guilty pleasure: online communities

i have a confession: i am addicted to facebook. i resisted for quite a while enduring "i can't believe of all people that you are not on facebook" from my friend ilisa every time i saw her. even after i succumbed, i was resistant to it, ignoring most messages and the idiotic 'pokes' and 'karma points' etc., but slowly, i learned how to find the value in the site though i must say, i still ignore anything requiring me to download a useless app [thank goodness people aren't using 'funwall' anymore!].

that said, it is not the first community website i've joined. i've been on mixi in japan for a few years, and when i joined that it was far more sophisticated than facebook. now facebook has evolved and surpassed mixi and i find i can't tolerate the annoying layers of approval screens in mixi to post anything, even sending a message. i thought mixi was a great way to stay in touch with my friends in japan, but it seems everyone has grown tired of the lack of innovation in the site and i hardly log onto it anymore.

now, i do realize that part of the attraction is unhealthy – it's an addiction. like all addictions, it's part laziness, in this case, laziness to coordinate real socializing combined with an unhealthy need for attention [an inevitable condition from living in NYC].

having real time communication tools on one page is a value add and it seems like gmail is adding similar tools at a good speed to compete. if you haven't tried video chat on gmail yet, download the plug in RIGHT NOW – the video and sound quality bests skype – no reverb using the internal mic on my laptop!

i also found that there are nooka fan sites on both mixi and facebook! search for nooka on mixi and "love nooka" on facebook. i'm not the moderator, but perhaps one of my blog readers can be proactive with populating that group with posts. let's see if this post makes membership on those groups grow:) are there any others i don't know about?

photo: sydney fairy by matthew waldman, 2007. collection of john engelen, australia.

PIECE of PEACE Tokyo

i am flattered and honored to have been invited to participate in a lego sponsored art event to raise money and awareness for unesco called "piece of peace tokyo" which opens on february 1st 2008.

many of the artists have recreated world heritage sites in lego and others will be creating 2-D work on the themes of the show or world peace.

my piece is titled: Peace Memorial for Great Buildings Lost and the following is the short message statement i wrote:

"architecture is perhaps the most human of arts and technology as it developed along side the development of permanent settlements after the advent of agriculture. I believe that more than anything, people take pride in and identify most strongly with monumental buildings as they represent the combined talents and energy of a community. Therefore, it saddens me most when great buildings and monuments are destroyed by war and unrest – and indeed, the ruins of many of these structures endure to this day as a reminder of the horror of war – silent sentinels for peace."

here is a link for the details, unfortunately only in japanese. i will see if the show will be traveling or not and update you here. official site is here, but not much info there as of this writing.

So, if you happen to be in tokyo the first week of february – check out the parco art gallery in shibuya and let me know how you enjoyed the show!

miami heist [now with party!]

i will be in a group art show concurrent with the basel art fair in miami december 5th - 9th -- miami heist. please come if you can as i will show a refreshed and edited selection from my fairy labor union memorials exhibition.

PARTY!!! Thursday December 6th, from 7-10 pm
Charcoal Studios
2135 NW 1st Ave.
Miami, FL
Wynwood District (next to Pulse Art Fair)
www.miamiheist.com