Christo’s ‘Over the River’ blocked again

Christo’s  project to install 5.9 miles of fabric over 42-miles of the Arkansas River has been dealt another set-back. From the start,“Over the River” has had a number of detractors, most expressing concern over the potential environmental risks posed by the installation. The Colorado Wildlife Commission voted in May against the project. It wasn’t until November that the Bureau of Land Management actually gave “Over the River” permission to move forward.

The latest block comes from University of Denver law students suing on behalf of Rags Over the Arkansas River (ROAR), a group concerned with the environmental dangers that could result from such a large scale project in a sensitive area.  They describe themselves as an organization “dedicated to preserving and protecting the headwaters of the Arkansas River, the Bighorn Sheep Canyon, its inhabitants and the communities that depend upon them. Our founding project has been to formally oppose Christo and Jeanne Claude’s “Over the River” project. This project involves suspending horizontal fabric panels within a 45 mile stretch over the Arkansas River’s Bighorn Sheep Canyon. Hence the name ‘Rags Over the Arkansas River.’”

Christo, who is hoping to complete “Over the River” in August 2014, is required to put several mitigation measures into place for local wildlife including bighorn sheep and birds. (source: “University of Denver Law Students Sue to Block Christ’s ‘Over the River’ Project,” Huffington Post)

Yale Art History Professor reduces class size because of WiFi

Normally, Professor Alexander Nemerov’s popular course “Introduction to the History of Art: Renaissance to the Present” attracts crowds of 500 students. Now, his classes are capped at 270. Why? Nemerov wanted a classroom where students don’t have access to WiFi and can’t surf the internet. “In the past many students in the lecture were doing Facebook or email or all kinds of things on their computers,” Nemerov said. “So for me it’s better if there’s a room where that is not possible, and one of the unfortunate effects of that is that I have to limit the enrollment of the class to the capacity of the auditorium.”

Eastman Kodak files for bankruptcy

Eastman Kodak, the company that invented the hand-held camera, filed for bankruptcy on January 19. The Chapter 11 filing provides Kodak with an opportunity to restructure its operation and maximize the value of its digital patents (1,100 in all) which are used in virtually every modern digital camera, smartphone and tablet. The company said that it had about $5.1 billion in assets and nearly $6.8 billion in debts.
This is also another huge hit for the town of Rochester where Kodak has been based for most of its 132 years and has been central to the city’s economy.
To read more: “Eastman Kodak Files for Bankruptcy,” New York Times; “Eastman Kodak’s bancruptcy filing gives workers, retirees and investors the jitters,” Washington Post; “Eastman Kodak files for bankruptcy,” Christian Science Monitor, and the Eastman Kodak’s press release

NYPL’s new Stereogranimator

The New York Public Library has just released a new tool — the Stereogranimator — that can transform historical stereographs into shareable 3D web formats. Stereoscopic photography recreates the illusion of depth by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. The 2D images are merged in the brain, creating the perception of 3D depth. The Stereogranimator allows users to select a stereoscope from the 40,000+ stereographs from NYPL’s archive and produce an anaglyph or animated gif that combines the two images into one.
For more on the stereographs and how they work, check out the Getty’s simulation.

Wikipedia to go dark in protest

Wikipedia will black out its English-version site today in protest of  two anti-piracy bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the ProtectIP Act (PIPA), now under review in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate respectively.  SOPA and PIPA are directed at websites involved in copyright infringement but they also include anti-circumvention provisions that will allow the government to target sites provide information that could assist users’ trying to circumvent these bills’ censorship mechanisms. Trevor Timm, writing for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, argues that this provision “would not only amount to an unconstitutional prior restraint against protected speech, but would severely damage online innovation. And contrary to claims by SOPA’s supporters, this provision—at least what’s been proposed so far—applies to all websites, even those in the U.S.”

In addition to Wikipedia, Google, Yahoo and Facebook have expressed their opposition to SOPA and PIPA.  In contrast, organizations and companies such as the Museum Picture Association of America (MPAA) to Pfizer Inc. and Harley-Davidson Motor Company defend the bills as a much needed attempt to control rogue websites trafficking in everything from stolen movies to prescription drugs.

To read more:
Wikipedia’s Press Release and their administrative statement — “SOPA initiative/Action”
H.R. 3261 – Stop Online Piracy Act
S. 968 – Protect IP Act
PCWorld, “SOPA and PIPA: Just the Facts”
Trevor Timm (Electronic Frontier Foundation), “How PIPA and SOPA Violate White House Principles Supporting Free Speech and Innovation”

VRA issues new Fair Use statement

The Visual Resources Association (VRA) has released a statement on “The Fair Use of Images for Teaching, Research, and Study.” The statement focuses on 6 types of image uses regularly confronting academic users: preservation and transferring images to new formats for preservation purposes; use of image for teaching purposes (be it face-to-face teaching or non-synchronous teaching); use of images in course websites or other online study materials; adaptions of images for teaching and classroom work by students; sharing images among education and cultural institutions to facilitate teaching and study; and reproduction of images in theses and dissertations. The statement aims to address uncertainties and misconceptions surrounding the fair use doctrine as it relates to new technologies and media, the sometime overly conservative and restrictive policies of campus legal gatekeepers, and copyright litigation in non-academic contexts.

Leonardo Live!

Leonardo da Vinci will be coming to a movie theater near you. “Leonardo Live,” a HD film produced by the National Gallery in London, is a virtual tour of their blockbuster exhibition “Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan.” Now you can avoid the long lines for this latest blockbuster and catch the film when broadcasting starts February 16. Until then, you can view the vimeo trailer here.

Occupy images

The Occupy Movement that started at Wall Street has quickly spread around the globe, aided in part by the vivid, compelling and, at times, chilling images produced by participants or (citizen) journalists. The Occupy Movement is also actively producing and syndicating some pretty amazing protest posters for distribution among its various movements through a site called OCCUPRINT: Posters form the Occupy Movement. Occupy participants can submit and share their own creations. Occuprint has established a PrintLab to generate prints for use in the protest movement (not to generate money — all prints are free).

The Visual Resources Facility has also documented the art and architecture produced by UC Davis Occupy. In our image catalog,  you can see the memorial produced by Robin Hill and her students at the campus rally (November 21) and the UC Davis encampment aka Quad Village.

Research grant opportunity at Columbia University

Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library

Columbia University Libraries have announce the Libraries Research Awards Program designed to facilitate research access to the Libraries’ special collections. The Libraries will award ten grants of $2,500 each to those researchers who demonstrate a compelling need to consult Columbia Libraries special collections for their work. All US citizens are welcome to apply and  preference will be given to those outside the New York City metropolitan area. The intent of the grant is to help defer the cost of visiting the Libraries for research needs.
Participating libraries and collections include: the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, Butler Library, the Lehman Social Sciences Library, the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, C. V. Starr East Asian Library, and the Libraries’ Area Studies Collections.
Applications will be accepted through January 31, 2012, with research expected to be conducted at Columbia between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013. For eligibility, application guidelines, conditions, and more
information about the special collections at Columbia University, please visit the Libraries Research Awards Program.

Interactive guide to the Met’s new Islamic Galleries

After 8 years of renovation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened its New Galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands, Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, and Later South Asia on on November 1. The remodeled and enlarged space includes 15 new galleries.   Thanks to the New York Times, you can explore the Moroccan Court, the Emperor’s Carpet, a mihrab and more of the amazing collection through an interactive guide to the new wing. The Metropolitan’s own website has several videos documenting the construction of the galleries and the installation and conservation of the wings objects and reconstructed rooms.