Silent Evolution on the ocean ground

British artist Jascon de Caires Taylor has put over 400 life size sculptures cast of real people on permanent exhibition at the MUSA (Museo Subacuatico de Arte), a monumental underwater museum near Cancun in Mexico. With this piece the artist aims to become one of the largest artificial underwater attractions in the world.
“Each of the sculptures is made from specialized materials used to promote coral life, with the total installations occupying an area of over 420sq metres of barren sea bed and weighing over 180 tons. The Cancun Marine Park is one of the most visited stretches of water in the world with over 750,000 visitors each year, placing immense pressure on its resources. The location of the sculptures will promote the recovery of the natural reefs, relieving pressure on them by drawing visitors away.”
The artist has also sunk other artworks into the sea: Vicissitude are 26 sculptures that form a circle in 8 meters depth in the West Indies.

http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/intelligenttravel/
http://www.underwatersculpture.com/index.asp

Fantastic Norway

Fantastic Norway are two young Norwegians traveling around the country in a red caravan, looking for architectural adventures. Already before having finished their initial degree, Håkon Matre Aasarød and Erlend Blakstad Haffner decided to forget about the conventional practice of competing for projects. So they left school to pursue the rather experimental approach of “going out to find your own”.

Wherever they are, their little mobile office is always open for local communities and clients to have their say or bounce off ideas. With the history of the Norwegian cultural heritage firmly engrained, Fantastic Norway tries to bring architecture as well as architects closer to its communal grassroots. Besides the guys love to take on what they call “urban challenges”. And sometimes this proves to be not only difficult but also dangerous.

One of their most memorable stories from the road includes their van getting shot at 20 times in an attempt to stop them having great ideas about revitalizing a run-down place somewhere in the far North. Luckily the intrepid architects never accept no for an answer.

Both started off together in 2003 by working hands on with locals from Brønnøysund to rescue a public square from being sold off to a private developer. Since then the creative pair has completed many more fantastic projects: the visually stunning Siren, a restaurant placed by the Oslo waterfront with a transparent, floating façade or Polar Night, light sculptures warming up abandoned public spaces during Arctic wintertime that brings 24 hours of darkness.

In the following interview for South Africa's One Small Seed Magazine Håkon and Erlend are looking back at six years of living a Fantastic Norway life.

OSS: What is it like to work „off the beaten track“ and what as architectural pioneers has been your most import discovery?
In short, you can easily compare architects with dogs: Most dogs fetch the stick the owner throws and brings it back. On the other hand, you have dogs that run around in the bush to scare birds for the owner to shoot down. Fantastic Norway aims to be hunting dogs.
We’re living in a time of globalization and centralization, and the notion of the unique, is more important than ever. Together with the environmental issues and challenges, this is one of the most important features that architecture can address. Architecture is a wonderful tool to amplify and clarify the unique, the strange and the powerful notion of local identity.

OSS: What was one of the most revealing aspects that you learned about your own country and culture?
Norwegians are scared of the urban and the complex issues of city life. This might be tracked back one hundred years ago when Norway regained its independence. At this point it was imperative to find something that was truly Norwegian. Our cities were viewed as places built by and for elite outsiders, while our dramatic nature was something truly unique and special to our country.
The romantic idea that nature is good and cities are bad was cemented in this period and is still a strong part of Norwegian identity. This is why most of our celebrated architecture, both contemporary and traditional, is in contrast with or inspired by nature, not urban or socially complex problems. This issue makes it difficult to create enthusiasm and positivism towards urban challenges, which is one of the reasons we bought our caravan in the first place.

OSS: A place in the world where you would like to go because you think it has great potential for change?

Often, it’s not the places that are most obvious that needs attention. Every place needs an open debate and socially aware architects, even if it’s a wealthy or poor community. However, we would love to try out the method in areas dominated by a strong centralized government. These are the places that tend to ignore the unique and local, and that truly needs open debates and creative cooperation’s. So North Korea would be an interesting challenge.


OSS: What do you enjoy most about your work?

Our main ambition with running Fantastic Norway is to explore the field of architecture, evolve and have fun at the same time. We don’t want to be frozen in one position, and find great joy in discussing and revaluing our company that is founded on being an open and socially aware practice.

OSS: Did it affect you at all that you didn’t finish your architecture degree or do you think you benefit more from „doing the job“ and being directly involved with people/local communities?

Even though it was great going back to school for a few years and finishing our degrees, I would say we learned more from being “out there”. We believe the contact between “real life” and the student (in most schools) is neglected in favor of the abstract knowledge.
We are currently teaching at Bergen School of Architecture (a workshop called Fantastic Studio), and are focusing a lot on this issue. Many students get depressed and shocked when meeting the realities of professional architecture. Most of them feel they have to change into machines, leaving the interesting debates, ideas and the creative surroundings they had at school. Our ambition is to show the students that there are a vast number of ways of being an architect. We challenge each student define their own ambitions and to see themselves as professionals. Fantastic Studio is about bringing these ambitions to life.


