Friday, October 31, 2008

Living City

Tomorrow night (Saturday, Nov. 1st) at Club de Ville, the non-profit I work for, Project Transitions, is hosting the first annual Living City benefit show.

Project Transitions provides compassionate, supportive hospice and housing to people living with HIV/AIDS in Austin.

The Black and White Years are headlining the event, with Corto Maltese, Amy Cook and Zest of Yore playing earlier in the night.

Doors at 8! Zest of Yore at 9.

Raffle for $3 to win:
FIRST PRIZE

Dinner for 2 & t-shirt from Home Slice Pizza & Gift card for Daily Juice & $25 Gift Card for End of an Ear Records & $25 Gift Card to Room Service Vintage & $25 Gift Card to Whole Foods & Black and White Years merch

SECOND PRIZE

$25 Gift Card to Whole Foods & $25 Gift Card to Jo’s Coffee Shop, plus mug & Zest of Yore CD


Charles Alexander meets Barack Obama

The Austinist's photo essay right now is a beautiful documentation of a meeting between Charles Alexander, an 86 year-old Boulder, Colorado resident and Barack Obama. Charles Alexander volunteers for the Obama campaign and entered a raffle at the local field office. Then, never having won anything in his life, we won the opportunity to meet Barack Obama.

Charles Alexander has had a long and remarkable life: He was born in East Texas and lived through the Great Depression, and military service in two wars. Charles has volunteered on political campaigns for forty years of his life. This year, Mr. Alexander's wife of 69 years passed away. Patrick Dentler, the writer for the Austinist, says this:

Charles entered the volunteer raffle contest to meet Barack Obama at the Boulder field office where he works--and won. He was able to shake hands, engage and even show off a picture of his wife with the man who might very well be the first black president of The United States...Charles, a man who cast his first ballot for FDR, just voted early for Barack Obama.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Together with you

The Avatar Professional Course just finished in Orlando, Florida on October 17th. (I’m just now getting to post this). Twelve hundred people from thirty countries came together for one week to learn how to connect to others across many types of borders, how to help others, how to work more efficiently and powerfully, and ultimately to contribute to the creation of an enlightened planetary civilization.

The borders we connected across went beyond countries and languages, to personalities, beliefs and behaviors. We connected as beings, present with each other lovingly. And, everyone was there because they wanted to make the world a better place. Everyone wanted to help others feel better, feel happier, feel more powerful and in control of their own lives. The beauty of that earnest goal, and the fact that 1200 people from all over the world wanted to make the world better (rather than hurt each other, fight, complain, suffer or kill) had me smiling, laughing and crying often.


One of my favorite aspects of the course was the young people there. There were harajuku kids from Japan, techno kids from Israel, former farmers and surfers from New Zealand, girls in kimonos, young monks, German kids with modified mullets, Irish girls in patterned tights and dresses, and American kids in t-shirts. All of us wearing our different national costumes and personality costumes, putting on and playing with different identities. At our cores, it became apparent, all of us humans are limitless beings. We are limitless beings enjoying the playtime of taking off and trying on different viewpoints, life experiences, and goals. In this we have simultaneous individuality and unity.

Over 70,000 people from around the world have gone through the basic Avatar training, over 12,000 have taken the Avatar Masters teacher training course. Avatar’s largest goal is to catalyze the integration of belief systems, to create world peace. “Once we realize that the only thing that separates us is beliefs, and beliefs can be created and dis-created with ease, the right and wrong game will cease, and world peace will ensue.”

I feel forever changed by the experience of looking into the faces of so many people from all over the world, whom I didn’t even know, and connecting with them with ease, smiling and sharing love. There is a lot to be learned there. And, I would add, now that I’ve been back at work for two weeks, there’s a lot we do as humans to keep other people from really knowing us. We do a lot of protecting, avoiding realness and pretending. Let’s change this! Let's begin now.


Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Vote No on CA Prop 8 and FL Prop 2

Florida is currently voting on Proposition 2, an amendment to the constitution that would define marriage as between a man and a woman and deny marriage rights to same-sex couples. California has similar legislation, Proposition 8. The cast of Ugly Betty stepped up to register their dissent about Proposition 8 in this video:





And here, in English as well:

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Soil Lamp

Dutch Design Week is this week in Eindhoven, Netherlands. One design in particular stood out to me as a genius creation and a gratifying reminder of the need for intelligent creativity in contemporary times. The Soil Lamp, designed by Marieke Staps, runs on mud.

From the designer:
Support this designer! The implications of this lamp are great. One can imagine a whole household full of lights running solely on energy created by microorganisms, and even larger appliances running on compost, running on decomposition, passively working for us and for the environment. The lamp is a lovely design as well. The aesthetics of this lamp on their own would be ample to encourage me to buy it, but knowing what it does, makes me want to seek it out across the ocean and get one. The lamp is not yet available for sale, and seems to be still in a prototype stage. The direction Marieke Staps is headed is a great one, and clearly ripe with opportunities. Mocoloco has more coverage of the work at Dutch Design Week.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

I Relate

I think I'm the fourth sister. And I love her. And I can't stop laughing.


Artists & Intuitive, Collective Simulacra

In the past couple of months, I have discovered versions of things I have made, especially things I made at Cranbrook, popping up on the internet made by the hands of others. There's a sense that certain memes run through our culture in undercurrents and it is we, the artists, the simultaneous creators and dissectors of culture, who tap into them. In some cases, the end artistic products appear identical, as though we were exposed to each others work and replicated it without thought. However, in many of these same cases (my Migration project and the design image below for example), art works were made in the seclusion of a studio, as insertions into culture, not replications of things we artists had already seen. This further emphasizes my thought that we're all inadvertantly, intuitively creating collective simulacra.

Examples follow. Below the images, I've reposted the Wiki definition of simulacrum, especially in relation to philosophy because I find that to be the most textured definition.


First, we have my Migration project and Taschide's veneer wall stickers from left to right. Below that, we have another part of my Migration project, a little video Tim made.:





Next we have a piece I made last fall. I made a few pieces in this series and they were all investigations of patterning through wall drawings and drapings of chain on the wall. Here's one example from me and then Sarah Cihat's porcelain with Michael Miller's chainwork around it rocking the same design meme:





To be continued....

Simulacrum in philosophy

The simulacrum has long been of interest to philosophers. In his Sophist, Plato speaks of two kinds of image-making. The first is a faithful reproduction, attempted to copy precisely the original. The second is distorted intentionally in order to make the copy appear correct to viewers. He gives an example of Greek statuary, which was crafted larger on top than bottom so that viewers from the ground would see it correctly. If they could view it in scale, they would realize it was malformed. This example from visual arts serves as a metaphor for philosophical arts and the tendency of some philosophers to distort truth in such a way that it appeared accurate unless viewed from the proper angle.[6] Nietzsche addresses the concept of simulacrum in The Twilight of the Idols, suggesting that most philosophers, by ignoring the reliable input of their senses and resorting to the constructs of language and reason, arrive at a distorted copy of reality.[7] Modern French social theorist Jean Baudrillard argues that a simulacrum is not a copy of the real, but becomes truth in its own right: the hyperreal. Where Plato saw two steps of reproduction — faithful and intentionally distorted (simulacrum) — Baudrillard sees four: (1) basic reflection of reality, (2) perversion of reality; (3) pretence of reality (where there is no model); and (4) simulacrum, which “bears no relation to any reality whatever.” Baudrillard uses the concept of god as an example of simulacrum.[8] In Baudrillard’s concept, like Nietzsche’s, simulacra are perceived as negative, but another modern philosopher who addressed the topic, Gilles Deleuze, takes a different view, seeing simulacra as the avenue by which accepted ideals or “privileged position” could be “challenged and overturned.”[9] Deleuze defines simulacra as "those systems in which different relates to different by means of difference itself. What is essential is that we find in these systems no prior identity, no internal resemblance."[10]


Friday, October 10, 2008

Vote for Fear

Below, a repost of a great article Julia Whitty wrote for Mother Jones Magazine online. I find this relevant because the primary difference between McCain/Palin supporters and Obama /Biden supporters right now seems to be fear. It is fear of "the other," fear of gays, fear of Muslims, fear of the Middle East, and so on that fuels the McCain/Palin devotees. While Obama/Biden inspire and encourage hope. Read on.

