Art

My interview by Leaders in Software and Art
Art / Blog / Creativity / My Favorite Posts

My interview by Leaders in Software and Art

Leaders in Software and Art posted their interview of me at my solo show at Crossing Art Gallery last June. I thought Isabel did great camera work with a medium that's hard to capture on video (EDIT: see comment below, where Isabel pointed out Jeff Becker did the camera work). http://vimeo.com/39370221 I'm in Beijing, where the government blocks video-sharing sites, so I can't see how the above video renders. Here's the direct link to the site if it doesn't come out -- http://vimeo.com/39370221.

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April 9, 2012
Telling my awesome story on stage about inspiring my mom’s first marathon
Art / Blog / Fitness / Humor

Telling my awesome story on stage about inspiring my mom’s first marathon

Monday night I told my second story at the Moth, to about two hundred people. A bit scary, though not as scary as last time, but awesome! Improving public speaking improves your abilities in almost any field. Few structures match the story structure in engaging people to listen. That's why I stuck my neck out to practice storytelling in public -- to exercise useful skills. And to have fun, of course. Here's my second on-stage story, based on inspiring my mom to run her first marathon. I'm happy with how the story came out, despite my nerves and inexperience. I see ways to improve, though welcome feedback. I owe thanks to my friend Mick who recorded it, though he missed the opening line, which says…

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February 29, 2012
Improve your public speaking through storytelling, part 2
Art / Blog / Creativity / Tips

Improve your public speaking through storytelling, part 2

Yesterday I suggested ways to improve your storytelling skills through practice. Performing in public can be daunting, so today I'll tell about my first experience telling a story in front of hundreds of people, being judged. First, despite my anxiety before going up, I loved the experience, learned a lot, and without a doubt will do it again. I recommend it to anyone, especially if you're scared, like I was. Here I am, telling my story: The storytelling began with my friend David, with whom I swam across the Hudson River, originally told me about the Moth years ago, suggesting telling our Hudson River swim story when he heard the theme for Monday's event was sports. We planned to do something perhaps for the first…

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February 10, 2012
Art / Blog / Creativity / Tips

Improve your public speaking through storytelling, part 1

Want to improve one of the most important skills for any field, almost free? Want to hook and engage anyone you communicate with? Tell a story. Everyone knows it, but it bears repeating. All communication can benefit from having it tell a story. Whether you're pitching a product, pitching your company, answering a question in a job interview, talking to a friend, flirting on a date, or anything, humans love stories. I posted earlier on how to structure stories effectively (I only need to remember "CCSG"). Besides structure, you need to tell the story. Your voice, body language, pacing, and so on matter. How do you tell better stories? The same way you do anything better. Practice! How do you practice? One simple, free way…

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February 9, 2012
Art / Creativity / Freedom / Leadership / Nature / NorthKorea

This land was made for you and me

Like most American kids of my generation, I learned This Land Is Your Land as a children's song, never thinking much of its meaning. A decade or two later, I heard Bruce Springsteen's version of it on his Live 75-85 set. His introduction first got me thinking about its meaning, especially in contrast to God Bless America. I didn't know Woodie Guthrie wrote This Land Is Your Land as an angry song. Springsteen's version on the album sounds mournful but then rousing and inclusive. On the Live 75-85 album I have, he introduced it as follows. There's a book out right now. It's called Woodie Guthrie, A Life. It's by this fellow called Joe Klein. And it's really a great book. This song was originally…

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January 13, 2012
Art / Blog / Creativity / Freedom

This photograph is free!

