Clipmarks | urbanlife's 'culture' clips

The Throw-Away Culture: Do you Own your Stuff?

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:38:18 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Our new economy may be just the motivation people need to stop and think before they toss.

If something breaks our first instinct is to throw it away and buy it new, instead of trying to fix it.

But even if we wanted to fix it, manufacturers have made it difficult for us to repair, re-use or upgrade our stuff.

Mr. Jalopy urges technology companies to create forums for consumers to share ideas, and pushes car companies to sell patterns so people can create accessories like seat covers....he wants companies to make schematics readily available so consumers can fix and re-imagine the objects they buy.

Clip Source: makezine.com

Clip Source: www.danramsey.com

Clip Source: www.npr.org

a push to re-imagine the objects we own rather than throw them away

the movement is about reusing and repairing objects, rather than discarding them to buy more

a philosophical idea about what ownership really is.

The terms of ownership are still dictated by the company that assembled it

If you're not able to open and replace the batteries in your iPod or replace the fuel-sender switch on your Chevy truck, you don't really own it

preaching the gospel of open source manufacturing

some corporations have shown interest

He tells them to use screws instead of glue, and to make schematics readily available so consumers can fix and re-imagine the objects they buy.

the economy may soon force people to alter their approach to objects

He yearns for the 1950s, he says, when people held onto their things for many years, fixing rather than discarding them.

Tags: reuse, repair, reduce waste, treasure, you can do it, own your stuff forever, cost of replacement

Visual Alchemist & Psychedelic Artist Defined A Generation

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:40:31 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Alton Kelley, whose psychedelic concert posters for artists like the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, and Big Brother and the Holding Company helped define the visual style of the 1960s counterculture, died on Sunday at his home in Petaluma, Calif. He was 67.

Mr. Kelley and Stanley Mouse, combined sinuous Art Nouveau lettering and outré images plucked from sources near and far to create the visual equivalent of an acid trip. They formed Mouse Studios: Mouse said they could work for hours in silence. "We knew what to do, we didn't have to talk."

Kelley had the unique ability to translate the music being played into these amazing images that captured the spirit of who we were and what the music was all about. He was a visual alchemist — skulls and roses, skeletons in full flight, cryptic alphabets, nothing was too strange for his imagination to conjure.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Clip Source: www.npr.org

If the Summer of Love had a visual, it probably came from the drawing pad of artist Alton Kelley.

Kelley's work graced album covers and concert posters, and has been described as art that defined a generation.

The 67-year-old artist died this week in California from complications

Kelley arrived in Haight Ashbury in 1964 with a sketchbook full of hot-rod drawings

Kelley met a fellow hot-rod artist from Detroit named Stanley Miller

who goes by the name "Mouse,"

The two started making posters for dance concerts featuring up-and-coming groups

Some call the art a visual extension of the music

Others call it the visual for a psychedelic experience.

Mouse says it was both, and that the joke between the two of them was that you had to be under the influence to understand it

he and Kelley developed a work style that allowed them to stand side-by-side at the same art table

The pair worked together for more than four decades

cranking out their elaborate posters once a week

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Clip Source: dehne.cc

Clip Source: www.rizoma.net

Tags: summer of love, culture, music, san francisco, art, avalon ballroom

What Ideas Will Shape our Future? The 10 Ideas of the 21st Century

Tue, 13 May 2008 19:38:59 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: "More than money, more than politics, ideas are the secret power that this planet runs on."

"The 21st century will overturn many of our basic assumptions about economic life. The 20th century saw the end of European dominance of global politics and economics. The 21st century will see the end of American dominance too, as new powers make their voices heard on the world stage."

"The challenges of sustainable development—protecting the environment, stabilizing the world's population, narrowing the gaps of rich and poor and ending extreme poverty—will render passé the very idea of competing nation-states that scramble for markets, power and resources."

"The defining challenge of the 21st century will be to face the reality that humanity shares a common fate on a crowded planet."

