tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-133151022024-03-13T07:29:49.231-05:00poesy galoreflashing & yearning & full<br>
of inner resourcesEmily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.comBlogger340125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-37685211674557179682014-07-24T18:38:00.003-05:002014-07-24T19:00:27.375-05:00<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20px;">Been thinking for a while about the growing challenge of panhandling in a progressively cashless society. Twice, I've seen someone panhandling at a highway exit, gone to an ATM to get cash, and returned to give the person money (Twice. I see panhandlers at exits most warm and many cold days of the year). Now also thinking about the difference in how panhandlers are perceived vs. Kickstarter and GoFundMe or even Kiva users (I don't at all mean to knock those great services). I think about panhandlers holding signs like "THIS CORNER IS MY KICKSTARTER" (someone must be!) or "HOMELESS & HUNGRY FOR ANYTHING...<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/324283889/potato-salad">POTATO SALAD</a> IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT." I'm tempted to do an art project about this (and how it relates to information literacy and the digital divide). If I don't, someone else will, because daily issues very often take art projects to be seen. And I don't want to do an art project about this, because that fact makes me queasy and suspicious of art projects, especially across class lines. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20px;">How interesting (unsurprising?) that we're more moved to generosity when we can't see a person, outside of a photo on a website. That seeing your suffering (or even just asking) in my physical space might make me <i>less</i> likely to want to help you. That if you would just wait until I get home in 15 minutes and see a photo of you online asking for bus fare, you might get my money.</span>Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-38285437878157869202013-04-26T06:22:00.000-05:002013-04-26T06:22:16.091-05:006 Words Minneapolis: a public art project<iframe src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/19778886" width="427" height="356" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" style="border:1px solid #CCC;border-width:1px 1px 0;margin-bottom:5px" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen> </iframe> <div style="margin-bottom:5px"> <strong> <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/elloyd74/6-words-minneapolis-a-public-art-project" title="6 Words Minneapolis: a public art project" target="_blank">6 Words Minneapolis: a public art project</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/elloyd74" target="_blank">Emily Lloyd</a></strong> </div>Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-40965753713746187762013-03-23T10:23:00.001-05:002013-03-23T10:23:19.482-05:00Anecdote of the Jar<a title="Make animated gifs at gifninja!" href="http://gifninja.com/animated-gifs/555125/anecdote-of-the-jar"><img src='http://gifninja.com/animatedgifs/555125/anecdote-of-the-jar.gif' alt='Anecdote of the Jar' /></a>
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made at <A HREF=http://gifninja.com/>Gifninja</a>Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-80748792877624497032013-03-09T13:41:00.000-06:002013-03-09T13:48:20.165-06:00Peter at the beachThe other day at work I learned that you can remove backgrounds from images in Word 2010.
