1% for the People

Many folks are familiar with the ‘1% for the Planet’ initiative -- in a nutshell, it is a group of business that recognize that their commercial viability and the livlihood of their customers depends on natural resources.  These businesses have pledged 1% of their sales to fund environmental initiatives.  There are over 900 of them in the United States alone; Patagonia, maker of adventure clothing and gear, is one of the better known.

Here at Blue Boat Home Design’s world headquarters, we’ve also decided to donate 1% of our sales to worthwhile organizations.  Specifically, we’re calling it ‘1% for the People’ -- in short, 1% of our sales will go toward organizations that work towards fulfilling our mission to help people gather together and understand one another.

In 2009, 1% of our sales went towards Tim DeChristopher’s legal defense fund.  This year (2010), the donation went toward KRCL, a local public radio station that not only plays great music, has no advertising, and actively challenges the entrenched conservative politics in Utah (interestingly, although not surprisingly, GOP Representatives from Utah have unanimously voted to end funding for public radio).

If you also believe in having an independent voice unaffected by corporate interest giving you your news, then donate here.



http://www.peacefuluprising.org/climate-trial 

http://www.onepercentfortheplanet.org/en/ 

http://www.examiner.com/political-buzz-in-salt-lake-city/utah-votes-along-party-lines-to-cut-npr-funding 

http://www.krcl.org/ 

Alcohol in Utah: a grant proposal

The following is an excerpt from a recent grant proposal I submitted-- although it hasn't been fabricated or approved (yet), I hope it will help inspire some mature dialog about the role of alcohol in society.  The request was made by Utah's Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (DABC), which owns and operates all of the liquor stores in the state.  For those unfamiliar with the Promised Land, think of it like going to the DMV to get a bottle of wine.

4 views of the proposed sculpture

Summary
The DABC has the wonderful opportunity to support the arts and establish a distinct visual presence at its new stores across the state.  I propose to build a permanent outdoor sculpture of steel and concrete that depicts the plants from which beer, wine, and spirits are made.

The Site
If Utahns are anything, they are connected to their land.  Many of our traditions and livelihood depend directly upon it.  In fact, just blocks away from the Holladay Liquor Store there are community gardens and horse pastures.  Even our license plates show the rocks and the weather that make Utah a world famous destination.  Without the natural ecosystems of Utah and the land that support them, we would literally loose our sense of place.

I think it would be interesting to show the link between the land and the things that the DABC sells.  Many of the plants from which beer, wine, and spirits are made are grown in Utah; we have our own vineyards and breweries which are familiar to the store’s patrons.  Although I’ve presented this sculpture in the context of the Holladay store, will work thematically and visually with any of the other sites available should they be found to be more appropriate venues.

Sculpture on-site at one of the liquor stores

The Sculpture
In this proposal I include conceptual images of a sculpture placed on the Holladay store grounds.  It will be approximately 4 feet wide by 4 feet deep and 7 feet tall.

It is comprised of a square concrete base on top of which are permanently mounted four steel panels forming an enclosed box.  Cut out of each panel are depictions of specific plants that are key ingredients for some of the products sold in the Liquor Store.  For example, barley and hops are crucial in the beer making process and are aesthetically powerful images when rendered out of the steel plates.  In addition, the names of the plants will be inscribed on the concrete base.

The design of the sculpture is such that maintenance will be kept to a minimum.  The steel will develop a deep red rust patina and is of a gauge thick enough that the metal will not be structurally compromised.  The concrete base will also be reinforced and treated to avoid cracking and deterioration.

The Woolf Table, completed

My collaboration with Stefanie Dykes referencing Virginia Woolf, recently completed --

A log of the process can be found at:
http://blueboathome.blogspot.com/2011/02/woolf-table.html
http://blueboathome.blogspot.com/2011/03/woolf-table-part-2.html

Traveling Benches, completed

For a log of the process, take a look at:
http://blueboathome.blogspot.com/2010/11/traveling-benches-part-2.html
http://blueboathome.blogspot.com/2010/10/travelling-benches-part-1.html

Exit Through the Gift Shop

From IMDB:


The story of how an eccentric French shop keeper and amateur film maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner. The film contains footage of Banksy, Shephard Fairey, Invader and many of the world's most infamous graffiti artists at work. 






What if this film isn’t a documentary?  I tend to fall on the side of those who believe the character Mr. Brainwash (although he actually exists, and his shows actually happened) was a creation for the film, Spinal-Tap style. 


What would be a better way to comment on the ridiculousness that is the modern art scene than to fabricate an artist?  Banksy has done this sort of performance/art before, specifically placing fake (and in my opinion more engaging) art in famous museums alongside the legitimate works on display.


Mr. Brainwash’s art is so redundant of other famous modern artists’ work (Warhol, Basquiat, Fairey, and Banksy himself) that to create him as a legitimate artist with a body of work, shows, and actual sales is the ultimate prank on the contemporary art establishment and its love affair with street art.


I’m not the first person to have this opinion, but I think it does make the film much more interesting.  Too bad it narrowly missed an Oscar for  Best Documentary.

The Court of Public Opinion

'The Court of Public Opinion' 

I’ve become more and more convinced (and more and more hopeful that I’m wrong) that we can get people to do anything if we throw enough fear or money at them.  Campaign finance reform, though it doesn't sound particularly exciting, is a crucial application of this dynamic.

There is certainly a correlation (although the direction of causation may be in question) between the amount of money spent on a presidential campaign and the likelihood of a candidate winning.  NPR found that:

In presidential primaries, money is usually the sign of a winner. Since 1980, the best-financed candidate has won eight out of the 10 contested primaries.

My intuition says that more money means more media presence, hence more people convinced to vote for that candidate.  Or, it may be that winners are a sign of money.  Steven Levitt, the author of Freakonomics, has a fascinating rebuttal of NPR's line of thinking.   I’m not sure that it can be extrapolated to the office of the presidency, though; the race to the POTUS seems to have many more dynamics at play.  How else could we explain that a corrupt dimwit from almost-Russia was a viable threat in the polls to a president of the Harvard Law Review?

Despite the direction of causality, the role money plays in a democracy is an important and potentially problematic one.  

The Woolf Table, part 2

Progress on the Woolf Table: