Schedule Is Up

The Fourth Annual Rock Can Roll Festival schedule is online.
Check it out here:

Rock Can Roll Schedule

photo above by Rhonda Pelley

Rock Can Roll Festival 4

The Independent Artists Cooperative team up once again with Rock Can Roll to present the Fourth Annual Rock Can Roll Independent Music and Media Festival and Conference - October 23 - 26, 2008 in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada.

Founded in 2005 the Rock Can Roll Festival was designed to celebrate the St. John's rock music scene and the spirit of independence that drives it. Rock shows will be happening throughout the weekend at our Festival venues: The Ship, The Rock House, Distortion, the Rose and Thistle. Eastern Edge Gallery is the site of our Conference. All venues are located in downtown St. John's.

Our focus for the conference this year is "New Media and Alternative Spaces". Instead of the usual panel discussions we are formating our the event as a series of artist talks, demonstrations, screenings and special presentations. Some of our featured performers and presenters include: Magali Maegher (the Phenomes/Blocks Recording Club, Toronto, ON), From Outer Space (Cornerbrook, NL), Texas Chainsaw Massacre (St. John's NL), Iron Giant (Moncton, NB), Errand Boy (St. John's, NL), Swords (St. John's, NL), Bob Wiseman (Toronto, ON), Noisefold (Santa Fe, NM, USA), Jill Porter (St. John's, NL), Johnny Hardcore (St. John's, NL), the Satans (St. John's, NL), Avatar Orchestra Metaverse (International Online Orchestra), Danny Keating (St. John's, NL), Glenn Gear (Volatile Works Media Collective, Montreal), Maggie Meyer (St. John's, NL), Pathological Lovers (St. John's, NL), Class War Kids (St. John's, NL), Second Front (International Online Collective), Map to Temenos (Mount Pearl, NL), Amusia (St. John's, NL), Rhiannon Thomas (St. John's/Toronto), Lizband (St. John's, NL), Jigger (St. John's, NL), Two Guitars Clash (St.John's, NL), Blood Shot Monk (St. John's, NL), Sports (St. John's, NL) Matthew Hare (St. John's, NL) and many more.

Stay Tuned here as we announce schedules and details.

photo above - The Satans - photo by liz solo

Live Performance

First Virtual Installation Closes

This Month at the Co-op
Thank you to all who came out to see and support our first Second Life installation project "White Box", presented on Odyssey Island in Second Life. The installation ran for six weeks and featured rotating work by Anthony Brenton and Luke Power (live poetry/video/installation), Rock School For Girls (Video), Steve Abbott (painting/installation), and Liz Solo (video/installation) with build by Liz Solo.

During the gallery run we also presented five live performances including two live readings and musical performances simultaneously in the real and the virtual recreation of the Reject Room as well as live band shows simultaneously in the virtual and the real Ship Pub. We have also presented musicians Liz Solo, Mike Kean and Steve Abbott in live musicial performance in Second Life, most memorably at the SubClub. During that performance Ian Nightengale and Jenny Skywalker operated the avatars for Mike and Steve who's hands were busy playing live:



In the Studio
Liz Solo and Jen Skywalker are currently working in the co-op studio space on various projects. They are maintaining an open build space on Odyssey Island. Liz Solo is working on her Machine I Am project - merging machinima with other media in a narrative form. Jen is working on her newest play "And As For Her" and rehearsing her set of songs. The Sketch have just recorded a quick 12 song demo. The Black Bags are re-grouping and writing new material.

Anthony Breton, when not writing, is busy seeking paid employment as a writer. Should you be seeking a copywriter, art critic, rock show reviewer or brilliant poet for any reason - Anthony Brenton is your man. E-Mail us

There are many big projects on the horizon for the co-op, including more virtual presentations in Second Life. Please stay tuned.

Congratulations to Discriminating Gentleman's Club

Team Rock Can Roll and the Monster Psionics League would like to extend their congratulations to the Discriminating Gentleman's Club for their victory in the World Telekinesis Competition (a project of Noxious Sector and Deluge Contemporary Art). Both Newfoundland based teams had a great experience participating in this year's WTC - the first annual! We look forward to next year's competition.

Please visit Noxious Sector for lots of wonderful documentation on the World Telekinesis Competition, including photos of the installation and a video of the final winning match.

Pictured here is the WTC winner's trophy.

Team Rock Can Roll Are Triumphant!

Team Rock Can Roll have won their first round in the World Telekinesis Competition , held at Open Space gallery in Victoria, BC, hosted by Noxious Sector and Deluge Contemporary Art. The image above shows the official gameboard from the competition. As you can clearly see from the wax distribution on the board Team Rock Can Roll were victorious! Team members Anthony Brenton, Brigggs and Ron Anonsen (with familiar Clementine) cite deep breathing techniques and extremely remote influence as their strengths in competition.