What takes 10-20 minutes <A HREF=http://poesygalore.blogspot.com/2012/03/walking-home-from-grocery-store.html>to do cleanly in GIMP</a> takes 10 seconds in Word: insert picture, click "Remove Background" under "Picture Tools", and you're done (provided the image isn't too detailed). Insert a new background image, click "send to back", and you've got a new setting. Mind blown at the simplicity of a utility that's been there all along. Here's Peter from <i>The Snowy Day</i> and <i>Whistle for Willie</i> in new landscapes.<br><br><br>
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FD2x5DsLEJk/UTuLR23MXRI/AAAAAAAACSA/46sOECmHaUM/s1600/williebeachcomposite.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FD2x5DsLEJk/UTuLR23MXRI/AAAAAAAACSA/46sOECmHaUM/s400/williebeachcomposite.png" width="400" /></a><br />
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<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rQrBgAsKIB0/UTuLXSzffFI/AAAAAAAACSQ/AB3CzUHPNdY/s1600/whitehousepeter.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rQrBgAsKIB0/UTuLXSzffFI/AAAAAAAACSQ/AB3CzUHPNdY/s400/whitehousepeter.png" width="400" /></a>Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-55899267485160368902013-03-08T12:05:00.003-06:002013-03-08T12:07:37.684-06:00"Creating the Spectacle" by Sue Austin<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
(view <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPh533ht5AU">on Youtube</a>)<br />
<a href="http://www.trishwheatley.co.uk/suehome.html">Sue Austin</a>
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<a href="http://blog.ted.com/2013/01/08/see-much-more-of-sue-austins-incredible-wheelchair-art/">More on Sue Austin at the TED blog</a>Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-55345902861361623462013-03-02T10:44:00.000-06:002013-03-02T10:44:44.681-06:00Amanda Palmer: The Art of Asking (TED)I know many feel TED talk fatigue, & I can be one of them. But if you're interested in the sharing economy, or art, or Twitter, or bringing humanness to a busy impersonal place or interaction, or even just or maybe especially *how to present a short talk well*, I recommend Amanda Palmer's 13-minute talk (2013): <br><br>
<iframe src="http://embed.ted.com/talks/amanda_palmer_the_art_of_asking.html" width="520" height="315" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe><br><br>
Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-55791671599135842912013-01-26T10:49:00.000-06:002013-01-26T10:58:02.310-06:00"The Friends List: a Poem in 292 Parts"--Carolyn Guinzio I love Carolyn Guinzio's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheFriendsListAPoemIn292Parts">"The Friends List: a Poem in 292 Parts"</a>--a short stanza on each of her Facebook friends. On Facebook, Kathleen Ossip shared it and wrote that it "chimes with affection and connection". I think so, too, but also think some sections capture the slightness and wisp-like surprise, the oddity of some of those connections--it's a poem that makes sense of Facebook, when "Making Sense Of Facebook" sometimes doesn't seem so far from "Making Love Out Of Nothing At All".<br />
<br />
A few brief excerpts that I hope it's okay to quote (read the entire poem <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheFriendsListAPoemIn292Parts">here</a>*):<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">1. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">She was worried </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">about the phantom</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">kittens in the grate.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">39. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">I was won over</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">by the fictional contents</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">of the fictional little girl’s purse.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">77. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">I both knew and did</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">not know that was her</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">at the next table.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">88. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">You can look, but I think</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">he has already found</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">all the good fossils.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">102. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">Where can she be</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">at peace?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">On a horse.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">195. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">Even at the hospital,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">I see her in the light </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">of chandeliers.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 12.727272033691406px; line-height: 17.99715805053711px;">*link may be broken after a week or two--just learned of poet's intention to only keep the page up for a short while</span><br />
<br />Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-37848031729105584962012-12-01T13:30:00.001-06:002012-12-01T13:30:59.303-06:00Neon salesman's suitcase<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bGp9-GuCEic/ULpZaJtcglI/AAAAAAAACF8/iXlR_ypjhuQ/s1600/neon_suitcase.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bGp9-GuCEic/ULpZaJtcglI/AAAAAAAACF8/iXlR_ypjhuQ/s320/neon_suitcase.jpg" width="320" /></a> </div>
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"One amazing relic of the golden age of neon are the suitcases carried by neon salesmen. They contained every color they could make. The suitcases are so beautiful. You open them up, and there’s a little switch for each tube. If you turn them all on—which you’re not really supposed to do—you just get this incredible rainbow radiating out of the suitcase. It must have been so magical when a salesman walked into a little shop and opened up his suitcase, especially when neon signs were first starting to catch on."</div>
