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Penn Fraser Jillette the 58 year old American illusionist, comedian, musician, actor known for his advocacy of atheism, scientific skepticism, libertarianism and free-market capitalism has published an article in the New York Times titled ‘Don’t Replace Religion; End It’ in which he states “Religion cannot and should not be replaced by atheism. Religion needs to go away and not be replaced by anything. Atheism is not a religion. It’s the absence of religion, and that’s a wonderful thing. Religion is not morality. Theists ask me, “If there’s no god, what would stop me from raping and killing everyone I want to.” My answer is always: “I, myself, have raped and killed everyone I want to ... and the number for both is zero.” Behaving morally because of a hope of reward or a fear of punishment is not morality. Morality is not bribery or threats. Religion is bribery and threats. Humans have morality. We don’t need religion. Atheism is the absence of religion. We don’t really need atheism. We just need to get rid of religion. Religion is faith. Faith is belief without evidence. Belief without evidence cannot be shared. Faith is a feeling. Love is also a feeling, but love makes no universal claims. Love is pure. The lover reports on his or her feelings and needs nothing more. Faith claims knowledge of a world we share but without evidence we can share. Feeling love is beautiful. Feeling the earth is 6,000 years old is stupid. Religion is often just tribalism: pride in a group one was born into, a group that is often believed to have “God” on its side. We don’t need to replace tribalism with anything other than love for all humanity. Let’s do that, okay? Religion also includes fellowship, joy, compassion, service and great music, and those can be replaced by ... fellowship, joy, compassion, service and great music. Atheism is the absence of religion. We don’t really need atheism. We just need to get rid of religion.”  Inspired by Penn Jillette, New York times ow.ly/lLxST Image source Facebook ow.ly/lLxQN Don’t replace religion, end it (June 26 2013)

 

Penn Fraser Jillette the 58 year old American illusionist, comedian, musician, actor known for his advocacy of atheism, scientific skepticism, libertarianism and free-market capitalism has published an article in the New York Times titled ‘Don’t Replace Religion; End It’ in which he states “Religion cannot and should not be replaced by atheism. Religion needs to go away and not be replaced by anything. Atheism is not a religion. It’s the absence of religion, and that’s a wonderful thing. Religion is not morality. Theists ask me, “If there’s no god, what would stop me from raping and killing everyone I want to.” My answer is always: “I, myself, have raped and killed everyone I want to … and the number for both is zero.” Behaving morally because of a hope of reward or a fear of punishment is not morality. Morality is not bribery or threats. Religion is bribery and threats. Humans have morality. We don’t need religion. Atheism is the absence of religion. We don’t really need atheism. We just need to get rid of religion. Religion is faith. Faith is belief without evidence. Belief without evidence cannot be shared. Faith is a feeling. Love is also a feeling, but love makes no universal claims. Love is pure. The lover reports on his or her feelings and needs nothing more. Faith claims knowledge of a world we share but without evidence we can share. Feeling love is beautiful. Feeling the earth is 6,000 years old is stupid. Religion is often just tribalism: pride in a group one was born into, a group that is often believed to have “God” on its side. We don’t need to replace tribalism with anything other than love for all humanity. Let’s do that, okay? Religion also includes fellowship, joy, compassion, service and great music, and those can be replaced by … fellowship, joy, compassion, service and great music. Atheism is the absence of religion. We don’t really need atheism. We just need to get rid of religion.”

 

Inspired by Penn Jillette, New York times ow.ly/lLxST Image source Facebook ow.ly/lLxQN

Liz Alderman the American Paris based writer on European economics, finance and business has published an article in the New York Times titled ‘More Children in Greece Are Going Hungry’ in which she states “The Greek economy is in free fall, having shrunk by 20 percent in the past five years. The unemployment rate is more than 27 percent, the highest in Europe, and 6 of 10 job seekers say they have not worked in more than a year. Those dry statistics are reshaping the lives of Greek families with children, more of whom are arriving at schools hungry or underfed, even malnourished, according to private groups and the government itself. Last year, an estimated 10 percent of Greek elementary and middle school students suffered from what public health professionals call “food insecurity,” meaning they faced hunger or the risk of it, said Dr. Athena Linos, a professor at the University of Athens Medical School who also heads a food assistance program at Prolepsis, a nongovernmental public health group that has studied the situation. “When it comes to food insecurity, Greece has now fallen to the level of some African countries,” she said. Unlike those in the United States, Greek schools do not offer subsidized cafeteria lunches. Students bring their own food or buy items from a canteen. The cost has become insurmountable for some families with little or no income. Their troubles have been compounded by new austerity measures demanded by Greece’s creditors, including higher electricity taxes and cuts in subsidies for large families. As a result, parents without work are seeing their savings and benefits rapidly disappear. …A 2012 Unicef report showed that among the poorest Greek households with children, more than 26 percent had an “economically weak diet.” The phenomenon has hit immigrants hardest but is spreading quickly among Greeks in urban areas where one or both parents are effectively permanently unemployed…”  Inspired by Liz Alderman, New York Times ow.ly/kuDf7 Image source Facebook ow.ly/kuDeq Children in Greece Are Going Hungry (May 18 2013)

 

Liz Alderman the American Paris based writer on European economics, finance and business has published an article in the New York Times titled ‘More Children in Greece Are Going Hungry’ in which she states “The Greek economy is in free fall, having shrunk by 20 percent in the past five years. The unemployment rate is more than 27 percent, the highest in Europe, and 6 of 10 job seekers say they have not worked in more than a year. Those dry statistics are reshaping the lives of Greek families with children, more of whom are arriving at schools hungry or underfed, even malnourished, according to private groups and the government itself. Last year, an estimated 10 percent of Greek elementary and middle school students suffered from what public health professionals call “food insecurity,” meaning they faced hunger or the risk of it, said Dr. Athena Linos, a professor at the University of Athens Medical School who also heads a food assistance program at Prolepsis, a nongovernmental public health group that has studied the situation. “When it comes to food insecurity, Greece has now fallen to the level of some African countries,” she said. Unlike those in the United States, Greek schools do not offer subsidized cafeteria lunches. Students bring their own food or buy items from a canteen. The cost has become insurmountable for some families with little or no income. Their troubles have been compounded by new austerity measures demanded by Greece’s creditors, including higher electricity taxes and cuts in subsidies for large families. As a result, parents without work are seeing their savings and benefits rapidly disappear. …A 2012 Unicef report showed that among the poorest Greek households with children, more than 26 percent had an “economically weak diet.” The phenomenon has hit immigrants hardest but is spreading quickly among Greeks in urban areas where one or both parents are effectively permanently unemployed…”

 

Inspired by Liz Alderman, New York Times ow.ly/kuDf7 Image source Facebook ow.ly/kuDeq

Justin Gillis the American 2011 Oakes Award winner for Distinguished Environmental Journalism for his ongoing multimedia series, Temperature Rising, which examines the fundamental tenets of manmade climate change, has published an article in the New York Times titled ‘Global Temperatures Highest in 4,000 Years’. Gillis states “Global temperatures are warmer than at any time in at least 4,000 years, scientists reported, and over the coming decades are likely to surpass levels not seen on the planet since before the last ice age. …Previous research had extended back roughly 1,500 years, and suggested that the rapid temperature spike of the past century, believed to be a consequence of human activity, exceeded any warming episode during those years. The new work confirms that result while suggesting the modern warming is unique over a longer period. Even if the temperature increase from human activity that is projected for later this century comes out on the low end of estimates, scientists said, the planet will be at least as warm as it was during the warmest periods of the modern geological era, known as the Holocene, and probably warmer than that. That epoch began about 12,000 years ago, after changes in incoming sunshine caused vast ice sheets to melt across the Northern Hemisphere. Scientists believe the moderate climate of the Holocene set the stage for the rise of human civilization roughly 8,000 years ago and continues to sustain it by, for example, permitting a high level of food production. In the new research… Shaun Marcott, an earth scientist at Oregon State University, and his colleagues compiled the most meticulous reconstruction yet of global temperatures over the past 11,300 years, virtually the entire Holocene. They used indicators like the distribution of microscopic, temperature-sensitive ocean creatures to determine past climate. …The modern rise that has recreated the temperatures of 5,000 years ago is occurring at an exceedingly rapid clip on a geological time scale, appearing in graphs in the new paper as a sharp vertical spike. If the rise continues apace, early Holocene temperatures are likely to be surpassed within this century, Dr. Marcott said.”  Inspired by Justin Gillis, New York Times ow.ly/jBgYJ Image source UGA ow.ly/jBgWU Global temperatures highest in 4,000 years (April 30 2013)

 

