Blog Archives
MALLS R US returns Feb. 28, Phoenix Art Museum
MALLS R US: A contemplative investigation on mall culture and effect by Helene Klodawsky
- Date: Sunday, February 28, 2010
- Time: 1 p.m. (doors at 12:30 p.m.)
- Place: Whiteman Hall, Phoenix Art Museum, 1625 North Central Ave., Phoenix AZ 85004
- Free Admission (ask for pass at front desk)
- Film introduction by Kimber Lanning, Director, Local First Arizona
MALLS R US discusses the psychological appeal of malls to consumers, how architects design their environments to combine consumerism with nature and spectacle, how suburban shopping centers impart social values, and how malls are transforming the traditional notions of community, social space and human interaction.
As entertaining as it is informative, MALLS R US offers a trip to the mall like no other, reveling in their architectural splendor as consumerist paradises but also showing how the social dynamism they represent can be a destructive force, one that confuses the good life with the world of goods. And yes Arizona, you will recognize several local sites.
Co-presented by No Festival Required; sponsored by CityCircles
CityCircles now in beta testing
[Source: Aleksandra Chojnacka, CityCircles] — Are you a resident who lives near the light rail? A first-time rail rider? A frequent rail rider? A tourist just passing through town? A carless techno-neophyte who needs a guide for downtown Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa? If so, CityCircles is for you.
CityCircles is a collaborative platform where users and journalists work together to create and share information around each light-rail stop. That includes news, events, promotions, classifieds, and social networking. There’s even a community improvement tool that helps our users create, join, and accomplish projects that make the city a better place for everyone. Think of us as the context that makes your urban experience more meaningful, your digital sidekick in the city.
CityCircles is a Phoenix-based startup. It is supported in part by the Knight Foundation, a Miami-based institution that dubbed CityCircles (Daily Phoenix) one of its News Challenge winners in June 2009. The international contest awards startup funds to the best new media ideas each year.
CityCircles aims to build community along light rail via technology
[Source: Adam Klawonn and Aleksandra Chojnacka] — This past December, Phoenix debuted a new light rail system which has changed the physical and social landscape of the city. We believe this will create an entirely new culture of city residents who use mass transit and mobile devices to interact with the city. To accommodate them, CityCircles will use print, web and mobile technology to cater to these new commuters, offering news, events, promotions, and social networking features on a stop-by-stop basis so that they can interact with the city on a more meaningful level.
The idea developed in a digital media entrepreneurship class at Arizona State University and now here we are almost a year later and finally getting it off the ground thanks to funding we’ve received through the Knight Foundation’s News Challenge. Originally, the site was to be called Daily Phoenix. However, after many hours of brainstorming we settled on the name CityCircles, which we feel is a much better fit for the project’s function (building content around light rail stops – get it?) and its scope (the rail also travels through Tempe and Mesa). CityCircles is scheduled to launch in October 2009. We will be posting our progress, related news, and information about upcoming events at this website.
