Lower Night Ward

This morning I visited lower night ward again. These images are from an elementary school. 

Roots and Plantation II

Some more images from the areas that are flooded during the hurricane Katrina;

Roots and plantation

Today I biked around the city, visiting most of the neighborhoods. It was extremely quiet, lonely experience and even sometimes scary. 

Some observations from New Orleans II

It was my second day at the Jazz Fest. We listened some relatively conservative yet vibrant/good music. I would prefer a bit more contemporary touch, including electronic music to give some edge and audience diversity. In Economy Tent average age was 65, very cute but tells you about the kind of music… Marti Gras Indians were good fun!

As you can see on the pictures, there were almost no African Americans visiting the fest. Well, at a cost of almost 50 bucks a day, as A cab driver said, “jazz fest is for tourists”. Obviously there are no black tourists in town!

Since the touristic section of my trip over, I will walk around the city next couple of days.

Some observations from New Orleans I - Jazz Fest 2008

“Mind08″ and “The Colors of the Brain” Conferences

I have attended some MoMA organized design/art/science conferences* during the last couple of weeks. It is interesting to see how architects/artists are distancing themselves from social/political/philosphical investigations towards scientific exploration. There were no relevant discussions in relation to contemporary ethical/political/theoretical affairs! All went very smooth as expected…

Although conferences are organized for different reasons with different premises, they shared something in common; both specifically brought neuroscientists and cosmologists to the discussions, implying that their methods and findings are relevant for artistic and architectural production.

Sure they are relevant, however I beleive that there are other reasons why they want to position themselves closer to these ‘pure scientific’ practices. As we all know, some star-architects’, (like Eisenman or Koolhaas), catastrophically failed to grasp and utilize any salient philosophical/theoratical framework in their practice, and now these designers/artists turned their face to something harmless, easy to mobilize, hoping that they can combine light/popular science to their promotional packages. Well, they have a point, it is true that philosophy is proven to be hard to handle! (Please see Eisanman’s misconception of Derrida’s deconstruction)

As a case study, Olafur Eliasson’s works play on the level of pure spectacle and unaesthetic experience(s), architects love it! It was not surprising to watch his somewhat smooth/unchallenging participatory presentation, in which he helped audience to create an after-image in theirs eyes as a mini-tiny-spectacle. haha!

imam.

*you can see the conference schedule thorugh these links: http://www.arch.columbia.edu/gsap/81061 and http://www.mind08.com/

rijksmuseum amsterdam is squatted

The long time empty “Tekenschool” of the state museum complex was squatted on 11th April. Within the “days of action for autonomous spaces” the side building of the monumental museum was aired for a weekend. No Rembrants were harmed. A manifestation of the group is on: http://indymedia.nl/nl/2008/04/51557.shtm

schengen/amsterdam: cold outside tepid inside

i am inside the schengen borders. i feel outside though. the pavement is so tidy and clean i feel home. reminder: you are just visiting.

A view from New Museum construction site

After 7 years of working as new media project manager at the museum, I am now free for new adventures, my dissertation and exciting xurban projects! imam.