Monday 28 February 2011

DOODLE 4 GOOGLE - USA - kid's art comp......

Google Doodle Conspiracy?: Search Giant Accused of Using Art Contest to Amass Data on America's Children


Courtesy Google
The Google-4-Doodle application's asks for children's social security information, and has thus been raising eyebrows about the company's privacy policy.

ARTICLE BY ARTINFO - 28 Feb

Have you heard that New York's Whitney Museum has partnered with Google Inc. to sponsor a massive, nationwide art contest for children? The "Doodle-4-Google" contest is currently taking entrants, with a winner set to be announced on May 19, and an exhibition of the top 40 finalists to open at the Whitney shortly thereafter. The contest invites K-12 students to "redesign Google’s homepage logo," with entries to be judged by actress Whoopie Goldberg, "Garfield" creator Jim Davis, and artist and illustrator Maira Kalman, among others. It all seems to be in the spirit of corporate community outreach, with the top student-drawn artwork getting not just a $15,000 college scholarship but also scoring a $25,000 technology grant for his or her school. However, the kiddie art contest seems to have been dragged into a controversy stirred by concerns about Google's effect on internet privacy.

The furor was touched off by an article on the Huffington Post by Bob Bowdon, a documentarian whose film "The Cartel" railed against public school teachers (It was funded by the Moving Picture Institute, an outfit dedicated to spreading libertarian ideology through film). In what seems to have been an overblown attempt to prevent duplicate entries, the Doodle-4-Google contest had asked parents to include the last four digits of their child's social security number when entering. Based on this, Bowdon accused Google of attempting to use the art contest as a Trojan horse to build a "national, commercial database of names and addresses of American children" which "would be worth many millions to marketing firms and retailers." He implied that the search giant might have a secret algorithm that could use the data provided to guess the entirety of a child's social security number.

As Bowdon himself admitted, there was no evidence that Google was actually doing such a thing, and the company changed the procedure after complaints from parents. However, given increasing uneasiness about privacy on the Web, the story took off.

Now, even congress is involved in Google's art furor, with representatives Edward Markey (D-Mass) and Joe Barton (R-Texas) of the House Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus issuing a statement declaring themselves to be "deeply concerned" about reports of Google's "sketchy practices" in Doodle-4-Google. They plan hearings about the collection of children's data online.All the fuss, however, might serve to spotlight a far stranger aspect of this affair. To wit, why is the Whitney hosting a corporate art contest with Google? However altruistic-sounding the contest is, it will ultimately be a showcase for different rendering of a corporate logo. It's hard to believe that the Whitney would consider hosting a show of kids drawings of the Coca-Cola or McDonalds logo. Of course, all of that Google money has led museums to make some half-baked programming choices in the past.

Are you a not-for-profit organisation? Would you benefit from some external leadership help?

Could your not-for-profit enterprise benefit from the skills
and commitment of someone from the Really Responsible innovative leadership development programme? 


Starting in 2011 Really Responsible (RR) will be allocating 50 project managers to charities in the UK and one of them could be with you. Do you have a fundraising initiative you need support with? Or a project you haven't been able to complete? Perhaps you need a fresh perspective on things? Now's your chance to get involved and get the extra help you need to make a difference.

How it works
RR will arrange a meeting between you, the candidate and their mentor/coach so that you can agree what you'd both like to achieve from the partnership over a six month period. This is an opportunity to outline the task or project you need to be completed and to agree an appropriate working relationship between you.

£1,000 of the programme fee is donated to your charity to support your candidate while they manage the project.

How to get involved
Charities and social enterprises that are able to demonstrate the passion, drive and commitment required to make the most of this opportunity are invited to apply for inclusion in the 2011 programme


go to http://www.reallyresponsible.com/grants_funds_charities_social_enterprises.html for more information and to apply.

Legs required! Deadline to apply 5pm TONIGHT!