OSS: Can you imagine settling down in an office?

Not in a traditional sense. We always want to keep our work socially aware and closely connected to the clients and societies we work in. However the last years we have focused on self initiating projects (projects we believe are important and interesting) and anchoring them economically and politically.
Running a firm this way naturally means you need to seek and find your own clients, instead of waiting around for the next competition or commission, so to speak. This idea of the caravan, the public architect, is very much part of this way of working, but not necessary in a physical sense. Moving from town to town, and spending months at each place, isn’t compatible with having a personal life in the long run.

Text and interview: Sandra Pfeifer
Published in One Small Seed Magazine, South Africa, Winter 2009
www.onesmallseed.com

Van without man drives from Italy to China

Parma based VisLab (University of Parma’s Artificial Vision and Intelligent Systems Laboratory) has sent an orange van equipped with sensors, cameras and heavy computer gear on a 13,000 km test drive to China.
The expected amount of collected data, between 50 - 100 terrabytes, will provide breakthrough information to improve and perfect current navigation systems in order to implement them in commercial use.

From IEE Spectrum:
Two vans travel in line. The first uses maps and GPS to drive itself whenever possible, but a human driver is in control most of the time. The second van uses its cameras and navigation system to follow the first; it visually tracks the lead van, plans a trajectory in real time, and generates controls for steering and accelerating or braking. A key piece of software is the one that processes the 180-degree frontal view.
Sponsored by the European Research Council, a group of 20 staff researchers and students travel in a convoy that includes four vans (two pairs of leader-follower vehicles) and six support trucks, which provide a mechanic shop, storage, accommodation, and satellite communications.
The vans are fully electric, and the researchers drive them in the morning, recharge in the afternoon, drive some more, and recharge again overnight.

“When you do things in the lab, it all really works. But when you go out in a real road, with real traffic, real weather, it’s another story,” says Alberto Broggi, VisLab's director and an engineering professor at Parma University.
Even with all the planning, some problems are unpredictable. To cross the Russian border the group was held for 22 hours by custom officers, who took a huge number of pictures of the vehicles and the equipment and demanded a pile of paperwork. During a recent stretch of the trip, the convoy found itself in the middle of the notoriously bad traffic of Moscow. Because of the congestion, a two-lane road had three rows of cars. The van's system insisted in staying on its lane, so the researchers had to turn to manual driving.

The group is now about halfway through their trip, which started in July and will end in late October, at the 2010 World Expo in China.

Follow the orange van live: http://viac.vislab.it/?page_id=152
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-software/autonomous-vehicle-driving-from-italy-to-china

10:10:10

That positive global climate change only comes about by small actions from all of us is demonstrated by citizens from Fiji to Wales, Lithuania to Sri Lanka, New Zealand to Azerbaijan, who are dedicating their Sunday to baking low carb cupcakes, cleaning up beaches, planting trees, folding tetra packs into wallets, switching off heaters and wearing jumpers instead.
There are many more notable and inspiring examples of people getting creative with materials around them, leaving low carbon footprints throughout the year:
Buddhist monks in Thailand's Sisaket province collected thousands of Heineken and local Chang beer bottles to build a magnificent glass shrine. Meanwhile in Novoshakhtinsk, Russia, Olga Queen spent six months collecting 5,000 glass bottles to built her low-cost, ecofriendly dream house.
In Argentina, a family built its home using more than 1200 PET bottles
1300 Tetra Pak cartons. The house also features 140 compact disk cases in its doors and windows, 120 plastic bottles in couches, and another 200 bottles in a bed. "This is not just a project, but a reality," says Alfredo Santa Cruz, who also offers DIY courses using recycled material. Check out his website.

http://sites.google.com/site/lacasadebotellas2/ecologichouseofplasticbottles
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/10/temple-built-from-beer-bottles.php
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/10/russian-woman-5000-glass-bottle-house.php?campaign=th_rss

http://www.1010global.org/

Jack Daniels' secret green streak

Convincing hard nosed country folk clients that love fishing and hunting about sustainability can be a somewhat sensitive issue. Whiskey legend Jack Daniels has proven that old fashioned shrewdness still comes a long way. Offering tours through their distillery, it discreetly sells the "green message" to visitors by gently reminding them of their connection to nature and traditions passed on from grandfather to father to son.

From greenbiz: "...an excellent example of how to sell sustainability to the consumer segment we call cautious conservatives and skeptics. Here’s what we can all learn from the folks at Jack:
Without the natural, limestone-filtered spring from which the water for the product comes, there would be no Jack Daniels. So they bought up 1,000 acres to make sure they could protect the land around the spring and, thus, protect the quality of the product.

They don’t believe in wasting anything and make their own charcoal through which the product is filtered -- and when it’s time to replace that charcoal, it gets remade into briquettes you can buy in the store to throw a steak over. Same with the mash that ultimately becomes the whiskey. If there’s a quality control issue, they scoop it up and sell it to a bunch of local farmers who, in turn, feed it to some very happy cows and pigs.

