Contemporary Art Truck: article

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Small Change by Malcolm Gladwell, at the NYTimes. here

Freedom and the Internet

We are all familiar with Ashton Kutcher's over-zealous support of Twitter's power, which I scoffed at until recently. Freedom of speech is one of the bedrocks of democracy, it seems linear that global instantaneous communication would be an immensely powerful tool for freedom. Could Kutcher be right? Nicholas Thompson at the New Yorker cautiously agrees that the internet is changing democracy all over the world, here. During the revolutions in northern Africa that I began considering these technologies more seriously. See huff post article about Facebook and Cairo here. (also the above image source)

Surveillance technology was associated with oppressive regimes, and used to quell protests and radicals. Yet, now that this technology is so pervasive and accessible (if you live in an area with internet and have a cell phone, which is a big if) you can turn the powers of surveillance back onto the oppressor. There are certainly more humans in the world who don't want to be beaten by police, raped by militia, left to starve by their governments, than there are officials who are supporting those actions. Collectively, the people, now have equal tools.

I felt that my suspicions around the power of the web were confirmed after reading James Glanz and John Markoff's (where I stole the above photo) fascinating article HERE about liberation-technology and the United States' involvement with supplying internet to the dissidents of oppressive governments like in Afghanistan. (I first saw this story on BLDGBLG, here(scroll to the third point))

I think that these technologies are interesting because, unlike the guns we gave to middle-eastern soldiers to fight the soviets which are now being used against us, accessible internet can really only open up communication and spread ideas and information, which seems inherently good. (Wait, maybe computer viruses could do more damage with these technologies... hmmm.)

I wonder if the problem now will become a matter of filtering. We are inundated with videos of police beatings, photos of deadly conflicts, news broadcasts of nuclear meltdowns/earthquakes/tornados, and the list goes on. How many of you Do anything about these stories? I hate to admit it, but I sure as hell don't do anything; I get a little sad and stop reading the international section of the news... I feel overwhelmed by the world's mess that I simply choose to bury my head in the contemporary art world. I know I am not alone.

PLUS, we are using the internet for videos of cute fuzzy kittens, not spreading democracy. The most viewed youtube video of all time is a Justin Bieber and Ludacris video, with 579,715,348 views, that is larger than the population of NORTH AMERICA. Is this some weird by-product of late-capitalism? Do you need to be both poor and oppressed to use the internet in any meaningful way? this coming from someone with a blog...
Im ranting so, hope this was some food for thought.

Risking Death for Photography and Wikileaks

photo by Adam Dean
an article at the Guardian about war photography here. (warning: some really disturbing photos...)
In terms of cultural relevance and commitment to the human race, are these photographers more important than any artist? I don't think we need artists risking their lives, but if artists are proposing alternatives to capitalism, confronting tyranny, promoting socialism, like many social practice/relational aesthetic artists claim, wouldn't they be better servicing society by being photo journalists, politicians, or social workers? just thinking online here.

Must read article by Ben Davis about an interview between Hans Ulrich Obrist and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange over at artinfo here.

How does the internet change your life? It makes you live in the present tense. Joanne McNeil at Rhizome, here.

Also: Check out these incredible tattoos by Amanda Wachob. I am really impressed by the abstract ones. thanks Lenny

Best Artists?

Top ten most important artists today by Daily Beast. here

Art + Science

Artist Jo Berry combines microscopy and pharmacology with art. read the article here
thanks cady

Attendence and Twitter followers

from @MuseumNerd

Large Hadron Collider

The LHC has reportedly produced a new primordial substance, quark gluon plasma, "The unique material is 100,000 times hotter than the sun and denser than any known object other than a black hole." read the rest of the article here.

I'm certainly no physicist, but I am pretty excited by anything to do with the LHC, except of course Christian propoganda like Angels and Demons.

Samantha Fields and Art and Ecology: On Seeing

Samantha Fields, Insomnia, 2011. Acrylic on canvas. more

Taken from, On Seeing: Art and Ecology, an online exhibition series at the Huff Post by Annie Buckley. here

Death In Performance and Graffiti

Colombian artist dies in an art performanc. more at Huff Post. here

Ben Davis examines MOCA's graffiti show and graffiti history at Artinfo, here.

Lawrence Weschler

Having just danced all night, the thought of waking up at 9am on Saturday for a day of lectures might have sounded a little daunting. Yet my excitement for Lawrence Weschler's Wonder Cabinet easily out weighed my fatigue, especially after two strong cups of coffee.
Through music, scientific imaging from the brain to the cosmos, video art, neurobiology, and much more, Weschler slowly built a poetic and powerful argument for everything being convergent. This was a really phenomenal FREE event, and I would not want to miss his next event, Second Thoughts on the Memory Industry on May 7th.

Denis Dutton: A Darwinian theory of beauty

Dutton's website.
More TED talks here.
Thanks robin

Lawrence Weschler, Wonder Cabinet

I will not be missing this. More

Release Ai Weiwei!

If you care about creative freedom, and believe in the positive power of art in the world, read about Ai Weiwei at Artinfo by ben davis, here and here
Sign a petition