iWhatever*

Branding is not an art form and certainly not content-sensitive in any way. Your every street billboard and glossy advertisement should sufficiently prove the point (and should you still feel a need to verify, please check back with your neighbourhood convenience store only guided by whatever commercial pops into your head while shopping for shopping’s sake if you will). It’s the mechanism of mass manipulation, the gesture that means You!, which does the job. It’s a blueprint for success (“My sunglasses are good for my image.” – Samsonite) that gets played on in many variations for the sole purpose of being recognized – the pathetic joy of allowed discovery shaking hands with the mutually wilful employment of the half-conscious. Admit it: you love being victimized, don’t you?
Well, for the producer in you, here’s a wink: turn it around and make it work for you and your ego (remember: “My sunglasses are good for my image.”?). Turn your self into a brand for others to consume, a set part and distributable portion of it, and try to live it as a deal – professional, slick, and strictly one-way. iWhatever* could be just you! Try anyone?

(*no guarantee to this post but please, let me know if it works, ok?)

(pic©Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation)

winning awards

As you know, I am talking about the arts here, so please, no confusion over what I do and do not have in mind when talking about “profitability”. Benchmarks for success are manifold and can only be individually verified – but as far as definitions go, well, that job’s been done before hasn’t it? Money as credit certainly counts for one, popularity its social equivalent (though it is common knowledge how there exists a fair degree of interchangeability between the two), and what about happiness? Its pursuit is a guaranteed civil right as laid down in the U.S. Constitution, and it sure is desirable. And the best thing about it: it doesn’t take a jury to decide and bestow, but will arrive at your heart’s doorstep simply of its own accord (or not).
Now to the matter at hand, this post is about winning awards. There are millions of opportunities, some of them highly prestigious and relevant, others not so, you know the story. What makes me wonder is the complicity of those seemingly above such concerns, the fake aloofness of the cocksure future winner and their see-through disregard for excellence (any but their own, of course). It doesn’t matter much, possibly not even to the organizers of such stage for the vain man or woman in question. But it is annoying nonetheless. It seems like a travesty of distinction and to my understanding only reinforces the challenge, if only the self-serving aspect of competition. So, I’ve been told they know how to win awards. Fine. They also know they could win big if only they chose to set their mind to it. Excellent! I can’t help but think they really know quite a lot. And before you know it, I take my share of a lesson of all this inexpensive insight to sum it up as follows: Beware those who speak to you about their humble opinion - it’s the most pretentious line of all! Thanks for sharing.

One true image, at last!

(pic©ming)

Berlin Watch redefined

I’ve said it all along but no-one would listen: how Singapore is set to transform my beloved city of Berlin! Now watch out for a new watch-out, as Singapore-based firm Great Wheel Corporation is beginning construction on Europe’s biggest Ferris wheel, due to be completed by late 2009. The facts are okay, but certainly the spirit counts for more, don’t you think? Accordingly, the Great Berlin Wheel will be huge, rising to a total height of 185 metres, as those in charge know: size does matter! That’s easily more than the London Eye and beats even the Singapore Flyer’s 165 metres (currently under construction) to 20 metres – who would have thought?
Now this should set us reeling for sure, offering a whole new perspective on all that’s not there: like foreign investors, a positive attitude, break-through thinking, and money actually…

(pic©DDP)

World AIDS Day

we are aware...

...there's a ribbon!

The artist seclusion: a curse or a remedy?

Obviously, in most cases (and I speak from own experience here) it is a sheer necessity, nothing less. But that one fact alone does hardly answer the question, does it? Over the years I’ve witnessed time and again how all kinds of art people, creatives of whatever medium or standing, chose to shut themselves off from the outside world. At times in order to concentrate on their work, at others to recharge, or to revitalize their flagging spirits. Be it musicians, writers, or the fine arts individual, even team-working people can display astonishingly fierce outbreaks of autistic behaviour. Is it for better or worse, I wonder? Does it help in fighting off our demons, or does such introspection only serve to exacerbate the turmoil, all that’s confusing within us, fear-laden and irresolvable anyway, conditio humana? Is it not that these fits account for some if not most of that aloofness and detachment we observe in so much of contemporary art?
The travails of self-expression that precede and trigger all art are both, elucidating and incomplete; they should never be tempered with. What we have come to understand of L’art dégagé, does it not suggest that such concept is nothing but a gross self-contradiction? So much so in fact, that any attempt at an escape into its assumed safety is the fleeing of life itself? At the end of the day, there is no redemption, only a consciousness and maybe memory to answer to. And that alone can easily consume a lifetime.
Like Don DeLillo rightfully said: the artist, certainly the writer, has their life on the fringes; it can’t be otherwise. But we are all social beings nonetheless and bear a special, a very real and pressing responsibility to our embedding on whatever scale.
I’m not sure about any of this, after all I too feel the urge to cut myself away from all outside interference, the world at large, every so often – but always appreciate what good advice or open remark comes my way. For it is a dialogue, still.

