedly, Bob flashed a rare smile for the photographer, pointed at Cher behind Sonny’s back and posed for just one photo. A few minutes later, having finally met Cher up close, Dylan disappeared. This was probably the only expression of Bob’s secret crush.

All photos by Don Paulsen

Dylan with Sonny & Cher, paper on gatorboard, wood, 4’x8’, 2010

strange brewIn April 1967, with only days left on their US visas, supergroup Cream rolled their double Marshall stacks into NYC’s Atlantic Recording Studios to lay down a few tracks for their next album, “Disraeli Gears.” Cream’s publicist had invited a journalist – my father – to do a story about the new group. Eric Clapton wasn’t happy to see a photographer in the recording studio, but at this early stage in his career he was obliged to cooperate.

Preparing to overdub his guitar part, Eric listened to an old recording by blues guitarist Albert King – there was a sound or feeling that Clapton wanted to emulate. As he sampled parts of the scratchy album on a small portable record player, he tried to ignore my dad circling him, snapping pictures. Finally Clapton picked up his guitar, custom painted by a couple of Dutch artists known as The Fool, and laid down the sweet licks that would become ‘Strange Brew.”

Next came the vocals. Ahmet Ertegun, President of Atlantic Records appeared and held an impromptu conference with the group to help finalize the lyrics of the song. For nearly twenty minutes Clapton, Ertegun, drummer Ginger Baker, and producer Felix Pappalardi bounced words off each other, discussed emphasis, pauses and subtle touches while Clapton frequently sang the song in a low voice.

“Strange Brew” was released as a single and “Disraeli Gears” turned out to be the record that broke Cream into the upper echelons of Rock.

All photos by Don Paulsen

strange brewIn April 1967, with only days left on their US visas, supergroup Cream rolled their double Marshall stacks into NYC’s Atlantic Recording Studios to lay down a few tracks for their next album, “Disraeli Gears.” Cream’s publicist had invited a journalist – my father – to do a story about the new group. Eric Clapton wasn’t happy to see a photographer in the recording studio, but at this early stage in his career he was obliged to cooperate.

Preparing to overdub his guitar part, Eric listened to an old recording by blues guitarist Albert King – there was a sound or feeling that Clapton wanted to emulate. As he sampled parts of the scratchy album on a small portable record player, he tried to ignore my dad circling him, snapping pictures. Finally Clapton picked up his guitar, custom painted by a couple of Dutch artists known as The Fool, and laid down the sweet licks that would become ‘Strange Brew.”

Next came the vocals. Ahmet Ertegun, President of Atlantic Records appeared and held an impromptu conference with the group to help finalize the lyrics of the song. For nearly twenty minutes Clapton, Ertegun, drummer Ginger Baker, and producer Felix Pappalardi bounced words off each other, discussed emphasis, pauses and subtle touches while Clapton frequently sang the song in a low voice.

“Strange Brew” was released as a single and “Disraeli Gears” turned out to be the record that broke Cream into the upper echelons of Rock.

All photos by Don PaulsenEric Clapton records ‘Strange Brew’, paper on gatorboard, wood, 4’x8’, 2010

git your money’s worth

Dad was backstage at the Apollo in 1964 when James Brown came down the stairs in a shiny suit and perfect pompadour. Behind him is the Apollo’s emcee, Danny Ray, who would introduce the JBs. At the end of the show, Ray would drape a purple cape around James Brown and escort him offstage like a prize winning champ.

In addition to the Famous Flames and all the players in the James Brown Show, the Hardest Working Man in Show Business had a huge entourage that included hair stylists, his valet, a personal secretary, a wardrobe mistress, a PR man, a road manager, a bus driver, a personal driver and a bodyguard.

James Brown said, “To tell the truth, most of them need jobs and want to be in some part of show business. But most important, I need them. I believe in building a team, the more things someone else does, the more time I’ll have to think and develop new ideas to write new songs. I suppose a lot of people will say I’m trying to prove something or other with all these people. But believe me, when you do 60 straight days and over 100 shows without a day off, it takes a lot of people to keep things going. It’s just like an army: each one must know his job and do it. Otherwise the whole thing fouls ups and pretty soon the show suffers.

“My philosophy is to try to give the people a little more for their money when they come to see the JAMES BROWN SHOW. To do this, I must be at my best and so must all our people, all of them, not just those on stage. Yes, I believe in giving people their money’s worth!”

All photos by Don Paulsen

James Brown and emcee backstage at the Apollo, paper on gatorboard, wood, 4’x8’, 2010

left: Costume design, modeling, and layout for Fakework poster for the Nonsense NYC 10 Year Anniversary exhibit, 2009above: Faux police ticket, logo design, branding, costume design for Fakework Police Department, Idiotarod, 2009

FakeWoRk is a loose collective of female artists based in Brooklyn who participate in citywide events such as the Idiotarod, the Coney Island Mermaid Parade, MakerFaire, and the Deitch Art Parade.

tHe IDIotaRoD is annual race that takes place on the coldest day in January. Inspired by the Iditarod, the urban version involves humans in themed costumes pushing shopping carts in a race around the 5 boroughs of NYC.

