Sunday 15 December 2013

The Procrastinator (some) Times Sunday 15th of December Edition


EDITORIAL

This edition of The Procrastinator is harder better, stronger, but not faster. It's a long one. Since we are taking our Christmas holidays we wanted to make this edition special. Ideally you will have enough content to procrastinate meaningfully for the next three weeks. Additionally to the regular sections, you have nice recommendations of photography expos to visit in December/January in New York curated by Andreína in Photoautomat; an amazing Christmas Gifts Guide by La Guía del Perro and our favorite part: our predictions for 2014. Intrigued? Good. Keep reading!

Thanks for your support and hope to see you all back in 2014. If you don't follow us in twitter, go ahead, we're (kinda) fun; if you want to collaborate with us, please do so; and of course, have an awesome Christmas and a beautiful 2014!

Happy Sunday and happy reading.



NEWS

Photo via The New Yorker.

Mandela's Politics of Forgiveness. Jelani Cobb writes in The New Yorker: "it’s one thing to make forgiveness an element of a humanitarian movement; it’s quite another to enact it as public policy. King sagely and sincerely presented racial reconciliation as a function of Christian love; Mandela knew that beyond his own spiritual inclinations racial reconciliation was an imperative of national survival." Certainly, as Cobb says, Mandela emerged at a rare point in history where idealism and pragmatism were practically indistinguishable. In my humble opinion, even though is the hardest thing to do, that is the only thing a broken country can do to be healed. Read full article in The New Yorker. E.T.P. 6'

Photo via www.notonthehighstreet.com

The most successful meme. Very close to his birthday The Independent published an article about the book Who’s Bigger? Where Historical Figures Really Rank (Cambridge University Press, 2013), that declares Jesus as the most influential person ever. The authors Steven Skiena and Charles Ward used internet-based metrics to make the claim. Jesus, the Christian Messiah, beat playwright William Shakespeare, philosopher Aristotle and Macedonian King Alexander the Great to the top spot. Notably, there are no female historical figures in the top ten." Read full article here. E.T.P. 6'


Image via Fast Company.
 
The Insanity of Bitcoin explained. Apparently the world thinks that everybody should understand Bitcoin before 2013 is over, so if you missed The Economist article we posted a couple of weeks ago, here's Fast Company's one that include a video made by Duncan Elms that promised to be "as fun as dropping a tab and hitting the planetarium for a Pink Floyd laser show"... whatever that means. It is a nice video and your E.T.P. is only 3'24'' for the video, 6' if you also read the article.



Finally The Economist presents its Calendar 2014, with a seleccion of events around the world in 2014. From Greece taking over the European Union rotating presidency and the beginning of the Chinese horse year, in January, to the release of “The Hobbit: There and Back Again”, the third in the Tolkien film trilogy, in December. Have a look here. E.T.P 7'



SCIENCE


Image via New Scientist.

Not quite sure if this news belong to the Science, the Entertainment or the yet-to-be-created WTF section: "Phoenix will be reborn – this time as a reality TV star. Mars One, a Dutch organisation based around the wacky idea of putting a human colony on the Red Planet and turning it into a TV show, says it will launch a copy of NASA's Phoenix Mars lander in 2018. How the group will fund the robotic mission is unclear but if successful, it could be the first private venture to land on Mars.
The lander would be part of a precursor mission to lay the foundations for the Martian colonists, due to arrive in 2025." Read full article in the New Scientist. E.T.P 3'


Photo The Procrastinator (some) Times.

"It is 6.06am and I’m typing this in my pyjamas. I awoke at 6.04am, walked from the bedroom to the study, switched on my computer and got to work immediately. This is unusual behaviour for me. However, it’s a tried and tested technique for enhancing creativity, long used by writers, poets and others, including the inventor Benjamin Franklin. And psychology research appears to back this up, providing an explanation for why we might be at our most creative when our minds are still emerging from the realm of sleep." Read full article by Tom Stafford in Mindhacks. E.T.P. 5'
 

DESIGN, BUSINESS & INNOVATION


Photo: Mary Barra via The New Yorker.

"Until 2002, women made up fewer than one per cent of chief executives of Fortune 500 companies. This year, that figure rose to four per cent—still dismayingly low, but a significant increase in just over a decade." Vauhini Vara and Joshua Rothman were curious, after Mary Barra’s appointment as first female C.E.O. of General Motors, about how female business leaders have talked about their experiences in the pages of The New Yorker, and here is what they found. E.T.P. 7'


Photo via WSJ Online.

