100 Days in the News: day seventeen project: Techniques for Stealing Beauty

Welcome to day 17 of the 100 Days in the news project. For 83 more days I will be pulling news stories from my Google reader and making artwork about it!

Today’s inspirations is:

Stealing beauty

from Ken’s Blog by admin

After reading a rather inspirational article from a fellow named Ken querying the origins of beauty, I recalled a conversation I had with a design professor many years ago. We sat in a park after class discussing “beauty” and we looked at the buildings surrounding the 20th and parkway area of Philadelphia. Several of the buildings in sight were award winning the professor told me, and I commented that I hoped I could acheive something of equally great importance one day.

During class that day I had been examining an acorn and had split it in half perfectly with an x-acto blade to find a spider had built a minute web inside. I showed it to several of my classmates next to me and we shared the wonder of the small discovery.

The professor pointed to the acorn I was holding and said:

“This- This is good design. This is what the people who made those buildings were after, and this is still a better design than most of what you see around you.”

Today’s project is a way snap out a simple design of your own. I carved a elm leaf with an x-acto knife and simply traced the lines of a leaf. This makes for a quick 2 min. stencil. Easy to make. Easy to use. Great design.

total cost of materials: $0

time spent: 15 min.

fun had: 6

100 Days in the News: day sixteen project: Duel-Purpose Shower Pencil

Welcome to day 16 of the 100 Days in the news project. For 84 more days I will be pulling news stories from my Google reader and making artwork about it!

Today’s inspiration is:

Mastodon Straight Razor comes with old world elegance and Mammoth tusk

from Born Rich by cavale

Some of my best ideas come to me in the shower.  I keep trying to think of some good way of capturing them all before  they slip away or fuse with thoughts that follow. Today’s creation the “Duel-Purpose Shower Pencil” is a hacked together attempt at making some writing tool that belongs next to the bath tub.

Now I need to invent a writing surface.

Total cost of materials: $1

Total time spent: 30min.

total fun had: 7

100 Days in the News: day fifteen project: Reading the Reader

Welcome to day 15 of the 100 Days in the news project. For 85 more days I will be pulling news stories from my Google reader and making artwork about it!

Today’s inspirations are:

From Psychology Today:

Do You Pay a Procrastination Tax?

submitted By Monica Ricci on October 09, 2008 in Get It Together

From the Machinist:

Palin’s e-mail hacker indicted, to be kept offline

and from the Wooster Collective:

Banksy Talks About The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill

As I was news reading today I caught myself making noises and faces in response to a few articles. I often laugh out loud at some of the stuff I come across or for some topics feel a sense of fatigue ripple through my body as I drudge through another world conflict report.

I thought I might try to film myself actually reading the news. While some of it is mundane I enjoy an extra look at myself as I look at information. I am always surprised by how much I express unconsciously.

total cost of materials: $0

time spent: 2hr.

amount of fun had: 8

100 Days in the News: day fourteen project: Chart Shirt

Welcome to day 14 of the 100 Days in the news project. For 86 more days I will be pulling news stories from my Google reader and making artwork about it!

Today’s inspirtion is:

timeline & subjects in US presidential debate

from information aesthetics

In the past few days I have been looking at too many fashion magazines and asking myself: How is taste distinguished and what makes the general population so swayable?

I suppose I have been thinking lots about influence in general. It some instances I am struck by how easily influenced people are and then how they cling to whatever impression has been made. A fine example would be poeple of some political persuassions.  I am struck that these individuals were so easily persuaded towards some belief and that now, some how, they have become rock solid in this belief and cannot be persuaded any further. This could be explained by saying that people are more easily convinced of some ideas that of others-but is still an unsatisfying explaination.

The receptiveness of an idea is of course tied to the source from which it originates. Understanding what people will believe may at times not be so much tied to the material itself but to the mouth it spills from.

Today’s project is a rediculous combination of two distinguishing statements of self: political concerns and dress code. The “Chart Shirt” below is comprised of colors and shapes pulled from                              C-SPAN’s Debate Timeline chart which breaks down the length and content of responses during the political debate.

total cost of materials: $0

time spent: 3hrs.

amount of fun had: 9!

100 Days in the News: update update update

Yes, fine friends some of you may have noticed a slowness in my posting and it’s time to fess up and make amends. I have had a touch of the flu over the past few weeks and while I completed a number of projects, at the end of the day I was too pooped to post.

The whole experience made me question whether or not I should press on with the “consecutive” part of the 100 days project. I’ve decided to stick with it though- realizing that I am a creature who needs structure:)

It has been very meaningful to read the news to know I need to respond to the material at hand. I am more alive in my reading now. Hopefully I will acquire this disposition permanently.

Here we go with a barrage of posts! Each will be posted to the day it’s inspirational articles are drawn from.

100 Days in the News: day thirteen project: Bling Natural

Welcome to day 13 of the 100 Days in the news project. For 87 more days I will be pulling news stories from my Google reader and making artwork about it!

Today’s news inspirations are:

from Tree Hugger:

One Small Step Away from Extinction: Polar Bears to be Granted ‘Critical Habitat’ by Department of the Interior

by Matthew McDermott, Brooklyn, NY on 10. 7.08

from boingboing:

One in four mammals facing extinction

Posted by David Pescovitz, October 7, 2008 9:30 AM

and from Born Rich:

Too Hot To Handle: Diamond Encrusted Earplugs

Atul | 16 hr. ago 10.7.2008

In the face of hardship nature must adapt. With two articles in one day warning about the not so bright future our four-legged friends face it’s time to talk strategy. Fluff and whiskers just isn’t cutting it anymore. This year’s cute and furry is Bling Natural. Keep an eye out for squirrels burying designer acorns: platinum and emerald with sapphire-topped white oak acorns;perfect squirrels with modern, elite tastes- or bronze and sliver acorns topped with diamonds for winter snacks that last “forever”.

total amount of time spent: 2hrs.

cost of materials: $0

amount of fun had: $10!!!! Yee Haw! I love these things.