At the end of the tour you can purchase some of the high end stuff in a special bottle -- and a portion of your purchase will go directly to fund the conservation efforts of Ducks Unlimited. Which means by buying Jack Daniels, Cautious Conservatives can help make sure there are plenty of duck hunting trips in their future."

Who would not get that message?

http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/08/27/selling-sustainability-whiskey-drinkers?utm_source=GCX+Newsletter&utm_campaign=96a5391e1a-GCX_Oct_Newsletter_2010&utm_medium=email
www.globalcarbonexchange.com

David Graas - designing better garbage is not an old hat

How to best reduce and avoid waste has been discussed in some environmentally conscious countries already in the late 80s. I remember teachers in primary school urging to leave bulky boxes and the mass of plastic in the supermarkets to help put pressure on the retailers who should put pressure on to the producers to rethink materials used for packaging. Although the idea didn't catch on, it was worth a try.
Designer David Graas for example is all for making the package into the product. Below some interesting thoughts on the psychology of package design and our personal amortization system of products we buy.

"What do most of you do to the shoe boxes that you ‘bought’ together with your shoe purchases? Do you keep them or throw them away? For me, I generally keep them. I will use them to store my old shoes. In my shoe closest rests many shoe boxes with shoes that I no longer wear. The purpose of their existence now is no longer to provide comfort to my feet but to collect dust."

Economist Richard Thaler suggests:

“The more expensive they were, the more often you’ll try to wear them. Eventually, you’ll stop wearing them, but you won’t get rid of them. And the more you paid for them, the longer they’ll sit in the back of your closet. At some point, after the shoes have been fully ‘depreciated’ psychologically, you will finally throw them away.”

This is what Mr. Thaler calls “sunk cost”.

http://www.idasia.org/david-graas-designing-better-garbage/
http://www.davidgraas.com

Laurie Anderson's Delusion

It was a real treat to finally see Laurie Anderson, live at the BAM with her latest piece Delusion.
Watching from a (far away) gallery seat she appeared like she had performed 'O Superman' or 'Mach 20' only yesterday. As if time in her personal cosmos never was of any relevance. The same (trademark) short hair, tie, smooth, cat-like movements, her familiar second personality - the sarcastic-electronic narration voice, her engagement with current affairs and human issues.
Delusion is an acoustic and poetic tale presented in short chapters. Sounds collected in Tibet, Arabic strings, a violin and a saxophone player behind two screens frame the minimal stage set. The audience appreciating the ‘built in’ humor featured in her keyboard-monologues that genuinely question why idioms like ‘get off my back’ have never been reversed into ‘get off my front’...or why nobody ever complains that one’s front hurts at all.
Sitting on a sofa covered in meditative visuals (reminiscent of 1980s stage use) Anderson intimately discusses the ownership of the moon, how the mother’s maiden name has become a code word used to log into your online banking; and catches those off guard who did not expect her show a somewhat difficult form of entertainment, in the most positive sense.
Delusion carried a note of a quiet retrospective of the artist’s personal live when telling about the familiarity of Iceland, exploring her Irish and Swedish roots in a kind of fairy tale. Not matter if tale or not, Laurie Anderson has long ago created and kept her superlative artistic truth.
Laurie Anderson at 2010 Next Wave Festival
http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=2225

Maxim Velcovsky / Design Indaba

Porcelain and humor are the main ingredients for the clever-quirky objects of acclaimed designer Maxim Velcovsky. Nice to see he has not lost the latter. Spinning off ideas from beliefs and misbeliefs reigning in the communist era of his childhood country he extracts the favorite Czech heritage, porcelain, from its past with a twist. He lets common sausage trays star in subtle elegance. Some of the designer's table wear are a clear invitation to try and crack the mystery behind his (country's famous) dark humor that could be described best as a mix between a conundrum and an equation: On an immaculate white plate garnished with "Zwiebelmuster"(onion patterns), essential to the traditional Czech porcelain decoration, there lies a delicate, broken swan's head.
Listen to Velcovsky in the Design Indaba's Speaker video series
http://www.designindaba.com/speaker/video/maxim-velčovský-part-2-6

Next Design Indaba Expo and Show coming up in February 2001 in Cape Town.

South Africa's private public business

Concerns about the infringement of press freedom in South Africa were being voiced after the arrest of a Sunday Times journalist who uncovered a dodgy property deal signed off by a police official. The documents were forged so the story goes. The police, yet again, felt unfairly stepped on its toes.
The government, especially the president who certainly has not enjoyed being scrutinized in public about his private life and many wives, rather than encouraging a constructive debate, has threatened with 25 years of prison for cheeky members of press.
Observations are made that the current government seems to use censorship rules applied during the apartheid regime. Why would the government of a New South Africa go back to a cruel past? Do the successors of the great Madiba, who sacrified his life for a better future for his family, the nation, are just trying to get a free high on the trust and power he has earned by endurance and education?
The latter values will without a doubt outlast the instant glory of an event like the World Cup. Bad news like punishing the press for acting as a watchdog will easily diminish the reputation of a country which a few months ago was proud to show the world what it can do. Good.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/south-africa/100824/press-freedom-under-threat?page=0,1

The food we eat

The list of non-nutrients discovered on the back of a packet of Pretzel Twists BBQ flavour since there were no plain ones available ... just a reminder to myself of you are what you eat.

