I was really pleased this morning to find an interview with Julie and Kevin posted on Design Sponge, a fantastic blog that covers artists and designers from around the world.

At the risk of being accused of self-promotion, Where in the World is Smokey? is one of the more interesting and enjoyable projects I've worked on at UT. We're mailing T-shirts to students, staff, faculty, and alumni and asking them to take photos of themselves wearing the T-Shirt during their travels. Since launching the site in October we've received photos from 17 states and 20 countries, and we're expecting to get a photo from Antarctica in the next week or two, which will give us posts from all 7 continents.

The promotion is a bit gimmicky, maybe, but it's been a fun way to raise awareness of the university's Ready for the World initiative.

Jennifer Baichwal's documentary, Manufactured Landscapes, is opening at Downtown West tomorrow, and I'd encourage everyone with an interest in globalization, environmentalism, photography and/or film to give it a shot. I saw its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival a little over a year ago and can still play back whole sequences from memory. The opening shot is one of the most fascinating you'll ever see.

For the past few years, photographer Edward Burtynsky has been traveling around the world, capturing images of man's impact on the land. In her film, Baichwal follows Burtynsky to China and more or less watches over his shoulder as he find the strange beauty in places like rock quarries, manufacturing facilities, and the Three Gorges Dam project. It's not a perfect film, but it'll be one of the most interesting things shown in a Knoxville theater all year.

From singer/songwriter/artist and former Talking Head, David Byrne:

"At the Holiday Inn in Knoxville, I saw a sign for the historic town center. Thinking it might contain some character and restaurants, we head there in search of dinner. There's no one on the streets -- not metaphorically, but literally not a single soul is out and it's not even 8 o'clock. Eventually, we reach Market Square where we see people sitting at some outdoor seats. There are few restaurants, so we're in luck. They serve me wine in a tiny plastic airplane bottle and we share a nice salad and some salmon. We wonder, where is everyone? Do they come to town to work, some of them, and then go home and stay in at night? Or do they go to restaurants and bars in suburban strip malls?"

That's about right, unfortunately. I wish he'd stopped by on a busier night. More at his site, including his take on Dollywood.