“I live on Earth at present, and I don’t know what I am. I know that I am not a category. I am not a thing — a noun. I seem to be a verb, an evolutionary process – an integral function of the universe.” – R. Buckminster Fuller
I feel fortunate that we were able to see Portland Center Stage’s production, R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE last night. Going in, I didn’t know much about this man. The fact that I did not seems incredible to me now. Be that as it may, I certainly care to know more.
There was so much density in last night’s finely honed delivery of Fuller’s vision, that I hardly know where to begin. But I can point to a few things that jumped out at me. Fuller’s sense of “design responsibility” grabbed me. So did his admonition to do more with less. I was also impressed with his playful, but serious, use of the English language. For instance, Fuller coined lots of terms in his day. One that stands out for me is “livingry.” Livingry is the opposite of weaponry and killingry, and means that which is in support of all human, plant, and Earth life. It’s an idea that brings to mind Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s call for a Department of Peace. I wonder where Obama is on that idea.
While I ponder that, take a look at this video on Fuller, clearly one of the more enigmatic American thinkers (and doers) in the 20th century:
old postcard advertising Call of the Wild Museum in Gaylord, MI
I love this image, which we happened to pick up yesterday at an antique store in NE Portland. Exactly why I love it is hard to say. It has something to do with nostalgia I feel for a time in this country that I did not live through. Namely, the early part of the 20th century. I love the books from that era, the jazz, the cottages and bungalows, the hats and wool jackets, the flappers. Most of all I love the palpable sense of frontier. It’s such an evocative time, I think sometimes I can taste it.
If all goes according to plan, the project will help address at least two major challenges: how to ensure better and better access to our collections, and how to ensure that we have the best possible information about those collections for the benefit of researchers and posterity.
In other words, the Library is seeking to enhance its metadata and is turning to the wisdom of the crowd for help.
The real magic comes when the power of the Flickr community takes over. We want people to tag, comment and make notes on the images, just like any other Flickr photo, which will benefit not only the community but also the collections themselves. For instance, many photos are missing key caption information such as where the photo was taken and who is pictured. If such information is collected via Flickr members, it can potentially enhance the quality of the bibliographic records for the images.
Flickr hopes this pilot can be used as a model that other cultural institutions will pick up, thereby increasing the sharing and redistribution of the myriad collections held by cultural heritage institutions all over the world.
American designer, architect and filmmaker Charles Eames–who together with his wife Ray, was responsible for many classic, iconic designs of the 20th century–appeared on the Arlene Francis “Home” show on NBC in 1956. It’s neat to see Eames on TV, but this episode is also an odd reminder of how square things were in 1950s America.
Yo! What Happened To Peace? is an exhibition of anti-war posters that’s opening in Brussels, Belgium on July 20th. The exhibition has already been shown in Los Angeles, Rome, Milan, Chicago, Tokyo, and Reykjavik.
See more images in the Flickr gallery. The image above is also available for purchase from Etsy.
We watched Oscar-nominated documentary Jesus Camp last night. It was frightening to see just how serious the radical right is about the ongoing Culture War in this nation.
There are many poignant (or scarring, depending on one’s point of view) moments in the film. One of the most telling is the scene from New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Pastor Ted Haggard appears in the film and we learn, among other things, that he has a standing call every Monday with President Bush. Of course, Haggard has since been embroiled in a high-profile scandal involving homosexual prostitution and methamphetamine use. Oops.
I kept asking myself throughout the screening, “How did the filmmakers get this kind of access?” In the interview presented above, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady say they came to the film with no pre-determined agenda, which is a bit hard to believe given their status as sophisticated New Yorkers. Agenda, or no, the film is near perfect in its revelations.
We visited downtown Asheville on Saturday. After securing a healthy start (comprised of fresh squeezed apple juice, organic coffee, tempeh scramble, grits, toast, fruit, etc.) at Over Easy Breakfast Cafe, we sauntered over to The Courtyard Gallery for the 13th annual Twin Rivers Media Festival where we watched four shorts–Siren, The Little Gorilla, Buoy and Press Play. Afterwards, Andrea Lee Higgins, a singer-songwriter from Columbia, SC performed some of her originals.
We then walked up the hill to Malaprop’s Bookstore where author Elizabeth Gilbert was speaking to a packed house. Add to this a little shopping at Hunk’s and Rags Reborn Eco Chic Boutique, dinner at Savoy and live entertainment at Westville Pub later in the night and you’re talking about a heavy hit of culture courtesy of this funky southern mountain town.
“Owning a firearm brings me some sort of balance. When I am angry at the world I find relief in dropping a clip into the air.” -Drew (photographed below)
Photographer Kyle Cassidy got the idea to document Armed America. Here’s part of his artist’s statement:
The idea was to photograph a hundred gun owners, in their homes, and do a gallery show. I figured this would take about two years. But very soon after I started, it became evident that my ambitions were too low. My mailbox flooded with letters from people I didn’t know wanting to participate — I realized that I could probably photograph a hundred people in two months, but it wasn’t a number of people that was important, it was their stories — a cowboy in Texas, a survivalist in Montana, a deer hunter in Pennsylvania, a sheriff in Georgia, a soldier in Idaho…. What I really needed, I realized, was to get moving, to drive across the country and find America somewhere between here and there.
Cassidy’s book of these photos comes out in October.
We went to Atlanta’s High Museum yesterday. People were clamoring to see items on loan from The Louvre, but I didn’t care for that exhibit. The pieces that stood out for me were in the permanent Folk Art collection. Particularly, Howard Finster’s “sacred art” and the following piece from Ned Cartledge:
“The Flag Waiver,” 1970, Carved wood with paint
In the scene above a civil rights protestor is being stepped on, while a journalist is being silenced. Sadly, such things don’t belong to art and history, but to the present day, as well. The New York Times reports that 2006 was was the deadliest year on record for journalists and news media workers worldwide, with at least 155 killings and unexplained deaths.
