Month: June 2008

Prankster

The good people at Improv Everywhere have just launched the new site Urban Prankster. It will

…feature pranks, hacks, participatory art, flash mobs, and other creative endeavors that take place in public places in cities across the world. If someone does something awesome in the public space, we plan to cover it.

So we’re talking Ikea Dinner Parties, Subway Living Rooms and meta-Protests. Love that. This site is also part of our event capturing zeitgeist. Equally important to the actual is the act of recording + sharing the event. The wedding photographer has supplanted the minister. And even more important than the ‘official’ wedding shooter are the pics from the 25 friends who had digital cameras at the event.

Within the space of brands/adverts, we’ve reached new ground in the past 3 years. The micro, if well executed (the actual, the recording, the distribution), can become macro. Next up is the race to see how this morphs and plays in the mobile space. And I think that events like those we see on Urban Prankster, combined with Big Game/MMO/ARG strategies, is where we’re going.

June 11, 2008
VDay Redux

Our ace fotog Sean found some dusty prints that shine more light on 7 Minutes in Heaven. Ever amazed at how black + white teases out different moods.

And been thinking about how polaroids are automatically imbued with narrative heft. The lighting? The framing? The fact that its process makes us know the moment is gone?

June 10, 2008
The Body Electric

While I connect cognitively with people online, I find that thinking this way has limits. I still subscribe to the school of thought begun by Walt Whitman, that the mind and the body are one. To “lack one, lacks both.” I thought of this thanks to Johanna’s blog post on how New Yorkers rarely look up when walking.

This spring I started a habit of looking people in the eye as we pass each other on the street. Afterall, we are in the business of understanding people. Truth be told, it began while on a flirtatious kick, but has since become second nature. I look into all eyes. I do it with no intention of conversation. And it has never translated into the verbal. But I have found that the aggregation of these fleeting moments builds a unique energy, one that moves my mind into new thoughts + directions.

UPDATE
6/16 Culture and People come before Technology

June 6, 2008
Contemporary Muslim Consumer Cultures

MHB was just invited to speak in Berlin at the upcoming Contemporary Muslim Consumer Cultures conference. He’ll being presenting his research about how American-Muslim identity politics are linked to advertising, pop and new media. $170B demo that’s still ignored by brands + agencies. Give a shout if you wanna learn more.

June 3, 2008
The Posse Cut

A group photo is one of the best party favors we know. It’s also a white whale, rare to see all folks winning at the decisive moment. And so the shooter’s gotta keep saying Yeah Baby and snapping long after the subjects think they’ve got it made. From the many, you can then find the few.

June 3, 2008