As a member of Fakework, I have been involved in the creation of themes, costumes, props, branding, graphics and a lot of fun.

FAKEVO KIAR I.. ..

IFV

For the 2010 Idiotarod, our theme was ski bunnies of Fakevorkia, with a working fireplace in our cart. We won Best In sHoW!left and above: Logo design, branding, costume and prop design for Ski Bunnies of Fakevorkia, Idiotarod, 2010

Contact:swimmingcities2010@gmail.com

www.weareswimmingcities.org

Photos by Tod Seelie

2010 scheduleJanuary 29, 7pmFundraiser Art AuctionA one night show of works donated by emerging artists at Gallery 151 350 Bowery, New York, NY 10012

March Arrival in Haridwar for Kumbha Mela festival.

April Build container arrives at build site in Alahabad. Three weeks of building. Launch at end of April.

May Arrive in Varanasi. Two weeks performance preparation.

JunePerformances begin.

JulyDismantle and pack boats.

on THE GAnGES2010

SWIMMING CITIES is a diverse and evolving collaboration of artists, builders, and visionaries who come together each year to embark on a challenging large-scale project adventure.

Originally united through our common friendship and talent by the international artist Swoon, the Swimming Cities project creates a vivid community of artists. Taking a new waterway each year, we float into towns to present an inspiring interactive experience that encompasses art, sculpture, music and performance.

Each year the team conceives new rafts and builds them with mostly found materials in an organic design process. The multi-faceted and uncommon talents of our members inspire us to continuously look for new ways to materialize our style of unique living art.

For our upcoming project in 2010, we propose building a fleet of small sculptural rivercraft at the foothills of the Himalayas, in a cultural exchange with South Asian artists and local artisans. Our hand-crafted boats will traverse the Ganges river from Haridwar to the holy city of Varanasi.

The journey begins at the rare Kumbha Mela festival, held in Haridwar once every twelve years. This holy festival of the Hindus and Shadu holy men of India is the largest gathering of humans on the planet. We will stop at towns and villages along the way to commission custom embellishments for the boats in the local style.

The Ganges snakes through an abundant farmland, producing largely cane sugar, which we plan to refine into ethanol with a floating still, in keeping with our concern for sustainability. The boats themselves are designed to latch together into a formation of five that forms a radial star to increase living and working space. This method allows us to create larger spaces from the many small ones built to fit through the low and narrow bridges of the Ganges. Propulsion relies onseveral different ingenious systems using a combination of locally obtained motorcycles to drive paddle wheels, long-tail diesel motors and wind power.

At last, the Ganges will deliver us to Varanasi. On the banks of this holy city, the boats will merge to form a floating island theater. There we will present visual and musical events in collaboration with local musicians. This culminating event series allows the builders and crew to engage the people of Varanasi. People and boats will produce an ambitious performance, themed on the experiences of our adventure and the historical and cultural richness of India.

For the first time, we are seeking collaborators for creation and building, and for performance. We are also actively seeking support from arts institutions, NGOs and sponsoring organizations. We plan to fundraise our projected budget through local events, a fine art auction, and contributions.

The Swimming Cities of Serenissima in Venice, 2009

SWIMMING CITIES is a diverse and evolving collaboration of artists, builders, and visionaries who come together each year to embark on a challenging large-scale project adventure.

Originally united through our common friendship and talent by the international artist Swoon, the Swimming Cities project creates a vivid community of artists. Taking a new waterway each year, we float into towns to present an inspiring interactive experience that encompasses art, sculpture, music and performance.

Each year the team conceives new rafts and builds them with mostly found materials in an organic design process. The multi-faceted and uncommon talents of our members inspire us to continuously look for new ways to materialize our style of unique living art.

For our upcoming project in 2010, we propose building a fleet of small sculptural rivercraft at the foothills of the Himalayas, in a cultural exchange with South Asian artists and local artisans. Our hand-crafted boats will traverse the Ganges river from Haridwar to the holy city of Varanasi.

The journey begins at the rare Kumbha Mela festival, held in Haridwar once every twelve years. This holy festival of the Hindus and Shadu holy men of India is the largest gathering of humans on the planet. We will stop at towns and villages along the way to commission custom embellishments for the boats in the local style.

The Ganges snakes through an abundant farmland, producing largely cane sugar, which we plan to refine into ethanol with a floating still, in keeping with our concern for sustainability. The boats themselves are designed to latch together into a formation of five that forms a radial star to increase living and working space. This method allows us to create larger spaces from the many small ones built to fit through the low and narrow bridges of the Ganges. Propulsion relies onseveral different ingenious systems using a combination of locally obtained motorcycles to drive paddle wheels, long-tail diesel motors and wind power.

