Radiophonics

This BBC documentary about the BBC Radiophonic Workshop makes some interesting observations about the relationship between creativity and technology. Before synthesizers, electronic music was made with tape loops. The observation is made that the tape music was more creative because it was manipulated on a deeper level, whereas playing a synth was like picking off of a menu. I see this as a expression of the modular / monolithic divide that exists in many technologies. (Link.)

Great Performances

Proper Computing

Fuseli, Henri. "The Artist Moved By the Grandeur of Antique Fragments" 

I found these items illuminating:

• Software Carpentry is an old site that I recently discovered. I recommend the tutorials on using the shell, if you use Mac or Linux. (Link.) 
• The developer of the indie game Braid gave a talk at Berkeley about the Herculean effort that game programming requires. (Link.) (Via.)

Wonky Urban Planning Post

Effective urban concentration.

This is one of those topics that gets me all riled up.

This is a great album!

This was released last year. I didn't really have my ear to the ground. Keith Morris of the Circle Jerks and Black Flag screams, one of the McDonald boys from Redd Kross is on base, and the other members are pretty heavy hitters, also. It goes without saying that I deeply identify with the indignation and misanthropy in this music. This isn't 1980s nostalgia, like the last post. The same blood suckers and crypto-fascists that were screwing-up America in the 1980s are still around. This is the appropriate response.
OFF! by OFF

Early Exposure

I was allowed to play D&D with my big brother's friends at a community center in suburban Maryland a couple of times. (Pictured above. Not including my little brother, of course.) I think I was deemed too young. They were playing the "G" series modules, and I do remember being somewhat baffled by what was going on. This was my second D&D group. My first D&D group was my big brother and my mom. My big brother wrote and ran an adventure for us using the blue box. I have the manuscript and hand-drawn maps, but I won't bore you. For more 1980's pop culture, here is myself as mohair Chewbacca.

It looks like I may get a new neighbour.

The invitation is something of a symbolic act, but a relevant one nonetheless. Ai-Weiwei has definitely made an impact here in the German art scene, in discussions of international funding for culture, and questions of what exactly are the acute political ramifications surrounding this kind critical art.

An anecdote that I heard at the university here in Berlin to give this some context: There was a huge exhibition of his work in Beijing around the time he was detained. The exhibition was effectively black-listed, ignored by all forms of media, and boycotted by the government. The large project was almost entirely funded from Germany and it would appear was interpreted as an aggressive political act of arts patronage.

See our new robot masters in action!

Super Goblin War Machine

via BoingBoing

WerkStadt - Berlin Open Call

CALL FOR ARTISTS

WerkStadt Kulturverein Berlin e.V. is now looking for artists from all disciplines to submit proposals for an exhibition for the upcoming year from September 2011-August 2012. We welcome work by both local and international artists.

Each exhibition lasts one month. Please send by e-mail no more than 8 images of recent work in .jpeg or .pdf format, artist CV, a short description of you work, and which month you would be able to exhibit to
kunst@werkstadt-berlin.com.

Deadline is Friday the 8th of July, 2011.

The WerkStadt is a non-profit platform for contemporary art and culture, with two locations: WerkStadt, Emser Straße 124, where we have a fully equipped dark room for photography, wood work studio, a writing studio, artist studios, project room and bar area. The second location the WerkStadt Kunstsatellit, Nogatstraße 39. consists of six artists studios.

As well as monthly exhibitions, we also organise Art Clinic where different artists present there work for discussion and critical debate on the first Monday of every month.