Video from FRESH MILK XV: The Age of Infobesity with McLean Greaves

July 24, 2014May 21, 2015Leave a comment

We are pleased to share a video from FRESH MILK XV, held on Thursday, April 10th 2014, which featured a talk titled ‘The Age of Infobesity’ by our visiting speaker McLean Greaves, a Barbadian-born, Toronto-based expert in digital media and Vice-President of the Interactive division at ZoomerMedia.

Thank you to the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Barbados for recording the event!

The Age of Infobesity:

90 percent of the world’s data has been created in the past two years. With the rise of social media, mobile devices and the latest buzz — the Internet Of Things — humans are facing an unprecedented amount of data to consume. The result: a rapidly shrinking attention span.

Presented by veteran digital media executive McLean Greaves, this talk explains how we got here, the role of digital marketeers in monetizing reduced attention spans, and solutions for future generations where the average North American student now owns 6.7 devices but is increasingly forgetful.

A View from the Mangrove – #CCF Guest Review

July 23, 2014May 21, 20151 Comment

A View from the Mangrove is the final part of the late Cuban writer Antonio Benitez-Rojo’s Caribbean trilogy. Like most of his work, this short story collection deals with the making of the “New World” both historically and in the formation of Creole identity.

The eleven stories span several centuries. The first ones bring to life historical chapters of the Caribbean as the “cockpit of Europe”, with European powers battling each other for a greater share of the loot. The first of these stories is a tale of the notorious slave-trader John Hawkins’s pursuit of Spanish gold. Others involve French buccaneers, a Spanish governor sent to suppress autonomy in the colonies and of a reluctant priest trapped in this struggle. A few centuries later, there is a human drama told by multiple narrators against the backdrop of the final stages of the Haitian Revolution, and later, an infirm and burnt-out soldier wasting away in a mangrove during the Cuban War of Independence. The penultimate story is about Haitians fighting against Batista in the Cuban Revolution and against racism and exploitation at the hands of their comrades. My favourite story of the collection though is “The Broken Flute,” on the last Tezcatlipoca; a tragic tale of an “old god” being swallowed up by the chasm that opens up when worlds crash.

The above excerpt is from an anonymous review by ‘The Book Guy’ of Antonio Benitez-Rojo’s A View from the Mangrove, this week’s addition to the Fresh Milk Books Tumblr – the online space inviting interaction with our collection in the Colleen Lewis Reading Room.

For new Critical. Creative. Fresh reviews every week, look out for our #CCF Weekly posts and see the good reads we have available at Fresh Milk!

The Origin of Species – Super Human #CCF

July 18, 2014May 21, 2015Leave a comment

Nino Ricci’s the Origin of Species reminds me of how sloppy human feelings are. We make decisions then change our minds. We make mistakes and run from those mistakes. We do good, we do bad. Alex, the book’s main character, is not a bad person. But is he a good one? The phrase that comes to mind is ‘…things are never black and white.’

I once dreamt that I had died; I was killed in an explosion. Just before I died, I remember being excited about my death. I was ready for it. I felt like all the answers to the ‘big questions’ would become clear to me. I’d finally know the purpose of life and I would be awesome like Hugh Jackman’s character when he became enlightened in the movie ‘The Fountain’. And even though I was dreaming I felt that when I woke up, whatever insight I had found in my dream death, I would have in my waking life. I wanted death because I believed I was on the brink of some great knowledge that had eluded me all of my 22 years. But of course I passed and nothing happened. No zap or jolt of power or knowledge. I didn’t shine, my eyes didn’t become bright with wisdom and all that hoopla. I did float though, but that’s beside the point. What I want to zone in on is that feeling of being on the brink of something important; of acquiring the state of mind that will change you for the better. That is the feeling that plagues Alex.

The above excerpt is from Versia Harris’ review of Nino Ricci’s The Origin of Species, this week’s addition to the Fresh Milk Books Tumblr – the online space inviting interaction with our collection in the Colleen Lewis Reading Room.