Justin Gillis the American 2011 Oakes Award winner for Distinguished Environmental Journalism for his ongoing multimedia series, Temperature Rising, which examines the fundamental tenets of manmade climate change, has published an article in the New York Times titled ‘Global Temperatures Highest in 4,000 Years’. Gillis states “Global temperatures are warmer than at any time in at least 4,000 years, scientists reported, and over the coming decades are likely to surpass levels not seen on the planet since before the last ice age. …Previous research had extended back roughly 1,500 years, and suggested that the rapid temperature spike of the past century, believed to be a consequence of human activity, exceeded any warming episode during those years. The new work confirms that result while suggesting the modern warming is unique over a longer period. Even if the temperature increase from human activity that is projected for later this century comes out on the low end of estimates, scientists said, the planet will be at least as warm as it was during the warmest periods of the modern geological era, known as the Holocene, and probably warmer than that. That epoch began about 12,000 years ago, after changes in incoming sunshine caused vast ice sheets to melt across the Northern Hemisphere. Scientists believe the moderate climate of the Holocene set the stage for the rise of human civilization roughly 8,000 years ago and continues to sustain it by, for example, permitting a high level of food production. In the new research… Shaun Marcott, an earth scientist at Oregon State University, and his colleagues compiled the most meticulous reconstruction yet of global temperatures over the past 11,300 years, virtually the entire Holocene. They used indicators like the distribution of microscopic, temperature-sensitive ocean creatures to determine past climate. …The modern rise that has recreated the temperatures of 5,000 years ago is occurring at an exceedingly rapid clip on a geological time scale, appearing in graphs in the new paper as a sharp vertical spike. If the rise continues apace, early Holocene temperatures are likely to be surpassed within this century, Dr. Marcott said.”

 

Inspired by Justin Gillis, New York Times ow.ly/jBgYJ Image source UGA ow.ly/jBgWU

Barbara Bloom the 61 year old American Sculptural artist who studied with John Baldessari at the California Institute of the Arts and is often associated with the postmodern “Pictures Generation” that includes Cindy Sherman, Louise Lawler, Richard Prince and Barbara Kruger, has been profiled by Karen Roseberg in a New York Times article titled ‘She Makes Objects Speak, and They Won’t Stop Arguing’. Roseberg states “…“As it were ... So to speak: A Museum Collection in Dialogue With Barbara Bloom,” at the Jewish Museum. Ms. Bloom, invited to organize a show from elements of the museum’s collection, has turned to the Talmud for inspiration. Her exhibition is modeled on its heavily annotated pages, which surround ancient texts with rabbinical commentaries added over centuries. Weaving together real and fictional narratives, historical and literary sources, Ms. Bloom creates new and often ambiguous contexts for ceremonial and decorative objects like Torah pointers, Kiddush cups and spice containers. Somehow she manages to quote Nietzsche, Freud, Leonard Cohen, Joan Didion, the Bible and various Wikipedia entries, all without losing her own probing, skeptical voice. “The objects are placeholders for thoughts, and when they are situated in proximity to one another, meanings can reverberate and ricochet off of each other,” Ms. Bloom writes in a preamble to the show. …she is especially attuned to these vibrations between objects, drawing them out and spinning them into debates that are as least as fascinating as the objects themselves. … she is an accomplished rescuer of forgotten objects, known for reviving old paintings, vintage photographs and the odd flea-market find with clever and critical installations. But even if her methods are old hat to the art world, they’re sure to have an impact on a wider audience. And they are certainly a departure for the Jewish Museum, which is just starting to rethink its permanent-collection strategy under its director, Claudia Gould.”  Inspired by Karen Roseberg, New York Times ow.ly/jAsaX Image source Linda Yablonsky ow.ly/jAsao Objects are placeholders for thoughts (April 20 2013)

 

Barbara Bloom the 61 year old American Sculptural artist who studied with John Baldessari at the California Institute of the Arts and is often associated with the postmodern “Pictures Generation” that includes Cindy Sherman, Louise Lawler, Richard Prince and Barbara Kruger, has been profiled by Karen Roseberg in a New York Times article titled ‘She Makes Objects Speak, and They Won’t Stop Arguing’. Roseberg states “…“As it were … So to speak: A Museum Collection in Dialogue With Barbara Bloom,” at the Jewish Museum. Ms. Bloom, invited to organize a show from elements of the museum’s collection, has turned to the Talmud for inspiration. Her exhibition is modeled on its heavily annotated pages, which surround ancient texts with rabbinical commentaries added over centuries. Weaving together real and fictional narratives, historical and literary sources, Ms. Bloom creates new and often ambiguous contexts for ceremonial and decorative objects like Torah pointers, Kiddush cups and spice containers. Somehow she manages to quote Nietzsche, Freud, Leonard Cohen, Joan Didion, the Bible and various Wikipedia entries, all without losing her own probing, skeptical voice. “The objects are placeholders for thoughts, and when they are situated in proximity to one another, meanings can reverberate and ricochet off of each other,” Ms. Bloom writes in a preamble to the show. …she is especially attuned to these vibrations between objects, drawing them out and spinning them into debates that are as least as fascinating as the objects themselves. … she is an accomplished rescuer of forgotten objects, known for reviving old paintings, vintage photographs and the odd flea-market find with clever and critical installations. But even if her methods are old hat to the art world, they’re sure to have an impact on a wider audience. And they are certainly a departure for the Jewish Museum, which is just starting to rethink its permanent-collection strategy under its director, Claudia Gould.”

 

Inspired by Karen Roseberg, New York Times ow.ly/jAsaX Image source Linda Yablonsky ow.ly/jAsao

Yiannis Boutaris the 71 year old Greek businessman, politician and current mayor of Thessaloniki has given Greece’s second city, Salonika a well needed shake up after succeeding the former mayor Vassilis Papageorgopoulos a former sprinter and medical student nicknamed the Flying Doctor. On his taking of office, Boutaris accused Papageorgopoulos of providing inaccurate financial figures, resulting in an investigation. Niki Kitsantonis for the New York Times has published an article titled ‘Ex-Mayor in Greece Gets Life in Prison for Embezzlement’ highlighting how the subsequent convictions have prompted a frenzied response in the news media and on blogs, where many hailed the unusually severe sentences. Kitsantonis states “The former mayor of Greece’s second city, Salonika, and two of his top aides were sentenced to life in prison …after being found guilty of embezzling almost 18 million euros, or $23.5 million, in public money — a rare conviction in a case involving the political corruption that has contributed to the country’s dysfunction and economic decline. A court in Salonika, a northern port city also known as Thessaloniki, found that the local authorities had set up an “embezzlement machine” and that Vassilis Papageorgopoulos, a prominent conservative who served two terms as mayor from 1999 to 2010, had been “aware of the whole plan but had stayed on the sidelines, feigning ignorance.” …Two other former treasury officials were given terms of 15 and 10 years, and 13 other former employees were acquitted after a five-month trial that began after an estimated shortfall of $68 million was found in the city’s coffers. The court said there was proof that $23.5 million of that sum had been swindled. In trial testimony last month, Mr. Saxonis admitted that the cash transactions had taken place in his office in “flimsy carrier bags” and said he had been taking orders from his superiors.”  Inspired by Niki Kitsantonis, New York Times ow.ly/iuuk3 Image source Γιάννης Μπουτάρης ow.ly/iuuVi Salonika gets a well needed shake up (March 25 2013)

 

Yiannis Boutaris the 71 year old Greek businessman, politician and current mayor of Thessaloniki has given Greece’s second city, Salonika a well needed shake up after succeeding the former mayor Vassilis Papageorgopoulos a former sprinter and medical student nicknamed the Flying Doctor. On his taking of office, Boutaris accused Papageorgopoulos of providing inaccurate financial figures, resulting in an investigation. Niki Kitsantonis for the New York Times has published an article titled ‘Ex-Mayor in Greece Gets Life in Prison for Embezzlement’ highlighting how the subsequent convictions have prompted a frenzied response in the news media and on blogs, where many hailed the unusually severe sentences. Kitsantonis states “The former mayor of Greece’s second city, Salonika, and two of his top aides were sentenced to life in prison …after being found guilty of embezzling almost 18 million euros, or $23.5 million, in public money — a rare conviction in a case involving the political corruption that has contributed to the country’s dysfunction and economic decline. A court in Salonika, a northern port city also known as Thessaloniki, found that the local authorities had set up an “embezzlement machine” and that Vassilis Papageorgopoulos, a prominent conservative who served two terms as mayor from 1999 to 2010, had been “aware of the whole plan but had stayed on the sidelines, feigning ignorance.” …Two other former treasury officials were given terms of 15 and 10 years, and 13 other former employees were acquitted after a five-month trial that began after an estimated shortfall of $68 million was found in the city’s coffers. The court said there was proof that $23.5 million of that sum had been swindled. In trial testimony last month, Mr. Saxonis admitted that the cash transactions had taken place in his office in “flimsy carrier bags” and said he had been taking orders from his superiors.”