Why everybody will totally read this column. "Neetzan Zimmerman doesn't like to be called a machine. That word implies something cold and inhuman about how he works, and Mr. Zimmerman believes that what makes him so good at his job is precisely the opposite sensibility: Unlike a computer, he understands the emotions that might compel a human being to click on something online." If you want to find out how this Gawker editor picks the content that goes viral you should totally read this article in The Wall Street Journal. E.T.P. 5'


Still from DARPA's You Tube.


And finally, as seen in Fast Company, Google has acquired Boston Dynamics, the MIT spin-off research company behind some of the world's most advanced robots and androids, for an undisclosed amount. What do you think Google have in store for 2014? Have a look at some of Boston Dynamics's previous projects in this article by Fast Company. E.T.P. 7'

CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT


Painting by Bo Bartlett via Fast Company.

Good news! Well, more like a confirmation for the skeptical ones. "A team of social scientists at the University of Arkansas is trying to scientifically prove the benefits of exposure to art. What they found, in a recent study published in the journals Education Next and Educational Researcher, is that students who are exposed to cultural institutions, like museums and performing arts centers, not only have higher levels of engagement with the arts but display greater tolerance, historical empathy, as well as better educational memory and critical thinking skills". Read full Jennifer Miller's article in Fast Company.


Movie still via The New Yorker


Joel and Ethan Coen’s new film Inside Llewyn Davis UK premiere is the 24th of January, and after reading Richard Brody's article it in The New Yorker is worth saving the date. Inside Llewyn Davis 'is a dramatization of an aphorism by Nietzsche about a pair of common “mistakes”: “Behind a remarkable scholar we not infrequently find an average human being, and behind an average artist we often find—a very remarkable human being.”
The Coens make no mistake in the discovery of a very remarkable human being behind an average artist, and they look upon their protagonist—a struggling folk singer in the Greenwich Village scene in 1961—with extraordinary sympathy and curiosity.' Read full article here. E.T.P. 7'


Jonas Mekas via The Atlantic.

Alexis C. Madrigal in The Atlantic tells us that one of the best websites on the Internet belongs to Jonas Mekas. "From the introductory video, in which Mekas welcomes his friends to the site and plays the bugle, to the videos of Alan Ginsberg or Mekas playing with his first Sony Camcorder, the site exudes the joy of creation." We visited and it's absolutely true, and as Mekas say "it's very exciting!" One awesome place for inspiring procrastination, updated almost daily with photos, films, documents and stories by the lovely 91 years old genius. So go ahead and read Alexis's article here (E.T.P. 3'), and visit Jonas Mekas's website here (E.T.P. 30-90').

Image via The New Yorker.


The New Yorker asked some contributors like Dan Chiasson, Teju Cole and Junot Diaz, for their favorite books they read this year. Most of them named new books, some picked older favorites. Have a look at this interesting list. Part I and Part II. E.T.P. 12' (total).


Movie still Frances Ha. Creenplay by Greta Grewig.

14 Screenwriters writing. "In the starry constellation of literary pursuits, screenwriters have always existed, reputationally if not financially, somewhere due south of novelists and maybe southeast of poets and playwrights. With their riches and big-screen credits, people who wrote for the movies used to be able to at least lord over lowly TV writers, but even that dynamic has reversed in recent years. TV writers are now routinely lauded as auteurs. Screenwriters are still screenwriters, i.e., the people who write the scripts that the directors and actors will eventually rewrite, mangle or ignore." Have a look at what Greta Grewig, Ethan Hawke and Richard Likelater have to say about screenwriting in this article in The New York Times. E.T.P. 7'

PHOTOAUTOMAT



Hello everyone. For this next three weeks of holiday procrastination this are some cool photo exhibits you can see in NYC in December/January. Hope to see you there!


