TED 2011: Virtual Choir Joins Voices from 58 Countries, via Wired.

Inventing the Medium: Approaching Design as a Collective Cultural Task — Talk by Dr. Janet Murray Continue reading

Winter 2010 Online Quarterly: Silence (Hakan Topal, Guest Editor) — Launch & Panel Discussion :: December 14, 2010; 6:30 pm :: International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), 1040 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn, New York.

With Aslihan Demirtas (Architect, New York), Regine Basha (Curator, New York), Cevdet Erek (Artist, Istanbul), Micah Silver (Artist, Cambridge, MA); Moderated by Hakan Topal (Artist, xurban_collective).

In the pages of the quarterly the authors discuss the possibilities and limitations of the condition of silence by examining its presence in art and music across a number of global socio-political contexts. Several authors tackle the concatenation of sound, history and nation, working towards an understanding of the dynamics and power of silence. Continue reading

Special Issue for the Fibreculture Journal: Networked Utopias and Speculative Futures :: Editors: Susan Ballard, Zita Joyce and Lizzie Muller :: Call for Proposals — Deadline: February 20, 2011

Since most of history’s giant trees have already been cut down, a new Ark will have to be constructed out of the materials that a desperate humanity finds at hand in insurgent communities, pirate technologies, bootlegged media, rebel science and forgotten utopias. — Mike Davis “Who Will Build an Ark: The Utopian Imperative in an Age of Catastrophe” in Telepolis Continue reading

Economies of the Commons 2 :: November 11-13 2010 :: De Balie & Hilversum - Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid, Amsterdam.

Economies of the Commons 2 is a critical examination of the economics of on-line public domain and open access resources of information, knowledge, and media (the ‘digital commons’). The past 10 years have seen the rise of a variety of such open content resources attracting millions of users, sometimes on a daily basis. The impact of projects such as …Wikipedia, Images of the Future, and Europeana testify to the vibrancy of the new digital public domain. No longer left to the exclusive domains of digital ‘insiders’, open content resources are rapidly becoming widely used and highly popular.

While protagonists of open content praise its low-cost accessibility and collaborative structures, critics claim it undermines the established “gate keeping” functions of authors, the academy, and professional institutions while lacking a reliable business model of its own. Continue reading

People often credit their ideas to individual “Eureka!” moments. But Steven Johnson shows how history tells a different story. His fascinating tour takes us from the “liquid networks” of London’s coffee houses to Charles Darwin’s long, slow hunch to today’s high-velocity web. Continue reading

Cross(x)Species Adventure Club: A Molecular Gastronomy Workshop :: June 19, 2010; 3:00 - 5:30 pm :: Eyebeam, 540 West 21st Street, New York, NY.

We are recruiting the adventurous for a hands-on workshop introducing the use of molecular gastronomy in service of ecosystems design. Like the web 2.0 of the food systems, the Cross(x)Species Adventure Club develops participatory, DIY, and multi-platform food systems to improve environmental health and augment biodiversity … where food is a medium of art, adventure, pleasure and agency.

The Cross(x) Species Adventure Club enlists humans to explore a biodiverse and delicious future; to engage in culinary experiments; invest in food innovation; and participate in re-designing our collective relationship to natural systems. Continue reading

After 5 years of stitching and 2 years of touring the Nike Blanket Petition is in full view at the Museum of Contemporary Craft (MoCC) in Portland, Oregon - 9 miles from Nike Headquarters. The CEO Mark Parker has been invited and has politely agreed to visit the museum before June 11 - the last day to see the swoosh. It will continue to show at MoCC during the exhibition Gestures of Resistance (through June 26); however, after June 11 it will be in the Study Center looking like Nana’s afghan folded on her sofa. More about the exhibit here.

From 2003-2008, a diverse group of international knit and crochet hobbyists participated in a microRevolt project called the Nike Blanket Petition, a 15-foot wide handmade blanket of the Nike swoosh. Each 4 x 4 inch stitched square creates the Nike logo, acting as a signature for fair labor policies for Nike garment workers. Over the five-year period, virtual and hand-made squares were collected on tour, electronically and by postmail, representing over 30 countries. Continue reading

Agents & Provocateurs :: May 14 - July 18, 2010 :: Opening: May 14; 6:00 pm :: HMKV at the Dortmunder U (3rd floor), Center for Art and Creativity, Leonie-Reygers-Terrasse, 44137 Dortmund, Germany.

With works by more than 30 international artists, Agents & Provocateurs considers two distinct forms of confrontation — agency and provocation — in light of their use by artists as a means to express public criticism. Investigating the wide range of attitudes bridging the gap between the provocative stance of the enfant terrible and more problem-oriented approaches, the exhibition focuses on instances where artists have acknowledged and brought to bear their individual or collective agency. Continue reading

Networked Organisms and Habitats (Noah) is a tool that nature lovers can use to explore and document local wildlife and a common technology platform that research groups can use to harness the power of citizen scientists everywhere.

Spottings: Grab a photograph of an interesting organism that you want to share or learn more about, select the appropriate category, add some descriptive tags, and click submit. We’ll capture the location details along with some other information and store it in the species database.

Field Guide: See what kinds of organisms are near you right now. Search through a list or explore a map of the most recent spottings based on your location, all on your mobile phone. We are working with local experts and provide you with as much species information as possible. Continue reading