Pro-New Orleans T-Shirtsimage from dirtycoast.com and jambase.com
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
D-Lab Brasil: Commemorative Video
Below is short movie (3 minutes) with pictures and video from the projects the MIT D-lab team did in Canuana, an area in the state of Tocantins, Brasil. (Now made popular as the remote location of this season's "Survivor" -- maybe we should make t-shirts...)
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Give Art (back?) to the People!
"Don't tell me what issue you're working on, I want to know what solution you are working towards." ~ Van Jones (paraphrased, I can't find it online)
More information on organizations that are talking about the interaction between art and social issues, especially climate change.
Art in Action -- This is run by a museum called the Natural World Museum. The idea is art as a catalyst for sustainable community, but I don't see any programs that actually increase access to making art (not arts and crafts!!), From the site, NWM sticks to the traditional museum model of exposing visitors to art that other people magically produce. The museum has a blog that sporadically covers issues related to the role of public art in catalyzing social action. It has some interesting initial thoughts; I would like to see what interactive-type projects they might be working on.
United Nations -- So the UN holds an event called Paint for the Planet, and it sounds awesome. But when I looked at the pictures, it looked like a small, closed group in a fancy New York hotel looking at cutesy art made by privileged international kids at private schools. I got a "feels good, does little" feeling. It's a pleasant gesture, but it's not well-targeted for the size of participation that's really necessary to deal with climate change. It's a funny thing about using art to get people to change their thoughts and actions -- you have to actually go make art with people. That doesn't generally happen at fancy hotels or while wearing expensive clothes.
Paired with this was another great idea -- a UN seminar on the way that art can influence the public's ideas about the environment (Through the Art for the Environment Program). One of the sessions had a great title: Art for Change: Vehicles for Environmental Action; it's part of a brand new initiatived called UNite to Combat Climate Change. Great information I'm sure, but again, closed off from any real public participation.
I have this crazy idealist belief that people actually believe in the events and projects they devote their time and money to -- that it's not just lip service, buzz words, fancy dinners, and polite smiles, but I wonder if its possible to get so far from the street that you forget about what really matters to get at this huge mass of humanity (individuals!) who make our lives on this earth. If that's really and truely the target population, you can't get there by inviting the same faces to the solution-making table every time. It would be great to see discussions at this level happening out in public where young, interested people (like me!) can experience them and have productive discussions about successful ideas, projects, and models that they can take to their communities to re-integrate art-making into our culture.
More information on organizations that are talking about the interaction between art and social issues, especially climate change.
Art in Action -- This is run by a museum called the Natural World Museum. The idea is art as a catalyst for sustainable community, but I don't see any programs that actually increase access to making art (not arts and crafts!!), From the site, NWM sticks to the traditional museum model of exposing visitors to art that other people magically produce. The museum has a blog that sporadically covers issues related to the role of public art in catalyzing social action. It has some interesting initial thoughts; I would like to see what interactive-type projects they might be working on.
United Nations -- So the UN holds an event called Paint for the Planet, and it sounds awesome. But when I looked at the pictures, it looked like a small, closed group in a fancy New York hotel looking at cutesy art made by privileged international kids at private schools. I got a "feels good, does little" feeling. It's a pleasant gesture, but it's not well-targeted for the size of participation that's really necessary to deal with climate change. It's a funny thing about using art to get people to change their thoughts and actions -- you have to actually go make art with people. That doesn't generally happen at fancy hotels or while wearing expensive clothes.
Paired with this was another great idea -- a UN seminar on the way that art can influence the public's ideas about the environment (Through the Art for the Environment Program). One of the sessions had a great title: Art for Change: Vehicles for Environmental Action; it's part of a brand new initiatived called UNite to Combat Climate Change. Great information I'm sure, but again, closed off from any real public participation.
I have this crazy idealist belief that people actually believe in the events and projects they devote their time and money to -- that it's not just lip service, buzz words, fancy dinners, and polite smiles, but I wonder if its possible to get so far from the street that you forget about what really matters to get at this huge mass of humanity (individuals!) who make our lives on this earth. If that's really and truely the target population, you can't get there by inviting the same faces to the solution-making table every time. It would be great to see discussions at this level happening out in public where young, interested people (like me!) can experience them and have productive discussions about successful ideas, projects, and models that they can take to their communities to re-integrate art-making into our culture.
Making Art in my Neighborhood
Pictures from a project I facilitated with teens in my neighborhood community center last summer.
I worked with a great community organizer and leader, Lucious Murchison to put this piece together. I had left my number with the organization to volunteer to teach ultimate frisbee and got a call looking for someone to do an art project about "Peace Art." Ok.
Objective: Create a dialogue with two local populations to address recent violence in the neighborhood: 1) a group of 8 local teens working as summer camp counselors, 2) general youth attending a community block party event at the end of the summer.
