What is SOPA anyway?

Great question!  And one that many others have asked, particularly in the past day or so.  Yesterday, January 18^th, you may have visited your favorite website (Wikipedia, Google or Wired, among others) only to discover that they were participating in a “blackout” for the day.  Sure that may have been inconvenient, but what if that one-day blackout was permanent?

SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) are two bills that have been in Congress and are set to be voted on by the Senate on January 24th.  The point of the bill is to crack down on copyright-infringement  by restricting access to sites that host pirated materials.  If passed, these bills will set regulations on web content and allow the government to block these websites from the internet or its search engines.  Giving unnecessary power to the government to control our now open and free internet is worrying to say the least.  Many sites have become active in encouraging its readers to sign petitions that will show our distaste of this bill.  Google’s “motto” for the blackout, “Stop Piracy, Not Liberty”, resonated most clearly with me.  While I appreciate an effort to protect our citizens’ privacy, I think it’s just as important to protect our citizens’ freedom of speech.

We already have many freedoms censored:  literature, art and video games all get censored on a regular basis.  When we allow one thing to be stripped of free speech, it opens the floodgates for everything else to be amended or suppressed as well.  Cutting social networks, blogs and other internet resources in turn cuts our access to knowledge and information.  With the potential to harm functionality of small businesses, it cuts jobs as well.  Most importantly, it cuts our basic constitutional right to speak our mind and be individuals in a nation of such varied cultures, races, backgrounds and lifestyles.

• 4.5 million people spoke up today and signed Google’s petition
• 103,785 people signed petitions through the We The People website (according to the White House blog).
• 25,000+ blogs on WordPress went black to support the cause
• 12,500 WordPress blogs added a “Stop Censorship” ribbon to their sites
• 50,000 sites promised participation in the online demonstration on Fight for the Future.org
• An average 2,000 calls per second were made through Engine Advocacy, a service that helps people call their local Congress members
• 4 million people used Wikimedia to look up contact information for their local representative

Our efforts are working: PIPA co-sponsor Florida Sen. Marco Rubio announced yesterday that he is withdrawing his support of the bill!  Just because the blackout is over, doesn’t mean the fight is.  Support the protest of SOPA and PIPA by spreading the word, signing a petition, making sure you Twitter this article, share it on Facebook and LinkedIn (using the buttons below this article) or re-post it on your blog* to enlighten your peers, colleagues and readers.

(*If used on a blog, simply let me know that you’re using it by emailing me a link at artfeedonline@gmail.com and you must also link back to this site!)

“What’s Hot in Fashion for 2012″
Article by Mary Alice Franklin
Posted on DigThisDesign.net
January 3, 2012.

In the article, you’ll see how these trends have been put to good use with examples by designers like Christian Soriano, Gucci, Rachel Roy and Alexander Wang, who have all used them in recent runway shows.  For even more examples of how designers are using these trends, visit our “Spring 2012 Colors & Trends” Pinterest board!

Dig This Design is the blog of national award winning Interior Designer, Patricia Davis Brown.

Don’t worry: ArtFeedOnline.com isn’t going anywhere—We’re still alive and kicking! In fact, I will be moderating a discussion about Arts Advocacy and Funding tomorrow, Thursday, March 3rd, at 9:00pm est.  The best part?  It’s on Twitter, so you can join in on the discussion!

In light of recently proposed budget cuts for public arts programming, we’ll be talking about what YOU can do to advocate for the arts and keep arts in our schools, communities and nation.  We’d love to hear what you have to say!  So use the Twitter hashtag #ArtsChat and start chatting

Take a virtual walk through a museum of your choice.  Look at the floor plan, choose your destination, mosey around the gallery and click on a work of art if it interests you.

Read about the work, read about its artist, view other work by that artist and watch related YouTube videos.  Get close and personal with every aspect of the art.
Become one with the masterpiece.

Go to town nitpicking your favorite artist’s technique and precision.  You’re no longer restricted to only viewing artwork from behind a museum stanchion that sits a few feet away from the wall.  Zoom in on whichever work of art you decide to further explore in extreme detail. With high-as-heck resolution.  Move your cursor around the work, dig on its colors, its technique and take a snapshot of detailing that you truly adore.

Save the snapshot to your account, with your own notes, to view anytime you wish in a collection that you organize and name yourself.  As if this project wasn’t interactive enough, send your collection to friends and family to view.

Sure, Google is no replacement for going to Florence, visiting the Uffizi Gallery and ogling over Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus,” but it’s a good substitute to tide you over as you collect those frequent flyer miles and get there in person.  So until then, Google is your best friend.  Hugs for Google: We’ll be BFF’s for life.