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--Kirsten Hively, <a href="http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/neon-lost-and-found-where-new-york-city-still-burns-bright/">via <i>Collectors Weekly</i></a>Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-74544012902080131252012-11-12T09:42:00.000-06:002012-11-12T09:43:51.896-06:00"Emily Dickinson's To-Do List" by Andrea CarlisleI'm sure I posted this Andrea Carlisle poem years ago, but when I searched for it this morning, I couldn't find it in the archives. I still love it. (<a href="http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2010%2F12%2F10">via</a>)<br />
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<br />
<b>Emily Dickinson's To-Do List</b><br />
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<em>Monday</em><br />
Figure out what to wear—white dress?<br />
Put hair in bun<br />
Bake gingerbread for Sue<br />
Peer out window at passersby<br />
Write poem<br />
Hide poem<br />
<br />
<em>Tuesday</em><br />
White dress? Off-white dress?<br />
Feed cats<br />
Chat with Lavinia<br />
Work in garden<br />
Letter to T.W.H.<br />
<br />
<em>Wednesday</em><br />
White dress or what?<br />
Eavesdrop on visitors from behind door<br />
Write poem<br />
Hide poem<br />
<br />
<em>Thursday</em><br />
Try on new white dress<br />
Gardening—watch out for narrow fellows in grass!<br />
Gingerbread, cakes, treats<br />
Poems: Write and hide them<br />
<br />
<em>Friday</em><br />
Embroider sash for white dress<br />
Write poetry<br />
Water flowers on windowsill<br />
Hide everything
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<br />Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-15314087680587001442012-11-04T18:39:00.001-06:002012-11-04T18:41:22.769-06:00Ampersands <div class="centre photopage">
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I could look at this for hours. By soyredo: <A HREF=http://soyredo.tumblr.com/post/34737170623/ampersands>Ampersands</a>Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-53737130596192313162012-04-25T08:59:00.000-05:002012-04-25T09:01:56.613-05:00Cities as Software/Libraries as SoftwareTwo posts that have excited me this morning:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.marcuswestbury.net/2011/05/23/cities-as-software/">Cities as Software</a>, Marcus Westbury</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"[Y]<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">ou need to start by rewriting – or hacking – the software to change not what the city </span><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">is</em><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;"> but how it </span><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">behaves</em><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-align: left;">."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://hughrundle.net/2012/04/04/libraries-as-software-dematerialising-platforms-and-returning-to-first-principles/">Libraries as Software: Dematerialising Platforms & Returning to First Principles</a>, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hugh Rundle [bold his]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; line-height: 24px;">"Libraries are a technology for </span><strong style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #373737; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">free, large scale inter-generational transfer of knowledge and culture.</strong> ...<span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; line-height: 24px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; line-height: 24px;">Instead of processing, moving, accessioning and purchasing physical or digital items, librarians are better used to organise and share information and stories. Libraries run like this become creation engines. They become more about creating and sharing a community’s ideas than providing access to the ideas of others...</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">If we combine the ideas of Westbury with Steven Johnson’s ideas about platforms we can envisage the library as </span><strong style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #373737; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">a platform for enabling innovation, learning and cultural development to occur in our communities without the need for capital.</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #373737; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;"> Isn’t that a lot more compelling than a place for lending books to people?"</span></span>Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-62621230473174626462012-03-28T20:32:00.000-05:002012-03-28T20:37:07.657-05:00Pentametronscans Twitter for tweets in iambic pentameter and combines them into non-rhyming sonnets:<br />
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What ever happened to Amanda Bynes! ?</div>
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<div class="line" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, Georgia, serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: italic; line-height: 31px; max-width: 800px; padding-bottom: 2px;">
so many people never find the one.</div>
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I am excited for tomorrow... ish</div>
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I'm never eating waffle house again...
</div>
</div><br>
etc. <br><br>
<a href="http://pentametron.com/">Pentametron</a>Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-18818144959284223442012-03-07T07:19:00.000-06:002012-03-07T21:32:22.818-06:00OdysseyWorks: all your life's a stage (for 24 hours)Did you ever see the 1997 movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119174/"><i>The Game</i></a>, in which a character played by Sean Penn gifts his brother, played by Michael Douglas, with a wholly immersive experience--a huge Game made just for him, tailored to every aspect of his life and personality, which includes a cast of actors he will not realize are actors, unsafe situations he will not realize are safe, something pretty much guaranteed to be a life-changing if not pleasant experience for the guy who has everything?
