"All over the world, smart citizens take action."

From the smart folks at the Waag Society - institutue of art, science & technology...

 Excerpt from A Manifesto for Smart Citizens...

Smart Citizens:

 •Will take responsibility for the place they live, work and love in;
 •Value access over ownership, contribution over power;
 •Will ask forgiveness, not permission;
 •Know where they can get the tools, knowledge and support they need;
 •Value empathy, dialogue and trust; •Appropriate technology, rather than accept it as is;
 •Will help the people that struggle with smart stuff;
 •Ask questions, then more questions, before they come up with answers;
 •Actively take part in design efforts to come up with better solutions;
 •Work agile, prototype early, test quickly and know when to start over;
 •Will not stop in the face of seemingly huge boundaries/barriers;
 •Unremittingly share their knowledge and their learning, because they know this is where true value comes from.

EPA's Village Green prototype

The EPA's "Village Green" project aims to "increase air pollution monitoring capabilities in communities" in order to provide "real-time air pollution measurements at lower cost and maintenance." 

Data arrives minute-by-minute from a prototype solar-powered air pollution monitor located near the Durham County Library South Regional Branch in Durham, North Carolina.

National proliferation of such localized metrics would allow for communities to better understand their unique impacts and the benefits of clean air for all.

Some Terms from Human Geography and Social Science

Just a few terms from the Dictionary of Human Geography and the Online Dictionary of Social Sciences. Words in all caps indicate terms that are found elsewhere in that particular dictionary. References are not provided here for work cited in the dictionary's entry (e.g., Giddens, Thrift, Cooley, Meade).

Abduction: A form of reasoning that takes accepted knowledge and infers the 'best available' explanations for what is observed. Whereas DEDUCTION formally infers the consequences of a cause-and-effect relationship (if a, then b), and INDUCTION infers a conclusion from a number of observations (of the same pattern, for example), abductive reasoning infers relationships from observations rather than asserting them. It thus presents a 'provisional' account for what has been observed (for why a is related to b), either inviting further empirical investigation that might sustain the 'explanation' or encouraging deductive work that might put the putative causal chain on a former footing. (from Dictionary of Human Geography, 5th ed.)

Locale: A setting or context for social interaction, typically involving co-present actors. In STRUCTURATION THEORY (Giddens, 1979, 1984), locales provide the resources on which actors draw. Different kinds of collectives are associated with characteristic locales (Giddens, 1981, p. 39): the locale of the school is the classroom; that of the army, the barracks; and so on. Despite his emphasis on co-presence, Giddens (1984, p. 118) also suggests that locales may range 'from a room in a house... to the territorially demarcated areas occupied by nation states': as Thrift (1983) emphasizes, 'a locale does not have to be local'. (from Dictionary of Human Geography, 5th ed.)

Looking Glass Self:  Developed by C.H. Cooley (1864-1929) to describe the social nature of the self and the link between society and individual. In this formulation social interaction is like a mirror, it allows us to see ourselves as others see us. This was an early formulation of symbolic interactionism but less influential than that of George Herbert Mead. (from Online Dictionary of Social Sciences)

Pluralism: Has three principal meanings in the social sciences. First, it is a model of politics where power is assumed to be widely dispersed to different individuals and interest groups within a society thus ensuring that political processes will be relatively open and democratic and will reflect a spectrum of social interests rather than the domination of particular groups. Second, it describes a society where individual and group differences are present and are celebrated as enriching the social fabric. Canada's policy of multiculturalism reflects pluralist values. Third, it is a view of the causation of social phenomena, especially of social change, that examines the interaction of a variety of factors rather than relying on a single explanatory cause. For example, Max Weber in stressing the importance of cultural as well as material forces in creating change within a society offers a more pluralistic framework for explanation than the more exclusively materialist approach of Marx. (from Online Dictionary of Social Sciences)

Symbolic Interactionism: A sociological perspective that stresses the way societies are created through the interactions of individuals. Unlike both the consensus (structural functionalist) and conflict perspectives, it does not stress the idea of a social system possessing structure and regularity, but focuses on the way that individuals, through their interpretations of social situations and behavioural negotiation with others, give meaning to social interaction. George H. Mead (1863-1931), a founder of symbolic interactionism, saw interaction as creating and recreating the patterns and structures that bring society to life, but more recently there has been a tendency to argue that society has no objective reality aside from individual interaction. This latter view has been criticized for ignoring the role of culture and social structure in giving shape, direction and meaning to social interaction. (from Online Dictionary of Social Sciences).

Perspectives on place are subject to change

Sense of place varies from person to person and group to group. This should go without saying. But it's worth remembering that place meanings are dynamic, contested, and subject to change over time. What one group values highly another may not care about at all.

Epistemological pluralism is one way to describe it. But there's a lot of syllables in them there words. Another way to think of it is in terms of Mile's Law: Where you stand depends on where you sit.

The ways in which one person or group values something is deeply entwined with history and cultural perspective.

A story from Indian Country Today media network demonstrates this. It shines a light on an icon most Americans take for granted: Mount Rushmore. Before it was the powerfully symbolic Mount Rushmore it was the powerfully symbolic Six Grandfathers. What was once revered by the Sioux has since been desecrated and turned into something that is currently revered by most Americans.

And, someday, it will change again.

