tongue twister

This sculpture by artist Jean-Luc Cornec is called Scheiterhaufen-Zungenbrecher, which means funeral pyre of tongue-twisters.  It reminds me of this sculpture by Cleas Oldenburg, which I referred to in an earlier post here.

teenage social media

Via Jana’s Blog post about nerds and more I found this image:

Apparently from: http://freepicturesforyou.net/4CHAN_vs_the_Internet.html

Brilliant. I might use it for a talk on digital media, which I am planning to give in a school this month.

new literacies

© Gavin Dudeney 2009

This is just so funny.

IN, ON or OUT

This image I found on Geek Dad on Wired, I think.

Makes me wonder: in my younger years you had to be IN or you were OUT. It seems now you need to be ON in order not to be OUT. What would Lakoff/Johnson think about the use of these spatialization metaphors?

social media

There are different ways of figuring out, what goes on in the social web: drawing models, in developing categories and theories. This will keep academics in their jobs for many years to come. I like this illustration of the ten levels of intimacy in today’s communication. (cannot find the source right now, will update asap)

Via Guy’s blog I found this post by Matt Locke,  Channel 4’s Education and New Media Commissioner, on his six Social Media Spaces. Here is the list:

Secret Spaces
Behaviours: Private, intimate communication, normally with only one or two others, often using private references, slang or code
Expectations: Absolute privacy and control over the communication between users, and no unauthorised communication from third parties (eg spam)
Examples: SMS, IM

Group Spaces
Behaviours: Reinforcing the identity of a self-defined group, and your position within the group, eg ‘stroking‘ behaviour to let the group share a sense of belonging, or mild competitiveness to signal hierarchies within the group (eg who has the most friends, posts, tags, etc)
Expectations: A shared reference point for the group – eg a band, football club, school, workplace, region, etc. Rules about approving membership of the group, and icons for the group to signal their membership (badges, profiles, etc)
Examples: Facebook, Myspace, Bebo, etc

Publishing Spaces
Behaviours: Creating your own content or showcasing your talents to an audience outside of your usual social group
Expectations: The ability to control the context and presentation of your creative content. Ways to receive feedback, comments and advice from other users.
Examples: Flickr, Youtube, Revver, etc

Performing Spaces
Behaviours: Playing a defined role within a game structure. Experimenting through simulation, rehearsal and teamwork to achieve a goal. Iterative exploration or repetition of activities in order to perfect their performance
Expectations: A clear set of rules that is understood by all players. Clear rewards for success or failure. The ability to test the boundaries of the game structure, or to perform extravagantly to show off your talents
Examples: MMORPGs, Sports, Drama

Participation Spaces
Behaviours: Co-ordination of lots of small individual acts to achieve a common goal. Shared belief in the goal, and advocacy to encourage participation by others.
Expectations: Rules or structures that help co-ordinate activity towards the goal. The ability to create micro-communities within larger participation groups – eg a group of friends going on a political march together, or a workplace group created to train for a marathon
Examples: Meetup, Threadless, CambrianHouse.com, MySociety

Watching Spaces
Behaviours: Passive viewing of a linear event as part of a large group. Organising a group to attend an event, and sharing experiences afterwards
Expectations: Spectacle, entertainment, a feeling of thrill or joy. A shared sense of occasion, or of being taking out of your everyday existence for the duration of the event. Mementos or relics of the event (eg programmes, tickets, recordings, photos, etc)
Examples: Television, Cinema, Sports, Theatre, etc.

give real love

These and more handsprayed prints by Above are available on Studioochrome for  150 Dollars each.

hope and despair

This photo appeared in the Guardian along with an article about Obamas visit to the coast, where  he was talking to experts about the oil spill. This was right after new attempts to quell the spill had failed, again. “Obama described the setback as “enraging” and “heartbreaking”, as documents emerged showing that BP engineers were concerned about the safety of the Deepwater Horizon rig months earlier than the company has admitted.” The media seem to love what he is doing, at least for now. Obmama seems to be able to put into the right words the feelings of so many, and this is what people  want, need  and deserve, in times of crisis. (Remember the outrage the Queen’s lack of response caused in the aftermath of Diana’s death?)

And I love this image, so simple and complex at the same time, with the ocean  and the yellow “do not cross” ribbons, which talk of police lines and not just an accident but a crime having been committed. And the way Obama manages to come across as always inpeccable in style, formal but totally informal at the same time. He it not shown wearing some silly hat or ugly windbreaker, no, it’s only the boots, which make the difference in his attire here. And the way he is crouching, thoughtful, humbled (?), in despair (?) in facing the vastness of the problem, against the vastness of the ocean itself. And the gentleness, the delicacy of the pebbles and his finger as he is touching the sand, the earth.

from the sublime to the subliminal

These are images of Spanish artist’s Sam3 project in Murcia, Spain. Unused billboards spell out a “subliminal” message. Makes me think of the talk I heard yesterday by Gabriele Schabacher about audience participation in LOST, where viewers were drawn into Alternative Reality Games to collaborately solve the puzzles. Also here the work only comes together when it is remediated, and reassembled.

Here are few more shots of individual boards. On  Unurth’s you can see more of Sam3’s work such as murals and tther billboards .