At last, the Ganges will deliver us to Varanasi. On the banks of this holy city, the boats will merge to form a floating island theater. There we will present visual and musical events in collaboration with local musicians. This culminating event series allows the builders and crew to engage the people of Varanasi. People and boats will produce an ambitious performance, themed on the experiences of our adventure and the historical and cultural richness of India.

For the first time, we are seeking collaborators for creation and building, and for performance. We are also actively seeking support from arts institutions, NGOs and sponsoring organizations. We plan to fundraise our projected budget through local events, a fine art auction, and contributions.

The Swimming Cities of Serenissima in Venice, 2009

Contact:swimmingcities2010@gmail.com

www.weareswimmingcities.org

Photos by Tod Seelie

2010 scheduleJanuary 29, 7pmFundraiser Art AuctionA one night show of works donated by emerging artists at Gallery 151 350 Bowery, New York, NY 10012

March Arrival in Haridwar for Kumbha Mela festival.

April Build container arrives at build site in Alahabad. Three weeks of building. Launch at end of April.

May Arrive in Varanasi. Two weeks performance preparation.

JunePerformances begin.

JulyDismantle and pack boats.

on THE GAnGES2010

Fold-out promotional brochure for The Swimming Cities Ganges Project, 2009

photos by Tod Seelie

Birthday card for Grampa, 2005

1\ the black keys // strange desire2\ archie bronson outfit // dart for my sweetheart3\ unkle // broken4\ fields // heretic5\ saint etienne // shoot out the lights6\ shout out louds // hard rain7\ goldfrapp // slide in (dfa remix)8\ nuit blanche // vive la fete9\ the roots feat. malik b & porn // in the music10\ tom vek // i ain’t saying my goodbyes11\ liliput // die matrosen12\ beirut // mount wroclai13\ the beastie boys // the gala event14\ spiritualized // shine a light15\ private // my secret lover (extended dub)

Cover design for mix CD, 2008

1. black moon – gotcha opin 2. broadcast – man is not a bird 3. the knife – like a pen

4. yé-yé – eurostar 5. campag velocet – metro• boulot•dodo

6. miss kittin & the hacker – the beach 7. homer - arrr matey

8. peter bjorn & john – young folks9. snowden – between the rent & me

10. swervedriver – sunset11. film school – on and on

12. aphrodisiacs – against the grain 13. jah division – dub will tear us14. brian jonestown massacre – when jokers attack

15. the radio dept. – pulling our weight

16. boris – farewell 17. love and rockets –

earth sun moon

hands & arms

Cover design for mix CD, 2007

Cover design for mix CD, 2005

count basie/ honeysuckle rosethe horrors/ mirror’s imagethe beach boys/ fallin’ in lovetom petty & the heartbreakers/ you got luckydieter reith trio/ wives and loversjohn holt/ ali babalord kitchener/ dr kitchlee perry & the upsetters/ jungle lionthe association/ along comes marycount basie/ topsypurcell/ overture abdelazerjacob miller/ baby i love you solaura nyro/ stoned soul picnicultra cindy/ hoytthe police/ walking on the moonalton ellis/ can i change my mindgrizzly bear/ little brother (electric)spencer davis group/ i’m a manray charles/ mess aroundsuper furry animals/ ohio heatgabriele faure/ siciliennecoleman hawkins/ when day is done

1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6/ 7/ 8/ 9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20/21/22/

11/ 09

your fanciest threads

Cover design for mix CD, 2009

1. matias aguayo – de papel2. tussle – elephants3. sonic youth – jams run free4. dungen – så blev det bestämt5. archie bronson outt – kink6. th’faith healers – i’m ready*7. christian death – romeo’s distress8. liam lynch – united states of whatever9. soul sisters – wreck a buddy10. aterciopelados – luz azul11. naked eyes – voices in my head12. lm school – pitfalls13. yeah yeah yeahs – down boy14. the organ – memorize the city15. moonshake – coward16. altered images – think that it might

*rahr!

thir ty four more rahrs!

Cover design for mix CD, 2008

1/ super furry animals – hello sunshine2/ electrelane – lm music3/ unrest – june4/ mo-dettes – white mice5/ comet gain – my de ance6/ joe jackson – one more time7/ editors – munich8/ death from above 1979 – better off dead9/ huggy bear – pansy twist10/ boards of canada – everything you do is a balloon11/ pinback – non photo blue12/ morrissey – piccadilly palare13/ rolling stones – the last time14/ records – starry eyes15/ campag velocet – vito satan16/ house of love – marble17/ boo radleys – sometime soon she said18/ stone roses – sugar spun sister19/ susan cadogen – hurts so good20/ clientele – ve day morning21/ jay-z – it’s alright

w i n t e r

Cover design for mix CD, 2006

Flier design for DJ night, 2002

Flier design for DJ night, 2002

Flier design for DJ night, 2005

Flier design for DJ night, 2006