Franck Bohbot | Ouzin
Ouzin works boulevard voltaire. Photographer Franck Bohbot met him in 2011, in Paris. Other than that I know no more, but this feels like the beginning of a story yet to be told.
KK Outlet | What’s Next?
“If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention.”
So what do you think about the Economy, Equality, Education and Digital Politics. What’s Next? aims to find out.
Each week a different art collective, group of technologists, printers, designers will take over the KK Outlet gallery space and create work in response to a live twitter feed as people discuss a specific topic:
Critical Architecture Network: Economy week 4 – 9 June 2012
Girlcore: Equality week 11 – 16 June 2012
Technology Will Save Us: Digital Politics week 18 – 23 June 2012
People of Print: Education week 25 – 30 June 2012
There will be a different panel discussion and workshop each week, exploring the themes of Economy, Equality, Digital Politics and Education. These panels are made up of a rich and inspiring collective of thinkers, doers and activists. Needless to say twenty%extra™ will be involved as part of the education panel chaired by Lawrence Zeegen.
What’s next? Do they have big plans on how to right today’s wrongs? Do they have new ideas on how deal with the problems they have inherited?
PANEL DISCUSSIONS
For the list of speakers for each panel discussion and to book free tickets, go here.
Economy panel discussion 7 June 2012, 7 – 9pm
Equality panel discussion 14 June 2012, 7 – 9pm
Digital Politics panel discussion 21 June 2012, 7 – 9pm
Education panel discussion 28 June 2012, 7 – 9pm
Sky Nash | Sky’s the limit
At twenty%extra, we believe The future is clever™. Sky Nash thinks the future is rude, but she’d just had a bad day. An illustrator with nothing to say is just an illustrator. Sky is an illustrator with style, and even more importantly, insight. All of which makes her work a visual narrative of modern living. Perfect really, as the work we’re doing together will be a reflection of the modern world we live in.
Rollover the images for a peep into Sky’s world. And watch this space.
Franck Bohbot | Lost Train
The image of post-industrial decline looks pretty much the same wherever you go. Franck Bohbot charts the demise of railway infrastructure in the 10 miles between Nanterre and Ivry-sur-seine, west Paris. Franck’s work perhaps represents the first bit of love this particular area has seen in some time.
Bucketfeet
I’ve been known to do a little doddle on my shoes, even had the fabulous Brennan & Burch doodle on some old Adidas trainers for me. So when Bucketfeet caught my eye it nearly made me open up a new pack of felt tips.
Bucketfeet is a footwear company that collaborates with global artists to produce colourful graphics for basic pumps. The philosophy is that each pair of pumps are a blank canvas for a means of expression and an opportunity to contribute to the founders passions. Providing arts and sports programmes for poor children around the world, with 5% of their profits going to their charitable partners.
Love the concept. Love the product. However what I wasn’t so amoured with the ‘brand’. The fashion industry is a tough market and taste maker fashion is an even tougher gig, usually reliant on a bunch of trendies to take said style to heart and proliferate to the masses while they move on to the next thing.
For a style conscious brand with an actual conscious, it’s important to be able to compete on all levels as your competitors. That means paying attention to the total communications package. A slick website, beautiful photography and a brand proposition that screams ‘buy me’ are must haves. The good news is that this is something Bucketfeet can easily rectify in time, allowing them to access an even wider market and share more profits with their chosen causes.
Ivan Colic | Afrographique
The world’s economic paradigm is shifting quicker than Lewis Hamilton would in a Red Bull. Brazil has officially overtaken the UK to be the 6th largest economy and Africa is the new China.
The relatively recent growth of the African nations is based on rich commodity resources (but that’s nothing new), improved infrastructure and a generation of young folk wholly embracing technology.
However, the perception of change on the continent will be a tad slower. Decades of mediated images and reports of famine, war and dictators has left westerners with a single vision perspective.
Afrographique is a blog that consciously aims to change that through infographics based on economic and lifestyle data from the African continent. From countries broadband speeds, Co2 emissions to foreign investment in Africa. Created by Ivan Colic, an art director at Zoom Advertising Cape Town part of the Ogilvy and WPP group, is an interesting story in itself.