Wheat flour, vegetable oil with antioxidant (TBHQ), glucose, yeast, sugar, salt, maize, permitted colourants (E150, E124, E110), emulsifier (E1450), monosodium glutamate, (E621), flavour enhancers (E627, E631), herbs & spices (garlic and paprika - but where?), free flowing agent (E551), permitted flavourants (that instantly make you think of getting another packet), maltodextrin, acidifying agents (E330 - bad bad bad), soya, eggs (definitely not free range I would say...).

Smoking laws Finland vs Egypt

Soon the "new racism" in Finland could pose a complete ban of smoking and smokers.
If clandestine smoking in the lounge of honest Helsinki citizen will be prosecuted or if apartments will be intercepted with a big brother smoke detector and cigarette smuggling will emerge as a viable source of income for daring locals remains to be seen.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8458347.stm

Whereas in Egypt the men puff away without having much to worry about their tobacco input.Blame it on the sun...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8433000/8433428.stm

Skin Deep

Sich wohl fühlen in seiner Haut wird aber auch mit einem Leben in Einklang mit Körper und Geist interpretiert – ist doch die Erhaltung des jugendlichen Aussehens seit jeher der Anreiz zur Suche nach dem ewigen Jungbrunnen.

Dies war schon ein zentrales Thema im alten Aegypten, in dem die Riten der Hautpflege und Kosmetik ihren Ursprung nahmen. Den Völkern um den Nil gelang es bereits damals, tierische und pflanzliche Fette mit Aromastoffen in Pasten zu verbinden. Das zelebrierte Salben, Massieren und Baden erlangte einen hohen kulturellen Stellenwert, der mit der Philosophie um dem Körperkult unserer Zeit durchaus vergleichbar ist. Die berühmte Herrscherin Cleopatra badete in Milch und Honig, um ihre Haut sanft und glatt zu halten.
Die Hochkultur des Badens und der Körperpflege, die über so lange Zeit kultiviert und praktiziert wurde, fand ein Ende durch Seuchen wie Cholera oder Pest, die mitunter von den Kreuzrittern eingeführt wurden. Um Ansteckung zu vermeiden, wurde der Kontakt mit Wasser gescheut. Zu hofe von Ludwig XIV. galt Waschen als schlichtweg verpönt. Um den Anschein von Reinlichkeit zu verbreiten oder auch nur, um den unangenehmen Geruch durch mangelnde Körperpflege zu verhehlen, waren Düfte sehr begehrt. Duftwasser und Dufttücher waren bei Frauen wie auch bei Männern zu Hofe immer in Reichweite.
Auf polynesische Bräuche geht angeblich das heute bekannte Tätowieren (dem einritzen und Einstechen von Ornamenten auf die menschliche Haut) – entdeckt und übernommen von Seefahrern – zurück. Bekannt waren Hautstechungen allerdings schon bei den Nubiern in Aegypten; und am Körper des in den Alpen gefundenen Steinzeitmenschen Oetzi wurden mehr als ein Dutzend Tätowierungen entdeckt.

Das Tätowieren der Oberschenkel bei den Samoa-Frauen galt als Zeichen der Reife. Neben tiefgründigen spirituellen Bedeutungen gaben die Hautritzungen auch Aufschluss über den gesellschaftlichen Rang. In Japan ist die Tätowierkunst als “irezumi” bekannt, deren Motive von heldenhaften Geschichten erzählen. Für die Seefahrer hatten Tätowierungen als eine Art persönliches Tagebuch von Erlebnissen und Frauengeschichten auf ihren langen Reisen eine Bedeutung. In Europa, vor allem durch das Christentum als heidnisch verurteilt, galten sie lange Zeit als ein Symbol für soziale Außenseiter oder Mitglieder von Randgruppen.
Durch das revolutionäre Modedesign des 19. Jahrhunderts wird plötzlich mehr „Haut gezeigt“. Figurbetonte Kleider oder Bikinis, getragen von Models und Filmstars, verleihen unserer wertvollen „Hülle“ eine völlig neue kulturelle Bedeutung. Erlaubt ist, was gefällt. Dennoch werden durch das gesellschaftliche Streben nach jugendlichem Aussehen und Natürlichkeit hohe Maßstäbe im Beruf wie auch in der Freizeit gesetzt.

Artikel in voller Laenge nachzulesesn in der Ausgabe von pool 27
http://www.pool-mag.net/content1.html?id=645&iid=27

How a female crane operator in South Africa became a star

In her own way, Zoliswa Gila is a star. She is the sole female South African working as a crane operator. At the moment, she is driving one of the seven cranes being used for the construction of the new Green Point Stadium in Cape Town. It is one of the arenas where the matches of the 2010 Football World Cup will be held.

