|| 6/11/2010 || 2:23 pm || + Render A Comment || ||
Four artists at Gershman Y – Philadelphia Inquirer
Today I am featured in the Weekend Edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Nikolas Schiller, working with aerial maps, makes complex new patterns by altering them digitally, and his most inspired pieces are the ones that look easy. Convinced each of us has the capacity to change things, Schiller believes that to change the world, we should start with maps.
Now what I find mildly amusing is that the sentence “Convinced each of us has the capacity to change things, Schiller believes that to change the world, we should start with maps.” was more or less already published in a previous edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The curator of the show chose a quote from the 2007 Washington Post article about me and placed it near my map “Israel / Palestine 1993. What the author of this article didn’t realize was that the Philadelphia Inquirer published a syndicated version of the Washington Post article that contained the exact same quote.
Read the rest of the article:
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|| 5/25/2010 || 1:47 pm || + Render A Comment || ||
Charted Territory: Robin Rice on “Mapping: Outside/Inside” at Gershman Y – Philadelphia City Paper
My maps are reviewed in this week’s issue of the Philadelphia City Paper:
Maps are composed of signs. In addition to text, they include linear patterns and coded colors; a sense of rhythm and predictability is part of their visual appeal. Issues of scale and modularity, either organic or mechanically imposed, are contemporary art concerns, as well. Digital kaleidoscopic repetition of aerial photographs is blogger Nikolas Schiller’s shtick. He calls his quilt-like pieces “geospatial art.” Four of his works in this show are based on the Gershman Y seen from above, and a fifth is a Star of David configuration made of fragments of disputed territories of Israel and Palestine. Appealing lacy patterns in muted greens, brick reds and white evoke myriad references from Victorian decoration to Islamic mosaics to cellular division. On the other hand, like the similarly attractive fractal patterns, they end up being more decorative than profound.
Read the rest of the review by Robin Rice:
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|| 5/5/2010 || 8:07 am || + Render A Comment || ||
Washington, D.C., Approves Medical Use of Marijuana By Ashley Southall – The New York Times, May 5, 2010
Today my names appears for the first time in the New York Times:
Nikolas Schiller, the secretary of the D.C. Patients’ Cooperative, a nonprofit group that advocates legal medical marijuana, said the amendments would have clarified ambiguities in the bill. He pointed to an example of a Wal-Mart worker in Michigan, where medical marijuana is legal, who was fired in March after he tested positive for the drug, which he used to cope with sinus cancer and an inoperable brain tumor.
“We asked the Council to introduce the protection for that and they refused to,” Mr. Schiller said. “And it was very infuriating to sit and watch the best practices from other states, other jurisdictions be ignored.”
Although Ashley recorded a much longer interview with me after the District Council’s final vote, I am happy (read: not infuriated) with how this article is written. I wish she could have highlighted some of the more important issues I spoke to her about. Regardless, I am still disappointed the Councilmembers voted to create one of the most restrictive medical cannabis programs in the country. The reality is that Congress already approved a more liberal version earlier this year and these amendments are far away from the original intent of District residents. The next Congress can take the program away, so why not legislate to create the very best program in the country modeled off of what works? I am sad to say that without home cultivation and limiting growers to 95 plants, the program is going to have some problems, but I hope, in time, we can fix them.
Anyways, yesterday’s vote was an important start, but there is a long way to go…
Read the entire article:
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|| 4/23/2010 || 10:01 pm || 1 Comment Rendered || ||
Drug War Chronicle Issue #629 – Feature: Mixed Reactions to DC City Council’s Medical Marijuana Regulations
I am interviewed in today’s edition of the Drug War Chronicle:
While many medical marijuana supporters are happy with the measure, others fear it is so restrictive it will defeat its purpose. “We’re happy that they passed it — some cities have yet to enact any legislation — but we have some concerns with the language that is currently in there,” said Nikolas Schiller, secretary for the DC Patients’ Co-op and member of Americans for Safe Access DC chapter. “There is no home cultivation for patients. In 1998, District residents voted legal cultivation at home, but this measure removes that language,” he said.
Continue reading:
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|| 12/8/2009 || 12:10 pm || + Render A Comment || ||
The DC Colonist is now officially stock photo
When I first came across the photograph in 2006, I knew it would probably be stored somewhere in the photographic databases of Getty Images. After last month’s publication of the photograph in the Washington Post, it looks like the photograph was also republished on the website of Life Magazine. According to wikipedia, Getty Images and Life Magazine joined forces in March of 2009 and now jointly share some of their combined photo collections on Life.com.
|| 11/24/2009 || 1:02 am || 1 Comment Rendered || ||
The D.C. Colonist Is The Subject Of A Letter To The Editor In Today’s Washington Post
Text of the Letter:
A D.C. protester garbles the garb
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Nikolas Schiller seems to lack a clear understanding of the history of the District of Columbia ["Hats off to D.C. statehood," the Reliable Source, Nov. 19]. He wears “Colonial” garb to make the point that, in his words, “the status of D.C. residents has not changed since Colonial times.” But there was, of course, no District of Columbia in colonial times. There was a city of Georgetown, in Maryland.