The repositioning of the African continent for the 21st century has only just begun. First step first though, and it’s an important one. Repeat after me; Africa is not a country.
Dan Bergeron
The portrait is something that we’re all familiar with, from the annual school photograph to the self portrait number that may graces your Bookface account. However when we’re not taking pics of ourselves it is usually an interpretation by some extent of the artist or photographer.
Dan tells stories of redundancy and demise of a town in Papiers Gaspesia, the frailty beauty of the human condition through distressed surfaces for the Face of the City, while the striking Regents Park project features local social housing residents using the estate as the canvas.
Making larger than life portraits that hang in a billboard fashion around in his homeland Canada, Dan Bergeron is able to make statements about culture, environment and the personal - which my old uni lecturer Sandy Brewer taught me is always political.
A Good Week
It seems we are on the verge of some sort of change, a different way of doing things. Networks such as Good to Avaaz are growing in momentum and support as we attempt to understand both our own personal impact on the world we live in and the type of legacy we wish to leave behind.
The idea of ‘good’ is now becoming a relevant and necessary currency for both individuals and brands as indeed it makes good business sense. The rise of social enterprises has seen many organisations embracing the concept of ‘doing good ‘as part of their company’s DNA, which can be nothing but a good thing.
To help the world celebrate what good means A Very Good Company have organised – A Good Week: an opportunity to get involved with events, activities and seminars and do some good for yourself and others.
A Good Week kicks off today so check out the site for the list of events.
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Good word count: 10
Intel | Museum of Me
Wow, we’re living in interesting times aren’t we?
We have a generation of young folk who have acquired touch-typing skills any Executive PA would be proud of, through constant texting/BBing and social media updates. Then on the other hand – an older generation who book holidays and pay bills online, happily declaring themselves as silver surfers.
The virtual world is here to stay. However, with the good there’s always the bad and the virtual world wouldn’t be in equilibrium, but spinning off its microchip axis.
With the genuine revolution of communication via the Internet, it’s also managed to feed the deeply narcissistic tendencies of human nature (along with celebrity obsessed culture, but that’s whole another conversation). Roll on social media, a place where everyone can feel a little loved, or indeed hated and maybe make up for those years of not being the most popular kid in school with 600+ virtual friends.
To help people celebrate and look over those vast ‘social media’ memories, Intel have created an app that allows Facebook users to create their own virtual museum. Now I do not have a personal FB account so haven’t tried it out personally. But because of the wonder of social media, I didn’t have to, I just needed to look at the inevitable YouTube uploads.
As I expected it looks like a super swish, stylish piece of work, making everyone’s ‘social’ life look like it could be entered for the Turner Prize. The things is that it needs to be slicker than the average. Clearly shot with Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind in mind, the Blue Sky thinkers who saw the opportunity to create an emotive connection with the device that ‘powers’ all this interaction – the Intel core i5 – what they’ve actually developed is a virtual stalker masquerading as gallery curator.
Our Sam in the office signed up, and felt a little disturbed by both how much he’d posted up online, and the things this Museum actually had access to. For many though, this app will achieve the desired effect, despite making us perhaps a bit more self-absorbed and a tad more virtually insular, as summarised by a quote on the Museum of Me YouTube page;
“This App is AWESOME. It’ll make you feel special and connected even if you think you’re not” – BiscuitXT 2 days ago
Refugee Week posters
There’s something about the idea of Refugee Week that sticks in my craw like a fish bone: a bit like Black History Month in fact. Namely because the history of this country – and most countries for that matter – is either a history of immigration, or of people having sought refuge.
By virtue of such uncomfortable truths, these stories are an integral – not exclusive – part of a nations narrative. If I see another campaign talking about the virtues of Mary Seacole, someone’s going to get it up the seacole.
If you’re going to broach the subject of refugees contribution to a nation, then you had better say something interesting. Thankfully, these posters for Refugee Week manage to do that.