Gila applied for the job three years ago. Of a total of 200 applicants, 16 men and four women were asked to take the final exam. Afterward, she finished a course on crane theory and six-weeks of practical training.

“I did it!” she said proudly. “How often did I hear that this is purely a man’s job.” But now she represents the limitless possibilities in the new South Africa, even if she is one of only a few women who have made inroads into traditional male domains.

Even President Jacob Zuma personally congratulated her recently for her achievement when he visited the stadium. “He said how proud he is of me and that he had seen me on television,” said Gila. Zuma acknowledged not only the construction workers’ dedication but also the historic chance for South Africa to prove itself a “capable nation.”

“I am very thankful for the training and the necessary experience that allows me to operate cranes and work everywhere,” she added. “But honestly speaking, I had expected better pay with this career due to the responsibility that comes with the job. The government should urgently see to it that they set a reasonable minimum wage.”

Average incomes are low; many South Africans cannot afford the expensive tickets to the matches. They hope that FIFA will rethink their pricing policies, tailored to the more affluent regions of the world. At the Confederation Cup, the cheapest tickets cost the equivalent of €14.

“A football fan in South Africa is a very loyal but poor person,” one reader wrote to the daily Cape Times. “This person earns just a little more than 1,000 rand per month (€90). The prospect of seeing a live football match continually eludes him but remains a distant possibility.”

Article published in the African Times August 2009
www.african-times.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3385%3Ai-did-it&catid=79%3Aaugust-2009-business&Itemid=1

Zoliswa Gila - Südafrikas einzige weibliche Kranführerin

Zoliswa Gila wurde in Umtata, der Hauptstadt der Transkei (Provinz Ostkap) geboren, unweit von Mandelas Geburtsort Qunu. Mit neun Jahren ist sie nach Kapstadt gekommen und lebt im Township Philippi, das mit ca. 150,000 Einwohnern neben Khayelitsha zu den größeren in der Umgebung zählt.
Sie ist die einzige Frau Südafrikas, die derzeit als Kranführerin am Green Point Stadium für die WM 2010 baut - Zoliswa Gila über Hoffnungen und Wirklichkeiten am Kap.

der Standard: Sie arbeiten als Südafrikas einzige Kranführerin auf der Baustelle des neuen Fußballstadions in Kapstadt, das für die WM 2010 gebaut wird. Was ist die größte Herausforderung in Ihrem Job?

Zoliswa Gila: Das Rauf- und Runterklettern ist mittlerweile Routine. Schwierig ist es, 10-Tonnen-Lasten zu heben und Zement zu gießen. Ich war sehr nervös, als ich hier vor drei Jahren angefangen habe und plötzlich den Druck zu spüren bekam, die einzige Frau unter 18 Kranführern zu sein. Es war mein erster Job nach meiner Ausbildung. Niemand schien mir zu vertrauen. Mein Vorgesetzter hat mich zunächst in einen anderen Sektor versetzt, weil manche Männer sich am Anfang geweigert haben, mit mir zusammenzuarbeiten.

der Standard: Wie konnten Sie sich schließlich unter Ihren männlichen Kollegen behaupten?

Gila: Ich saß in meinen 90 Meter hohen Kran und habe eine Ladung nach der anderen aufgehoben, während mich alle mit Argusaugen beobachteten. Aber keine meiner Ladungen hat geschwankt! Danach haben sie mir vertraut. Heute wollen alle mit mir zusammenarbeiten. Trotzdem erlaube ich mir keine Fehler. Bestimmt würde es sofort heißen: Weil sie eine Frau ist! Aber ein Kran ist nichts, wovor man Angst haben muss. Es ist nur eine Maschine, die ich steuere. Bediene ich das Ding unachtsam, reagiert es dementsprechend.

der Standard: Welche Auswirkungen wird die im nächsten Jahr stattfindende Fußball-WM für Ihr Land haben - oder lenkt die Euphorie nur von den wirklichen Problemen ab?

Gila: Von meiner Warte aus gesehen, hatte ich vor dem Bau des Stadions keinen Job. Ich habe Fleisch aus Metzgereien weiterverkauft, um etwas Geld zu verdienen, um so für meine Familie und Geschwister zu sorgen. Da meine Eltern vor ein paar Jahren gestorben sind, liegt die Verantwortung bei mir. Mein Bruder hat wenig Glück bei seiner Arbeitssuche; mein Mann ist Busfahrer bei Greyhound und verdient nicht viel. Die WM wird sicher nicht das Leben aller Menschen hier verändern können, aber bestimmt von einigen. Ich bin dankbar für die Ausbildung und die nötige Praxis, mit der ich nun überall arbeiten kann. Aber ehrlich gesagt, hatte ich mir für diesen Beruf aufgrund der Verantwortung, die er mit sich bringt, eine bessere Bezahlung erwartet. Die neue Regierung sollte sich dringend um eine Festsetzung von angemessenen Mindestlöhnen kümmern. Zumindest bessern die vielen Überstunden meinen Verdienst auf.

der Standard: Unterstützen Sie den vorangegangenen Streik und die Forderung von 13 Prozent mehr zum derzeitigen Durchschnittslohn von Euro 250?