 

Inspired by Niki Kitsantonis, New York Times ow.ly/iuuk3 Image source Γιάννης Μπουτάρης ow.ly/iuuVi

Matthew Barney the 45 year old American artist who works in sculpture, photography, drawing and film, whose early works combined sculptural installations with performance and video has been featured by Carol Vogel in a New York Times article titled ‘Matthew Barney Heads to the Morgan Library’. Vogel states “…Barney, an artist with a cultlike following… fashions his sculptures out of unusual materials like tapioca (dumbbells) and petroleum jelly (a weight bench). His drawings are the least known of his works. But to a place like the Morgan they are also the most intriguing. “There will be many people who will be surprised to see a Matthew Barney exhibition here,” said William M. Griswold, the museum’s director. “But his drawings are central to what we do. Many of them explore aspects of his technical innovations and his process, which makes a show like this ideal. For many people it will be a real revelation.” …It is the first museum retrospective devoted to Mr. Barney’s drawings and will consist of about 100 works. They range from the late 1980s, when he was still an undergraduate at Yale University, to those he created in conjunction with his five-part “Cremaster” film cycle, produced between 1994 and 2002, to his current project, “River of Fundament,” his film and live performance collaboration with the composer Jonathan Bepler that was inspired by Norman Mailer’s novel “Ancient Evenings.” Loans for the exhibition are coming from museums here and in Europe as well as from private collections. Besides the drawings… the show will include some of Mr. Barney’s storyboards. To show the kinds of myths and legends that inspire his work he has chosen books and manuscripts from the Morgan’s own collection, like a 2,000-year-old Egyptian Book of the Dead, a medieval zodiac and a copy of Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass.”  Inspired by Carol Vogel, New York Times ow.ly/iqW6r Image source Wikipedia ow.ly/iqVZF An artist with a cultlike following (March 24 2013)

 

Matthew Barney the 45 year old American artist who works in sculpture, photography, drawing and film, whose early works combined sculptural installations with performance and video has been featured by Carol Vogel in a New York Times article titled ‘Matthew Barney Heads to the Morgan Library’. Vogel states “…Barney, an artist with a cultlike following… fashions his sculptures out of unusual materials like tapioca (dumbbells) and petroleum jelly (a weight bench). His drawings are the least known of his works. But to a place like the Morgan they are also the most intriguing. “There will be many people who will be surprised to see a Matthew Barney exhibition here,” said William M. Griswold, the museum’s director. “But his drawings are central to what we do. Many of them explore aspects of his technical innovations and his process, which makes a show like this ideal. For many people it will be a real revelation.” …It is the first museum retrospective devoted to Mr. Barney’s drawings and will consist of about 100 works. They range from the late 1980s, when he was still an undergraduate at Yale University, to those he created in conjunction with his five-part “Cremaster” film cycle, produced between 1994 and 2002, to his current project, “River of Fundament,” his film and live performance collaboration with the composer Jonathan Bepler that was inspired by Norman Mailer’s novel “Ancient Evenings.” Loans for the exhibition are coming from museums here and in Europe as well as from private collections. Besides the drawings… the show will include some of Mr. Barney’s storyboards. To show the kinds of myths and legends that inspire his work he has chosen books and manuscripts from the Morgan’s own collection, like a 2,000-year-old Egyptian Book of the Dead, a medieval zodiac and a copy of Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass.”

 

Inspired by Carol Vogel, New York Times ow.ly/iqW6r Image source Wikipedia ow.ly/iqVZF

Fayiz Mohammed Ahmed Al Kandari the 37 year old Kuwaiti citizen who has been detained in Guantanamo Bay for nearly 11 years on purely ‘hearsay evidence’ has been profiled in the New York Times. The Project Kuwaiti Freedom states “Al Kandari was a 27 year-old student who went to Afghanistan during his summer vacation in 2001 to render humanitarian aid. It was his belief that helping others might honor his grandmother, who had just died, and bring better health to his mother, who was suffering from cancer. After being captured by U.S. forces, he wrote in a message to his family that an American investigator had questioned him and found nothing against him, and he believed he would soon be freed. He wrote in a Red Cross letter, “If the construction of a mosque…or the digging of a well is the sin that makes me a detainee, then I willingly accept my detention.” Al Kandari according to his Lawyers, is as an example of a detainee for whom all the evidence against him is ‘hearsay evidence’. "Indeed, the evidence considered persuasive by the Tribunal is made up almost entirely of hearsay evidence recorded by unidentified individuals with no first hand knowledge of the events they describe." A tribunal report noted. Al Kandari’s lead attorney from the Office of Military Commissions, Lieutenant Colonel Barry D. Wingard states “Outside of the CSRT process, this type of evidence is more commonly referred to as 'rumor'” and that "Vague charges made it difficult to defend his client …There simply is no evidence other than he is a Muslim in Afghanistan at the wrong time, other than double and triple hearsay statements, something I have never seen as justification for incarceration…” Al Kandari is still subjected to harsh treatment and has been subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques including sleep deprivation, physical abuse, being placed in stress positions, sexual humiliation, and the use of extreme temperature, loud music and dogs.”  Inspired by Project Kuwaiti Freedom ow.ly/hYChK Image source New York Times ow.ly/hYCfz All evidence against him is hearsay evidence (March 10 2013)

 

Fayiz Mohammed Ahmed Al Kandari the 37 year old Kuwaiti citizen who has been detained in Guantanamo Bay for nearly 11 years on purely ‘hearsay evidence’ has been profiled in the New York Times. The Project Kuwaiti Freedom states “Al Kandari was a 27 year-old student who went to Afghanistan during his summer vacation in 2001 to render humanitarian aid. It was his belief that helping others might honor his grandmother, who had just died, and bring better health to his mother, who was suffering from cancer. After being captured by U.S. forces, he wrote in a message to his family that an American investigator had questioned him and found nothing against him, and he believed he would soon be freed. He wrote in a Red Cross letter, “If the construction of a mosque…or the digging of a well is the sin that makes me a detainee, then I willingly accept my detention.” Al Kandari according to his Lawyers, is as an example of a detainee for whom all the evidence against him is ‘hearsay evidence’. “Indeed, the evidence considered persuasive by the Tribunal is made up almost entirely of hearsay evidence recorded by unidentified individuals with no first hand knowledge of the events they describe.” A tribunal report noted. Al Kandari’s lead attorney from the Office of Military Commissions, Lieutenant Colonel Barry D. Wingard states “Outside of the CSRT process, this type of evidence is more commonly referred to as ‘rumor’” and that “Vague charges made it difficult to defend his client …There simply is no evidence other than he is a Muslim in Afghanistan at the wrong time, other than double and triple hearsay statements, something I have never seen as justification for incarceration…” Al Kandari is still subjected to harsh treatment and has been subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques including sleep deprivation, physical abuse, being placed in stress positions, sexual humiliation, and the use of extreme temperature, loud music and dogs.”

 

Inspired by Project Kuwaiti Freedom ow.ly/hYChK Image source New York Times ow.ly/hYCfz

Daniel Buren the 74 year old French conceptual artist, classified as an abstract minimalist known best for using regular, contrasting maxi stripes to integrate the visual surface and architectural space, notably historical, landmark architecture. Among his chief concerns is the ‘scene of production’ as a way of presenting art and highlighting facture (the process of ‘making’ rather than for example, mimesis or representation of anything but the work itself). The work is site specific installation, having a relation to its setting in contrast to prevailing ideas of a work of art standing alone. Buren has been profiled in an article by Roberta Smith for the New York Times titled ‘Daniel Buren: 'Electricity Fabric Paint Paper Vinyl ...', Smith states “[Buren]  who reduced painting to awning stripes printed on canvas or paper some 40 years ago, has probably eked more mileage out of this signature end-of-painting motif than any artist could logically expect. …Buren shows the latest versions of site-specific works in vertically striped paper that date back three and four decades. These pieces are, in effect, intermittent expanses of wallpaper that alter our sense of a space and create a nice graphic, even decorative punch. …Buren takes up the striped canvas again, but with several twists. In one he layers the canvas with white-striped Plexiglas to block or expose the colored stripes beneath. In the other group glam-rock chic prevails: the canvas is luminescent, cut with a curved or a diagonal edge that is lined with a glowing strand of fiber optics. Despite their newness, these pieces conjure the early-1960s work of artists like Frank Stella and Robert Mangold; they are arbitrary and conventional, and could be derivative student works that Mr. Buren abandoned to make the site-specific pieces at Petzel. Mr. Buren gets credit for choosing art over ideology, but he has to do more than relearn old tricks.”  Inspired by Roberta Smith, New York Times ow.ly/hYBrJ Image source Français ow.ly/hYBqs 130305 Electricity Fabric Paint Paper Vinyl

