Leigh M. Johnson

Segue

It’s been a minute since I updated this blog. There are lots of reasons for that– I was tied up with the American Values Project (and its New York Values iteration) for a while, then the Memphis Grizzlies were in the NBA playoffs, then end-of-the-semester grading was upon me, then graduation and curriculum seminars, etc–…

Read More

American Values Project

Here’s a slide show of the images we’ve gotten so far for the American Values Project. The project has it’s own website now, too, where you can submit new photos directly through that site. We’re developing a whole new set of plans for this project (and managing to find some money for it as well!)…

Read More

New York Values

New Yorkers: How do you make one of the world’s largest cities into a community? First, you show its residents what they have in common. New York is a city of over 8 million people, and each one of them values something. The particulars of what they value may differ dramatically– sometimes even conflict dramatically–…

Read More

“American Values” Goes To The Big City

For those of you who have been following the development of my “American Values” project, I have exciting news: WE’RE TAKING IT TO NEW YORK CITY! On May 7th, curator Tally Beck (of Tally Beck Contemporary) and I will exhibit a slightly-more-limited-in-scope version of the American Values project that we’re calling “New York Values” at…

Read More

Yes You Can… Be A Part of the “American Values” Project!

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I want to make another (this time, URGENT) call for submissions to the American Values project. The image to your left is a collage of some of the photos I’ve already recieved. (Go ahead and click on the image. It’s a pretty impressive collection, if I…

Read More

More American Values Photos Needed

Well, it looks like my “American Values” project might be about to get a new life. If you don’t already know, I put out a call on this blog several weeks back asking people to snap a photo of themselves naming something that they hold as a value and then to send me their images….

Read More

The Uncanny Valley 7: Sonzai-Kan

Every time I try to put away my obsession with the uncanny valley, some new robot or robot-story invades my world and reanimates that fascination all over again. Regular readers of this blog will know that I first became interested in robotocist Masahiro Mori’s theory of the uncanny valley back in October of 2010, when…

Read More

American Values

A couple of weeks ago, I put out a call here on the blog for help with a video project I wanted to put together on “American Values.” I asked people to send me a photograph of themselves naming something that they valued. It was a simple idea, initially conceived as an interesting little side…

Read More

“American Values” Video Project…. or, The Little Idea That Could

I’m not yet finished editing the “American Values” video, some of the images of which are in this collage on your left, but I wanted to share a bit about the making-of the project, which is turning into one of the most serendipitously rewarding things I’ve stumbled into in quite some time. I’ll start at…

Read More

Help Me With My Video Project!

I’m soliciting your help, readers, with a video project I’m putting together focusing on “American Values.” Think of it as a cross between the old NPR program “This I Believe,” a Pew Research Poll, a snapshot of American diversity a la Flickr, and something like your senior thesis. I want to know what you– all…

Read More