Art

A Tribe Singing For The Future

- Adam Clare

Earth Guardians are a new group which is poised to take the political music scene by storm. Xiuhtezcatl Martinez is leading the Earth Guardians around the world to take charge of the planet’s future by changing our attitude and policies. He spreads sick wisdom while dropping hot beats all while spiting hot fire!

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez is not your average kid. Dubbed the ‘Anti-Bieber,’ he is mobilizing his army of teens in 25 countries to demand greener policy from our world’s leaders. Under the banner of Earth Guardians, Xiuhtezcatl has begun mobilizing young badasses around the planet to become the ones we’ve been waiting for – a global collective of youth leadership to defend the planet.

Check it out.

Five Artists To Inspire You

- Adam Clare

Art can take so many forms and with new technologies those forms can get more and more bizarre. Over at the Creators Project they have put together a collection of artists that they think will be influential this year. If you’re looking for inspiration or you just want to see some neat art you should check it out!

2015 was a nonstop year for NONOTAK, the Paris-based design duo whose immersive, ethereal light and sound installations are commissioned internationally. Artist/illustrator Noemi Schipfer and architect/musician Takami Nakamoto can barely process their windfall: “We didn’t have time to digest what happened in 2015,” they reflect. “At some point we realized we were writing music and working on new content in different hotel rooms, in different continents, on a daily basis. Feeling like a band recording their new album on the road is great and inspiring. You get rid of all the comfort you get at home, and do something radical and spontaneous.” This year is already off to a busy start—with two installations at the Sugar Mountain festival, presented in collaboration with The Creators Project—and promises more experimentation: “[We’ll be] more focused on reflections and movements,” they say. Experience the first iteration of their new concept, PLUME, above.

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Using Art to Critique Government Spying of Citizens

- Adam Clare

Thanks to the efforts of Edward Snowden we know that illegal, immoral, and downright creepy spying by governments has been going on for years. It turns out that democratic governments around the world regular do mass surveillance of their people, something that authoritarian states are known for. Citizens have fought the spying in courts and artists have been fighting the spying the streets. This TED Talk looks at some work down in Germany (which is quite familiar with state-sponsnered spying).

In 2013, the world learned that the NSA and its UK equivalent, GCHQ, routinely spied on the German government. Amid the outrage, artists Mathias Jud and Christoph Wachter thought: Well, if they’re listening … let’s talk to them. With antennas mounted on the roof of the Swiss Embassy in Berlin’s government district, they set up an open network that let the world send messages to US and UK spies listening nearby. It’s one of three bold, often funny, and frankly subversive works detailed in this talk, which highlights the world’s growing discontent with surveillance and closed networks.

Australian Library Puts its Collection Outside

- Adam Clare

Story Wall is an art project running at the State Library of South Australia with the goal of getting more people to read. Even if people don’t read they can enjoy the library’s collection since the works are being projected on to the library itself.

“Through our conversations with the Library we were aware of things like The Treasures Wall and SA Memory and different exhibitions they had presented over time, and potential collection items that could be developed further, things like early colonial toys and donated car tyres from the Adelaide Grand Prix.

“But of course within the Library there are curators and librarians who have a deep understanding of the collections that are not of public knowledge. And we wanted to know what their ideas were, and talk about what it was going to mean for the public to hear or have those stories told in a new form,'” says Drennan.

As a result, the projections that play on the sandstone walls of the Library from sunset to midnight throughout Summer, have deep roots in South Australia’s history.

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