For the good old days.

Click to view slideshow.

And a link to the documentary that tries to  ‘shed light on how, as a ‘letter-writing organisation, Amnesty International has changed the world and how the world has changed Amnesty International. It poses the fundamental question: has the human rights movement been able to hold back mankind’s capacity for atrocity?‘

After that, time for a bit of music:

The next video looks a bit like an American Apparel ad, but I think the song’s great, reminds me of Battles (a bit):

And a video about the science behind music (despite the fact that the description of the video sounds a bit more than pretentious, it’s worth watching):

Weclome to the working week!

The disappearance of Ai Weiwei has saddened and angered the international community. As you probably already know, the Chinese artist has been arrested by the government security police on April 3rd, and no official statement has been released since. There have been appeals, petitions, public letters, sit ins, protests, and no response.

Steven Holl and Lebbeus Woods have released statements in which they condemn the actions of the Chinese government, and yet, in the world of architecture at least, nothing’s changed. Foster + Partners would never back out of the West Kowloon development and this only proves further the paradoxical sadness of the architectural trade in the 21st century. And even if Roger Stirk Harbour + Partners had won instead, I doubt that the once leftist ideas of Richard Rogers would’ve had any impact on the practice’s approach to the politics of working under Chinese politics.

As this indeed cannot pass, read below about yet another way of protesting.

‘Hong Kong supporters of artist Ai Weiwei have come up with an ingenious – and legal – way to get their message across; by projecting giant images of the detained mainland activist onto landmark buildings, including police and government buildings.

The images – depicting the sketch of Ai first stencilled on walls in Central, Tsim Sha Tsui and elsewhere two weeks ago by a student identified only as Chin – are popping up as a police serious crime squad tries to track down the artist on criminal damage charges.

An album with 28 black and white pictures was circulating on Facebook yesterday showing images with the words “Who’s afraid of Ai Weiwei?” projected onto buildings in Wan Chai, Admiralty, and Central.’

read more, here.

1. You are not the first.

There are very few ‘firsts’ these days. Countless others have started studios, freelanced and requested internships. It can be done. #the50

4. You cannot score without a goal.

If you don’t know what you want, then how can you pursue it? Having a goal defines an end point, and subsequently, a place to start. #the50

7. Have a positive self-image.

Your self-perception is your most important asset. See yourself as the person you want to be and others will see this too. #the50

9. Curate your work.

Never stop editing your portfolio. Three strong pieces are better than ten weak ones – nobody looks for quantity, just quality. #the50

14. Never take an unpaid internship.

This is not a necessary evil – a studio that doesn’t pay their interns (at least the minimum wage) is a studio not worth working for. #the50

18. Find your local D.I.Y. store and pound shop.

These places are invaluable resources of cheap and ready-made artifacts ripe for tinkering, re-decoration and re-contextualisation. #the50

36. Boring problems lead to boring solutions.

Always interrogate your brief: re-define the question. No two briefs should be the same; a unique problem leads to a unique solution. #the50

39. Justify your decisions.

Clients fear arbitrary decisions – they want problem solving. Have a reason for everything, even if this is ‘post-rationalised’. #the50

44. If you’re going to fail, fail well.

Being ambitious means you have to take on things you think you can’t do. Failures are unfortunate, but they are sometimes necessary. #the50

and most importantly:

50. Don’t take yourself too seriously.

Take your work seriously, take the business of your craft seriously, but don’t take yourself seriously. People who do are laughed at. #the50

read the rest here.

…In the meantime, a few freshly devloped photos.

by Maground Images