Sustainability Conversations ... Clowns, Mimes and Magic

There are two kinds of people in this world. People who hate clowns… and clowns. People who bring their own clown to life… and their own imagination into play.

We all know clearly the difference between "reality” and “imagination” In the imagination anything is possible… it is the space charged with the possible. With being a clown for a while we can discover our own archetype within ourselves…. We can find our own ways of being a clown… we are given permission to clown around a bit, to be a child again, to be in a naïve and fragile state, to experience opposites through intensity and amplification.

 

We can experience a metamorphoses… take of our clothes…. Put on our red noses, those outrageous shoes, and the larger-than- life shorts… open ourselves a bit…. Bring out our imagination…listen to our feelings… listen to our bodies… listen to others… improvise… Being a mime or a clown is more than a state. It is a movement, a dynamic process – it is even a two way movement: feet on the ground and head in the clouds. This duality facilitates the emergence of our imagination. 

Let’s keep our feet on the ground. Let’s remain alert to the concrete reality that surrounds us. Smell it… hear it….feel the world touching us…. Experience this anchor of reality… the security of it. This is our invitation to drift further into the absurd… look at the world beyond what we know…move at the edge of two worlds… that of imagination… and reality… 

Experience the feeling of being in a permanent state of instability…. Do not control… when we let go of control we become aware and surprised by the depth that emerges… give ourselves permission to be a non-conformist for a while…take out the clown in the closet… play with rules and social conventions… Just for short while “pretend” not to be the responsible, mature, educated and intelligent (which we all are of course!) person… allow ourselves just for a minute a two to become an unruly spirit prone to excesses and a keen explorer of the edges of things…rid yourself of dogma… find a new direction… move forward… exceed the speed of light. Is this the real world?
 
Is this just fantasy? 

The only teacher I had who truly inspired me was my Geography teacher in High School, Jacques Marais. He was a great teacher, a magician and the best juggler in South Africa at the time. Jacques Marais later left teaching and joined the circus to live his dream. This week we pay tribute to this remarkable man on the iStart2 Show.

Colin Underwood, a corporate magician based in Johannesburg has over 35 years' experience, has entertained all over the world with literally thousands of performances as a comedy magician, a juggler and as character entertainer. Colin is considered by many to be the African continent's premier corporate magician.

We chat to Colin about his career, sustainability through Magic and pay tribute to Jacques Marais on the iStart2 Show this week. Magic not to be missed!

Keitu Gwangwa & Pierre du Toit host the iStart2 Show on Thursdays at 17h30. Radio Today broadcasts on 1485 MW (AM) in greater Johannesburg and countrywide on ‪#‎DStv‬ audio channel 869.

 
Radio Today also streams globally on www.1485.org.za. 

Send in the mimes ... and the clowns.

The Little Green Bag ... Barend La Grange

"I still feel a little bit embarrassed about my involvement in the incident," says Barend La Grange who became famously known as one of the people who defaced The Spear painting back in 2012. "Nobody did anything to defuse the situation. As a white  Afrikaans speaking person I decided to deface the art work. I don't regret it, I was not allowed to do it, it was against the Law. I am still sitting with a criminal record," says Barend on the iStart2 Show this week. 

Barend is passionate about Race Relations and tries to bring different groupings of people together. For him the whole incident was about better race relations in South Africa. "It took the sting out of the race debate and changed the narrative into an academic debate about freedom of expression versus the right to protect someone's dignity." 

He firmly believes that good relations is not a given and that it should be managed all the time. "I think we are making progress, but we all have a responsibility to work towards it. We have to be very sensitive towards other cultures and it is so important to talk about this issue."

"Every year I choose a specific route into Africa and travel by local transport to different countries. It gives me the opportunity to experience the world." You can follow his travels by connecting to Barend on his facebook page here "The reason I travel is because people are so different." 

To listen to the interview with Barend click play below:

Thought of the Day:

Have a wonderful week!

Sustainability Conversations ... Defacing Art

Numerous acts of vandalism against art exhibits are known and some objects, such as Mona Lisa, Night Watch and The Little Mermaid, have been intentionally damaged several times. In most cases, the artworks were restored. Restorations were costly and time-consuming and in many cases were followed by shielding the artwork from future attacks.

