February 6, 2012
February 4, 2012
∞Haus-Rucker-Co were a Viennese group founded in 1967 by Laurids Ortner, Günther Zamp Kelp and Klaus Pinter, later joined by Manfred Ortner. Their work explored the performative potential of architecture through installations and happenings using pneumatic structures or prosthetic devices that altered perceptions of space.
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Video of the panel discussion regarding the Salman Rushdie incident at the JLF. For the record, joeyjoseph is convinced that most parties involved haven’t read The Satanic Verses, and the moderator makes that point at the end. So much fire over something people haven’t experienced. Those of us who have read it, know the joke is on them.
But more surprising and inspiring to me, was that I can’t remember the last time a discussion of this quality was had over here, in the “land of the free”.
Video by Dreamcast.in
∞"A child free from the guilt of ownership and the burden of economic competition will grow up with the will to do what needs doing and the capacity for joy in doing it. It is useless work that darkens the heart. The delight of the nursing mother, of the scholar, of the successful hunter, of the good cook, of the skillful maker, of anyone doing needed work and doing it well—this durable joy is perhaps the deepest source of human affection, and of sociality as a whole."
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed (via miu-sherandhiscollar)
January 26, 2012
"I have now reached the point where I may indicate briefly what to me constitutes the essence of the crisis of our time. It concerns the relationship of the individual to society. The individual has become more conscious than ever of his dependence upon society. But he does not experience this dependence as a positive asset, as an organic tie, as a protective force, but rather as a threat to his natural rights, or even to his economic existence. Moreover, his position in society is such that the egotistical drives of his make-up are constantly being accentuated, while his social drives, which are by nature weaker, progressively deteriorate. All human beings, whatever their position in society, are suffering from this process of deterioration. Unknowingly prisoners of their own egotism, they feel insecure, lonely, and deprived of the naive, simple, and unsophisticated enjoyment of life. Man can find meaning in life, short and perilous as it is, only through devoting himself to society."
SO & SO Issue 4 by Alasdair Monk (via banquethall)
An apt use of the word Prisoner! I chose to reply, using this photo:
January 25, 2012
SPACE CRUISER from Ivan Safrin and Babycastles (by Ida C. Benedetto)
“Space Cruiser is the most ambitious project yet from NYC developer Ivan Safrin and DIY games collective Babycastles: An interactive installation designed for 100-200 participants that turns the Hayden Planetarium dome into a giant virtual spacecraft. Together, players will collaborate to navigate a virtual ship through asteroid belts and other dangers — kind of like a massively-multiplayer version of Carl Sagan’s imaginary space vessel from Cosmos.”
- From Motherboard
FYI for those of us in SF: every 3rd Thursday night at the CAS, they forego the recorded planetarium show, switch off autopilot, and it becomes Carl Sagan’s ship.
∞Bicycle Painting Self Portrait with Mirror (by letspainttv) God bless John Kilduff. Still going strong.
∞January 24, 2012
Crit Lit
For nerdy readers who are curious about the world. For those who find everything interesting. For those who find themselves browsing Wikipedia for fun. For those who enjoy the serendipity of life, and see the connections between everything.
Comes…
Crit Lit - A small information store (because print, while not dead, isn’t the exclusive locus of knowledge) where you can come in, and find something interesting to learn. Each month we’ll curate 20 works on a theme. You walk in, grab a D20, and whatever you roll, you buy and read, or just get assigned to read if it’s free, that’ll probably be #20 (a crit hit). Could be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, history, science, ethnography, monograph, anything. There’s some larger theme to you being a member of a shop like this, you’re exploring your way through a maze or dungeon, connecting dots, acquiring knowledge or ‘items’, building (a) character. Maybe once in a while there’s a fun event/end-game activity, and then you start anew. It’s the gaming of Dungeons and Dragons, with an entirely different set of real world beneficial activities; reading, learning, sharing, etc.
*Edit: I have never played Dungeons and Dragons.
January 23, 2012
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
The preview for the next episode of Alec Baldwin’s “Here’s The Thing” podcast. It’s 43 seconds, and expresses the kind of environment I need to be working in right now.
Played 20 times. ∞