Mr. Schiller also needs a new costume consultant. His coat is cut incorrectly, and I hope he doesn’t really wear German lederhosen, as he said, but rather correctly cut knee breeches when he isn’t wearing blue jeans.
Ann Wass, Riverdale
I’ll have a reply in the
afternoon. In the meantime, the Latin Phrase of the Day is
Ad Hominem.
|| 11/12/2009 || 1:47 pm || + Render A Comment || ||
My Record Cover Was Featured On Current TV Last Night
Last night a friend of mine from college, Andrew Wiseman, left a message on my Facebook wall saying that he saw the map I made on Current TV. Knowing that I had met the film crew back in June of this year at the 18th Street Lounge, I was expecting the show to eventually broadcast. Earlier today the full show was uploaded to YouTube:
Around 18 minutes into the episode, while Eric Hilton and Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation are at the record shop Som Records (about 4 blocks from my house), Rob picks up the record Supreme Illusion, which I licensed Pentagon Quilt and Lower Manhattan Quilt as the cover artwork.
If you don’t want to watch the entire show, you can skip to 50 second mark on this truncated version of the show:
|| 8/4/2009 || 7:14 pm || + Render A Comment || ||
I was on today’s 5pm newscast of WJLA ABC 7 concerning the 80 recent car break-ins & burglaries in my neighborhood
This morning after I returned home from picking up my morning beverage, I was approached by Jennifer Donelan, a reporter for WJLA ABC7, who was doing a story about the recent up tick in crime in my neighborhood. She asked if I’d be willing to be interviewed and, surprisingly, I made the edit and show up about 50 seconds into the segment.
About a month ago, at probably the height of the car break-ins, I conceived the idea of doing a photo series of nothing but broken glass on the street & sidewalk. It seemed that nearly every day I would walk by a car with a smashed window and I felt compelled to document this travesty. But alas, I never seemed to have my camera with me when I needed it and the concept has since fallen by the wayside.
Related Crime Entries:
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|| 6/5/2009 || 12:51 pm || Comments Off || ||
I am mentioned in today’s Washington Post article “Artomatic ’09: Survival Tips From an Expert”
In today’s Weekend section of the Washington Post there is an article titled Artomatic ’09: Survival Tips From an Expert*. In the article staff writer Michael O’Sullivan follows around Phillip Barlow, one of the DC area’s biggest art collectors, and asks him questions about how to go about exploring the 9 floors of art at Artomatic.
Near the end of the article Michael O’Sullivan writes:
Okay, spill it: So who does the collector like? Barlow wouldn’t give a Top 10 list or even a favorite floor. But he did express interest in — or lingered longingly in front of — the work of several artists. Here’s a partial list of his favorites:
Floor 9: Jessica Van Brakle.
Floor 8: Jared Davis, Nikolas R. Schiller.
Floor 7: Jeremy Arn.
Floor 6: Jen Dixon.
Floor 5: Mark Jude, Meinir Wyn Jones, Stephen Reveley, Michael Enn Sirvet, Steve Strawn.
Floor 2: Drew Graham, Kate McGovern.
Still, Barlow cautions against using his taste alone as a guide, adding that the secret to Artomatic’s success is volume, volume, volume. “There’s just so much stuff here that I can practically guarantee that something’s going to be new or interesting,” he says. “To someone.”
Read the entire article here. I plan on stopping by Artomatic this evening around 7pm. Maybe I will see you there?
* This article’s title in the print edition is different from the on-line edition. The print edition is titled
Artomatic ’09: Survival Tips From an Expert while the on-line edition is titled
Annual Artomatic Show Exhibits the Works of More Than 1,000 Artists.
Related Artomatic Entries:
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|| 1/28/2009 || 5:03 pm || Comments Off || ||
Indirectly mentioned in today’s Washington Post
By Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 28, 2009; Page B03
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer vowed yesterday to hold a vote “in the very near future” on legislation that would give the District a full voting seat in Congress.
“As majority leader, I tell you I intend to bring that bill to the floor,” Hoyer (D-Md.) told the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. He criticized Washington’s status, saying the city is “the only capital in the free world whose citizens do not have a voting member of their parliament.”
The hearing marked the first step in the bill’s path through Congress. It drew an overflow crowd to the wood-paneled room, including the measure’s sponsor, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and numerous activists — one in a purple colonial-style coat and a tricorn hat.
These photos were taken in 2006 in the same room where representatives were discussing the same unconstitutional bill.