<a href="http://odysseyworks.org/">OdysseyWorks</a> is a group of multidisciplinary artists who create such experiences (okay, maybe not quite like those in <i>The Game</i>, but I was immediately reminded of it) for very small audiences...24-hour experiences, usually for a single person. Not "games," quite, but as they put it:<br />
<br />
<i>OdysseyWorks creates immersive, site specific, long duration performances for very small and fully participatory audiences.These multi-site, cross-genre performances radically rethink the artist-audience relationship, resulting in a series of aesthetic and narrative experiences designed for one person. Reconsidering traditional processes of art-making, performative potentials of public spaces, and the nature of human relationships, the work draws from a broad range of techniques in disciplines as ordinarily estranged as poetry and architecture, music and psychology, book arts and theater. The performances deeply and personally affect both audience and artist, incorporating community members not as passive audience members but actors, extras, and assisting artists.</i><br />
<br />
I was interested to see that poet Matthea Harvey <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey_Works">is now or has been part of the group</a>.<br />
<br />
Via <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/113448/For-the-person-whos-got-everything">this MetaFilter post</a>, which also includes a link to an article describing an experience designed by Matthew Purdon and Abraham Burickson, two OdysseyWorks members, before (it appears) they took the name OdysseyWorks. A<a href="http://www.middenofpossibility.com/"> film about OdysseyWorks, <i>The Midden of Possibility</i></a>, will be showing at Cannes in May 2012. Here's the blurb from the web site:<br />
<br />
Midden of Possibility <i>follows conceptual performance group OdysseyWorks over the course of three months as they develop a 36hr performance for a single person--Kristina, a woman in her thirties who lives in midtown Manhattan and went through an extensive screening process to have the group make a performance for her. From New York City to Ithaca--on trains, in caves and in old farmhouses--through the pages of a novel, in a poker game (played using cards bearing archaic text and 19th century lice removal recipes), and over radio broadcasts across the Hudson River Valley,she moves through this world as the a star without a script, gradually discovering her own agency. Ready for change, and looking for a different approach to her life, Kristina has no idea what is about to happen to her. Actors are infiltrating her life, articles in the </i>New Yorker<i> are suddenly very personal, and everyone she knows is in on it, or seems to be. The filmmakers lived with the artists for three months as they attempted to find a way to transform their work from conventional to transcendent, and to transform themselves along the way. </i>Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-42026654273212932452012-03-02T08:56:00.001-06:002012-03-02T08:57:43.327-06:00"Walking Home From the Grocery Store"<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bCTUWqG03I8/T1DfSh1jM4I/AAAAAAAAB6E/smIj7BpdaqY/s1600/walkinghome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="181" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bCTUWqG03I8/T1DfSh1jM4I/AAAAAAAAB6E/smIj7BpdaqY/s400/walkinghome.jpg" uda="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Ezra Jack Keats/Maurice Sendak mashup made with GIMP.Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-56021211426720971262012-02-08T15:59:00.003-06:002012-02-08T16:08:29.090-06:00Quora: What is the most hauntingly beautiful song?<a href="http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-most-hauntingly-beautiful-song">Quora users respond to the question, "What is the most hauntingly beautiful song?"</a> (with lots of YouTube links for listening)<br />
<br />
I've been haunted by <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vindfGQuC-4">Kate and Janelle's cover of Neko Case's "Star Witness"</a> since it first saw and heard it about a month ago. I made an mp3 of it <a href="http://www.youtube-mp3.org/">with this useful tool</a> so I could listen to it in the car, but I know seeing them perform it has colored all my listens since, the way they look and smile at each other, check in with each other, and the way Janelle (on the right) looks off into the ceiling:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="243" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vindfGQuC-4" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
I think part of what haunts me is that I'm afraid they won't sing together forever.<br />
<br />
