jumpsuits & teleporters

Really beautiful double-screen video installation by Grazia...

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:15:19 -0500

Really beautiful double-screen video installation by Grazia Toderi called Orbite Rosse (Red Orbits).

If I’ve learned one thing this entire quarter, it’s...

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:10:00 -0500

If I’ve learned one thing this entire quarter, it’s how to ask for money. The class Raising Funds for Arts Organizations has primed me for a position in fundraising. But how many different ways can you ask for funding? I’m in the beginning stages of writing a grant to the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. I wish cover letters were like ad copy because all I want to say is, “Give me money.” With an explanation, of course. What would Andy do?

Image credit: Andy Warhol, Dollar Signs, 1981.

Philip Bond is drawing Female Astronauts! My favorite comic book artist (besides Jamie Hewlett) is...

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:21:00 -0500

Philip Bond is drawing Female Astronauts! My favorite comic book artist (besides Jamie Hewlett) is...

As soon as the clock hit 7:30p tonight, I bolted from class. I...

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:53:00 -0500

As soon as the clock hit 7:30p tonight, I bolted from class. I rode to the Trustees Theater to hear Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine, present his “Atoms are the New Bits” lecture. Anderson wrote the article for the February issue of Wired (read the article here). The article presents the new industrial revolution of manufacturing your ideas - from conception through completion - through use of the internet. Anderson made several points. In essence, this is what I took from the lecture:

1. Tap into the DIY spirit
2. Align yourself with the culture of the community
3. Create an ecosystem of creators
4. Don’t ask for advice, just do it
5. Geek innovation, great hats, and Google PhDs

Also, the idea that educational institutions are in place to teach you how to learn—not to teach you skills and techniques. The rest is just finding the tools and applying it. What a breath of fresh air. It’s great to hear encouragement for creative communities reaching their ultimate potential.

"We should be looking at technologies that might lead to really big breakthroughs. As a starting..."

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:08:29 -0500

“We should be looking at technologies that might lead to really big breakthroughs. As a...

ePhilanthropy, Micropatronage, and Crowdfunding Thanks to...

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:32:00 -0500

ePhilanthropy, Micropatronage, and Crowdfunding

Thanks to technology, there are many ways to donate money. The American Red Cross raised $32m through their strategic texting campaign of donating $10 to Haiti. $32,000,000 is an enormous gift. Other a than natural disaster, what else is there to give money to? Well, I certainly didn’t have a problem finding something.

I gave $40 to help fund the final visual effects for the science fiction film, Similo. I never heard of it before watching a video on Kickstarter, which directed me to the short (above). As described on the project page, “SIMILO is a science fiction love story set in the year 2064.” I was hooked and I wanted to see more.

In yesterday’s Raising Funds for Arts Organization class, someone offered Kickstarter to the discussion of philanthropic trends. Kickstarter is a website for project-based funding of “creative ideas and ambitious endeavors.” The concept is clear: donate money to a creator to kickstart a project. After choosing a project, make a pledge. If the goal is met, the creator can finish it. If the goal is not met, your pledge is cancelled. It’s like placing a bid on an idea and hoping it meets the reserve to become tangible.

What a way to motivate creative types. The downside to Kickstarter is: 1) your donation is only tax-deductible if the person or organization has a 501(c)(3) status; and 2) even if the goal is met, there is no guarantee that the project will be executed. If you don’t feel comfortable with Kickstarter, there’s always Charity Navigator or even Pepsi’s Refresh Project.

Have a wonderful valentine weekend!

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:45:19 -0500

Have a wonderful valentine weekend!

"To patronize the faculty of taste is to patronize oneself. For taste governs every free — as..."

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:42:43 -0500

“To patronize the faculty of taste is to patronize oneself. For taste governs every free...

"Instead of awakening us to new possibilities, popular art tranquilizes us; it is our aesthetic..."

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:35:00 -0500

“Instead of awakening us to new possibilities, popular art tranquilizes us; it is our...

In an effort to release my frustrations, I photoshopped my own...

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:30:00 -0500

In an effort to release my frustrations, I photoshopped my own dummies book. Just for a joke. I feel like this is what is happening in the arts. Tell me I’m crazy.

* Links to “Dumbing Down Art in America” by David Swanger.

If you thought the art world was in uproar over Jeffrey...

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:45:00 -0500

If you thought the art world was in uproar over Jeffrey Deitch’s appointment to new MOCA director, ask Hitler how he feels. My favorite part of this parody, aside from the Barry McGee mention, is this frame:

This is how I feel about the new NASA.

NASA’s 2011 Budget: Obama Kills Human Space ExplorationIt...

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:30:00 -0500

NASA’s 2011 Budget: Obama Kills Human Space Exploration

It is a new era for space exploration. Today, NASA unveiled a new budget plan for the 2011 fiscal year. If you followed the Augustine Committee this past summer, you know of the great space debate. As of today, the NASA we all know and love is on the brink of a pivotal transition to develop over the next five years. The 2011 budget focuses on discovering new technologies and updating the current means of exploration.

