MetaFilter posts tagged with culture and Design

Arcangel and the future of digi/net art

0bvious — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:44:50 -0800

Corey Arcangel is perhaps the internet's most infamous hack, masher-upper, digi/net artist. His work stands for a growing culture of artists who run wildly through animated GIF landscapes populated with corrupted data-compressed bunny rabbits and tinny, MIDI renditions of Savage Garden ballads. As the Lisson Gallery, London, opens its archives to Arcangel's curatorial eye, could digi/net art be set to infect the real, fleshy world, like a rampant Conficker Worm? Has YouTube become the truest reflection of our anthropological selves? Are we destined to roam the int3erw£bs like the mythic beasts of yore, hoping, in time, that digi art can free us from the confines of this fleshy void? [...previously]

Paper money as art

reenum — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:06:48 -0800

Banknotes are a fascinating look into the artistry and culture of the countries of the world. To get started, you can spend hours exploring Ron Wise's database, Tom Chao's galleries, Islamic Bank Notes, KCShop's gallery, and ATS Notes. There are several resources for collectors as well, here and here. For some of the artistic elements of paper money, you can read Michael Bierut's analysis of the best and worst paper money, the designs of the new Philippine bank notes, a primer on paper money art, see some downright weird and amazing uses for paper money in art, and a group of collages made or influenced by currency. For the citizens of the Commonwealth among us, see how Queen Elizabeth II's portrait has changed on the face of the various Commonwealth nations' currencies. If you're feeling up to the task, you can help create a symbol for the Indian rupee.

whither or wither?

kliuless — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 09:41:13 -0800

What is the future of capitalism?
a) 3.0
b) Canada* ([1],[2])
c) 'smart growth' (viz.)
d) none of the above** *cf. Spain ([1],[2]) **cf. trust networks

(laws of human stupidity)

kliuless — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 06:33:00 -0800

Why systems fail - Review of the book: Systemantics; how systems work... and especially how they fail by John Gall. New York, Pocket Books, 1978. {via}

At last those concerned with social change have a basic textbook to explain why "things generally are indeed not working very well" despite our many efforts. As is remarked on the cover: "Have you ever wondered why the unsinkable Titanic sank... or the poor in India eat better bread than the rich in America... or hospital patients are blamed for not getting well... or why, in general, things that don't work badly don't work at all?" Similar questions are of deep concern to those working in international organizations. "The religious person may blame it on original sin. The historian may cite the force of trends such as population growth and industrialization. The sociologist offers reasons rooted in the peculiarities of human associations. Reformers blame it all on 'the system', and propose new systems that would, they assert, guarantee a brave new world of justice, peace, and abundance. Everyone, it seems, has his own idea of what the problem is and how it can be corrected. But all agree on one point - that their own system would work very well if only it were universally adopted. "The point of view espoused in this essay is more radical and at the same time more pessimistic. Stated as succinctly as possible: the fundamental problem does not lie in any particular system but rather in systems as such. Salvation, if it is attainable at all, even partially, is to be sought in a deeper understanding of the ways of systems, not simply in a criticism of the errors of a particular system."

cf. Peter Klausler's Principles of the American Cargo Cult & Axel Boldt's Political Opinions and Other Thoughts

Clay Shirky In Charge

kliuless — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:12:18 -0800

The Role of Inconvenience in Designing Social Systems (slyt via robowhiz) cf. affordances & infinite games

World's Biggest and Most Expensive Ship

kliuless — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:03:19 -0800

Project Genesis - "It's destined to be the world's largest cruise ship—when launched next year, Royal Caribbean's US$1.24 billion Project Genesis will be 1,180 feet long, and carry 5400 passengers (6,400 at a pinch). It's the most expensive ship in history, and it's longer, wider and taller than the largest ocean liner ever built, (Cunard's QE II), 43 per cent larger in size than the world's largest cruise ship, (Freedom of the Seas [previously]) and remarkably, bigger than any military ship ever built, aircraft carriers included. In a world where choice of amenities count, Project Genesis has yet another trump card—in the the center of the ship is a lush, tropical park which opens to the sky." cf. The Lilypad

Poland's Cultural Heritage in nifty flash site

peacay — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 21:12:57 -0800

"Commonwealth of Diverse Cultures: Poland's Heritage is an international educational exhibition which presents the history of tolerance and cohabitation of various ethnic groups in the territory of Polish-Lithuanian Commowealth and is addressed primarily to foreigners all around the world". This is achieved via a very beautiful flash site.

