Taboo Theater 2.0 is an Internet/Theater project by media artists Ursula Endlicher, Ela Kagel and Anke Zimmermann, focusing on the question: How much taboo does art need? On a blog people are invited to submit images, sound files, texts, videos or comments on taboos in art, theater, literature, or on the Web. These posts will then be incorporated in a week-long theater production at Theater am Neumarkt/Chorgasse in Zurich from May 19-24, 2008.

The current issue of Kunst Magazin Berlin is dedicated to Taboos. Eugenia Ilion writes:

“Discussion of the term taboo is complicated from any perspective, because it is a term that is, in reality, empty. Every society, every age, and even every individual attributes to the term another meaning, and for that reason taboo has no consistent content. It serves, rather, as an umbrella-category for an ill-timed subject. As an open code, taboos allow room for interpretation, but the urge to use the term grows with its lack of clarity. This margin of play seems to be predestined for art’s license to do as it pleases. But does art need taboos? What is a taboo?”

With the Internet as a global stage, the artists hope many different points of view will be conveyed. The structure and functionality of the blog will be translated onto the theater stage, where the collected content will be further worked on.

More info and to participate: here.

is love, sweet

-and that you can find plenty of in Time Square. The TSA unveils “LOVE in Times Square” a public art project featuring 15 unique banner designs by 12 top graphic artists ranging from Goodesign, to Rodrigo Corral and James Victoire for the occasion of Valentines’ day. The different typographic treatments of the word “Love” on each banner are reflective of the artist’s personal interpretation of the emotion and are supposed to spread the sentiment.
No, not just for some- but maybe even for everyone.

Ronen, an Israeli artist currently living in Weimar, Germany, links art, culture, history and contemporary politics in a provocative public art piece:

“I wanted to bring The Israeli border police in Weimar, the standard armored jeep that the border police uses to patrol will escort me in my daily life in town. I examine what such an action brings, how the presence of a militarized police force from Israel in a small quiet East German place would be perceived. Would it produce fear, antagonism, discomfort or maybe understanding and sympathy? The site of the Star of David is never neutral on the streets of Germany, all the more so when it is painted on an armored jeep. Not surprisingly, I could not bring a real jeep to Weimar. Instead, I built a two- dimensional life size cut out (like the fake police cars that deter driver from speeding). The cutout can do the same job that a real jeep can do and invoke the discussion I would like to create. Some people might recognize the jeep as an Israeli border police; others, who are less familiar with the situation in Israel/Palestine might not have any reference and not know the origin of the jeep. But all will recognize that it is a militarized jeep. This fake militarized jeep, I feel, will also bring another useful element to the discussion. The fake jeep, the two-dimensional façade barley standing on its wooden frame, is very much like the fake façades of Weimar’s historic building. The façades, historical manipulations, and the cultural cloning wish to suggest authenticity, but they do have to be really convincing to fulfill their purpose and to create in Weimar the romantic Disneyland of the east. In the same way, security can work as a façade. It does not really have to be convincing, you don’t need expensive systems, trained personnel, intelligence, and expertise. What is needed is a pretense of security, feeling of security, the knowing of its being and the statement that it is present.”…

Via Wooster Collective.

Via Weburbanist, I came to an interesting book project: Free Words. More than 2,500 copies of the book (labeled as free) were distributed worldwide waiting to be picked up. Simply placed on the shelves in bookstores and libraries, they created a situation that both infiltrated public and commercial space. The text of Free Words is a list of 13,000 words that has been placed in the public domain. “No Rights are Reserved”, declares the copyright page. Artist Sal Randolph has accumulated this list of words over ten years, making it available to anyone for any use whatsoever.

Randolph’s other projects are also situated in the areas of gift economies and social architecture. In Free Money, she gives away money to explore the interactions and experiences that result. During a recent incarnation of the project in Vancouver, she donated several people $50 and asked to make a choice: to keep the money or to give it away to someone else, opening up their decisions to conversations about money, work, art and life.

Here for Free Words and Free Money.

Image: “Protesting On Demand” by The Floating Lab Collective, which premiered in Provisions’ Multimediale, April, 2007.

BrushFire is Provisions’ new national public arts initiative showcasing key contemporary artists whose public projects engage crucial social issues such as immigration, the war in Iraq, food, sustainable energy, housing, the electoral process, the economy, health, and the environment. Taking place in highly visible public settings such as state fairs, suburban shopping centers, public parks and highly trafficked recreational areas around the United States, BrushFire aims to enrich the environment for public discussion about the value of democracy in the crucial run-up to national elections in November, 2008.

BrushFire artists include The Beehive Collective, The Floating Lab Collective, Futurefarmers, Ligorano/Reese, Jon Winet, Rick Lowe and Michael Rakowitz. BrushFire will culminate in an exhibition at The American University Museum in September, along with a DC-wide festival of exhibitions and arts events on key social issues.

BrushFire is supported by the CrossCurrents Foundation.