An Olympic-size Reflection

oceaniaeuropeamericasafricaasia from gustavo sousa on Vimeo.

For the past sixteen days, the world's five inhabited continents united, to compete and celebrate the athletic achievements of the global community in the Pangaea-like super celebration known as the Olympic Games. London 2012 is over and on August 29, the Paralmypics will begin. The conversations surrounding the long-term sustainability and impact of the games will materialize more fully.

In Oceaniaeuropeamericasafricaasia, graphic designer Gustavo Sousa, uses the iconic olympic rings graphic to visually interpret worldwide data, on statistics such as, obesity, gun ownership, McDonald's outlets, population, homicides, people living with HIV, etc., where each ring represents a continent.

What's most interesting, is that no continent is assigned a specific color, forcing the viewer to give an educated guess to which ring represents which continent. The varying ring sizes and anonymity in each graph and the use of the iconic Olympic logo, underscores some serious inequalities that we share in the face of unity.

In an interview with FastCompany, Sousa says: "The rings represent healthy competition and union, but we know the world isn’t perfect. Maybe understanding the differences is the first step to try to make things more equal."

PlayToon & PlayOut - Outside/IN

Sebastian Messer of Northumbria's School of the Built & Natural Environment installs the exhibition. Image Courtesy PlayToon.

This week marks the official launch of Outside/IN. The PlayToon exhibition is installed in the Sanctuary and preparations for this weekend are going forward. The official launch of the project will be this Friday at 6pm and the PlayOut event will run from 4pm - Late on Saturday.

PlayOut will be hosted by Urban Games. There will be a half pipe in our back garden for skateboarders and BMX, Parkour by North East Parkour, street dancing, DJs and more.

The exhibition features photography, video, words and more mysterious objects from Tyneside skate, BMX and PK scenes: work from Bish, Peter Greaves, Ben Larthe, Jacob Garthwaite, Liam Whitfield, Adam Thirtle, Sam Hutchinson, Daniel Dale, Johnny Haynes and many others. All welcome, free event.

The modern Olympic games as we know it, provides a platform for not only excellence in international sport, but also for social and cultural regeneration. Outside/IN is inspired by the Olympics and Paralympic values of courage, determination, inspiration, and inclusivity, Outside/IN Project provides a space for the community of Newcastle to share their lives, histories, and cultures.