(pic©http://voyages.nicolas.delerue.org)

World Telecommunications Day*

Yes y'all, do talk more
and dare yourself in words!

* now officially named "World Information Society Day".
Well, let's join in!

(pic©N.N.)

Europe at 50 – still a promise

Yes, this is a highly publicized event alright, and accordingly it is neither my intention to bore you with well known historical facts, nor is this the place to do so. This day, 50 years ago, the landmark Treaty of Rome was signed by the respective representatives of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy and Germany, to lay the institutional groundwork and begin what over the years developed to become the European Union of 27 that is today. It ushered in a hitherto unknown era of peace, the will to cooperate and integrate between a growing number of nations, which up to a mere dozen of years before had been battling each other to the death millionfold, it enabled an unprecedented economic growth and secured prosperity for its citizens. What this whole story signifies is nothing short of the triumph, the possibility of civilization taking the helm over cultural differences and the fatal fear of the other. And this promise that indeed the life of the peoples can be bettered, that a peace which is rooted in mutual respect but remains dependent on an unceasing effort to foster understanding and build connections can be attained and preserved, constantly renewed and relentlessly defended against its outer and inner adversaries, this promise in my estimation, to my firm belief, is still standing strong today – and it is still, by the very nature of it, not entirely fulfilled.

Discourse about what exactly defines the standards of our shared humanity is essential and must be held on all levels of social intercourse, from the personal, the Sunday family talk, to the arts that give voice to pressing social issues and the larger themes, up to the political realm, where it all comes down to making the right choices, collectively, democratically, individually. What we need is an enlargement, based on an agreed upon understanding of who (and where in the world) we are and want to be. What we must bring about, is a constitution that is balanced, breathes and pledges to preserve and further the best and the purest that is the spirit of its Humanism, a constitution that is operational and worthy of the full spectrum of our variegated heritage, worthy of all its people. What we must never give up is the constant strife to make this promise a reality, to make it work out everyday.

I for one am persistently passionate about Europe and a proud European at that. What remains the ultimate promise, the terra irredenta for me, personally, is a United States of Europe!

(pic©europaallalavagna.it)

Air Asia X: long haul, low cost – will it work?

Maybe you've already heard, maybe not. Either way, it is noteworthy enough for me to put on this post, giving you the news that Malaysian carrier Air Asia have officially announced today that they will launch a new budget airline by July this year, to connect KL with a wide range of mid- to far-distance destinations in Asia, the entire Pacific region and Europe as well. And to do all this at a reasonable pricing.
Now, that promises to bring our continents closer together in a crucial, a physical way, enabling every you and me to really make it over to the other side, no more excuses from now on, I should think... Well, in theory, at last. Whether it will actually work out, this new and daring business plan of theirs, remains to be seen. I for one certainly keep my fingers crossed and should hope (in my very own best interest) for more enterprises like this one to be set up in a not too far off future. As of now, there doesn't seem to be any website out there yet, but I will have a watchful eye on their upcoming service and keep you informed!
All news so far is courtesy of the BBC and you get it here.

(pic©afp)

in-and-out on the same mission

Just as a new year is about to begin and take us to who knows where it may lead to, I would like you to join me in taking this occasion to briefly give a warm fare-well to our outgoing UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan. And to thank him for his many great services over the years. I for one am deeply appreciative of his unrelenting efforts to yes, indeed: better the world we live in.
Equally, this post shall take the opportunity and hail his successor, UN Secretary General designate Ban Ki-moon from South Korea, and wish him all the best, naturally, for meeting the massive demands his new mandate will undoubtedly confront him with.

There are many tasks ahead for him to master, like fighting HIV/AIDS, poverty, human trafficking, corruption, terrorism, climate-change and all sorts of environmental looming disasters that need to be prevented or at least contained. Then there have to be ever renewed efforts to help and assist in all kinds of calamities, natural disaster and every horrid case of genocide, wherever on the globe they might befall their innocent victims. You name it, this list could go on forever...

And it is just as rightful, as it is necessary, to criticize the UN, in a constructive way i.e., for their shortcomings, for their at times frustratingly blatant ineffectiveness, no need for naive UN-euphoria in my view. Read Romeo Dallaire's eye-opening account “Shake Hands With the Devil” about the UN's tragically failed role in Rwanda in the mid-'90s if you should have any doubts in this respect.

