Tammy Rae Carland (born January 27, 1965), is a photographer, video artist, zine editor, current provost at
California College of the Arts
California College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in Berkeley, California in 1907 and moved to a historic estate in Oakland, California in 1922. In 1996 it opened a second campus in Sa ...
(CCA), and former co-owner of the independent lesbian music label Mr. Lady Records and Videos. Her work has been published, screened, and exhibited around the world in galleries and museums in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berlin, and Sydney.
Early life
Carland was born in Portland, Maine in 1965. She grew up with 4 siblings and was raised by her single mother. She was the first in her family to graduate from high school.
Zines, videos, and music
In the late 1980s, while she was studying photography at
The Evergreen State College
The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a p ...
, Carland co-founded the independent art gallery Reko Muse (a.k.a. wreck-o-muse) in
Olympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region.
European ...
with fellow photography student,
Kathleen Hanna
Kathleen Hanna (born November 12, 1968) is an American singer, musician, artist, feminist activist, pioneer of the feminist punk riot grrrl movement, and punk zine writer. In the early-to-mid-1990s she was the lead singer of feminist punk band B ...
and another friend,
Heidi Arbogast. They formed a band, Amy Carter, who performed during art exhibitions. Kathleen Hanna often did spoken word performances at the gallery. Local band,
Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
, led by
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...
, periodically played benefit shows to support the gallery.
After Amy Carter broke up, Carland remained friends with Hanna. She collaborated on the record art for Hanna’s band,
Bikini Kill
Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pioneered the ...
. Carland is also the namesake of the Bikini Kill song "For Tammy Rae" off the album
Pussy Whipped
''Pussy Whipped'' is the debut studio album by American punk rock band Bikini Kill. It was released on Kill Rock Stars on October 26, 1993.
Critical reception
David Browne of ''Entertainment Weekly'' called ''Pussy Whipped'' "the first great r ...
. She also collaborated on album art for bands such as
The Fakes and
The Butchies
The Butchies were an all-female punk rock band from Durham, North Carolina, that existed from 1998 to 2005. They reunited from their hiatus to tour with Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls promoting Ray's new album in 2010. The frequent focus of their ...
.
Hanna contributed to Carland’s next project, the independently produced fanzine, I (heart) Amy Carter. Other contributors included
Donna Dresch
Donna Dresch is an American punk rock musician, perhaps best known as founder, guitarist and bass guitarist of Team Dresch.
Dresch has been actively involved in the queercore scene since the 1980s, as the creator of the fanzine ''Chainsaw'' an ...
of the
queercore
Queercore (or homocore) is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifical ...
band,
Team Dresch
Team Dresch is an American punk rock band originally formed in 1993 in Olympia, Washington. The band made a significant impression on the DIY punk movement queercore, which gave voice through zines and music to the passions and concerns of LGBT p ...
. Carland’s zine writings have been republished in ''A Girl's Guide to Taking Over the World'' edited by Karen Green and
Tristan Taormino
Tristan Taormino (born May 9, 1971) is an American feminist author, columnist, sex educator, activist, editor, speaker, radio host, and pornographic film director. She is most recently known for her book ''Opening Up: A Guide to Creating and Susta ...
and ''The
Riot Grrrl
Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington and the greater Pacific Northwest and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. Riot grrrl is a subcultur ...
Collection'' edited by
Lisa Darms.
After the zine's demise, Carland turned her focus to
photography
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...
and
filmmaking
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...
. Excerpts from her film ''Lady Outlaws and Faggot Wannabes'' are included in the documentary film ''
She's Real, Worse Than Queer
Lucy Thane (born 1967) is a British documentary filmmaker, event producer and performer, living in Folkestone. Her films include ''It Changed My Life: Bikini Kill in the UK'' (1993) and ''She's Real (Worse than Queer)'' (1997).
Life and work
Thane ...
'' by
Lucy Thane
Lucy Thane (born 1967) is a British documentary filmmaker, event producer and performer, living in Folkestone. Her films include ''It Changed My Life: Bikini Kill in the UK'' (1993) and ''She's Real (Worse than Queer)'' (1997).
Life and work
Thane ...
, and Carland is also interviewed in this film. She has also been a contributor to ''Joanie4Jackie'', a film compilation
zine
A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published
Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to writ ...
created by
Miranda July
Miranda July (born Miranda Jennifer Grossinger; February 15, 1974) is an American film director, screenwriter, singer, actress and author. Her body of work includes film, fiction, monologue, digital presentations and live performance art.
She w ...
, which featured ''Dear Mom'' and ''Becky 1977'' in the first and second issues respectively. Her videos ''Live From Somewhere'', ''Odd Girl Out'', and ''Lady Outlaws and Faggot Wannabes'' have screened nationally and internationally.
From 1997-2005, Carland ran, in partnership, Mr. Lady Records and Videos. Mr. Lady was an independent record label and video distribution company dedicated to promoting
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
and
queer
''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...
culture. Mr. Lady released recordings by
The Butchies
The Butchies were an all-female punk rock band from Durham, North Carolina, that existed from 1998 to 2005. They reunited from their hiatus to tour with Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls promoting Ray's new album in 2010. The frequent focus of their ...
