“Works in Progress” highlights artists across a range of disciplines whose work deals with ecological themes. Considering the particular role that artists play in the climate movement, this column shares their voices and provides a glimpse behind the curtain into their creative processes and experiences.
As the summer warms up, bringing with it sleeveless tops, Xiao Meili, a women’s rights advocate, is collecting photos of women’s armpits. Her goal: to challenge a growing belief in China that a woman must have hair-free armpits to be attractive.
Text by Seth Cohen
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On Friday night, as U.S. television screens burned with images of peaceful protests turning violent, Nike released a new socially conscious ad calling on Americans to do something quite different than the brand’s usual call to “Just Do It.” Instead, one of the nation’s leading athletic apparel companies called on individuals to not turn their back on the painful issue of racism in the United States.
A satirical TV comedy show caused a security alert after coming within yards of George Bush's hotel at a top-level government conference in Australia.
The Chaser's War on Everything, which airs on the ABC network, sent a team to the Apec summit in Sydney with spoof security passes saying "joke", "insecurity" and "It's pretty obvious this isn't a real pass".
Musicals for Change is a project aimed at educating elementary children to be active participants in the world through theater. Written by Diane Beckstead, these musicals promote uplifting messages about the importance of community, the arts, and helping each other, while raising support for worthy causes.
On Christmas day in 1993, kids were finding more than they bargained for under their trees: Mattel’s new talking Barbie dolls growled “Dead men tell no lies,” while Hasbro’s macho GI Joe’s chirped “I love to shop with you.”
President of Taiwan, leader of the Democratic Progressive Party(DDP), Tsai Ing-wen, at a press conference with no early forecast on August 28, 2020, announcing that from January 1, 2021, American pigs containing ractopamine (Ractopamine) will be opened for those over 30 months old U.S. cattle are imported. Furthermore, the administrative order has only a 7-day notice period.
Oh, to be a crow.
Maligned as scavengers that torment their dead brethren. Portrayed as aerial killers in the 1963 Alfred Hitchcock classic, “The Birds.”
In France, though, the wily crow is getting a makeover. Puy du Fou, a historical theme park in the Loire region about four hours from Paris, has trained six crows to pick up cigarette butts and bits of trash and dump them in a box.
Mon Dieu! Are the pigeons of Paris next?
The US artist Nan Goldin has staged her first public protest since she launched her activist group PAIN (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now), shaming members of the Sackler family who have profited from the sale of Oxycontin and institutions that have accepted their philanthropy.
Throughout the weekend, big box stores across the country were stocked with an unexpected item: “The Justice Kavanaugh Boof Kit.” The item, an alcohol enema kit (known as “boofing” or “butt chugging”), appeared on dozens of retailer’s shelves over the weekend in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minneapolis, and Detroit. Some of the stores included Walmart, Target, Bevmo and other major super market chains.
Emory Douglas joined the Black Panthers in January 1967 at the age of 23, just three months after Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the party. Douglas, who had studied graphic design at San Francisco City College, swiftly became the organization’s minister of culture and the art director in charge of its eponymous newspaper.
Following her sensational first ablum dedicated to the Black queer community via house and dance music, act i: RENAISSANCE, Beyonce released act ii: COWBOY CARTER in late March . The album is speculated to have come from her 2017/2018 performance of "Daddy Issues" at the Country Music Awards with the Dixie Chicks where the artist felt "unwelcomed".
The survival of bees in the world is threatened and the extinction of bees is a serious threat to the human race too. Over the past few years, it seems that bees have a greater chance of survival in cities than in rural areas where they are heavily threatened by pesticides used in agriculture. For this reason, this project aims to create a safety area, as a sort of haven for all species of bees on a roof in Staatsliedenbuurt in Amsterdam.
Troy, Michigan couldn't afford to keep its library open, so it scheduled a vote for a tax increase. A strong anti-tax group waged a dominating campaign against it. Posing as a political group, an outside advertising agency posted signs around town that said, "Vote to close Troy library Aug 2, book burning party Aug 5." We invited everyone to our Facebook page, adding Twitter, Foursquare, want ads, flyers and more to drive engagement.
Pursuing the possibility of emancipatory use of technology, Paglen, together with Jacob Appelbaum, developed Autonomy Cube (2014). Autonomy Cube is a sculpture and internet router designed to be housed in civic spaces. The sculpture is meant to be both “seen” and “used.” Formally it references Hans Haacke's 'Condensation Cube' (1963-65).
In 1982, for documenta 7, Beuys proposed a plan to plant 7000 oaks throughout the city of Kassel, each paired with a basalt stone. The 7000 stones were piled up on the lawn in front of the Museum Fridericianum with the idea that the pile would shrink every time a tree was planted. The project, seen locally as a gesture towards green urban renewal, took five years to complete and has spread to other cities around the world.
By throwing away 1,000 pure gold rice grains into a river, a Chinese artist, who wanted to raise public awareness about food waste, found his behavior was not well received by the general public who called the performance "fake art and a waste of money."
RACC Satellite Space in Garden City
1205 Franklin Avenue, 3rd Floor, Garden City, NY 11530
June 26, 10 am – July 28, 7 pm
Monday – Friday, 10 am – 7 pm, free admission
Please write to racc.ny@mail.ru or call (347) 662 1456
The artist is available for interviews
Cut and Paint is a website with free access to a wide variety of visual designs that can be printed out, cut, and used as graffiti stencils anywhere. Access to a variety of resolutions of each design is free for all, and there is a standing invitation for artist-activists to contribute their own designs for others to use.