Category: urban cultures

  • Public Space and Its Discontents

    In addition to a lot of predictable Banksy spottings, there are some interesting images in this Flickr group, including this one: Group description: This group is interested in how people use, abuse and subvert ‘public’ spaces. Now that we lead sedentary indoor lives, public spaces are often neglected or strictly controlled and regulated. We are […]

  • Flussgeist & ambient intimacy

    I’ve been playing around with various twitter mashups, tools and toys lately, and I just had to give this one a quick mention. Unusually for me, I am about to talk about some art… Gregory Chatonsky’s work L’attente/The Waiting (warning, Flash-heavy), part of a series called “Flußgeist”, the “spirit of the flow”, mashes up twitter […]

  • The Street as Platform (and the World as ‘Human Network’)

    When as now I’m struggling with the agony of trying to write for publication, which means attempting to communicate carefully and clearly, and not unattractively (as opposed to ranting inadvisedly), encountering one of Dan Hill’s longer blog entries is without exception guaranteed to make me ever so slightly envious. The way the street feels may […]

  • Urban Brisbane Photo Exhibition

    Yay! A showcase of work from three members of the Brisbanites Flickr group: Manfreds Bar, The Valley Thursday 20th July, 7:00pm A collection of photographs will be on display which seek to explore Brisbane and some of it’s lesser-known areas both above and below the city streets. These may be the things you walk past […]

  • Sleepy City: urban photography exhibition

    A couple of years back (how time flies!), I got very interested in urban exploration photography, and even published an interview with the then-anonymous local artist known as dsankt who is behind Sleepy City, a project that has yielded some quite beautiful photographs of subterranean Brisbane. Recently Sleepy City joined forces with other like-minded artists […]

  • multipliCity

    Some colleagues of mine have just started a new interdisciplinary email discussion list that should be of interest to anyone working on cities/urban spaces: multipliCity — Conversations on cities Multiplicity is an online discussion forum for all matters urban. As paradigmatic of the modern and postmodern experience, the city remains defiantly at the epicentre of […]

  • the death and life of a great urban crusader

    Sad news via Molly Steenson. Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities and several other books to which Floridean “creative cities” arguments owe a lot more than you’d think, has died at 89. The NY Times has a long and thoughtful piece about her life and work.

  • Public Space in the Media City

    If you’re in Sydney next Wednesday and you’re interested in the history of new media technologies in relation to cities, space or place, try to get along to hear Scott McQuire talk about his current research: Public Space in the Media City University of New South Wales Media, Film and Theatre Seminars 5pm, Wednesday 26 […]

  • Uncollectables and Urban (Un)Regeneration

    The Network of Un-Collectable Artists (NUCA) is preparing for the Limited Edition release of a set of BubbleGum Collector cards documenting the activities of Australia’s 50 Most Uncollectable Artists. NUCA is a brand new nation-wide affiliation connecting those who gravitate towards ephemeral projects, participatory experiences, illegal art actions, and activities that oddify everyday life. Some […]

  • Sleepy City: The Interview

    I wanted to try something different from the usual formulaic “link+commentary” blog posts, so I decided to conduct a blog interview with the mysterious urban explorer behind the Sleepy City photography project and website. I was very pleased with the insights the interview generated, and I’ll certainly be doing more of them. Enjoy! Jean: First […]