Weblog - [Chad]

With all of the brewha surrounding the expiration of the U.S. ban on assault rifles, it's great to see something constructive being done with AK-47s and other weapons of collectively massive destruction...Based in Phnom Penh, the PAPC involves 23 students from Royal University of Fine Arts Phnom Penh. "The completed work is exhibited and sold to promote contemporary Cambodian art, young Cambodian artisans and a weapon free society in Cambodia and globally." Anyone know of a similar project in the States? If not, perhaps there should be...

You can check out some of the work, including sculpture and furniture(!) at: http://www.peaceartprojectcambodia.org/sculptureGallery/ and K4 Media at www.k4media.com 

The media research group Project Censored (www.projectcensored.org) at Sonoma State University has released their top 25 stories "that have been overlooked, under-reported or self-censored by the country’s major national news media" in 2003-2004. So they might not be censored in the traditional sense of government blockades on publishing, nevertheless these are obviously important stories that for some reason don't attract enough attention. The top 5: #1: Wealth Inequality in 21st Century Threatens Economy and Democracy; #2: Ashcroft vs. the Human Rights Law that Holds Corporations Accountable;  #3: Bush Administration Censors Science; #4: High Levels of Uranium Found in Troops and Civilians; #5: The Wholesale Giveaway of Our Natural Resources

You can also check the Project Censored's judges to see who decides through a link to Detroit's Metro Times, which published the top 10 in its Sept. 9-14 issue, at http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=6682

In 2001, staff at the San Francisco library found that over 600 books on gay/lesbian issues, women's issues and HIV/AIDS were destroyed beyond repair (and the person responsible was charged with a hate crime). Rather than trash them, the damaged books were sent to artists around the world "in the hope of creating art out of this destructive act" and the exhibit was held in May.  Slate.com has a slide show of some of the pieces at http://slate.msn.com/id/2098846/slideshow/2099007/fs/0/entry/2099001/

Dinners & Nightmares by Marlene Russum Scott

It reminded me of an exhibit held at Michigan State's Kresge Art Museum a couple of years ago from Ediciones Vigia, a Matanzas, Cuba publishing company "which brings together poets, writers, illustrators and designers. The small group of about fifteen people uses recycled and natural materials to create handmade books. Only 200 copies of each book are made, all produced at the same time, with each binding and text element added one-by-one."  I'll admit, though,that pictures don't really do the works justice. There is also an International Society of Altered Book Artists which does this sort of thing as well (www.alteredbookartists.com)

cover design for Ediciones Vigia's 15th Anniversary Revista del Vigia by Rolando Estevez