When in…Venice.

From the NY Times: “If you’re in town for the Venice Biennale, don’t miss the marriage of High Renaissance painting and advanced technology that is “The Wedding at Cana,” by the British filmmaker Peter Greenaway. If nothing else, it is possibly the best unmanned art history lecture you’ll ever experience”.

“The Collecting Life”

I like Joanne Mattera’s Art Blog especially this post about a retired couple in New York. Art Collectors.

Welcome to “full body learning”

What do you think of the Hjorring (Denmark) Public Library as seen by the author of one of my favourite blogs Walking Paper - fascinating use of colour, design, play…a setting that is library, restaurant, civic centre/gym.

can trash signage be “emotionally intelligent”?

Dan Pink of A Whole New Mind demonstrates that it is possible in a  blog post . He writes: “Jennifer Caleshu, Director of Communications of the fantastic Bay Area Discovery Museum, sends this terrific example of emotionally intelligent signage from the trash cans at the new California Academy of Sciences. “What do you think? too crytic? Ingenious?

“The Beckoning of Lovely”

Little Pea

Amy Krouse Rosenthal children’s book author has “beckoned the lovely” in a 2008 invitation on Youtube for others to join her in a collaborative “making of things”, a continuing story found here in a series of video clips. Wonderful connections: books, children, people, collaborative learning, performance, art and community. And a continuing story.

Spencer Black: a young lion speaks out

Using use-gen sites to run creative contests is an interesting idea. 

This is an example of the latest Cannes initiative (they’ve run some very successful contests in the past). The idea is that at midnight on May 15 all those interested received a brief for an ad for a charity (in this case Oxfam). Entrants had to conceive and shoot the ad in less than 48 hours, upload it to YouTube and submit it to the YouTube Cannes Young Lions 48 Hour Ad Contest.

The next step is to spread the word: Try to get as many people to view your ad, as often as possible in 14 days (the first phase of the contest wraps June 1).

Check out the video from art director Spencer Black - Disclaimer…my son.

Lori Anna Reid in concert

Lori Anna Reid George Koller, Mike Janzen, & Greg Hawco  Wed June 3rd, 8 p.m. Saint-Stephen-in-the-Fields, 103 Bellevue, at College St (2 blocks west of Spadina), Toronto (Doors at 7:30) 

“Lori Anna Reid is the real deal.  She has a heart of gold and is doing a benefit to raise money for feeding homeless people in Toronto (also flew to Afghanistan on secret mission to sing for Canadian troops). And Mike Janzen is a genius. You’ll be glad you went, or if you can’t make it consider buying a ticket or sending twenty five bucks to help� feed those people (the street people, not the band)” (T. Black)

Creative thinking and living abroad

 

 The Economist suggests there is a link based on a study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: The statistical relationship between living abroad and creativity remained, whatever the personality or inclinations of the subject were prior, indicating that it is something from the experience of living in foreign parts that helps foster creativity.

What sustains our cities?

by Jeanine Baker

‘Sense of community’ will become the key currency of sustaining urban communities ~

..” the sustainable city of the future will depend precisely on commitment and long-term residents. It also will rest on the revival of traditional institutions that have faded in many of today’s cities. Churches—albeit often in reinvented form—help maintain and nurture such communities. Similarly, extended family networks will be critical to future successful urban areas. As Queens resident and real estate agent Judy Markowitz puts it, “In Manhattan people with kids have nannies. In Queens, we have grandparents.”

~from “The Luxury City vs. the Middle Class” in The American by Joel Kotkin

Objectified follows Helevetica’s success

From Gary Huswit director of  Helevetica comes Objectified. “Objectified’s opening weekend ticket sales at the IFC Center theaters in New York made it the top grossing independent film in the country on a per-screen average”.

“Bad design is where the customer thinks it’s their fault that something doesn’t work…” Check out the full quote from the film on his blog and the trailer here.