http://www.flawedart.net
The New American Dictionary
The Boston-based performance group Institute for Infinitely Small Things has published a book called The New American Dictionary.
The dictionary highlights the terminology of fear, security and war that has permeated American English post 9-11. It includes 68 new terms i.e. Preparedness and Freedom Fries as well as terms that have recently been redefined i.e. Torture.
The dictionary also has an interactive dimension. 58 terms are left undefined for the reader to pencil in their own definition. Furthermore, readers are invited to submit their additions to the institute for a possible inclusion in the 2nd edition.
The New American Dictionary is available at several online stores.
exhaust emissions balloons
a huge balloon, tied to a car�s vent-pipe, depicting the amount of exhaust emissions a car releases a day.
the "bursting earth" project is similar, but more dynamic. activists attach world globe balloons on exhaust pipes of cars in Berlin. the exhaust gas inflates the ballons. after the message becomes readable, there is a big "bang".
[link: frederiksamuel.com & adsoftheworld.com & 20to20.org]
WoW!
Aram Bartholl is a german artist renowned for making physical abstractions of the digital world, particularly game-worlds.
One of Aram's not-to-be-missed performances is inspired by the popular computer game World of Warcraft (WoW).
In WoW, the nickname of the player's avatar is constantly hovering above the head of the player so that the identity is visible for everyone else in the game.
Aram took this little feature out of cyberspace to see how it would look if people's names would float above their heads in the physical world too.
WoW has been performed at different locations around the world. Luckily, it is well-documented!
• Getting coffee WoW style • Workshop in Ghent • Project Site
REALIZING THE IMPOSSIBLE: ART AGAINST AUTHORITY
Aesthetics and Politics
REALIZING THE IMPOSSIBLE: ART AGAINST AUTHORITY by Josh MacPhee, Erik Reuland, editors :: There has always been a close relationship between aesthetics and politics in anti-authoritarian social movements. And those movements have in turn influenced many of the last century's most important art movements, including cubism, Dada, post-impressionism, abstract expressionism, surrealism, Fluxus, Situationism, and punk. Today, the movement against corporate globalization, with its creative acts of resistance, has brought anti-authoritarian politics into the forefront. This sprawling, inclusive collection explores this vibrant history, with topics ranging from turn-of-the-century French cartoonists to modern Indonesian printmaking, from people rolling giant balls of trash down Chicago streets to massive squatted urban villages and renegade playgrounds in Denmark, from stencil artists of Argentina to radical video collectives of the US and Mexico. Lots of illustrations, all b&w.;
FCC Rules in Question
Altering the rules of media ownership is currently part of the Federal Communications Commission's Strategic Goals program (http://www.fcc.gov/ownership/). Review of the rules was prompted in part by a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Washington, D.C. Circuit which stated, in part, that the FCC must show "empirical evidence" that the rules are necessary, or they must be revoked. Additionally a lawsuit by several major networks has brought the rules into legal question again and Congress itself has mandated that the rules be reviewed every two years.
The FCC had begun review of two ownership rules in 2001, the Broadcast-Newspaper Cross-Ownership Rule and the Local Radio Ownership Rule. Now six rules are being reevaluated.
*Broadcast-Newspaper Cross-Ownership Prohibition (1975) Bans ownership of both a newspaper and a television station in the same market.
*National Television Ownership Rule (1941) A broadcaster cannot own television stations that reach more than 35% of the nation's homes.
*Dual Network Rule (1946) - No entity can own more than one major television network.
*Local Television Ownership Rule (1964) - A broadcaster can't own more than one of the top four stations in a single market.
*Local Radio Ownership Rule (1941) - Limits the number of radio stations any one entity can own in a single market.
*Television-Radio Cross-Ownership Rule (1970) - Limits the number of TV and radio stations a single entity can own in any given market.
**There are currently exceptions to these rules, decisions made on a case-by-case basis.
THE DECISION PROCESS
The FCC will decide whether the rules are to be eliminated or modified by late June, according to FCC Chairman Michael Powell. The media ownership plan must be approved by a majority vote among the five commissioners, three of whom are Republicans (Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy, Commissioner Kevin Martin, and Chairman Michael Powell) and two of whom are Democrats (Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein and Commissioner Michael Copps).
