Currently, the financial limits set on how much BP will have to pay out in damages to third parties like fishermen and hotels at $75 million. Congress is upping that cap. Why not eliminate the cap?

Senator Robert F. Bennett, Republican of Utah, asked if setting aside all liability limits would preclude drilling by small operators, who could not afford enough insurance, or perhaps eliminate offshore drilling all together. “What are the chances that they will be able to get sufficient insurance if the cap is set so high, or the cap is lifted all together, so that a business decision will be made by the boards of these companies, ‘the risk is too great, we will drop all activities.’ ” [article]

Isn’t this how capitalism should work? If something is too great a financial risk, it doesn’t happen. The cost outweighs the benefit.

Wouldn’t that be something, if an oil company was responsible for all the damage it caused?

I couldn’t make it to the playa this year, but am seeing a ton of cool art images come back via the expediency of facebook photosharing… out here in Maui we’re planning for SOURCE, the interactive arts festival in February and would love a little inspiration ala–

What was your favorite art this year at Burning Man?

You can send me a photo– or just link to it on flickr or whatever. Or you can just describe it. What made it impactful for you? What makes art at Burning Man good? Had you ever seen anything like it? How did they make it?

If can, note who gets credit if you know who made it.

Who knew, the best art I’ve seen so far would be the art made of the event after the event:

(these photos are all straight grabbed from facebook thanks to Sirena, Jessica, Mike,  Tom, Scott, Kenneth and Chad… tell me if I need to take em down)

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My parents, who have always been supportive of my path as an artist (by supportive I include inspiringly inquisitive and borderline challenging), are the owners of one of my largest canvases. The Cherish Tree debuted at Mary Swanson’s Art House in 2003, and has since manifested as an 8 foot sculpture that served as the centerpiece altar at the Health and Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa and later traveled to Burning Man.

After celebrating my dad’s 70th birthday here in Maui this last week, my parents informed me that they were packing up their storage box in Seattle and taking the last bits to their new home in Puerto Vallarta.

The Cherish Tree needs a temporary home in Seattle. A custodian if you will. This canvas is perhaps the most meaningful work of art to my name.

In 2002, I had my astrological chart read by Maniko Dadigan. In it, she opened my eyes and inspired me to many possibilities. The most lasting impression was a question she offered me.

The question was “What do you cherish?”.

I went on to travel to Europe with Shannon Danilovich. We were on a mission. We were keeping our bodies clean and saturating our spirits with rich art and culture. While in Amsterdam, we journeyed to the Van Gogh museum and I was vividly struck by his painting “Almond Blossom.”

We continued our travels south through Budapest, Prague, Istanbul and deep into the Southwest corner of Turkey, bordering Iraq. All the while, we journaled and meditated. For me the question persisted: What did I cherish? What did I hold most dear? What, if all else was laid bare, was I left with? The question itself became the answer– it somehow rose up as the most important question anyone could be asked.

While in Olympos, I sketched out a six foot by six foot canvas– modeled after Almond Blossom by Van Gogh. And I began to construct a letter to everyone I knew. In the letter, I asked them what they cherished.

When we returned to Oakland, I sent out the email to over 300 people.

I was rocked by the responses.

“What do you Cherish? What do you hold most dear? What inspires you? What do you wish to cultivate in yourself and the world?”

I opened the first email as a novelty. As I read it, I could feel my heart swell. The depth, honesty and openness of the responses moved me deeply. I hadn’t conceived that as a part of the process, that because I was to read each one, I was putting myself in a position which demanded the deepest part of me to listen.

It became a ritual for me to open the emails with full attention. Unfailingly, I was elevated out of my day-to-day life with each response I read.

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If you move your mouse slowly over this image, you’ll find some of the samples are embedded in the flowers:

Mom and Dad are in Seattle for a short time unpacking their storage box. If you have a wall for The Cherish Tree, and would like to take care of this artwork, please let us know by posting a comment below.

For more details and to see the complete text of every submission received here… and feel free to note in the comments section: What you Cherish.

So I am trying to create some really simple surveys to get people involved in my color site. As I try to find the best one, I thought it would be useful to show some of my examples.

1. MicroPoll

2. Survey.com

3. PollDaddy

Would you know it if you met the next Picasso at a swap meet? or heard the next Bach if you weren’t scouting for talent? or for that matter, what if you walked past Mos Def performing on the street but didn’t have a refined ear for hip-hop? We appreciate within the context our culture creates for us. And that’s ok. Just nice to bring a little awareness to it.

• Washington DC, Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007
• six different Bach pieces played on a violin for about 45 minutes
• approx 2 thousand people passed through the station

After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:
the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the till and then without stopping, continued to walk away.

6 minutes later:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes later:
A 3 year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly, as the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the entire time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every single parent, without exception, forced them to move on.

45 minutes later:
The musician played. Only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 of these people gave him small amounts of money, probably out of pity but more importantly they still continued to walk at their normal pace. He did collected $32.

1 hour later:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best and most well known musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the Washington Metro station was organized by a wealthy Pennsylvania businessman and the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

The full story from Washington Post

(Most of the above copy was taken from a forwarded in email without attribution)

I’d like to add links for my facebook page and twitter somewhere.

The Box Set are three paintings set in 3 inches deep and deserve to be viewed from all sides. Old school hip-hop appreciators will enjoy the ability to remix an old favorite. Be sure to click on the cereal box fold out to animate the painting.

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