Spotted in Philly - graffiti-style design/lettering done not with spray paint but indentations in the grating.

Labels: art, citylife, design, philadelphia

So I have juuust about two weeks to go to reach my $500 goal for Phone-Tastic View, and I am halfway there. Halfway there, folks! If I don't reach the full $500 by September 10, I don't get any money at all. Which would be very sad and tragic and painful and angsty and all that.

So I'm putting out a call and a new Backer Reward. As longtime readers of my blog, you've probably been following my ups and downs and random thoughts for quite some time. i could truly use your help.

In trying economic times, I completely understand if giving a little money is not possible at the moment. But if you're able to share just $5--yes, folks, a mere five dollars--I will write your name somewhere on the installation, where it will literally become part of my work for the three-day festival. And I'll photograph it so you can see it in situ (if you're not in the NYC area).

Support your favorite crazy conceptual social media Zen poet artist today! Just click on the image above to back this project. I have some 250+ regular readers, and if even half of you gave $5, my increasingly-odd artistic vision will be realized.

Labels: art, personal

...wasted.

Labels: citylife, design, humor, new york

Spent the day at DIA:Beacon, a lovely contemporary art museum about an hour north of the city. There were a number of comfortable couches scattered about, tucked back against walls where you didn't have to worry about getting in the way. It got me thinking about the recent Times piece about how museumgoers rarely spend more than a minute looking at any one piece, and Shelley Bernstein's observation that most people stay glued to educational videos about an art piece before them, rather than looking at the piece itself.

As I sat back on the comfortable couches and casually read through the informational sheets about each artist's creative direction, I had to wonder what would happen if we installed comfy couches everywhere. We live in a very sedentary world, sitting in front of computers all day and sitting in traffic listening to the radio before getting home to sit in front of a TV. Our culture has come to associate engaged viewing with engaged sitting. Maybe the reason no one stops very long to look at art is simple: Goshdarnit, there's nowhere to sit but that hard bench in the middle of the room.

Labels: art, culture, design

I have a new post/essay out in Art21 blog. The editors asked me to contribute to a Flash Point and address the theme of Fantasy. Since one of the Fantasy artists is Cao Fei, who put together one of my favorite photo series of all time, I decide to write about her work, and about cosplay:

I’ll let you in on a secret: I’m a bit of a cosplay fanatic. Yes, these days I sport DKNY glasses and sleek monochromatic clothing, but my urban fashionability is merely a cloak for a tremendous amount of geekery. To be fair, I don’t cosplay myself. When I was most active, I served more as the tagalong, helping with costumes and the like, and these days, I focus on photographing others, rather than participating myself.

But there will always be a special place in my heart for cosplay, so you’ll understand my excitement when I first stumbled upon Cao Fei’s visual work at The Thirteen: Chinese Video Now, a group exhibition at PS1 three years ago. In the video, cosplayers venture through the streets of a rapidly-growing but desolate Guangzhou, acting out epic battles while the normalcy of the city chugs along. In both her photos and videos, we see cosplayers outside the glitzy-geekery of anime and comic conventions and immersed in the context of the everyday.

Read more here

I did want to expand a bit on the ideas I cover in the essay. It occurred to me that a good analogy for an art-by-everyone approach is that of the potluck. Everyone's been to a potluck. And everyone knows there's a broad range of talent/effort, from that gal who just brings chips and dip to that guy who could win Top Chef blindfolded. The thing is, none of this would have happened if the hostess hadn't announced the potluck in the first place. So crowdsourced art, or art created by anyone, is a bit like a potluck.


Oh, and two reminders:

* The discount for Maryann Devine's course on arts blogging expires this Saturday. Be sure to sign up!

* Have you donated to your favorite blogger/artist/social media-ist lately? Get a cool print of the NYC skyline in return. I'm only 15% to my fundraising goal, and I need your help! I'm not a businessperson by nature so every dollar helps.

Labels: art, news

Photo by BJ Watkins


You know that guy (or gal)? You're doing something amazing, or just having dinner with friends, or just generally enjoying life, only to have that one guy whose nose is down and he's busy texting? You know that gal (and we're probably all guilty of being that person at one point in our lives)--she just keeps texting, or looking up info on her smartphone, and just can't seem to live the moment without her phone?

