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Art Lost and Found in Brooklyn: Good Deeds and New Beginnings

December 9, 2011 - 5:20 am

A homeless Navy vet finds and returns a lost wallet…

Brooklyn, NY US – Last year Dynomighty Design, makers of the Mighty Wallet, learned of the inspiring story of Brian Christopher who was, at the time, a homeless Navy Vet who had found a Mighty Wallet® full of cash without ID in the streets of Boston. Faced with a moral dilemma of wanting to buy gifts for his own kids he nobly decided to turn the Mighty Wallet® in to a local Police station. Thanks to a receipt inside the wallet the Police found the original owner, a bike messenger, who was reunited with her Mighty Wallet® and $172 in cash.

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Art/Design One Man’s Garbage is Another Man’s Art

by Shop Keeper

January 18, 2011 - 11:44 am

Filmed over nearly three years, WASTE LAND follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world’s largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of “catadores” — self-designated pickers of recyclable materials.

Muniz’s initial objective was to “paint” the catadores with garbage. However, his collaboration with these inspiring characters as they recreate photographic images of themselves out of garbage reveals both the dignity and despair of the catadores as they begin to re-imagine their lives. Director Lucy Walker (DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND, BLINDSIGHT, COUNTDOWN TO ZERO) has great access to the entire process and, in the end, offers stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit.

The award winning film is currently screening at selected venues across the country and aboard including an open screening at Pepperdine University this Friday, Jan 21.

Check out the trailer to this inspiring film below.

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Contributors GEEK ACTIVISM: The Nerdy Bird Uses Her Powers to Fight for the MDA

by Teresa Jusino

November 16, 2010 - 10:59 am

Pantozzi cosplays as a Red Lantern

Geeks know how to mobilize. Contrary to what you might think, they don’t just mobilize to save failing television shows. Sometimes, they use their vast social networking skills to mobilize for good. Sometimes, they mobilize to change the world. I hope to regularly spotlight those geeky activists here at ChinaShop to show the world what I already know; that the Geek Community is made up of some of the most caring and heroic people on the planet!

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