Some cities have pigeons. Lima has black vultures, or gallinazos. They circle in groups overhead and perch on the city’s most emblematic buildings – the decrepit, colonial-era churches and crumbling 18th-century piles in the city’s downtown. In many ways, with their wrinkly heads and beady eyes, they remind Lima residents of the side of their city they would rather ignore: the neglect, poverty and filth.
But these carrion-eaters’ natural affinity for dead and decaying things is being turned into a virtue. Environmental authorities are giving these much-maligned birds a PR makeover, kitting them out with GoPro video cameras and GPS trackers, and giving them a new mission in the fight against fly-tipping and illegal dumping.
Samuel is one of the project’s 10 certified disease-free Coragyps atratus that have been charged with doing what they do best: sniffing out rubbish. Fitted with his tracker, he is set free above the city, where he identifies clandestine dumps and records the GPS coordinates on a live map.
"I embrace the idea that there’s a new demystification process going on between the artist and the audience…. I’d like to see what the new construction is between artist and audience. There is a breakdown personified by the rave culture of the last few years, where the audience is at least as important as whoever is playing at the rave. It’s almost like the artist is to accompany the audience and what the audience are doing. And that feeling is very much permeating music. And permeating the internet…. I don’t think we’ve even seen the tip of the iceberg. I think the potential of what the internet is going to do to society, both good and bad, is unimaginable. I think we’re actually on the cusp of something exhilarating and terrifying…. It’s an alien life form. Is there Life on Mars? Yes, it’s just landed here…. It’s going to crush our idea of what mediums are all about. It’s happening in every form…. The breakthroughs of the early part of the century, with people like [Marcel] Duchamp, they were so prescient in what they were doing and putting down. The idea that the piece of work is not finished until the audience come to it and add their own interpretation and what the piece of art is about is the grey space in the middle. That grey space in the middle is what 21st century is gonna be about."
Damn things are really popping off in the JPod of Washington’s resident Orcas. The Center for Whale Research has announced the birth of J54, the EIGHTH baby Orca to be born to the pod this year!
A typical year brings 3 new bb whales to the mix, and not since 1977 have there been this many new precious angels born to the JPod. The total population is now 84 super rad whales.
Congratulations all around for the sweet baby making and good vibes in the JPod!
Brooklyn, New York based artist Dustin Yellin compels an intense meticulousness with his layer by layer sculptures which find panels of glass with found objects, paint and photographs arranged precisely, forming a three dimensional visage of many forms.
The Department of Awesomely Good Deeds just discovered the Monster Project, an outstanding Texas-based start-up working to compensate for the loss of art programs in schools by pairing kids with professional artists from around the world. The kids draw monsters that are then sent to artists who recreate them in their own style as vibrant 3D illustrations, paintings, and even works of animation. The reworked monsters are then returned to their respective kids so they can see what their own imaginations can generate and recognize their awesome creative potential.
“As artists ourselves, we know firsthand how important that initial exposure to art can truly alter the shape of a child’s entire life,” creator Katie Johnson explains on the startup’s Kickstarter campaign. “By collaborating with the students and finding inspiration from their imaginings, we hope to help them recognize the value of their ideas and make them feel excited about the potential of their own minds.”
As of the writing of this post, the campaign has just about reached the halfway mark towards their $20,000 goal. Visit the Monster Project website to learn more about this fantastic organization and head over to Kickstarter if you’d like to support their efforts.
