Last week, I got the chance to attend the brand new creative conference, POINT. I spent two days listening to a total 29 speakers over 26 talks; have a read about it on Digital Arts Online.

Selected speakers:
• Alan Fletcher – Film interview
• Andy Altmann – Why Not Associates
• Beau Lotto – Beautiful Mind
• Bruce Gilden – Magnum Photos
• Clare Sutcliffe – Code Club
• David Tonge – The Division
• Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby – Barber Osgerby
• Elliot Erwitt – Film interview
• Erik Spiekermann – EdenSpiekermann
• Gary Aspden – Adidas
• Gordon Young – Artist
• Jessica Dance & Robert Muller – Get Mullered and Dance
• Jonathan Barnbrook – Barnbrook
• Lucienne Roberts – GraphicDesign&
• Matt Webb – BERG
• Martin Grothmaak – Projekt Triangle
• Milton Glaser – Film interview
• Morag Myerscough – Studio Myerscough
• Nick Couch – Open Studio Club
• Nicolas Roope – POKE
• Oliver Reichenstein – Information Architects
• Phil Lewis – London Strategy Unit
• Rhonda Drakeford – Darkroom & Multistorey
• Seymour Chwast – Push Pin Studios

Moderators
• Henrietta Thompson
• Lynda Relph-Knight
• Patrick Baglee
• Patrick Burgoyne

One interview which didn’t make the Digital Arts article was a Q&A with David Hieatt, so I have included it here.

David Hieatt / Photo: Davy Jones © POINT

Q&A – David Hieatt

Q – How much of ‘authenticity’ do you believe lies within the people and the environment around the authentic ideas produced?

I guess it all starts with the people. So the authenticity stems from them and their determination to stay true to the original idea/ethos. Duke Stump, who runs The Do USA, says that it is not The Do Lectures job to create the magic, but to create a space where magic can happen. I like that thought.

I wasn’t there long enough to fully appreciate but there were some great people talking from the heart, which is a place where authenticity hangs out.

––

Find more information about Point here.

Kate Miltner

Since the LOLCAT exhibition, I have been getting a lot of queries and compliments regarding Kate Miltner’s speech, which she gave at the Private View.  So, what better reason to publish it here?

Kate is a Social Media Research Consultant (currently at Microsoft Research New England), a graduate of the London School of Economics – and a LOLCat dissertation author.

Enjoy!

“Hello everyone, and welcome to LOLCats: Teh Exhibishun. I hope you’re all enjoying the incredible work that the artists have done, and are as excited to be here as I am.

My name is Kate Miltner. I work at the Social Media Collective at Microsoft Research New England in Boston. The reason I’ve been asked to open this exhibit is because I have a rather unique claim to fame, which is that I wrote about LOLCats for my masters dissertation at the London School of Economics. It is distinctly possible that I am the world’s foremost academic expert on LOLCats, which is an entertaining if not dubious distinction.

When Jenny, the fantastic curator of this exhibit, asked me to do a quick speech to kick things off, I asked her what she wanted me to speak about, and she said, “just explain what a LOLCat is”. Alright Jenny, I’ll do my best.

LOLCats, also known as “cat macros”, are, at their simplest, images of cats with captions on them. The captions are quite often in LOLspeak, which is actually a verified dialect, according to Jordan Lefler, who is a linguist at Louisiana State University. She studied lolspeak for HER masters, so I’m not entirely alone in my academic interests.

So, yes, LOLCats are funny pictures of cats with misspelled captions. But really, they are a lot more than that. They are, to start, a cultural phenomenon. This is the first ever LOLCat gallery show, but not the first LOLCat art show that has ever taken place. The very first was in San Francisco in 2008. The Photographer’s Gallery over on Ramillies Street also recently had an exhibition of internet cat art, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis had an internet cat video festival over the summer. LOLCats have also inspired an off-broadway musical, a Bible translation, Shakespeare translations, a convention, a line of greeting cards, clothing, and an American television show. Which, really, is quite impressive.

But what’s even more impressive are the underlying reasons as to why LOLCats have become the phenomenon that they have. Now, heading into my research, I thought that the reason that LOLCats were popular was that they were anthropomorphized pictures of cats that allowed us to laugh at ourselves. And that was partially true. But after talking to almost 40 self-identified LOLCat enthusiasts to collect my research data, it became quite clear that the humor inherent in LOLCats was only the tip of the iceberg.

