Celebrating over 40 years of radical geography

In celebration of their 40th year, the academic journal Antipode is offering free online access to 40 of their best articles, including a handful by David Harvey and one by Mike Davis.

The myth of the concentration oasis

The ‘modern technology is hurting our brain’ argument is widespread but it seems so short-sighted. It’s based on the idea that before digital communication technology came along, people spent their time focusing on single tasks for hours on end and were rarely distracted.

The trouble is, it’s plainly rubbish, and you just have to spend time with some low tech communities to see this is the case.

VAT cut as court rules that video and light art is sculpture

The UK’s VAT and Duties Tribunal recently ruled that works by electric-light installation artist Dan Flavin and video artist Bill Viola are not subject to the same customs duties as ordinary “image projectors [or] photographic enlargers and reducers” or “chandeliers and electrical ceiling or wall light fittings.”

It’s a good ruling. The article points out the American precedent: in 1928 a US court ruled that Brancusi’s Bird in Space was not actually a kitchen utensil.

US uses songs to deter immigrants

The US Border Patrol quietly enters the music industry, commissioning a CD of songs reminding people in northern Mexico how dangerous it is to cross the border.

In one, called The Biggest Enemy, a singer called Abelardo from the Mexican state of Michoacan and his cousin Rafael set off to cross the border.

They reach the US but nature defeats them, as they wander the desert without water. Exhausted they lie down with Abelardo waking later to find his cousin dead by his side:

“He decided to come back/ And have a burial in their town/ And as a vow/ He told his dead cousin/ If God will take my life/ That it be in my beloved land.”

You can to listen to two of the songs on The Guardian’s website.