"For the occidental tradition, the idea of God is intimately related to the idea of causality. That means that for any chain of facts it is reasonable to postulate an absolute beginning, which can be called 'God'. Nevertheless, if instead of explaining the universe through the principle of causality we decide to refer to the pure idea of a 'form' -as one can speak of 'rhetorical (or mathematical) forms'-, the chain ceases to be factual and becomes structural and iterative, like a grammar, and there is no longer any way to avoid the possibility of denying a 'real' beginning. The entities in the world become figures in a diagram, the ontological 'history' becomes a rhetorical 'texture' (trama), and God (written with upper initial) may always 'be moved' by some other 'god' (with lower initial), and so on, following a never ending texture 'of dust, and time, and dream and agonies'".
(Ivan Almeida, Cristina Parodi, 1996)
Almeida, I. and C. Parodi (1996). "Borges and the Ontology of Tropes." Variaciones Borges(2).
"How unlikely that one of the least definable films from the last half-century would also be one of the most beloved. A favorite of classroom AV diversions, and an abridged presentation on the very first episode of '60 Minutes' helped make it the most viewed educational film of all time. 'I don't know what it all means,' Saul Bass himself admitted, and his 'Why Man Creates' (1968) is far more loose and playful than the rigid thesis its title might imply. In fact, it is the searching and open-ended nature of the various vignettes that perhaps makes the film resonate so strongly with viewers. Though an Oscar®-winner for Documentary Short Subject, the film is almost entirely invented, apart from recollections of old masters like Edison, Hemingway and Einstein, and brief encounters with scientists striving to innovate for the betterment of mankind. Creators invariably encounter problems, and have no choice but to persevere in the face of discouragement. If the film argues anything, it is that the unbridled pursuit of new ideas makes us uniquely human."
(Sean Savage)
"Physicist Jim Al-Khalili travels through Syria, Iran, Tunisia and Spain to tell the story of the great leap in scientific knowledge that took place in the Islamic world between the 8th and 14th centuries. Its legacy is tangible, with terms like algebra, algorithm and alkali all being Arabic in origin and at the very heart of modern science – there would be no modern mathematics or physics without algebra, no computers without algorithms and no chemistry without alkalis.
He discovers how medieval Islamic scholars helped turn the magical and occult practice of alchemy into modern chemistry and argues that these scholars are among the first people to insist that all scientific theories are backed up by careful experimental observation, bringing a rigour to science that didn’t really exist before."
"Most religions have a single creation story. Hinduism has many. This is because for Hindus there is no single creation, but periodic cycles of creation. The universe we live in is one of innumerable universes. Narrated by Gillian Anderson. Scripted by Nigel Warburton."
(BBC Radio 4)
"Some things that move us are beautiful, others are sublime. But the sublime moves us more profoundly than the beautiful. See how Edmund Burke tied the experience of the sublime to the possibility of pain and how the idea went on to influence the artistic Romanticism movement. Voiced by Harry Shearer. Scripted by Nigel Warburton."
"The Adventure of English is a British television series (ITV) on the history of the English presented by Melvyn Bragg as well as a companion book, also written by Bragg. The series ran in 2003.
The series and the book are cast as an adventure story, or the biography of English as if it were a living being, covering the history of the language from its modest beginnings around 500 AD as a minor Germanic dialect to its rise as a truly established global language.
In the television series, Bragg explains the origins and spelling of many words based on the times in which they were introduced into the growing language that would eventually become modern English."
[Complete eight part series available on YouTube distributed by Maxwell's collection Pty Limited, Australia]
"In 'What is an author?' [4], Michel Foucault says we are 'accustomed to presenting the author as a genius.' We see the author as the 'genial creator' of work in which he gives us, 'with infinite wealth and generosity,' an inexhaustible world of meanings. (Being 'creative' always has a positive ring, whatever is produced!) Foucault says that the author does not 'precede' the work: ideas and meanings are already there and the author's role is to 'choose,' to filter and synthesise to create output. (Foucault also emphasises 'limiting' and 'excluding'). The author's role is to limit the proliferation of meanings and present a personal view of the world. Yet the 'genius author' is represented as a continual source of invention–the opposite of his genuine function."
