As the world tweets

To those not paying attention to world news in the days leading up to the Iranian election, it appeared as if nothing was wrong, especially in the social-networking world. Twitter’s trending topics included Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon, the iPhone and PETA. We all went to bed, only to wake up the next morning to absolute tweet carnage. Timelines were flooded with things with tags like #IranElection, #Tehran, and #FreeIran, and suddenly the Twitterverse was launched headfirst into a global sociopolitical crisis, whether it liked it or not.

The government of Iran was running around shutting out foreign journalists and blocking Internet access and cell phones, but some people could still access Twitter. And with murky, incomplete, or simply no information coming out of Iran, mainstream news outlets turned to the website for facts.

The problem with that is, Twitter can be accessed by anyone. Anybody can post anything, and if it’s sensational enough a message might get picked up and re-posted hundreds or thousands of times, even if it has no basis in fact or reality or anything else. Initially the hailstorm of tweets was considered groundbreaking by all parties involved, including mega-news conglomerates. Civilian journalism! Telling it like it is! The word from the streets! It was all just so good to talk about, Twitter overthrowing a regime! People on Twitter said three million people were protesting in Tehran. They said things like “The losing candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, was put under house arrest,” and “The president of the election monitoring committee declared the election invalid on Saturday.”

But as time wore on and real news slowly started to trickle out of the region, things as reported by Twitter started to come under fire. It was looking more like thousands of protestors, not three million. There was no house arrest for Mousavi, he was just being watched. There was no declaration of a bad election. Things are not always as the Internet says they are — a hard pill for most of the 25-and-under set to swallow.

The problems with Twitter in relation to Iran are thus: It’s unrestricted, it doesn’t support Farsi characters, and there’s a mob mentality that can push misinformation into the headlines. Anybody can post anything without any consequences, and if it gets picked up and retweeted by hundreds or thousands of people, that misinformation can become as referenced (or more-referenced) than what little real reporting is coming out of a hostile region. The sobering truth is that 50 million screaming bloggers can all be dead wrong.

Posted by Julia Fitzgerald on 6/29/2009 12:00:52 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

Ménage à Tweet

With Facebook, Skype, Youtube, BlogSpot/WordPress and now Twitter, the world is experiencing the most rapid, significant technological shift in post-millennium modern culture. High school and college students, businessmen and women, politicians, Hollywood starts and local poets are in constant tête-à-tête with Twitter. Some criticize it as an electronic consortium for narcissists to dispose of their feelings, their self-proclaimed brilliant insights, and their insignificant daily agendas. We jump back and forth on this one all the time; to tweet or not to be a twit? Is that the question?

Turns out Twitter’s fronting a global movement towards creative collaboration. Who knew?

Thanks to Twitter, you can instantaneously know what’s up with your sister on the other side of the country. With Twitter, companies are speaking directly to their communities. Yes, Twitter is the cause of headings like: “Perez Hilton and John Mayer face off on Twitter.” Go ahead, mock it — it’s damn easy to — but know that Twitter’s also a leading instrument in exposing live footage and commentary from around the world. As seen just this morning on Huffington Post: “The Iranian Revolution Will Not Be Televised — It’ll Be Twittered.”

Take that!

So, folks are tweeting on laptops, iPhones, and Blackberries all around the world. You can’t get away from it. But aside from the fact that you thought Star Trek was better than predicted, that you just stubbed your toe, that you’re heading to a divine brunch spot and didn’t invite us, or that you’re standing behind Clint Eastwood in the checkout lane at CVS, what else is it good for? (Seriously though — what’s he buying?!)

Now check this out: Detroit poet M.L. Liebler is on board with the Twitter hype. If anyone knows how to be heard, it’s this guy. Liebler’s hooked up with two young Detroit poets, Cassie Poe and LaShaun “Phoenix” Moore, to utilize Twitter as a vehicle for their poetic voices. The trio is in process of writing an ongoing collaborative poem through the end of the month. As they tweet fresh, insightful lines, the public can watch the poem grow. This is a dynamic, organic, communal work in progress that can be instantaneously shared with everyone else riding the Tweet Train.

“Summer in Motown,” is the name of the poem, which Libeler started on June 8, at exactly 6:53 a.m. “Beneath the dark clouds of capitalism and broken industry, Detroit seeks a new tomorrow through the poetry of life and the art of work.”

Moore responds the following morning (at a more reasonable hour — 9:36 a.m.): “Eagerly, Detroit retraces her steps, remembers the steel strength in her back, the glory days of her black bottom paradise.”

