last month i asked people on twitter whether they would allow me to take over their facebook accounts for a week. Within a half hour I had to remove the request due to the volume of incoming username and passwords. I selected two people that were in the medium friend range and appeared to use facebook in an active way, and asked for a one page "how-to" guide on how to be them before i started. Here is a description of that week in the words of one of the people i took over :: Lessons Learned from Ze Frank (Being Me) (shorter version) :: and x... gets the square - Ze Frank Wuzz Inside My Internetzz...! (same person, in more detail)

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"selling out"

A while back I taught a course at ITP/NYU called "The Creative Act" . The following year I proposed a course called "Selling Out", but circumstances (the show) made it difficult for me to commit. SVA just announced a new MFA program and has invited me to think about designing a class for them, and I'd like to resurrect this idea. And, of course, I'd like your thoughts (cuz i like you).

I won't get into the details or goals of the course quite yet, but i'd love to start by asking you a question. If you wanted to, could you (personally) "sell out" right now, and if so, how would you go about it.

UPDATE :: to be a little more clear - the course would be about exploring the relationship between commerce and creativity from an personal standpoint - what does that relationship mean to you... not a how-to guide on "selling out".

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so...the test was a pfffft

using money as an art supply didn't quite cut it. I received a single image (below) from sarah - which i quite liked, and also was sent a bunch of links to previous attempts at making art from cash. I won't speculate as to why this idea pooped the bed, but i think for the moment it will be put to rest.

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June 30, 2008

back scratching

so..."up", "down", "left", "right" doesn't work, partially because it is too crude and partially because it falls apart if the scrathchee is lying perpendicular to the scratcher .

Attempts have been made using "north" (toward the head), "south" (away from the head), "right" and "left", but again there is some confusion on the rotation of right and left in the perpendicular back scratch scenario.

An absolute placement schema has been tried using a hybrid of polar coordinates and clock based logic - "3 o'clock, midway", but the homunculus mapping of the back is poor due to to insufficient nerve density.

A model based on relative positioning requires both a direction and a distance vector. Terms like "smidgen" and "a hair" are not satisfactory for distance.

A quadrant based model looks promising: the back is divided into 4 quadrants - this way the symmetry problem is alleviated. If the scratcher is in the wrong quadrant, the scratchee can guide the scratcher using numbers (1,2,3,4) or by saying "same side, other quadrant". Within a quadrant we now have "towards spine", "away from spine", "towards head" and "away from head". The scratcher must move gradually within a quadrant but will know the general boundaries within which to work.

suggestions?

Comments (48)

June 25, 2008

taking a little vacation :)

will post (the few) entries to the money art attempt when i have gotten my mojo back. it's elusive.

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June 20, 2008

ok - perhaps a quick test? :: what can you make with $20

if anyone is game this weekend perhaps we could try a quick test of the "made of money" idea. Hudson Gardner had the idea of starting small - "what can you make with twenty dollars". The creation has to be made of the money itself - bills, coins, maybe even checks. For now there are no limitations on how you attach, bind and display. Take some pictures as documentation and send them to me at ze@zefrank.com.

Comments (14)

June 19, 2008

charity idea revised

based on your comments, here is a revision of the charity idea from yesterday. We could call it "Made of Money". Basic concept: Money is collected and used as an art supply or building material for participatory installation(s), then at the end the money is donated to a charity.

Thoughts:
- money shouldn't be damaged in the process, so no glue.
- coins could be rolled up, or put into some sort of brick for building
- although i still like the idea of building a house, we could also make mosaics, origami, sculptures, etc...
- there could be a competitive element on a local scale - where teams show of their craft, then the money could be shipped and used in a big build.

not sure if this is viable, and not promising to do it, but so far i like the fact that it is direct and simple. keep the ideas coming....

Comments (18)

merch

i know this is exceedingly silly, but for the past four years i've had an licensing deal with papyrus cards. The deal is coming to a close and as far as i know there will be no more re-prints. It's a lenticular card (my spellcheck didn't recognize that word and wanted to replace it with "testicular") - which means that it moves as you change the angle of the card. If you want to grab a meaningless product before it runs out :: How To Dance Properly - Card - Papyrus Classics - Birthday - Cards - Papyrus

Comments (19)

June 18, 2008

what shall i do with the rational triggers?

your comments here are so great i would love to do something with them. any suggestions?

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a fun charity idea

you know what would be cool? if we could build a small house out of spare change. we collect coins, then have an event where people can come and help build the house. Then when it's over the money is donated to a charity that builds/operates homeless shelters. not sure about the logistics, or how much cash would be needed. But it would be really fun to try. maybe we could cheat on the roof, and make a large fake coin..hmm... help me with the calculations!

Comments (20)

June 14, 2008

earthTV

"The world's largest and fastest growing remote-controlled professional broadcast camera network " :: there is something hypnotic about watching and listening to the cheesy music :: maybe subliminal training from our new alien overlords

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