ENDLESSFIELD

On Making Glaciers

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 09:09:11 -0500

Vote for this now! weworkhere: A PUBLIC THING NEEDS YOUR...

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:56:40 -0600

Vote for this now!

A PUBLIC THING NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT

In November, Shanai and I were part of collaboration that launched A PUBLIC THING - an experimental civic platform that creates open space, in public and in print, for substantive conversation on pressing societal issues.

The first APT gathering was held at Peavey Plaza in downtown Minneapolis and addressed financial independence and interdependence. Energized by OWS and the 99% Movement, we created a temporary commons where anyone could ask a burning question and immediately make connections with others in the community who had relevant knowledge, stories, and questions of their own. About 50 people showed up, and we had some great conversations! This gathering became the source of a collectively-authored, beautifully designed, print publication that created space for the conversation beyond the event. With help from an awesome team of organizers, contributors, and editors, we printed 2,000 copies of the newspaper and distributed it for free during the holiday shopping season. It’s also available online at apublicthing.org and in print at our new Works Progress office space at Lake and Chicago. (Come say hello!)

We’re looking for a way to continue the project in the spring, and we need your support. If you’ve got a moment, check out our entry to Good Magazine’s 30 Day Challenge on Financial Fitness, and please vote for A PUBLIC THING if you think our idea is a good one! Winning the $500 prize would allow us to host another iteration of APT this spring, connect the program up to the equity work we’ve been doing, and cover our costs for a second issue of the APT newspaper.

↪ CLICK HERE TO VOTE! ↩

There are just 4 days of voting left so we’d truly appreciate it if you help us spread the word! (You can share our entry on Facebook or Twitter directly from the website after voting.) Thank you thank you!

In Madrid’s Heart, Park Blooms Where a Freeway Once Blighted

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 09:12:32 -0600

In Madrid’s Heart, Park Blooms Where a Freeway Once Blighted:

mas-studio:

More than six miles long, Madrid Río took over a neglected area of Spain’s capital, knitting together neighborhoods that had been severed from the city center. An artcile by Michael Kimmelman (New York Times)

styraciflua: The Highline - James Corner Field...

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 09:33:58 -0600

styraciflua:

The Highline - James Corner Field Operations

Nice.

Photo

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:20:09 -0600

styraciflua: Vietnam Memorial - Maya Lin

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:45:13 -0600

styraciflua:

Vietnam Memorial - Maya Lin

CENSORED

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:48:16 -0600

CENSORED:

Go HERE to stop internet censorship now.

Ducktails - Deck Observatory

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 21:21:38 -0600

Ducktails - Deck Observatory

"Change is nature, Dad. The part that we can influence. And it starts when we decide."

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 20:48:12 -0600

“Change is nature, Dad. The part that we can influence. And it starts when we decide.”

- Remy

"Generally a man may common in a forest."

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:36:00 -0500

““Generally a man may common in a forest.””

- from an old book on British law via Lewis Hyde’s book Common As Air. I have just finally started this one, a little over a year since seeing him speak at the Walker - I hope to offer a full report when I’m finished.

Fitzcarraldo (2010) by Anselm Kiefer, via Gagosian Gallery

“bundled, buried, and behind closed doors”

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:21:57 -0500

“bundled, buried, and behind closed doors”:

[“Bundled, Buried, and Behind Closed Doors”, a documentary short by Ben Mendelsohn and Alex Cholas-Wood, looks at one of our favorite things — the physical infrastructure of the…

Landscape Futures

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:45:05 -0500

Landscape Futures:

Interesting exhibition write-up curated by Geoff Manaugh BLDG|BLOG. It’s true, we are in for some fantastical landscapes. I love the piece by David Benjamin and Soo-in Yang of The Living.

weworkhere: A Public Thing: Opening space for public...

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 09:26:10 -0500

weworkhere:

A Public Thing: Opening space for public conversations. In person and in print.

On Saturday, November 5th (Bank Transfer Day) the conversation will be about financial independence/interdependence and how we can create healthier economies for individuals and communities. Learn more about our first gathering here.

