Your Daily Insight as told by Roberto Bolaño

Every single damn thing matters! Only we don't realize. We just tell ourselves that art runs on one track and life, our lives, on another--and we don't realize that's a lie.

Studio Innovations: Photographer Ryan Hopkinson's Self-Made Weather Systems

UK photographer Ryan Hopkinson is typically something of an "ad man." Nike, Samsung, Warner Bros. to name a few. An impressive roster for sure, though not exactly the kind of work we find ourselves in the business of hyping.

Though we find it refreshing when an artist--making a sizable living on ubiquitous clients--takes a breather and gets back to creating something that's sole purpose is to be purely visual. Which is why we feel Hopkinson's new body of work, aptly-named Tornado is a miniature studio-born miracle.

According to Hopkinson:

The delicate nature of our creations was a big juxtaposition in many ways between natures own, but being able to create one and see it up close, regardless of its size and power was mesmerising.

Is it necessarily "genius"? No, but it doesn't have to be. Hopkinson took a static setting, turned it dynamic and captured it beautifully.

Guess what? We feel you can do the same thing. Peruse 3rd Ward's photography classes here and give Hopkinson a run for his money.

But first, a closer look at Hopkinson's Tornado:

All Images: Courtesy RyanHopkinson.co.uk

Your Daily Insight as told by Andy Warhol

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.

Kickstarter Pick: Lisa Cifuentes Teams Up With Her Sisters For Feature Film, "After The Wedding"

You've seen her working the front desk and soon you could be seeing her producing her first feature film. 3rd Ward Member Associate Lisa Cifuentes mentioned this "little project" when we spoke with her back in March, but she was obviously being modest, as it sounds like an amazing endeavor. 

Teaming up with her sisters Claudia and Karina, Lisa is raising money via Kickstarter to begin production on After The Wedding this summer. The film, which is written and directed by Claudia and co-produced by Lisa and Karina, "follows newlywed Diego Diaz (Nick Puga) as he heads down to Miami Beach for a few weeks to finish his latest novel, but when he becomes emotionally intimate with a sexy bartender, he and his wife are left to examine the true state of their young marriage."

By pledging to the After The Wedding Kickstarter you will not only be supporting an ambitious project from a 3rd Ward staffer, but also a couple of underrepresented segments in entertainment world. As the Cifuentes sisters point out in their Kickstarter pitch, the United States' Latino population has grown significantly, but the same can't be said of the film industry. They also highlight the fact that only 5% of directors are female and only 18% of behind-the-scene film roles are held by women. With After The Wedding's Latina writer and director, producers, and a largely Latino cast, those statistics are another great reason to get behind the film.

And if you still need a little extra nudge, the Cifuentes sisters are also offering tons of enticing rewards for pledges. Lisa herself will be baking some "delicious Latin sweets" as part of a $100 "Cafe con Leche" pledge package and leading a 4-hour driving tour of Miami's best spots for a $300 "Ocean Drive" package. On top of such great Kickstarter rewards, the sisters have also started "Our Secrets to a Happy Marriage," a blog series in which they ask couples to share their marriage secrets.

For more check out the After The Wedding website and Facebook page and keep up with the Cifuentes sisters via their Dreaming of Palm Trees blog and Pink Forest Films Twitter. And, of course, hit up their Kickstarter page to help make After The Wedding a reality.

-- John Ruscher

Your Daily Insight as told by Tennessee Williams

The future is called 'perhaps'--which is the only possible thing to call the future. And the important thing is not to allow that to scare you.

Go Here Now: Brooklyn's CharitySub Reimagines Philanthropy

We're always on the lookout for new initiatives and ideas that fit into the Future of Money infographic that we shared back in December. In February, for instance, we told you about Carrotmob's "buycotts." Now we're thrilled to highlight a new website that's based right here in Brooklyn.

Straight out of Carroll Gardens, CharitySub makes supporting good causes simple and easy. Each month the website picks three worthy nonprofits that are working toward similar goals. Then its subscribers, who chip in a modest $5 per month, get to choose which of those organizations receive their money. This month's "Working Dogs" theme, for instance, offers the option of supporting Angel On A Leash's therapy dogs, Canine Partners for Life's service dogs or Connecticut Canine Search and Rescue.

To make sure that its subscribers' money will be put to good use, CharitySub carefully selects its charities based on their impact, fiscal responsibility and transparency. It also provides subscribers with statistics on their giving and shareable illustrated reports on how charities have used their donations.

By automating the giving process, taking care of the research and footwork and pooling funds to make a bigger impact, CharitySub is an exciting and inspiring example of how the power of emerging economic systems can be harnessed for good. The only hard part will be deciding which of those cute and heroic pups to support.

-- John Ruscher

Your Daily Insight as told by Jack Kerouac

If moderation is a fault, then indifference is a crime.

Infographic: NYCEDC Compares New York Real Estate And Art Sales

 

When it comes to art and residential real estate, it's not surprising that New York is home to many eye-popping sales in both markets. Though this chart from NYCEDC's February 2012 Economic Snapshot shows just how evenly those numbers match up side-by-side.

For instance, if you emptied your piggy bank last year and discovered that you had saved up around $40 million, you could have acquired Gustav Klimt's "Litzlberg am Attersee," which sold at Sotheby's for $40.44 million, or Andy Warhol's first self portrait, which went for $38.4 million at Christie's. If you were more in the mood for a new pad rather than a masterpiece, you could have set yourself up in the Harkness Mansion or 834 Fifth Avenue with a few mil to spare!

For a more a closer look at these findings, check out this NYCEDC's podcast featuring 3rd Ward writing teacher Grace Bello and Steven Giachetti of NYCEDC's Research and Analysis team. "If you look at it on a per square foot basis, obviously art is far more expensive than even the most prestigious apartments in New York City," Giaccetti says.

Here are a few other fascinating statistics from that snapshot:

• New York accounted for about one third of all global sales at Christie's and Sotheby's in 2011.

• NYC is also home to more than half of all art sales in the United States.

• Local auction houses Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips De Pury racked up a whopping $1.1 billion in sales of contemporary and impressionist art in just two weeks last November.

-- John Ruscher

Your Daily Insight as told by Henry Miller

Every day we slaughter our finest impulses. That is why we get a heartache when we read those lines written by the hand of a master and recognize them as our own, as the tender shoots which we stifled because we lacked the faith to believe in our own powers, our own criterion of truth and beauty. ...We are all part of creation, all kings, all poets, all musicians; we have only to open up to discover what is already there.

Watch This Now: Renewable Energy by Wind Turbine In New York's East River

Turbine being installed in the East River. Photo credit: Kris Unger

True story: New York City's East River is not actually a river. It's technically what'd you call a "tidal channel"--a giant stream that's affected by the tides of the ocean.

A way's back, we interviewed Jonathon Colby, one of the chief engineers at Verdant Power--a renewable energy company that had installed wind turbines in the East River as an experiment in generating alternative forms of power for New York.

To quote Colby:

...the water moves really fast and it’s long which means the flow is pretty straight. So you have nice fast channel flow [powered by the tides]. You have the ideal flow profile to generate electricity. Then on top of that you have a nearly infinite load. New York City consumes so much energy that you can just keep putting turbines in the river and New York is going to keep grabbing that energy as fast as you can produce it.

The project's been underway for some time, though flash forward to today and New York may now officially be on the brink of a revolution in green energy. 

We implore you to take 3 minutes to watch this and learn what's happening:

If you're interested in knowing more about the project's specifics (and you should be!), head over here for a pretty user-friendly breakdown. And now: You are permitted to have one of those "proud to be a New Yorker" moments.