Product: An indoor installation to represents the teen's discussions about violence, peace, change, and healthy communities, and that represents the thoughts and voices of the youth in the community.
Method: Workshops to get the teens to brainstorm & prep for the community party activities: Visualizations, lessons about symbolism, metaphors, public art, exercise to photograph the aspects of their community that they are proud of, that they really like. They made individual collages those printed photographs to make a Mission Hill out of all of the "best parts" of their environment.
Themes:
Birds: Peace, community
Cranes: Japanese tradition of wishing for something important
White cranes: Community members who have passed, whose voices and memories still matter
Feathers: Each feather carries a youth's wish for their community
Colors on the large birds: after talking about the positive parts of the neighborhood, we created a graffiti mural about aspects of the community the teens would like to change, paired with agents and symbols of change, the mural was folded into the three birds, representing the ability to identify and transform your circumstances into something unexpected and purposeful.
I worked with a great community organizer and leader, Lucious Murchison to put this piece together. I had left my number with the organization to volunteer to teach ultimate frisbee and got a call looking for someone to do an art project about "Peace Art." Ok.Objective: Create a dialogue with two local populations to address recent violence in the neighborhood: 1) a group of 8 local teens working as summer camp counselors, 2) general youth attending a community block party event at the end of the summer.
Product: An indoor installation to represents the teen's discussions about violence, peace, change, and healthy communities, and that represents the thoughts and voices of the youth in the community.
Method: Workshops to get the teens to brainstorm & prep for the community party activities: Visualizations, lessons about symbolism, metaphors, public art, exercise to photograph the aspects of their community that they are proud of, that they really like. They made individual collages those printed photographs to make a Mission Hill out of all of the "best parts" of their environment.
Themes:
Birds: Peace, community
Cranes: Japanese tradition of wishing for something important
White cranes: Community members who have passed, whose voices and memories still matter
Feathers: Each feather carries a youth's wish for their community
Colors on the large birds: after talking about the positive parts of the neighborhood, we created a graffiti mural about aspects of the community the teens would like to change, paired with agents and symbols of change, the mural was folded into the three birds, representing the ability to identify and transform your circumstances into something unexpected and purposeful.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Street Art: What is going on?
Personal reminder: Turn this section into an organized and constructive reflection about street
art/ mainstream marketing/ materialism/ consumerism/ intellectual property & the creative commons/ promotion of public arts and artists/ the role of the artist as an individual and as an ideal etc. as sparked by the Fairey talk I saw last night at the ICA.
Refer to previous blogpost about "selling self worth through handbags."
Include mother's observation: "Art needs more roadies and less groupies." Consider replacing "Art" with "Life." Copyright the quote under mom's name before someone else makes posters with it.
Interesting recent articles:
http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2008/12/for-love-of-god-damien-hirst-threatens.html
http://edwardwinkleman.blogspot.com/2007/06/good-artists-borrowgreat-artists-sell.html
art/ mainstream marketing/ materialism/ consumerism/ intellectual property & the creative commons/ promotion of public arts and artists/ the role of the artist as an individual and as an ideal etc. as sparked by the Fairey talk I saw last night at the ICA.Refer to previous blogpost about "selling self worth through handbags."
Include mother's observation: "Art needs more roadies and less groupies." Consider replacing "Art" with "Life." Copyright the quote under mom's name before someone else makes posters with it.
Interesting recent articles:
http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2008/12/for-love-of-god-damien-hirst-threatens.html
http://edwardwinkleman.blogspot.com/2007/06/good-artists-borrowgreat-artists-sell.html
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
D-Lab Brazil 2009
I recently co-lead a trip of undergrad students to Brazil to complete projects in conjunction with Professor Amy Smith's D-Lab course at MIT. This was an amazing experience and I will be slowly adding updates and reflections about the trip and the work we did there.
Until then, all of our project documents are on the D-lab Brazil Wiki
This year, D-lab also sent teams to complete projects in the following countries:
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Social Enterprise & Public Health
A Company Prospers by Saving Poor People's Lives (NYT Article)
[Suggested alternate title: He makes healthy people his business]
Vestergaard-Frandsen
I'm pretty sure this has been around for a while, but they're getting some good press coverage right now.
Image from http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/
[Suggested alternate title: He makes healthy people his business]
Vestergaard-Frandsen
I'm pretty sure this has been around for a while, but they're getting some good press coverage right now.
Image from http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/Sunday, February 1, 2009
Community Arts: Boston's Artists for Humanity
Artists For Humanity is a Boston-based arts program that trains and hires teens to produce mixed media art for local businesses. Nice website and vision for community inclusion. They are also focused on green issues, and sustainability. Creative economic model.
Article about their building's "green features"
Article about their building's "green features"
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