100 Days in the News: day twelve project: I’m a Maverick too!

Welcome to day 12 of the 100 Days in the news project. For 88 more days I will be pulling news stories from my Google reader and making artwork about it!

Today’s News Inspirations are all from Boing Boing ( thanks BB!):

The Maverick Family in Texas Asks: “Who You Callin’ a Maverick?”

Posted by Xeni Jardin, October 6, 2008 9:49 AM

and

Old timey Halloween photos

Posted by Mark Frauenfelder, October 6, 2008 9:34 AM

and

Life Incorporated

Posted by rushkoff, October 6, 2008 6:02 AM

Today’s project is a real mash-up of reading and experiences of the last 24 hrs.  I’ve had the flu lately so I’ve been a bit slow about posting things- I’m not so much dying as I am generally slowed down and dealing with several projects at once.

Coming over to a friend’s house last night a neighbor heard he and I complaining about being sick and quickly offered us Airborne and Emergen-C. (note: She is an amazingly sweet neighbor the likes of which I only wish I had) This got me thinking of the vast array of flu cures that have circulated through out the centuries, and about western medicine in general which often treats symptoms rather than causes.

Last year I started thinking about health in a more holistic way and have really felt differences in mental and physical capacities. While I used to see food in terms of a simple fuel to keep me moving I’ve started trying to remind myself that whatever I’m eating will have a broad impact on how I’m feeling, thinking, and moving not only today but potentially weeks or years from now.

What if instead of handing our friends an Emergen-C when they aren’t feeling well we handed them oranges,

mangos or papayas every now and then? Maybe fruits and vegetables need labels too, or school teachers bragging about how gosh-darn good they are. Today’s project gives credit where credit is due.

total time spent: 1hr.

cost of materials: .50

amount of fun had: 6

100 Days in the News: day 11 project: Campaign Poster

Welcome to day 11 of the 100 Days in the news project. For 89 more days I will be pulling news stories from my Google reader and making artwork about it!

Today’s inspiration comes from the Psychology Today blog:

The power of yard signs I: Goal contagion

By Art Markman, Ph.D. on October 05, 2008 in Ulterior Motives

My roommate went to get an Obama yard sign yesterday only to find that they don’t exist in our state. Apparently yard signs are being reserved for states where spending a few extra bucks on a sign will hopefully sway some of the more reluctant voters. We put campaign signage up on our door instead but I was still aching for a yard sign- what can I say? I haven’t been rooting for a candidate this much in a long time.

I was trying to think about how to make a sign more interesting than the predictable schtick of campaign colors and symbolism. I decided to go with a Rubus puzzle in hopes of confusing my neighbors just enough to force us to have a conversation about it.

My original intention was for the sign to read: “I vote for change”, with the word “change” repeated four times to prompt “for” but as I made it I realized it could also read: “I vote for change again and again”

amount of time spent: 1.5 hr

cost of materials: $3

amount of fun had: 7

100 Days in the News: day 10 project: Frontal Cortex Cheesecake

Welcome to day 10 of the 100 Days in the news project. For 90 more days I will be pulling news stories from my Google reader and making artwork about it!

Today’s project is inspired by a blog from the Science Blogs Channel re: a blog called The Frontal Cortex:

Calories are Rewarding

Category: Brain & Behavior
Posted on: October 4, 2008 9:52 AM, by Jonah Lehrer

Today I stumbled across Jonah Lehrer’s blog and appreciated his personally driven interest in understanding what pushes us to eat something even when we are sated. I am always looking for ways to help myself memorize and understand new information and find the best way to do this is to figure out a way to make the information a more elaborate sensory experience i.e. not just sight or sound, but sight + sound+ taste+ touch+etc. I like to figure out how to create these circumstances for myself and am even more interested in passing them on.

Today’s project is proof as to why I would be an amazing parent: a cheesecake boasting an image of the very brain region that tempts us into wanting it in the first place! The brilliant little cheesecake seen below sports a spicy brain of cloves with light brown cinnamon filling in the frontal cortex-the brain region involved in your experience of motivation, reward, attention, cognition and learning to name a few of its many roles. Could it be that this sweet treat could be a quick way to lure a snacker into memorizing valuable information? Can I take a class where my lessons are contained within a meal?

It was as tasty as it is clever if you must know. I doubt this nugget of information will be slipping out of my mind any time soon!

Total amount of time spent: 2hr

total cost: $4

amount of fun had: 9! Because I got to share the cake with my roommate and the dopamine flowed like wine.

100 Days in the News: day nine project: Personalized Currency

Welcome to day 9 of the 100 Days in the news project. For 91 more days I will be pulling news stories from my Google reader and making artwork about it!

Today’s inspirations both come from Boing Boing:

Comfort Dollars

Posted by rushkoff, October 3, 2008 6:21 AM

and

Mackerel economics in prison

Posted by David Pescovitz, October 3, 2008 7:53 AM

Today’s news brings thoughts of alternative currency as the dollar weakens and small loans become unavailable. One of the first few posts I ever added to this blog was about creating local currency so it’s nice to return to this subject. While in some cases local currencies can weaken or isolate a community, in some situations it seems like a useful way to create a more fluid method of bartering among small businesses.

I thought I’d take a shot at creating a currency of my own. Wonder if local coffee shops might give it a try?

total amount of time spent: 1.5 hr

cost of materials: $0

Total amount of fun had: 5