On June 24th 2010, the all-American sneaker Keds announced its sponsorship of the Whitney Museum of American Art. In celebration of this sponsorship, Keds launch of the KedsWhitney Collection that will feature designs by celebrated conceptual artist Jenny Holzer printed on the iconic Champion® style shoe.

Holzer, who has exhibited work during the famed Whitney Biennial, is known for using words and political phrases in a range of media such as LED signs, stone benches, T-shirts and grand-scale light projections in public spaces. For the KedsWhitney Collection, she has created a fresh take on the Keds classic Champion® silhouette by drawing inspiration from her own designs. Jenny Holzer’s limited-edition styles will feature a phrase from one of her signature text series, Survival: PROTECT ME FROM WHAT I WANT applied to the Champion®, expected to retail in the range of $70 – $75 per pair. The shoes will be available at select Bloomingdale’s stores nationwide and online. The good part: All Keds’ profits from Jenny Holzer’s line will directly benefit the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Usually a skeptic of corporate intentions behind cause-related marketing, it was odd to find myself raving in full support about this particular project. Most likely my admiration for Holzer’s work and the many visits to the Whitney have naturally made me an easy target for this particular product. Although I have never bought into any other cause-related marketing campaign before, I truly believe in this unique and utterly brilliant collaboration.

Given the three strong corporate players, this project has the potential to reach new audiences, promote Holzer’s work, generate funding for the Whitney Museum- and, most importantly, bring art into people’s everyday lives. I also enjoy the fact that having dozens of people boasting punchy Holzer phrases across the U.S.  fits neatly into Holzer’s overall artistic intent.

Keds will continue the collection in the Fall with artists Laura Owen and Laura Owens and Sarah Crowner, also two Whitney Biennialists. A portion of the sale profits will also go to the Whitney Museum. The more I think about the project, the more I like it. So, mark your calendars for the release on July 8th,2010 —I have a feeling these sneakers are going to be museum-worthy.

The purpose of this piece is to visualize the vast network of altruistic human organizations in every country, city, and community around the world, all working in parallel together. Despite their enormous diversity of size, focus, and geographic location, these organizations are all united around a core set of values in which compassion and stewardship are made highest priorities. The hundreds of millions of individuals who are creating and running these organizations bring a nourishing richness of passion, imagination, and integrity to this process. In that way I think of this piece as being like a compass, pointing toward a true source of hope and inspiration for our times.

Link.

Artist David Belt is at it again: making recycling fun and, well, cleansing – in more ways than one. Glassphemy is a project/structure designed to allow individuals to pelt glass bottles towards their friends and family; of course, the bottles smash against a bullet proof glass wall instead. The glass is recycled. Everyone laughs. Glassphemy is an act of both environmentalism and therapy – a way to exorcise some of your pent up frustration while helping the planet just a little.

Read what the New York Times and Good have to say about it.

While you are at check out Macro Sea – Belt’s organization of like-minded eco-artist types.

Here’s is a thought-provoking TED talk by Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.  It’s a great backdrop for a new design competition seeking remedies for “first” world problems exclusively from designers in the “developing” world.  The organizers raise some interesting questions about reversing paternalistic attitudes at the core of much well-intentioned international development.  Too often the ‘developing world’ is assumed to be inferior and need of enlightenment, historically embedded in Western economic and religious colonialism.  Obviously, this is not a simple landscape to navigate, but the project will bring some sustained insights into Western “problems” which can often be more severe than those in the “developing” world.

Dx1W has proclaimed 2010 International Year of the First World in Need

One of the major aims will be to demonstrate the beneficial effects of cultural diversity. We want to recognize the importance of transfers and exchanges between cultures through implicit or explicit dialogue that underlines how cultures and civilizations are interlinked and contribute to the progress of humankind.

The strategy of the International Year consists in mainstreaming the above-mentioned principles in all policy-making at local, national, regional and international levels through the involvement of the greatest number of relevant stakeholders. The activi­ties carried out under the International Year focus on:

• Reducing obesity
• Addressing aging population and low birth rate
• Reducing consumption rate of mass produced goods.
• Integrating the immigrant populations

The Dx1W competition is addressed to the developing countries of the world: All cre­ative solutions depend on having a powerful idea. Whether it’s great resources, mili­tary, politics or government, power and size are not enough with out having a powerful vision. The First World needs ideas to solve their problems. First World problems demand Simple Third World solutions. From today on The Third World will bring ideas to redesign the future of the First World.

Individual and team submissions are welcomed.

Owning land in Detroit just got even ‘cheaper’–increasing plausibility of a new commons therein.

“You’re invited to buy land and ‘move’ to Detroit,” says Loveland, a project which developed in the summer of 2009, “with a vision for combining the social fun of online games with the creative development of real land, and an open ‘let’s figure things out as we go along’ attitude.”

Combining both the fantastic and the real, part Farmville, part real life commune, Loveland allows individuals to purchase land in Detroit for $1 per inch along side other purchasers or, better, investors. The objective: to provide  access to land and space wherein the purpose of that space is  determined by the common; intent can span from conceptual project to tangible actual urban renewal.

Wrap your head around it all this Tuesday by tuning into Basekamp’s weekly Skype ‘potluck’ discussion on Plausible Artworlds wherein they will be conversing with the creators of Loveland and others who care to join in the discussion.

