DKosCulturalInstitute

From dKosopedia

Categories: Projects | Framing

The dKos Cultural Institute

Is designed as a place for people to discuss and deconstruct pop culture. Film, TV, Music, and Sports are our starting point, a deeper understanding of the link between art, culture and politics is our destination.

The core of the dKCI consists of a long list of artifacts. Aside from alphabetical order, there will be no attempt to categorize this list. Artifacts can be anything from as broad as baseball to as specific as Why the Yankees always win or Sammy Sosa's corked bat. Events, trends, memes, opinions, personalities, organizations, these are all cultural artifacts. The dKCI's job is to collect them, analyze them and link them together. When a critical mass of artifacts have been collected it is hoped that someone would be able to start with any one and conceptually surf through America's history and culture in an original and enlightening.

For example:

Start with baseball. An entry on baseball might lead to Jackie Robinson which leads to the Civil Rights movement which leads to Bob Dylan songs which leads to bootleg recordings which leads to internet file-sharing.

The unexpected insight gained from the experience : white men have a long tradition of exploiting black entertainers in America. a problem which might be remedied by file sharing.

or

Start with baseball > Sammy Sosa's corked bat > cheating > Enron > CEO worship > religions > athiesm > communism > Cuba > Fidel Castro > back to baseball.

How to use dKCI:

First, think of it as a place to dump almost anything that doesn't fit into one of the pre-made categories. You've got something to say about Janet Jackson's Boob but can't find the place to put it? Come here.

Second sort through the artifacts and come up with new ways to link them together. Come up with categories and lists and make pages for them. Develop the quirky internal logic and organizational structure.

And have fun.

DKCI Statements

• Gilligans Island as Socialist Metaphor
• Musicians of Social Progress

External

• Prisoner of Azkaban: A Case Against the Death Penalty (abstract) - Dr. Joy Morgenstern