ARTSPACE MAGAZINE: Red Hot founder John Carlin Talks About AIDS and more

Thirty years ago an East Village art critic and curator turned entertainment lawyer founded an organization that changed the face of social activism. At that point, altruism was executed in the grand gesture; often via huge stadium concerts beamed across the world, or telethons where concerned citizens pledged money to deserving causes.

John Carlin, a self-confessed introvert who thought the charity benefit gig was a well-meaning but somewhat boring exercise, really didn’t like going on protest marches - or even by his own admission ‘hanging out with people’. But he had a huge interest in multi-media and the emerging digital culture which he placed at the heart of his new nonprofit organization Red Hot.