Etherea record store, NYC
When played enough times, songs will become forever bonded to a particular place and time in your life. Bel Biv Devoe’s Poison reminds me of my parents’ home (it was the radio, not them ha). Giorgio Moroder’s The Chase reminds me of my first NYC apartment. Nico’s These Days takes me back to Johannesburg. And now I think I’ve solidified a song for my first month in Helsinki - California Dreamin’ by The Mamas and The Papas. It’s my emotional artillery to stave off the cold…
If you’re in luckier weather in Los Angeles, the New Media Caucus is hosting an exhibit called “@” at Sci-Arc this week that includes a participatory L.A. version of my Post-it Notes for Neighbors project. It coincides with the College Art Association Annual Conference, which looks like a neat gathering about the visual arts and includes a screening of The Cool School, a PBS documentary about how a few renegade artists built the L.A. art scene from scratch.
New Media Caucus Reception for the Exhibition “@”
With live cinema by Be Johnny and Potter-Belmar Labs
Thursday February 26 9:30 pm
SCI-Arc: 960 East 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Big thanks to xtine for helping arrange the gallery show!
A fresh-water fountain in Chamonix, France
What does it take to trust your tap water? My doubts started as a child, when the family refrigerator was consistently stocked with a store-bought gallon of water. And that was Ohio. There are places where suspicions are seriously grounded like a hostel in Nairobi, where the water ran yellow and I was highly encouraged to brush my teeth with bottled water and avoid unboiled foods like salads. But even when the public water supply is deemed safe, like in New York City, restaurant waiters still start off by asking if you prefer bottled or tap, to which you reply, “tap is fine” and wonder if there’s something still in debate.
Here in Helsinki I’ve abandoned the psychological Brita filter and fill my glass straight from the faucet, but I still feel like I’m doing something naughty. Elizabeth Royte wrote an interesting New York Times article about Americans’ perceptions of public faucets as gnarly sources for H2O and the momentum to change this. For me, it’s partly overcoming memories and partly observing others taking the plunge. In Chamonix, France and other European cities it’s common to find public fountains for filling up. Wouldn’t it be great if all our water features doubled as clean sources? And then, someday, we can hold our empty bottles up to this:
Image from about.com
A water fountain at Gaylord National Resort in Washington D.C. that shoots up 50 feet and synchs up to lights, special effects, and a patriotic soundtrack. Now that’s a public water supply!
NYC’s Architectural League recently launched an inspiring online project called the Urban Omnibus that showcases design and activism in the City. They were kind enough to feature my thoughts behind my Post-it Notes for Neighbors public art project. Check it out here!
Big thanks to Cassim Shepard and the Omnibus family!
Snow tagging in the UK (hat tip to Melinda). Usually street art leads to the branded version, but not this time, as far as I know. Neat idea, especially in Helsinki, hmmm…
Image from Springwise.com
Charles and Ray Eames got even more awesome with this video/music mashup - my friend’s band played live to the Eames’ classic Powers of Ten video. Wait for the coordinated rock-out session during the zoom back to Earth ha, sweeeet.
Interesting article from NY Observer about the dwindling middle class in New York City. Getting an apartment in NYC can be a humiliating experience - proving you make a ridonkulous 80 times your rent, offering up every bank statement and check stub and coin jar you can muster, explaining why an overdue movie at Blockbuster in 2001 has lowered your credit score, and all this to pay a rent that makes you faint. With public and subsidized housing limited to the neediest few, rent is either $200 or $2000 and nothing for the peeps in between. Something needs to change… I made this and moved to Helsinki ha.
No lobby mailboxes here - Finnish postal workers deliver your snail mail directly to your door (through a door slot that makes receiving your mail semi-frightening as it drops to a crashing heap). So tenants’ names are posted on their doors in official plaques that make everyone look like upper office management.
James made a new mix called Kylmä Musiikki (Finnish for “Cold Music”) that’s really good music to pass out to. Check out the tracklist full of soft and heartbreaking classics from Brian Eno, Oval and DJ Shadow, and download it here!
Going apartment-searching in Helsinki has been a fun introduction to different customs for small-space-living. Here’s one that should be spread to all mankind - Dish racks are installed like shelves in a bottomless cupboard above the sink where they can drip, dry, and be stored away in one fell swoop. And I brought my standalone dish rack over here like a caveman!