ICP Museum   
1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036 

Lewis Hine

October 4, 2013–January 19, 2014

 



The Future of America: Lewis Hine's New Deal Photographs

 October 4, 2013–January 19, 2014

 


 

JFK November 22, 1963: A Bystander's View of History

October 4, 2013–January 19, 2014

 


Zoe Strauss: 10 Years

October 4, 2013–January 19, 2014

 




​Yossi Milo Gallery. 245 Tenth Avenue, New York, NY 10001
Julie Cockburn, Slight Exposure.
December 12, 2013–January 25, 2014

  yossimilo.com

 

 

Robert Mann Gallery. 25 West 26th St. Chelsea, New York, 10001.
Chip Hooper: Surf​. 
December 8, 2013–February 8, 2014

robertmann.com
 
​​
​Bonni Benrubi Gallery. 41 E 57th St, Midtown East, New York.
Massimo Vitali: Between normalities. 
 December 12, 2013–February 1, 2014


 


Pace/MacGill Gallery. 32 E 57th St. ninth floor. Midtown East. New York
Emmet​​ Gowin: Landscapes Andalucía.
November 7, 2013–January 4, 2014

Photo via PaceMacGill


Aperture Foundation. 547 West 27th Street, 4th Floor. New York, 10001.
Prix Pictet: Power.

December 05, 2013–January 30, 2014

 




The Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation

PhotoBook Awards Short List

December 05, 2013–January 30, 2014

 



Murray Guy Gallery 453 West 17th Street, New York, 10011
Barbara Probst.

November 9, 2013–December 21, 2014





Edwynn Houk Gallery 745 Fifth Aver, Ste 407, New York, NY 10151
Elliott Erwitt. Platinum Prints.
November 7, 2013–January 4, 2014

 




MoMa 11 West 53 St, New York, 10019.
New Photography 2013
September 14, 2013–January 6, 2014


*The Robert and Joyce Menschel Photography Gallery, third floor​. But if you go to the MoMa you have to visit the permanent photography collection.


The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1000 Fifth Avenue. New York, New York 10028
Julia Margaret Cameron.
August 19, 2013–January 05, 2014






The PhotoAutomat section is curated by the Brooklyn-based photographer Andreína Restrepo.    
 


IN DOG WE TRUST


Photo via Mungo & Maud



Hello dog lover! Here is our Holiday Gift Guide:

For dogs...
1) Dog Carrier by Cloud7

2) Merino dog pullover by Mungo & Maud

3) Dry food Selection Box by Lily's Kitchen

4) KONG OFF/ON Squeaker bear by KONG

5) Old School collar and lead by Best in Park




For dog lovers...
1) Leave Me Alone tee by Skreened

2) Bulldog Cookie Jar by Anthropologie

3) Petcam by Eyenimal

4) Charm Dog by Thomas Sabo

5) Pug BeanBag Cover by Freeasy



-

In Dog We Trust is curated by: Carola Melguizo from La Guía del Perro.

THE SUNDAY (SOME) TIMES



More monos by Germán here.



OUR PREDICTIONS FOR NEXT YEAR




Here in The Procrastinator we have a lot of ideas, wishful thoughts and predictions for next year, who doesn't? It's that time of year after all, so we thought it could be fun to ask our contributors, friends, and potential procrastination partners for their predictions for 2014, and here's what they share with us.

Illustration: Victoria Fernández.

"I think that 2014 is going to be the gay year. Madrid will host the World Gay Pride, some Easter Europe contries are changing there constitutions to never allow egalitarian marriage. Russia, no comments. Germany approved undefined sex on child birth certificates. A lot of illustration agencies are inviting their artists to create pieces within that subject. There's also Barilla's CEO unfortunate comments, and the IKEA ads. So, as you can see the gay theme is everywhere, but not in the usual way but because the legitimation or destruction of their rights. I feel that it's a crucial moments when postures will be defined because we not talking about minorities anymore, we're talking about a new social structure."

Victoria Fernández.
Illustrator.
Madrid, Spain.


Image via Marie James.

"Dear Procrastinator, for me 2014 will be... craftivist! We'll win the war against social inequalities and global warming stitching strong political incentives inside lovely handkerchiefs we'll offer to our politicians and cooking delicious soups made with vegetables grown in community gardens. Yummy, we can change the world!"

Marie James.
Pink Pony.
London, UK.

Photo: Linda McCartney (Eastman) via Pian.


"2013 came and went as fast as thunder! For me at least. What do I think next year will bring along?
In terms of photography, things are shifting and they will continue to shift for 2014. The whole digital camera "everyone is a photographer" thing is cooling down thanks to smart phone cameras and instagram. People that are more into taking candid shots, selfies, cat shots, baby shots, and food shots are finally getting diluted, creating a gap between them and the those with the compulsion to create images with a camera as a medium of self expression. I think photos with strong content are gonna have a big comeback, and eye candy (macros, HDR, etc) photography is gonna drop next year.
Camera brands are starting to launch more and more models that resemble old school cameras, thankfully cause they are so pretty, so it seems like maybe the whole nostalgia thing will continue to blossom next year, even photoshop now carries default color correction named after types of film. Film is not dead after all I guess, although a lot of film are still closing production.
2014 is a year for small business, personal projects, local consumption, and connecting more with people in a human level."


