Alfredo Jaar, l'artista fino a pochi giorni fa in mostra all'Hangar Bicocca e allo Spazio Oberdan con It is difficult e con la serie Questions questions (in cui si chiedeva: "cos'è la cultura?" "la cultura dell'emergenza" "alla ricerca della cultura a Milano".) ha scritto un testo in difesa di Cox 18 in cui invita tutti i milanesi a difendere lo spazio.

vi preghiamo di diffonderlo con ogni mezzo.


Il divario tra la cultura italiana e la situazione attuale è scioccante e aumenta di giorno in giorno. Questo vuoto è causato da numerosi problemi strutturali, come l'assegnazione politica di posizioni culturali che vengono rimpiazzate da ogni nuovo governo. In queste circostanze la continuità e la profondità dell'impegno sono impossibili.

Un altro problema che non si riesce ad affrontare è la mancanza di musei d'arte contemporanea e di istituzioni simili, completamente dedicati alle arti visive e alla cultura. Se paragonati per esempio a quelli di Germania, Francia o Spagna, i numeri dell'Italia sono incredibilmente miseri. Questo è davvero drammatico e assurdo.

Ciò ha penalizzato enormemente la visibilità nel mondo degli artisti e degli intellettuali italiani, che sono costretti a emigrare.

Di fronte a un panorama talmente triste e desolato, gli artisti e gli intellettuali italiani sono stati costretti ad affrontare in prima persona questo impellente argomento. È una questione di pura sopravvivenza.

È così che sono nati luoghi come Cox 18. Creati da artisti e da intellettuali per artisti e intellettuali, sono gli spazi culturali più generosi delle città e hanno un ruolo fondamentale di cui non si fa carico nessun'altra istituzione. Sono spazi aperti, liberi, multidisciplinari e democratici. Cox 18 è un centro sociale storico che ospita anche la libreria Calusca e l'Archivio Primo Moroni. Cox 18 e altri spazi, come per esempio la Casa degli Artisti, hanno un'importanza vitale per la sopravvivenza della cultura italiana. Una cultura viva deve essere creatrice e Cox 18 crea cultura, la condivide con tutti i milanesi e gli italiani. La protegge. La accudisce con tenerezza. La cultura è la sua raison d'être.

Cox 18 è uno spazio di speranza.

Oggi si trova sotto l'assedio di un governo autenticamente fascista, che non capisce il termine cultura. Che non riconosce la cultura come elemento fondamentale della vita. La mia opera artistica non esisterebbe senza Gramsci, Pasolini o Ungaretti. Quando ho creato il mio progetto pubblico Questions, Questions per le strade di Milano, stavo rendendo partecipi i milanesi delle mie paure in merito alla cultura italiana. L'attuale realtà di Cox 18 e di altri spazi simili sono una drammatica conferma di questi timori.

Milano si deve mobilitare per fermare questo crimine. Perché si tratta di un crimine vero e proprio, perpetrato davanti ai nostri occhi increduli. Ci sono già stati fin troppi delitti. Ora basta. La cultura italiana si merita di meglio.



Alfredo Jaar, 29 Gennaio 2009



(traduzione di Andrea Scarabelli)



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www.isgeorgewbushstillpresident.com



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They actually did!

[link]

M



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...Americans get it right this time!

[link]
(deviantart won't let me embed the widget in the journal)



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Beside Lenny's amazing picture you will find below i found another wonderful picture in gallery:



i know it might look plain, but i find it moving
i'm totally in love




...but i simply LOVE this picture:



by

it's amazing in its simplicity
(you clearly need to see in full view)

M



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Now that i finally got my first Violation Report i really feel like an accomplished photographer .

wrote in a comment on that he thought the picture should be marked as "mature", since, you know, under her shirt she is actually nude. I answered that since she isn't actually nude and the picture doesn't have any erotic intent i didn't think it deserved to be censored.

This morning i found a note from the staff saying that... well... it actually didn't say what they did but just that Immediate action was taken.

What they actually did was marking the picture as mature.

I still think that picture doesn't deserve to be marked as mature, but since Staff's decision are irrevocable and i don't want to take it offline i think I'll just leave that way.