Daniel Buren the 74 year old French conceptual artist, classified as an abstract minimalist known best for using regular, contrasting maxi stripes to integrate the visual surface and architectural space, notably historical, landmark architecture. Among his chief concerns is the ‘scene of production’ as a way of presenting art and highlighting facture (the process of ‘making’ rather than for example, mimesis or representation of anything but the work itself). The work is site specific installation, having a relation to its setting in contrast to prevailing ideas of a work of art standing alone. Buren has been profiled in an article by Roberta Smith for the New York Times titled ‘Daniel Buren: ‘Electricity Fabric Paint Paper Vinyl …’, Smith states “[Buren]  who reduced painting to awning stripes printed on canvas or paper some 40 years ago, has probably eked more mileage out of this signature end-of-painting motif than any artist could logically expect. …Buren shows the latest versions of site-specific works in vertically striped paper that date back three and four decades. These pieces are, in effect, intermittent expanses of wallpaper that alter our sense of a space and create a nice graphic, even decorative punch. …Buren takes up the striped canvas again, but with several twists. In one he layers the canvas with white-striped Plexiglas to block or expose the colored stripes beneath. In the other group glam-rock chic prevails: the canvas is luminescent, cut with a curved or a diagonal edge that is lined with a glowing strand of fiber optics. Despite their newness, these pieces conjure the early-1960s work of artists like Frank Stella and Robert Mangold; they are arbitrary and conventional, and could be derivative student works that Mr. Buren abandoned to make the site-specific pieces at Petzel. Mr. Buren gets credit for choosing art over ideology, but he has to do more than relearn old tricks.”

 

Inspired by Roberta Smith, New York Times ow.ly/hYBrJ Image source Français ow.ly/hYBqs

Fawzi [Fouzi] Khaled Abdullah Fahad Al Odah the 35 year old Kuwaiti citizen and teacher held in the US Guantanamo Bay detainment camp in Cuba for the past 11 years without charge has been featured in the New York Times. Fawzi traveled to the Pakistan/Afghanistan border area in order to undertake charitable outreach work. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Fawzi fled Afghanistan, intending to return home to Kuwait, however having crossed the border into Pakistan he was captured by Pakistani bounty hunters who handed him along with eleven other Kuwaitis over to American authorities. The Kuwait Freedom Project established to seek the release of Fawzi and other Kuwaiti detainee’s reports that Fawzi spent his summers traveling in poor nations to educate less fortunate students, and along with his family have built libraries and wells in Africa. They’ve sponsored orphans in countries including Albania. Fawzi has not had any weapons training or experience, writing to his parents in 2002 stating, “Now I am detained by the American forces and investigations are still going on…I will be established as innocent soon, and then I will return back to you…” Fawzi’s father, Khalid Al-Odah, is the head of the Kuwaiti Family Committee, an organization formed by relatives of the detainees to advocate for their just treatment under the U.S. judicial system. The elder Al-Odah is a former member of the Kuwaiti Air Force, who trained with American servicemen in the United States and flew missions with them as an ally in the Persian Gulf War of 1991. … The U.S. Government contends that Fawzi’s true purpose in Afghanistan was to join the Taliban and al Qaeda referring to "additional incriminating evidence" discovered since his capture, however the nature of that evidence is redacted in the unclassified version…”  Inspired by Project Kuwaiti Freedom ow.ly/hMvRJ Image source Wikipedia ow.ly/hMvQa Captured by Pakistani bounty hunters (February 26 2013)

Fawzi [Fouzi] Khaled Abdullah Fahad Al Odah the 35 year old Kuwaiti citizen and teacher held in the US Guantanamo Bay detainment camp in Cuba for the past 11 years without charge has been featured in the New York Times. Fawzi traveled to the Pakistan/Afghanistan border area in order to undertake charitable outreach work. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Fawzi fled Afghanistan, intending to return home to Kuwait, however having crossed the border into Pakistan he was captured by Pakistani bounty hunters who handed him along with eleven other Kuwaitis over to American authorities. The Kuwait Freedom Project established to seek the release of Fawzi and other Kuwaiti detainee’s reports that Fawzi spent his summers traveling in poor nations to educate less fortunate students, and along with his family have built libraries and wells in Africa. They’ve sponsored orphans in countries including Albania. Fawzi has not had any weapons training or experience, writing to his parents in 2002 stating, “Now I am detained by the American forces and investigations are still going on…I will be established as innocent soon, and then I will return back to you…” Fawzi’s father, Khalid Al-Odah, is the head of the Kuwaiti Family Committee, an organization formed by relatives of the detainees to advocate for their just treatment under the U.S. judicial system. The elder Al-Odah is a former member of the Kuwaiti Air Force, who trained with American servicemen in the United States and flew missions with them as an ally in the Persian Gulf War of 1991. … The U.S. Government contends that Fawzi’s true purpose in Afghanistan was to join the Taliban and al Qaeda referring to “additional incriminating evidence” discovered since his capture, however the nature of that evidence is redacted in the unclassified version…”

 

Inspired by Project Kuwaiti Freedom ow.ly/hMvRJ Image source Wikipedia ow.ly/hMvQa

Marco Brambilla the 52 year old Italian – New York based filmmaker and installation artist known for his elaborate recontextualizations of popular and found imagery, has been profiled by Bob Morris for an article published in the New York Times titled ‘Where the Art Is Wild in 3D’. Morris states “…“Creation (Megaplex),” opened at the Nicole Klagsbrun gallery in Chelsea last week, the third of a trilogy that makes art from film. It uses Mr. Brambilla’s lavish sampling of hundreds of movie clips to create a swirling helix in which Maria von Trapp, Yoda, Dr. Strangelove and others seem to be flying through the air overhead before spiraling into a celestial toilet. “It’s about the disposability of film and images in an oversaturated world,” Mr. Brambilla said, explaining his inspiration. “Content in the background to marketing.” He may be a cynic when it comes to aspects of popular culture, but he is also a sunny, sociable and sought-after guest at art and fashion parties these days. It helps that his work is generous and accessible, and it doesn’t hurt that he has had a few mainstream commercial outings, too, with a 15-second Michael Jackson Pepsi spot last September, a Ferrari collaboration in 2011 and a Kanye West video in 2010.  Mr. Brambilla, born in Milan and raised in Canada, even had his moment as a Hollywood player in 1993, when he directed “Demolition Man” at 28. He found the level of compromise discouraging, and refocused his talents on video art. His work has received good reviews and museum shows, and he has seen it projected at a parking lot at Art Basel Miami Beach, a piazza in Rome, film festivals and even in St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral (in NoLIta), where he enjoyed the sight of thousands wearing 3-D glasses...”  Inspired by Bob Morris, New York Times ow.ly/hnJ2G Image source Facebook ow.ly/hnJ1H Where the Art Is Wild in 3D (February 13 2013)

Marco Brambilla the 52 year old Italian – New York based filmmaker and installation artist known for his elaborate recontextualizations of popular and found imagery, has been profiled by Bob Morris for an article published in the New York Times titled ‘Where the Art Is Wild in 3D’. Morris states “…“Creation (Megaplex),” opened at the Nicole Klagsbrun gallery in Chelsea last week, the third of a trilogy that makes art from film. It uses Mr. Brambilla’s lavish sampling of hundreds of movie clips to create a swirling helix in which Maria von Trapp, Yoda, Dr. Strangelove and others seem to be flying through the air overhead before spiraling into a celestial toilet. “It’s about the disposability of film and images in an oversaturated world,” Mr. Brambilla said, explaining his inspiration. “Content in the background to marketing.” He may be a cynic when it comes to aspects of popular culture, but he is also a sunny, sociable and sought-after guest at art and fashion parties these days. It helps that his work is generous and accessible, and it doesn’t hurt that he has had a few mainstream commercial outings, too, with a 15-second Michael Jackson Pepsi spot last September, a Ferrari collaboration in 2011 and a Kanye West video in 2010.  Mr. Brambilla, born in Milan and raised in Canada, even had his moment as a Hollywood player in 1993, when he directed “Demolition Man” at 28. He found the level of compromise discouraging, and refocused his talents on video art. His work has received good reviews and museum shows, and he has seen it projected at a parking lot at Art Basel Miami Beach, a piazza in Rome, film festivals and even in St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral (in NoLIta), where he enjoyed the sight of thousands wearing 3-D glasses…”

 