In order to explore new frontiers, we are launching a vigorous new technology development and test program that will pursue game-changing technology development that can take us further and faster and more affordably into space.
—from NASA’s 2011 Budget Overview

Sounds OK, right? But the new plan restricts us to low orbit and replaces astronauts with robots. How can you expect to inspire and renew the public’s interest in exploring our solar system with a focus on robotic probes? It is invariably apparent that “new” programs will replace the old when it comes to President Obama’s initiatives—this applies to more than just NASA.

In addition to the removal of human spaceflight, Obama proposes to globalize NASA’s efforts while partnering with other governments worldwide and commercializing space technology. Although it was inevitable, opening space technology up to the private sector for the purpose of lower costs is a mistake. Why replace NASA’s expertise and history of problem solving spaceflight? Furthermore, human spaceflight will no longer be an American legacy. Countries like China, Japan, India and even Iran will grab the torch. Also, how does this affect the local economies nationwide that are already involved in NASA production?

Kenneth Chang from the New York Times writes:

In place of the Moon mission, Mr. Obama’s vision offers, at least initially, nothing in terms of human exploration of the solar system. What the administration calls a “bold new initiative” does not spell out a next destination or timetable for getting there.

I strongly believe that NASA is now more unfocused than ever. You can’t pull the wool over my eyes.

Listen to the entire teleconference here and read the projected budget changes here. What do you think?

Sarah Thornton speculates the potential increase or decrease of...

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:02:00 -0500

Sarah Thornton speculates the potential increase or decrease of Picasso’s The Actor since the accident. Originally broadcast on January 28th’s Morning Edition of NPR.

"The things that cannot be measured in a monetary value get cut because they don’t fit into an..."

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:30:00 -0500

“The things that cannot be measured in a monetary value get cut because they don’t fit...

Picasso Painting Damaged at the METCarol Vogel reports: Since...

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:27:00 -0500

Picasso Painting Damaged at the MET

Carol Vogel reports:

Since 1952 “The Actor,” a rare Rose Period Picasso, has hung prominently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with other examples of early paintings by this Spanish master. But on Monday it could be found in a new, temporary home, the Met’s conservation laboratory, where experts there are trying to determine the best course of action for this 105-year-old painting’s brand-new feature: an irregular, six-inch tear running vertically along the lower right-hand corner.

Five days ago, a clumsy student fell into a Picasso painting. Ouch. The painting was immediately removed and taken to the MET’s conservators to assess the damage. The painting is crucial and marks a move from Picasso’s blue period into his rose period. It is also formidably large at 4 feet by 6 feet. Luckily, the damage is reparable. It should only take a few weeks to repair, but the pressure is on; the painting is scheduled to display in an April exhibition.

What a horrible accident! This scenario is always in the back of my mind when visiting galleries and museums. My track record for mishaps is long, but fortunately, I haven’t experienced this large of a debacle. On the bright side, I can only imagine the excitement of a lucky conservationist that has the opportunity to problem solve the tear.

I just watched Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, which is one of...

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:27:51 -0500

I just watched Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, which is one of three screenplays written by Roger Ebert. What a totally bizarre and non-sequitur film. The dialogue is pretty memorable (“You’re a moonchild,” and in response, “You’re a bitch.”). The cuts between scenes were jagged and quick, which made it even more absurd. All in all, the soundtrack completed the film. Which, by the way, I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy. What a fun movie! I went into without expectations and found it completely entertaining.

Roger Ebert reflects on the cult classic:

And the movie as a whole? I think of it as an essay on our generic expectations. It’s an anthology of stock situations, characters, dialogue, cliches and stereotypes, set to music and manipulated to work as exposition and satire at the same time; it’s cause and effect, a wind-up machine to generate emotions, pure movie without message. The strange thing about the movie is that it continues to play successfully to completely different audiences for different reasons. When Meyer and I were hired a few years later to work on an ill-fated Sex Pistols movie called “Who Killed Bambi?” we were both a little nonplussed, I think, to hear Johnny Rotten explain that he liked “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls” because it was so true to life.

“Tu t’laisses aller” by Charles...

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:31:00 -0500

“Tu t’laisses aller” by Charles Aznavour

Screencaps from Un femme est un femme (1961).

Photo

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 19:19:00 -0500

“ENDLESS (ARIANNE)” - 2002 (EXPLORER), (LUNAORBITER), (VOYAGER)...

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:43:37 -0500

“ENDLESS (ARIANNE)” - 2002 (EXPLORER), (LUNAORBITER), (VOYAGER) LAMBDA PRINT ON ALUMINUM. 60 X 60 CM A series of images of well-known rockets configured into imaginary structures. These “remixed” forms convert their represented movement into a non functional rotation the implications of which raise questions as to the rockets’ real nature, the meaning of their mission, and the confidence people have in technology. (via Artists’s Website)

P.S. Davide Bertocchi wants to throw a meteor back into space. (via ArtinAmerica)

Quantifiable Human Values

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:27:41 -0500

We were asked to come up with a list of our values in my Raising Funds for Arts Organizations class...