#Kony, Hashtags and the Power of Communication by Frederico Andrade

May 20th, 3pm
Frederico Andrade
#Kony, Hashtags and the Power of Communication
Presentation

Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, 2 West 13th Street

In a global environment where current events are widely available in real time, those with access to mass media cannot avoid exposure. Ability to participate in social media symbolizes freedom to travel and meet people from anywhere else in the world without having to leave one’s routine. The ability to communicate, organize and have measurable impact anywhere in the world is relied upon now more than ever. We have seen examples such as Kony 2012 in which social media stood at the center of an entirely arbitrary organization which, through the sheer size and the noise it generated, was able to mobilize a troop of american soldiers to be dispatched for action in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Another striking consequence of the power of communications through virtual networks was the Egyptian revolution, which relied heavily on twitter and facebook to not only coordinate events but also to spread valuable intelligence leading to the effective mobilization of the masses. Who has the real power able to make the greatest changes? Through intelligent use of the communications technology available to us today, it is not impossible to glimpse our own roles in the society we all want to live in, from choosing to learn about one’s global neighbors to choosing to make a change and leave a mark. It is time to add perspective to your social responsibility.

Ad-Opt Ed by Robin Silevitch

May 20th, 5pm
Presentation by Robin Silevitch and Hope Weissman

Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, 2 West 13th Street

Robin Silevitch 
 “Ad-Opt-Ed” 

We live in a highly media-influenced society. News channels, movies, and television are a large part of our daily lives and have a profound effect on our feelings and thoughts. Adoption has become a victim of these influences, and because drama sells it has become stigmatized. This has lead to a taboo on the subject, so interested parties are forced to rely on seemingly scripted adoption testimonials and government-issued facts and statistics, which can be unreliable. Ad-Opt-Ed aims to dispel all the myths surrounding the subject through “subjective education”: learning vicariously through the experiences of others. On the site you can get first-hand accounts of real-life experiences: recorded, uploaded, and sent in by the person telling the story. The range of topics covers all facets of adoption: reunion fantasies and realities, meeting your adopted child for the first time, the adoption process, saying goodbye to your baby, etc so that it will involve all members of the adoption community- adoptees, birth and adoptive parents, even siblings; anyone who feels their story is important to the conversation. My hopes for this site are that it will help a wide range of people: new birth mothers without options, prospective adoptive parents, and adoptees hoping to feel normal. It can help those who are just starting out on their own adoption journey.

Hope Weissman
Thesis Project Presentation/Discussion

My thesis stemmed from my own adoption story. During the months before my birth my birthmother made a quilt to give to me before letting me go. My adoptive mother also made a blanket years before, knowing one day that she would give it to her child. from this idea, i began to think about the connection between my own identity and thread as a means to examine connections between people and events. I combined a mix of drawing and embroidery to create images that portrayed this theme.

See the full schedule of this week’s AMT Parsons Festival events here.