"6.6 billion people living in an interconnected global economy producing an astounding $60 trillion of output each year."

Clip Source: www.time.com

ideas are the secret power that this planet runs on

Clip Source: www.time.com

10. Re-Judaizing Jesus

if you get the [Jewish] context wrong, you will certainly get Jesus wrong

Clip Source: www.time.com

9. Mandatory Health

a crackdown on workers' poor health habits

Clip Source: www.time.com

8. The New Austerity

Americans have kept piling on more and more debt

Clip Source: www.time.com

7. Synthetic Authenticity

the virtualization of life

has led to a deep consumer yearning for the authentic

Clip Source: www.time.com

6. Geoengineering

compensate for an intensified greenhouse effect by reducing the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth

Clip Source: www.time.com

5. Kitchen Chemistry

remaining brave cooks are going a little mad scientist

easier through gadgetry

Clip Source: www.time.com

4. Reverse Radicalism

Why do people leave terrorist groups?

disenchantment

Clip Source: www.time.com

3. The Post-Movie-Star Era

big names no longer mean big grosses

Clip Source: www.time.com

2. The End of Customer Service

the need to interact with human beings is quickly disappearing

Clip Source: www.time.com

1. Common Wealth

ending our misguided view of the world as an enduring struggle of "us" vs. "them"

our fate, our common wealth, is in our hands

to save the world for all

Tags: globalization, economy, religion, movies, planet, common, humanity, culture

Italy Works To Relieve Stress: 2008 Roman Pillow Fight

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:06:46 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Do you ever have one of those days where all you want to do is smack someone?

Rome, Italy - April 27, 2008: Over 300 people met in Piazza Santa Maria, in the Trastevere neighborhood, to celebrate the 3rd annual Roman Pillow Fight. Of course, to make all things fair, this pillow fight started exactly when the piazza’s clock tower chimed 6 pm… and then BAM! Feathers everywhere! The purpose of the annual Pillow Fight is to relieve stress and anxiety…and have some fun!

Pillow Fight Fever is spreading and becoming a worldwide phenomena so if you want to start your own pillow fight next year, International Pillow Fight Day is March 22! Or visit http://www.pillowfightday.com/index.php to see is your city already participates!

Clip Source: romanpillowfight.blogspot.com

Tags: community, culture, public square, italy, why not have a little fun?

"A Camera, 2 Kids, & A Camel" The Work of Annie Griffiths Belt

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 14:56:19 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: "As a photographer I have learned that women really do hold up half the sky; that language isn't always necessary, but touch usually is; that all people are not alike, but they do mostly have the same hopes and fears; that judging others does great harm but listening to them enriches; that it is impossible to hate a group of people once you get to know one of them as an individual." (Annie Griffiths Belt)

"A Camera, Two Kids and a Camel" is a photo memoir of her life, that discloses the secrets of a peripatetic life...revealing in often hilarious detail how she managed to juggle two children, bulky cases of camera equipment and everything needed for a nurturing family life as she traveled to far-flung destinations around the world.

An award-winning photojournalist and mother of two has lived a life we only dream about...to see and share the world with your family.

Clip Source: www.nationalgeographic.com

Pakistan

Clip Source: www.nationalgeographic.com

Namibia

Clip Source: www.nationalgeographic.com

Doubtful Sound, New Zealand

Clip Source: www.nationalgeographic.com

Dominican Republic

Clip Source: www.nationalgeographic.com

Jerusalem

Dome of the Rock

Clip Source: www.nationalgeographic.com

Zambia

Victoria Falls

Clip Source: www.nationalgeographic.com

South Dakota

prairie grasses

Clip Source: www.nationalgeographic.com

Brazil

city of Salvador

Clip Source: www.nationalgeographic.com

Rwanda

Clip Source: www.nationalgeographic.com

Gulf of Mexico

the coast of Louisiana

Clip Source: www.npr.org

Annie Griffiths Belt was one of the first female photographers to be hired at National Geographic

