Kbaumlier

Author: Kbaumlier

Kristen Baumlier’s work spans the full spectrum of interdisciplinary media, including performance, interactive installation, video and audio works.

Closet Swap: Sustainable Fashion in the Here and Now

Posted on March 28, 2012March 28, 2012 by Kbaumlier

When my friend Knut was at the Game Developer Conference a couple of weeks ago, he texted me a link to a new website and app called Closet Swap, where you can you exchange clothes with others. To use the site, you make a login and then make a virtual closet with pictures of your clothes that you own, so that you can lend out and eventually borrow from others.

The site is an initiative to promote sustainable fashion, upcyling, and sharing instead of purchasing. On Closet swap, there is a section that talks about the garment industry and the reasons behind why clothing is so cheap. Cheap labor, poor working conditions, and the global scale of most clothing manufacturing makes it so we can afford to get more clothes at cheaper prices.

Closet Swap is the intersection of fashion and sustainability. The project promotes the respect of people and the environment. It also aims to get others to think more about our clothes and how we wear, buy, and use them. The site is considered to be something to “play” like a game, and has promotions, contests, and other resources to promote awareness and playing closetswap.

Got a sweater you don’t wear often? Got your eye on someone else’s shoes? Make an account with Closet swap and see if you can be part of a community where sharing and swapping replace purchasing and buying. As the site reads, “ Don’t shop – swap!”

Image Source:
Closet Swap Website

Links:

Closet Swap Website

Closet Swap App for Iphone

What would it be like with rain in your house? I Wish You Hadn’t Asked

Posted on March 27, 2012March 28, 2012 by Kbaumlier

What would be like if rain was to fall inside of your house instead of outside? I Wish You Hadn’t Asked, an artwork created in Denmark explores this idea and is a house where over 300,000 liters of water enter the structure as part of the piece.

The project is the work of the group The Glue Societyand was made for the Sculpture By the Sea Festival in Denmark. The fully furnished house was built, shipped in and outfitted with pipes that drop over 200 liters of water per minute into the rooms of the house.

The water is recycled – and is a semi-closed system, with pumps that get the water into the structure. As the artists say the piece explores the idea of “that moment in a relationship when something is said, or done, that can’t be taken back. And the rot sets in.”

A the beginning of the show, visitors could walk through (either wearing or not wearing a raincoat) but overtime it will not be safe to occupy.

The Glue Society is an independent creative collective based in Sydney and New York. It was founded in 1998 by Gary Freedman and Jonathan Kneebone and now includes five other writers, directors and artists: Matt Devine, Luke Crethar, James Dive, Pete Baker and Paul Bruty.

Image Source:
www.gluesociety.com

Links:

www.gluesociety.com

Crop Mobs – In Your Town and Mine

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Kbaumlier

Recreational farming has been on the rise, with more and more individuals spending weekends and free time working on farms. Crop Mobs, sometimes called Farm Mobs, offer the experience of sustainable community farming to those who don’t have land. Crop Mob groups have popped up all over the U.S. including Chapel Hill, Atlanta, Cleveland, and other cities and have helped many smaller and younger farms in growing and harvesting food.

Generally a monthly word-of-mouth (and Web) event, volunteer head out to a farm to help mulch, build greenhouses and pull rocks out of fields. Participants are usually in their 20s or 30s, college educated, and usually work in the office during the week. Usually no previous experience is required, and bringing your own shovels and hoes is encouraged. Sometimes lunch is served in exchange for work.

A first group called Crop Mob began in the Chapel Hill area in North Carolina in 2008 when a group of 19 farmers, some apprentices, and other volunteers met at Piedmont Biofarm in Pittsboro, NC to harvest sweet potatoes. Each year since, the crop mob returns to the farm every October for the sweet potato harvest. Today there are over 50 people who show up to the Crob Mob events.

Since that first Crop Mob, there have been more than 50 groups that have popped up. Much of the rapid growth is attributed to an article in the New York Times that was published in 2010.

Want to get your hands in the dirt and work on the farm? Check out the cropmob website where you can get connected and learn about what opportunities for Crop Mobbing are happening near your neighborhood.
Image Source:
cropmob.org/

Links:
cropmob.org/

Field Report: Plow Shares – New York Times Article

Want to be a Social Citizen? Millennials Making Positive Change

Posted on March 25, 2012March 26, 2012 by Kbaumlier

In the past two years I have noticed a change in my students. My students today are different than my students I had even three years ago in terms of their attitudes, skills, and values. To improve my teaching, I have been reading upon millennial generation in order to better understand and teach my students.

The term Social Citizens is a name for the new generation of activists of the millennial generation who are working to make change in the world using technology. Passionate about social causes and equipped with digital tools, some of the millennials are working to make change in the world.

The website socialcitizens.org in 2008 released a discussion paper about young people affecting civil engagement, and termed it Social Citizens.

Some issues they investigated with the site were whether institutions can and will survive, if social networks are “bubble cultures” that need to be expanded, if access is granted or taken, and whether government matters.

The outcome of interviews showed that young people feel they have no access to decision makers and decision making, particularly with regard to public policy, that most social networks are cliques and not open, and that millennials value peer relationships over institutional loyalty.

What to become a social citizen, or read about the morals of the millennials? The site, blog, and original paper are an interesting read that I found to be hopeful since most of my students have no interest in creating change, and on the whole do not seem to believe that they can affect policy and the world.

Image Source:

www.tusconcitizen.com
www.casefoundation.org/

Links:

http://www.socialcitizens.org

http://www.casefoundation.org/

Engineered Corn and Sea Monkeys: The Center for PostNatural History

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Kbaumlier

The Center for PostNatural History opened in its permanent exhibition facility in Pittsburgh earlier this month. The Center for PostNatural History (CPNH) is a center that is dedicated to the research and exhibition of lifeforms that have been altered by humans. The CPNH has examples of diorama, taxidermy, photography and living exhibits. Some exhibits have included engineered corn, Sea Monkeys, modified Chestnut Trees, and BioSteel Goats.

The center explores the intersection of humanity and biological sciences through changing and traveling exhibits. Currently on display is a poster series produced by the Center for Genomic Gastronomy which catalogues the diversity of genetically modified fruits and vegetables available in the US and European Union. Other exhibitions included a show about the transgenic mosquitos of Southern California, and a show that explored a selection of techniques and technologies that have been used to prevent organisms from reproducing. In May there will be an exhibit about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault which was produced by a group of American and Norwegian researchers who visited the worlds largest repository of domesticated food crop seeds.

There is a Center for PostNatural History Introduction Video that is worth checking out on Vimeo and if you happen to be in Pittsburgh, the Center for PostNatural History will be open Sundays 12-6 and also for select events. Appointments may be made by contacting the CPNH by email: rich@postnatural.org.

Image Source:
The Center for PostNatural History Website

Links:

The Center for PostNatural History Website

The Center for PostNatural History: An Introduction – Video