(Monika Parrinder, 2000, Eye Magazine)
"Eric Knorr, executive editor of InfoWorld, first used the term in front of a large audience in the December 2003 special issue of the business IT magazine CIO. Later, as we pointed out in Chapter 1, most people credit Battelle and O'Reilly with coining the term at an O'Reilly Media conference brain–storming session in 2004. There, Dale Dougherty and Craig Cline also used the term, which shortly became notable. Dale Dougherty, Web pioneer and O'Reilly vice president, noted during the conference that 'far from having 'crashed,' the Web was more important than ever, with exciting new applications and sites popping up with surprising regularity.'"
(Joan Curtis and Barbara Giamanco, 2010, pp.23–24)
Joan Curtis and Barbara Giamanco (2010). "The New Handshake: Sales Meets Social Media", Praeger Publishers Inc.
"I use the term 'DesFi' as a play on 'SciFi'. In that 'SciFi' narratives and visualisations are fictional scenarios based on scientific discoveries and discussions. Im particularly interested in how the genre of 'science fiction' can provide an example approach for design students to consider when they are conceptualising potential designs for future contexts.
The DesFi approach allows design students to put aside existing limitations… such as current issues around voice recognition, language translators or even access to personal data. These limitations are based in technical, political and sometimes ethical arguments that, although undeniably critical to design feasibility, can suspend design innovations if we only consider the policies, technologies and processes that exist right now.
My premise to the students is that such contemporary concerns may be solved by another discipline in the near or far future. Consequently, attitudes will shift, new technologies will emerge and the criteria and inventory for design specifications will change.
Limiting our design ideas to current issues may dilute the potential for innovation… but more importantly, by prototyping great imaginative design solutions, we can increase the demand for change through demonstrating the possibilities that emerge from overcoming the conditions and contingencies of designing products for only todays market and todays user."
(Deb Polson, 25 November 2013)
Ordinary Language Philosophy (OLP) "was identified mainly with British analytic philosophers of the last mid–century and more specifically those at the University of Oxford. Its chief practitioners were regarded to be such philosophers as Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951), Gilbert Ryle (1900–1976), J. L. Austin (1911–1960), P. F. Strawson (1919–), Paul Grice (1913–1988) and John Wisdom (1904–1993). From the late 1940s to the early 1960s OLP was an integral part of the mainstream of analytic philosophy; as Stephen Mulhall (1994: 444) has pointed out, when a leading introductory textbook of the era spoke simply of 'contemporary philosophy,' it was OLP that was being referred to. Currently, however, OLP is not generally viewed as a legitimate intellectual option for philosophers, analytic or otherwise. In fact it's safe to say that, with the possible exception of Bergson's and Driesch's vitalism, OLP is the most deeply unfashionable of all the main currents of twentieth–century Western philosophy. It has fallen victim to what Stan Godlovitch has called philosophy's equivalent of 're–touching family photos, old Kremlin–style' (2000: 6)."
(Tommi Uschanov, April 2001)
"Austin Kleon's talk 'Steal Like An Artist' is a creative manifesto based on 10 things he wish he'd heard when he was starting out. Austin is a writer and artist. He's the author of Newspaper Blackout, a best–selling book of poetry made by redacting newspaper articles with a permanent marker. Austin's talk was delivered as part of the TEDxKC presentation of TEDxChange. Austin's work (including his new book) 'Steal Like An Artist' has been featured on NPR's Morning Edition, PBS Newshour, and in The Wall Street Journal. He speaks about creativity, visual thinking, and being an artist online for organizations such as SXSW and The Economist."
(TEDx Talk, 2012, Kansas City)
"Melvyn Bragg presents the first in a series of programmes examining the idea of culture and its evolution over the last 150 years. In 1869 the poet and critic Matthew Arnold published Culture and Anarchy, a series of essays in which he argued passionately that culture – 'the best which has been thought and said' – was a powerful force for good. In this first programme Melvyn Bragg visits the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford, where Arnold first unveiled his ideas on the subject, and discovers how Arnold's ideas were refined and rejected by later thinkers."