Belt documents her peripatetic life as a photographer and mother in a new book, A Camera, Two Kids, and a Camel: My Journey in Photographs

Belt, who was hired in 1978, and her husband, Don, a writer at the magazine, decided that their children should accompany Belt on most of her photo assignments

she has carried them to places around the globe during her 30-year career at the magazine

There were bear encounters at Yellowstone National Park and brushes with sharks in the Galapagos

She found that even in the most remote parts of the planet, her role as a mother opened doors

I've been in a culture that's divided by gender, to me it's a huge advantage

Belt's husband, Don, poses with their children

Tags: photography, world, culture, motherhood, dream, adventure

Turquoise Mountain: Invest in Afghan Arts To Save Kabul

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 20:28:23 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Battered by over two decades of war, limited access to new materials and cheaper imports from China and Pakistan, there is an urgent need to support the rural craft communities of Afghanistan.

The Foundation has developed a Sustainable and Authentic Crafts Standard, which guarantees the authenticity and ethical value of any Afghan products it promotes.

The Foundation will establish a permanent resource and research center where it plans to build a gas kiln, a workshop, a laboratory for testing glazes, and a library. This improvement in training and resources will be matched with valuable access to the visiting tourist market.

Clip Source: www.turquoisemountain.org

Turquoise Mountain is investing in the regeneration of the historic commercial centre of Kabul, providing basic services, saving historic buildings and constructing a new bazaar and galleries for traditional craft businesses

It has established Afghanistan’s first Centre for Traditional Afghan Arts and Architecture, gathering some of the greatest Masters in Afghanistan and training students to produce masterpieces in wood, calligraphy and ceramics

Clip Source: www.turquoisemountain.org

Turquoise Mountain plans to restore the ancient bazaar of Murad Khane into a unique historic centre for Kabul

It will provide infrastructure; levelling and paving the streets, installing water and sewage and delivering additional services to the community.

Clip Source: www.turquoisemountain.org

Turquoise Mountain has completed a rubbish clearance project that has seen the street level drop by two meters and uncovered building foundations submerged for over 60 years

Clip Source: www.turquoisemountain.org

Rural Livelihoods Project

There is an urgent need to support the rural craft communities of Afghanistan

Tags: afghanistan, kabul, turquoise mountain, culture, arts, preserve, rebuild, ceramics

A Green Utopia: World's First Zero-Carbon & Zero-Waste City

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:53:16 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Abu Dhabi: Masdar City aims to be the world's greenest city....and the most sustainable city.

The Masdar development is a 6 km sq, car-free “walled-city” scheme. A challenging design that promises to question conventional urban wisdom at a fundamental level. Masdar promises to set new benchmarks for the sustainable city of the future

Clip Source: www.outnext.com

Clip Source: www.enn.com

WWF and the government of Abu Dhabi today launched a Sustainability tStrategy to deliver the world’s greenest city

Masdar City will be the world’s first zero-carbon, zero-waste, car-free city, meeting or exceeding a set of stringent sustainability goals established under the “One Planet Livingâ„¢” programme established by WWF

Clip Source: www.outnext.com

Clip Source: www.enn.com

These targets are to be achieved by the time the Masdar City is completed and fully functioning in 2012.

ZERO CARBON 100 per cent of energy supplied by renewable energy

ZERO WASTE 99 per cent diversion of waste from landfill

SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT Zero carbon emissions from transport within the city

SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS Specifying high recycled materials content within building products

SUSTAINABLE FOOD

SUSTAINABLE WATER

HABITATS AND WILDLIFE All valuable species to be conserved or relocated

EQUITY AND FAIR TRADE Fair wages and working conditions for all workers

HEALTH AND HAPPINESS Facilities and events for every demographic group

CULTURE AND HERITAGE

Clip Source: www.outnext.com

Tags: utopia, green, city, masdar, sustainable, wwf

Indian Artists Free to Express Their Own Culture: Virgin Comics

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 15:42:41 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: After decades of outsourcing and emulating the West, artists finally feel free to do what they want and share their culture with the rest of the world.