The first thing that became apparent was that the LOLCat audience is not just one massive audience, but several groups, some of whom use LOLCats as a rallying point for some rather developed group identities and communities. Take the “Cheezfrenz” or “cheezpeeps”, a group of mostly women who are part of the commenter community on I Can Has Cheezburger, the blog that popularized LOLCats. They communicate with each other almost entirely in LOLspeak, and have even started their own separate blog, called the Cheez Town Cryer. This may sound silly to some people, but it’s no laughing matter for the community member, who talk about some very personal things— including spousal and parental illness, job troubles, and the death of their pets– and get a lot of emotional support in return.

The second thing that I noticed is that no matter how involved the participants were with LOLCats—whether they spoke ‘fluent lol’, remembered when Caturday was a big thing on 4Chan, or just saw them in their work inboxes—they often used LOLCats to express their feelings through either creating or sharing. For quite a few people, LOLCats were used as emotional shorthand. Many of my participants repeatedly reported that they would communicate difficult emotions—regret over a breakup, frustration with their jobs—through LOLCats. Is that surprising? Maybe, but I mean, why wrestle with an awkward email when a picture of a cat can be worth a thousand words?

Which brings us to this exhibition. Clearly, LOLCats mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. They have inspired some incredible work from all over the world—some of which I have been asked to purchase for my colleagues, incidentally— and have packed a gallery. Even the BBC and Wired are here! As you walk through “teh exhibishun” and hopefully support the artists and Battersea Cats and Dogs Home, take a moment to remember that this all started with a photo from a Russian cat food ad. More than ever, content and culture are made by us, and it is the value and meaning that we ascribe to these things that make them important, no matter how trivial they may seem. So take pride in your love of LOLCats, be grateful for the wonderful weirdness of the internet, and please remember to tip your bartenders.”

– Kate Miltner
www.katemiltner.com
@KateMiltner

Wohoo!

Peggy Seymour succeeded with her Kickstarter Campaign – very excited to see the new portraits!

Summer Launch Party – 03.08.13 

Together with FLYOTW and Behind The Beats, Soapbox & Sons will be launching with a BANG.

To launch Soapbox & Sons as an agency, and Behind The Beats into a physical environment, we’re planning a London roof top party with entertainment from some of UK’s best beatboxers, lots of beer and, hopefully, glorious sunshine!

Have a look at their latest video:

More soon! Follow @BHTB_UK

Some exciting news, I have been asked to co-host this summer’s Glug, and am very busy theme-setting and curating some amazing individuals to speak – should be a goodin’!

Glug is a series of events for the design and creative community. Their showcase event is held in London but there are now 6 other events around the world.

Based around a series of talks and informal networking, Glug has become one of the most exciting, credible and well attended creative events around.

Glug events have included great talks, film preview, live art, installations and exhibitions from the likes of Airside, Anthony Burrill, Baiyon, Dixon Baxi, I Love Dust, Jason Bruges Studio, Mainframe, Marc Kremers, Noma Bar and Why Not Associates. Alongside these regular Glugs, they’ve also run events in conjunction with Arts & Business, D&AD, DAHRA, GameCity and Pick Me Up.

Watch this space!

Meddle is a new, international series of events that gathers influential, creative people together to tackle specific subjects.

We’re thrilled to be holding the very first Meddle in England in April 2013, with future Meddles already planned.
Collaborating with Us Is Two, Soapbox & Sons are helping bring this new brand to life. Super excited!

Emerging London-born portrait artist, Peggy Seymour, seeks Kickstarter funding to develop her painting skills by creating twelve oil paintings of humans against black backgrounds and to share her discoveries in paint technique whilst doing so through a PDF “Method Book”.

Dissuaded from professional artistry by a miserable experience in formal art education, in 2006 Peggy began one of the UK’s first Etsy shops, adorapop.etsy.com, where she achieved over 10,000 sales of her handmade jewellery. Now, after a 10-year drought, she’s returning to her first love, has picked up her paintbrush again, and is finally ready to Art with Her Heart. She’s excited to share her journey with her growing community of backers.

As a backer of her Kickstarter project, Art with My Heart, you can opt to receive prints of her existing fandom-inspired work, the  aforementioned Method Book or even to be drawn or painted yourself.

This project will only be funded if at least £3,500 is pledged by Thursday Apr 25, 11:37am EDT.

By Peggy Seymour

www.desperateicons.com
@desperateicons
For the press release, email me on info@soapboxandsons.com