Vote Your Fears

People who react strongly to bumps in the night, spiders, or the sight of a victims are more likely to support more defense spending, more government resources for fighting terrorism, and tighter immigration controls. This according to a new study from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln published in the current issue of Science.

The study was funded by the National Science Foundation and tested 46 people who identified themselves as having strong political opinions. The subjects were shown threatening visual images—pictures of a spider on a person's eyeball, a dazed person with a bloody face, an open wound with maggots in it. The subjects' skin was monitored for electrical conductivity—an indicator of emotion, arousal, and attention. As a separate physiological measure, the subjects were surprised by a sudden, jarring noise, while measurements were taken of their blink reflex.

Those with the strongest eye or skin reactions to unexpected noises or threatening pictures tended to endorse political positions emphasizing protecting society over preserving individual privacy. These people were found to be more willing to sacrifice their privacy in return for what they perceived as government protection. Conversely, the subjects who reacted less strongly were more likely to favor policies that protect privacy and encourage gun control. . . It's all in the biology. Even for disbelievers of biology.

Julia Whitty is Mother Jones' environmental correspondent, lecturer, and 2008 winner of the Kiriyama Prize and the John Burroughs Medal Award.

The Village Petstore and Charcoal Grill

Banksy, the UK-based artist and street artist, has an installation in New York right now in a storefront in Greenwich Village.

It'll be open to the public daily through Oct. 31.
The NY Times describes it as following:

“Open for Pet Supplies/Rare Breeds/Mechanically retrieved meat” says a sign in front of the shop. Bales of hay dot the sidewalk, along with a kiddie dolphin ride, wrapped in a fishing net like the day’s catch. But it is the leopard in one of the storefront windows that stops passers-by first. “Is that — real?” a woman asked on Wednesday, peering at a large furry object perched on a tree branch, its tail swinging.

It’s not: it is an ingeniously arranged fake fur coat. The robot monkey is more lifelike: it sits, breathing, in a cage inside the store, wearing headphones, holding a remote and watching a television clip of some fellow monkeys in an amorous moment.

A rabbit wearing a pearl necklace files her nails in a window; the coop in the next one has chicken nuggets with legs, busily dipping themselves in sauce.



More videos of the installation available on the Village Petstore and Charcoal Grill website
.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Vote for Hope

This video was made by MC Yogi as a pro-Obama message. An excerpt of MC Yogi's bio is below the video.



MC YOGI (aka Nicholas Giacomini) grew up in Northern California, painting graffiti and listening to hip hop.

Inspired by artists like the Beastie Boys and Run DMC, he began writing and performing his own raps for friends at house parties. He spent most of his high school years at a group home for at-risk youth, and Hip hop culture provided both a soundtrack and a creative outlet during those turbulent teenage years. Then at age 18 he discovered yoga.

On a whim, he joined his father for a yoga and meditation intensive with a famous spiritual teacher from India. Deeply moved by this powerful experience, MC YOGI devoted himself to learning everything he could about the ancient discipline. He began studying the physical forms of yoga, as well as meditation, philosophy, and devotional chanting.

By combining his knowledge of yoga with his love for hip hop music, MC YOGI creates an exciting new sound that brings the wisdom of yoga to a whole new generation of modern mystics and urban yogis.

Palin Flow Chart

I'm only posting this because I love flowcharts. Also, it does resonate with some truth.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Wow.

from the Austinist's daily photo.