Some other works that have been defaced in recent years.

Night Watch, Rembrandt

The Dutch master's painting - one of the most famous paintings at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam - has been vandalised three times. In 1911, when a former navy chef attacked the piece with a knife. Then in 1975, William de Rijk repeatedly slashed the painting claiming Jesus made him do it. The work was vandalised again in 1990 when an escaped psychiatric patient sprayed it with sulphuric acid.

The Little Mermaid, Edward Erikson

The statue of the character from Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale is a major tourist attraction in Copenhagen, Denmark. Being vandalised numerous times since the 1960s,  beheaded twice, blasted off her base with explosives, it has also been daubed on the figure a number of times. Officials have considered moving it several metres offshore


Mona Lisa, Leonardo Da Vinci

Da Vinci's most famous painting is one of the best-protected artworks. But, before it was encased in bulletproof glass, the work was severely damaged in an acid attack. In 1974, a woman sprayed red paint at the artwork while it was on loan at the Tokyo National Museum, protesting its policy for not allowing disabled people into the exhibition. Three years ago it was threatened again when a Russian woman threw a mug at the painting.

Rokeby Venus, Velazquez 

In 1914, suffragette Mary Richardson took a meat cleaver to the Spanish artist's 1647-1651 creation at London's National Gallery. She slashed it seven times.
(Source: Read more here)

The Spear, Brett Murray

The Spear is a painting by South African artist, Brett Murray. It depicts South African President Jacob Zuma in a pose reminiscent of Lenin, with his genitals exposed. The painting triggered a defamation lawsuit by Zuma's party, the African National Congress (ANC), and was vandalised on 22 May 2012.

Restoration of dignity through Art

This week we pay tribute to Diana Ferrus (born 29 August 1953, Worcester, Western Cape) She is a South African writer, poet and storyteller.  Ferrus is best known for her poem about Sarah Baartman, a South African woman taken to Europe under false pretenses and paraded as a curiosity. 

She wrote the poem in 1998 while studying at Utrecht University. The popularity of this poem is widely believed to be responsible for the return of Bartmann's remains to South Africa. The poem was published into a French law.

  

Is it possible to vandalise graffiti?

Numerous works by Banksy have been "defaced" or destroyed. Several of the prolific street artist's "installations" have been painted over by council workers or building owners, many of whom were unaware the graffiti was worth thousands of pounds.

 

Vandalism that ended on a positive note

This week on the iStart2 Show we chat to Barend La Grange who went to the Goodman Gallery and defaced The Spear by artist Brett Murray. We look back at the incident and chat about his travels into Africa and how he contributes to a more sustainable world by fighting racism and building bridges into Africa. Don't miss what this positive man has to say!

Keitu Gwangwa & Pierre du Toit host the iStart2 Show on Thursdays at 17h30. Radio Today broadcasts on 1485 MW (AM) in greater Johannesburg and countrywide on ‪#‎DStv‬ audio channel 869.

 
Radio Today also streams globally on www.1485.org.za. 

What would most affect the future? ... Hans Koedood talks #ElonMusk

In the nineties Elon Musk listed the five things he thought would most affect the future of humanity (the internet, sustainable energy, space exploration, artificial intelligence, and rewriting human genetics). Just 25 years later, and he has already impacted three of them in a BIG way.
 
This week on the iStart2 Show we chat to Hans Koedood, a South African living in the Netherlands, on one of his regular visits to South Africa. "You don't get Africa out of a person once he lived here," says Hans, a formidable entrepreneur in financial and IT environments, has travelled the world and  worked with diverse people in many business sectors on different levels and in more than 20 countries in Europe, Middle-East, Africa and America.

Hans unravels the world of Elon Reeve Musk (born June 28, 1971), a South African-born Canadian-American business magnate, investor, engineer and inventor.
 
He is the founder, amongst others, CEO and CTO of SpaceX; co-founder, CEO and product architect of Tesla Motors; co-founder and chairman of SolarCity.  As of June 2016, he has an estimated net worth of US$12.7 billion, making him the 83rd wealthiest person in the world. 

"I think we should learn from Elon Musk to ask the right questions," says Hans and dives into the largest problems Elon Musk identified that we need to tackle today and which could have the biggest impact on our future.
 
