We Think Alone
We Think Alone is a new project from Miranda July, author, artist, and director of the films The Future and You and Me and Everyone We Know. There aren’t a whole lot of details about what it is, other than a series of 20 e-mails “from the Sent mail folders” of various contributors, which you […]
Solar-Powered Irrigation for Farmers
Paul Polak is attempting to raise money to bring solar power to farmers around the world. His SunWater crowdfunding campaign is a noble effort to change the way agriculture functions for the vast communities around the globe that are simply too impoverished to bring themselves up and grow more crops to make a living. These workers, […]
The First Book on Surfing
In 1914 photographer and surfer A.R. Gurrey self-published what is now believed to be the first book devoted solely to surfing, The Surf Riders of Hawaii. Combining his own photos and prose alongside poetry from Lord Byron, Gurrey explored the sensorial adventure of the sport. Most of the photos were shot from the water while riding […]
Art in Protest
In Portugal, artists and protestors have been using a wide variety of political and artistic signage and design to draw attention to the escalating taxes and austerity measures in their country. Inspired by the May ’68 Paris protests, their call to action is, “It’s the people who call the shots.” The intriguing thing about this […]
The Relocation of Newtok Residents
Yesterday the Guardian published its first installment of a report on Newtok, Alaska, where an entire village is in the long process of relocating as their home becomes uninhabitable due to the affects of climate change. A report by the US Army Corps of Engineers predicted the highest point in the village will be underwater by 2017. […]
Re-imagining the Donnell Library
Ever since the Donnell Library branch closed in 2008, the neighborhood surrounding West 53rd street has missed its beloved reading room. Today the New York Public Library will officially unveil the The Donnell Library Center’s replacement, a center redesigned to fit at the base of a high-rise hotel. Architect Enrique Norten and his firm TEN Arquitectos imagined […]
Sebasti?o Salgado’s “Genesis”
This past Sunday, The New York Times’ Sunday Review section featured a portfolio of images from photojournalist Sebastião Salgado, who has long documented human suffering and its causes around the world. But for his latest project, he has turned his lens on Earth itself, in order to document the beauty it retains despite its own destruction […]
The Upcycle
This past week, the authors William McDonough and Michael Braungart have released the awaited follow-up to their successful landmark book on sustainable design, Cradle to Cradle, which they wrote over ten years ago. Their new book, The Upcycle, takes their experience of putting sustainable ideas into practice in many different arenas, and translates that mindset into […]
Repurposed Payphones
Following up on our prior post on the New Museum’s innovative use of New York City’s pay phones for their 1993 exhibit, the city is now actually attempting to decide what to do with the relics, rather than send them to the landfills. The mayor’s office has been holding a sustainable design competition for prototypes […]
National Geographic Found
To celebrate their 125 years of existence, National Geographic have launched an official Tumblr dedicated exclusively to showing off a wide array of photographs from their historic archives, many of which have until now been unpublished. The result is equal parts journey back in time and inspiration for preserving and cultivating our cultures and environments. […]
Fracking and Earthquakes
Though the links between earthquakes and human activity have long been discussed, evidence is gathering that strongly correlates the use of fracking to obtain fuels from the earth to these natural disasters. Mother Jones recently published Michael Behar’s account of an unlikely 5.7 quake in Oklahoma in 2011, and the manmade circumstances that appear to […]
Recalling 1993
The New Museum has come up with a unique way of promoting their latest show, “1993.” In an attempt to place potential viewers into a mindset of nostalgia and memory related to that specific year, they used one of the few relics of that time for their message’s medium: pay phones. Barely used today, the […]
The Ebb and Flow of E-Waste
Even though there are numerous facilities across the country dedicated to recycling the technology we use and discard so frequently (cell phones, computers, printers, appliances, etc.), it turns out that sudden shifts in the marketplace are having a profound effect on what can and cannot be lucratively recycled by these industries. The New York Times […]
Upstream Color
Following up on Kathleen’s post, and since I am currently in Austin taking in as many films as possible during the SXSW Film Festival, I’d like to highlight one film in particular, a remnant from Sundance in January but with enough staying power that the talk about the film has continued into March. In fact, […]
We Upcycle
We Upcycle, a blog by Lisa Schultz and Magdalena Akantisz, hosts a wide variety of ideas for creating new and useful objects out of old ones you might have thrown away. The project started when the two students, based in Vienna, decided to post 30 objects they repurposed and reused in creative ways over 30 days. […]
The New Cinema – Creating Your Own Environments
Over at The Creators Project, and in association with Eyebeam and Framestore, New Cinema is conceptualizing new ways of merging visual arts and moving images with the more experiential concepts long associated with video games. In a recent post on The Creators Project blog, a team member at the recent hackathon shares the experience of generating […]
Anonymous Press
Operating under the notion that anyone can publish their own work today, Anonymous Press allows the user to simply type in a title for a book, and allow Google Images to do the rest. The site runs a search on the title, and puts the resulting images into a layout, resulting in a tiny little […]
Herbie Fletcher at The Hole
Venerable downtown art gallery The Hole is playing host to six new works from surf legend turned artist, Herbie Fletcher. Titled “Wrecktangles,” the pieces are large-scale constructions made from actual surfboards that were destroyed in the waves. Cut-up, broken and warped by crashes, the pieces come together and form a whole that reveals not just […]
The Ecstatic Music Festival
Already underway, The Ecstatic Music Festival at the Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center once again unites a wide array of performers from the classical and independent music worlds, resulting in some truly one-of-a-kind opportunities to witness musicians doing what they do best outside of their usual confines. While the overall slant of the program […]
Common Ground for our Common Atmosphere
So often in the debate on climate change and global warming, the focus leans so heavily on the debate aspect, the issue itself takes a back seat. No matter the degree to which one believes in the human impact on the environment, we should be able to find some common ground in the idea that […]
Manhattan Portraits
The newest issue (No. 14) of the magazine Acne Paper is a tribute to creative culture throughout Manhattan’s recent history, with nostalgic black and white portraits of the borough’s streets, and the many now-famous writers, painters, performers, and artists of all types who have filled them and been inspired by them. Of course, the magazine […]
The Oracle Club
While looking for different ways to establish a small work space outside of the home, a place to be productive but not necessarily glued to a chair and a screen, I came across an interesting option. Rather than having to rent a raw space and fill it with what you need to be inspired, The […]
Surfing the Eisbach
When the ocean isn’t enough, head for a river. The Eisbach is a manmade river in Munich, Germany that boasts a “standing wave,” near a bridge just past the Haust der Kunst museum. Practically an art installation in and of itself, surfers have come from around the world to take it on since its creation […]
Every Person Is A Philosopher
With the holiday season in mind, it’s important to remember the community aspect of creative culture, and pay attention to the networks across all cultures and social classes that we need to build and maintain in order for good art to thrive and proliferate. In Chicago, the Neighborhood Writing Alliance does exactly this. Under the […]