Inspired by Bob Morris, New York Times ow.ly/hnJ2G Image source Facebook ow.ly/hnJ1H

Sergei Yurevitch Filin the 42 year old Russian ballet dancer artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow was attacked with acid by an unknown assailant. He suffered third-degree burns to his face and is in danger of losing his eyesight. The attack came after a lengthy period of infighting and rows within the Bolshoi Ballet company. Ellen Barry has published an article in the New York Times titled ‘Harsh Light Falls on Bolshoi After Acid Attack’, in which she states “The stories about vengeance at the Bolshoi Ballet go back centuries: The rival who hid an alarm clock in the audience, timed to go off during Giselle’s mad scene, or who threw a dead cat onto the stage at curtain in lieu of flowers. There are whispers of needles inserted in costumes, to be discovered in midpirouette, or - the worst - broken glass nestled in the tip of a toeshoe. The ballet has experienced poisonous infighting in recent years as artistic directors have come and gone. But this ballet-loving city awoke … to a special horror. A masked man had flung acid in the face of Sergei Filin, the artistic director of the Bolshoi, causing third-degree burns and severely damaging his eyes. Video from the hospital showed Mr. Filin’s head covered entirely in bandages, with openings for his eyes and mouth, his eyelids grossly swollen. Though police officials said they were exploring theories including disputes over money, Mr. Filin’s colleagues at the Bolshoi said they suspected professional jealousy. In recent weeks Mr. Filin’s tires had been slashed, his car scratched, his two cellphones disabled, his personal e-mail account hacked and private correspondence published, according to Bolshoi officials.”  Inspired by Ellen Barry, New York Times ow.ly/gXHut Image source Bolshoi ow.ly/gXHsr Harsh light falls on Bolshoi after acid attack (February 3 2013)

Sergei Yurevitch Filin the 42 year old Russian ballet dancer artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow was attacked with acid by an unknown assailant. He suffered third-degree burns to his face and is in danger of losing his eyesight. The attack came after a lengthy period of infighting and rows within the Bolshoi Ballet company. Ellen Barry has published an article in the New York Times titled ‘Harsh Light Falls on Bolshoi After Acid Attack’, in which she states “The stories about vengeance at the Bolshoi Ballet go back centuries: The rival who hid an alarm clock in the audience, timed to go off during Giselle’s mad scene, or who threw a dead cat onto the stage at curtain in lieu of flowers. There are whispers of needles inserted in costumes, to be discovered in midpirouette, or – the worst – broken glass nestled in the tip of a toeshoe. The ballet has experienced poisonous infighting in recent years as artistic directors have come and gone. But this ballet-loving city awoke … to a special horror. A masked man had flung acid in the face of Sergei Filin, the artistic director of the Bolshoi, causing third-degree burns and severely damaging his eyes. Video from the hospital showed Mr. Filin’s head covered entirely in bandages, with openings for his eyes and mouth, his eyelids grossly swollen. Though police officials said they were exploring theories including disputes over money, Mr. Filin’s colleagues at the Bolshoi said they suspected professional jealousy. In recent weeks Mr. Filin’s tires had been slashed, his car scratched, his two cellphones disabled, his personal e-mail account hacked and private correspondence published, according to Bolshoi officials.”

 

Inspired by Ellen Barry, New York Times ow.ly/gXHut Image source Bolshoi ow.ly/gXHsr

Björn Roth the 51 Icelandic artist and son of deceased Dieter Roth, the experimental Swiss-German artist has been featured in a New York Times article written by Randy Kennedy titled ‘Time and Other Collaborators’ Kennedy states “Over the last half-century few artists have explored impermanence - in art and life - quite as thoroughly as Dieter Roth, the wildly experimental Swiss-German jack-of-all-trades who died in 1998. Many of his signature materials were things you were supposed to eat, not make art with: chocolate, cheese, a veritable salumeria of sausages.  …on a recent visit to a cavernous Chelsea gallery filled with work mostly by Dieter Roth, to find a middle-aged man who looked mostly like him - the same pillowy broad face and balding head, the same weary basilisk eyes - supervising the installation. The man was in the midst of an intense discussion with two younger men, whose faces were vaguely competing variations on his own. "They're always pushing me: 'What do you want?' " the older man said of the younger ones, as the three puzzled over how to arrange a work. "The problem is I don't know what I want." The men - Dieter's son, Björn Roth, 51; and Björn's sons, Oddur, 29, and Einar, 24 - represent the second and third generations of what might be described as a persistent Roth art organism, more like a self-replicating species than a collective. …There are countless examples of artists' children carrying on their legacies through estates and exhibitions. But Dieter Roth wanted to push past that tradition. Although he began his career at a time when late Modernism still exalted the idea of the lone genius, he believed deeply in collaboration - with other artists, even with his collectors (one, Hanns Sohm, was a dentist) and with his family. That affinity for intrinsically collaborative work is now second nature to many young artists…”  Inspired by Randy Kennedy, New York Times ow.ly/gXEqa Image source Reckfilm ow.ly/gXEbA The problem is I don’t know what I want (January 30 2013)

Björn Roth the 51 Icelandic artist and son of deceased Dieter Roth, the experimental Swiss-German artist has been featured in a New York Times article written by Randy Kennedy titled ‘Time and Other Collaborators’ Kennedy states “Over the last half-century few artists have explored impermanence – in art and life – quite as thoroughly as Dieter Roth, the wildly experimental Swiss-German jack-of-all-trades who died in 1998. Many of his signature materials were things you were supposed to eat, not make art with: chocolate, cheese, a veritable salumeria of sausages.  …on a recent visit to a cavernous Chelsea gallery filled with work mostly by Dieter Roth, to find a middle-aged man who looked mostly like him – the same pillowy broad face and balding head, the same weary basilisk eyes – supervising the installation. The man was in the midst of an intense discussion with two younger men, whose faces were vaguely competing variations on his own. “They’re always pushing me: ‘What do you want?’ ” the older man said of the younger ones, as the three puzzled over how to arrange a work. “The problem is I don’t know what I want.” The men – Dieter’s son, Björn Roth, 51; and Björn’s sons, Oddur, 29, and Einar, 24 – represent the second and third generations of what might be described as a persistent Roth art organism, more like a self-replicating species than a collective. …There are countless examples of artists’ children carrying on their legacies through estates and exhibitions. But Dieter Roth wanted to push past that tradition. Although he began his career at a time when late Modernism still exalted the idea of the lone genius, he believed deeply in collaboration – with other artists, even with his collectors (one, Hanns Sohm, was a dentist) and with his family. That affinity for intrinsically collaborative work is now second nature to many young artists…”

 

Inspired by Randy Kennedy, New York Times ow.ly/gXEqa Image source Reckfilm ow.ly/gXEbA

Shirani Bandaranayake the 54 year old first female Supreme Court Judge and the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka has been impeached by Parliament and now removed from office by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. In an article for the New York Times titled ‘Sri Lankan Parliament Impeaches Chief Justice’, Gardiner Harris states “…The chief justice’s fall from grace since that ruling [the court struck down provisions of a law that would have given greater power to the government’s economic development minister, Basil Rajapaksa, who is also the president’s brother]  has been dizzying, with the state-controlled media sharply criticizing her. Impeachment proceedings began in November. A parliamentary committee issued a guilty verdict against her in December, saying she had misused her power and failed to adequately declare her assets. Last week, an appeals court annulled the verdict and forbade further action by the Parliament against Chief Justice Bandaranayake. The Parliament’s willingness to ignore the court’s ruling and impeach the chief justice anyway set the nation up for a possible constitutional crisis. …Since President Rajapaksa dominates the Parliament, the impeachment effort is widely seen by many democracy advocates as an effort by the president and his family to further consolidate power and eliminate any impediment to their almost complete control. “The entire impeachment process is clearly politically motivated as a punishment to the chief justice for daring to apply the constitution in a way that went against the Rajapaksa administration,” Alan Keenan, of the International Crisis Group, said in an interview. The parliamentary committee found Chief Justice Bandaranayake unfit for office on charges of failing to disclose details of 20 bank accounts and intervening in cases before the court in which she had a financial interest. She was also alleged to have sought to protect her husband from corruption charges. She had protested the rapidity of the parliamentary proceeding and her inability to confront or cross-examine her accusers.”  Inspired by Gardiner Harris, New York Times ow.ly/gR6zH Image source Facebook ow.ly/gR67S Sri Lanka Chief Justice’s dizzying fall from grace (January 23 2013)Shirani Bandaranayake the 54 year old first female Supreme Court Judge and the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka has been impeached by Parliament and now removed from office by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. In an article for the New York Times titled ‘Sri Lankan Parliament Impeaches Chief Justice’, Gardiner Harris states “…The chief justice’s fall from grace since that ruling [the court struck down provisions of a law that would have given greater power to the government’s economic development minister, Basil Rajapaksa, who is also the president’s brother]  has been dizzying, with the state-controlled media sharply criticizing her. Impeachment proceedings began in November. A parliamentary committee issued a guilty verdict against her in December, saying she had misused her power and failed to adequately declare her assets. Last week, an appeals court annulled the verdict and forbade further action by the Parliament against Chief Justice Bandaranayake. The Parliament’s willingness to ignore the court’s ruling and impeach the chief justice anyway set the nation up for a possible constitutional crisis. …Since President Rajapaksa dominates the Parliament, the impeachment effort is widely seen by many democracy advocates as an effort by the president and his family to further consolidate power and eliminate any impediment to their almost complete control. “The entire impeachment process is clearly politically motivated as a punishment to the chief justice for daring to apply the constitution in a way that went against the Rajapaksa administration,” Alan Keenan, of the International Crisis Group, said in an interview. The parliamentary committee found Chief Justice Bandaranayake unfit for office on charges of failing to disclose details of 20 bank accounts and intervening in cases before the court in which she had a financial interest. She was also alleged to have sought to protect her husband from corruption charges. She had protested the rapidity of the parliamentary proceeding and her inability to confront or cross-examine her accusers.”