Artist Opportunities: Jerwood visual arts

*

Call For Entries: Live Performers

11/Feb/2011
Call For Entries: Live Performers
Performers wanted for a newly commissioned performance by artist Jack Strange.
The performance will be part of the Jerwood Encounters exhibition, SHOW taking place at JVA at Jerwood Space, 171 Union Street, London, SE1 0LN from 16 March – 21 April.
The position is voluntary and we will not be able to reimburse travel or sustenance costs. Participants will receive a limited edition art work by Jack Strange.
Performance Outline:
The performance requires two participants to sit behind a wall and place one of their legs through the wall into the exhibition space and shake it gently for 5 minutes at a time every 15 minutes. Each performance lasts 3.5 hours.
Requirements:
You will need to be available one morning or afternoon per week for the duration of the exhibition.
Performance slots:
Monday – Friday         10am-1.30pm OR 1.30pm- 5pm
Saturday & Sunday     10am – 12.30pm OR 12.30pm – 3pm
Participants will need to be available at 10am on Friday 11 March for a briefing by the artist.
Email your contact details to Alice Browne and please state your preference for a day of the week, mornings or afternoons.
No experience required.
Email jva@jerwoodspace.co.uk
Closing date: 5pm Monday 28th February
Background:
SHOW is an exhibition of newly commissioned performances and artworks by Edwina Ashton, Jack Strange and Bedwyr Williams. It is the fourth Jerwood Encounters exhibition curated by Sarah Williams and seeks to examine the integral role that performance plays within an artist’s visual arts practice and its subsequent representation in an exhibition context. SHOW will consist of live performances and experiments in performance documentation. www.jvashow.co.uk
Download the info HERE
Image: Jack Strange, “It’s called the man in the leg doesn’t want to be a man”, 2009, Courtesy of the artist

COMPETITION - Enter now to win a luxury stay anywhere in the UK!

Win a luxury stay anywhere in the UK

Mbs competition hotel images
To celebrate the opening of Modern British Sculpture, the Royal Academy of Arts and Small Luxury Hotels of the World are offering one lucky winner a fantastic 2 night stay at any hotel within their UK portfolio.*
The prize includes a two night luxury stay for one person plus guest, in any of the UK hotels within the Small Luxury Hotels of the World brand.
  • Prize does not include flights or transport.
go to :  http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/modernbritishsculpture/win/win-a-luxury-stay-anywhere-in-the-uk,353,MA.html   to enter.

SURFACE MEANING - PRIVATE VIEW FRIDAY 4TH MARCH - HASTINGS

Friday 25 February 2011

This weekend at the ICA: Live Weekends: Shunt 23 – 27 February (FREE)

ART: Live Weekends: Shunt, ICA ,23 – 27 February (FREE)
Another live weekend at the ICA - this week curated by the inimitable Shunt collective and breathing out to fill a full 5 days. Expect live art, performance, music, films, installation, workshops, theatre and parties. Expect tattoo parlours, pheasants and sewing machine races to passionate love bullets. Expect sonic shivers, vibrant ruffles and suffocating skittish shadows. Expect the unexpected – essentially what you’ve come to expect from the master curators of mischief.

Just turn up and join the party!
www.ica.org.uk


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Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Mall,
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Thursday 24 February 2011

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

Caravaggio's Rap Sheet Reveals Him to Have Been a Lawless Sword-Obsessed Wildman, and a Terrible Renter

By Ally Watkins - ARTINFO

Published: February 24, 2011

Courtesy YouTube,
An installation view of the Caravaggio exhibit in the Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza in Rome.
Very few cultural figures achieve one-name status. Madonna. Bjork. Britney. Among painters, that same icon status is reserved for Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio — the artist whom we just call Caravaggio. Now, a newly restored trove of police records and other historical documents on view at Rome's Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza offers fresh tidbits to feed his rock star-like legend, offering further proof, if any be needed, that the famous rogue had a dark side that extended well beyond his masterful use of chiaroscuro.
Arriving in Rome in 1595 at the age of 25, the hot-headed painter's police dossier — hand-written in Latin and vernacular Italian and bound in great volumes that were stored in the archives until now — makes Caravaggio come across as almost compulsive in his lawlessness. For instance, the man was weapon-obsessed, sporting a sword, dagger, and pistol at various times. He was twice thrown in the clink for carrying arms without a permit, and known for beating strangers in late-night fights and pelting police with rocks.
The documents add fresh color to well-known parts of the Caravaggio legend. Regarding the 1606 brawl during which the artist killed one Ranuccio Tommassoni, leading the artist to flee Rome and causing Pope Paul V to issue a death warrant, the documents reveal that the fight was over a gambling debt, and not a woman, as some accounts have suggested. As the BBC recounts the tale, the showdown was arranged in advance, with Caravaggio squaring off against four foes alongside a gang of three of his own comrades, including a friend who was a captain in the Papal army. One of Caravaggio's supporters was also wounded in the battle, thrown into prison, and subsequently put on trial.
Lesser known incidents stand out as well. Particularly noteworthy is the written testimony of a waiter at the Moor's restaurant who had the bad fortune to be working when the irascible master painter came in for lunch with some friends: "I brought them eight cooked artichokes, four cooked in butter and four fried in oil. The accused asked me which were cooked in butter and which fried in oil, and I told him to smell them, which would easily enable him to tell the difference. He got angry and without saying anything more, grabbed an earthenware dish and hit me on the cheek at the level of my moustache, injuring me slightly... and then he got up and grabbed his friend's sword which was lying on the table, intending perhaps to strike me with it, but I got up and came here to the police station to make a formal complaint...."
In still another outrageous episode, Caravaggio apparently cut a hole in the ceiling of his studio to accommodate some of his large paintings. Since he was a renter, this did not sit well with his landlady. After she sued the artist, Caravaggio and a friend decided to revenge themselves by hurling rocks at her window.
Caravaggio died in 1610 at the age of 38, still in exile in the north of Rome, and the current exhibition is timed to coincide with the 400th anniversary of his death. Also on view, besides the spicy documents, are several paintings by contemporaries of Caravaggio to give the flavor of the times, a portrait of Pope Paul V done shortly before the artist fled Rome — on view for the first time since 1951 — and a drawing executed by a judge of weapons seized from the artichoke-slinging Old Master.

