Blog 7

Before:

A connection I made between the TED talk and the EA’s was when Urhahn and Koolhaas were talking about their very first project in Rio and they had made the beautiful mural of a boy flying a theoretical kite. The children came up to them and asked where was the kite, so they told them that it’s art and you have to imagine the kite but the kids still didn’t like that there wasn’t a physical kite, so they installed one. Hearing that conversation reminded me of the Effective Altruists and how they probably wouldn’t get the piece either. One, because it is art and they think it’s pointless and two, because they tend to not get art in the first place.

Southan said in his essay that “most of them [Effective Altruists] seemed doubtful that art had much power to alter the world for the better” which is exactly the opposite of what Dre Urhahn said in his TED talk. Urhahn said in his Radio Hour with Guy Raz, that the murals and paintings were “an invitation to think about the people who live there in a different way.” and to me, that is doing a tremendous amount of good because of the social justice component of their work. It’s not only about the art, but the way it makes you think.

After:

A connection I found between Effective Altruism the TED talk was when Urhahn and Koolhaas were talking about their first art project in Rio and they created a beautiful mural of a boy flying a theoretical kite. The children who lived in the favela approached them and asked where the kite was, so Urhahn and Koolhaas told them that the kite is part of the art and they have to imagine it, however the kids still didn’t like that there wasn’t a physical kite, so they installed one. After hearing that conversation, I was reminded of the EA and how they most likely wouldn’t understand that piece either. One, because it’s art and they think it is pointless and two, because they have a tendency to not get art in the first place.

Southan expressed in his essay that “most of them [Effective Altruists] seemed doubtful that art had much power to alter the world for the better” which is the polar opposite of what Dre Urhahn explained in his Radio Hour with Guy Raz. He said that his murals and paintings were “an invitation to think about the people who live there in a different way.” To me, transforming these neighborhoods is a tremendous amount of good because of the social justice component of the social justice being executed. The mindset of the residents of these neighborhoods are changing and the happiness that is being elicited by the change of environment is astounding. Even though their situation remains the same, the component of their emotional well being should not be overlooked.

Summary: For the most part, I just reconstructed a lot of my sentences so they flowed better and looked more intelligent instead of just having funky blobs of words. I also went into more detail about the emotional well being of the civilians in the impoverished neighborhoods and why the art projects were so important to their state of mind.