Later that evening, Poe tweets to move the poem along:

“Forcing her limbs through the ashes of her own bones, you’ll find her being reborn on street corners. Artistry will be her new name.”

For Detroit and all other cities around the world that are feeling the nervous energy of economic depression or the hot hand of authority’s oppression this summer, artistry in our actions and efforts to communicate and connect will indeed be vital. These three poets know that too well already.

Liebler, Moore and Poe are bringing us this hip pop-culture piece in conjunction with Springfed Arts and the Scarab Club’s Twitter Page: PoeTweet.

Twitter, what are you going to do with it? — Sara Axelrod

Posted by Travis R. Wright on 6/23/2009 4:25:42 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

RUNWAY A LA VINTAGE

by Sara Axelrod

Shopping sprees may not be an option right now — that’s just time and money we don’t have. Still, we’ll subject ourselves to a buying Bazaar to peek at the latest trends and essential pieces for fall.

We melted at the hot Fall 2009 runway. Jean Paul Gaultier’s modern interpretation of a flight jacket — a belted croc with high fur collar — was just brilliant. Alas, we can’t all have that Hermes bomber jacket right off the runway from Paris’s Fall 2009 Fashion Week. Dream big. Sure. Spend big — dream on.

Fall tends are on fire with popping colors, bold patters and awesome prints. And now, a secret. Louis Vuitton, Balmain, Dries Can Noten, Alexander Wang — all lead characters in haute couture culture — have one thing in common: they look to classic trends from the past to make their trendy styles timeless. Their inspiration comes from vintage fashions, just as your wardrobe should . . . to save money, recycle perfectly good items of clothing, and look fabulous.

Vintage is vintage. Whether you can have that new Hermes bomber jacket or not, you can appreciate its glamor for its historic roots. The bomber jacket has been alive longer than you! That’s the fun of vintage fashion –– it is art, it is history, it is timeless.

Detroit’s filled with vintage driven hot spots and if you're already into that sorta thing, you know what Lost & Found Vintage has in store for area fashionistas. For those who already adore the Royal Oak mecca of vintage goods, and for those who curiosity is now firmly piqued, there's a big event they’ve been planning that you might want to check out.

This Sunday, June 21, at Cliff Bell’s (the gorgeous speakeasy on Park Ave. downtown Detroit) is Siren’s of the Solstice, a three part fashion show.

It might not have the exclusive glamour of Paris Fashion Week –– but it will have popping colors, bold patters and a diverse array of high-end, retro, and psychedelic fashion from the '40s to '70s. It’s this stuff — the real vintage deal –– that inspires the chich, classic and fresh designs showing at Paris, Milan and New York Fashion Week.

This Lost & Found presentation sounds pretty fun and couldn't be set in a better venue. The colorful show will be accompanied by the very funky Brad Hales, one of Detroit’s favorite DJs. Then retro rockers The Fondas will keep the night rolling.

If you can spare the dough it's just $10 for entry, but keep in mind that proceeds (all or some, we're not sure) will go to Arts and Scraps, a admirable program that recycles left over industrial elements of Detroit to create art with Detroit’s youth.

The rundown:

Fashion: Lost & Found three-part vintage fashion show

Music: DJ Brad Hales & The Fondas

Cause:Fundraiser for Arts & Scraps

When: Sunday, June 21. Doors @ 8 p.m., show begins @ 9 p.m.

Where: Cliff Bell’s: 2030 Park Ave., Detroit; 313.961.2543; cliffbells.com.

Posted by Travis R. Wright on 6/19/2009 11:11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

DAM GARDENS!

Can you picture one of those immaculately unkempt gardens you see illustrated in children's books, the ones wrought with twisted branches and serpentine vines? They remind me of the minds of some artists I know — beautiful, dense and tangled. Navigating their headspace requires interpreting their art — but at least they give us a map.

The Detroit Artists Market delivers a unique perspective that’s easy to navigate, and stays true to an artistic path. On Thursday, June 18, from 4 to 8 p.m., the DAM will host the annual Garden Party and Art Sale; a dig-able opportunity to explore some area artists, and perhaps acquire some of their work.

Ensuring our interest in the aesthetics of everyday life stays intact, artists whose work will be on display take time with seemingly mundane objects, interpreting their potential with a clever sensibility.

Where translucent wine bottles usually end up at the bottom of a recycling bin, or worse, a garbage can, Lucille Olechowski seemingly transforms them into perfectly imperfect tattooed sea-worn carafes.

The Morton’s kosher salt container — that box in the cupboard your doctor tells you is not your best friend — is the subject of Don Wieland’s panting. His pop perspective is as familiar yet disorienting, like Warhol’s Campbell’s Tomato Soup cans but more fantastical than commercial.

