“Art actions relevant for today come from a place of vulnerability and radical love, from fighting back. They push back and it creates a little space, and that little space could be something more meaningful, if only for a second. And then you do it again. And it gives you that breath of fresh air.” …
Category Archives: Research Blog
Joey Juschka
“ intention is to raise the topic, and on one side, be funny, and on the other side be really serious underneath; to find a way into people’s minds in a way that isn’t confrontational, because then most people would go, “Oh yeah? You want to confront me? You’re aggressive! Why should I stay and …
Familiar vs. Novel – Everything is a Remix
First, if you’ve never seen Everything is a Remix, go watch it now. It’s a great primer on creativity, originality, and copyright. Recently Kirby Ferguson posted a new installment about the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens. https://vimeo.com/167069783 Towards the end he makes a point about a sweet spot existing between the familiar and …
Continue reading “Familiar vs. Novel – Everything is a Remix”
Bar-B-Que Utopia
Stephen Duncombe & Steve Lambert “The Good Life” was the mantra of the United States in the 1950s. The country had emerged from a devastating economic depression and a brutal world war into a era of seemingly unbound plenty. The economy was in high gear from the war: there were new products to consume for …
Ron Goldberg
Going back to the early days at the March on Washington…to watch people respond to us as we walked by was…people just lit up. It was 6-7 years into the epidemic by then and people were just looking for something to do that was positive. I remember chanting: “we’ll never be silent again!” And the …
No Longer Interested
In 2014, Center Co-Director Steve Lambert was asked to contribute to A Blade of Grass’ ‘Growing Dialogue‘, a series of practitioner-led articles and opinion pieces circling around questions of the affect and effect of art and social practice. Steve’s contribution was No Longer Interested, which you can read below… No Longer Interested I’ve worked to strike …
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY FOR ‘TRUTH IS CONCRETE’
In 2014, Stephen Duncombe and Steve Lambert were invited to write an introductory essay for “Truth is Concrete: A Handbook for Artistic Strategies in Real Politics“. It includes essays from, among many others: Andy Bichlbaum, Reverend Billy, Andrew Boyd, Tania Bruguera, Andrea Fraser, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Hans Haacke, John Jordan, Kalle Lasn, Leónidas Martín, Antanas Mockus, …
Continue reading “INTRODUCTORY ESSAY FOR ‘TRUTH IS CONCRETE’”
On Utopia
Keri Smith is a long-time friend of the Center, and even sits on our Advisory Board! For her 2014 book, The Imaginary World Of…, Center Co-Director Steve Lambert was asked to write a few words on Utopia, so he did… (Also – check out her latest book, “The Wander Society“) On Utopia The problem with …
‘No One Wants To Watch A Drum Circle’ (and Something for the Letters Section of The Sun Magazine)
Back in 2011, Center Co-Director Steve Lambert wrote a short piece called “No One Wants to Watch a Drum Circle” for the Beautiful Trouble book (which you can read here). That piece was selected to be included in The Sun Magazine in 2014. After it was published, someone who didn’t like his criticism of drum …
And What Do I Do Now?
Center Co-Director Steve Lambert presented this talk at the Responsible Data Forum in January. We think it’s got a lot to say about how to turn data towards social goals so we thought we’d share it. USING DATA VISUALIZATION FOR SOCIAL CHANGE Those who visualize data can be reluctant to sully themselves in the messy world …
How do you measure the impact of socially engaged art?
In our new Æfficacy project we’ve been working with our colleague George Perlov, thanks to funding from The Open Society Foundations and The Compton Foundation to begin to answer that question. As a first step, we’re conducting a literature review on the topic and George will be spotlighting a few of the interesting things we’ve found so far. Today …
Continue reading “How do you measure the impact of socially engaged art? “
The Axes of Art and Activism
What happens when 4 of the greatest minds in Æfficacy get together and brainstorm around creative activism? The Axes of Arts and Activism, that’s what! This is Artistic Activism Technology (AAT) so advanced even we aren’t sure what it means yet. But to be clear – when it is ready we’ll know how to use it.
Avram Finkelstein
“That’s the thing about history, you know, history is capital. The reason why I think the distinctions are worth knowing about is while communal responses, political responses, like ACT UP are incredibly valuable and noteworthy, there’s also power in the individual voice. It was six gay men, who had no idea that they were surrounded …
And what do I do now? Using Data Visualization for Social Change
Last week, the C4AA’s Steve Lambert attended the Responsible Data Forum on Data Visualization. In this article, Lambert discusses how data visualizations for social change can leverage emotion to achieve objectives. Those who visualize data can be reluctant to sully themselves in the messy world of emotions and empathy. If your goal is social change …
Continue reading “And what do I do now? Using Data Visualization for Social Change”
Koch Quits!
Two days ago, in a big win for cultural institutions everywhere, it was announced that David H. Koch has resigned in his role on the board of the American Museum of Natural History. You may be familiar with Koch, the ‘the fourth richest person in America’ the billionaire who has given millions in ‘philanthropy’ to …
Guerilla Girls on Colbert!
The anonymous feminist art collective Guerrilla Girls appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Wednesday night and talked about gender inequality in the art world. The collective is known for wearing gorilla masks and using the names of deceased female artists as monikers. Kathe, Zubeida, and Frida were the members that spoke with Colbert. …
Play the Game!
Grand Theft Auto gets patriotic In the interests of efficacy, a great deal of politics in recent years has been professionalized. Experts devise policies, lobbyists make the case to politicians, politicians fight for legislation, and lawyers file lawsuits in the courts to either enforce or overturn regulations. On the level of pure results it is …
P.T.S.D. ACTION MAN! PARALYZED ACTION MAN! DEAD ACTION MAN!
http://battlefieldcasualties.co.uk/ Great use of comedy as an entry point for veterans issues. A Veterans for Peace UK film, directed by Price James, written by Darren Cullen, featuring Matt Berry.
Awareness | 99% Invisible
99% Invisible did a 20m piece on the AIDS Awareness ribbon last month. The ribbon was a project of an art collective, Visual AIDS. The story is well done and worth your time – and this is coming from the guy who hates “awareness.” Source: Awareness | 99% Invisible By the late 1980s, AIDS had …
Reclaim the suits!
Steve Jobs in his trademark jeans and sneakers Back in 2002, Center Co-Director Stephen Duncombe took part in a “Rant-a-Thon” held as a fund raiser for the direct action protest group Reclaim the Streets at the KGB bar in New York City. He chose to rant about leisurewear, and for a reclamation of formal attire …
You must be logged in to post a comment.