Andreína Restrepo.
Photographer.
Brooklyn, US.


Cartoon by Mankoff via The New Yorker.

As for me, I think is going to be a very intense year, regulation-wise. Technology is making possible a lot of amazing stuff but society will have to rethink the changing concepts of anonymity, security and personal privacy, and the legal, cultural, social and psychological implications of having a drone delivering take-away on your doormat. The NSA is listening. Google Glass is recording. 1984 might be coming 30 years later to a CCTV city near you! 

In a less intense note: I believe the FIFA World Cup will stay in South America, but not in Brazil. Tourism activity in Uruguay will triple. Celebrity political activism Russell Brand style will definitely be a thing (a virus perhaps). Tweeting trousers will be the new Atkins diet. iPhone 7s will read your mind, iPhone 8s will scan your soul. Someone, somewhere in Hollywood will pitch a studio a remake of Bladerunner. And finally, winter, as Punxsutawney Phil will confirm on the 2nd of February is going to be extremely long.


Image via Creative Review.

Now to help you build your predictions is this next three weeks here are some articles that will inspire you:

Turning Points 2014 via The New York Times
Bringing the maker revolution to Africa one Raspberry Pi at a time via Fast Co. Labs.
Pantone's Color of the Year via Creative Review
5 Ways to feed 9 billion people without ruining the planet via Fast Co. Exist.
On Smarm via Gawker.
Mind reading, Cyborgs, and fusion. What Darpa wants young scientists to work on via Fast Co. Exist.
Future Fashion via i-D.
The Top 12 Art Cities of the Future via Fast Company.


Please share your predictions in the sharing comments, and thanks again for reading!









Sunday 8 December 2013

The Procrastinator (some) Times Sunday 8th of December Edition



EDITORIAL

This was a sad week for the world, Nelson Mandela died. But as it usually happens when some really loved pass away, the past couple of days tons of articles had been published, filled with nice memories and many reasons to celebrate his life. This is a chance to read, to learn more about him and about South Africa, and specially to remember that his message has to be carried on for everyone of us. If you only have one opportunity to procrastinate this week, have a look at the news section of The Procrastinator.

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” ― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom.

Rest in peace Madiba.



NEWS 

Photo via The Guardian.

In The Guardian you can read a compilation of his most famous words, listen to a poem by Maya Angelou and watch a gallery with images from people from around the world celebrating Mandela's life. Also, the Daily Mail shared a gallery of his life in pictures (I know is the Daily Mail, but it's a good gallery). Finally It's Nice That compiled the front pages of the newspapers to show their graphic homage to Mandela.



Collage by Marta Parszeniew via VICE.

Gavin Haynes shares in VICE a very decent compilation of lesser-known facts that you will rarely find some place else. A nice reading specially now when it's the perfect time for clichés. Have a look at Haynes's article in VICE. E.T.P 7' 


Photo via npr.org

Finally NPR invite us to consider not only the legacy and achievements of Mandela, but also the rich musical associations of his life. Read full article and listen to all the songs in NPR. E.T.P. 45'

SCIENCE

Image via The Guardian.

Why it's time for brain science to ditch the 'Venus and Mars' cliché. "As hardy perennials go, there is little to beat that science hacks' favourite: the hard-wiring of male and female brains. For more than 30 years, I have seen a stream of tales about gender differences in brain structure under headlines that assure me that from birth men are innately more rational and better at map-reading than women, who are emotional, empathetic multi-taskers, useless at telling jokes. I am from Mars, apparently, while the ladies in my life are from Venus." Read full article in The Guardian. E.T.P. 7'


Photo via Gizmodo.

Genetically modified bees can make concrete instead of honey? Apparently so. "Spiders, silkworms, and honeybees are already 3D printers—and bioengineering is rapidly making that more than just a poetic metaphor. These creatures are organic examples of depositional manufacturing, and they have been domesticated and used throughout human history for specific creative ends". Read full article in Gizmodo. E.T.P. 15'