Pallant House Gallery and St Wilfrid’s Hospice Open Art Competition - Closing date for submissions: 31st March 2011

Deadline looming for third Pallant House Gallery and St Wilfrid’s Hospice Open Art Competition

Closing date for submissions: 31st March 2011

For the third year running, Pallant House Gallery and St Wilfrid’s Hospice, Chichester are joining together to mount the annual ‘Open Art Exhibition’ of selected works to help raise funds for St Wilfrid’s Hospice and Pallant House Gallery’s groundbreaking project for marginalised artists,
Outside In.
This year it will cost £5.1 million to run St Wilfrid's Hospice. With only 15% of this funding coming from the NHS, the Open Art Exhibition is a valuable opportunity to provide extra support, whilst also offering artists a unique opportunity to gain exposure in a prestigious gallery.
Proceeds from the exhibition will also go towards Outside In, set up by the Pallant House Gallery In 2006 to provide a platform for marginalised artists.
30% of all proceeds will go directly to St Wilfrid's Hospice. Entrants will receive 50% of the sale of their work. The remaining 20% will go to Outside In. In 2010 the competition raised £4000
The competition is open to artists of all ages and the cost of entry is just £15 per piece. Artists may submit up to three works. A selected panel will shortlist up to 60 works and from these, an exhibition of 40 works will be curated.
The deadline is fast approaching for all submissions which must be entered by Thursday 31st March 2011. The Prize-winners will be announced on 2 June in a fundraising ceremony at Pallant House Gallery.
The exhibition will run from 31 May-26 June 2011
in the studio.
Follow the link to find out more

Off to Canterbury Cathedral tomorrow to see the new Antony Gormley sculpture

Canterbury Cathedral has provided sculptor Antony Gormley with the inspiration for his latest striking artwork, entitled Transport.


The artist used antique iron nails taken from the cathedral's repaired roof to create a two metre-long membrane outlining the space of a floating body.


The piece has been suspended inside the cathedral above the site of the first tomb of Thomas Becket, the archbishop murdered at the altar on December 29 1170.
The new sculpture by artist Antony Gormley, entitled Transport
The new sculpture by artist Antony Gormley, entitled Transport, is made from nails taken from Canterbury Cathedral

Unveiled today, the piece is suspended at the cathedral above the 
site of the first tomb of Thomas Becket
The piece is suspended in the eastern crypt of Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, above the site of the first tomb of Thomas Becket

