Kristen Baumlier

NEWS

Kbaumlier is featured in The Artist’s Library – A Field Guide

Posted on May 5, 2014June 17, 2014 by Kbaumlier

A couple of years ago I participated in a project called the Library as Incubator Project. Over 100 artists were asked to answer the question, “What does the phrase ‘library as incubator’ mean to you?” I sent in a statement about my love of libraries and their role in my making process.

The cofounders and editors of the project, Erinn Batykefer and Laura Damon-Moore continued with the project and created a book that features some of the artist stories that they collected in order to suggest new ways that others can use the library to increase productivity, inspire new work, and support a creative life.

I am so honored to be in this book, and to have my writing and images featured in Chapter 3 – Using the Library for Creative Research. What is so cool is that there are exercises with my section – that are meant for the reader to try. (Or I might just try them for a new side project I want to start.)

Here is the official description of the book from the book website:

“Creativity, like information, is free to everyone who steps into a library. An offshoot of the Library as Incubator Project, The Artist’s Library offers that an artist is any person who uses creative tools to make new things, and provides the guidance and resources to make libraries come alive as spaces for art-making and cultural engagement. The book draws attention to the physical and digital collections and resources that may be of particular use to artists and writers, provides ideas for art education opportunities within libraries, and offers practical how-tos for artists and libraries alike. From the crafty (pop-up books) to the community-minded (library galleries); the documentary (photo projects) to the technically complex (“listening” to libraries via Dewey decimal frequencies), the case studies included in the book feature artists, writers, performers, and libraries that embody the “library as incubator” spirit.”

Take a peek at the writing or exercise page below:

Image Source and Links:

The Artist’s Library – A Field Guide – Coffee House Press

Youtube Video of the authors – The authors talk about libraries and artists

The Artist’s Library on Amazon

Mini Free Libraries – in NYC Phone Booths

Posted on April 8, 2014April 8, 2014 by Kbaumlier

When is the last time you used a phone booth? Or gone to the library?

The Department of Urban Betterment (DUB) was created by a group of creative individuals who wanted to explore the potential of design to improve the urban experience. Their mission is to inspire the community to take ownership of their surroundings and improve them.

One project made by DUB was a mini-library that was created inside of an unused phone booth in New York City. Designed by architect John Lock, the library shelves were detachable, and the library fit tightly inside of a phone booth. In its first installation, the books were gone within 6 days.

Similar to the Little Free Libraries created by residents in cities across the country, the phone booth library was intended to be a book-sharing system for anyone who came by. Take a book, leave a book is the general idea. For the Phone booth library, all the books were donated by local residents and the plywood was milled by Kontraptionist. You can read more about the project on dubnewyork.org or gracefulspoon.com.
Image Source and Links:

http://dubnewyork.org

http://gracefulspoon.com/blog

Little Raleigh Radio – Low Power FM with Big Plans

Posted on April 2, 2014April 8, 2014 by Kbaumlier

I recently attended a talk by the Kelly Reid and Jacob Downey, the team behind Little Raleigh Radio, a low power FM community radio station that has recently gotten up and running in Raleigh, NC. The station recently began broadcasting online from 4-8 pm each day. Eventually, the plan is to broadcast on the FM dial, once the station hears back from the FCC about when the construction permit for an LPFM transmitter on frequency 106.5 will be granted.

I found the talk to be inspirational, in that Reid and Downey started out by talking about the hidden challenges of starting a project like making a community local radio station. When they talked about the infinite to do list, and trying to balance the project, life, and work I could identify with these challenges in my current work in developing my project Food Font (which is about 70% there now.)

After the challenges, they talked about hidden resources, and about all the volunteers and community members who have showed up at just the right time. They showed images of an installation they did of the radio name written in a microphone cord in the window of Design Box, an image of the free used radio sound board they got from someone from the micropower radio station in Carrboro, NC, and about doing a Kickstarter. (“If anyone ever tells you to do a Kickstarter, make sure you really think about it. It is SO much work and was our focus for almost a year,” Reid said about their experience.

The final topic was hidden rewards, where they talked about volunteers, and their mission to make a station that “sounds like Raleigh.” Due to the changes from the Low Power Act of 2010, it became accessibile for small micropower stations to exist legally, and the paperwork they said was the easiest step of the project so far.

Eventually they plan to broadcast live 12 hours each day by the time they’re able to put up their antennae and transmitter. They are currently working to increase airtime as they put systems and support in place.

Their mission gives a great perspective of what the station sounds like:

“We think the time is right to begin the barn raising of a hyper local community radio station. We want growth you can hear. We want to satisfy listeners’ hunger for fresh audio content by building a place that is an outlet for celebrating, debating, sharing and experiencing where we are. Local is about what is 2 blocks over and 6 blocks down. Little Raleigh Radio is about hearing the community you belong to.”

They ended the talk by talking about the variety of DJs, shows, and styles on the station so far, and showed some pictures of current DJs and the station.

Links:

http://www.littleraleighradio.org/

MAD Symposium at the Drawing Center

Posted on March 10, 2014March 15, 2014 by Kbaumlier

Last year I got into reading more sites and blogs about food and culture. Last summer many sites were reporting on the MAD Symposium, an annual gathering of few hundred writers, chefs, scientists, historians and fermentation activists. This year MAD was held in Copenhagen in August, and was dedicated to the topic of “guts.” At MAD, chefs from around the world gather and discuss the challenges and responsibilities that go beyond cooking. Talks and discussions center on new questions to ask, and how to become more imaginative and inquisitive.

A new lecture series at the Drawing Center in New York brings chefs together on Mondays to talk about food, culture and other issues. I wasn’t able to attend (I am in Durham, NC) but I read a great review of the event on which listed the “top 10 quotes” of the event which focused on what it means to be a chef.

The event was moderated by Lucky Peach editor Peter Meehan and had 4 chefs and 1 author engaged in a conversation about chefs and cooking.. Some of the topics that emerged included the growing star power of chefs, whether cooks today are any better or worse than they were 10 or 20 years ago, and the impact of new cooking technologies.

You can read more about the top 10 quotes from the night from the review of the event on eater.com.

Here is a sneak peak of the topics of the top 10 quotes:

1) Batali, on the impact of food television:
2) Hanson, on how the cooking career path has changed
3) Batali, on his changing place in the restaurant community
4) Nasr, on why the food at Balthazar worked
5) Batali, on balancing customer-driven service with chef-driven vision
6) Hamilton, on shifting power dynamics:
7) Hamilton, on expansion:
8) Nasr, on his changing role as a chef:
9) Hamilton, on new cooking techniques and technologies:
10) Nasr, on the plus side of HR

Links and Image Sources:

http://eater.com/archives/2014/03/11/mad-mondays-nyc-batali-meehan-hamilton.php

http://www.finedininglovers.com/blog/news-trends/mad-mondays-coming-to-nyc/