I find this picture of the Eiffel Tower beautiful. A guy named Tristan Nitot took the picture and posted it for people to share and enjoy in a post called "This photograph is free." He posted it in response to some other guy whose name I don't know who posted a picture he took entitled "This photograph is not free." I won't link to him because I'm afraid he might attack me and if he doesn't like sharing I won't share. Because I like beautiful photographs and people sharing, I'm sharing his beautiful photograph. I commented on his site I find your picture beautiful and your act to share it adds to its beauty. You made the other guy's picture (the not free one) and motivations…

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January 11, 2012
Pictures of North Korea, part 9: the Grand People’s Study House
Art / Freedom / Leadership / NorthKorea

Pictures of North Korea, part 9: the Grand People’s Study House

Today's pictures were from the Grand People's Study House, a giant library overlooking the Taedong River, with the Juche Tower on the other side. Sorry for how long some captions are. I formatted them to be more readable but Wordpress seems to ignore the formatting. I hope you can read them okay anyway. Nearly all big public buildings we visited had big statues of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jung Il, or both. The statues nearly always represent them as paternal, optimistic, smiling, or displaying some emotion conducive to leadership. Some looked magnificent. After a few you got bored with them but wondered what the deal was with so many of them. Who decided to put so many up? How many would they consider too many?…

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December 8, 2011
“Elements” — Special viewing of my art December 10, 8-10pm
Art / Creativity

“Elements” — Special viewing of my art December 10, 8-10pm

Please join us for a special viewing of Elements Artwork by Joshua Spodek at District 36 If you missed my show at Crossing Art Gallery in June, this will be your first chance to see my new series. If you've only seen my public pieces Union Square and Bryant Park, this series is on a whole other level. Plus we can have wine here. If you haven't seen it since Crobar, you've never seen anything like these pieces. RSVP to me or District 36 (at 212-244-3636). District 36 is at 29 West 36th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Stay to hear Sharam, of the Grammy-award winning duo, Deep Dish, play after. See you Saturday, December 10 at 8!

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December 6, 2011
Art / Freedom / Leadership / NorthKorea

My North Korea talk slides

Here are the slides for my North Korea talk at Fred. I expect to show a lot of images, mainly from Joseph's amazing pictures on Flickr. I like my pictures, but his are phenomenal. Here is a pdf of the slides. Sorry the transitions don't make it in, but the slides are pretty light. I'll put up the video when they post it.

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December 4, 2011
Upcoming events!
Art / Blog / Leadership

Upcoming events!

Three awesome events coming up. Sunday 7pm I'm speaking on North Korea at the wonderful FRED talks 5 Crosby Street, #5H in Soho. Saturday, December 10, 8-10pm, see my art at District 36. Stay if you like to hear Sharam, of the Grammy-winning Duo Deep Dish. The pieces will be ones that I showed at my show at Crossing Art Gallery in June and July, so if you missed that show, now's your chance to see these amazing pieces. Tuesday, December 13, 6:30-9pm, see Srikumar Rao on leadership and happiness at work, "Achieve a Quantum Improvement in Managerial and Leadership Ability". He is my former Professor at Columbia Business School. The event description begins "Dr. Rao became famous for his ground breaking course in personal…

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December 3, 2011
Art / Blog / Creativity

Director of MTA Arts for Transit on Union Square in Motion

The Architectural League of New York's online magazine Urban Omnibus interviewed Sandra Bloodworth, the Director of the MTA Arts for Transit. In the article, "Arts for Transit: A Conversation with Sandra Bloodworth," she mentions Union Square in Motion, which is also shown in photograph. Considering others mentioned and pictured include Roy Lichtenstein, Sol LeWitt, and Elizabeth Murray, that's an honor. The quality and quantity of art within the MTA is probably larger than you thought. The article covers a lot about a world you pass through every day.