Gila: Es ist nur fair, uns entsprechend zu bezahlen. Meine Miete beträgt schon 30 Euro, der Transport zur Arbeit weitere 20 Euro pro Monat. Wir sind schließlich diejenigen, die hart arbeiten. Andererseits haben wir auch keine Wahl. Jede Arbeit ist besser, als zu Hause zu sitzen.

der Standard: Warum wollten Sie überhaupt Kranführerin werden?

Gila: Es ist ein großartiges Gefühl, dort oben zu sitzen. Ich kann bis nach Robben Island (ehem. Gefängnisinsel vor Kapstadt, auf der Mandela 18 Jahre Haft abgesessen hat, Anm.) sehen. Und ich hätte es mir nie träumen lassen, aber aus mir ist plötzlich ein "Star" geworden (lacht). Aber eigentlich ist dieser Job nur meine zweite Wahl. Mein großer Traum ist es nach wie vor, Pilotin zu werden. Leider fehlt mir für diese Ausbildung das Geld. Unlängst hat mich die Stadt Kapstadt zu einer Tour in einem Helikopter eingeladen, als ich davon erzählt habe. Das war nicht nur mein erster Flug, sondern auch einer der schönsten Tage meines Lebens.

der Standard: Wenn Sie in der Lotterie eine Million Rand gewinnen würden, was würden Sie machen?

Gila: Viele Leute in meinem Township gehen ohne Essen schlafen und haben kein Dach über dem Kopf. Ich denke oft an sie, und das sind keine schönen Gedanken. Mit viel Geld würde ich ein Obdachlosenheim bauen und Leute anstellen, die für sie kochen.

Interview in voller Laenge nachzulesen in
DER STANDARD/Printausgabe 25.Juli./26.Juli 2009
http://diestandard.at/1246542990715/Da-habe-ich-mitgeholfen

Mr Fong's Itchen

Tick Tick Drip
Ring Run Faster More Back
Tick Drip Boring Coloured Madness
Drip Drip Ran out Can’t fix Follow
Tick Tick Time
Life’s engine Digital body
Spinning endless
Around its silver clock face
Round and round and round and round
Implanting its very own rhythm
In pulsing veins
Complimentary with the gift of life
Remember how proud
The first watch around the wrist
Escaping Too dangerous
Having to find your own measure
of
what?


Tick Drip Stop Red Wait
Missing The complimentary patience
For all the waiting Of time to pass
Tick Tick Drip Orange Green
Move Faster Racing for seconds
Flowing neon colours brainwashed pink
Dancing leaflets Selling time
Lose your weight in two weeks
Access your money 24 hours
Get to Paris in one hour
Change your future in one day

Tick Tick Traffic jam Waiting Moaning Missing train
Too late for meeting
Passing Mr Fong’s itchen
Chinese restaurant and take away
The K is missing ever since
Tick Tick Drip Murmur
Ten to two
Big and round and silvery
Outside the entrance door
Does time get old
And wrinkles too
Clock clock
In granny’s kitchen
End of lesson
Tick Tick Ring Drip Drip Clock
Ten to two Ten to two Ten to two Ten to two
All day All night

Time has lost its willpower
In Mr Fong’s place
He says
He does not owe time
Anymore
Perhaps he never did
Is that why he does not
Repair his clock
Why should he repair a clock
Without the time in it
In fact A while ago
He sold his time
To impatience
Tick Tick Drip Tick
A moment meant eternity
For a customer who was
Trapped In his fear of time
No time to wait around
For sweet and sour bamboo shoots
Tick Tick Stop Drip Tick
Run Go Faster Spin
So Mr Fong had said
I give you mine
If yours is not enough
He took it all
At ten to two
Not leaving behind
Only half a minute
When once he came
And tried to sell it back
To Mr Fong
He said
Time got too expensive now
I can’t afford to have it anymore

SP 2001 performed at readings in Covent Garden Poetry Club (London) & Cafe Kafka (Vienna)

What exactly is the legacy of Dash Snow?

