Iran on Fire
Check this page and this page if you haven’t heard about this great event already, Iran is experiencing massive rioting, at a scale never before seen since the 1979 revolution, after the reformist politician Mousavi lost to the hardliner Ahmedinejad in what many people believe is a rigged election. Days of rioting have left the capital, Tehran, in a state of chaos, and a recount of the votes has been ordered. The pictures from the protests look like something big is happening indeed. Could it be that the Islamic Republic of Iran, one of the strongest regimes ruled by theocratic principles, is tethering on the brink of change?
Filed Under History & traditions, Human Rights, Media & Society, Politics
Shoot an Iraqi - The Art of Wafaa Bilal
Wafaa Bilal is an Iraqi multimedia artist who achieved global fame with his work, “Domestic Tension,” during which he lived for a month inside a cage with a remote-controlled paintball gun that visitors from the internet could control to shoot - or not shoot at the artist. While some visitors used the gun to actively pursue and shoot at Bilal, others took turns to “hijack” the system so that the artist could get sleep, rest, etc. In my opinion, it is one of the greatest artistic comments on the recent spate of conflicts in the Middle East. This, however, is not Bilal’s only work. Make sure you visit the artist’s web site for a comprehensive tour of his work, including complete recreations of the houses and rooms destroyed by war in Iraq. Make sure you look at the latest issue of COLORS magazine to see more of Wafaa’s work.
Filed Under Art, Creativity, Events, Human Rights, Media & Society, Politics
The Future is a Thing of the Past
Perhaps the only certain prediction about the future is that all predictions will be false. This, however, has not stopped people from trying. Ranging from dreams of giant electric ships plying the world’s skies in the 1800s to the 1980s commercials where computers and automation make life endlessly convenient, the Paleo-Future blog has an incredibly diverse selection of plausible, fantastic, dark, utopic, or just plain weird future visions. I wonder how many of our future predictions will be left standing in fifteen, twenty-five years’ time.
Filed Under Design, History & traditions, Media & Society, Modern Life
Get rid of your old cellphone
Here is the deal: you send these guys your old cellphone and they make sure it reaches migrants at the edge of the European Union.
The result is a media-art project that not only makes technology re-usable but gives Moroccan youth a chance to tell their stories, reach out for help and form a stronger community.
Filed Under Art, Creativity, Human Rights, Media & Society, New Media
“Why do you own a gun?”
Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in Their Homes is Kyle Cassidy’s latest book. An exhibit of this project is currently ongoing in Bernstein gallery at Princeton University; Mar 30-May 1.
Filed Under History & traditions, Human Rights, Media & Society, SPECIAL FEATURE
Like a modern day witch hunt
Or rather, an actual, confirmed witch hunt. Via Amnesty International.
photo courtesy AFP.
Filed Under Events, Human Rights, Media & Society, Modern Life
Jesus in a seat cushion
The face of Jesus is seated in a cushion inside a Roman Catholic Church on the French Indian Ocean Island of Renuion. Easter’s come alittle too early this year, no?
Filed Under Media & Society