Where a flower is but one of the hundreds we pass by on our daily commutes, Patricia Izzo investigates every curve, wrinkle and fold of a lonely, though striking and vortexual group of petals.

More than 100 Detroit area artists will be displaying and selling their work at DAM’s Garden Party — if your walls are embarrassingly bare, you wouldn’t want to pass this up.

Also in the garden will be the Hot Club of Detroit, a popular band of Django disciples set to throw some much-welcome jazz into the scene. This evening of art and entertainment (and, yes, refreshments) will take place in the beautiful garden of DAM’s former board president, Linda Axe, and the home she shares with her husband John Axe in Grosse Pointe Farms.

You’ll need your membership for free entrance to the party. We hear members should R.S.V.P at 313-832-8540. If you’re not a member, call up and join now — the Detroit Artists Market will allow you to join at the door, because they’re nice like that.

In the meantime, we want to urge the importance of slowing down and taking time out of your busy day to look at this world for all of its funky and colloquial beauty. Also, the Detroit Artists Market’s upcoming exhibition, “From a Different Perspective,” opens June 26, and runs through July 25.

DAM Garden Party and Art Sale: Thursday, June 18, 4 to 8 p.m., 481 Kercheval Street, Grosse Pointe Farms; 313-832-8540; detroitartistsmarket.org.

Don Wieland

Patricia Izzo

Patricia Olechowski

Posted by Travis R. Wright on 6/17/2009 2:08:41 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

MIDTOWN IS THE PLACE

Sad but true, the Detroit Festival of the Arts is not being produced this year.

In a moment of creative re-birth, the University Cultural Center Association (UCCA) and Wayne State University (WSU) kick off their new summer series, Midsummer Nights in Midtown, tonight! The festivities continue every Thursday, Friday and Saturday in June. Thanks for planning ourmonth for us.

There's a ton of cool cultural programing on the docket. From family activities, aerial dance, avant-garde jazz and international music to award winning poets and authors, you won't be at a loss for arts and culture. While catching some street painting and street theatre you'll be introduced (or re-introduced, hopefully) to Midtown Detroit's acclaimed collection of museams, galleries and entertainment venues.

Remember: Admission is free all month!

We're looking forward to browsing around the Detroit Artists Market's 2009 All-Media Exhibition, which features 48 Detroit and Michigan artists. It's free to see and all the art is for sale - paintings, sculptures, photography, metal, clay, glass, you name it. And Thursday night, you can see Caravan of Thieves and Tally Hall there.

One June 6 at theScarab Club, Mark Doty read peoms from FIre to Fire along with other recent and favorite works. This is a must for us.

Couldn't afford that trip to the French Riviera? Well, that's OK, 'cause the French are coming to us at the Detroit Institute of Arts on June 12. Hailing from Paris, France is L&O, a French chansons/swing ensemble. Accompanying them is a medley of history and art called "The Role of Drawing in the Eightteenth Century." Excercise your aesthetic eye as you learn how artistic innovations came out of Napoleon's reign during the socio-political mayhem of the French Revolution. Or just enjoy the swingers . . .

There's almost too much going on! We mean that in a good way. Here are some highlights:

Please refrain from calling him Theo! Jazz bassist Malcom Jamal Warner
brings the noise to the G.R. N'Namdi Gallery tonight, June 4.
Show starts at 9:30 p.m.

Award winning poet Mark Doty performs at the Scarab Club on Saturday, June 6 at the Midsummer LitFest, which not only offers up a nine hour sale( noon to 9 p.m.) of Wayne State University Press book but from 5:30 till at least midnight., poets and authors such as M.L. Liebler, Faruq Z. Bey, Mary Jo Firth Gillett, NYC jazz poet Barry Wallenstein and slam champ Aire Dee will perform among several others. Doty takes the mic at 8 p.m. and Tonja Dudley Bagwell hosts the MDW LitFest open mic at 11 p.m. Check out the schedule.

Hudson Vagabond Puppets, Saturday, June 13. Shows at 4:30, 6:30
& 8:30 p.m. at the Detroit Science Center

East Village Opera Co. perform on the Ellington Lawn (Mack Avenue just east of Woodward) at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 20.
Later that Saturday night (June 20), at 10:30 p.m., the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
& Project Bandaloop (an aerial dance company) perform.

New York's Slavic Soul Party bring aBalkan/Gypsy/Latin
amalgamation of kinetic cultural rhythms to the
Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) on Friday,
June 26. Shows at 9:30 & 11:15 p.m.