 

Inspired by Gardiner Harris, New York Times ow.ly/gR6zH Image source Facebook ow.ly/gR67S

Elisabeth Rosenthal the American medical doctor specializing in epidemic disease, scientific and environmental matters has published an article in the New York Times titled ‘As Biofuel Demand Grows, So Do Guatemala’s Hunger Pangs’. Rosenthal states “In the tiny tortillerias of this city [Guatemala City], people complain ceaselessly about the high price of corn. Just three years ago, one quetzal — about 15 cents — bought eight tortillas; today it buys only four. And eggs have tripled in price because chickens eat corn feed. …Recent laws in the United States and Europe that mandate the increasing use of biofuel in cars have had far-flung ripple effects, economists say, as land once devoted to growing food for humans is now sometimes more profitably used for churning out vehicle fuel. In a globalized world, the expansion of the biofuels industry has contributed to spikes in food prices and a shortage of land for food-based agriculture in poor corners of Asia, Africa and Latin America because the raw material is grown wherever it is cheapest. …With its corn-based diet and proximity to the United States, Central America has long been vulnerable to economic riptides related to the United States’ corn policy. Now that the United States is using 40 percent of its crop to make biofuel, it is not surprising that tortilla prices have doubled in Guatemala, which imports nearly half of its corn. At the same time, Guatemala’s lush land, owned by a handful of families, has proved ideal for producing raw materials for biofuels. Suchitepéquez Province, a major corn-producing region five years ago, is now carpeted with sugar cane and African palm. …Roughly 50 percent of the nation’s children are chronically malnourished, the fourth-highest rate in the world, according to the United Nations.”   Inspired by Elisabeth Rosenthal, New York Times ow.ly/gKkg3 Image source Twitter ow.ly/gKkeF As biofuel demand grows so do hunger pangs (January 17 2013)Elisabeth Rosenthal the American medical doctor specializing in epidemic disease, scientific and environmental matters has published an article in the New York Times titled ‘As Biofuel Demand Grows, So Do Guatemala’s Hunger Pangs’. Rosenthal states “In the tiny tortillerias of this city [Guatemala City], people complain ceaselessly about the high price of corn. Just three years ago, one quetzal — about 15 cents — bought eight tortillas; today it buys only four. And eggs have tripled in price because chickens eat corn feed. …Recent laws in the United States and Europe that mandate the increasing use of biofuel in cars have had far-flung ripple effects, economists say, as land once devoted to growing food for humans is now sometimes more profitably used for churning out vehicle fuel. In a globalized world, the expansion of the biofuels industry has contributed to spikes in food prices and a shortage of land for food-based agriculture in poor corners of Asia, Africa and Latin America because the raw material is grown wherever it is cheapest. …With its corn-based diet and proximity to the United States, Central America has long been vulnerable to economic riptides related to the United States’ corn policy. Now that the United States is using 40 percent of its crop to make biofuel, it is not surprising that tortilla prices have doubled in Guatemala, which imports nearly half of its corn. At the same time, Guatemala’s lush land, owned by a handful of families, has proved ideal for producing raw materials for biofuels. Suchitepéquez Province, a major corn-producing region five years ago, is now carpeted with sugar cane and African palm. …Roughly 50 percent of the nation’s children are chronically malnourished, the fourth-highest rate in the world, according to the United Nations.”

 

Inspired by Elisabeth Rosenthal, New York Times ow.ly/gKkg3 Image source Twitter ow.ly/gKkeF

Asim Waqif the 34 year old Indian video and documentary artist whose projects have attempted a crossover between architecture, art and design has been featured by Gayatri Rangachari Shah in an article for the New York Times titled ‘Indian Artist Looks to Bring Works to the Everyman’. Shah states “…with his elaborate sculpture "Bordel Monstre," at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris … Waqif, a former architect, said he felt limited designing within the confines of an office, and about seven years ago he started producing avant-garde installations …has used unconventional material, weaving debris — like discarded wood panels, wiring, plastic waste, metal and dry waste — into an elaborate, interactive sculpture. The 34-year-old multidisciplinary artist described the exhibit as a “means of making people aware of their own movement, to take into account an element of risk in their lives, of being careful and conscious.” In an effort to stimulate all five senses, he built mechanical pedals and electronic panels into the mazelike structure so that spectators could actively engage with the work. “People will be actors in the work, which includes light and sound,” said the show’s curator, Daria de Beauvais, by telephone. “It will be a unique experience for the audience because they will be able to hear, see, walk, feel and smell the work.” “Bordel Monstre” is the culmination of Mr. Waqif’s fall residency in Paris, which was supported by SAM Art Projects, and is the first exhibition to be displayed in the recently expanded Palais’s Music Temple room, a space originally dedicated to creating electronic music. Describing the large room as “challenging to work in,” Ms. Beauvais said she was impressed by the artist’s ability to make it his own. “The way some people work with canvas, Asim works with space”.” Inspired by Gayatri Rangachari Shah ow.ly/gdOGc image source SamArtProjects ow.ly/gdOCp In an effort to stimulate all five senses (December 30 2012)

Asim Waqif the 34 year old Indian video and documentary artist whose projects have attempted a crossover between architecture, art and design has been featured by Gayatri Rangachari Shah in an article for the New York Times titled ‘Indian Artist Looks to Bring Works to the Everyman’. Shah states “…with his elaborate sculpture “Bordel Monstre,” at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris … Waqif, a former architect, said he felt limited designing within the confines of an office, and about seven years ago he started producing avant-garde installations …has used unconventional material, weaving debris — like discarded wood panels, wiring, plastic waste, metal and dry waste — into an elaborate, interactive sculpture. The 34-year-old multidisciplinary artist described the exhibit as a “means of making people aware of their own movement, to take into account an element of risk in their lives, of being careful and conscious.” In an effort to stimulate all five senses, he built mechanical pedals and electronic panels into the mazelike structure so that spectators could actively engage with the work. “People will be actors in the work, which includes light and sound,” said the show’s curator, Daria de Beauvais, by telephone. “It will be a unique experience for the audience because they will be able to hear, see, walk, feel and smell the work.” “Bordel Monstre” is the culmination of Mr. Waqif’s fall residency in Paris, which was supported by SAM Art Projects, and is the first exhibition to be displayed in the recently expanded Palais’s Music Temple room, a space originally dedicated to creating electronic music. Describing the large room as “challenging to work in,” Ms. Beauvais said she was impressed by the artist’s ability to make it his own. “The way some people work with canvas, Asim works with space”.” Inspired by Gayatri Rangachari Shah ow.ly/gdOGc image source SamArtProjects ow.ly/gdOCp