To inform their decision, the FCC commissioned empirical studies of the current media marketplace. Other organizations, like the Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) have done studies on the issue as well. On February 17, 2003 the PEJ released a five-year study on consolidation and quality called "Does Ownership Matter in Local Television News?" (http://journalism.org/resources/research/reports/ownership/default.asp)
As the dealine nears, the pressure mounts on the commissioners. On March 19, 2003 Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO), Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) wrote a letter to Chairman Powell calling for a broader public debate in the FCC's media ownership review. (Read the full letter http://www.consumersunion.org/images/0319SenateToPowell.jpg.) On April 1, 2003 six lawmakers wrote to FCC Chairman Michael Powell to urge him to adhere to his time schedule, which promises a final decision on the ownership rules by June 2, 2003. (Read the full letter. http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/fccletter.pdf) Also, questions about the quality of war coverage have led the additional discussions in the press about the pros and cons of further consolidation. See the NEW YORK TIMES," "War Puts Radio Giant on the Defensive" (http://www.nytimes.com/auth/login?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/31/business/media/31RADI.html) and THE BALTIMORE SUN, "War coverage could alter U.S. media policy." (http://www.sunspot.net/)
Reprinted from www.pbs.org/now
See Bill Moyers on media consolidation @ http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_bmjfcc.html
contextin' correction
http://www.artofficial-online.com/contextin/spring_03
antiwar online participation
From: Frank Shifreen
To:
Sent: 3/18/2003 3:10:27 AM
Subject: [drinkink] Dear Artists : Imminent War? Let's build a storm of images to counter velocity of war
Web Images Needed to counter War
Tonight President Bush announced the start of
Stalin Reanimated Expresses Newfound Love for Activist Art
02/05/03
Reproduced from: Assimilated Press
Author: Gwen Hooks
Earlier today American Scientists announced a stunning leap forward for biotechnology, and unexpectedly by extension a cultural awakening, by successfully reanimating the body of Joseph Stalin in a government laboratory located at an undisclosed US military installation. The genetic material brought to the US by a Russian defector in the early 1980's had been kept and under close guard until a crack-team of nuclear and chemical biologists petitioned and attained access to the material. "It took some hard work - everyone is aware of Stalin's public image problem - but thankfully we could convince President Bush that it was in his best interest to sign on to this project," commented chief scientist Richard Marine. While the scientific ramifications of this project are clearly monumental, perhaps the biggest surprise was the unexpected cultural and political dividends that this project could reap for the current administration. At a brief press conference held at President Bush's ranch in Texas, Stalin, who was not expected to speak formally, gave a brief and emotional statement including thoughts on his legacy, world politics, and the afterlife, but most surprising was an outline for the cultural revitalization of Amerika. The key to "liberating the masses," as he put it, was not to impose a blatant government mandate concerning art and other visual representations, but to "use the historic strategies of artists who resisted totalitarianism against those who are pro-democracy today." Stalin went on to state, "if we (the 1%) assimilate all that we previously saw as "subversive" and use these techniques as our own then where will the subversive exist?" Stalin continued, "the beauty here is that we can make the cultural elite and the uppermiddle classes - who are generally the demographic for successful artists - feel as though we are representing democracy even while our policies say quite the opposite.
White House Cancels Poetry Symposium
>Thu Jan 30,12:43 PM ET
>By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer
>NEW YORK - The White House said Wednesday it postponed
>a poetry symposium because of concerns that the event
>would be politicized. Some poets had said they wanted
>to protest military action against Iraq.
>
>The symposium on the poetry of Emily Dickinson,
>Langston Hughes and Walt Whitman was scheduled for
>Feb. 12. No future date has been announced.
>
> "While Mrs. Bush respects the right of all Americans
>to express their opinions, she, too, has opinions and
>believes it would be inappropriate to turn a literary
>event into a political forum." Noelia Rodriguez,
>spokeswoman for first lady Laura Bush, said Wednesday.
>
>
> Mrs. Bush, a former librarian who has made teaching
>and early childhood development her signature issues,
>has held a series of White House symposiums to salute
>America's authors. The gatherings are usually lively
>affairs with discussions of literature and its
>societal impact.
>
> But the poetry symposium soon inspired a nationwide
>protest.
>
> Sam Hamill, a poet and founder of the highly regarded
>Copper Canyon Press, declined the invitation and
>e-mailed friends asking for anti-war poems or
>statements. He encouraged those who planned to attend
>to bring along anti-war poems.
>
> Hamill said he's gotten more than 1,500
>contributions, including ones from poets W.S. Merwin,
>Adrienne Rich and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
>
> "I'm putting in 18-hour days. I'm 60 and I'm tired,
>but it's pretty wonderful," says Hamill, based in Port
>Townsend, Wash., and author of such works as
>"Destination Zero" and "Gratitude."
>
> Marilyn Nelson, Connecticut's poet laureate, said
>Wednesday that she had accepted the White House
>invitation and had planned to wear a silk scarf with
>peace signs that she commissioned.
>
> "I had decided to go because I felt my presence would
>promote peace," she said.
>