Category Archives: Journal
The Death of Dickie Riley
Nearly two years ago, I wrote a short blog post that referenced photographer Peter B. Kaplan’s “Moon Over Manhattan” photograph (above) — which depicts a group of workers high atop the World Trade Center, installing a radio antenna. In the photograph, one of the men takes it upon himself to moon his coworkers.
Disposable Portraits of Ordinary People
Idan Friedman embosses the portraits of ordinary people on disposable tin foil pans. It’s a concept which echoes the look and feel of a coin, but in a far more fragile or temporary medium. (via kottke)
Public Comment On The Current State Of American Graffiti
An anonymous vandal leaves a public message for passersby on Pittsburgh’s South Side, noting the mundane nature of it all. It’s unclear what’s eating the disinterested graffitist, but it appears either life or the current state of American graffiti has got him/her down. Cheer up, buddy.
The Death-Defying Art of Rooftopping
According to London’s Daily Mail, “[Rooftopping] is one of the most gut-wrenching experiences imaginable…a new heart-stopping photography craze is sweeping across the globe. Those brave enough to give it a try must go to the tops of the world’s tallest buildings, shimmy to the side and then hang off the edge in a bid to capture the…
When The Rapture Doesn’t Come To Pass
Saturday came and went, and no rapture. Devout Christians were not beamed to the heavens; godless heathens were not banished to eternal damnation. It turned out to be a fairly normal weekend in America, marked by tragedy, athletes screaming gay slurs, and more movies about pirates. The lack of biblical event leaves evangelical doomsayer Harold Camping twice burned for…
Alternative Scene From The Coming Doomsday
Maybe you’ve heard, Saturday is doomsday. Family Radio founder Harold Camping says so, though his Judgment Day math has been wrong in the past. Regardless, Family Radio’s publicist Tom Evans is working the angle hard, hoping for the worst. To mock such a terrible prediction, however, feels a bit like tempting fate. What if Camping and his sandwich-board believers…
When Doves Die: A Truer Image of the World
In a pre-digital world, to cut and paste required razor and glue. Especially for collage artists like Christer Themptander, who has used the medium for over 50 years to express his anti-establishment viewpoints. “The collage method suits me well. It is a means to define myself in the world,” Themptander said. “I had these photos and pictures lying around and…
Post-Apocalyptic Greetings from the Salton Sea
In his short film “The Accidental Sea,” writer Ransom Riggs examines his “favorite post-apocalyptic Hell-hole, the Salton Sea.” Touring through the wreckage of Salton City, Riggs acts as both historian and troubled/fascinated observer. Before watching this, I never fully understood the Salton Sea. I envisioned it more like Utah’s Salt Flats, sparse and puddled, and less a vast body…
Arcade: The Last Night at Chinatown Fair
Two weeks ago I received an email from filmmaker Kurt P. Vincent (Out of Place), who is at work on a documentary about Chinatown Fair, an old school arcade in New York City that’s closing its doors after 50 years of operation. In explaining the arcade to me, Vincent wrote: “The place has an incredible history dating back to…
Unabomber’s Personal Belongings Set For Auction
When the FBI raided Ted Kaczynski‘s remote cabin in the woods of Lincoln, Montana back in 1996, they found “a wealth of bomb components, 40,000 handwritten journal pages that included bomb-making experiments and descriptions of the Unabomber crimes; and one live bomb, ready for mailing.” Since then, Kaczynski has resided at ADX Florence, a supermax prison in Colorado. On May…
Post-Mortem Social Media Promises Digital Immortality
Watching the promotional video (below) for Envoy, a real/unreal digital service that claims to specialize in reanimating the Facebook profiles of deceased users, you hope that it’s a hoax. “Two certainties in life exist: You are born and you die,” says Envoy’s Max Doughherty. “We know this is fact, yet when a loved one passes it’s still very distressing. Loss…
Arm Your Children for the Future America
Being a parent often involves a high tolerance for emotional calamity. It seems the sleep deprivation of baby days rapidly gives way to the horror of preschool selection, which then leads to kindergarten enrollment and attempting to chart a 15-year path for the academic excellence/proper socialization of your child. It can be a nightmare for those plagued…
A Visual Guide to Gang Signs
Greg “Batman” Davis is a founding member of the Crips. He has a website, which seems strange. But not too strange, because it looks like R. Rock Enterprises built it, the media agency run by Roger Gastman. Poke around a bit and it appears a book on Davis’ life is also in the works. Anyhow, the site…
No Man’s Land: A Testosterone-Free Situation Room
Well, not exactly. Quick research reveals that “testosterone is primarily secreted in the testes of males and the ovaries of females.” So to say a less testosterone-laden Situation Room might be more fitting, but you get the gist. Visual artist JK Keller, inspired by Brooklyn-based Hasidic newspaper Der Zeitung‘s decision to digitally remove Hillary Clinton and Audrey…
Notes on Osama bin Laden’s Death Party
Maybe you’ve heard, Osama bin Laden was killed yesterday. The People of Twitter told me so. Or at least, told me I should step away from my computer and sit back down in front of my television to watch a press conference. But the press conference didn’t air when they said it would, so I started losing interest. I…
Bored Couples on Display in Public Places
Boredom and monogamy are two ideas ingrained like memories in our collective consciousness. Those who choose monogamy are often viewed as traditionalist fools by a certain percentage of the population; while individuals who remain single for long stretches of time are often dismissed as lonely, sad, or incompatible. It’s the type of sweeping, generalized thinking that makes humans…
Android Dreams: New Robot Mimics Human Expression
It’s difficult to think about androids without sci-fi visions of melting plasticine faces revealing a metal skull full of circuits and wiring; or artificial skin bleeding milk-white fluid when cut with a knife. It’s what films like Terminator and Aliens have conditioned us to believe. The underlying theme is that of fear. In the case of “Terminator,” it’s…
Kid Zoom: This City Will Eat Me Alive
Back in December, Australian-born artist Kid Zoom (aka Ian Strange) unveiled “This City Will Eat Me Alive,” a short-run exhibition put on by Opera Gallery in New York’s Meatpacking District. While Strange’s style knocks of the post-graffiti movement that’s transformed into a cottage industry over the last decade, where artists meld elements of street-level graffiti with high-minded fine art…
JR at TED: Can Art Change the World?
In his recent Ted Talk, photographer/street artist JR recounted his experiences working on art in impoverished, violence-ridden neighborhoods in countries such as Kenya and Brazil. While humor and wit are central to the artist’s charm, what seems to set him apart from his often-gimmicky, pop-art contemporaries (i.e., Banksy, Shepard Fairey, etc.) is a genuine empathy for the people living in…
Great Recession Redux: Death of a Good Job
In June of 2009, while on vacation in the Pennsylvania mountains with my wife and three-year-old son, I received a phone call from my employer informing me that I no longer had a job. Within seconds, a new reality had been created. What follows is a personal tale of the Great Recession, told in three acts: Act I, Act…