(Melvyn Bragg, 2012)
Matthew Arnold (1869). "Culture and Anarchy: An Essay in Political and Social Criticism" [http://www.authorama.com/book/culture–and–anarchy.html].
"The Value of Culture: Culture and Anarchy", Radio broadcast, Episode 1 of 5, Duration: 42 minutes, First broadcast: Monday 31 December 2012, Presenter/Melvyn Bragg, Producer/Thomas Morris for the BBC Radio 4, UK.
"Special guest James May explores how music is inextricably linked to our emotions, materials scientist Mark Miodownik takes apart an electric guitar and neuroscientist Tali Sharot reports on the ground breaking research which treats Parkinson's Disease with rhythm. Plus, science journalist Alok Jha asks whether computers are ruining music."
(BBC Two, UK)
Fig.1 this animation is from Episode 6 of 6 of Dara Ó Briain's Science Club, Tuesday 30 Dec 2012 at 9pm on BBC Two, voiced by Dara Ó Briain, animated by 12Foot6, Published on YouTube on 19 Dec 2012 by BBC.
"Dara traces the brain's journey from a useless organ once ditched by Egyptian embalmers to the centre of everything that makes us human. Science journalist Alok Jha asks whether smart drugs really make you brainier, oceanographer Helen Czerski explores cutting edge therapies allowing the brain to control limbs remotely and materials scientist Mark Miodownik takes apart a smart phone."
(BBC Two, UK)
Fig.1 this animation is from Episode 5 of 6 of Dara Ó Briain's Science Club, Tuesday 04 Dec 2012 at 9pm on BBC Two, voiced by Dara Ó Briain, animated by 12Foot6, Published on YouTube on 5 Dec 2012 by BBC.
"Science journalist Alok Jha asks whether it is a good idea for humans to reach out to extra–terrestrials and oceanographer Helen Czerski comes face to face with extreme radiation, energy so deadly it could seriously curtail humans travelling further than the solar system. Plus special guest Josh Widdecombe visits NASA in Houston to find out the challenges we face to get humans to Mars and materials scientist Mark Miodownik takes apart a space suit."
(BBC Two, UK)
Fig.1 this animation is from Episode 4 of 6 of Dara Ó Briain's Science Club, Tuesday 27 November at 9pm on BBC Two, voiced by Dara Ó Briain, animated by 12Foot6, Published on YouTube on 27 Nov 2012 by BBC.
"A few hundred years ago, extinction as a concept made no sense to anyone. But then fossil finds and advances in geology showed that it's part of life, and a statistical certainty – even for human beings."
(BBC Two, UK)
Fig.1 this animation is from Episode 3 of 6 of Dara Ó Briain's Science Club, Tuesday 20 November at 9pm on BBC Two, voiced by Helen McCrory, animated by 12Foot6, Published on YouTube on 19 Nov 2012 by BBC.
"Balls, pendulums, apples and magnets all played their part in the story of modern physics, but then things got weird. And when Albert Einstein combined time and space, things got even weirder – step forward quantum uncertainty, black holes and the Big Bang."
(BBC Two, UK)
Fig.1 this animation is from Episode 2 of 6 of Dara Ó Briain's Science Club, Tuesday 13 November at 9pm on BBC Two, voiced by Dara Ó Briain, animated by 12Foot6, Published on YouTube on 13 Nov 2012 by BBC.
"This first episode in a new six–part science series presented by Dara Ó Briain takes a look at the weird and wonderful world of reproduction and inheritance.
Dara chats to leading biologist Professor Steve Jones and finds out how the bicycle did more to improve the human immune system than any other invention, comedian Ed Byrne discovers just how closely related he is to a Neanderthal and materials scientist and engineer Mark Miodownik creates a DNA cocktail with the help of some strong Polish vodka.
Dara is also joined by neuroscientist Tali Sharot, who explores the cutting–edge science of epigenetics and reveals how exercise can change your DNA. Science journalist Alok Jha asks if the human genome project was oversold and the studio audience are put to the test in the elusive search for attraction.