Nassim Nicholas Taleb the 52 year old Lebanese American essayist and scholar whose work focuses on problems of randomness, probability and uncertainty is the subject of a critical review from Michiko Kakutani in the New York Times for his latest publication ‘Antifragile’. Kakutani in the article ‘You Are All Soft! Embrace Chaos!’ states”A reader could easily run out of adjectives to describe Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s new book “Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder.” The first ones that come to mind are: maddening, bold, repetitious, judgmental, intemperate, erudite, reductive, shrewd, self-indulgent, self-congratulatory, provocative, pompous, penetrating, perspicacious and pretentious. …Taleb contends that we must learn how to make our public and private lives (our political systems, our social policies, our finances, etc.) not merely less vulnerable to randomness and chaos, but actually “antifragile” — poised to benefit or take advantage of stress, errors and change… For the most part, however, the author is way better at identifying examples of fragility than he is at laying out specific strategies to become more antifragile. Often the narrative hops and skips from broad-stroke hypotheses to personal anecdotes …Taleb seems to revel in being contentious and controversial, perhaps betting that such notoriety will win him and his book some added buzz. He consigns television, air-conditioning, newspapers and economic forecasts to the category of “offensive irritants.” And he talks about rationing the supply of information because, he insists, “the more data you get, the less you know what’s going on.” “Antifragile” is also riddled with contradictions. Mr. Taleb offers predictions about the future, though he keeps talking about the unreliability of predictions. He repeatedly attacks theorists and academics as the sorts of people who would presume to “lecture birds on how to fly.” And yet he’s an academic himself (whose main subject matter, his book jacket tells us, is “decision making under opacity”), and the book he’s written is nothing if not one big, hyperextended, overarching theory about how to live in a random and uncertain world.” Inspired by Michiko Kakutani ow.ly/gdCWq image source Sarah Taleb ow.ly/gdDij Things that gain from disorder (December 25 2012)

Nassim Nicholas Taleb the 52 year old Lebanese American essayist and scholar whose work focuses on problems of randomness, probability and uncertainty is the subject of a critical review from Michiko Kakutani in the New York Times for his latest publication ‘Antifragile’. Kakutani in the article ‘You Are All Soft! Embrace Chaos!’ states”A reader could easily run out of adjectives to describe Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s new book “Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder.” The first ones that come to mind are: maddening, bold, repetitious, judgmental, intemperate, erudite, reductive, shrewd, self-indulgent, self-congratulatory, provocative, pompous, penetrating, perspicacious and pretentious. …Taleb contends that we must learn how to make our public and private lives (our political systems, our social policies, our finances, etc.) not merely less vulnerable to randomness and chaos, but actually “antifragile” — poised to benefit or take advantage of stress, errors and change… For the most part, however, the author is way better at identifying examples of fragility than he is at laying out specific strategies to become more antifragile. Often the narrative hops and skips from broad-stroke hypotheses to personal anecdotes …Taleb seems to revel in being contentious and controversial, perhaps betting that such notoriety will win him and his book some added buzz. He consigns television, air-conditioning, newspapers and economic forecasts to the category of “offensive irritants.” And he talks about rationing the supply of information because, he insists, “the more data you get, the less you know what’s going on.” “Antifragile” is also riddled with contradictions. Mr. Taleb offers predictions about the future, though he keeps talking about the unreliability of predictions. He repeatedly attacks theorists and academics as the sorts of people who would presume to “lecture birds on how to fly.” And yet he’s an academic himself (whose main subject matter, his book jacket tells us, is “decision making under opacity”), and the book he’s written is nothing if not one big, hyperextended, overarching theory about how to live in a random and uncertain world.”

 

Inspired by Michiko Kakutani ow.ly/gdCWq image source Sarah Taleb ow.ly/gdDij

Profound sense of loss and disillusionment (December 22 2012) Profound sense of loss and disillusionment (December 22 2012)

Yue Minjun the 50 year old Chinese contemporary artist best known for oil paintings depicting himself in various settings, frozen in laughter as a sort of logo that can be attached to any setting to add value, has been profiled by Nazanin Lankarani in a New York Times article titled ‘The Many Faces of Yue Minjun’. Lankarani states “…The notion of risk is well known in China, where artists can be subject to state censorship in various forms. Recent widely-reported examples include the artists Ai Weiwei, who has faced accusations of crimes ranging from tax evasion to bigamy and pornography, and Zhang Huan, whose 2008 show at the Shanghai Art Museum was canceled in 2008 by local authorities, with no reason given. A prolific painter since the early 1990s, Mr. Yue, 50, belongs to the generation of artists marked by what he calls a “profound sense of loss and disillusionment” after the crackdown at Tiananmen Square in 1989, in which popular demonstrations culminated in the massacre of protesters. “I feel that those years enabled us to find a new energy,” Mr. Yue said in a conversation in July with a friend, Shen Zhong, included in the catalog of the Paris show. “We discovered that the ideas and assumptions we had about a lot of things were no longer credible.” For the artists who chose to stay in China after 1989, the Cynical Realism movement, which Mr. Yue joined, was a possible path to express their experience in post-Tiananmen Chinese society. “Those who stayed experimented with a new iconography lush with signs of a disenchantment in confronting their society and assessing their own status,” said Grazia Quaroni, a curator at the Fondation Cartier. But, she added, “30 years later, Yue Minjun’s work exudes a sense of melancholy rather than cynicism.”

 

Inspired by Nazanin Lankarani ow.ly/g2elq image source Facebook ow.ly/g2efN

The Battle for the 21st Century (November 24 2012) The Battle for the 21st Century (November 24 2012)

David Wearing a postgraduate writer and researcher studying British foreign policy in the Middle East and North Africa, and co-editor of New Left Project has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘The Revenge of History: The Battle for the 21st Century’. Wearing states “The triumphalist atmosphere in Western capitals following the demise of the USSR produced assessments of America’s status as the world’s only superpower that ranged from the hubristic to the outright irrational. As Bush the First announced a “New World Order” based on Washington’s military and economic supremacy. …In 2004, a senior presidential aide told a writer for the New York Times magazine, “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality… we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors… and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.” In the end, the neo-conservatives’ “New American Century” lasted around seven years, from the al-Qaeda attacks on Washington and New York that fired the starting gun on the “War on Terror” to the departure from the White House of a much diminished George W Bush, with the quagmires of Iraq and Afghanistan having demonstrated “the limits, rather than the extent, of US military power”, in the words of British newspaper columnist Seumas Milne. Meanwhile, the banking crash of 2008 exposed the Anglo-American model of hyper-financialised, deregulated capitalism as a catastrophic failure. For the Nobel economics laureate Joseph Stiglitz, the fall of Wall Street was to “market fundamentalism” what the fall of the Berlin Wall was to Communism. The idea that “democratic market capitalism [is] the final stage of social development” and “that unfettered markets, all by themselves, can ensure economic prosperity and growth” had now been conclusively discredited.”

 

Inspired by Aljazeera ow.ly/fmVfO image source The Guardian ow.ly/fmV4K

Our Longing for Lists (September 12 2012) Our Longing for Lists (September 12 2012)

Phil Patton the American author on design and culture has published an article in the New York Times on ‘Our Longing for Lists’. Patton states “We’re living in the era of the list, maybe even its golden age. The Web click has led to the wholesale repackaging of information into lists, which can be complex and wonderful pieces of information architecture. Our technology has imperceptibly infected us with “list thinking.” Lists are the simplest way to organize information. They are also a symptom of our short attention spans. The crudest of online lists are galaxies of buttons, replacing real stories. “Listicles,” you might say. They are just one step beyond magazine cover lines like “37 Ways to Drive Your Man Wild in Bed.” Bucket lists have produced competitive list making online. Like competitive birders, people check off books read or travel destinations visited. But lists can also tell a story. Even the humble shopping list says something about the shopper… Lists can reveal personal dramas. An exhibit of lists at the Morgan Library and Museum showed a passive-aggressive Picasso omitting his bosom buddy, Georges Braque, from a list of recommended artists. We’ve come a long way from the primitive best-seller lists and hit parade lists, “crowd sourced,” if you will, from sales. We all have our “to-do” lists, and there is a modern, sophisticated form of the list that is as serious as the “best of…” list is frivolous. That is the checklist.”

 

Inspired by New York Times ow.ly/dtykH image source Twitter ow.ly/dtyjH

No understanding what their planet is (August 31 2012) No understanding what their planet is (August 31 2012)

Jason deCaires Taylor the 38 year old British sculptor specialising in the creation of contemporary underwater sculptures which over time develop into artificial coral reefs has been profiled by Randal C. Archibold for the New York Times. In the article Archibold states “Most people head off to an art exhibit with comfortable shoes and a deep appreciation for creativity. Jason deCaires Taylor’s work requires flippers and, to really appreciate it, a depth of at least 12 feet. Mr. Taylor labors over his sculptures for weeks, five-ton concrete figures of men, women and children, many of them modeled after people in the fishing village near here where he lives and works. …he fusses over their lips and noses. Gets the hair just right. Adjusts their clothing. Then he sinks them in the sea. There, they rest in ghostly repose in the Museo Subacuático de Arte here, serving at once as a tourist attraction and as a conservation effort by drawing divers and snorkelers away from the Mesoamerican Reef, the second-largest barrier reef system in the world, and toward this somewhat macabre, artificial one. The nearly 500 statues, the first ones placed in 2009 and 60 added this year, have acquired enough coral, seaweed and algae to give them the look of zombies with a particularly nightmarish skin condition. Eventually, in six years or so, the coral will completely overtake them, leaving only suggestive shapes. “Foremost, it’s an opportunity to view this other world,” Mr. Taylor said. “We are surrounded by water, but people have no understanding what their planet is. It helps see ourselves as part of the world.”

