Like any major hybrid cultural event that jumps the shark and decides to evolve into what’s essentially a hipsterised parody of itself, #SXSW has been inverting from its original incarnation for years and sequentially de-evolving into a muddled coolhunting mess. So when AllThingsD reported on this glorious play containing yams and oily-networking-sycophants, it just had to be applauded:
In the weeks leading up to SXSW, a series of mysterious packages started being sent out to companies of import and some journalists. The contents included a set of instructions and one single, neatly wrapped object: A yam.
Those who received the yams in the mail — from “Yamtrader.com” were pitched on a new startup that, basically, sold itself as “an online marketplace for yam enthusiasts and traders.” It was absurd.
Yet attendees were encouraged to bring their yams to South By, where they could be traded in for a $50 AmEx gift card.
What they found when they reached South By on Sunday morning wasn’t a booth full of potato lovers. It was Tri-Net.
What is Tri-Net? It’s a 25-year-old cloud services company that deals with HR, payroll and IT backend issues for smaller startups, who may have a good idea for a company, but have little backend business acumen. It’s pretty big, too; it’s home to more than 1,500 employees, and works with upwards of 7,000 clients.I get it… IT and payroll services are about as exciting as attending an enterprise conference after taking a Xanax. So you have to resort to guerilla, somewhat unconventional marketing tactics to get noticed on occasion.
But Tri-Net did them one better. Theirs is a sort of meta-commentary on startup marketing on the whole, a tongue-in-cheek gesture on the stupidity of some single-serving companies that are appearing out of Silicon Valley these days — much less with millions of dollars in venture capital funding. By contrast, something difficult to market may prove more useful; it’s why the hottest topic in the Valley these days is indeed the enterprise (even if it is boring as hell).
A number of folks were taken in by it, with mixed reactions. “We have gotten feedback in both directions,” Breitweiser said. “Some thought it was really funny, while some were upset that we were fooling them.”
[Now I’m really resisting getting back on my high-horsey here and splathering you all with a rant about the evils of Genetically Modified/Engineered Organisms, Monsanto, and animal cloning (just thought I’d throw that last one in there for topically associated reasons).]
In all seriousness, the above video does give an interesting (if somewhat softened) view of this scarily untested and dangerous corporate-monopolised area that messes with all Darwin held dear what GMOs are and how they work. Oh and fellow Aussies take note: our laws are no more robust than the States when it comes to the consumption and labelling of GMO-laced foodstuffs, as the True Food Network says here:
The labelling of GE food in Australia is extremely limited and excludes some of the most basic and universally used ingredients. This is despite recent polls indicating that 90% of all Australians want comprehensive labelling for these foods.
GE ingredients appear as hidden ingredients in processed foods, as well as in the meat, eggs and milk produced from animals fed on GE grains. Under Australian labelling laws, only foods where GE proteins can be detected need to be labelled.
Many foods are exempt from labelling requirements.
Products derived from animals fed GE feed (such as meat, milk, eggs and honey).
Highly refined GE ingredients (such as cooking oils, sugars, starches) — most processed foods fall into this category and contain some kind of oil or starch.
Food prepared at bakeries, restaurants and takeaways.
Foods that are “unintentionally” contaminated with up to 1% GE contamination per ingredient.
IMO the best way to ensure you’re eating non-GMO is to [organically] grow your own [permaculture = win].
So all this video shows is two guys simply fixing a tyre puncture – not very technical [or geeky], right? Well, I’d counter that the innovation and curiosity required to arrive at such a practical, functional solution is one that is sadly being undervalued in top heavy capital driven societies, with one of the problems facing us lucky-but-perpetually-indulgent 1st world citizens being a lack of established emphasis on grassroots know-how.
Just think about how many of us allow ourselves to dwell daily in institutionalised RedTapesVille that we lose valuable hand-me-down and/or tinkering based skills [like fixing a bike tire with practically nothing]. It seems the more consumer drivel [or moolah mounds] we have, the less we care about the mechanics of tools or the processes involved in actually fixing – rather than discarding – stuff, not to mention the ways we can reuse other items/components in unconventional ways.
The more time poor yet financially rich we become [thanks, overtly-long-commuting-times or endless-wastage-of-cognitive-potential-due-to-daily-puff-meetings-where-half-the-time-is-caught-up-“discussing”-hollow-strategies-or-procedural-pap], the more we lose touch with innovative hands on [and small scale] solutions. Let’s instead try to find gorgeously simply fixes rather than simply perpetuating the ugly cycle of overconsumption [throw-away + buy-again] culture, yes?
Expressions of Interest for participation due Monday 3 September 2012
The Assembled Self is a project about the experience of genotyping (genetic testing) and how this affects an individual’s sense of self. It is driven by our interest in how genetic testing alters the narratives through which people anchor their own, their families, and their communities’ identities. The project involves a collaboration of researchers and artists conducting a creative research project where artists produce new works (phase 1) to be presented to generate public conversations around genetic testing and identity (phase 2). The Assembled Self is holding a research development workshop on Saturday 22nd September to think through these ideas and find artist collaborators.
Subject to a successful funding application, 8 artist collaborators will be provided with financial and logistical support for their artistic contribution to The Assembled Self.
This project is conducted by Centre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine, University of Sydney and School of the Arts and Media, University of New South Wales. It is supported by Australia Council for the Arts and PerformanceSpace.