On this day of resurrection...

kliuless — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 07:22:16 -0800

Speaking of speeches, David Eggers delivers one at TED on grassroots community tutoring for kids who need help with their English homework: "There's something about the kids finishing their homework in a given day, working one on one, getting all this attention. They finish their homework, they go home -- they're finished. They don't stall. They don't do their homework in front of the TV. They're allowed to go home 5:30, enjoy their family, enjoy other hobbies, get outside, play and that makes a happy family. A bunch of happy families in a neighborhood is a happy community. A bunch of happy communities tied together is a happy city and a happy world, right? So, the key to it all is homework." Love him or hate him (mefi consensus) it's a great example of ~~nervous energy~~ microphilanthropy, social entrepreneurship and, if I may make the connection, machines of loving grace. [previously]

A Genetic Basis for 'Race'

kliuless — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:40:09 -0800

'Race' graphically illustrated - "most Europeans" vs. Ashkenazim (previously; see also IQ & Gladwell, viz. ;) In the words of Ernest Gellner, however, I'd stress that:

...The variety of human societies is staggering. This diversity is not explicable genetically. The nature and extent of the contribution of genetic make-up to social forms is a contentious and unsettled issue, bedevilled by its political associations and implications. What is obvious, however, is that a very large part of the explanation of the form human societies assume must be social-historical and not genetic. This is obvious from the fact that populations which can be safely assumed to remain genetically identical, or very nearly so, can and do assume totally different social forms at different times. Very often, social change is simply far too rapid to be explicable by genetic change. To say all this is not to say that genetic constitution makes no contribution whatever to history. It is conceivable that some genetic constitutions have a greater predisposition to some social forms than others. The issue is difficult...

also see "Let 1,000 genomes bloom," cf. [and btw...] cheers!

Train Runs Through Market

phrontist — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 05:43:26 -0800

Train runs through bangkok market. (via)

Mere color, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways.

bijou — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 21:46:58 -0800

COLOURlovers blog - science, design, art, culture, travel - you name it, they can relate it back to color. And yes, they spell it with a 'u.'

Theme Magazine

The Deej — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 12:42:38 -0800

Theme Magazine I'm not even going to try and flesh this out with my favorite sub-links. Just dive in.

"The crazy notion that design not only was important but could also change the world"

BLDGBLOG — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 23:58:58 -0800

Clip/Stamp/Fold. The current show at the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York City explores an era when architecture was actually interesting. We go from "an elephant attacking the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan to a skyscraper made of Swiss cheese." On the way, we visit astronauts, bunkers, walking cities, and robots fucking – and it's all waiting for you inside these little magazines.

Rung--Oh--Lee

hadjiboy — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 03:01:15 -0800

The art of Rangoli:

Modernist design and architecture

Tlogmer — Mon, 16 May 2005 03:43:01 -0800

Design Observer and the New York Times (reg. req'd) on modernism.

Pets And Furniture

MiguelCardoso — Sun, 22 Jun 2003 00:05:04 -0800

You Like The Decoration? Thank The Goddam Dog. To what extent is the organization and decoration of your home dictated and orchestrated by your pet? And would you have it any other way, no matter how repressed you might be at the moment?

Morbid Outlook: The Goth is Good

taz — Thu, 12 Jun 2003 07:19:38 -0800

Morbid Outlook is a polished, eclectic Goth magazine with a killer design and content to die for. With hundreds of articles and images in the categories of Art, Music, Fashion, Lifestyle, Fiction and Nonfiction, this is one of the very best online zines I've seen yet. Go to any feature, and you will find a list of related-interest articles accompanying the story, and, usually, a listing of online resources or suggestions for reading as well.

Browsing at the Art and Culture Automat

taz — Mon, 19 May 2003 03:20:33 -0800

Cyberlicious: the Art and Culture Network. In a lo-brow search for "bubblicious", I happened upon the hi-brow and highly browse-friendly, ACN. Why? Because "bubblicious" is one of its in-site "keyword" searches, describing that quality "shared by champagne, soap foam, hot air balloons, and gum... lighter than air, ephemeral, in a state of creative tension, colorful, beautiful, and amusing", and returning results for movements such as "Pop/Surrealism/Anti-Design", "Miniskirts", "The Digital Era", "Smarty Arty Pop" and "Glam Rock", along with artists such as Mary Quant, The Ramones, Mariko Mori, Gene Kelly, and Mouse on Mars. (more...)