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November 26, 2011
Pictures of North Korea, part 8: the road back to Pyongyang
Art / NorthKorea

Pictures of North Korea, part 8: the road back to Pyongyang

Today's pictures were from the bus ride back from the Demilitarized Zone and Kaesong to Pyongyang. The early bus rides featured a lot of very friendly, open, and educational interchange between the guides and us. For some reason Mr. Kim, whom we affectionately nicknamed Crazy Kim for his ebullience and outspoken expression, quieted down after the first few days. Our loss.     I wrote the following about the above picture when I had posted it on a social networking site before putting it here: The first of three shots showing how leaders could increase peace and understanding between nations if they followed suit. On the way to the DMZ, Mr. Kim, our dynamic and fun guide, is teaching Jordan a kids game where you…

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November 16, 2011
Pictures of North Korea, part 7: Kaesong
Art / NorthKorea

Pictures of North Korea, part 7: Kaesong

After visiting the Demilitarized Zone we visited the city of Kaesong, the southernmost city in North Korea. Wordpress doesn't always get links in captions, so here's a sentence in there with some links, "Here's a video of many to start with and here's a Wikipedia page." After the day in Kaesong, we went to a traditional-style hotel, I think this one. I went to sleep early, but others drank and had funny stories about the bartender, a woman who behaved robotically. I woke up the next morning before 6am and heard the town loudspeaker turn on and play first morning music, then rousing music, and later what sounded like propaganda. That morning, jet-lagged, I started taking notes that evolved into this journal. Not only jet…

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November 15, 2011
Central Park: Sunday’s stunning explosion of autumn colors
Art / Blog / Creativity / Nature

Central Park: Sunday’s stunning explosion of autumn colors

A friend asked what site to see in New York City if she could only see one. Without hesitation I said Central Park. Thinking about it later, I thought if an alien asked what site to see on Earth if he, she, or it could only see one. I might still say Central Park. I've seen beautiful days, but none more so than Sunday, when Central Park exploded with autumn colors. Unfortunately I had only my crappy cell phone camera, but I like the pictures anyway. A nice bookend to when the explosion of spring in the park across the street from me prompted me to post pictures of it. Here's a tree quote, not that relevant to Central Park, but useful in life anyway.…

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November 15, 2011
Union Square in Motion on NY1
NY1 Interview for Union Square in Motion
Art / Blog / Creativity / My Favorite Posts

Union Square in Motion on NY1

Usually I keep the stories about art on the art page, but a two-minute news story on NY1 on Union Square in Motion gets special mention. The reporters did their research and spent time understanding the piece. Plus with the designers Coco && Breezy passing by and being interviewed, the exchange was amazing. Below is the news story and here is the link to the NY1 story online. The video features artists Jeanne Kelly and Josefina Santos, designers Coco && Breezy, and yours truly. Tina Redwine did the story for NY1. https://joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/NY1_USiM.mp4 New Yorkers walking through the Union Square subway station can see a temporary art exhibit that moves as the viewer moves. NY1's Transit reporter Tina Redwine filed the following report. Curiosity is the…

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November 6, 2011
Union Square in Motion NY1 Interview with designers
NY1 Interview for Union Square in Motion
Art / Creativity

Union Square in Motion NY1 Interview with designers

The scene: Friday 10am at Union Square in Motion. NY1 is interviewing Jeanne Kelly, Josefina Santos, and me. After the interviews, the NY1 crew record us watching the display. The action: While recording us, as often happens, a group of maybe ten or so riders stops to watch the display too. Among the people who stop are there particularly stylish people who show more enthusiasm and interest in the art than others. They take out their cameras to record what they see in the display. Jeanne, Josefina, and I love that the group formed. The NY1 people dug it too and started recording them. Turns out the stylish people included Coco && Breezy, among other accomplishments, featured in a recent Beyonce video and, according to…

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November 4, 2011
Art / Awareness / Freedom / NorthKorea

North Korean propaganda and our advertising, part 3

Continuing from yesterday... If you're American or in a developed country, you're probably overweight, though your grandparents and all earlier ancestors probably didn't even know anyone overweight. You probably watch television nearly as much as you work, though your grandparents and all earlier ancestors didn't have televisions. You may have little to no physical activity in your life, though your grandparents and all earlier ancestors were physically active every day. You probably ask people what they do for a living before you ask them what is meaningful to them. My point is not to rattle off statistics, but to point out the life the system you live in created for most of us. For me, being active, fit, and interacting with people actively instead of…