Its sad that while times have changed, my colonial status has not…
Related Colonist Entries:
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|| 1/19/2009 || 4:24 pm || Comments Off || ||
Interviewed on MSNBC this morning
not me in the background…
This morning after I woke up and turned on the TV, I noticed that someone in the background was holding up one of the “Yes We Can – DC Statehood Now!” posters (above). I decided remove my poster from the window and head down to the Mall to see if I could join the person. After I arrived it turned out that the person had already left, but fortunately the crowd was pretty thin around filming area and I was able to go right up to the fence and hold up my sign. Around 10am David Shuster went outside and interviewed different people around the fence and eventually came up to me. He let me speak about DC statehood for about 15 seconds on live TV! It was quite rewarding to say the least! I ended up staying around the fence holding up the sign for the next 3 hours and left when I started to get hungry. I hope to get the footage shortly and when I do, I’ll post it here.
|| 12/5/2008 || 6:15 pm || Comments Off || ||
My DC license plate redesign was discussed today on the WAMU’s The Kojo Nnamdi Show
Yesterday I received an e-mail from a friend asking if I knew who was behind the “1/3 Representation Please” poster that has been showing up around town. I responded by stating that I did not know who the person was and sent the friend the two links related to poster. In the response e-mail it was then suggested that I contact the show to further the dialogue. So before the show started I decided to e-mail Kojo Nnamdi with the license plate above and the D.C. flag redesign as attachments and state for the record that I was NOT behind the poster or its placement around town.
The executive director of DC Vote, Ilir Zherka, was the guest on the show during the voting rights segment. Through the years he & I have had a very turbid relationship. We have a differing opinion on the 1/3 representation route his organization is advocating. During the show I paid close attention to his words and realized that he is not advocating for statehood at all, which is very sad because more DC residents want statehood and not fractional representation. During the show’s dialogue, the subject of president-elect Barack Obama changing the license plates on his limousine comes up….
Click here to listen to an MP3 of today’s show. The clip starts out with Zherka speaking about Obama changing the plates, then Tom Sherwood throws in a little bit of history, followed a question from Sommer Mathis, editor of one of my favorite DC blogs- DCist, then Kojo brings up my license plate, and Ilir Zherka responds….
Of note is that he states that his organization is already preparing for a court challenge if the bill his organization is advocating for gets passed in the House or Senate. Frankly I find this both sad and frustrating. Sad because they are knowingly trying to advance a bill that is not constitutional– only STATES can receive representation in the House or Senate. This is also frustrating because it only delays the equality for the residents of the America’s capital city. They could easily be advocating a new bill using a new strategy because there is a new congress, but they are still pushing for a piece of sub-par legislation that will be struck down on constitutional grounds.
After the show Kojo had an on-line chat in which I participated in. Below is the text from the chat:
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|| 8/16/2009 || 3:01 pm || 2 Comments Rendered || ||
The sign I posted outside of MTV’s Real World DC house is transcribed in today’s Washington Post
Last month I posted the photograph above in my entry about adding some political commentary to the area around the Real World DC house in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, DC. This morning a friend of mine left a somewhat cryptic comment on my Facebook page telling me to check section E6 in today’s Washington Post. I ran downstairs, opened the paper up, and let out out a hearty laugh.
Transcribed near the end of Dan Zak’s article, Neighborhood Watch: MTV Is in the House, and Everyone Else Just Wants to Be, is the text of my sign:
In the next section of the article there is choice quote from some teenagers from Maryland:
(underline added for emphasis of the Congressional lack thereof)
While I was not identified as the creator of the sign, even though a simple Google Search would have brought the author to my website, and the author only mentioned that there was one sign (there are 8 still up last time I counted), I’m very pleased that my sign was mentioned in today’s article. In that respect, the ten dollars spent making those signs & purchasing the wheatpaste was completely validated— my message made it into the Washington Post. But the real question is if the message will make the cut and be mentioned in any of the episodes set to air on MTV in 2010?
Since the sign(s) has been up now for just about a month, I figure its time to remove them and put up something new. I already have the next flyer made, but I’m debating if I should put them up or not. The flyer is a bit over the top, but well, umm, so are most of the people mentioned in the article. But unlike the ones who actually give two shits about the show, my aim is not to get in the house or hang out with the cast (I really could care less about that), but to use their presence in Washington, DC as a vehicle to get out the larger message of DC residents being second class citizens denied representation in Congress.
Click on the screen grab below to read the last page of the article:
What’s interesting about the text on-line versus the text in the printed article is that there is extra space between lines of the poster in the on-line version captured above. These extra line breaks actually make the point of the poster appear more important on-line than it does in the print edition, which does not feature extra line breaks. But since the print edition of the Washington Post is not delivered outside of the Washington, DC area, this typographical difference carries significantly more weight on-line than in print. In that respect, I must thank the web editor at the Washington Post for giving the text of my sign a little bit more emphasis than it would otherwise have received if it were identical to the print edition.
UPDATE – After I posted this entry, I went back to the Washington Post website and found that the poster was briefly shown at the beginning of the video portion of the article: