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In their effort to show that they aren’t scared of the Red Dragon, European cultural organizations – and in their trail artists, writers, scientists and others – are visiting China more frequently than ever. The Beijing Case, a somewhat conventional exchange programme organized by the Cultural Fund of the German Republic, brings together artists, film directors and writers from the two countries, among them Thomas Bayrle, Antje Majewski, Ma Yinglis and Cao Fei. Although the make-up of Cao’s work is extremely surreal, on the level of meaning and action it deals with completely ordinary experiences. Her film COSplayers, (2005) is both challenging and chilling: it juxtaposes the fantasy world of video games, in which young urban people in China spend their days, and the increasingly alienating expectations of society and family life. The piece sends a clear message about the management of fear among young people in China’s big cities. Welcome to the club.

more from Frieze here.

Originally by Morgan Meis from 3quarksdaily on March 1, 2006, 6:25am

Call for entries from the National Science Foundation:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and Science created the Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge to celebrate that grand tradition—and to encourage its continued growth. In a world where science literacy is dismayingly rare, illustrations provide the most immediate and influential connection between scientists and other citizens, and the best hope for nurturing popular interest. Indeed, they are now a necessity for public understanding of research developments: In an increasingly graphics-oriented culture, where people acquire the majority of their news from TV and the World Wide Web, a story without a vivid and intriguing image is often no story at all.

We urge you and your colleagues to contribute to the next competition and to join us in congratulating the winners.

More here.  [Photo shows 2005 winner in the "illustration" category: "The Synapse Revealed."]

Originally by Abbas Raza from 3quarksdaily on March 1, 2006, 4:15pm

"As the smoker has become a pariah, sufferers from lung cancer have become the lepers of the twenty-first century."

Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick in Spiked:

The advert features a young mother, clearly in the terminal stages of lung cancer, who expresses her feelings of guilt and remorse that a cancer caused by her own smoking will soon take her away from her children. In turn, her daughter expresses her anger and grief at the fact that her mother is expected to die shortly as a result of a disease resulting from her smoking. This advert is clearly designed to make parents who smoke feel guilty - and to make children of parents who smoke feel angry. Its objective is to use children as an instrument of the campaign to deter adults from smoking…

It is a sign of the times that there has been no storm of protest over the increasingly manipulative and moralistic character of anti-smoking propaganda. In the crusade to reduce mortality from smoking it is considered legitimate to exploit the deepest fears of parents and children. While the law seeks to prohibit smoking in public, the new anti-smoking advert seeks to proscribe it in the private sphere, fomenting domestic strife to achieve this objective. At a time when a wide range of civil liberties are under threat it is alarming that the strategy of using children to police their parents’ behaviour - reminiscent of totalitarian regimes - provokes so little public disquiet.

The immediate casualties of the war on smoking are people with lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases.

More here.

Originally by Abbas Raza from 3quarksdaily on March 1, 2006, 3:27pm

From The National Geographic:

An ancient medical mystery—the cause of a plague that wracked Athens from 426 to 430 B.C. and eventually led to the city’s fall—has been solved by DNA analysis, researchers say. The ancient Athenians died from typhoid fever, according to a new study. Scientists from the University of Athens drew this conclusion after studying dental pulp extracted from the teeth of three people found in a mass grave in Athens’ Kerameikos cemetery.

Researchers believe the plague may have been the result of a military strategy devised by the Athenians’ leader, Pericles. To counter an offensive by the Spartans, Pericles evacuated parts of the Athenian territory and sheltered its citizens behind Athens’ fortifications. Gathering tens of thousands of people in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions created the perfect atmosphere in which infectious disease could spread, researchers say.

More here.

Originally by Azra Raza from 3quarksdaily on March 2, 2006, 5:42am

From Nature:

Ever struggled to recall something you knew you ought to remember? Part of the problem might be that your brain just wasn’t ready to store the memory in the first place. Neuroscientists have discovered that how successfully you form memories depends on your frame of mind not just during and after the event in question, but also before it. "People didn’t realize that what the brain does before something happens influences the memory of that event," says Leun Otten of University College London, UK, who led the research. "They looked just at the response."