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October 29, 2011
Art / Awareness / Freedom / NorthKorea

North Korean propaganda and our advertising, part 2

Continuing from yesterday... When I communicate the ideas from yesterday's post to others, they tend to respond by pointing out the differences between their systems and ours, for example that we can choose what products we buy but they can't choose their government, along with many other differences. Of course I know those differences. That's why I began that post pointing out my theme that anyone can see differences, but what do you learn from them? The challenge is to see the similarities, which teach you more about yourself and your culture and give you ways to change and improve. Both they and we have billboards showing us messages others craft to motivate us for their benefit. You probably receive more ads than they receive…

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October 28, 2011
North Korean propaganda and our advertising, part 1
War Painting in Library
Art / Awareness / Freedom / NorthKorea

North Korean propaganda and our advertising, part 1

In yesterday's post on North Korean propaganda I wondered if they realized the pervasiveness of their propaganda. They seemed not to pay attention to it. Could they not notice it, like fish in water? Now I will explore two of the major themes of my writing on North Korea, based on major ways the visited affected me Seeing others reveals things about yourself and your culture — and the more different they are, the deeper they reveal about you and your world Similarities reveal more about you than differences Do you think communist countries use propaganda and yours doesn't? I would have thought so until I traveled around a country with no advertising. North Korea has no billboards. Or rather it has billboards, but it…

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October 27, 2011
Art / Freedom / NorthKorea

Propaganda in North Korea

Most of us rank its propaganda high on what we identify with North Korea. We saw and heard plenty while we were there, to the exclusion of nearly all other forms of public expression. For background, see the Wikipedia page or this essay. They give more background and pictures than I could, so I'll stick with my observations. Today I want to comment at a high level on North Korea propaganda as I saw it, then to return to it from other perspectives. Americans typically think North Korean propaganda as comical. The posters so over-the-top you can't imagine anyone taking them seriously. Television shows hardly differ. I understand television sets and radios come fixed to one station, with severe penalties for breaking the seal and…

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October 26, 2011
Flying through Shanghai
Shanghai's Bund at night viewed from an awesome restaurant after a gallery opening
Art / Creativity

Flying through Shanghai

Last summer at a Brooklyn art gallery a friend curated featuring a cityscape-like artwork, I took a camera and moved it around through the cityscape to make short movies that looked like you were flying through a city. They looked great. Unfortunately I did it with the camera of another friend, who deleted the movies. Now when I see a cityscape I like to make fly-through movies of it. Shanghai's Urban Planning Museum has a bunch of scale models of Shanghai. I couldn't help make the movies below. This time my camera battery was dying so I made them too quickly. This model is on the ground floor, near the entrance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKLtADMSunQ This model was on a wall, on an upper floor. It's smaller so…

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October 12, 2011
Union Square in Motion summary
Art / Creativity / Education

Union Square in Motion summary

Click here for all my posts on Union Square in Motion. A summary of my Union Square in Motion posts: Opening event pictures Fantastic behind-the-scenes making-of video Press and media about it Video of child viewing it Invitation to opening and map More videos Video of installation Map to find it Announcement of initial installation, pre-fine-tuning, with making-of images

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October 4, 2011
Union Square in Motion: opening event pictures
Art / Creativity / Education

Union Square in Motion: opening event pictures

Pictures from the September 26, 2011 opening of Union Square in Motion, presented by MTA Arts for Transit, Parsons the New School for Design, and us, the producers and artists. My friend with the camera left when the crowd was still building and before the reception at Parsons. I'll try to find more pictures of the festivities. EDIT: found a couple pictures of the signs posted at Parsons where they hosted the reception, but not during the reception.   In the meantime, click here for all my posts on Union Square in Motion.

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October 4, 2011

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