robertogreco {tumblr}

The Mind-opening Team

Mon, 13 May 2013 12:31:00 -0700

Bluebeard is my favorite Vonnegut novel. I’ve only referenced it on this Tumblr once before, but now Matt Jones posted a quote from it today, one that I’ve kept tucked away in a bookmark, and one that speaks to how change happens.

Paul Slazinger has had all his clothes and writing materials brought here. He is working on his first volume of non-fiction, to which he has given this title: _The Only Way to Have a Successful Revolution in Any Field of Human Activity_.

For what it’s worth: Slazinger claims to have learned from history that most people cannot open their minds to new ideas unless a mind-opening team with a peculiar membership goes to work on them. Otherwise, life will go on exactly as before, no matter how painful, unrealistic, unjust, ludicrous, or downright dumb that life may be.

The team must consist of three sorts of specialists, he says. Otherwise, the revolution, whether in politics or the arts of the sciences or whatever, is sure to fail.

The rarest of these specialists, he says, is an authentic genius — a person capable of having seeminly good ideas not in general circulation. ‘A genius working alone,’ he says, ‘is invariably ignored as a lunatic.’

The second sort of specialist is a lot easier to find: a highly intelligent citizen in good standing in his or her community, who understands and admires the fresh ideas of the genius, and who testifies that the genius is far from mad. ‘A person working like that alone,’ says Slazinger, ‘can only yearn out loud for changes, but fail to say what their shapes should be.’

The third sort of specialist is a person who can explain anything, no matter how complicated, to the satisfaction of most people, no matter how stupid or pigheaded they may be. ‘He will say almost anything in order to be interesting or exciting,’ says Slazinger. ‘Working alone, depending solely on his own shallow ideas, he would be regarded as being as full of shit as a Christmas turkey.’

“A revised version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity,...

Sun, 12 May 2013 17:13:01 -0700

“A revised version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity, recorded by Commander Chris Hadfield on board the International Space Station.”

"Being a good mom, being a good dad, being a good neighbor – these things are every bit as urgent and..."

Sun, 12 May 2013 12:28:13 -0700

“Being a good mom, being a good dad, being a good neighbor – these things are every bit as urgent and political as self-consciously being “radical” no?”

- Randall Szott (goes well with Charlie Loyd)

Save Yourself First; Save the Life Together, Hit Man Gurung,...

Fri, 10 May 2013 18:20:00 -0700

Save Yourself First; Save the Life Together, Hit Man Gurung, 2012 (via Artbound: “Documenting Exodus: Hit Man Gurung and Nepal’s Departing Youth”)

Descent to Heaven, Date Farmers (via Artbound: “Date...

Fri, 10 May 2013 17:44:00 -0700

Descent to Heaven, Date Farmers (via Artbound: “Date Farmers: Desert Detritus Becomes Chicano Pop Art”, which includes video)

"[W]hen profound social transformation does occur… it’s likely to take an entirely different form..."

Fri, 10 May 2013 16:59:17 -0700

“[W]hen profound social transformation does occur… it’s likely to take an entirely different form [than seizure of power].”

- David Graeber

"Afterwards, we came to refer to certain types of accomplishments as “black triangles.” These are..."

Mon, 06 May 2013 18:15:00 -0700

“Afterwards, we came to refer to certain types of accomplishments as “black triangles.” These are important accomplishments that take a lot of effort to achieve, but upon completion you don’t have much to show for it – only that more work can now proceed. It takes someone who really knows the guts of what you are doing to appreciate a black triangle.”

- Jay Barnson (via Allen)

Wandering Sounds, Atlin

Sun, 05 May 2013 14:54:05 -0700

Wandering Sounds, Atlin

The 2012 California State Flag, J. Jason Smith (Read parts one,...

Sat, 04 May 2013 17:47:28 -0700

The 2012 California State Flag, J. Jason Smith (Read parts one, two, and three of his series “State Flag Revisions: California”.)

"People don’t go online to become someone else, they go online and the network makes them into many..."

Sat, 04 May 2013 13:25:06 -0700

“People don’t go online to become someone else, they go online and the network makes them into many selves, all as true in the moment as any other, and all changing the world with their tiny ephemeral footprints, making a trillion memories none of us will ever remember to remember, all watched over by machines of loving grace.”

- Quinn Norton

65 Klusser, (another) Enzo Greco

Sat, 04 May 2013 11:28:53 -0700

65 Klusser, (another) Enzo Greco

"All cities are artificial to some extent, but LA isn’t set on top of its environment, it..."

Thu, 02 May 2013 20:59:00 -0700

“All cities are artificial to some extent, but LA isn’t set on top of its environment, it changed it.”

- Dan Houser

A Mind Forever Voyaging from The Infocom Gallery (via Howard...

Wed, 01 May 2013 19:51:00 -0700

A Mind Forever Voyaging from The Infocom Gallery (via Howard Weaver in tonight’s Snarkmarket Seminar chat)

Albert Frey (via Darren Bradley)

Wed, 01 May 2013 14:13:49 -0700

Albert Frey (via Darren Bradley)

"The emancipation of both nature and the human imagination depends first on the capacity to ‘unsay’..."

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 20:21:00 -0700

“The emancipation of both nature and the human imagination depends first on the capacity to ‘unsay’ the world and, second, on the ability to image it differently so that wonder might be brought into appearance.”

- James Corner (via Mary Ann Reilly)

Welcome to California Jane (via Fernando Maclen)

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:50:18 -0700

Welcome to California Jane (via Fernando Maclen)

Cosmonaut Vinogradov During Station Spacewalk, NASA: 2Explore

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 01:09:05 -0700

Cosmonaut Vinogradov During Station Spacewalk, NASA: 2Explore

Bioscope (more, more), Jon Stam

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:43:00 -0700

Bioscope (more, more), Jon Stam

“‘Singing Sentinels’ by London-based architect Liam Young...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:49:24 -0700

“‘Singing Sentinels’ by London-based architect Liam Young of Tomorrows Thoughts Today explores a future scenario where bio-engineered birds once again monitor the air for us.”

Silent Spring: A climate Change Acceleration Performance, Liam Young (See also “A Field Guide to the Singing Sentinels”, both items via Tim Maly)

A photo (1890) by Thomas William Smillie, photographer at the...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:06:23 -0700

A photo (1890) by Thomas William Smillie, photographer at the Smithsonian Institution, from this collection (via @atlin__)