Mrs. Porter’s 2.0 is a bi-monthly feminist art salon in Los Angeles. The format: each participant has the option to share an aesthetic object for conversation. This object may be anything created or contemplated by the participant: a piece of writing, a work of visual art, or a fine-honed bit of theodicy. Sharing is optional. Each participant presents her/his subject/object for a period of time not to exceed 5 minutes, and the order of presentation is determined by the pring of the bingo call. There is a break for refreshments, then our special guest shares something with the group. This “something” may be a reading, an experience, a show & tell, an exercise, or something else entirely.

Mrs. Porter’s takes its name from a character in T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land. Founding salon member Johanna Blakley has been writing about Mrs. Porter since the salon began in 2004. You can read about her project on the Les Figues blog:

Mrs. Porter: Constrained (Part 1)

Mrs. Porter: Constrained (Part 2)

The Mrs. Porter’s salon met at Occupy LA. There, Madam Porter sat in darkness, meditating on a question. She has experimented with vocalizations, dismantled texts, and started a twitter account (MadamPorter). She has analyzed the evening of Occupy LA as if the salon existed within Mrs. Porter’s vision of it’s far-reaching capabilities. And she has considered issues in books arts, neurology, and the politics of aesthetics. Special guests have included: Jen Hofer, Amina Cain, Coco Owen, Johanna Blakley, Amanda Ackerman, Janice Lee, Molly Corey, Johanna Drucker, Larkin Higgins, and Geneva Skeen.