Another I might choose--one that I've been listening to a lot longer--is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSf0FmXB_6M">Meredith Monk's "Gotham Lullaby"</a>:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SSf0FmXB_6M" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
Several folks on Quora chose <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGMwNe9WWmE">Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings"</a>, which is so devastatingly beautiful I always want to bawl about 30 seconds in. But "devastating" and "haunting" are different for me, thankfully...if this came haunting me I don't think I could stand up in the morning:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BGMwNe9WWmE" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
How would you answer the Quora question?Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-46037275756269062242012-02-03T14:11:00.000-06:002012-02-03T14:11:48.489-06:00Resource: the Community-Led Libraries ToolkitYesterday, via the <a href="http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Library_Success:_A_Best_Practices_Wiki">Library Success wiki</a>, I came across <a href="http://www.librariesincommunities.ca/">Working Together</a> and their (link to pdf) <a href="http://www.librariesincommunities.ca/resources/Community-Led_Libraries_Toolkit.pdf">Community-Led Libraries Toolkit</a>. I'm less than a third of the way through reading the toolkit, but it's already the most valuable resource I've seen on working with diverse and socially excluded populations in libraries. I love how it acknowledges that good intentions, open minds, and talent aren't enough (aren't much at all, really) right in the beginning, and moves on from there. I'm linking it here for later reference and because I recommend even the little I've read so far (not just to library staff, but to school staff, nonprofit staff, etc). Below, some brief quotes to give the gist (bold mine):<br />
<br />
-----------------<br />
<br />
[on involving community members in planning] "This process is not just about offering a service or developing a collection: it is about building and strengthening the abilities of socially excluded community members to engage in the library--not just as service recipients, but as active and confident community members. <b>Sometimes, the most important outcome of community-led service planning is not the actual products or services, but the change in socially excluded community members' sense of their importance to the library, their right to be involved, and their ability and confidence to engage</b>...<br />
<br />
...Overall, it is always important to keep in mind that our role in the community is not to tell community members what they need or identify the best service for their needs. <b>You probably have creative ideas, special skills, knowledge, experience, and abilities, all of which could achieve a tangible service output immediately. However, your solution might not be the one the community would have chosen and developed if involved collaboratively, and you will have missed the opportunity for capacity and confidence building.</b> Instead, use your expertise, skills, and knowledge to facilitate the discussion and implementation of the community's self-identified solution.<br />
<br />
You will really have achieved the goal of inclusive service planning when socially excluded community members feel that the library is their library and that they have a voice and sense of belonging...<br />
<br />
...Many barriers to accessing library service result from the differences between how libraries and library staff perceive the needs of socially excluded people and how socially excluded people perceive their own needs."<br />
<br />
[on feedback-gathering methods libraries and other institutions traditionally use, like polls, comment cards, surveys]: "Traditional consultation techniques favor existing library users and/or economically-advantaged, engaged, and confident non-users." <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.librariesincommunities.ca/resources/Community-Led_Libraries_Toolkit.pdf">Community-Led Libraries Toolkit</a>Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-26111868325309963172012-01-31T10:05:00.004-06:002012-02-03T14:23:50.071-06:00Star Wars Uncut: Director's Cut<i>"In 2009, Casey Pugh asked thousands of Internet users to remake "Star Wars: A New Hope" into a fan film, 15 seconds at a time. Contributors were allowed to recreate scenes from Star Wars however they wanted. Within just a few months SWU grew into a wild success. The creativity that poured into the project was unimaginable...Finally, the crowd-sourced project has been stitched together and put online for your streaming pleasure. The "Director's Cut" is a feature-length film that contains hand-picked scenes from the entire StarWarsUncut.com collection."</i><br />
<br />