Even so, to put it as frank as Kofi Annan recently did in the man's own words: “...to have a scapegoat is fine, but it won't solve the problem”!
To this day, the idealism incorporated in the UN Charta is standing strong as one of mankind's finest achievements. And it is vital that member states live up to their own, lofty pledges. It is us, the voice of the many, the peoples in their respective countries, who have to take our governments for their words, judge them by their deeds and hold those in power accountable for their actions or inaction.
All this is plain as day, of course – but this is not to say it isn't worth insisting upon, is it not?

Live up to it!

(pic©Bild key/nzz.ch)

Get us a Constitution!

proto-ymagon would like to give Romania and Bulgaria a warm and heartfelt “Welcome!” on the occasion of their joining the European Union on January 1^st 2007!
Now with the EU newly enlarged to 27 member states, there obviously is quite a lot that needs to be done, improved, to enable its body to function in a proper way that benefits all its members and population.

There is no doubt in my mind that we as Europeans are right now in the very middle of living through and partaking in a process which in itself constitutes a legacy to humankind of truly global import. No trifle matter, but a historic task and exercise in comity. It will not be fulfilled unless it is sought and won every day anew. It won't serve as an ennoblement for any museum's display but remains a constant challenge to an ardent civil self-empowerment, which permanently has to prove itself, transforming our understanding of who we are in the process. Imparting Civilization.

Equally beyond question to me, the concept of Nation state has run its course in this part of the world. A United States of Europe has to be our ultimate aim. But this requires a rooted sense of a European citizenship, first. Civility, profoundly based on all of our European history and its demands, that is what is called for more than ever. Thereupon it will depend, the direction into which our common future is headed, with nothing less than global implications.

With the European Constitution up on the agenda once more under a German EU Presidency in the first half of 2007, we do have a truly historic opportunity to make one decisive step toward the goal of achieving a European statehood. So, let's not waste it! Show some leadership and get us a constitution! This imperative is addressed to no politician (alone), but to every one who feel themselves citizens of Europe.

(pic©europaallalavagna.it)

Local or Global – looking for a winning strategy

It’s mostly about winning these days, about understanding and realizing the cutting-edge well before anybody else and placing one’s stakes with whatever promises to yield the most. And this mind-set of the 21^st century, when properly viewed, turns out to be in essence nothing but an extension of that late 19^th century’s capitalist disposition on into our times. Historically interrupted (if at all) only to be temporarily overshadowed by disastrous aberrations into the land of some unlikely madmen’s Utopia, bordering the barbaric and at times even firmly established therein, this latent yet powerful notion that it is a wildlife’s strife we’re born to live, at times to sport and, even better, to win, has never been restricted to targets of the monetary kind alone.

But there can be no mistaking that a lot needs to be tended to in this world of ours, which affords some other line of reasoning, something to put the notoriously imbalanced competition in order, well, that noble word “justice” may come to mind here – and it would be equally naïve as it would be dangerous to read it in a legalistic sense only. No, I hope you're all with me in acknowledging the simple yet uneasy truth that these are in fact two very different things: law and justice. Just bear in mind, the latter personified, why, you end up with someone blind (no offense)! And I think we agree that what is urgently needed, if hard to implement, is a caring eye instead of a merely observing one, what is missing too often is reason coupled with empathy, the voice and helping hand of human compassion, pathetic as it may sound.

Localization, to begin to understand our global technology-enabled interconnectedness not as a means to escape into some fictitious, virtual “second life” of our choosing, but rather to make the best possible use of these modern tools for organizing, setting up and avalanching into this world your own ideas about how to remedy some ill, you locally observe and suffer, this to me seems like a real promising aspect of www-resources.

So, in short:

Which is the winning, the right strategy, I wonder?

“Think global, act local” – well, that's the terrorists' approach, isn't it?

How about inverting the reasoning in this to the following:

“Think local, act global” ?

Could not this be much closer to achieving the change you want to see come about in your every day surroundings than the former one?
But then again, I may be entirely wrong here...

(pic©Antoine de Saint-Exupéry/Le Petit Prince)

Berlin Watch

Waking up one fine October morning (late and well-prepared by equal measure) to news that our great city Berlin is now officially bankrupt, after the Supreme Court's final ruling that it was in effect us and no-one else have to pay for our staggering debts, we as citizens of Germany's capital knew we were in for some changes. And probably not the most pleasant ones, too. This seemed to turn into confirmed fact soon enough, as Klaus Wowereit (Governing Mayor) singlehandedly abolished the post of “Senator for Science, Research and Culture” and announced that forthwith he would simply add these functions to his own office responsibilities, leaving anyone concerned to wonder as to what would become of our city's cultural assets.