I want to explore that issue a bit with an installation that satisfies both texting junkies and those who want to see a stunning view. I'm calling it "Phone-tastic View"-- a site-specific physical installation with a mobile phone component--, and I'm showing it during the 13th Annual DUMBO Art Under the Bridge Festival, Sept 25-27.

Want to support my work? I'm trying out a new site called Kickstarter.com, which is like crowdsourced fundraising for arts projects. I'm hoping to raise funds to get the installation going. Textmarks.com has generously donated a pro account for my use during the festival, but I need your help with the physical components. Learn more by clicking on the below.

Labels: art, new york

A power outlet on the Boltbus, and a screenshot of two wireless signals, one from the bus itself and one provided for anyone in the city. I remember taking 17-hour plane rides across the Pacific Ocean, and all we had for entertainment was a book, a Walkman and a mildly-interesting in-flight movie. Taking the Amtrak through the Midwest was even more spartan, and for a longer trip.

Where do we draw the border between a luxury and an expected amenity? No one served drinks on my 2-hour bus ride from Philadelphia back to New York, but at least I got a wifi signal.

Labels: culture, internet, philadelphia, technology, travel

Artist-commissioned Pabst Blue Ribbon columns at a subway stop in Philadelphia. "Only in Philly," my friend told me.

It got me thinking again about beverages as identity markers, not just for individuals but for cities and geographic regions. Perhaps because beverages make their way into our daily life much more than food. Food plays a role in life 2-3 times a day, but drinks are nearly constant. We drink on the go and between and after meals, and we tend to drink the same thing even while we try to add variety to our food.


See also: Presidential beverage choices [WSJ]

Labels: citylife, culture, design, food

This is Part 2 of my interview with Stefan Goodreau, current five-day Jeopardy! champion. If you missed it, be sure to visit Part 1.



So tell me a little bit more about the fan groups that have sprung up.

There's two fan groups created on Facebook. One has a little under 70. One has over 100. I joined both of them. I personally like the former one better because the pictures of me were taken by people from their television screens.

The other one took my picture of me with Alex Trebek. I made that my profile picture on Facebook so that those people adding me as a friend would be sure I was the guy on Jeopardy. Whoever made this group took that picture of me and used that as their group's photo. I just didn't like the fact that this photo that belongs to me was suddenly being used on some fan group's thing. I figured it was a personal thing and no one would use it. Then surprise surprise.

[Editor's note: that picture has since been replaced.]


It's like Chris Anderson says: information wants to be free. But why no picture on Twitter?

I haven't gotten around to it yet. I don't have a digital camera of my own. I took a picture of myself Friday night. I put a post-it on my head reading "What is Whiffenpoof Cheese?" I thought it was funny at first, but then I just hated it when I looked on the computer. Once I figure out exactly how I want to present myself in this one picture, I'll do it. I haven't gotten to that point yet.


Any other Jeopardy champions on social media?

I've never been that big of a fanatic to seek them out. I've never been one to join fan groups anyway. The first thing I became a fan of on Facebook was my own college recording arts program. It's not something I did before.


Until it was about you.

*laughs* Yeah. I joined those groups so they could be aware that I am actually noticing the stuff they're saying about me. Not because I'm a fan of myself!


What's it been like to see what people are saying but also talk back?

I get to poke fun at people who are vastly incorrect about their assumptions about me but do it gently so I can sway them to my way. @NoahLampert said, "I hate this dude stefan on jeopardy so much" after I lost $20,000 in Final Jeopardy. I apologized, tongue in cheek. He asked me why I wagered so much on a cheese-related clue, and I explained that I only had the category of "Food" to wager by. Then he declared he was rooting for me and even congratulated me on a nice comeback when I won from second place in my fifth game.

And I said okay, that was a success. I certainly don't expect to convert anyone who's not in favor of my continuing success on Jeopardy. But every once in a while, it's fun to be able to talk back to these people.


Any tweets you've enjoyed?

Just as a whole, I've enjoyed it. There's no one that really stands out in my mind. Just the fact that I can scroll through and find 15 comments about me in the course of a minute of searching. I just think it's funny to get this general idea of how people feel about me.


I really like the one comparing you to Zack Morris from Saved By the Bell. But you're right, there would have been no way to get a sense of what viewers thought about you before.

Yeah. You could only gauge public reaction by being noticed by someone in public who recognizes you. And that's fairly limited because I don't know what percentage of the American public actually watches Jeopardy. It would appear I've not encountered that percentage.