Ha ha ha ha ha! Brilliant. Good one friend.
Sidenote: We need better schools.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Sarah Silverman on The Great Schlep

String Theory and Planetary Evolution



Some very out of this world thoughts.
Professor Kaku's book sounds magnetic.
100% crying.
Joyful.


REGISTER & VOTE



REGISTER in Texas by October 6th
(next Monday)

& VOTE on November 4th.

for more info:
www.VOTEXAS.org
You can also pick up an application at the post office,
or go to VOTEFORCHANGE.com


From BarackObama.com:

In less than a week, voter registration will have ended in over two dozen states.
The deadline to register in Mississippi is this Friday. The deadline to register to vote in Nevada, Utah, Washington, Rhode Island and South Carolina is Sunday.

Monday, October 6th is the deadline to register in 17 additional states. (Including Texas).

No matter where you live, if you have three minutes to spare, you can check your registration status, register to vote, request an absentee ballot, and find your early voting site or polling location at VoteForChange.com.

In 2004, George Bush won Nevada by less than 2.5% of voters, New Mexico by less than 1% of voters, and Colorado by less than 100,000 votes. In Ohio, Bush won by just over 100,000 votes -- less than 10 votes per precinct.

This time, we can't leave anything to chance.

This is your choice: three minutes spent registering to vote -- or four years spent wishing that you had.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

A Brief Visual History of Recent Political Art



Abraham Obama, by Ron English

I've seen a handful of blogs lately that are dedicated solely to documenting all the art being made about, and for, Barack Obama. I see it as a bright sign that the cultural creators of our society finally feel positively inspired enough by a political candidate to devote their minds, hands and hours to make art about it. I, like many other young artists, have made my fair share of anti-Bush art; it's grand to see pro-Obama art.

Let's use Shepard Fairey, of OBEY fame, as an example. Fairey is donating all proceeds from sales of his Obama art to the campaign ($400,000 last I heard). And from his same hand, we have this:


To now these:


Both pieces are successful and compelling. The new work though, has something else, optimism. Not images of bombs, HOPE. Not red and black and talk of global supremacy, bright blues and kind uplifted eyes. Not critique and criticism, inspiration. Obama inspires positivity. Obama's message of unity transcends. And we, the artists, are clearly lifted. The stigma on optimism incinerates.

As a sidenote, if you aren't familiar with him, Shepard Fairey is a severely adept street artist. He's most known for his work as OBEY. The pieces he put up for the last hurrah of the famed street art/graffiti hub 11 Spring St. in the fall of 2007 were visually rich blends of pattern and portrait. Most of the art from 11 Spring was incredible. Here's The Gothamist's great story on it. Below, one of Fairey's pieces from 11 Spring:


After years of seeing anti-Bush visual art and hearing anti-Bush slam and performance poetry, I feel thoroughly refreshed to see creatives using their skill to inspire. Fairey's was the first big design for Obama. Then many artists followed suit. For example, the Abraham Obama at the top of this post, one of many designs commissioned by Upper Playground (see one by Burlesque Design of North America below). Countless more Obama art is displayed on The Obama Art Report. In this way, Fairey has been an art leader, just as Obama has incited a sea change in political dialogue and, I would argue, a transcendance in our way of thinking.
Obama Poster by Burlesque Design of North America, available at Upper Playground's online store.

I'm all for hope. I'm all for energetically creating what we want, rather than constantly resisting what we don't.

The anti-Bush art served its purpose. It allowed us to speak our frustrations, to release our profound sense of collective disenfranchisement. The Bush era was a dark period in our nation's history. During it, our collective evolution was stunted in many ways. Our ability to speak up through non-normative communication channels was not. We found the alternative avenues in which to speak, from blogs to street protests to art shows. Now as we get to leave behind that dark Bush era and step forward into the glow, we carry with us our new ability to speak.

We carry with us our art, our words, our inspiration. We are all now, empowered agents of change.