FANGCON is “the only anthropomorphic convention located within the state of Tennessee”. Draconis submitted an exciting notice about their third annual event, happening this weekend.
Personally, if I wasn’t hosting a paw-print furry Twister game myself this weekend… I’d make like a Husky and pounce on their “largest Fursuit Twister Mat the fandom has ever seen.” Psst… Twister’s slogan is “The Game That Ties You Up in Knots.” Teehee.
The show “Furries & Despair” features Ron Lussier’s fursuiter portraits, and Bobby Pin’s photos of Detroit. The gallery opening is Friday, November 7 in San Francisco. The press release has gone out, announcing a fursuit crawl to meet at the gallery. This is an excellent event to support and have fun with the public!
40 People already got tickets to our show through Eventbrite. 23 People are coming to the show through Facebook and 32 are maybes. I think it’s gonna be an event people are going to love and talk about for awhile 😛
This kind of dance party is independent from cons. This builds on the growth of cons, and takes things farther. It’s more established than events that happen once, house parties or informal meets. Those can be inner-focused, or gather cliquish friends to only seek each other. This brings partnership with venues that aren’t hotels, and supportive interest in the kind of events they host and promote. It crosses a line to public space. A stranger may walk in off the street to discover their new favorite thing. It encourages new blood and crossover to other scenes.
See the list of parties atThe Furclub survey. Anyone that gives a Q&A will get their own article. Kelar tells you more…
Furclubbing: “A repeat/regular nightclub event by furries for furries.” The concept has been spreading since the late 2000’s. This kind of dance party is independent from conventions. It builds on their growth but takes things farther. It’s more established than informal meets or events that happen once. Those can stay inner-focused for friends who already know each other, but these events bring partnership with new venues that support and host furries. They’re a gateway to the public, so a stranger may walk in off the street and discover their new favorite thing. It encourages new blood and crossover. It makes a subculture thrive. There are connections to DJ and rave scenes. But this is its own unique movement!
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The Survey Questions
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Any party that responds will get their own featured article! (Check back for new responses linked with party names below.)
Do you know any others? Please share these questions to them, and send responses or tips to patch.ofurr@gmail.com.
Casual answers are fine (they will get partnership to create and boost an article). Please include graphics, pics or vids. What can you tell the fandom about these?
Canessa Gallery in San Francisco. November 7, at 7PM – 708 Montgomery Street.
Portraiture of fursuiters can be tough to pull off with as much energy as in person. That’s why I love promoting “Street Fursuiting,” and candid photos of it.
Fursuiting appeals when it engages viewers to interact. It’s animated and tactile. Staging their play can dull that down. Less-successful efforts can look like a diorama of stuffed toys. Cartoony suit design may not blend with surroundings, turning long views into eye-straining barf.
But no matter how they’re executed, they make memories with meaning to those who were there. If you’re furry, you get it. Art for the uninitiated is just a different purpose.
Ron Lussier’s “Further Confessions“ project overcomes the “stageyness” barrier in a compelling way. He juxtaposes portraits with personality expressed in hand-written statements. They reach through the frame, and greet you as personally as a hug. This stuff does FUN right. I have to say it’s the best fursuiter portraiture I’ve seen, and I think it’s an honor to have Furries featured this way in an art gallery.
I think society in general, especially when we have the internet and different ways of finding very specific niche culture- I think subcultures are taking off. People like to party, socialize, and be around each other – and use the internet to find new ways to get together and be together in person, not just on the internet. The internet makes us feel a little isolated, and we try to balance that by going to these crowded events… It’s changed in the last 10-20 years, and more and more people are seeking these crowds rather than getting away from it all. It’s why countercultures are thriving. It’s about events. Whether it’s a Furry convention, or Frolic, or other get togethers, it’s about events.
“Furclubbing” is the New Thing that I see becoming a trend since the late 2000’s. It’s been spreading by furries influencing others to start formal events independent from cons. This builds on the growth of cons, and takes things farther.
Neonbunny defines it as: “A repeat/regular nightclub event by furries for furries. There’s probably a half dozen events. Then there’s probably been a couple hundred one off furry events done in a bar or other legal (non house) venue.” As Howl Toronto puts it: Con dances happen once a year, and “that’s just not enough to fill the need!”
Here’s links, headlines and little bites of news to make your tail wag. Story tips are always welcome.
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In the Media and around Furry Fandom…
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When people become stuffed animals (Wenn Menschen zu Plüschtieren werden)
Furrymedia has the German news article. It covers Eurofurence, gives a very nice description of what Furries are – and interviews some really cute ones.
Furries! Hack takes you inside the furry community…
Facebook closed my account. There’s a wave of furry victims of this ill-planned policy. Did it happen to you too?
Behind the fursona, there’s deeper issues, like the way internet trolls enjoy gay-bashing and compromising safety for participants of certain live club events. These names are positive statements. Forcing you not to use yours is a negative statement.
When I organized a “hug-in” coinciding with a protest threat from Westboro Baptist Church (of “God Hates Fags” infamy), it was meant to be a positive thing of it’s own… but also to answer them with positivity. (They didn’t show- all we did was hug.) Facebook’s policy jeopardizes people’s safety to speak that way.
Here’s links, headlines and little bites of news to make your tail wag. Tips are always welcome.
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In the Media…
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What Is a Furry? Beyond the Masks at Furry Migration 2014.
A refreshingly positive article in the Minneapolis Citypages has a three minute video. It has heavy focus on fursuiters, but quotes literary-furries too.
Symbicort’s cartoon wolves. A :60 commercial spot for the pharma company was made to air nationally, using drawn 2D animation to beautiful effect you don’t see enough these days. (I’m interested to know what agency/studio made it… it looks like illustrator/animator Barry Bruner helped pitch it.
UPDATE: VNV dropped out of the tour and got replaced by Frontline.
One of these things is not like the others… But I want to share, OK? If you make a Venn diagram of the way nerdy interests overlap, it will be plaid. Furries are nerdy. Many nerds love cool music. Some furries like industrial music.
Industrial music is aggressive, exciting and ominous, with futuristic themes of dystopia and urban decay. As art, you might call it the cold, metal shadow to the light side of nature, animals and furry things. It’s a big contrast to the sunny electronic pop that furry con-goers may expect. (Does music have anything to do with animals, anyways? Well, heavy metal gets associated with Wolves…)
Pictured: Ronan Harris from VNV Nation, giving no fucks with furry friends outside a 2013 show at Slim’s in San Francisco.
All the furries from last night’s VNV show pose for a moment with Ronan Harris. After he got a change of clothes and got off the bus, he dodged past a LONG line of waiting fans just to seek us out. Seems pretty surreal when the star of the show seeks you, the fan, out. Turns out his wife still has pictures of us in costume from the last tour. Thanks, Agnieszka!
When people become stuffed animals (Wenn Menschen zu Plüschtieren werden)
