pangea day: “anthems”.

A couple days ago I posted “Japan Sings Turkey”, the first in Pangea Day’s new “Anthems” campaign. Each spot is an exploration of one culture’s national anthem interpreted into a short film by another country. My favourite, not so much for content but more just for the whole politically-polarized idea behind it, is “France sings USA”. I imagine the thought of a French choir singing the good ol’ “Stars and Stripes” would probably make a few Americans choke on their “freedom fries”, but the sincerity here is undeniable:

(Agency: Johannes Leonardo. Director: Laurent Briet)

Next up is “Kenya Sings India”:

(Director: Bob Nyanja)

Finally we’ve got “Australia Sings Lebanon”. This mostly makes me think Australians aren’t particularly good at humming:

(Director: Kris Moyes)

pangea day: “japan sings turkey”.

A little while ago I posted “Tank Driver”, a brilliant spot for the upcoming global film event Pangea Day. Their multicultural vibe is getting on a serious roll. For their new round of spots, agency Johannes Leonardo worked with filmmakers in certain countries to film their own citizen learning another country’s national anthem, but in their own cultural style.

In the first spot, “Japan Sings Turkey”, director Kosai Sekine brings the Turkish national anthem to life through the eyes and voice of traditional Japanese design. The the inspiration might be traditional, the distinctly modern video is simple and beautiful:

pangea day: “tank driver”.

A few months ago I posted about Pangea Day, the realization of a dream from visionary documentary filmmaker Jehane Noujaim and winner of a TED Idea Prize. The goal, simply but globally, is to unite people in the world through the power of the moving image.

As Pangea Day, May 10 2008, draws closer, they’ve embarked on a new campaign with the tag “See the World Through Someone Else’s Eyes”. The ultimate power of Pangea Day is precisely that. Despite langauge, race, and culture we have a medium in film where we can tell the story of any human being on earth, and any other human being on earth (if viewed with open mind and willing heart) can understand the other person’s life.

This latest promo film for Pangea Day, “Tank Driver”, is such a succinct and perfectly realized incarnation of this message that I’m going to shut up now and beg you to watch it:

(Agency: Johannes Leonardo, Director: The Glue Society, Production: @radical.media)

pangea day.

In 2007 Arab-American documentary filmmaker Jehane Noujaim was awarded a TED Idea Prize for her wish to “bring the world together for one day a year through the power of film.”

The realization of her dream will happen on May 10, 2008 as Pangea Day takes over the world. Professional and amateur filmmakers are needed to send in their own short films –  the only criteria being that they provoke thought, inspire others, and share pieces of their experiences with people who will never meet them. Official live viewings will be hosted in Brazil, Egypt, India, the UK, Israel, the Palestinian Territory, Rwanda and the US; a four-hour live video-conference will show a stretch of films, speakers and music to unify people through the power of common emotion. If you’re not in the host cities, then the program will also be broadcast live on TV, online, and on mobile devices or you can take part in hundreds of public viewings being organized in cities everywhere. Even better, you can get involved yourself and host a viewing of your own.

The hope is that millions of people around the world will gather outdoors, at theatres, and with their families to connect with the entire globe. The site explains it perfectly: “Movies alone can’t change the world. But the people who watch them can”. The February 15th deadline to submit your film is almost here. Get inspired by the trailer and take part:

19.20.21.

This article also appeared on Josh Spear

In 2006 the planet crossed a tipping point – more than half the world’s population now live in cities.

Focusing on 19 cities with populations greater than 20 million people at the turn of the 21st century, 19.20.21. is a 5 year initiative to study the global effects of urbanization. The project plans to use the data collected to become an indispensable tool for urban and business planning.

Since most of the world’s biggest cities lie on a coastline, the study is paying particular attention to issues related to the global warming, ocean resources, and energy distribution while also studying factors like crime dynamic and calamity risk. Once gathered, the site aims to distribute its findings in traditional channels like print and TV as well as online and in a series of seminars to be held in each of the 19 cities that were studied.

miguel cabanzo: humanflows.

This article also appeared on Josh Spear.

HumanFlows is the first of a series of projects conceived during the Visualizar workshop organized by the Medialab Prado in Madrid. Led by graphic designer Miguel Cabanzo, the on-going project takes the growing trend of visualization into the study of globalization. HumanFlows maps trends of migration in the hopes of getting insight into their causes. Rather than focus exclusively on present trends, HumanFlows gathers data from the last 15 years to create a more comprehensive picture.

Given a clear visual idea of the directions people have moved their lives (realistically and figuratively), you can’t help but wonder why. What impetus encouraged huge groups of people from point A to point B, rather than point C? It’s simple to rattle off answers like “war” and “poverty” without thought, but to look at these maps and think of how actual humans have been impacted brings issues into a more powerful and personal focus.

Though still in its nascent stages, the project kicks off with map filters such as Gross Domestic Product and Unemployment. The goal is to build on this framework with more data and to shed light on the inter-connections between the different causes for people to migrate and the impact on the nations who receive them.

learning to love you more.

