by Jonathan Alter Published Aug 23, 2008 From Newsweek magazine issue dated Sep 1, 2008 It’s hard to predict what will stick. ‘It’s the economy, stupid’ was a hand-scrawled sign hung in Little Rock. When NEWSWEEK reported earlier this summer that the McCain family owns at least seven houses, few outside the hothouse of politics …
Author Archives: Steve Lambert
Ogilvy: "speak their language"
“If you’re trying to persuade people into do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think.” – David Ogilvy via The Hidden Persuader
GRL's James Powderly detained in Beijing for planning pro-Tibet
“James is a unique voice in the world, who lives and breathes art and technology for the purpose of promoting and enabling freedom of expression for all,” said Nathan Dorjee, Director of Technology for Students for a Free Tibet. “His trip to Beijing, in support of the Tibetan people and all people around the world …
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Tropic Thunder – comedy is anarchy
…in comedy, context is everything. “Tropic Thunder”… doesn’t risk simply offending; at times the picture is almost appalling in its tastelessness — I watched parts of it agape. But Stiller and his ensemble… understand that comedy is anarchy. As much as we want our lives to be stable and manageable, comedy demands that we relinquish …
Natalie Jeremijenko
YouTube – Interview: Feedback Artist, Natalie Jeremijenko Also in the NYT today: “People are frustrated by their inability to cope with environmental problems in their apartments and their neighborhoods,” said George Thurston, a professor of environmental medicine at New York University School of Medicine. Dr. Jeremijenko, he continued, “provides a service that’s needed, educating people …
The first challenge of climate crisis is…
The most fundamental reality at the present time is that the human species has over shot the capacity of the planet to sustain it. Both in terms of human numbers and in terms of the impact these human beings have on the planet. This is a very challenging situation and the first challenge is really …
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Utopia could be the answer…
Quote from Georg Baselitz
This mythology of the lone genius, isolated from society, and relieved of social responsibility, is summed up for me in these comments by the painter Georg Baselitz: “The artist is not responsible to anyone. His social role is asocial; his only responsibility consists in an attitude to the work he does. There is no communication …
How to Win! An Introduction…
“How to Win” is a work in progress by Stephen Duncombe, an academic, and Steve Lambert, an artist. We are both long-time political activists and both of us believe that using art and culture to transform the world is a good idea. But we are both haunted by the same question: How do we gauge the success of our projects? Hell, how do we even think about success when our goal is utopia?
This site is a place to explore this and related questions. It is an evolving repository for our research. While far from a finished product, we’re offering it as an open window into our process.
Architect Lebbeus Woods
In all honesty I don’t know Woods’ work well. Just finished this interview and he has a reputation for making radical work that changes perceptions. Some excerpts: “It wasn’t about cleaning up the mess or fixing the damage; it was more about a transformation in the society and the politics and the economics thorough architecture… …
The New York Times: Street Maps in Political Hues
This is an old Eyebeam R&D Project. If you haven’t used Fundrace, try it out. There’s something amazing about having access to the information. But what is happening exactly? Accoutability? Transparency? What is the result? Maybe we should talk to Jonah. Excerpt of NY Times piece Fundrace was created by a small team at Eyebeam, …
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PRWatch: Corporate Sponsored Slacktivism
After reading this, I wonder if artists or activists have been unwittingly influenced/inspired by some of these token, ineffective campaigns? If the culture is openly celebrating these supposed victories, one might believe they are actually effective. By Anne Landeman Recently while browsing the Web I came across UrbanDictionary.com, which is sort of a wiki of …
Web Analytics
Web analytics allow you to track how many people are visiting your site, what sites they are coming from, what words they use to search when finding your site, and more. Without knowing who is looking at your site, you can know what they are looking at, for how long, in what order, they city …
Loss Aversion, Greenpeace, and Health
Here’s a pattern of tactics I realized have something in common. They all work by presenting a threat. Loss aversion, as it can be called, can be more motivating – using the stick instead of the carrot. ## Example 1 From Greenpeace:## The ranking criteria reflect the demands of the Toxic Tech campaign to the …
CarrotMob gives stores incentive to go green
Blackmailing (not really) store owners by offering to bring tons of motivated customers if they will do the most to make their store energy efficient. Documented very well – including dollar amounts. Carrotmob Makes It Rain from carrotmob on Vimeo.
Future Farmers: ~Human Knot~
One month after the United States invaded Iraq, Futurefarmers put out a public call for people to come to the Marin Headlands to join in a Human Knot. A human knot starts out with a group of people holding hands in a big circle. People are then asked to get tangled and twisted up without …
NYT – April Fool! The Purpose of Pranks
By BENEDICT CAREY Published: April 1, 2008 Keep it above the belt, stop short of total humiliation and, if possible, mix in some irony, some drama, maybe even a bogus call from the person’s old flame or new boss. A good prank, of course, involves good stagecraft. But it also requires emotional intuition. “You want …
NYT – Is the Ad a Success? The Brain Waves Tell All
Neuroscience can provide “a more accurate way to understand what consumers really like,” Mr. Stagliano said, which helps to produce ads and programs that “break through the clutter” rather than contribute to it. “We measure attention, second by second; how emotionally engaged you are with what you’re watching, whether it’s a commercial, a movie or …
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