Here’s how A Public Thing works:

A Public Thing gatherings are facilitated using principles of Open Space Technology. Open Space works best when the work to be done is complex, the people and ideas involved are diverse, the passion for resolution (and potential for conflict) are high, and the time to get it done was yesterday. Here’s what will happen: All of the issues that are MOST important to the participants will be raised. All of the issues raised will be addressed by those participants most qualified and capable.

A Public Thing publications are co-created by participants at A Public Thing gatherings. Creative documentarians will be embedded in the gathering’s small group conversations to help record and tell the story of what was discussed and generated. A Public Thing collects these stories and documents, and uses them as the basis for a publication to be be designed, printed, and distributed within weeks of the initial gathering.

We hope to provide a collectively-authored resource for those interested in engaging these ideas and experiences in new ways.

Please help us spread the word. And thank you!

Financial Engagement // A Public Thing

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 13:40:48 -0500

This is a great way to get involved and discuss your concerns/ideas about how to improve our current financial system. After the event at Peavey Plaza (Mpls) the event will move over to People’s Plaza and connect with the people there. These conversations will be documented, thus making tangible the solidity and resourcefulness of this movement. Awesome job We Work Here! Go here to keep updated on the event and rsvp. Go here to sign up as a documentarian.

Civics and Art Part I: Wandering

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 01:29:00 -0500

A few weeks ago I attended a talk by Alan Moore, a founding member of Colab, at Midway Contemporary Art along with David Little, photography and new media curator at the MIA. This dialogue prompted a further exploration of the civics of art in general on my part. The talk was a somewhat sprawling look into artist collectives with particular focus on New York in the late sixties and up through the 80s. The durability of these groups proved to be tenuous, much like the ebb and flow of politics, where results are often achieved down the line as groups fade and reappear along different lines of force. Ideas do not simply evaporate, they condense within society until someone or some group or movement investigates, analyzes and re-contextualizes them into art or some other action that then inspires new forms and ideas to come about. The work of Hans Haacke (above) illustrates well the conceptualization of art in the new age. Objects are no longer viewed as isolated from the world within a traditional gallery space; a new environmentalist attitude within the arts starts to breath in a constant and self-renewing source for the new work, wide open with possibilities.

New ways of relating to institutions were beginning to form as well; artists started questioning the very soul of art itself, its relation to society and who/what it feeds upon and/or nourishes: art devours itself like ouroboros and suffers from its own self-reflexivity or art transforms as social form of engagement. Through the seventies and eighties Haacke continued to set his target on the politics that fed the art world, resulting in the cancellation of a show at the Guggenheim through his investigations into landlords and their connections with large museums; and in 1993, he would literally tear up the floor of the Venice Biennale German pavilion as Hitler once had done. This time with full support of the art world, in Europe.

At around the same time Group Material was deep into their own work and exhibitions, always free but tightly focused on core political issues. Their work shows up on the streets and subway systems offering up dialogue on politics and art outside the white box. To Group Material politics and art embodied the same thing, so much that they embedded quasi-democratic processes within their own curatorial exhibitions and made the gallery into a discursive space where politics could happen around art and vice versa. To Group Material art was the ground upon which everything stood, politicians, corporations, all.

Art is one of the few open spaces in society.

- Kiki Smith, Who Cares

soft landscapes

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 02:02:36 -0500

soft landscapes:

This week, I’ve organized a short (very short) lecture series for the students in my studio (well, the “Post-Natural Ecologies” half of the studio) at Virginia Tech’s …

HDTS

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 21:25:00 -0500

here there, there here, by rolu and welcomeprojects as part of HDTS

super cool!

PhotoBall

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:53:00 -0500

PhotoBall:

Not sure if I need to comment on this from BLDGBLOG, it’s pretty amazing. How much does it cost? And does anyone wanna go out and play? And now I am reminded of Happy Fun Ball. Do not throw Throwable Panoramic Ball Camera near your neighbors bedroom window.

on blogging architecture

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 02:19:28 -0500

on blogging architecture:

Geoff Manaugh contributes a series to Arbitare that looks at the history, equipment, content, audience, and future of architecture blogging. Being “someone who has founded his entire…

phantom stories

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 19:22:21 -0500

phantom stories:

[Homes on the outskirts of Shanghai, via Google Maps.]

A recent report in the New York Times which looks at global marriage patterns from an economic perspective contains the following…