For new Critical. Creative. Fresh reviews every week, look out for our #CCF Weekly posts and see the good reads we have available at Fresh Milk!

Beyond a Boundary – #CCF

July 11, 2014May 21, 2015Leave a comment

…This heartfelt public interest in cricket led the sport into a political battle, of which James was the spearhead. The regime which supported class and race distinctions, which had prevented the West Indies from ever having a black captain, came under constant attack from James’ paper and a volatile open letter which seemed to threaten war. I found it stirring that this came from a man like James, a man so immersed in the game that he held the code of ‘keeping a stiff upper lip’ (James 24) to the highest standard, that he was willing to put the decency and decorum behind him. Cricket was changing, so it was apt that a man so passionate about the game was changing as well. I spoke of my nostalgia earlier, for that is what it was. While James’ love for the game drove him to momentarily disregard his values—for the good of the game—my own feelings have dissolved to indifference…

The above excerpt is from Ronald Williams’ review of C.L.R. James’ Beyond a Boundary, this week’s addition to the Fresh Milk Books Tumblr – the online space inviting interaction with our collection in the Colleen Lewis Reading Room.

For new Critical. Creative. Fresh reviews every week, look out for our #CCF Weekly posts and see the good reads we have available at Fresh Milk!

The Fresh Milk ArtBoard features Ronald Williams

July 7, 2014May 21, 20151 Comment

We are thrilled to have received the support to have a new image installed on our public gallery space, the Fresh Milk ArtBoard. Sponsored by the David Dale Gallery & Studios, Glasgow, we are now featuring the work of Barbadian artist and member of the Fresh Milk Books team Ronald Williams. Ronald’s work will also be on display in Glasgow this July-August as part of Fresh Milk’s component of the International Artist Initiated project.

As part of The Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme, the David Dale Gallery will present International Artist Initiated, an ambitious collection of events and exhibitions to coincide with the Commonwealth Games. Working with artist initiated organisations from across the six Commonwealth territories, including Fresh Milk, the programme will consist of a series of projects by the invited organisations which respond to the context of the Commonwealth Games within Glasgow, and is representative or indicative of contemporary culture within their nation through the lens of artist-led organisation.

Ronald’s Artist Statement

Inspired by the dynamism and power of Shaquille O’Neal’s Dunkman logo; as well as his legacy of being one of the most aggressive, combative and dominant players in the NBA’s history, ‘The Beast’ is my expression of the “black male-brute” stereotype.

Using the original logo as a template, I collaged photographs, various images found in popular media and historical texts via Photoshop to form the final piece. While it was not necessary for the viewer to know which athlete a piece is inspired by, that knowledge of the athlete was critical in my selection of the images to use. For ‘The Beast’, intuitive decisions were made based on my perception of O’Neal and his presence as a cultural icon.

Conceptually, ‘The Beast’, like many other collages, is deliberately self-contradictory. Slave revolt texts and upraised fists are counterbalanced by shackles still intact, while the iconic black power symbol when placed on the shoes becomes an ironic brand worn by the primate character.

Through these symbols I acknowledge the important role basketball, and by extension sports, has played in bridging social and economic gaps while also criticizing how the system is set up. The image of the black male being less than human—a big, powerful animal—is one we have struggled to erase, yet the narrative of the NBA has constantly reaffirmed this. Blacks are generally praised for their athleticism, strength and physical qualities while the most lucrative deals and sponsorships usually go to the black basketballers who best exhibit these traits.

As the character in ‘The Beast’ is shackled to what is effectively his own image, I fear some part of the “black male-brute” stereotype is ingrained in our psyche. Many black basketballers voluntarily embrace being a beast on the court while the sports and media industries eagerly promote these images. It’s a catch-22 situation; as we have bridged many racial gaps, we have also unintentionally reaffirmed misguided stereotypes.