Here’s a video from Jerry, Loveland mastermind

*Above: Inchy, Official Mascot and spokesperson of Loveland

In Los Angeles on any given Friday, you could venture over to Farmlab’s Salon, tuck in a full-on organic lunch and listen to an amazing line-up of art/ecology innovators and activists. Last week I heard Wes Jackson of the Land Institute describe his 50-year plan to restore the depleated soils of America’s heartland.  Next Friday historian Robert Bichard presents over 100 images exploring the first movie studios in L.A. starting 100 years ago.

Farmlab, formerly Not a Corn Field, is the invention of artist/urbanist/philanthropist Lauren Bon.  It began as a multi-year project to restore a 35-acre industrial brownfield near downtown through the cultivation of corn- not only corn, but a social sculpture and nexus for community action and education.

Recently Bon has been working with a veteran’s hospital to create the Strawberry Flag project.

More images: (more…)

“Worried about Climate Change? Don’t sweat it.” That’s the motto of Survivaball, the world’s first personal survival orb, designed specifically for safeguarding whoever can afford it from the calamities of climate change. Its creators promise it will “ensure human continuity for generations to come.” Here’s a promotional video.

The Survivaball cools, heats and hydrates its occupant with a fluid recycling mechanism. The inflated ball is suited for all weather extremes, from floods to droughts, the kinds of catastrophes a warming world will bring. The Survivaball is an ingenious device indeed, sure to bounce off shelves as soon as it’s ready. Here’s a cross section of the remarkable invention:

Here’s  a safety card describing the Survivaball’s capabilities.

In case it isn’t clear yet, this Survivaball thing is a joke. It’s the work of The Yes Men, a troupe of artists dedicated to “impersonating big-time criminals in order to publicly humiliate them. Targets are leaders and big corporations who put profits ahead of everything else.” A recent spoof website of theirs skewered the Canadian government’s sluggish response to climate change and they punked an entire conference full of Halliburton big-wigs by bringing out Survivaball’s as a real option for confronting climate change. Here’s the result an article on their website details. A picture of one of Halliburton’s suckers actually wearing a Survivaball is below:

It’s both unbelievable and unsurprising that these corporate types didn’t realize that something was up. Nevertheless, Halliburton rarely misses an opportunity to display greed and cowardice. So I guess this prank was a success for everybody.

Gallery Poulsen in Copenhagen hosted an exhibit of Survivaballs during the CoP15. I was lucky enough to wear one, a prototype. It’s basically an air-tight bag with a fan inside that keeps the ball inflated. Here’s what I looked like.

So there you have it, the Survivaball. Were it cheaper and, well, a real thing, its invention might be good news. Unfortunately, this is not the case and the take-home message remains a humorous but bittersweet one. Sadly, the Survivaball only serves to reveal how venal corporate lunkheads can be.

Berkeley, California.

Bicycle boulevards are lightly-trafficked streets that prioritize bicycles. Although many routes have no bike lanes, bicyclists are free to use the middle of the street, sharing road space with cars. Motorists on these routes expect to see bicyclists and therefore travel with caution. Designated streets should be distinguished with uniformly colored signs and bold pavement markings.

more

[Text and graphic from Livable Streets Initiative website. Photo Credit: "Berkeley Bike Boulevards - Streetfilms."]

The COP15 Conference, the  meeting in Copenhagen for countries party to the United Nations Framework Convention (UNFCC) on Climate Change, has begun in earnest. With it, a flood of foreigners has washed ashore in Denmark, among them NGOs, IGOs (Intergovernmental Organizations), the Press, and delegates from UNFCC signatories. Among them, unfortunately, is not your correspondent, Wilson Dizard, the one writing this blog post from Copenhagen. Others are in a similar position, and not just due to the fact that the they basically accredited twice the number of people the conference center can hold.

Nevertheless, there are plenty of interesting things going down around town that concern the arts of social change. Here are the first photos of the acts at the conference.

Alright, this is a picture of a ice flow in Iceland, where I had a rather long lay over. Iceland’s endangered glaciers are a topic of discussion at the Conference, as you might imagine.

The Bella Center. The world will have to wait to see what kind of substance, if any, might manage to emerge from this building a fortnight from now. Look at the cranes in the background, evidence of economic development chugging along. And then there’s a wind turbine, too. To be sure, Denmark is a land of contrasts.

(more…)

Recycle LACMA

On January 14th, 2009 the Los Angeles County Museum of Art announced that it was deaccessioning more than 100 items from its costumes and textiles collection. Once carefully collected, catalogued, and cared for, these items have now been cast back out in to the world. What will happen to them? Like any other useless item, they will need to be recycled or disposed of.

Recycle LACMA is a project of Los Angeles-based artist Robert Fontenot. At three separate auctions he purchased over 50 items deaccessioned by LACMA and is now trying to find new uses for these otherwise unwanted items.

Although each item has not yet been used, each item can have a use.

Recycle LACMA blog

NPR Weekend Edition Story

[Text and graphic from Recycle LACMA blog. The photograph displays a Korean Girl's Hood recycled as a sling. Cross-posted to The Data Stream.]