"You can't handle that kind of freedom all of a sudden. So it takes about three to four months of time to adjust."

"Because it's been built upon an outsourcing model...we do a tremendous amount of unlearning."

Clip Source: www.npr.org

Bangalore, India: To many Americans, the name evokes call centers and colorless office parks, anonymous places to which U.S. companies export work

downtown, an army of Indian animators is working to export their culture to the rest of the world

Their source material: The elaborate pantheon of Hindu mythology

Less than two years old, Virgin Comics has already published dozens of titles

All of them are classic figures, and the staff here knows these stories from childhood

named Virgin Comics

because the main investor is Richard Branson, of Virgin Airlines and Virgin Records

partners are the filmmaker Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth) and entrepreneur Gotham Chopra

create our own properties that really could stand at the forefront of the world

champion a lot of this young, dynamic Indian creativity

most-gifted young people had grown used to doing back-end animation for American studios

When artists first arrive at Virgin, they are used to repressing their own culture

Then, "it's like letting loose a nuke."

Tags: art, culture, outsourcing, comics, myths, india, animation

To Create a Stree-Free Generation in a Stress-Full World

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 19:17:28 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Less Homework, More Yoga

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Less Homework, More Yoga, From a Principal Who Hates Stress

Needham High School, here in the affluent Boston suburbs

the Stress Reduction Committee

to train students in relaxation techniques

“It’s very important to protect the part of the culture that leads to all the achievement,”

“It’s more about bringing the culture to a healthier place.”

a movement to push back against an ethos of super-achievement at affluent suburban high schools amid the extreme competition over college admissions

administrators from 44 other high schools and middle schools

form a group known as S.O.S., for Stressed Out Students

the book, “Doing School: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed Out, Materialistic and Miseducated Students”

to try to help students become more resilient

to help students learn to cope better with the inevitable setbacks

“A lot of these kids,”

“are being held hostage to the culture.”

a certain amount of stress is necessary for learning and growth, too much interferes

Tags: stress, yoga, highschool, school, culture

Immigrant meets Hippie - Kensington Market, Toronto

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:58:24 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife

Clip Source: www.theglobeandmail.com

“where people were actively engaged, politically speaking, through protest activities, those were cities that were more innovative, more creative, more exciting. If you don't have activism in your city, you've killed its soul.”

Neighbourhoods like this survived because of the energy and collective force of its people. The bigger challenge now is how does a neighbourhood like this survive in the wake of the opposite force – central cities coming back.

Its grit, its bohemian quotient, its kind of urban messiness

“If you look at the groups of people who are very committed to their place, one group that's obvious is immigrants. They come to a neighbourhood, they become part of a neighbourhood, because their culture is in that neighbourhood. And [the other is] artists and bohemians – whether that's a designer or a sculptor or a painter – who are somehow inspired, like the people who colonized SoHo.”

“What you need is the energy of new people, of new interests, of new clashes.”

Tags: creative class, neighborhood, hippie, city, immigrant

Connecting Artists and Spaces

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:29:02 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife

Clip Source: www.artistlink.org

ArtistLink is a new collaborative effort to create a stable yet dynamic environment for Massachusetts artists.

Through partnerships with other organizations in New England and across the country, ArtistLink shares best practices and participates in the development and execution of new models of artist assistance.

The effort is part of a national ten-year campaign spearheaded by LINC (Leveraging Investments in Creativity) to improve conditions for artists in all disciplines by addressing artist needs for space, health insurance, financial support, and business planning.

LINC’s agenda is four-fold: 1) increase direct support for artists' work; 2) improve necessary life supports in areas such as live/work space, insurance and financial services; 3) enhance artists’ networks and the policy environment that support artists; and 4) explore the impact of artists on communities and community redevelopment.

Tags: artist, culture, neighborhood, home, economic, city