February 2012
4 posts
Washington Post Columnist: No More Ethnic Museums →
Here we go. Steven Pearlstein of the Washington Post praised Rep. Jim Moran’s “bravery” in decrying the ethnic “balkanization” of museums on the National Mall. Instead of Latino museum, next up should be museum dedicated to American industry and innovation. Hmmmm
EVERYTHING IS A REMIX →
One of my colleagues at the foundation shared this. My IF-arts panelists have had nearly identical conversations about this topic of Intellectual property and copyright. How can you own a copyright for something when nothing is new under the sun?
Art Talk with Kara Walker →
llapen:
“What it means is always having to navigate the limits contained in these titles. Even to escape their impact, an artist must pass through this channel. Expectations on the performance of race and gender are simultaneously high and low, depending on who is looking or asking. I prefer to keep all the options in the air, to try and better understand the conundrum that inequality...
Confessions of a Recording Studio →
This was an audio accompaniment to a wonderful article in the New Yorker in which the classical pianist Jeremy Denk writes about the challenges of recording in the studio. On a more conceptual level, the piece was about how to master the art recording, which is more in the editing of the art, as compared to live performance, in which the editing happens in the moment.
I am a non-musician who has...
January 2012
10 posts
artuare →
AUDIO
Better than Brainstorming
January 30,...
Why Fund the Arts? →
UK writer David Edgar is tired of answering this question. But he tries anyway…
whose $, whose art?
Corporate vs. Government Influence on the Arts
Art student hangs up own painting at National... →
pulling a Banksy via Artinfo
To Know, but Not Understand: David Weinberger on... →
dicooper:
The brotherhood of the square gets a shout-out in this one, and it is apparent to me that the world will continue to be steeped in masonic tradition.
Alec Baldwin giving arts policy lecture at Kennedy... →
DC Hip Hop History Project →
kokayi:
me @J.benok and @yUthe78er got together to do a podcast that seeks to relay the history of DC Hip Hop properly. Bought to you in part by FMWJ’s RIK site as well as the good folks at House Studios. Jyeah!
interesting peice about theater
http://shareable.net/blog/the-theater-at-a-crossroads-seeking-a-sustainable-model-for-creativity
December 2011
12 posts
How Litigation May Imprison Art History in America...
http://bigthink.com/ideas/41568
What is appropriate appropriation?
www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/arts/design/richard-prince-lawsuit-focuses-on-limits-of-appropriation.html
Farewell "E-Channel" Feat. poet Ethelbert Miller... →
E-CHANNEL
The E-Channel presents the words and wisdom of the writer Charles Johnson. It’s Charles Johnson LIVE ! It was created by E. Ethelbert Miller (that’s what the E stands for) in January 2011. It’s a one year project in which Miller will interview Johnson about his books, beliefs, and various matters of the heart and mind. The E-Channel presents...
Report: Fusing Arts, Culture and Social Change →
DICooper: Making Sausage: Boardwalk Empire →
dicooper:
Boardwalk Empire features a person on the show that has only half of a face. His backstory is interesting to me because he is a former Doughboy from WWI and he was injured while carrying out his duties as a sniper.
Apparently he was shot in the face while stalking down another sniper. The…
“At a time when government support for the arts is being scaled back, the arts...”
–
Observer books editor William Skidelsky and novelist Geoff Dyer debate the withdrawal of two poets Alice Oswald and John Kisella, who withdrew from the TS Eliot prize last week in protest over its sponsorship by its hedge fund sponsor, Aurora
Photograph: Antonio Olmos
guardian.co.uk,...
WatchRedline Project trailer by Saaret E. Yoseph
Watchdicooper:
rudj:
KYUR8_Webzine is the direct result of the technologies prevalent today. It has a natural ability to engage an audience who occupies a space that is essentially collaborative. [ World Wide Web ]
KYUR8_Webzine joins the growing breed of online curators. It sees the internet as a constant spark, and space for self-actualization: I publish, socialize, network, create, comment,...
WatchPublic/Private: The Evolution of Museum Missions
“There has been more change in the past 10 years than the previous 100”
Art| Basel | Conversations
Margarita J. Aguilar, Executive Director, El Museo del Barrio, New York Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York Madeleine Grynsztejn, Pritzker Director, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago Beatrix...
November 2011
26 posts
Opening Art Basel public art reception: A Sermon... →
This is who I’m going to see tonite! From his website: “Gates’s training as an urban planner and sculptor, and subsequent time spent studying clay, has given him keen awareness of the poetics of production and systems of organizing. Playing with these poetic and systematic interests, Gates has assembled gospel choirs, formed temporary unions, and used systems of mass production as...
EU Plans Largest-Ever Arts Funding Program,...
EU Plans Largest-Ever Arts Funding Program, Pinning Economic Hopes on Culture Industry
http://artinfo.com/news/story/751658/eu-plans-largest-ever-arts-funding-program-pinning-economic-hopes-on-culture-industry
Sounds Familiar... →
My flight for Miami leaves in a couple minutes. This New York Times article about the rise of Art Basel and its 10th anniversary covers much of the same ground we’ve covered: government funding for the arts, role of private sector, the role of higher education, and art as an economic driver. I’m looking forward to seeing what the fuss is all about.
The Rise and Fall of Alternative Spaces
interesting piece on “alternative spaces”…it would be interesting to do a study of these type of spaces in DC’s past.
http://www.booksandideas.net/The-Rise-and-Fall-of-Alternative.html
WatchSoul Food Junkies by Byron Hurt. I’m a big fan—Byron and I did some joint events when his last film came out and my last book came out on black masculinity in 2006. IF…just released a discussion report on on Food Policy. I wonder if we could collaborate on some more events…hmmmm
Pop-Up Magazine →
“Pop-Up Magazine is the world’s first live magazine, created for a stage, a screen, and a live audience. Nothing will arrive in your mailbox; no content will go online. An issue exists for one night, in one place.
Pop-Up showcases the country’s most interesting writers, documentary filmmakers, photographers, and radio producers, together, on stage, sharing short moments of...
“What do we mean when we say that beyond skills and knowledge, an arts education...”
– Via the Huffington Post
Art Basel Miami Beach 10th Anniversary →
One of the IF-Arts panelists is going and urging to me check this out. I’m seriously thinking about trying to make the trip.
Details from Public Art Installation for Howard... →
From sculptor Sean Hennessey:
The design is a free standing trumpet player to sit atop the theatre. His sculpture is constructed of powder coated stainless steel rods. It is the practice of Mid-Ocean Studios to often work with artists in the cities that they have received commissions. After a series of portfolios reviews and questions, I was asked to participate.
“This is a dream...
Two Contrasting Views of the Kennedy Center's...
This latest Washingtonian magazine profile is overly long and borders on hagiography, but shows how one arts fundraiser and manager has successfully navigated very turbulent political and cultural waters.
http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/21453.html
The tone is a mirror opposite of the Washington Post’s takedown of Kaiser earlier this year, which came up during our...
Dhani Jones on Creating a Culture of Conversation →
Whether a plane to Singapore, a subway in Manhattan, or the streets of Cincinnati, I search for meaningful conversation wherever I may travel. Without it, I believe we lose the ability to not only understand others, but more importantly, ourselves. As no surprise, it was conversation that changed my thought process about philanthropy, social responsibility, and an opportunity to make a...
EXHIBIT: Washington, Symbol and City
These themes come up constantly in our discussions.
I plan to check out this exhibit now on view at the National Building Museum: Washington, Symbol and City. From the description:
“Charles Dickens once called Washington a city of magnificent intentions. This humorous epithet notes that the young capital had not quite lived up to expectations by 1842, but it also acknowledges that the...
Study Shows Link between Science/Innovation and...
“The fact is that the arts foster innovation. We’ve just published a study that shows that almost all Nobel laureates in the sciences actively engage in arts as adults. They are twenty-five times as likely as the average scientist to sing, dance, or act; seventeen times as likely to be a visual artist; twelve times more likely to write poetry and literature; eight times more...
Feast of Words: A Literary Potluck →
This San Francisco series blends event that mixes foodies and writers reminded me of a comment by on IF Arts panelist who noted that America is best at integrating people and cultures through food. People may have problem with immigration, but no one is trying to send back pizza, fried rice or burritos.
Animating Democracy Blog Salon →
“In my opening post for the salon, I said that the arts and culture have always had a place in this work of creating a sense of place, strengthening civic participation, and bolstering positive social change. I refrained from suggesting exactly what arts and culture looks, sounds, and feels like; yet, the overarching thread of blogs throughout this salon have alluded to a broadened...
State By State Breakdown of where Artists Jobs Are →
“The report on artists in the workforce supplements and expands upon a 2008 paper, which found about two million Americans list a job in the arts as their primary source of employment. That comes out to 1.4 percent of American workers. New York heads the newly released state-by-state list, with artists making up 2.3 percent of its labor force. California, home to the film and television...
An experiment in crowdsourcing the IF logo →
So, I tried out “crowdsourcing” in an attempt to get ideas for the Interactivity Foundation’s new logo. We got 210 entries! I am not sure about what this model says about the future of the arts and society…but it is interesting.
Regrets of a Former Arts Funder →
More on the challenge of funding arts groups that aren’t white or wealthy, from an insider.
"Beer Town" by Dog and Pony DC →
Beertown
dog & pony dc performs at Capitol Hill Arts Workshop Washington, DC
Welcome to Beertown’s 20th Quinquennial Time Capsule Day! Every five years this small American town unearths its beloved Time Capsule and ritualistically reviews its contents—Beertown’s “artifacts.” But celebrating the past is not enough for this community. On Time Capsule Day...
Fab Lab project DC →
Give ordinary people the right tools, and they will
design and build the most extraordinary things.
That’s the idea behind Fab Labs, which originated
at MIT by Professor Neil Gershenfeld, who teaches,
How To Make (almost) Anything.
Fab Labs provide access to prototype tools for personal
fabrication, like a personal computer that can output
functional objects instead of images on a...
Suburbanization of Poverty →
this also came up in our last IF-Arts meeting.