Combining lively and in–depth studio discussion with exploratory films and on–the–spot reports, Dara Ó Briain's Science Club takes a single subject each week and examines it from lots of different and unexpected angles, from sex to extinction, Einstein to space exploration and brain chemistry to music. It brings some of the world's foremost thinkers together to share their ideas on everything, from how to avoid asteroid impact to whether or not we are still evolving."
(BBC Two, UK)
Fig.1 this animation is from Episode 1 or 6 of Dara Ó Briain's Science Club, Tuesday 6 November at 9pm on BBC Two, animated by 12Foot6, Published on YouTube on 5 Nov 2012 by BBC.
"Design studies (like design) is a multifarious enterprise. A branch of the humanities, it comprises a wide range of critical perspectives on the meanings and values embodied in objects and places. It examines the forces that design exerts in, and on, the world – forces design sets in motion but does not control. Parsons' Masters in Design Studies program places particular emphasis on four points: the role of the designer and the design studio in redefining the scope of practice in the 21st century; design as an iteration of aesthetic and intellectual histories that continue to inform the present; the social, political and environmental behaviors and consequences of designing objects, places, situations, and systems today; design as the projection of different futures.
Above all, the MA Design Studies program focuses on the development of articulate, critical voices that can speak to these issues. Students will be prepared to write for the academic context, the design community, and the larger public realm. Working in close proximity to MFA studio programs at Parsons, they also have the opportunity to integrate film, video, and other media into their work."
(Susan Yelavich)
"1001 Inventions is a British based, award-winning science and cultural heritage organisation engaging over 200 million people around the world.
1001 Inventions uncovers a thousand years of scientific and cultural achievements from Muslim Civilisation from the 7th century onwards, and how those contributions helped create the foundations of our modern world."
"Philosophical hermeneutics suggests a possible basis for an alternative philosophical view. Hans–Georg Gadamer's (1989) discussion of the epistemological basis of the humanities, includes a discussion of art which emphasises its profound import and value in developing understanding. His concern is to reassert the distinctiveness of humanistic and artistic insight, via a forceful argument that 'art is knowledge and experiencing an artwork means sharing in that knowledge' (97). A key element in Gadamer's argument is the early chapters' painstaking archaeology of post–Enlightenment thought. This aims to show how deep–rooted concepts in the history of ideas in the modern West, such as the idea of a sensus communis, have become forgotten or distorted, thereby undermining the basis of the humanities' claim to truth. In the case of art, Gadamer argues that post–Kantian philosophical treatments have subjectivised the domain, to the point where artworks became mere objects of aesthetic experience or vehicles of communication for the artist as genius – their particular mode of being and its cognitive import dissolving in their reconfiguration as aspects of the individual subject's experience or activity. One consequence has been art's relegation to the status of an epistemologically suspect domain, a soft relation of 'hard' scientific enquiry. Within this tradition of thought, art's contribution to knowledge (along with that of other humanities disciplines) can increasingly only be characterised in negative or derivative terms
What is especially interesting about Gadamer's writings from the point of view of the argument here, is the way he links the cognitive value of art practice to an ontology of the artwork which highlights the latter's autonomy. For Gadamer, art is essentially play: but, even though it has implications for the nature of the spectator's engagement, 5 this characterisation is meant to emphasise 'neither the orientation nor even the state of mind of the creator or of those enjoying the work of art, nor the freedom of a subjectivity engaged in play, but the mode of being of the work of art itself' (1987, 101). The process of art making effects what Gadamer terms a 'transformation into structure' (ibid., 110) which detaches the work from the activity of the creative artist, to foreground the meaningfulness of the content that the artwork conveys. 6 That content consists essentially in the work's re–presentation of aspects of the world and of experience. In recognising the import of a work, the agents involved do not simply register its reference to something familiar; in understanding art, '[t]he joy of recognition is rather the joy of knowing more than is already familiar' (ibid., 114). From Gadamer's perspective, then, an artwork itself embodies new insight. That insight may be variously applied and integrated into the experiential horizons of different viewers and audiences, but this variability in interpretation is tempered by a common sense of the work's transformative power. As autonomous structures, artworks move us beyond a subjective reflection on themes by artist and viewer, and towards a common participation in the work's play–structure, which in itself has the potential to reconfigure perception and the world.