Describing "Christ Riding a Donkey, ca. 1450"

     Standing at the center of Brittingham Gallery II in the Chazen Museum of Art is a wood sculpture, a palmesel, titled “Christ Riding a Donkey, ca. 1450.” The artist is unknown.

     Its unrefined hew and tattered polychrome finish display the vintage patina that every modern “Welcome To The Cabin” sign strives for. It is 58 inches long and 62 inches tall, about 3/4 life size. The donkey is dark grey and the Christus’ robe is blood-on-brick red with gold around the neck.

Palmesels were designed to ride atop a wheeled cart in a Palm Sunday processional. Once a year, they would depict Christ’s triumphant ride into Jerusalem. They were relatively common in Western Central Europe before the Protestant Reformation, the Late Gothic period, after which they were banned. Many were destroyed. This simple yet intriguing piece is a rare find as only a few dozen exist throughout the world.

Professor Frank Horlbeck of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) analyzed this figure along with fourteen others from around the world. It was brought to the UW museum in 1977 after having been purchased in London and examined in Rome. The subtitle on the label at the time said only “Austrian, fifteenth century.”

Horlbeck determined that the wooden sculpture had its provenance in Tyrol and was possibly from the workshop of Master Leonhard Brixon, which flourished from 1440 to 1476. The actual identity of the artist will never be known. A project such as this, probably for a medium sized church, would have been assigned to an apprentice woodworker. 

In the 1977-78 Elvehjem Bulletin Horlbeck wrote that although this piece has some of the markings that are consistent with Brixon’s work, it was most certainly not created by the Master himself. The Christ figure, Horlbeck notes, has an expression that is “at once pensive and kindly.” 

Looking directly at the face, the gaze stares blankly, slightly to its left. It is a look of recognition, without specific adoration, as if Judas was there and trouble was in the air. 

The donkey’s head, back, and rump create a perfect horizontal plane. Its ears stick straight up about eight inches, as if listening its way through the crowd. The eyes scan the nearby ground. This beast of holy burden looks like it has led a life of work. Hard work.  As if thinking “If this guy could really walk on water, he should be lighter.”

Thin striations of paint in various regions can be seen on the torso and parts of the donkey’s hindquarters. The robe drapes across and down the entire body. Full covering of the body is typical of Gothic period sculpture. Exposed are long, slender fingers and toes.

On top, the golden crown looks to be missing what could have been small spires or even jewels. But jewels would be too much for this simple piece. Christ’s hair and beard are composed of thickly carved strands. The hair feathers back, flowing from beneath the crown like thick brown cornrows. Sampson could only have be so lucky.

The rider’s left hand would have held leather reigns, now missing. Nails in the donkey’s head show where bridle straps had been affixed. The right hand is bent at the elbow and two fingers are raised in a peace sign. This configuration, a sign of blessing and a hand that guides, is consistent among most, if not all, palmesels.

Simple beauty, deep history, and what could be described as “folk art” style coalesce in this charming piece of pre-Renaissance iconography. Having wound its way from Western Central Europe to Midwestern America over the centuries is an impressive journey. It will no doubt continue to be appreciated by many, rejected by a few, and perhaps inspire many more artists for yet another 550 years.

Inhabited Landscapes on display

For Madison locals interested in artistic representations of humanity's relationship with the Wisconsin landscape -- beautiful black bears dusted with snowfall amid a curtain of pine boughs and birch trees, etc. --

The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters is hosting what looks to be a great show called Inhabited Landscapes at the Overture Center's Watrous Gallery, Sept. 10 - Oct. 27, 2013.

"The work in Inhabited Landscapes goes beyond the decorative or the descriptive, asking the viewer to enter the artists’ interpretations of our place in nature."

Paintings, drawings, and prints will be displayed by seven talented Wisco artists. An opening reception is scheduled for Sept. 15 from 2-5pm. Two different gallery talks are also scheduled: Charles Munch and John Miller (Oct. 4, 5:30 pm) and Tom Uttech (Oct. 9, 1:30pm).

See you there.

John Dewey on Temporary Disorder and the Vogue of Immediacy.

I found a paperback 1958 printing of John Dewey's Art as Experience (1934) on the library sale shelf for fifty cents. This passage jumped out at me as I thumbed through it this afternoon:

"The live creature demands order in his living but he also demands novelty. Confusion is displeasing but so is ennui. The "touch of disorder" that lends charm to a regular scene is disorderly from some external standard. From the standpoint of actual experience it adds emphasis, distinction, as long as it does not prevent a cumulative carrying forward from one part to another. If it were experienced as disorder it would produce unresolved clash and be displeasing. A temporary disorder, on the other hand, may be the factor of resistance that summons up energy to proceed the more actively and triumphantly. Only persons who have been spoiled in early life like things always soft; persons of vigor who prefer to live and who are not contented with subsisting find the too easy repulsive. The difficult becomes objectionable only when instead of challenging energy it overwhelms and blocks it. Some esthetic [sic] products have an immediate vogue; they are the "best sellers" of their day. They are "easy" and thus make a quick appeal; their popularity calls out imitators, and they set the fashion in plays or novels or songs for a time. But their very ready assimilation into experience exhausts them quickly; no new stimulus is derived from them. They have their day -- and only a day."

From Chapter VIII, "The Organization of Energies," page 167.