Connectable Dots

“Protection from mind altering waves”
My foil hat for the evening, shot by pinhole

On Thursday we had a local San Francisco Flickr meetup.

Cygnoir proposed a hats theme - hats and masks for October - and it was easier to bring a roll of tin foil — ok, aluminum foil of course — to work for the day than to bring an amusing hat.

One of my favorite ‘net lore concepts is the tinfoil hat to protect the brain from alien (or government) radiation — and it is so easy to make one. Some clever satirist and/or opportunist has created this illuminating item, now on sale over at Amazon. If you haven’t seen it, the cover, description and especially the reader comments — hilarious customer reviews with differing degrees of being in on the joke of it all — are great:
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1581603762

Or for a simple stand-alone academic website that has just the right tone, see this MIT study: http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/

This image is called “draped #2…”, and it was originally uploaded by Bruce Grant at Flickr.
I came across this shot at Flickr ths morning, and realized that the emotional impact has to do with a sequential exposure to one photographer’s work. In this case, I have become friends with Bruce, but I think it holds for people I have little knowledge of as well.

Here’s what I posted in my comment to the photographer, who incidentally is unfolding a largely abstract but context-laden epic on two photosharing sites in tandem:

i just took a sharp breath. i love the emotional reach of the tarp folds and the logical framework of the steel. that much would read to me in black and white. but then the steel is colorful — that’s like spock laughing or weeping. out of nowhere the rigid grid is singing.

question to self: if i didn’t know about the drapery, construction and grid themes, would this be as thrilling? is there a sequential drama to watching a photographer’s work online that adds a dimension, that makes this a new artistic venture altogether?

sorry to get so wordy. how exciting to see.

The words I threw out remind me of all I learned about online interaction and addiction from Scott McCloud’s groudbreaking work, “Understanding Comics.” It’s a book (in comics form of course) about the evolution and meaning of sequential images mixed with words. Which is of course something we are doing on our blogs and our social photo sites.

Just as comics is a form of its own, not a series of captioned images, continuity in socially networked photoblogging makes this take on the qualities of a new and distinct art form.

I can find meaning because I have learned a new vocalbulary. In this case, I have learned Bruce Grant enough to laugh with amused pleasure when several of his “concerns” and themes colide in one basically pretty esoteric and semi-abstract picture.

It’s a new art because it has an intrinsic timeline.

These four astonishing images are from cassidy, jef, stoneth and lawatt… four talented photographers who participate on Flickr and are part of a group show at the Brickhouse Bar and Cafe in SF Thursday August 31!
We’re calling this one Foto2 plus 1 - it’s an invitational show and a photographic Social-Networking experiment.

Here’s the premise: Each member of the group who from the July Foto 2.0 show at the Brickhouse Café got one Invite to offer to another online photographer to bring two prints to hang at the Café this round.

The idea is to play with visual social networking with prints, at your friendly neighborhood bar. Will we be able to see the photographic and social connections? Can we do anything as powerful as friends and faves in physical and print space?

Let’s find out! Please drop by an interesting art event and party Thurs if you are in San Francisco. Or have a look at this gallery of images.

The Brickhouse Bar and Café, 426 Brannan btwn 3rd and 4th streets, SF. Prints up Aug 16 – Sept 18; Come party Thurs, Aug 31, 7 — 10pm!
More logistics at http://upcoming.org/event/96103/