And Now for Something Completely Different
By corwinchristie | June 30, 2009
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I thought I’d share some of the interesting, and hopefully heartening, things that I have come across recently and wanted to share. (Please note, I am not endorsing any of the services or products herein.)
Talenthouse, an online networking tool for artists from many disciplines, encouraging exposure, collaboration, and audience engagement globally. (Thanks to Dana Oshiro at ReadWriteWeb for the tip)
Start Mobile whose Art for Everyone iPhone wallpaper art has been used to benefit non-profit organizations. (A more in-depth story to come)
Tele_Trust, a piece by artistic duo Lancelmaat (with the technical development of V2_ Institute for the Unstable Media), uses technology to analyze real-life socialization (instead of moving socializing onto a virtual platform). Though authorities have been alarmed by the full-body cloak, filled with sensors and circuitry, it’s a neat reminder of how “in our changing social eco-system we increasingly demand transparency; while at the same time we increasingly cover our vulnerable bodies with personal communication-technology.”
And much thanks to NTEN for highlighting this: iWith’s third annual photo competition, “Documenting the Digital Divide.”
Topics: Art Meets Tech, Cool Sites, For Shiggles, Product & Service Info | No Comments »
Protected? Online Content, and its Abuse
By corwinchristie | June 28, 2009
photo by Brittney Bush Bollay
Years ago, while editing a free-press magazine, I found that the closely-guarded text of a mediocre article that the Publisher himself had submitted as his own (and rejected my suggestions to improve) was a verbatim reproduction of a local business’ website copy. I confronted the Publisher, who told me I was overreacting, and that the site owner “would never know.”
I resigned that month. (The magazine closed its doors shortly thereafter, due to mismanagement.)
So imagine my reaction when I read Waldo Jacquith’s Virginia Quarterly Review blog post demonstrating that Wired editor Chris Anderson’s latest book, Free, is full of paragraphs that appear to be lifted, verbatim and without attribution, from Wikipedia. [Though Jacquith is careful not to accuse Anderson explicitly of plagiarism, Edward Champion has no such scruples.] While the actions of my previous employer were inexcusable, this much more extreme indiscretion by a well-respected editor of a major magazine, whose book is being published by Hyperion, is far more alarming.
Topics: Art Meets Tech, Legal Issues, Policies & Practices | No Comments »
What You Do IS Worth Paying For, We Just Can’t: Non-Profit Organizations and Artists - Part 2
By corwinchristie | June 22, 2009
Photo by Greg Andrews
Last week I wrote about the indignation I feel when I see a company like Google wanting to use art without financially compensating the artists. The post and ensuing discussion on Facebook generated some interesting feedback, and many people expressed the concern that perhaps artists have set the bar low themselves.
This got me thinking about how it is that artists begin accepting less than they are worth–and I think, unfortunately, it is because of the close collaboration that artists have with non-profit arts organizations. And this is much more difficult to get irate about. As I rail against Google for devaluing the work that artists do, I can’t help but think back on the numerous non-profit arts organizations with which I have either been involved or encountered as an artist.
Non-profit organizations, those bastions of hope, those doers of good, whose belief in the arts propels us through the darkest hours of our economic crises, are they immune to the tirade I so readily unleashed on Google?
Topics: Community Building, Philosophizing, Policies & Practices | 28 Comments »
What You Do Isn’t Worth Paying For: The Message Google Sends to Illustrators - Part 1
By corwinchristie | June 16, 2009
Recently there has been some high-profile buzz about Google’s latest endeavor to unite arts and their internet products by having Google Chrome skins designed by prominent illustrators. The catch? Google will pay the artists nothing, offering exposure instead.
Understandably, many illustrators are incensed by the “offer.” Though last year’s iGoogle artist theme design campaign was highly successful, according to Mark Frauenfelder (an iGoogle artist), in that instance Google donated a significant amount of money in his name to a charity of his choice. This year Google is soliciting prominent illustrators (”prominent” meaning that these are illustrators whose work is already recognized and commissioned by high-profile companies that both pay and provide great exposure) and offering them no compensation. I think this is a slap in the face to the arts world.
Topics: Art Meets Tech, Community Building, Marketing, Philosophizing, Policies & Practices | 1 Comment »
Yakkity Yak, Please Talk Back
By corwinchristie | June 9, 2009
“COMMUNICATION: LIVE” BY KONRAD WYREBEK AT SAATCHI GALLERY, LONDON
It wasn’t long ago that I was your average internet user. More proficient than many, but not nearly as tech-savvy as some, I averaged a couple hours of every day online. I relied on the internet for everything from “catching up” passively with friends through their updated statuses and blogs, reading the news of the world, checking email, updating my blog and Tweets, shopping, and looking up interesting upcoming events. But among all of that, I tended to either ignore or delete the clutter generated by the various organizations that I demonstrably supported via my social networks and email-list affiliations.
Always happy to support by joining a group or becoming a fan, my participation stopped there. I rarely checked the list of updates on my Facebook homepage, or weekly inbox-fillings of “Last Two Weeks of Show! Get Tickets Now!” urgings. Unsolicited updates from these organizations and groups were of little interest to me–if I wanted to know something, I took it upon myself to seek it out.
Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Art Meets Tech, Community Building, Philosophizing | 3 Comments »
Arts Advocacy via YouTube
By David Dombrosky | June 8, 2009
Check out the inspiring video from Pittsburgh Filmmakers entitled “Arts and Citizenship”:
It feels particularly appropriate today as Pennsylvania’s House Appropriations Committee discusses (and potentially votes) on the Senate’s proposal to zero out arts funding within the state’s budget.
Topics: Art Meets Tech, Community Building | No Comments »
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