I was never a big <i>Star Wars</i> fan, but four minutes in, I'm already hooked. What a fantastic homage, idea, and collaboration. Like the <a href="http://poesygalore.blogspot.com/2011/04/2052-voice-youtube-choir-performs-eric.html">YouTube choir performing Eric Whitacre's "Sleep"</a> and <a href="http://poesygalore.blogspot.com/2010/11/dont-miss-seeing-this-aint-no-grave.html">The Johnny Cash Project</a>, <i>Star Wars Uncut</i> is a massive-scale art project created by folks who are strangers to each other, made possible by the web:<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7ezeYJUz-84?rel=0" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
Read more about the project at <a href="http://www.starwarsuncut.com/">Star Wars Uncut</a>.Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-10040245592298502772012-01-06T08:56:00.000-06:002012-01-06T08:56:18.364-06:00When the world is your instrument: MogeesMogees is, according to the <a href="http://www.brunozamborlin.com/mogees/">website</a>, "an interactive gestural-based surface for realtime audio mosaicing". The video demonstration is thrilling:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/34405214?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="400"></iframe><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/34405214">Mogees - Gesture recognition with contact-microphones</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user9832489">bruno zamborlin</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
<br />
More text from the website: <br />
<br />
<i>In the video we show how it is possible to perform gesture recognition just with contact microphones. Through gesture recognition techniques we detect different kind of fingers-touch and associate them with different sounds. In the video we used two different audio synthesis techniques: <br />
<br />
- physic modelling, which consists in generating the sound by simulating physical laws; <br />
- concatenative synthesis (audio mosaicing), in which the sound of the contact microphone is associated with its closest frame present in a sound database.<br />
<br />
The system can recognise both fingers-touches and objects that emits a sound, such as the coin shown in the video.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
I don't understand this, or what's happening in the video: is the microphone simply massively amplifying the almost inaudible sounds your fingers make while tapping and riffing on objects? But I think it's amazing, would go nuts to get my hands on the technology, and wish one of the "objects" in the video had been a living thing.<br />
<br />
[via <a href="http://kottke.org/12/01/touch-interfaces-everywhere">Kottke</a>]Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-30858885887803870872011-12-09T10:10:00.001-06:002011-12-09T10:12:40.563-06:00Bruce Sterling Closes the 2011 Art + Environment ConferenceAuthor and futurist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Sterling">Bruce Sterling</a> gives a smart and entertaining talk about where we are now and where we might be going, both climate change-wise and art-wise. Watch below or just press play and listen while you do other stuff (I know 28 minutes seems like a long time to sit and watch--at least it does to me--and the talk doesn't depend on visuals. Sterling's an animated, worthwhile speaker even when you're just listening).<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rC6yylIwyKg?rel=0" width="420"></iframe>Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-78271196151980733952011-12-08T13:41:00.000-06:002011-12-08T13:41:50.044-06:00"Call Me Hope"--from Mama Hope's "Stop the Pity. Unlock the Potential" campaignThis is great:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OzQfFcy3KJg" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
From the YouTube description:<br />
<br />
"This is the second video in Mama Hope's (<a href="http://www.mamahope.org/">http://www.mamahope.org</a>) Stop the Pity. Unlock the Potential Campaign. At Mama Hope, we believe that the essential first step in changing the world is telling the story of connection instead of contrast and potential instead of poverty. People everywhere have talent and capacity, and people everywhere share a desire to be able to use those gifts to improve their lives and the lives of the people they care about. To learn more about the projects we undertake to unlock this potential and get involved, visit us at <a href="http://www.mamahope.org/">http://www.mamahope.org</a><br />
<br />
Directed by Joe Sabia (http://www.joesabia.co) and Bryce Yukio Adolphson (http://www.bryceyukioadolphson.com)<br />
Shot and Edited by Bryce Yukio Adolphson<br />
Post-Production Sound by Matt McCorkle (http://www.equalsonics.com)<br />