New York’s self-declared bad-ass artist Dash Snow has died of a heroin overdose in his Manhattan hotel room yesterday. Dash Snow, similar to the late Michael Jackson, was known for his eccentric character, morphing his own lifestyle into an artwork itself. More so Dash Snow, as he did not really leave behind an acclaimed body of work for the afterworld to dwell on his genius. Inside the scene he will probably be remembered for people saying „I knew Dash Snow“ or „A friend of mine used to hang out with him“ more than his polaroids or recent collages decorated with his own semen. Altough Snow was not long ago quoted saying to a New York journalist that he had his walls lined with alphabetizd binders cataloging his work. „Because you never know what’s going to happen with Dash“.
That seemed in retrospect almost a bit too much uncool planning for post-stardom than the „artistic cool“ and „don’t care what will happen tomorrow attitude“ he tried to represent. For a long time he did not call himself an artist. And what he was doing as documenting his nights and days out, fucked on drugs and booze, with a stolen polaroid when he was 13. He always claimed of having estranged himself from his (wealthy) family after having spent two years in juvenile detention when he was a teenager. Dash Snow somehow never came across as very credible about trying to make it on his own, definitely not as the struggling artist. His claims helped to create the necessary hype that critics in NY seem to feed off in order to judge the talent of a newcomer.
Not to forget to mention that his maternal grandmother is a well known art collector, his aunt apparently is actress Uma Thurman and his brother Max was dating Mary Kate Olsen.
He certainly knew which strings to pull to promote his work to a spoilt and equally eccentric New York artworld. Like his ex-wife, artist Agathe, who cleverly hung on to her husband’s surname, he quickly became their darling, because he seemed rude and did not care. Maybe Dash Snow, co-founder of the Irak graffiti group, was just another rebell coming from a wealthy background showing his own „stable“ the middle finger and having great fun in doing so. Not many of us will get a chance to to do so and rise the interest of collectors such as Charles Saatchi. So, why not? But did he really have to go as far as becoming a heroin junkie or does this naturally come as part of the deal? Gone seem the romantic days where one could just be a rebel without a cause. Well, there was Warhol muse Eddie Sedgewick, who successfully partied herself to death, but then she never wanted to become a famous something. Maybe Pete Doherty, son of a navy general or similar sorts, could give answer about the ultimate temptation and self-destruction. And about what he thinks Jim Morrisson must have really felt deep inside his battered poetic soul.
Dash Snow leaves behind a little daughter, Secret. But what legacy, apart from dying at the mythical age of 27, did Dash Snow leave behind? For sure, he proved without batting an eyelid that he seemed to have no respect of his own life or death. And if his secret intention after all was to shock the by now so immune artworld, he definitely succeeded with a genuine statement: his own exit from the limelight just like that.

In the aftermath of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett

Michael Jackson’s distinct face makes his last appearance on the cover of newspapers and magazines around the world: his delicate white skin, black curls hanging decoratively from his forehead; aviator glasses covering his eyes and a shy smile.
Whatever generation we belong to, at least one of his songs strikes a familiar chord, a memory of a night out trying to copy his moonwalk, high-school dreams of 1980s America, youthful excitement for the good times to come, enjoying life, wanting to be just as cool as him...
There are many people out there at this moment who are feeling a great loss, despite having never met him in person. Those (celebrity friends) ones lucky to have known him express their sadness and grief. He was unique and his star will always shine. Perhaps more now than ever.
I am wondering whether his comeback tour would have been received that well; whether he could have managed to re-invent himself as the great Michael Jackson he once was and the media raved about.
Only a few months ago I remember coming across a picture of him on the internet. It left me somehow disturbed and disappointed. He became a spitting image of himself, a caricature. What happened to the wonderful freaky Michael Jackson jumping around dressed in his trademark white socks and leather moccasins while grabbing his crotch and breathing out the lyrics in his unmistakably high-pitched voice. But his star had faded. The glow once to be found in his eyes had been missing.
I could never understand his marriages to Elvis Presley’s daughter and Debbie Rowe, who gave birth to his two sons. For some reason I could never imagine Michael Jackson as husband or father. Not because he would not have had the potential to love and care but because he was this "figure", beyond androgynous, that slowly seemed to take over the real person, whoever Michael Jackson was, if that ever mattered? Unfortunately I never had the chance to meet him, so I can only speculate.
There was always an air of "elusiveness" and "unreal" about his character, his appearance, which becomes more present now that he is gone. But there was also a gentleness reflecting from his character, that one could see imprinted on his face. He was fragile like a child.
I really wish that he will finally find what he was looking and longing for.
For the last two days millions of people, who don’t know each other, and celebrities who don’t know all these millions scattered around the world share similar thoughts - although just for a moment.
While his fans might question over and over again who this person was and why he was the way he was (in public), grieving Hollywood celebrities might have just received a reminder about the one thing, that does not have respect of fame, talent and money. Another thought goes out to Farrah Fawcett, a charismatic and brave actress and woman all along.

BAD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFcFsVJ0nsM&NR=1

Bruno's Austria by Baron Cohen

Speculations must run high by now on whether Bruno outs himself as former politicians Jörg Haider's secrect lover? Can't wait for more cultural stereotype bashing.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8102614.stm

Besuch bei Air in Paris

Air alias Nic Godin und Jean-Benoît Dunckel tauchen aus
einem dunklen Gang zu meiner Linken auf; beginnen erst
einmal mit Smalltalk. Zehn Jahre lang, erzählen sie, haben sie
nach dem perfekten Ort für ihr Studio gesucht. „Wir haben
sogar einen richtigen Architekten für den Umbau beauftragt“,
freut sich JB, wie Jean-Benoît sich selbst nennt.
Im Aufnahmeraum lagert, alles ein bisschen durcheinan-
der, das Instrumentarium des Air-Sounds: ein Regal voller
Wah-Wah-Pedale, acht Verstärker, vier E-Gitarren (darunter
eine Barry Rhodes), ein Glockenspiel, große und kleine
Handtrommeln. Unter dem Fenster, das das Studio und den
Aufnahmeraum verbindet, steht ein Koto, ein japanisches
Zupfinstrument, dessen Vorfahre auf die chinesische Zither
zurückgeht. Ein Jahr lang hat Nic bei einer japanischen Koto-
Meisterin in Paris gelernt, mit der Air zusammen im Centre
Pompidou aufgetreten ist.