But it turns out that if your brain is ‘primed’ to receive information, you will have less trouble recalling it later. Memory is aided by meaning.

More here.

Originally by Azra Raza from 3quarksdaily on March 1, 2006, 5:25am

A while ago, I posted on Andrew Gelman and his colleagues’ findings challenging the apparent red-state blue paradox, which claims that higher-income states vote Democrat and lower-income states vote Republican. They showed that, while that is true, higher-income individuals vote Republican and lower-income individuals vote Democrat. In this working paper, James Galbraith and Travis Hale suggest that something other than wealth may be at play, state level inequality.

In this paper we use a previously neglected, high-quality data source to generate consistent annual measures of income inequality by state, for the fifty United States and the District of Columbia from 1969 to 2004. We use the estimates in a model of presidential election turnout and outcomes at the state level from 1992 to 2004. In recent elections, we find that high state inequality is negatively correlated with turnout and a positively correlated with the Democratic vote share, after controlling for race and other factors…

viation increase in the state inequality variable is associated with a 2% decrease in voter participation…A 2% increase in inequality is associated with a 1.5% increase in the Democratic percentage of the two-party vote over the 1992–2004 period. The significance of the inequality variable does not necessarily mean that individuals think about income inequality when they cast a vote for Democratic Presidential candidates. Platforms, personalities, policies, Election Day weather, the presence of enough voting machines and many other factors certainly contribute to the outcome of a presidential contest in a given state. We can, however, infer that the Democratic Party has engaged in campaigns that have resonated with both the elite rich and the comparatively poor. Meanwhile, it is the Republicans who are winning the hearts and minds of Middle America – both geographically and economically.

Originally by Robin Varghese from 3quarksdaily on March 2, 2006, 9:28am

Joan Fontcuberta uses Google to create large photo-mosaics that comment on the internet-era’s liaisons between mass media and our collective consciousness. The artists lets the image search engine blindly cull images from the internet by controlling only the search engine criteria with the input of specific key words. The Google-selected images are then assembled into a larger image of Fontcuberta’s choosing, displaying challenging relationships between words and pictures.

Homeless, 2005

Fontcuberta’s concept focuses on the deft juxtaposition of search-engine criteria against the larger image those criteria comprise. Tiny portraits of the richest men and women in the world are pieced together into a mosaic depicting a homeless man; the iconic image of detainee tortured at Abu Ghraib is cobbled together out of images of public officials involved in the scandal.

As the artist notes, the internet itself is “the supreme expression of a culture which takes it for granted that recording, classifying, interpreting, archiving and narrating in images is something inherent in a whole range of human actions, from the most private and personal to the most overt and public.”

Zabriskie Gallery in New York exhibits the photographic installation through March 11, 2006. Images.

Originally from we make money not art, ReBlogged by perry on Mar 2, 2006 at 01:30 PM

Originally from Eyebeam reBlog on March 2, 2006, 12:30pm

Anybody want to take a crack at explaining this?

(via WFMU’s Beware of the Blog)

Originally posted by Chris from Cynical-C Blog, ReBlogged by perry on Mar 2, 2006 at 04:28 PM

Originally from Eyebeam reBlog on March 2, 2006, 3:28pm

most people don’t realize that there’s a LOT more search engines out there than just the Big Four: Google, Yahoo, AOL, or MSN. In fact, there are literally hundreds of really great niche, or vertical, search engines that focus on all kinds of topics:

Originally posted by l33tdesigner from del.icio.us/tag/awesome, ReBlogged by perry on Mar 2, 2006 at 04:28 PM

Originally from Eyebeam reBlog on March 2, 2006, 3:28pm

a website containing a list of BBC News Headlines, which are automatically classified as ‘good’, ‘bad’ or ‘neutral’. a linguistic system categorizes news headlines as different ‘moods’ using keyword scoring from a vocabulary of 160 words & phrases, after which the ratings are visually represented through a simple color spectrum ranging from green to red. [latedecember.com]

Originally from information aesthetics on March 1, 2006, 12:30am

Given Brian Eno’s dabbling in nearly every popular music form in the last 35 years, from nob-twirling glam pioneer to producing some the best albums to come out of post punk and new wave (not to mention his own role as a forefather to electronic and ambient music) it’s not really a surprise he chose to experiment with another electronic medium—video.

