Micro-Production: Part of the Solution

Umair Haque posted a Manifesto for the Next Indutrial Revolution and people are talking about a lot this morning and over the weekend. I am delighted to see this esteemed academic write such a thoughtful and to the point article about the worlds problems and even more excited that it is gaining so much traction around the web. Alexander Elsas wrote about it here in response to Fred Wilson writing about it here.

Umair's list -

Organize the world's hunger.
Organize the world’s energy.
Organize the world’s thirst.
Organize the world's health.
Organize the world's freedom.
Organize the world's finance.
Organize the world's education.

I add : Organize the world's Production

While Fred Wilson expresses the potential for boredom in Web 2.0, Umair's post seems to come just in the nick of time. His words and ideas may spark that which he has called for; a revolution. Local economies are the backbone of any region. Give away your ability to make and do for yourself and you give away your ability to sustain life. Sustainability has to include strong local economies, perhaps local currencies but most important, the ability to produce the basic needs of a population with in a specific region. The people who will get on the ground and make that happen are the young people working with mentors, locally and experts, perhaps from abroad. But, listening is essential in the process.

Much compost has been laid on these principals over the decades. Yes, the invisible hand may have been an illusion all along. Crafting a life, in community and in a region, these are the issues of our time.

Here is an earlier post of mine, called Techno Swadeshi, that talks about making and connecting.

I am going to start a list of posts around Haques original post, as they are rpoliferating like bunnies! Hooray!! Alan Patrick here and here.

technorati tags: localeconomies, umairhaque, web2.0

Clay Shirky on the TV Bender

OK, so I am having a little too much fun posting short videos. This one is totally awesome. A talk from Web 2.0 conference about how everyone is and will contribute more and more to everything.

Pretty pictures of new, handmade fine porcelain to be posted tomorrow! :)

technorati tags: clayshirky, web2.0

I love this Man

My friend, John Krynick.

technorati tags: johnkrynick, advancedknitting

High Price of Oil

I have to write this post. I had an insight yesterday I felt would be perfectly expressed here and today's paper just inspires me further to state it. Here goes- The high price of oil is more about getting as much profit from the final days (OK, years) of the fossil fuel economy as possible, because, well, alternative energy and conservation are the future. Like a tsunami... Exxon, Getty, BP, their days are numbered, at least as the force they are today. Peak oil, well, maybe. Global warming? I think yes! Our collective wisdom is winning and the oil companies know it. The advent of the post fossil fuel world is here. Toyota has surpassed Ford and GM as the leading auto mobile manufacturer in the world for one reason. The Prius. Can you say 45 miles per gallon?? (well, they run a pretty tight ship too)

There is lots of talk from the CEO of GM about the return of electric car. Energy star is the new standard in all home appliances. Radiant heat, solar panels, better insulation, the rising awareness of local food, for taste, health and inherent goodness, well the list goes on. The environment will win because we DO want to survive. This will preclude the end of the fossil fuel era as we know it. As demand decreases, profits will plummet and the current kings of the economy will experience a dramatic seat shift.

Thanks for reading. :-)

technorati tags: fossilfuels, alternaiveenergy, electriccar

Tournesol

Just sent a bunch of stuff off to Tournesol, a fab store in Pittsburgh, PA. Stop by and say hi to Barb if you are in town.

technorati tags: tournesol,, pittsburgh,, davistudio

Yves Behar on TED

Wonderful designer, worth the 17 minutes to watch... He says "advertising is the price companies pay for being unoriginal " in this talk, which I see is new meme.

Oh, I AM a colorist and glad for that. :-)

Social Sculpture

“Only on condition of a radical widening of definitions will it be possible for art and activities related to art [to] provide evidence that art is now the only evolutionary-revolutionary power. Only art is capable of dismantling the repressive effects of a senile social system that continues to totter along the deathline: to dismantle in order to build ‘A SOCIAL ORGANISM AS A WORK OF ART’… EVERY HUMAN BEING IS AN ARTIST who – from his state of freedom – the position of freedom that he experiences at first-hand – learns to determine the other positions of the TOTAL ART WORK OF THE FUTURE SOCIAL ORDER.”

Beuys statement dated 1973, first published in English in Caroline Tisdall: Art into Society, Society into Art (ICA, London, 1974), p.48. Capitals in original.

Joseph Beuys made famous this notion of social sculpture. I have been interested in this line of thinking for many years, hence my focus on the table and dinnerware and accoutrement's for sharing meals. I am introducing this concept here now because I hope to engage a conversation about art as a social intervention and the future of communication, particularly as the Internet is developing, as a means to produce a less aggressive means of being on the planet together.

The New Web

"Something's happening here....What it is ain't exactly clear..."

I started tuning into FriendFeed a few weeks ago, and I feel like I am being whipped into a whole new world. This blog is 2 1/2 years old, my Facebook account is 1 year old, maybe? Twitter got added to my party, oh late last year. All of these services I have approached from a hmmm, cool but not quite sure how to use them, what is it, what do really want to share with all these people, most of whom I don't even know. Then, here comes FriendFeed and whoosh! I am off and running. Suddenly, I am checking out posts about social networking, conversations I actually feel I understand and can connect too.
This particular post is a response to Colin Walker's recent post which led me to Alexander van Elsas. I suggested my blogging about this is a bad idea and he says, "why?"

OK, for anybody who has been reading this news outlet for my studio knows it is mostly pictures of my work, occasional sharing of what I deem interesting news on politics and economics. I struggle to stay focused on my work, an old idea. Focus. Getting things done... Creating goals, seeing through an idea, a thesis, developing my skill as a craftswoman, etc. etc. The Internet is inherently disruptive. It interrupts the flow of work in numerous ways. Today I read email is the new snail mail. (can't remember where or I would post a link). Access to this conversation is limited to; 1) one's ability to own or access a computer and an online service, 2) one's facility in learning how to use the tools currently available- Adaptivity. When Gutenberg invented the printing press, the first book published was a 1000 year old tome, the Bible. Most agree a seminal work. I argue the current communication revolution is still in its very formative period, but moving along very quickly. As such, it is almost impossible for non-professionals to stay abreast and current - a multiple problem.

I am interested in the conversation and even more interested in where this is all going. I look forward to expanding how I communicate, how I engage and if Doug Englebart is correct, in the evolution of my own intelligence and consciousness. The games, they have begun...

350 Make a Choice

What do I do, what can I do, each day, to reverse the impact of global warming?

Madras

I am exploring madras, in my plates, layering glazes, crossing stripes, like that. In the process, I am finding out more about Madras, India and the textile itself. I have just started the anthropological exploration but my aesthetic journey is well under way.

MAD in Manhattan

My work is being featured in the window of Avventura, a fabulous glass and ceramic store on New York City's upper west side, 81st and Amsterdam. Thank you Scott for a beautiful display and thanks, George, for the wonderful photos!

My Two Best Friends...

photo courtesy of George Gruel