Fake New York Times

Steve Lambert was one of the artists who helped organize the fake new york times prank, and although this happened a couple of months ago i think it deserves to be mentioned. In this project, 1.2 million copies of a utopian version of the paper with the headline "IRAQ WAR ENDS" were given out across the city for free. Culture-jamming groups like the Yes Men, Code Pink, and Improv Everywhere claimed credit in a press release, but it is also known that many respectable journalists also to part in the event.




I don't understand why I never heard about any of this in the "news"

SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION

" MY COUNTRY IS THE WORLD, AND MY RELIGION IS TO DO GOOD." - Thomas Paine


Synopsis:

Fluid social change can only materialize if two circumstances are met. One, the human value system, which consists of our understandings and beliefs, must be updated and changed through education and thoughtful introspection. Two, the environment surrounding that value system must change to support the new world view. The interaction between a person's value system and their environment is what influences human behavior.

For example, in our culture, "ethics" is really a matter of degree, for our social system promotes and rewards competition and self-interest. This perspective doesn't just "lead" to aberrant behavior... it creates it directly. Corruption is the norm in our society and most people do not see this, for since the society supports this behavior, it is considered right and normal... or as a matter of degree.

Given this understanding, there is a fallacy that has emerged where certain groups are deemed "corrupt" and everyone else is "good". This is the age old "us and them" world view which has no basis empirically, for it is, again, all a matter of degree.
For example, there is a large movement of people who constantly talk about "The New World Order" and this notion that there is an elite group of people who have been trying to take over the world for a long time and have manipulated society in various ways to further their goals.

This, of course, is true to a certain extent.

BUT, the failure of awareness is that this "group" is not a group at all. It is a tendency.

If you took out all the people at the top who are engaged in global hegemonic rule, it would simply be a matter of time before another group stepped in to seek the same ambition. Therefore, it isn't the individual people or groups that are the problem. It is actually the conditions upon which those people have been accustomed and indoctrinated by. Of course, many argue against this view with the escapist notion that it is "human nature" that causes this competition and need for dominance. This is unsupported by the facts. In reality, we are nearly clean slates when we are born and it is our environment that shapes who we are and how we behave.

Therefore, in order for TRUE change to occur, we must spend less time battling the products of this sick social structure and more time trying to change the root causes. As difficult and daunting as it may be to think this way, it is the only way our world will change for the better.

We can continue to stomp on the ants coming out from under the refrigerator, but until we remove the spoiled food behind it, they are just going to keep coming.


- I can't begin to put in words all I've started to learn and realize by just watching the two videos on this website and opening up to what they have to say

Artivist Film Festival winners in California in 2007 for the first one and
2008 for their second.

it can't hurt to google it yourself

http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/home.html

New York Street Photography Restrictions

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO OUR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS!?



The Mayor’s Office of Film deals primarily with big film shoots (ie.commercials, features, t.v.) is where permits and insurance are, obviously, given.

However, many photographers and filmmakers carry on an equally important tradition in which spontaneous documentation of the urban environment is at the very heart of their work.

to photograph on the street you probably need to wait for the right activity, the right light, the break in the traffic; the countless other unpredictable factors that need to fall into place to make a shot worthwhile

… other than that it's just another dumb picture an teenage girl could take with her new Nikon D40 her daddy bought her

but now permits would have to be obtained for specific dates and times and exact locations, and the insurance would be out of reach for many.

The fact is that no one can simply PREDICT where, when, and how long they are going to film or photograph;

they probably can't afford expensive insurance policies, etc.

(The regulations would, for example, effectively rule out a great deal of time-lapse photography which depends on tripods and cannot possibly be done with time limitations of 10 to 30 minutes, as well as the use of large format still cameras and long lenses)


If these regulations go through, it would invite if not require police to harass or shut down both professional artists and amateurs.

New York is a city that welcomes and inspires art-making (and historical documentation)

This is a part of a ever growing number of attacks against civil liberties and free expression that seem to be ignored by the rest of the public


If you are a photographer, film maker, or just someone who loves
good underground art, no major mainstream labels attached

Please contact the following person immediately and express your concerns to:

Julianne Cho
Associate Commissioner
Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater & Broadcasting
1697 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
jcho@film.nyc.gov
ph: 212.489.6710
fax: 212.307.6237

You Appointed Who!?

It's been a while but I think it should be said that I was very disappointed by Obama’s appointment of Rick Warren to deliver his invocation during Obama’s inaugural address. Rick Warren is against gay marriage and reproductive rights, and he does not believe in evolution (maybe he offers himself as proof of lack of evolution). I still think Obama is the best choice for president, but I can’t condone Warren’s involvement in Obama’s inauguration, no matter how insignificant it is. I understand that Obama is trying to appeal to conservatives and evangelicals, but this move is symbolically a slap in the face to many people. Warren is not a uniter, but a divider… he is intolerant in many of his views. I think it is important to speak one’s mind, but also to not let the narcissism of petty differences sabotage our unity and progress.

Beautiful Losers

Paint a Deck with Ed Templeton from BlackLake on Vimeo.


Inspired by the DIY culture film, beautiful losers, the MAKE SOMETHING!!workshop is a series of workshops presented by NIKE sportswear.

Artists such as Ed Templeton, Aaron Rose, Tobin Yelland, Money Mark, Jesse Spears, Mike Mills, and more went to schools in New York and Los Angeles to lead workshops on everything to making zines or skate graphics to poster art or video editing.

The 9 webisodes feature artists from the film, their contemporaries, as well as the filmmakers teaching high school kids in NY and LA the DIY aspects of art-making

Aminals

No, I didn't misspell the title to my blog. Aminals is a website I stumbled onto when I was looking for a band that I like on google.

http://www.aminaldolls.com/

apparently they got kids to draw what ever they liked and made them into
soft puppets made from organic material. The idea was coined by the designers
at Dreaming Lion LLC. I thought is was pretty nice how they help kids interest
in art flourish from such an early stage, allowing them to be proud of something they made by just being themselves.


Oh, and they also seem pretty proud that their product is made from
organic material:


" There is a solution! Organic farms are free of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, keeping their soil and water protected and usable for many, many years to come. Before a farm may be certified organic, the fields must be free of synthetic chemicals for three years!

Organic farms rotate crops to replenish and maintain the soil’s fertility, and control pests and weeds naturally, using insect predators, traps, or botanical pesticides that are broken down quickly and simply with oxygen and sunlight. Growing cotton organically also benefits small-scale farmers who don’t have the funds to buy expensive, toxic pesticides. Organic cotton farming also uses significantly less water and electric power than conventional cotton farming techniques.

Not only is organic farming healthier and safer for our farmers, our fieldworkers, and our communities, organic cotton is free from synthetic poisons that are absorbed into our bloodstream through skin contact. Products manufactured from certified organic ingredients are the safest for your kids!

Only low impact and natural vegetable dyes can be used in certified organic cotton production, unlike the toxic, synthetic dyes used in conventional cotton manufacturing. "


-Aminals

SUPER SIZE ME

I had gotten home today and was watching That's 70 show like i always do after school. It seemed that every food commercial had to do with big food though. Big macs, Big man microwavable food, mega sized pizza at Pizza Hut, etc. What the hell ever happened to normal size? Actually, what about the quality of the food we buy? I know that you shouldn't ask for much when you're getting fast food, but come one, I'm not going to pay 10 dollars for something a dog wouldn't touch. I mean, I've heard Taco Bell's meat is only 10 percent away from being dog food, that's just disgusting. So when it comes to food, I prefer either my mom's home cooked meals or just some good sushi, that beats a cholesterol covered fast pass to health problems any day.