Participating Museums:

Joining the video will be 3 elemental structures that put the video and works contextually in place with Time, The World and The Museum, taking the personal accounts in the video and expanding them into constructs that are relatable to viewers through several other forms.

The online video series, which will update every Wednesday throughout 2011, will officially launch tomorrow, January 5th, with 4 videos posted. Quoted from the museum’s website, they are:

• Small Things: Associate Director Carrie Rebora Barratt looks for tiny works of art in the Museum’s collection.
• Virtuosity: Paintings conservator Michael Gallagher talks about the appeal of technical virtuosity.
• Maps: Medieval art curator Melanie Holcomb explains how maps help her make sense of the world.
• Tennessee: Video producer Christopher Noey describes how various works in the Museum bring to mind his childhood state of Tennessee.

Upcoming themes include White, Black, Religious Art, The Ideal Man, The Ideal Woman, and Light.

To view the new feature, visit www.metmuseum.org/connections.

I’d love to bring attention to the fact that NYC independent bookstores are finally being due acknowledged.  The first ever NYC Indie Bookstores Week is fast approaching.  Spread the word and support these stores that are under the stronghold of the international chains!  Taking place from November 15- 21, 2009, Independent Booksellers of New York City encourages you to step into your local indie store and promote them.

About ibNYC.org:
The IBNYC is an alliance of independent booksellers working together to promote the cultural, literary and economic benefits of shopping at New York City’s diverse collection of bookstores. We are united in our goal to keep indie bookstores thriving and raise awareness of the vital contributions that these local businesses make to the city’s rich tradition as a center of publishing and bookselling.

It’s the perfect time to poke your head into that little bookstore you’ve passed a hundred times, always saying “I have to remember to stop in there sometime.”  With an impressive 3-page events listing of readings, signings and discussions throughout the city, next week leaves you with no more excuses.  What better time to take a peek into that store than during a week that celebrates the thriving culture of independent bookstores despite rising kindle and ebook sales, Amazon purchases through the roof and chains opening on every corner?

Best yet, help jumpstart this celebration with powerhouse Arena’s kick-off party!  On November 11^th, jump on over to DUMBO, Brooklyn to check out author talks (including Kurt Andersen), live music (including Jones Street Station), refreshments (including cookies) and giveaways (including a poster signed by New Yorker cartoonist Bruce McCall) from 7-10pm.  More details here.

As a literary junkie and an art nut, I’ve been dying to check out (and work at?) powerHouse Arena.  An art publisher with a bookstore, gallery et al.  Love this.  If I can’t make it this Wednesday, I’ll absolutely get there soon.  I suggest you do as well.

In the meantime, here’s a Google Map of NYC independent bookstores.

Among my favorites is Housing Works Bookstore Café—a non-profit bookstore with an old-fashioned mahogany library-feeling décor, complete with a bar that sells wine and beer, cozy chairs and fabulous events.  The best part of all: Profits go toward helping homeless men, women and children living with HIV and AIDS in NYC by providing them with housing, meals, medical benefits and more.  Especially in the bitter cold of winter, this mission is remarkably important.

Here’s how it works:
–You email me with your answers to this week’s question at artfeedonline@gmail.com
–I enjoy reading through them and pick a winner!
–What You Get: The winner’s name, answer, website link (Etsy shop and/or blog link) and a picture of their favorite piece from their Etsy shop will be posted when the next question is listed.  The link you give me will also be permanently listed on my Links page!

That’s it! Like I said: I post a question, you get free advertising! So what are we waiting for?

Question #1: If you could be one inch tall for a day, what specific place would you most like to explore?

Email artfeedonline@gmail.com with your answers.  Use “Oct 9: One Inch” as your subject line.  Winner and new question will be announced October 16^th!  Good luck!

Enter: OneWord.com. This site is perfect for these types of nights or nights when I claim that I just don’t have the time.  Have 60 seconds?  Then I’ve got the time.

Here’s how it works: You go on the site, click “go” and the site provides you with a single word, a text box and a 60 second timer.  The rules are simple: Get as much out as you can in 60 seconds.  The point, for me, is that I don’t have time to think, only to write.  And I have no more excuses.

It reminds me of Writers’ Workshop class in high school.  Mrs. Calhoun used to make us write stream of conscious thoughts for several minutes without lifting the pen from the page.  Can’t think of anything to write?  Scribble until you can.  Or write “I can’t think of anything to write so I’m going to write about how I can’t think of anything to write…” until you do.  And it works.  Many times the repetitiveness of my written nonsense would even turn into a coherent and worthy poem.

My only complaint about OneWord.com is that the “word” is only changed every few days.  I’d love to make it a daily practice to write my 60-seconds every day.  And who knows?—maybe even more.  I think it’s about time I don’t leave it up to OneWord anymore and leave it up to myself.