Team Rock Can Roll defeated competitors Team Xirony who put up a valiant fight in a round that has been described as "no cakewalk." Next week they will go up against the infamous London United Psychic Club. From Rock Can Roll Headquarters in St. John's the team's manager, Liz Solo, had this to say about next week's round:

"The London United Psychic Club is a powerful group but our team members are not intimidated by the competitors reputation, nor are they allowing their recent victory go to their heads. They are keeping their focus. Everyone here at Rock Can Roll has full confidence in them. We want to bring that trophy home to Newfoundland. "

Team Rock Can Roll are the only Newfoundlander's representing after the defeat of Monster Psionics League in last weekend's competition. They will be competing next Sunday, May 25 at 4:30 P.M. Newfoundland time. Stay tuned for results.

To find out more about the World Telekinesis Competition and the people who sponsor it please visit Noxious Sector

Monster Psionics League Suffers Defeat

Monster Psionics League gave it their all but were defeated by Team Psychobirds in the first round of matches in the World Telekinesis Competition. Liz Solo, Burt Everest and Peter Duchemin/Gzorak the Alien Beard are pictured above focusing their powers. The labyrinth was built for this competition out of native Newfoundland stone.

"Monster Psionics League have been training for weeks," said a spokesperson for the group, "They are still trying to assess what happened and determine what went wrong."

The theory is that their defense was not as strong as their offense. They employed a barrage of techniques, including using their telekinetic "power blast" and creating folds in the fourth dimension. They were "perhaps a little overconfident" the spokesperson said. The team also noticed that several cats appeared on the property during the event.



"Possibly agents of the Psychobirds, we can't be sure", their spokesperson said. "A brilliant tactic, actually, using animal familiars. Wish we had thought of that. What ever the case team Psychobirds won fair and square, and they are to be congratulated."

All hopes are now pinned on Team Rock Can Roll, the other Newfoundland contenders, representing tomorrow, going up against Team Xirony.

Spring has Sprung!

J.E.N. Skywalker soon to release debut album - a.k.a. the soundtrack to her new play ERSA, "This Time My Place". Can't wait! Touring to Ontario the first three weeks of May. With songs composed in Newfoundland. Costumes and props are all collected! Need a storefront and some lights and presto! THE SHOW MUST GO ON! See you there.

World Telekinesis Competition

We are thrilled to announce that two Newfoundland based teams have been accepted as contestants in the first annual World Telekinesis Competition. The World Telekinesis Competition is a project of the Noxious Sector Artists Collective and Deluge Contemporary Art based in Victoria, B.C.

Two NF Teams are very busy with preparations and training. The Monster Psionics League and Team Rock Can Roll will both be telekinetically representing the island in this contest. These teams of three will compete with other teams around the world to psychically influence the behavior of a candle lit in a remote location.
To read more about the competition Guidelines and Competitors Please visit the Official WTC Website.

Team Rock Can Roll will be represented by the infamous Brigggs, who will be utilizing his power over electrical currents as well as his remote drawing talents in the competition. Master of sound and vibration, telekinetic superpower Ron Anonsen has also joined the team.
Rounding out the Rock Can Roll Trio is Anthony Brenton. Anthony has been working with the paranormal since experimenting with pyro-kenetics as a child and is busy poring over dictionaries and books of Satanism to prepare for competition.

The Monster Psionics League are also deep in preparation. The MSL can often be found touring their traveling medicine show around the coves and inlets of Newfoundland. Many do not know that this collective is actually a powerful think tank who's telekinetic abilities were forged in an alien laboratory. Liz Solo, Burt Everest and Gzorak's Alien Beard are looking forward to competition and are currently immersed in an intensive training regimen involving complex drinking games and mental exercising. Stay tuned here for news on our teams and watch the Official WTC Website for progress of the project, competition times and results.

Happy World Theatre Day

Happy World Theatre Day from Liz, Mike Steve, Jenny and all of us at I AM CO-OP. Image above from the Downstairs Mix-up taken by Meghan Solo.

World Theatre Day was created in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute (ITI). It is celebrated annually on March 27th by ITI Centres and the international theatre community. Many events take place around the world to celebrate WTD. One of the most important of these is the circulation of the World Theatre Day International Message. A theatre practitioner of world stature is asked for his or her reflections on the theme of Theatre and a Culture of Peace.

This year's message is very inspiring and resonates strongly with those of us pursuing new frontiers in performance. It comes from the Canadian theatre artist Robert LePage:

"There are a number of hypotheses on the origins of theatre but the one I find the most thought-provoking takes the form of a fable:

One night, at the dawn of time, a group of people were gathered together in a quarry to warm themselves around a fire and tell stories. All of a sudden, one of them had the idea to stand up and use his shadow to illustrate his tale. Using the light from the flames he made characters appear, larger than life, on the walls of the quarry. Amazed, the others recognized in turn the strong and the weak, the oppressor and the oppressed, the god and the mortal.

Nowadays, the light of projectors has replaced the original bonfire, and stage machinery, the walls of the quarry. And with all due deference to certain purists, this fable reminds us that technology is at the very beginnings of theatre and that it should not be perceived as a threat but as a uniting element.

