Over in Rio, things are crazy and wonderful. What an inspired group of artists, educators, coders, lawyers, activists, musicians, etc, etc, and so forth. I think Jenny Toomey said it best just minutes ago (paraphrase): "we don’t complain about the structures that we don’t like, we build structures that we do".
I’ve decided that, even tho we haven’t met, Jenny and I are buddies. A self-proclaimed "music activist," Jenny spoke about the recent history of the art and music businesses in the US, and said that post-Nirvana (the band, not the place), we’re seeing the "two economies" of indie and mainstream converge more and more often, but usually to the detriment of the artist. She calls for new structures of economy, distribution, sharing, and says artists "really will come" if it suits them best. I know I would. Even if (my favorite part), "organizing artists is like herding cats." LOL.
John Wilbanks’ talk was also wonderfully interesting. He’s an engaged and engaging dude from the Science Commons, and the implication of his statement that "the science of DNA will catch up with the social understandings of genetics very soon" has amazing implications. He showed us a DNA deconstruction home kit, sold for $80US, for ages ten and up…
Hey Jenny and John! Put your presentations online! Would love to have them.
@ Rio iSummit
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