Kristen Baumlier

Ever feel like someone is watching you?  In the Great Britain, there is one surveillance for every six people in the country. To explore issues of surveillance, the Spanish artist SpY recently installed 150 CCTV cameras on a building façade in Madrid  The fake security cameras were put up to “not watch over anything,” as the artist writes on his website.

SpY has been doing projects in urban spaces for over twenty years starting with graffiti and public intervention art.   His ideas stems from the observation of the city and how to use irony and humor to get others to think.

You can see more images of the making and installation of the piece, and see others of SpY’s work on his website.

Image Source and Links:

Cameras – www.spy-urbanart.com

 

Earlier this summer, MonkeyLectric did a Kickstarter campaign for their Monkey Light Pro, which provides bicycle riders with the ability to show short gif animations on their bike wheels.

Want to show off a rainbow pattern, beating heart, or logo on your bike?  The Monkey Light Pro uses both LED light bars made of 256 full color LEDs and web-based technology in order to create animated images on bike wheels that are shown as you pedal.

The images of the device in action really shows how it works, so check out the images below. Users can use premade animations, and also can create their own from jpg, gif, avi, mov and other files and control what plays with a online playlist control.

 

 

 

 

 

Images and Links:

http://www.monkeylectric.com/monkey_light_pro/

 

 

 

 

So what is going on in current practices of creative activism? I recently read an update on the Kulturlabor Trial & Error website about a new handbook about creative activism created by Masta magazine. The handbook is a collection of creative activism and is intended to inspire others to move from thinking to doing. In the handbook, there are stories shared by collectives and activists that include different methodologies, best practices, experiences, advice, anecdotes, tips and tricks.

The handbook is meant to function as an online community and publication for youth educators, activists, artists, community facilitators and others who are interested in socially engaged change. Some of the collectives and activists that have participated include yay@flautas, F*ck for forest, Partizaning, Molestar.org, Karsay Dorottya and Dainis Ozoliņš and others from Germany, Spain, Holland, and other European countries. The Handbook is an open document, and more action reports and interviews can be added as it grows.
I checked out the handbook, and some of the groups that I found interesting included HUMOENLACIUDAD, a group that created engaging signs in public space and a project called the Teilnahmerei, a meeting space and series of events in Germany where everything was free of charge.

Some interesting projects in Spain included #Porrablock,when hundreds of thousands of citizens surrounded the Spanish Parliament asking for politicians to resign, and brought an edible baton (in Spanish “porras-churros” a typical Spanish food); and Ayuntañecos, a series of public puppet shows that were done in front of a popular Spanish bank in order to bring awareness to unjust home evictions in 2012.

The Handbook is an open process, so you can still contribute to the publication, so if you are a creative activist who wants to share an action report, contact the project at editor@mastazine.net. Please note that the handbook will not include projects that explores a superficial way, so no performances of “free hugs” or dance flashmobs.

The Mašta Handbook – practical guide to creative activism was made possible with help of financial support from the Council of Europe – European Youth Foundation.

Image Source and Links:

http://www.mastazine.net/handbook