Morality Vs. Echomrg
       1 - 0

Oh, well, another reason I'll rot in hell for...

M
(yeah, Chiara, i know i promised but i couldn't resist shrugging, sorry)



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The girl really did an amazing move with her video responding to McCain's use of her image.

Here's the video: [link]
(ahemmm... i'm not sure about the video, my firewall hates video, so please check it for me)

And here's a partial transcript:

"Hey America, I'm Paris Hilton and I'm a celebrity too. Only I'm not from the olden days and I'm not promising change like that other guy. I'm just hot!"

"But then that wrinkly white-haired guy used me in his campaign ad, which I guess means I'm running for president. So thanks for the endorsement white-haired dude, and I want America to know I'm, like, totally ready to lead."

"We can do limited offshore drilling with strict environmental oversight while creating tax incentives to get Detroit making hybrid and electric cars. ... Energy crisis solved, I'll see you at the debates, bitches!"

"I'll see you at the White House," Ms Hilton says. "Oh, and I might paint it pink. Bye."


I always thought Paris Hilton was some kind of postmodern art performance and this is the definitive proof!

GO PARIS, GO!




Here you can find a deviantART-green button: [link]

And the .psd souce file:
[link]

Feel free to do whatever you wish with it, just follow the included CC license.



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Monday night i went to my third Bad Religion show and, after so many years, they still rock!

Ok, spending the whole show two rows from the stage, pressed by the crowd wasn't such a great idea, now even muscles i didn't know i had hurt and ears are still ringing, but it was amazing, simply amazing!


The song list:

-21st DIGITAL BOY
-NEW DARK AGES
-SUFFER

-CONQUER THE WORLD
-LET THEM EAT WAR
-A WALK

-STRANGER THAN FICTION
-NO CONTROL
-ANESTHESIA

-COME JOIN US
-REQUIEM FOR DISSENT
-BIG BANG

-MAN WITH A MISSION
-HONEST GOODBYE
-YOU

-THE DEFENSE
-FLAT EARTH SOCIETY
-RECIPE FOR HATE

-SOCIAL SUICIDE
-STRUCK A NERVE
-52 SECONDS / HEROES & MARTYRS
-PUNK ROCK SONG

-FUCK ARMAGEDDON
-BEFORE YOU DIE
-AMERICAN JESUS

-GENERATOR (SLOW!!!)
-AMERICAN JESUS
-SORROW



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oppure, in altra parole, modelle cercasi.

English abstract at the end.


Il periodo dell'anno è quello in cui cominciano a seminare grano e granturco nei campi. Oddio, non che sappia esattamente quando questo succede, credo che ora sia un po' presto. Ma c'è un'idea per delle foto che voglio realizzare da tantissimo tempo e, ogni anno, quando a settembre cominciano a mietere il grano mi arrabbio per l'occasione persa.

I miei sono di un paese nella campagna attorno all'hinterland milanese e, anche se non è una zona prettamente agricola, sono abbastanza diffusi campi coltivati relativamente estesi.

Fin da piccolo mi hanno sempre colpito molto i campi di mais, la sensazione claustrofobica di completo isolamento che si prova quando ci si infila, incapaci di vedere più in là di una manciata di centimetri e quasi assordati dal frusciare delle foglie nel vento.

Quello che vorrei provare ad immortalare è questa sensazione.

E quest'anno ho deciso di portarmi avanti coi lavori, in modo da non arrivare, come al solito, a settembre senza nulla di fatto.

Per cui, se l'idea di posare in mezzo al granturco non vi spaventa, contattatemi!
Qui su DA oppure su echomrg [at] gmail . com


E' il caso che vi dica che *non* sono un fotografo professionista e quindi difficilmente potrò pagare il lavoro. Se volete farvi un'idea del tipo di foto che faccio basta che diate un'occhiata alla galleria qui.



English abstract: i'm looking for models for a TFP/TFCD picture shoot involving corn fields, near Milano, in northern italy, if you're interested contact me for details.