 

Inspired by New York Times ow.ly/d7hkn image source Twitter ow.ly/d7hf6

Left us as the sole survivors (August 12 2012) Left us as the sole survivors (August 12 2012)

Christopher Brian Stringer the 65 year old British anthropologist, one of the leading proponents of the recent single-origin hypothesis or “Out of Africa” theory, has been interviewed by John Noble Wilford for the New York Times. Stringers hypothesizes that modern humans originated in Africa over 100,000 years ago and replaced the world’s archaic human species, such as Homo erectus and Neanderthals, after migrating within and then out of Africa to the non-African world within the last 50,000 to 100,000 years. During the interview Stringer states “…if we went back 100,000 years, which is very recent, geologically speaking, there might have been as many as six different kinds of humans on the earth. All those other kinds have disappeared, and left us as the sole survivors. … We evolved globally, all over the world. There was a view that in the different regions an earlier species, Homo erectus, evolved relatively seamlessly to modern humans. This idea was known as multiregionalism. The argument went that we remained one species throughout that evolutionary process, because there was interbreeding among the different populations. It meant that the Neanderthals in Europe, for example, would be the ancestors of modern Europeans; Homo erectus in China would be the ancestor of modern Asians. And Java Man would be a distant ancestor of modern Australian aboriginal populations. What we have seen since then is a growth in the fossil record, in our ability to date that record and to CT-scan fossils and get minute details out of them. DNA studies have had a huge impact on our field. We now have the genomes of Neanderthals and of these strange people in Siberia called the Denisovans.”

 

Inspired by New York Times ow.ly/cEILc image source Natural History Museum ow.ly/cEIye

Eric Richard Kandel the 82 year old Austrian-US Professor and Neuropsychiatrist, the recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology Medicine research for his work on memory storage in neurons, has released his latest book, “The Age of Insight”. Kandel has been interviewed by Claudia Dreifus for the New York Times where he stated, “I’ve long been interested in memory. What does it look like on a physical level? …my mentor Harry Grundfest said, “Look, if you want to understand the brain you’re going to have to take a reductionist approach, one cell at a time.” He was so right. …in the 1960s, we went to a more reductionist approach. Instead of studying complicated mammalian brain cells, we studied the neural system of a simple animal — Aplysia, a snail with a very large nerve cell… We discovered that the snail’s reflexes could be modified by several forms of learning, and that learning involved alterations in how nerve cells communicated with one another. We next looked at short- and long-term memory in the snail…  It would turn out that short-term memory involves transient changes of the connections between the cells. There is no anatomical change. Long-term memory involves enduring changes that result from the growth of new synaptic connections…  When you see that at the cellular level, you realize that the brain can change because of experience. It gives you a different feeling about how nature and nurture interact. They are not separate processes.”

 

Inspired by Claudia Dreifus http://ow.ly/9ARU3 image source Eric Kandel http://ow.ly/9AS0g

Eric Steven Lander the 54 year old US Professor of Biology at MIT and co-chair of the US president’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, has been profiled by Gina Kolata for the New York Times. Kolata states in the article, “His Ph.D. is in pure mathematics, in a subfield so esoteric and specialized that even if someone gets a great result, it can be appreciated by only a few dozen people in the entire world. But he left that world behind and, with no formal training, entered another: the world of molecular biology, medicine and genomics… he heads a biology empire and raises money from billionaires. He also teaches freshman biology (a course he never took) at M.I.T., advises President Obama on science and runs a lab… To him, biography is something of a confection: “You live your life prospectively and tell your story retrospectively, so it looks like everything is converging.”

 

Inspired by Gina Kolata http://ow.ly/8lLwt image source http://ow.ly/8lLCj

Kalle Lasn the 69 year old Estonian Canadian author, activist and co-founder of the anti-consumerist Adbusters magazine has been credited with “branding” the OWS Movement by William Yardley in a New York Times article, “…as uprisings shook the Middle East and much of the world economy struggled, Mr. Lasn … felt the moment was ripe to tap simmering frustration on the American political left. On July 13, he and his colleagues created a new hash tag on Twitter: #OCCUPYWALLSTREET. They made a poster showing a ballerina dancing on the back of the muscular sculptured bull near Wall Street in Manhattan … For Mr. Lasn, they were tools to begin remodeling the “mental environment,” to create a new “meme,” the term coined by the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins for a kind of transcendent cultural message. “There’s a number of ways to wage a meme war … I believe that one of the most powerful things of all is aesthetics.”

 

Inspired by William Yardley http://ow.ly/7VnB5 image source freerepublic http://ow.ly/7VogT

Julian Patrick Barnes the 60 year old UK writer has won the 2011 Man Booker Prize for his book ‘The Sense of an Ending’ after three other books had been shortlisted in earlier years. Barnes had won several literary prizes in France where his crime fiction works earned him an officer of L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. ‘The Sense of an Ending’ is Barnes’s 11th novel, described by Julie Bosman of the New York Times as “a slim and meditative story of mortality, frustration and regret.” The head judge for the Booker Prize Stella Rimington, said the book “has the markings of a classic of English literature. It is exquisitely written, subtly plotted and reveals new depths with each reading”, and the panel thought it “spoke to humankind in the 21st Century”.

 

Inspired by Julie Bosman http://ow.ly/7ddIC image source Cure Byte http://ow.ly/7de0t

Yasmina Reza the 51 year old Tony Award winning French playwright renowned for her gifted plays that included “Life X 3″, “Art” and “God of Carnage” has been interviewed by Elaine Sciolino of the New York Times, who describes the encounter as probing as she attempted to break through the steely barrier to the underlying fragility that Reza wavers between, presenting “a determination to be judged by her work alone and a desire that it be understood and appreciated.” Reza is also an accomplished novelist with her works “Desolation”, “Adam Haberberg” and “Hammerklavier”; her 2007 book “Dawn Evening or Night” was an up close observers perspective of Nicolas Sarkozy’s run for the French presidency. Although having attained international fame, Reza still has the goal to have a play performed at the Comédie-Française”. Inspired by Elaine Sciolino  ow.ly/5aQrH image source arlindo-correia ow.ly/5aR6z It’s more like, Who are you? (July 22 2011)

Yasmina Reza the 51 year old Tony Award winning French playwright renowned for her gifted plays that included “Life X 3″, “Art” and “God of Carnage” has been interviewed by Elaine Sciolino of the New York Times, who describes the encounter as probing as she attempted to break through the steely barrier to the underlying fragility that Reza wavers between, presenting “a determination to be judged by her work alone and a desire that it be understood and appreciated.” Reza is also an accomplished novelist with her works “Desolation”, “Adam Haberberg” and “Hammerklavier”; her 2007 book “Dawn Evening or Night” was an up close observers perspective of Nicolas Sarkozy’s run for the French presidency. Although having attained international fame, Reza still has the goal to have a play performed at the Comédie-Française”.

 

Inspired by Elaine Sciolino ow.ly/5aQrH image source arlindo-correia ow.ly/5aR6z

Daniel Ellsberg the 79 year old former US military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times and Washington Post about the top-secret Pentagon study of US government decision-making in relation to the Vietnam War, has along with other demonstrators been arrested at a demonstration in support of currently detained whistleblower Bradley Manning outside the Marine Corps Brig at Quantico. Hundreds of protestors assembled outside the base where Bradley Manning is being held on dozens of charges relating to his leak of classified diplomatic cables and video to Wikileaks. The protestors primary concern relates to allegations of torture and punitive treatments being applied to Manning by his military jailors. Inspired by Ben Nuckols ow.ly/4kwBn image source Jacob Appelbaum ow.ly/4kwEm Caution: Whistleblower Torture Zone (March 27 2011)

Daniel Ellsberg the 79 year old former US military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times and Washington Post about the top-secret Pentagon study of US government decision-making in relation to the Vietnam War, has along with other demonstrators been arrested at a demonstration in support of currently detained whistleblower Bradley Manning outside the Marine Corps Brig at Quantico. Hundreds of protestors assembled outside the base where Bradley Manning is being held on dozens of charges relating to his leak of classified diplomatic cables and video to Wikileaks. The protestors primary concern relates to allegations of torture and punitive treatments being applied to Manning by his military jailors.

 

Inspired by Ben Nuckols ow.ly/4kwBn image source Jacob Appelbaum ow.ly/4kwEm

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