Produced by Nyla Rodgers (http://www.mamahope.org)"Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-50769503115214576152011-10-24T09:58:00.001-05:002011-10-24T10:05:28.247-05:00Hot Drinks: Wendy's training videos from the 80sWell do I remember being shut in a windowless room at 16, first day on the job at General Cinema, to fumble a training cassette into a sad VCR and awkwardly learn what my work would entail (all the while feeling like I was being watched). In retrospect, I wish I had sought work at Wendy's, if only to be locked in a room with these. Many more on YouTube.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_ZXeFPpPJeI" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PJ-JBFXh2IU" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
"Then hand that drink to the Coordinator, and tell the guest you'll see him later."Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-67972401475265968152011-10-23T12:21:00.001-05:002011-10-23T12:57:15.865-05:00"Vittles" by Aaron Belz[My favorite poem from Belz's <a href="http://www.perseabooks.com/detail.php?bookID=73"><i>Lovely, Raspberry</i></a>.<br />
More Belz, including this poem, at <a href="http://ucityreview.com/2_Belz_Aaron.html#Vittles">ucity review</a>]<br />
<br />
<br />
Vittles<br />
--Aaron Belz<br />
<br />
<br />
Considering how little new there is to say about varmints<br />
perhaps one can write something new about vittles,<br />
or if the mood of the room in which one is writing<br />
is cast perfectly for such an occasion one might even<br />
venture to write something new about vittles that also<br />
discusses or touches upon the interests of varmints,<br />
for varmints are known to prefer certain vittles over others<br />
and to reject some vittles entirely, such as anything leafy.<br />
<br />
Leafy edibles might not even be properly defined as vittles,<br />
in which case one inevitably turns one’s attention to parsnips.<br />
Rumor has it that there is a certain kind of varmint that,<br />
while unilaterally rejecting leafy edibles, will in fact partake<br />
of a parsnip if the mood in the room is cast perfectly<br />
for such an occasion, or indeed if the white china is so white<br />
as to remind that varmint of the moon and set him to baying;<br />
he might even partake of bay leaves if that is the case.<br />
<br />
Bay leaves, however, and in fact parsnips themselves,<br />
have traditionally been associated with critters,<br />
what with the diet of critters being almost entirely leafy<br />
and not at all thought of as vittles. It is almost comical<br />
to imagine a critter munching on vittles. Let’s say,<br />
however, that you’re stumped for ideas for your writing;<br />
in this case, you might try picturing in your mind<br />
a critter eating vittles—or a varmint eating leafy edibles.<br />
<br />
Such fancy performs the function of a mental crowbar,<br />
that is to say, it can if you allow it to perform that function:<br />
you will suddenly remember three or four really sucky<br />
moments of your childhood that you had suppressed,<br />
and they will arrive in your mind with their own lexicons<br />
and their own contextualizing power that is so overpowering<br />
as to recontextualize even your recent thinking about vittles<br />
and all the new things you had hoped to write about them.Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-39372756807264156482011-10-22T11:49:00.001-05:002011-10-23T15:40:56.847-05:00Nina Simone, Harlem Cultural Festival, 1969: "Ain't Got No/I Got Life"<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jBud2t67rTc" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
I love the joyful ways she sings <i>boobies</i>--a departure from the original lyric.Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-28799903787257133922011-10-22T10:21:00.003-05:002011-10-22T10:33:38.571-05:00Hennessy Youngman's "ART THOUGHTZ"This <a href="http://www.metafilter.com/103838/WHO-NEEDS-CRITICAL-THEORY">Metafilter post on Hennessy Youngman's "ART THOUGHTZ"</a> has been sitting, starred to watch later, in my Google Reader account since May. Glad I clicked through. "ART THOUGHTZ" has cracked me the hell up all morning.<br />
<br />
On Post-Structuralism:<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="335" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/17431354?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="400"></iframe><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/17431354">ART THOUGHTZ: Post-Structuralism</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/hennessyyoungman">Hennessy Youngman</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
On Bruce Nauman:<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/11441230?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="400"></iframe><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/11441230">ART THOUGHTZ: Bruce Nauman</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/hennessyyoungman">Hennessy Youngman</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