To listen to the interview, click the podcast below:



Thought of the day:

According to the biography "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future," the Tesla and SpaceX CEO likes to ask candidates this riddle to test their intelligence:

"You are standing on the surface of the Earth. You walk one mile south, one mile west, and one mile north. You end up exactly where you started. Where are you?"

Have you figured out the  multiple correct answers? One is the North Pole, yes!

Are there really more questions than answers?
Have a fun week!
                                                                                                                               

Sustainability Conversations ... Let's Talk Tesla #ElonMusk

Always exciting when South Africans make it big. I bet those guys who bullied Elon Musk many years ago at Pretoria Boys High see things very differently now ... This week we focus on the story of a man who wanted to change the world and who is doing it in a big way ...

Elon Reeve Musk (born June 28, 1971) is a South African-born Canadian-American business magnate, investor, engineer and inventor.
 
He is the founder, amongst others, CEO and CTO of SpaceX; co-founder, CEO and product architect of Tesla Motors; co-founder and chairman of SolarCity.  As of June 2016, he has an estimated net worth of US$12.7 billion, making him the 83rd wealthiest person in the world.

Musk has stated that the goals of SolarCity, Tesla Motors, and SpaceX revolve around his vision to change the world and humanity. His goals include reducing global warming through sustainable energy production and consumption, and reducing the "risk of human extinction" by "making life multiplanetary" by setting up a human colony on Mars. (Source: Wikipedia)

Elon Musk's first master plan that he wrote 10 years ago is now in the final stages of completion. He says it wasn't all that complicated and basically consisted of:

1. Create a low volume car, which would necessarily be expensive
2. Use that money to develop a medium volume car at a lower price
3. Use that money to create an affordable, high volume car
   And...
4. Provide solar power. No kidding, this has literally been on our website for 10 years.
   
   So, in short, Master Plan, Part Deux is:
   Create stunning solar roofs with seamlessly integrated battery storage
   Expand the electric vehicle product line to address all major segments
   Develop a self-driving capability that is 10X safer than manual via massive fleet learning
   Enable your car to make money for you when you aren't using
   (Elon Musk, read more here)
   

Earlier this month, SpaceX lost a Falcon 9 rocket (and a Facebook satellite) on the launch pad in Cape Canaveral. Naturally, Elon Musk is not taking the explosion lightly, and the outspoken CEO has already turned to Twitter to help his company find the cause of the explosion.

 
Over a couple tweets  Musk noted that the company was "still working" on the investigation which was "turning out to be the most difficult and complex failure we have ever had in 14 years." The biggest mystery, apparently, is how the explosion occurred during a routine filling operation, when there was "no apparent heat source." 

According to Musk, SpaceX is trying to get to the bottom of a bang sound that can be heard a few seconds before the explosion and the company is seeking any third-party recordings of the event so they can get a better view, or at least a different angle, on the incident.

New developments On Electric Cars

Tesla's plan to upgrade the controversial Autopilot feature on its electric cars drew positive reviews Monday from some analysts,  who say the changes will be better for safety and for the company’s future.

The improvements, following the fatal crash of a driver using Autopilot this spring, were unveiled Sunday by Tesla Motors Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk. The new Autopilot will rely primarily on radar — and not just cameras — to help the car “see” better and avoid collisions. Read here

New developments in Solar Energy

A new venture spearheaded by Elon Musk will create house roofs made entirely of solar panels, in a sweeping expansion of Tesla’s clean energy ambitions.
 
Tesla has finalized a $2.6bn deal to buy solar power company SolarCity to produce solar “shingles” – photovoltaic material that would be fashioned into the shape of a house roof.

“I think this is really a fundamental part of achieving differentiated product strategy, where you have a beautiful roof,” Musk said. “It’s not a thing on the roof. It is the roof.” (Read more here)

This week we talk to Hans Koedood, entrepreneur and world traveller, on the iStart2 Show. Hans shares his views on Tesla and his belief in the greatness of South Africans. Don't miss what he has to say! 

Keitu Gwangwa & Pierre du Toit host the iStart2 Show on Thursdays at 17h30. Radio Today broadcasts on 1485 MW (AM) in greater Johannesburg and countrywide on ‪#‎DStv‬ audio channel 869.

 
Radio Today also streams globally on www.1485.org.za.