In 1981 he set about to reexamine the role of video, altering it from a storytelling form to a purer visual medium. The timing was fortuitous; he was at the height of his artistic influence on popular culture having created the blueprint for experimental electronics in pop music with David Bowie’s influential electronic-based Berlin albums a few years before.

A new DVD has been released containing two of his works from that era, and they work much like his ambient music, using dream-like tempos and digital manipulations that illuminate the composition. Perhaps the best feature is the idea that the videos be played on televisions placed on their sides, transforming them from devices of news and entertainment to gallery artworks, viewable as slowly moving paintings, liberating the medium from it slavishness to narrative and progression.

$25 from Rykodisc or Amazon.

by Patrick Speckman

TAGS: Art, Music, DVDs,

Originally from Josh Rubin: Cool Hunting, ReBlogged by perry on Mar 2, 2006 at 04:31 PM

Originally from Eyebeam reBlog on March 2, 2006, 3:31pm

A couple of interactive architecture projects by Electroland

Interactive Walkways - Movie

This project features two glass pedestrian bridges designed as “Interactive Walkways,” each with a field of LED lights embedded in resilient walking surfaces. Sensors detect the presence of people and the system triggers interactive light patterns on the walkway floor.

Spatialized sound effects enhance the presence of patterns in the active field. Sound Designer Dane Davis is creating a library of unique sounds for this project.

Target Interactive Breezeway at Rockefeller Center - Movie

Electroland has designed a unique Target branded interactive experience adjacent to the newly reopened Rockefeller Center top floor observation decks. The Interactive Breezeway engages pedestrians in an ephemeral interactive encounter where their position and paths are traced by colorful avatars and effects.

Spatialized sound effects enhance the presence of patterns in the active field. Sound Designer Dane Davis is creating a library of unique sounds for this project.

R-G-B - Movie

Computer controlled colored lights fill 81 windows extending over 180 meters at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc.) Patterns are controlled by cellphone by any caller from any location, raising issues concerning private interaction and control of public spaces.

The installation is viewable both inside the building and from the exterior.

EnterActive

Movie 1 Movie 2

This project consists of a luminous field of LED lights embedded into the entry walkway that respond to the presence of visitors; a massive display of lights on the building face that mirror the patterns of the entry; and video displays in the lobby and entry areas.

Environmental intelligence and surveillance of human activity are combined with a video-game sensibility. Activities on the walkway also trigger massive light displays on the building face. When the walkway interactivity is triggered users witness their impact on the building face via a video display. Response is instantaneous.

Originally by Ruairi from Interactive Architecture dot Org on February 26, 2006, 5:25pm

an information-augmented power socket that makes visible the amount of power being consumed by each mains socket in a direct & immediate way. this visualization is intended to change patterns of power use by creating awareness of how much power individual appliance draws, leading users to re-evaluate how they consume power. see also power aware cord & standby energy visualization.
[sciencearts.blogspot.com|thnkx Chris]

Originally from information aesthetics on March 1, 2006, 10:42pm

Here’s a great piece I saw a while ago and meant to post. Jeff Lieberman has explores two phenomena, the stabilization of unstable systems using feedback, and wireless power transmission. Feedback systems often levitate objects, stabilize inverted pendulums, and the like. Wireless power transmission has been around since Tesla’s invention a century ago, although it is still not widely utilized. Jeff wanted to explore these effects together.

See How it Works

Lightbulb uses a special bulb, inside which magnets and circuitry are hidden. Using a magnetic hall effect sensor, an electromagnet, and a [modified] PD feedback system, it floats a lightbulb stably in the air, while power is transmitted wirelessly from the base of the sculpture into the bulb. LEDs in the bulb rectify this AC power and convert it to light. The power transfer functions very similarly to how radio station tuning works and requires a well tuned matched pair of resonant windings, but allows power transmission over through the air.

via Gravestmor

Originally by Ruairi from Interactive Architecture dot Org on March 2, 2006, 5:04pm

Serge Gainsbourg. Who died fifteen years ago, yesterday.