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I finally found some time to sit down and spend some time playing with the processing language and managed to put up a little experiment i had in mind for a while, it's nothing really revolutionary, i guess it has already been done a thousand times, but, well, you know... i've done it, so...

I'm going to publish the source code as soon as i manage to create a proper GPL package with a little documentation (after all it's just around 100 lines of code)

I put up a screenshot here on DA:


plus i put a recording of the run the run that lead to that image on youtube: [link]



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I'm a few days late, but March 4th is going to be remembered as a very sad day for all nerds on earth: Gary Gygax died at 69.

[link]

His works will live forever...



:thumb79255704::thumb79147605::thumb79269399:

M



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A dear friend of mine is selling her ancestral home and she needed help emptying it from what was left there. Her father was a scientist so we found a lot of really amazing things.
Some really cool filters and this precious little treasure:



It's a really old (around 1955) Nettar Something camera, it works, if i'm not wrong, with 120mm films. Everything looks fine, the shutter works nicely, the film rollers well... roll and everything looks in great general shape. In the next few days i'll look for film to test it out, hoping they still sell that

What else...
oh, yeah, i need to send a really really really warm hug to

M



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Obviously the tag they post doesn't work, i'll try and see if i manage to put up some kind of link.

Anyway, i submitted one of my photos for Jpeg Magazine next issue, please check it out and vote for it if you like








M



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Ok, lovely :iconchiarralit: tagged me and who am i to avoid answering such thoughtful questions?

3 Things that scare me...

* bugs (every kind of flying insect and much of the non-flying ones)
* flying (but a streak of calm, flat flight is bringing my faith in airplanes back)
* aliens (really, the *only* movie that actually scared me is signs)


3 Things you like the most...

* eating
* sleeping
* when any random woman (if he's handsome it works better= looks at my FACE and smiles, an innocent glance and then walks on. (this is mutuated from chiara's journal )


3 Important things in your room...

* my computers (notebook and 2 desktops)
* my tv
* my bogu


5 random facts about you...

* when i brush my teeth i HAVE to lean on my left hand resting on the sink (ok, this is confused, i'll say in italian since possibly everyone reading this is: devo stare appoggiato con la mano sinistra sul lavandino)
* i never went to a dentist for the first 20-something years in my life (and when i finally went my teeth were perfect anyway, i had my first cavity filled when i was like 29)
* i almost died in a car crash
* i can fold my tongue in two
* i simply melt when people (well, actually, girls) touch the back of my head


3 things you plan to do before you die...

* see japan
* do a coast to coast of the united states
* learn to shoot people (i mean, with a camera!)


3 things that attract you to opposite sex...

* hands/fingers (must be long and a little skinny)
* ankles (the skinnier the better)
* BOOOOOOOBS!


3 things you say the most...

* uhmmmmm (ok, it's not a word, but you get the point)
* fuck (or equivalent Italian curse words)
* che noia!


3 celeb or NOT-REAL crushes...

* Gillian Anderson
* Gillian Anderson
* Gillian Anderson



when i was a kid (and she was *MUCH* younger too) i was TOTALLY in love with

* Molly Ringwald


Favourite Drinks...

* mojito
* anything with coconut milk
* baileys irish cream

but, actually, i quit drinking a few years back so now i mostly stick to coke and analcolic drinks...



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I've noticed that today I've posted my 500th deviation:



It's nothing glamorous, but i think it falls in the "nice" range, I'm quite satisfied about it.

I wanted to do something special for N° 500, but i completely forgot about it, so



I have to thank who helped me out with these pictures since i'm a lame ass and forgot the original files.



M



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The lovely (the red spot far east in the little map-thing) put this thing on her journal. I think it's a nice idea so I'll play along (plus i put myself on her list so...).

"The first ten people who reply to this journal and tell me that they want a spot will have me go through their gallery and pick my three favorite deviations, which in turn will be featured in this journal.

The catch is that to qualify, you MUST post a similar journal, this gives us an opportunity to really appreciate and support this lovely artistic global community we've got going on here."

If i find how to do it i will post the thumbnails here on my journal, otherwise simple links will have to do... Oh and yeah, i know, i'll never get 10 requests












:thumb59558446:





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