April 2012
13 posts
8 tags
That took less time than we predicted!
We’ve got graffiti! We are not surprised, but we are surprised by some of the conversations that have evolved out of the writing on the posters. It was an interesting exercise to present the altered images to the students and ask them to respond. Here’s what they seem to have decided: Graffiti is in the spirit of the project. For someone to tag the images is a real statement of...
Apr 30th
2 notes
4 tags
VCU STARCRAFT JUST BEAT MIT TO MOVE ON TO THE... →
Our time. Right now.
Apr 28th
9 notes
6 tags
And...they're up.
Right now most posters are on the construction site across from Harris Hall. Some are in various buildings on campus, some are in Shockoe Bottom, and some are located in the first floor windows of Offender Aid and Restoration downtown. Our flickr site. Our Inside Out Page.
Apr 27th
2 notes
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Inside Out photos go up tomorrow.
  In February of this year I led my students to the digital camera checkout in our library and then turned them loose on the city of Richmond. It was a risky venture, which seems riskier even today then it did three months ago. This week, as we received our printed images, I realized exactly what seems so dangerous about this project: it gives students the power to tell the stories of...
Apr 26th
4 notes
8 tags
Speaking of art...
Steven Holl Architects has unveiled the design for VCU’s new Institute of Contemporary Art, and I absolutely love it. —— Image from: “Virginia Commonwealth University Unveils Design for New Multidisciplinary Arts Institution Designed by Steven Holl Architects.” StevenHoll.com. Steven Holl Architects. 25 April 2012. Web. Accessed same date.
Apr 25th
5 tags
Ai Weiwei Retrospective at the Hirshhorn →
Get excited by reading this!
Apr 25th
6 tags
Fabric and Fiber, Samoa 2011.
Fale ceiling, Upolu. Fabric shop, Apia. Corina, Apia. the workshop. Uniforms and tablecloths, Lotofaga Primary School. Coconut fibers, Apia Market. Woven mats, Apia. —— Images my own, June 2011.
Apr 24th
4 notes
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“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment...”
– Martin Luther King. —— Today marks the 49th year since the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Today I will facilitate a support group at Offender Aid and Restoration of Richmond, as I do every Monday. I say “facilitate,”...
Apr 16th
3 tags
We're headed to WVa this weekend.
We will be helping with learning about chickens, bees, and anything else that needs tending to which we’ve ambitiously over-committed. I will not be blogging. 
Apr 13th
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“We have a database of nerds, malingerers, autists, and data-keepers…And...”
– -John Hodgman What a generous offer. I accept.  —— “Driving Ms. Drowsy.” Judge John Hodgman, officiating. Judge John Hodgman. MaximumFun, 23 Nov. 2011. Web. 10 Apr. 2012. 
Apr 10th
1 note
7 tags
The Shockoe Examiner →
It’s back after quite some time dormant. Ray Bonis, one of the authors and archivist at VCU libraries, has been helping my students with some fascinating research projects. Check out the SE, which has just posted some great historical footage of Richmond. 
Apr 8th
1 note
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Inside Out Richmond
Throughout this semester my students have looked at Richmond and at other urban environments to assess community planning and the considerations and compromises we all engage in when we choose to live as a group. It’s an interesting unit. Students are used to feeling like individuals, and they (like many of us) make the assumption that we do our best to live as separately as possible. They’re not...
Apr 8th
1 note
6 tags
“I pray that no F.B.I. agent, criminal profiler or (worst of all) news pundit...”
– Geoff Nicholson “The Perils of Literary Profiling.” NyTimes.com. The New York Times. 28 Jan. 2011. Web.  I’ve been reading about crime a great deal lately.
Apr 6th