Originally by gsb from MetaFilter on March 3, 2006, 1:27am

A strange ritual is played out in Choupic, Louisiana on Mardi Gras day. Something similar happens in Prague on Easter Monday too. [via]

Originally by tellurian from MetaFilter on March 3, 2006, 12:53am

Request information using the Freedom of Information Act with this handy form put together by the People For The American Way

Originally by Mr_Zero from MetaFilter on March 2, 2006, 3:05pm

From a performance by Zhu Ming

Originally from New Art on March 1, 2006, 5:23am

Billboard (2003) by Heta Kuchka

Billboard (2003) by Liv Carlé

Part of the Billboard project www.women2003 :

From 23. March to 4. April [2003] one hundred and two Scandinavian female artists will present their own personal and artistic female image in the public space ? entering a dialogue with the images created by commercials. (…)
In that way the new female images created by this project will form a solid and diverse contrast to the monotonous representations created by the commercial market.

What is strange is how many of these works (the ones above included) define the woman through her relation to the man.
Both these images are disturbing. And they say somewhat similar things - the fear of rejection, the question of being appealing or not, the scary idea that the author, a woman, is completely wrong, just because she is herself.
And while it’s supposed to question our values as men (and women who accept this), I’m not sure if it doesn’t do exactly the opposite, provoking us to answer, “Get a grip on yourself girl! If you can’t make him appreciate you for who you are, if you can’t gain respect, if you get a guy that sees you as a toy, you better look around. There are plenty more of us, you know”.
But, look at it from another point of view. The two works I present are part of a series of actual billboards put in and around Copenhagen and Malmö. They are not as much a statement, as they are an answer. They laugh at the myth. At the plastic imagery we know all-too-well. And if that answer tells more about men than about women, it might be giving us a hint about the images it aims to reply to.

Originally from New Art on March 2, 2006, 5:32am

If Peter Yeadon had his way, citizens of Toronto would be happily feeding cloned sheep and pigs and petting human-ear-clad mice amidst bioluminescent vegetation at the Transgenic Zoo.

Situated in an urban park in downtown Toronto, the relocated Toronto Zoo would be supplemented with Dr. Moreau’s wonderland of bioengineered plants and animals: “The bioengineered beings are a stock of genetically modified creatrues that are already available to us today, and will be tomorrow. Through recombinant DNA practices, we already make beings that heretofore never existed. We have spliced phosphorescence genes from fireflies and jellyfish into plants and animals to make them glow in the dark. We can easily change the color of peppers, even the taste. We have cloned goats, transgenically modified with spider genes to secret spider silk for military and industrial applications. These are ‘designer’ plants and animals of the biotech sector.”

One wonders what fantastic disembodied, self-living bio-souvenirs would be available at the gift shop.

But that’s not all. Further blurring the line between living and nonliving, between the organic and inorganic, the zoo is envisioned as part of a “mixed development wherein humans live and work alongside animals in their habitats,” an unnatural combination that wouldn’t be possible unless artificially assembled. Like cloning. Like zoos. Like gardens.

In a hair and nail salon, for instance — at the zoo! — a polymer developed for growing human organs such as a liver or heart would be “used to decoratively cultivate and harvest growing parts of the human body” or as “cladding to support a snake-like skin that exfoliates and continually renews the facade.”

Which brings up endless scenarios of weather, ambient conditions such as pollution, and even a raging smallpox epidemic affecting changes to the surface and structure of buildings that might not necessarily be suppressed but rather welcomed. Landscape as a modifier of architecture. Or landscape architecture.

The building is sick, and that’s a good thing.

And: in trying to decide which new fashion to have for 2010, perhaps you can visit your plastic surgeon’s petting zoo to have a look — and feel — at your choices of nose, ears, or limbs. After you’ve made your decision, you can help raise the donor animal, feed it lovingly with genetically modified vegetables grown in your prescribed allotment garden, and watch your face develop, your eyelashes lengthen on the back of a pig.

(Spotted from a comment made in this cityofsound post)

Originally from Pruned on March 1, 2006, 9:11pm