ny times: google cars

smarter than you think

Google's self-driving cars have faster reaction time than humans, 360-degree perception and do not get distracted/intoxicated/tired. Reduced number of accidents (= lives saved)? Great. Yet another thing we've outsourced to technology? Not so great. Obviously this is an incredibly exciting advancement, but where do we as a people draw the line? What about public transit or carpooling? Both of those also lower accident rates through reducing the number of drivers on the road with the added bonus of reducing auto exhaust. In my opinion, the last thing we need is another means of writing ourselves further out of reality.

creative caffeining

Illustrator samples for next Hatch meeting:

brianna's hummingbird

collectives contd

• The 62 (www.the62.org) is an art and design collective in Brooklyn, New York
• Red Sun Press (www.redsunpress.com) is a collectively owned and operated union printshop in Massachusetts
• Eggplant Active Media Workers’ Collective (www.eggplant.coop) specializes in non-profit web design with two teams located in Vermont

a word on design collectives

from backspace.com:

Collectives, also known as “co-operatives,” “cooperatives” or “co-ops” are groups of individuals who join together to undertake an activity for their mutual benefit. Co-ops may be for-profit or not-for-profit, unionized or not, and legally incorporated or not — what’s different about a co-op is that it’s owned and operated by its members.

You may be familiar with a neighborhood food co-op or credit union. These are consumer co-ops which pool resources to offer discounted services to their members.

Graphic design collectives are “producer co-ops,” owned and operated by their employees. This is quite different from a firm with an employee stock ownership program. Co-op workers share in decision making and responsibility, as well as profits and losses.

Why form a cooperative? One argument is that organizations owned by the communities they serve are more accountable, and can emphasize service over profit. When employees govern their own workplace, they can design a happier, stable and more equitable work environment.

But there’s also the value of organizing according to one’s ideals. Though we are supposedly living in a democracy, most of us spend our days working for private tyrannies. Living and participating in a democracy should consist of more than just voting once a year. We should be able to participate in the decisions that affect our lives.

One member of a cooking collective sums it up: “We’ve tried not only to feed people well, but also to treat people well. Over the last 30 years our company has come to represent something bigger than we ever anticipated, and something better than the usual business.”

connect

wheat gum-pasted exercise in nyc

project II - disconnect collab