The National Design Collective

http://blog.thenationaldesigncollective.ca/

Elephant Trunk Robot Arm

Purple People, Levellers, Secessio

The Purple People movement is an Italian group, without leadership, agenda, or funding that represents the anger many Italians feel towards Silvio Berlusconi. Apparently founded on facebook, it has resulted in large protests in Rome, calling for the removal of Mr. Berlusconi. Members of the movement are identified by their use of purple. The BBC describes the Purple People Movement as "a political movement outside of the political system...They appear to be a genuine cross-section of Italian society that has come to the conclusion that Mr Berlusconi is bad for Italy's health." They arose beacuse: "Italy's official opposition is weak and divided and is not doing its job...we have to do it for them".

This informal organ (vox populi) is made possible by the smart use of social media (facebook, txts, etc). A similar English movement in the early 17th Century called The Levellers, also took advantage of existing technologies in the form of petition and pamphlets. "The levellers were not a political party in the modern sense of the word, and did not all conform to a specific manifesto...The Levellers had no coherent agenda...there is no record of their having sat down together to develop a manifesto", they came together over a loose set values focusing on anti-corruption, greater suffrage, religious tolerance, and a clear judiciary.

Even farther back, the Plebians, during the gestatious days of the Roman Republican staged five secessio, wherein all plebians simply left the city, "an informal exercise of power"

Can governments be structured entirely in this fashion? I.e. can government be informal?


Sources:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8565265.stm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secessio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levellers

"Feds Deem Pedestrians, Cyclists and Motorists Equals"

"In what amounts to a sea change for the Department of Transportation, the automobile will no longer be the prime consideration in federal transportation planning."

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/03/lahood-policy-statement/#ixzz0imAaNyqM

"The Gothic Ornamentation of Tomorrow"

Cambridge 800, By Ross Ashton (source)

"Picture a nighttime war protest where hundreds of people have pico projectors showing graphic images of devastation on every available surface."

- on the use of pico projectors in political protests.(Source)

Fort St Angelo, Malta. May 2005 by Ross Ashton (source)

"PIGI slide projection across 450 metres from one side of the the harbour to the castle on the opposite shore. 8 projectors are combined to create these images."

Link to Artist

Thanks to BLDGBLOG for the title.

"Augmented-reality drop-down menus are the Gothic ornamentation of tomorrow" (2)

VBS.tv

From the section on Liberia:

"Nearly 70 percent of Liberia’s female population has been raped, but that horrifying figure just begins to describe the depths of Liberia’s depravity. There’s also the not-minor issue of cannibalism" (2)

Huge collection of relevant but under-reported contemporary issues.

"VBS.tv is an online television network owned by the Vice media conglomerate. The network produces original, short-form, documentary-style video content. Subject matter includes humanitarian issues, music, insider travel guides, and news. The creative director of the network is Spike Jonze." (1)

http://www.vbs.tv/

Responsive Mirrors - Audience - rAndom International

Audience - rAndom International from Chris O'Shea on Vimeo.

source

Live Data - Real-time Ship Tracking Worldwide

Real-time tracking of ships using AIS system Shows route, ship dimensions, photos, company, etc.
Link
Link 2