Hier im privatesten Refugium der Band, wo die Zeit kaum eine Rolle
spielt und die Welt draußen vor der Tür warten muss, kann
ich die Frage stellen: Wie zeitlos kann Air sein oder wie sehr
ist Air in unserer Zeit verhaftet?
JB sitzt auf einem schwarzen Ledersofa, trägt Nadel-
streifhosen, über dem Hemd einen Pullunder, und spricht
mit angenehm ruhiger Stimme. „Wir sind so etwas wie eine
Einheit mit zwei Köpfen und vier Händen“, grinst JB. „Das
sollten wir besser nicht näher ausführen“, grinst Nic zurück.
Er und JB sind beide 39, Familienväter, und sie wirken doch
wie gerade mal erwachsen gewordene Jungs. JB beschäftigt
die Frage nach der Definition von Zeit schon lange. Ein
künstlerisches Werk mit einem Zeitfaktor von, sagen wir,
einer Million zu multiplizieren, sei schon schwierig genug,
meint er, aber sich vorzustellen, dass es dann noch immer
existiert ... Aus ihm spricht der Mathematiker, der er
ursprünglich werden wollte. Nic wandert kurz durchs Stu-
dio und pfeift eine Melodie. „Für mich zeigt es nur“, fährt JB
unbeirrt fort, „dass eines Tages alles aufhört zu existieren ...

Mein Interview mit Air in voller Länge nachzulesen
in der Mai-Ausgabe 2009 von Fleisch

Austrianfashion Kostüm-Geschichten

Von Mieder bis Latex, vom Modesalon der Schwestern Flöge bis Helmut Lang: Die Modesammlung des Wien Museum zählt mit ihrem Bestand von über 25.000 Objekten zu den bedeutendsten Sammlungen in Europa. Sie umfasst Damen-, Herren- und Kindermode vom 18. bis zum 21. Jahrhundert. Das Hauptaugenmerk liegt dabei auf Damenkleidung des Bürgertums im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, auf Meilensteinen wie Korsett, Wiener Goldhauben, Sonnenschirmen und Spazierstöcken mit edler Griffverzierung. Oder auch den längst in Vergessenheit geratenen Riechfläschchen und Handschuhspannern.

„Eigentlich muss man eine solche Sammlung rückblickend betrachten," sagt Dr. Regina Karner, Leiterin der Modesammlung. Zu den modischen Highlights und Kostbarkeiten der Sammlung zählen unter anderem ein Kaschmirtuch von Maria Theresia, ein Morgenmantel von Johann Nestroy, Reformkleider von Kolo Moser, Malerkittel von Klimt und zahlreiche Kreationen aus den damals führenden Wiener Modesalons wie Christoph Drecoll, der Modeabteilung der Wiener Werkstätte sowie Hutkreationen von Adele List.

„Ausstellungen sowie Erhaltung der Textilien sind mit enormem Aufwand verbunden. Die Raumtemperatur muss konstant zwischen 18 und 22 Grad betragen, die Luftfeuchtigkeit um die 55 Prozent,“ so Karner. „Kleider aus dem 19. Jahrhundert, die man waschen kann, werden liegend gewaschen – in eine Wanne gelegt mit wenig Wasser und mit Schwämmchen gereinigt, die ganz sacht auf das Kleidungsstück gedrückt werden". Jedem Besitzer eines Vintage Kleides rät sie, die Kleidung abgedunkelt – sprich im Kleiderschrank – aufzubewahren, auf Mottenbefall zu untersuchen und bei gegebenen Fall reinigen lassen. Und nicht auf den altbewährten Lavendelbeutel zu vergessen.

Kleidung zwischen 1860 und 1910 ist in der Ausstellung Großer Auftritt: Mode der Ringstraße ab 10. Juni im Wien Museum (Karlsplatz) zu sehen. Ausgestellt werden prachtvolle Objekte aus der Sammlung wie eine zart grünfarbene Seidenkrepp-Taille aus dem Modesalon Grünbaum, Kleider für verschiedene Tageszeiten aus Organza, Seidendamast und mit Plissee. Weiters gezeigt werden ein Modell der Damen-Radfahrmode um 1890 (mit Korsett getragen) und Beispiele der damaligen Trauerkleidung, die nach den strengen Vorschriften am kaiserlichen Hof bei jedem Todesfall getragen werden musste.

Mein Artikel ist in voller Länge zu lesen unter: http://www.austrianfashion.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=672&Itemid=37
Informationen zur Ausstellung im Wien Museum: www.wienmuseum.at