The survival of the art of theatre depends on its capacity to reinvent itself by embracing new tools and new languages. For how could the theatre continue to bear witness to the great issues of its epoch and promote understanding between peoples without having, itself, a spirit of openness? How could it pride itself on offering solutions to the problems of intolerance, exclusion and racism if, in its own practice, it resisted any fusion and integration ?

In order to represent the world in all its complexity, the artist must bring forth new forms and ideas, and trust in the intelligence of the spectator, who is capable of distinguishing the silhouette of humanity within this perpetual play of light and shadow.

It is true that by playing too much with fire, we take a risk, but we also take a chance: we might get burned, but we might also amaze and enlighten."

Robert Lepage
Quebec, 17th February 2008

To read more about World Theatre Day please visit the International Theatre Institute site.

Euro Story for I AM COOP

Anthony Brenton, Liz Solo and the I AM CO-OP Project are featured in the Paris based Euro webzine Cafe Babel. Marco Riciputi, the reporter for this piece, has been visiting the I AM CO-OP parcel on Second Life and documenting some of what we have been doing (see "Reject Room" stories below). See the Article here:
Liz Solo - art on Second Life
See more documentation from the I AM CO-OP Project from Marc on this page
Marc Riciputi's Flickr Pages

Reject Room

This is Anthony Brenton reading from his new chapbook 'Daybreak Saint City' at the grand opening of 'The Reject Room' in St.John's, Newfoundland, CANADA and SECOND LIFE. Photo taken by J.E.N.Skywalker. 25/01/08.


Anthony Brenton cooling his throat post reading. Moment captured by Steve Abbott. 25/01/08

Here is Liz Solo reading from her work 'REVENGE' at the 'The Reject Room' in St.John's, Newfoundland, CANADA and SECOND LIFE. Photo taken by J.E.N.Skywalker. 25/01/08

Live From the Reject Room was co-presented of the I Am Coop Project and Roles 4 Women.

Avatoir Abattoir

Here are some images from a work in progress. Building taking place at the I AM COOP space on Odyssey Island.

Liz Solo Virtual Release

Liz Solo released her new CD "alien" into virtual space on Saturday January 26th. She also presented a live show simultaneously at the Ship Pub in St. John's with special guests Mike Kean, Steve Abbott, Alex Pierson, Sam Hall, The Pathological Lovers and the Black Bags.


The show was audio cast live from the Ship to DEsign Island by our friend Thenext Babenco. We had lots lots of technical issues at the RL venue and it was only due to the generosity and patience of those at DEsign Island that the show got up and running in Second Life. The live audience had a great time interacting with the virtual audience (projected onto the stage) and vice versa. Video and audio from this event coming soon.

To find out more about Liz Solo's recording please visit Liz Solo online

Our First Presentation

We presented our first live events last weekend as part of the I AM CO-OP Project. On Friday January 25, despite a blizzard here in St. John's, we went ahead presented Liz Solo and Anthony Brenton live at the Reject Room. Special thanks to the intrepid audience members who came out in the extreme weather!

The Reject Room is a small experimental presentation space maintained by the artists of the IAC/RCR. The Reject Room has also been created in Second Life at our space on Odyssey Island and we had lots of audience in virtual space as well.

The event was captured via webcam and streamed live from the RL Reject Room to the SL Reject Room. The SL space was projected onto the wall behind the reader in RL. Audiences in each space could see into the other space. All were there to hear new prose, poetry and fiction and to celebrate the launch of Anthony's new chapbook "Daybreak Saint City", from Trainwreck Press.

The live audio video stream was not an easy feat and was made possible because of great support from Eifachfilm who gave hours of time to help set up the stream - all the way from Switzerland. Many of the things we are attempting are new to us and the support of other artists in Second Life has been amazing. Thanks Eifachfilm!!!
More documentation from this event coming soon from Jen Skywalker.

Welcome to I AM COOP

Greetings and welcome to I AM CO-OP.

We are currently engaged in the Virtual I AM CO-OP Project - a collaboration between the Independent Artists Cooperative and Rock Can Roll Media Collective. Both IAC and RCR are artist-run Newfoundland based collectives comprised of artists working across disciplines.

The Virtual I AM COOP Project is focused on experimenting with the creation, presentation and interaction potentials available to artists in virtual spaces. Currently we are working in the virtual worlds of Second Life on Odyssey Island. Odyssey Island is a simulator that provides space, services and support to artists working in SL. It is a great place to be. Visit us anytime at SLURL Odyssey (10, 202, 24), or search I AM COOP. Thanks to Sugar Seville and Odyssey for all their support with this project.


Currently playing on our screens is the short documentary "Rock School for Girls". This workshop series for girls and women of all ages was created by Cherie Pyne, Rhiannon Thomas and Liz Pickguard in 2004, as was the video. This video documents the first "Rock School for Girls", a creative workshop series hosted by the Independent Artists Cooperative in collaboration with terminus 1525 and the girls independent rock league (g.i.r.l.). we will be changing our hosted video every week so do drop in and check them all out. next week - documentation from our first live presentations.