This cursory overview of Gadamer's account of art scarcely does justice to the depth and scope of his analysis, and probably raises more questions about the epistemological status of PAR [practice as research] than it resolves. For example, how can one distinguish PAR from art not governed by research–imperatives if all art has the kind of cognitive import that Gadamer suggests? The hermeneutic view would also need much more detailed elaboration to clarify its implications for the conduct, presentation and assessment of PAR. In particular, perhaps, the question looms of how an artwork might be judged to fail to embody knowledge, given that Gadamer's philosophy seems to indicate that it should by definition make new insight available. And yet without being able to question critically, or even deny, the epistemological value of some works, it is unclear whether one can positively identify the claim to knowledge of any. 7 Gadamer's work may suggest that an artwork stands or falls on its transformative power within the audience's experience, but how exactly can one tell whether a work has this power? The responses of individual viewers–including those responsible for assessing PAR projects–might give us some indication: but, as Gadamer himself points out, the subjectivisation of aesthetics has weakened our trust in the commonality of artistic experience to the extent that we doubt the wider resonance of individual response. The philosophical argument for the intersubjectivity of art experience would thus need fleshing out in much more detail to counter the weight of tradition and of the received views attendant upon it."
(Anna Pakes, 2004. Roehampton University of Surrey, England)
Pakes, A. (2004). "Art as action or art as object? the embodiment of knowledge in practice as research", Working Papers in Art and Design Vol 3 Retrieved <date> from URL http://www.herts.ac.uk/artdes/research/papers/wpades/vol3/apfull.html ISSN 1466–4917
"The great theme of the nineteenth century was history. The accumulation of material that demonstrated the contingently renegotiated meaning of the past was one of the elements that constituted the emergence of museums as public places. Napoleon used the rewritten script of the King's Palace of the Louvre to show and celebrate the Republican government and to constitute the potentially dangerous masses as citizens of that Republic. Through the bringing together and displaying of material things which had been violently taken away from their previous religious, aristocratic, royal and enemy owners [and colonial subjects] a space was constituted where new values of liberty, freedom, fraternity and equality among citizens of the State could be both produced and reproduced. In becoming a visitor to the Musee du Louvre, the subject willingly and enthusiastically embraced a new ensemble of social, cultural, political and economic values. The reorganised newly disciplined spaces of the old haphazard royal palace acted as one of the new technologies of power, control and supervision of both subjects and material things. In the assembling, ordering, classifying, placing, cataloguing, labelling, conserving and displaying of thousands of paintings, sculptures, clocks, tapestries, mirrors, jewels, coins, books, live animals and plant specimens new curatorial practices and values began to emerge in the Musee du Louvre, the Jardin des Plantes and other related institutions. [5] New separations were made between types of material thing. Natural things had their own spaces where before they had often been part of a general collection. Separations were made between the works of living and dead artists where previously the size, shape and content of a painting had been the factors that determined the classifying code. The 'authentic' and the 'fake' became new categories, where previously a complete series had been more important. New subject positions emerged.[6]"
(Eilean Hooper–Greenhill)
[5] P. Wescher, 'Vivant Denon and the Musee Napoleon' Apollo v.80, pp.183, 1964; E. P. Alexander, Museum Masters: their museums and their influences American Association for State and Local History, 1983, p.93–4.
[6] Alexander, 1983, p.95 and C. Gould, Trophy of Conquest: The Musée Napoléon and the Creation of the Louvre Faber and Faber, 1965, p.20, both discuss the emergence of picture conservation as a discreet and specialist activity; K. Hudson, Museums of Influence Cambridge University Press, 1987, pp. 6, and 41, mentions dealers and art historians; and Wescher, 1964, p.183 discusses the specialist staff recruited for the new museum.