In the wake of last week’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan, plenty of people are coming up with creative ways to fund raise for relief efforts. One trend that we’ve noticed: a number of graphic designers and artists have released limited-edition artwork inspired by the crisis, making the idea of donating even more of a no brainer. All of the profits from the posters and prints after the jump will go to various charitable organizations helping out in Japan; if you’ve spotted something that we’ve missed, be sure to leave a link to it in the comments.
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Love Jay-Z? Who doesn’t? But how much would you pay to be best friends with him for a night? Well, you should think about it, because he’s auctioning off a chance to chill with him courtside at two Knicks vs. Nets games, and right now the spot is sitting pretty at $31,000. Well hey, it’s for charity, but more importantly, it’s for bragging rights. Plus, we bet there are some people out there who figure if they just got the chance to tell Jay-Z their life story, they’d be fast friends no problem. And maybe they’re right. [via Brokelyn]
Art-print site The Working Proof provides a great way to decorate that empty space on your living-room wall while also supporting organizations dedicated to improving the world outside.
With each artwork sold, 15% of the profits are donated to a charity of the artist’s choice — and with selections from over 50 artists already available, that’s a lot of charities. A new, affordable piece of art is uploaded onto the site every Tuesday afternoon.
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Shoot Nations provides young, burgeoning photographers from around the world with a platform to display their not-so-naive work through an annual photography competition.
A joint project of interactive-photography org Shoot Experience and children’s charity Plan UK, Shoot Nations showcases a diversity of viewpoints by selecting a different global theme each year — the most recent being “City Living.” The winning photographs are exhibited at a number of galleries, as well as the United Nations in NYC. In the four years since its inception, the competition has received more than 2,500 entries from 100 countries.
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Promoting positive thinking about the future, Living Climate Change uses creative videos and design to envision the world of the coming decades and how creativity can effect global change.
A project of design company IDEO, the site includes inventive video shorts that range from the earthy (mycologist Paul Stamets’ “6 Ways Mushrooms Can Save the World”) to the philosophical (Dutch artist Ap Verheggen’s “Climate Change Equals Culture Change”). It also recently teamed with DESIGN 21 for the Living Climate Change Video Challenge, calling for filmmakers to capture their “vision of a future shaped by climate change, as we move along the path toward reduced carbon emissions.”
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With quotations from celebrities such as Kevin Spacey and Kate Moss, as well as working professionals, artists, and kids, Reflections on Nelson Mandela presents a portrait of the Nobel Prize-winning leader’s power to inspire and influence the world.
A fashion photographer and native South African, author Antoinette Haselhorst approached a diverse range of individuals for the project, armed with a camera and a single question: “What do you think society, mankind, and humanity can learn from Nelson Mandela’s values and virtues?” The result is a volume of touching photos and poignant reflections, with proceeds from sales going toward the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund.
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Depaul UK, a London-based charity that aids the homeless, together with Publicis London, have released the world’s first philanthropic iPhone app. It’s called iHobo, and it’s a destitute, virtual vagrant in your pocket — sort of like a Tamagotchi. For three days, it’s your job to attend to all of iHobo’s needs, whether it be food, shelter, or emotional comfort via the touch of the screen. If you neglect him, he’ll run the risk of succumbing to a life of crime, drug use, and mental illness. Like any video game where survival is the goal, you can monitor his health to adapt your strategy as new problems arise.
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Cater waiters: so 2009. DIY food orgies, though? The Brooklyn Museum’s Brooklyn Ball has convinced this writer that a little viscerality and self-service never hurt anyone, especially when it comes to the usually-stuffy dinner gala format. Celebrating its partnership with The Met to create the largest costume collection in the world, the museum threw a fundraising bash featuring an installation series by Jennifer Rubell, all of it edible.
Rubell (if that name rings a bell, it should: she’s the daughter of renowned Miami art collectors Don and Mera Rubell) last made a splash in New York at the Performa09 benefit dinner with a biblically-inspired feast that New York Times art critic Roberta Smith described as “meld[ing] installation art, happenings and performance art with various Old Testament overtones, while laying waste to the prolonged ordeal that is the benefit-dining experience.” Get the scoop Rubell’s “Icons” and see who we ran into at the cheese table, after the jump.
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For our latest entry into the canon of affordable art, we’re looking to New York’s venerable Housing Works, a chain of thrift shops with notably high-end secondhand merchandise. The charitable organization recently received a thirteen painting stash from the estate of local painter Geri Taper, who died in 2004. She may or may not be collected by MoMA (the estate says yes, but MoMA’s online database has no record of Taper), but it matters not, as the auction — which started yesterday and runs through April 28 — is chock full of reasonably priced, boldly graphic modern paintings. Check out our picks after the jump and learn a bit more about Taper and Housing Works.
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Edited by Shepard Fairey and Jennifer Gross, the lavishly illustrated Art for Obama is more than just another coffee-table tome.
In the new book, Gross and Fairey — whose own iconic “Hope” poster ignited the art community’s involvement in the Obama campaign — detail the evolution of the Manifest Hope galleries at the DNC Convention in Denver and DC inaugural. The images range from portraiture to symbolic abstractions, representing the 150-plus artist/activists who joined forces to spread the word. Read More »