When he addressed the “Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin” (House of Representatives) earlier this week in his new term's general speech outlining government policies, there were however some reassuring remarks prominently made, which could, if followed through in actual fact, i.e. decision making, allow for some healthy development of our city's most valuable resources. You'll find the complete text as it stands on official record in German, Teil 1 hier, Teil 2 hier – but I want to give you the integral passages thereof, those of special interest to me in this context, in as good a translation as I can provide:

"The so-called “creative industries“ such as music, film and media, including fashion, design and literature as well as photography, have developed into a vital factor within Berlin’s economy. Berlin in all its contrariness, its history, its constant changes and the feeling of “breaking new ground” almost tangible in many places, offers lots of inspiration. An ever increasing number of creative minds and promising talents come to Berlin in order to seek out new possibilities, to get involved. The cultural industry, made up by more than 80% of enterprises with a staff of less than three, is one of the most dynamic yet at the same time one of the most volatile sectors. Any foresighted policy has to advertently keep track of these developments to effectively utilize new possibilities. In setting up the “media board”, we have built an outstanding means to furthering and connecting the media industry. Because this senate is fully aware of the “creative industries” key position, we will further develop interconnectedness and the establishing of value-added chains fur additional areas of the creative economy, too.

[...] Internationalism and Cosmopolitanism are central characteristics, adding value to our city. Berlin is a city of immigration. We want to rise to the opportunities that Berlin's internationality provides.”

So, let's see what comes of all this political poetry and ensure that it will not turn out to be nothing more than just your usual adorning rhetoric, by keeping watch. I think Berlin is worth our efforts!

(pic©dpa)

It's in the game!

I guess there are all possible sorts of wasting one's time (and some impossible ones, too), just so many of them in fact, like there are people with no serious business of their own to concern themselves with. After all, everybody is being foolish in their own way, are they not?
So here is mine, you might call it: diversion, or a means to kill off whatever excess of time with nothing better to do calls for it. I've discovered that watching snooker on TV serves this purpose extremely well for me!

Now, how can it get any more boring than that, you may ask – and rightfully so. To clear things up, let me try to explain to you as best I can and short as seems appropriate, as to what charm exactly this “Billiard Royale” holds in store for the keen observer.

Why, odd as it may seem, boring as it may sound, it is literally all in there, the psychological implications, the suspense, the story(break)building, the abstraction, the professionalism, the drama; you can actually learn quite a lot from watching strategic minds unfold, at times, unravel under pressure. Snooker is a mind game, it is about strategy, will-power and concentration maintained over as much as three hours on stretch, when it comes to that.
It is also about precision, but not in so mathematical a sense as not to allow for a window of pure chance, opening up from time to time. It's like chess – only different!

Speaking of the well-mannered folks who professionally play the game, snooker appeals to me as a figurative, a playful exercise in civility, with a strict code of decorum and sportsmanship esteemed more highly than the sheer competition itself, and rigorously upheld even when it is most cruel. That certainly ennobles it a lot.

But there is one other thing that's even more interesting to me and that has all to do with those reds and colored balls themselves. To me this is somehow, strangely reminding of late 18^th century chemistry, where with pre-modern methods and half scientific, half doctrinaire methods of empirical wisdom the elements were deemed to “marry” each other off, and produce all kinds of miraculous, sometimes incalculable offspring.
OK, I admit that this may appear like some very, very far-fetched personal reverie of mine, and sure it is. But then again, try it out for yourselves, if you will, and see whether you can begin to read the game as I do, as a perfect and delicate abstraction of whatever plot you may fancy. Look at the ever singular arrangement of the balls on that table, the history of how that picture came about, of how we got to where we are at any given instant, the options how it may or may not further develop from here. And then the personal drama inside the players' minds that make them go for either the more aggressive or the defensive shot. To me this is at times just as enervating, as intriguing to watch as any drama you may think of. And it actually helps you to formulate your own story-lines if you happen to work in this field, for in almost every game you will definitely encounter patterns of a basic, an archetypical nature.

I shall leave it at that and simply resign myself to recommend giving it a try and watching the game to your pleasure! In case you are not familiar with the rules, simply go here and get a quick introductory course of it. Enjoy!

(pic©desideria.twoday.net)

a new vital voice: Al Jazeera International on air

The world is not only growing ever more interconnected and interdependent, but also more complicated and difficult to understand by the day. All the more reason to cater to the urgent need for valid information, profound analysis and in-depth interest in the other.

“Get to know thy neighbor” is the sign of our times and I think here comes a long awaited addition to our daily dish of undigested news and coverage: have a look at AJI and see for yourselves what to make of it.

Contribution, partaking is ever better than simply looking the other way, isn't it?
Be it biased (I see no harm in that), be it controversial: as long as it enhances our mutual understanding it offers an additional flicker of enlightenment.

And it is up to us whether it catches fire or not; reason that is!

(pic©Aljazeera.net)