This article also appeared on Josh Spear

Just as it’s title so succinctly implies, Learning To Love You More is an on-going interactive web project created by artists Harrell Fletcher and Miranda July that teaches us to explore ourselves from every angle.

 

Managed by California-based artist and designer Yuri Ono, the site challenges potential participants to complete a series of 68 assignments. New tasks are always being added and they can be completed in any order you chose. The results – whether it’s a video or picture or drawing – are submitted to the site and added to the chronicle of each task. Ranging from the artistic (#27 – Take a picture of the sun) and the anarchic (#34 – Make a protest sign and protest) to the ephemeral (#68 – Feel the news) and the sublime (#36 – Grow a garden in an unexpected spot), each new idea moves you to take on a new talent, face a new fear, or potentially dig up the past to get it done.

Since it’s creation in 2002, more than 5000 people around the world have put pieces of themselves into Learning To Love Your More. Those works have been gathered into a constantly shape-shifting exhibition and screening of the project, including a presentation at NYC’s Whitney Museum, and the project has also been documented in a new book. 

The simple power of each task and the collaboration between strangers all around the world points to one eternally poignant message. By accessing the most personal facets of your self and then having the courage to share them, you can’t help but see a beautiful truth: nobody is alone.

the art monastery.

This article originally appeared on Josh Spear

In the immortal words of Sophia Petrillo…Picture it: Italy, 2008. In the green hillside of Calvi dell’Umbria sits a cherished 17th century Baroque convent. A group of artists, dedicated to their passion for finding new ways to communicate and collaborate, have come together to create, imagine, inspire and tend the walled garden that grows their food. At the end of the day, they meet together to sing a Gregorian chant before bedtime. Sounds a little too good to be true, doesn’t it?

This idyllic “life as art vision” is about to be realized by The Art Monastery Project. Soon Californian artist couple Peter Fülling and Betsy McCall will lead 30 artists to Italy and bring this dream to reality. Over the next few years they hope to build a community of artists and musicians, allowed to live in the monastery in exchange for renovating and caring for the property. Those retreating there, both visitors and long-term residents, will share a regular schedule (not unlike the convent’s former residents) designed to focus their minds and add fuel to their creative fires.

After searching 25 locations in Italy, there were formally invited by the Mayor of Calvi dell’Umbria to use the convent following a June 2007 visit of 30 artists that included a concert in the town’s oldest church, dancing in the piazza, and a great deal of wine.

McCall says their goal is to foster “an intentional community where the depth of collaboration and vitality of discussion produces genuinely transformative art.” Wow.

If it wasn’t for my lease (and job… and goldfish…), I’d be heading for the Alitalia terminal right now.

jeremy huchison: we are multicolored.

This article also appeared on Josh Spear

As digital artist in residence for the NYC’s Lower East Side Tenement Museum, graphic artist Jeremy Huchison’s latest project is a study of what happens when people explore the grandiosities of nationality in a more personal light.

We Are Multicolored asks visitors to answer three simple questions “Where is your home?” “What other country has affected you?” and “Where have you dreamed of going?” Supplied with the flags of the three nations you answered, you then use the project’s design tool to develop your own personal flag.

By distilling their own experiences and self-image through the globally-recognized act of producing a flag, each person is given a chance to investigate which nationalities, cultures, and plain ol’ personal design styles they would choose to represent that essence of themselves to the rest of the world.

Every time a personal flag is created it’s added to a “superflag” – a continuously shifting tapestry made of all the flags created on the site. Users can click on any individual flag to learn about the person it represents and why they chose the nations they did.

Here’s my flag. It sucks but it means well. Aside from telling us that I should never pursue a career as a graphic design or flagmaker, it’s made up from the flags of Canada (where I live), Sweden (where I want to live), and Madagascar (where the best vanilla comes from).

jun tsuzuki: synchronicity.

As the world gets flatter, it’s not shocking how many new ways we find to reach out to strangers around the world. This time the surprise is that we’re not doing it with messages of the once-in-a-lifetime, but of the everyday.

In 2005 Jun Tsuzuki began Synchronicity – an online snapshot of what folks around the world are doing at the exact same instant. The project gives a pre-determined time and at that exact moment you take a pic of whatever you’re honestly doing: sitting, driving, eating Cheerios…It’s the addictive banality of Twitter mixed with the permanency of a photograph. Except that the goal isn’t to capture an epic moment, but a collaborative moment – the recognition and proof that all of us, everywhere, must be doing something all the time. Normally something boring.While you’re watching Heroes some dude in Copenhagen is eating a sandwich – oh wow! Still, it’s that very commonality that’s so interesting. Despite how mundane these shared moments may seem the result of comparing this one-second of our global daily life is totally fascinating.

Synchronicity is an on-going project open to everyone with a clock and a camera. Even if you’ve got nothing better to do than floss and walk the dog, the world wants to see. Unless you want to masturbate – in which case Xtube wants to see.

Via Cool Hunting