Wednesday 23 February 2011

News From The School Creative Centre Rye

Arty/Crafty opportunities in Rye



I’d like to spend a bit of time promoting some local Arts and Crafts initiatives that are taking place in the next couple of weeks.
Slow Train to Rye
Firstly ‘Slow Train to Rye’ is the new Richard Adams show at The Easton Rooms Rye Art Gallery starting 26th February (until 27 March).  Richard must be one of our most popular local artists and works entirely with chalk pastel!
Surface Meaning
Next, a project I’m involved in!!  ‘Surface Meaning’ is a showcase of 4 artists from The School Creative Centre exhibiting in the old House of Hastings, Queens Road, Hastings.  New work from Jillian Eldridge, Ben Fenton, Paula MacArthur and Nikki Tompsett.  Join us for the private view on 4th March between 6.30pm and 8.30pm or thereafter on Thurs, Fri, Sat on 11 to 4pm til 27th March.  It’s an interesting bunch of work, from found photos and text, to freestanding papier mache painting/sculptures, crispy pop art screen prints and canvases, and gorgeous abstracted paintings.
Setting up...
Do you know about Rye Art and Craft Fair, which is run by Alice Mason?  This is a new monthly selling fair at the Rye Community Centre.  It is focused on all things handmade, from paintings, prints, lampshades, teddy bears, felt, jewellery, vintage stuff including clothes and hats.  Alice offers stands at an extremely affordable rate per table, so if you were considering giving it a go I would highly recommend it!  People have quite a lot of freedom to present their work however they like. Some even brought gazebo’s! I had never seen the hall looking so dynamic.  The atmosphere was friendly and approachable, with a cafe area selling interesting food and soft drinks.  The next one is Saturday 5th March 10am to 4pm.  The entry is free, come and check it out!

Then on Tuesday 8th March there’s Tea Party II at The School Creative Centre, a relaxed networking opportunity for any kind of visual artist/designer/makers.  Its a chance to catch up with other local artists, discuss exhibitions and project ideas.  Bring your own stuff to promote and find out what’s going on locally.  There’ll also be representatives from Rother Arts Development and the De La Warr Pavilion…  From 1pm to 3pm.  Tea and homemade cake will be served, bring your own if you fancy it!
Mad March Fair Poster
Lastly is The Queens Head‘s Mad March Fair on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th of March which will be from 11am to 8pm.  Free entry all day.  An eclectic mix of art and craft as well as homemade cakes and preserves. The pitches are free, with commission taken on sales (which will be used to purchase art supplies for their new workshops).  All artists, makers and crafters welcome.
They also have a new series of participatory art workshops tailored to the skills and crafts that people might want to try.  Their monthly Art Corner will take place on Sundays in their Function Room, and provide a safe, inclusive space to collaborate, create, express yourself, share ideas, learn new things and above all have fun!
http://theschoolcreativecentre.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/artycrafty-opportunities-in-rye/

50-foot nude "Loire Woman" statue controversy

50-Foot Nude "Loire Woman" Statue Is Chased Away From Medieval French Abbey

Courtesy AFP
 
A model of Michel Audiard's "Femme Loire," which had been originally slated to be installed above the fourth-century Marmoutier Abbey

By Kate Deimling - ARTINFO

Published: February 23

Courtesy AFP
Artist Michel Audiard with his model for "Femme Loire"

An ambitious project to build a massive statue of a naked woman over a medieval abbey in the French city of Tours has caused a stir in the region — especially since the fourth-century abbey today functions as a Catholic school. After a petition opposing the work's improbable planned location gathered almost 7,000 signatures, Tours mayor Jean Germain announced today that Michel Audiard's "Femme Loire" will occupy another part of the hillside. 

A faceless representation of a reclining woman measuring 56 feet high by 131 feet long and covering an area of 3,230 square feet, the statue will also house a planned exhibition and event space between her legs, Artclair reports. In the newly-designated location, the sculpture — slated for completion in 2013 — will not be visible from the abbey, but will still be seen from a large highway nearby. Audiard has accepted the change in plans, but says it could delay initial construction by six months. However, he sends his gratitude to the protesters for generating "huge publicity" for his project.

The privately-funded undertaking is estimated to cost $3.8 million, and Audiard has raised $500,000 from donors, according to the Washington Post. In 2008, the mayor granted the artist a 50-year lease to the land, with the stipulation that whatever was built there would revert to the city after that period.

The original site was situated directly uphill from the ruins of the Marmoutier Abbey, which is said to have been founded by Saint Martin. Listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, it was an important pilgrimage location and today houses a Catholic school run by the sisters of the Sacred Heart. When they learned of the project, parents and others connected with the school not only found the naked woman inappropriate but also worried that roads and parking lots would be built for the event space, leading to harmful effects on the landscape around the abbey.

Audiard, who is best known for his sculptural fountain pens, says on the project's Web site that he first conceived of the statue 25 years ago. According to a press release, the eco-friendly work will be made of recycled cardboard, plaster, and lime, and is meant to "symboliz[e] the future of Man." Local students will contribute to its creation. According to the press release, the sculpture, even though it has not yet been produced, has a recognizable personality. "The Loire Woman likes being recognized for what she is," it states. "She will maintain a creative atmosphere every day and will welcome visitors and events. Particularly those that we will organize together... sharing her life as a woman will be an exciting adventure."