,
Kaia Wilson
Kaia Lynn Wilson (born 1974) is an American musician from Portland, Oregon, best known as a founding member of both Team Dresch, a revered 1990s queercore punk band, and The Butchies, a pop-rock spin-off from her solo work. In addition to sing ...
(Carland's ex-partner and Mr. Lady co-founder), and
Le Tigre
Le Tigre (, ; French for "The Tiger") is an American electronic rock band formed by Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill), Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson for the rest ...
.
Photography
Carland's photographs appear in the book ''The Passionate Camera: Photography and Bodies of Desire'' edited by
Deborah Bright
Deborah Bright (born 1950) is a 20th-century American photographer and artist, writer, and educator. She is particularly noted for her imagery and scholarship on queer desire and politics, as well as on the ideologies of American landscape photog ...
and ''Lesbian Art in America'' edited by
Harmony Hammond
Harmony Hammond (born February 8, 1944 in Hometown, Illinois) is an American artist, activist, curator, and writer. She was a prominent figure in the founding of the feminist art movement in 1970's New York.
Early life and education
Harmony ...
. Carland has several bodies of work that have been shown in museums and galleries. She is currently represented by Jessica Silverman Gallery.
Carland has described herself as a maker rather than a documentarian, with regard to her art practice. In general, her photographs are carefully staged rather than captured in the moment. She has cited
Bernd and Hilla Becher
Bernhard "Bernd" Becher (; 20 August 1931 – 22 June 2007), and Hilla Becher, née Wobeser (2 September 1934 – 10 October 2015), were German conceptual artists and photographers working as a collaborative duo. They are best known for their ...
,
Felix Gonzales-Torres and
Imogen Cunningham
Imogen Cunningham (; April 12, 1883 – June 23, 1976) was an American photographer known for her botanical photography, nudes, and industrial landscapes. Cunningham was a member of the California-based Group f/64, known for its dedication to t ...
as influences, especially on her "Lesbian Beds" series. The series contains photographs of her friends' unmade beds, all taken from the same aerial perspective, just minutes after being vacated. In the series "Horror Girls", Carland dresses up to recreate scenes and characters from
horror movies
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoc ...
. In "On Becoming: Billy and Katie 1964" Carland creates snapshot portraits of her dressed as her parents. "Photoback" is a series in which she photographed found photos that have captions hand written on the backs. "Keeping House" is a series Carland did with
Kaia Wilson
Kaia Lynn Wilson (born 1974) is an American musician from Portland, Oregon, best known as a founding member of both Team Dresch, a revered 1990s queercore punk band, and The Butchies, a pop-rock spin-off from her solo work. In addition to sing ...
, staging scene from their home life together. The series "Post Partum Portraits" was created after Carland became a mother. Her series "Archive of Feelings" was featured in ''
Alien She: Examining the lasting impact of
Riot Grrrl
Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington and the greater Pacific Northwest and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. Riot grrrl is a subcultur ...
'' , an exhibition held at the
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) is a multi-disciplinary contemporary arts center in San Francisco, California, United States. Located in Yerba Buena Gardens, YBCA features visual art, performance, and film/video that celebrates local, natio ...
in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, CA and the
Orange County Museum of Art
The Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located on the campus of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, California. The museum's collection comprises more than 4,500 objects, with a concentration ...
.
Teaching
Carland is Provost at
California College of the Arts
California College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in Berkeley, California in 1907 and moved to a historic estate in Oakland, California in 1922. In 1996 it opened a second campus in Sa ...
where she is also a Professor of Photography and Fine Arts. Carland has also taught at
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
, NC and
DePauw University
DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the G ...
, Greencastle, IN.
In popular culture
Carland's name appears in the lyrics of the
Le Tigre
Le Tigre (, ; French for "The Tiger") is an American electronic rock band formed by Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill), Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson for the rest ...
song "
Hot Topic
Hot Topic, Inc. (stylized as HOT TOPIC) is an American retail chain specializing in counterculture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music. The stores are aimed towards an audience interested in rock music and video gaming, ...
." She is also name-checked in the
Bikini Kill
Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail. The band pioneered the ...
song “For Tammy Rae”.
References
External links
Tammy Rae Carland siteInterview on ''Art Practical''*
ttp://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/fales/carlandzines/ Tammy Rae Carland Zine Collection at the Fales Special Collections Library at NYUbr>
Mr. Lady Archive at the Fales Special Collections Library at NYUTammy Rae Carlandat
Kadist Art Foundation
Kadist is an interdisciplinary contemporary arts organization with an international contemporary art collection. In addition to being a collecting body, Kadist hosts artists residencies and produces exhibitions, publications, and public events. ...
*
Art in the Grip of Riot Grrrl Hyperallergic article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carland, Tammy Rae
Living people
American lesbian writers
Lesbian artists
American photographers
Riot grrrl
Artists from the San Francisco Bay Area
American women artists
American women photographers
Feminist artists
1965 births
LGBT people from Maine
21st-century American women