On the Female Gaze, with guest host Tamara Suber (slightly offensive, wholly pretty great, and very NSFW):<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/27445113?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="400"></iframe><br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/27445113">ART THOUGHTZ: The Female Gaze, with Special Guest Tamara Suber (NSFW)</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/hennessyyoungman">Hennessy Youngman</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
More:<br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/hennessyyoungman">Hennessy Youngman on Vimeo</a><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/HennesyYoungman">Hennessy Youngman on YouTube</a><br />
<a href="http://hennessyyoungman.tumblr.com/">Hennessy Youngman on Tumblr</a>Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13315102.post-86011980262678862852011-10-15T21:09:00.000-05:002011-10-15T21:09:09.874-05:00Complaints ChoirsVia <a href="http://www.brainpickings.org/">Brain Pickings</a>, an <a href="http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/10/13/complaints-choir/">article about Complaints Choirs around the world</a>. I'd never heard of these before, but the earliest iteration <a href="http://www.complaintschoir.org/history.html">seems to have been in 2005</a>. From the <a href="http://www.complaintschoir.org/index.html">Complaints Choirs Worldwide</a> site:<br />
<br />
<i>It all got started during a winter day walk of Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen in Helsinki. Perhaps it was due to the coldness of the day that they ended up discussing the possibility of transforming the huge energy people put into complaining into something else. Perhaps not directly into heat – but into something powerful anyway.<br />
<br />
In the Finnish vocabulary there is an expression "Valituskuoro". It means "Complaints Choir" and it is used to describe situations where a lot of people are complaining simultaneously. Kalleinen and Kochta-Kalleinen thought: "Wouldn´t it be fantastic to take this expression literally and organise a real Complaints Choir!"</i><br />
<br />
<br />
The Helsinki Complaints Choir:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ATXV3DzKv68" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
From the <a href="http://www.complaintschoir.org/faq.html">Complaints Choirs of the World FAQ</a>:<br />
<br />
<i>HOW DID IT ALL STARTED?<br />
<br />
We just realized that people complain a lot, no matter what their life circumstances are. Whether they live under socialism or capitalism, whether they are rich or poor, young or old. We wanted to tap into this unending source of energy, we wanted to transform this complaints energy into something else, something surprising. The idea itself stems from the Finish word "Valituskuoro" - which means Complaints Choir. We wanted to see what happens if one takes this term literally. We tested the project in Birmingham (UK) in 2005. The song "I want my Money back" created during a complaints workshop at Springhill Institute became an instant hit on the net.<br />
<br />
DID YOU WANT TO COMBINE SINGING WITH POLITICAL PROTEST?<br />
<br />
Complaints Choirs are not intended as protest choirs or an agit-prop revival. The political complaint is only representing a small margin of the wonderful world of complaints. Why should such important issues as broken underpants, boring dreams or spying neighbors be excluded? On the other hand the private, the personal, can be very political at the same time. If somebody complaints "I have too much time!" it can be seen just as a personal tragedy, but it also points to a major defect of the capitalistic society, which sidelines people because they are of no use in the production cycle.<br />
<br />
HOW DOES A COMPLAINTS CHOIR COME INTO EXISTENCE?<br />
<br />
All citizens of a particular city are invited to complain about anything they want and to join the choir. At the first meeting the freshly formed choir decides democratically on the content of the song. A local musician composes a tune for the text which is then rehearsed in 4 or 5 meetings. In the end the choir performs their collective grumbles at different locations in the city.</i><br />
<br />
The Complaints Choir of Copenhagen:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PU0sDnLBQuw" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
You can see <a href="http://www.complaintschoir.org/choirs.html">lots more complaints choirs' performances here.</a> It doesn't appear that Minneapolis has one (yet).Emily Lloydhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03920886883651975823noreply@blogger.com1