Maybe not, but who's the 8th President?

Martin Van Buren.

Capital of Lesotho?

Maseru. I think.

*looks it up on Wikipedia* Yes, yes, it is.

Yay!


Okay, you're going into your sixth game. You've told me that 10 people in the past six years (since they lifted the ban on playing past five games) have actually won their sixth game or more. How are you feeling going into this?

Honestly, I'm going into it with the same attitude. I think it's within the realm of possibility to win and to lose. And I'll just do my best and bring plenty of changes of clothes in case I get lucky again.

When's the air date?

September 14th.

Will you be checking Twitter?

Probably. *smiles* Who knows if I'll completely fall out of love with it in the next month.

I certainly will be checking. Good luck, Stefan, and thanks for taking some time to chat!

Labels: culture, internet, interview, television

The week of July 20, Los Angeles-based video game tester and camp counselor Stefan Goodreau, whom I've been friends with forever, surprised everyone by becoming a five-day Jeopardy! champion, finishing the season not just with $84,870 and five days of memorable games (three of which were runaways by the Final Jeopardy round), but with quotables like "Whiffenpoof Cheese," "Well that's just ducky" and "the Sound of Silence" and a spontaneous following on Twitter and Facebook. He's slated to return September 14, when he will be defending his championship against two contestants who I'm sure are trembling at the prospect of taking on somebody many have called the next Ken Jennings.

What most fascinated me about this experience was less his actual play (having known Stefan and his sticky memory forever, I wasn't surprised by his success) and more the buzz on social media that's helped define his performance. Women have declared their love, men declare him their bud. Some absolutely hate him. He's a surfer dude, Spicoli, a Norse God, Malibu Ken, and so much more. Even teen drama star Lauren Collins found herself a little starstruck, and a quick search on Google reveals a number of spam pages capitalizing on the buzz.

So, social media nerd that I am, I sat down with Stefan in the exclusive first interview since his successful week to talk a little bit about life as a Jeopardy! champion in a social media world.


Obviously, with such a fun performance, you gained a lot of fans. How did they reach you?

I don't remember when everything started happening. But the next day, I got up and got on Facebook and discovered that I was the recipient of several messages as well as a bunch of friend requests.

Then I went to work and checked my email and you had emailed me a bunch of Twitter updates that mentioned me in one way or another. At that point I became addicted to Twitter. I was constantly searching for my name, for Jeopardy and going through all the posts that had been made since July 20th, my first air date.

I've received hundreds of friend requests on Facebook and a couple handfuls on both my personal and music MySpace pages. And I've got some 100 followers on Twitter. I kind of had to make that happen myself. No one knew this @sgraps guy talking about Jeopardy was the guy on TV until I started posting responses. And from there, people started getting pointed in my direction. Then I decided to put my name on my Twitter account. That's how my followers have swelled
up.


Without Twitter or Facebook, how might things be different?

I take the bus twice a week, and both times in this past week I haven't gotten any sort of recognition while I'm in public. I also go out and get fast food with my coworkers during our break at nine, and no one has recognized me yet. I'm guessing the reactions that I would personally receive would have been far more limited in a time before Facebook or Twitter, or if I had no Facebook or Twitter, or if I didn't know about Twitter.


So how does a reigning five-day Jeopardy champion keep up with his following?

Some people have messaged me on Facebook. I vastly prefer personal messages over simple friend requests. I want to talk to people who want to talk to me, not just people who want to have a Jeopardy champion on their friends list. I'll respond to someone's message, they'll write back, and we'll have a little conversation. I find those far more enriching.

I'm not interested in my Facebook page becoming a public thing. I want my Facebook page to be a place where I interact with just friends and family and not where my updates and pictures are broadcast to everyone who's seen me on television and followed the whim to add me as a friend.


But Twitter...

It's a different thing, Twitter. It never was conceived as a personal thing. It's always been very public. Twitter feels more like a soapbox than Facebook ever did. I figured I'll use that as my little soapbox to say little things about Jeopardy or clarifications to people who've had misconceptions about me on Jeopardy. My public face is on Twitter.




Stay tuned for part 2 of my interview later this week, where we discuss fan groups, drinking (and spitting out) the haterade, and the everything-is-free ethos of Web 2.0. In the mean time, be sure to follow Stefan on Twitter at @sgraps.

Labels: culture, internet, interview, television