Curious 1 (2007)

curious

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matthew spahr.........................................................................................................................................

david grainger.........................................................................................................

eli kessler........................................................................................................................................................................

christina fisher............................................................................................................................................................................................................

aj liberto.......................................................................................................................

james sham............................................................................................................................

lily cox-richard........................................................................................................................................................................

nathan carder...................................................................................

sami ben larbi...........................................................................................................................................................

taylor baldwin......................................................................................................................................................................................

jesse robinson......................................................................................................

rosemarie padovano..................................................................................................................................

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300 - 750 AD

Polynesians arrive by outrigger canoe from Tahiti.

1778

British explorer Captain James Cook discovers the Hawaiian Islands and names them Sandwich Islands after Britian’s Earl of Sandwich.

1779

Captain Cook is killed in a Big Island dispute at Kealakekua Bay, near Kona 1789

The first Chinese arrive after jumping off a trading ship.

1810

King Kamehameha the Great unites all the Hawaiian islands into one kingdom.

1813

The first pineapple plants are introduced from Spain.

1816

First Hawaiian flag is sewn.

1817

Coffee is first planted.

1819

King Kamehameha the Great dies. Prince Liholiho ascends the throne as Kamehameha II (1819-1824). He also abandons the ancient taboo of eating with women.

1820

First American Protestant missonaries arrive aboard the brig Thaddeus from New England.

1825 - 1854

The reign of King Kamehameha III. 1840

The first Hawaii constitution of the kingdom was established.

1848

The Great Mahele is signed by King Kamehameha III which allows commoners and haoles to own land outright or in “fee simple,” a concept that continues today.

1850

On August 31, King Kamehameha III declares Honolulu a city.

1874 - 1891

The reign of King David Kalakaua.

1882

America’s only royal residence, Iolani Palace is built on Oahu.

1883

Mutual Telephone Company was started in Hawaii. The name was later changed to Hawaiian Telephone and then changed again to GTE Hawaiian Tel. 1885

The first contract laborers from Japan arrive to work on the sugar cane plantations.

1892

Macadamia nut trees are first planted.

1893

Queen Liliuokalani surrenders the kingdom to the United States under protest.

1895

Queen Liliuokalani abdicates her throne.

1898

Hawaii is annexed to the United States.

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School of Public Health. The findings are being published [...] by the British medical journal The Lancet.

—The Washington Post, October 11, 2006

In the all-spin zone information is on a fluff and dry cycle, gyrating voraciously as the next circular argument to nowhere. War is entertainment. Violence is culture. Empire expansion is complete hubris. Corporate culture allows, in fact, silently insists upon the attendant self-congratulation. From hoplite to legionnaire the warrior develops greater efficiency and training, as well as a subtle subordination.

But who keeps the plates spinning— the costumed maestro on stage, or the audience with hopeful stares, watching and waiting for one to fall, anticipating disaster? Are these plates even worthy of our attention? Or are we witnessing nothing more than a narcissistic self-absolution dance? Are we not merely entranced by questionable notions of motion and progress passed down to us from those pioneers thus providing torsion for a precise delivery.

of Manifest Destiny, those tinkering free

As a kind of bow, the ballista is the

thinkers, our freewheeling forefathers?

weapon of Apollo, celebrating his skill in

We place our indignation, our feelings

killing from a ditance by extending the

of being manipulated into those spinning

eye’s gaze of the sun into a precise murder.

plates. We watch the spin eat away our

A tool of empire expansion, the ballista

Like the satellite-driven strategic bombs

communities. Buried electrical fences reign

was used in Roman campaigns to secure

delivered in Baghdad by generals in Florida.

in happy wagging pets. Our barbeques are cloistered in the backyard (never the

the northern boundaries, and to quell internal riots. Inherited by the Romans from

A team of American and Iraqi epidemiologists

front). We are a nation divided into blue

Greek ingenuity, this siege engine was a

estimates that 655,000 more people have died

and red states, of cool distant sadness and

monstrous version of a simple crossbow. It

in Iraq since coalition forces arrived in March

hot righteous anger. Each balances on a

could be disassembled and refashioned to

2003 than would have died if the invasion had

trembling disc of certitude, centrifugally

travel quickly. Animal sinew coiled on two

not occurred. The survey was done by Iraqi

staying in line, defying the gravity of

long bolts, and tightened with hammer-

physicians and overseen by epidemiologists

common sense and perpetuated by

driven wedges, was twisted into a spring,

at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg

communal groupthink.

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Giovanni Maria Lancisi had already explained

moments of repose are Roman, brief and

minds of the American taxpayer? Each

that the noble Romans were often subject to

distant. We struggle to finance a basic family

citizen holds the ultimate veto power should

the vapors—hysterical attacks, hypochondrical

life, pay our credit cards, keep connections

he ever consider it.

fits—because in their court life “their minds,

with distant relatives, and develop antibodies

continually agitated between fear

against advertising designed to make us feel

fashion from one network to another

and hope, never knew a moment’s repose.”

unfulfilled.

within minutes of an event, these discrete

—Michel Foucault, Madness and Civilization.

Shouldn’t we as artists be able to

Quickly dispersed in a homogenous

machinations are uncovered through

detect the complete manipulation of these

the study of perception. The artist should

Are we juggling in an endless round of

recent American wars, to recognize the

recognize (before anyone else) the designed

throwing and catching? Avoiding disaster

coordination and precision with which

message in the logo wallpaper behind the

with every expenditure of our energy? Our

these wars are carried out logistically, not

President. The filmmaker should detect the

only in the sands of the Middle East and

choreographed press conferences, with

Mesopotamia, but also in the hearts and

loaded softball questions and prepared statements. To the writer it should be painfully obvious the unquestioning dogmatism that one observes in talking points. The creative person should sense immediately, instinctively, and completely what is in fact a harbinger.

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Schizophrenia Never, always.

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The Petroleum Museum is Everywhere Visit us, anytime, anyplace. Just open your eyes or say our name, and we’ll be there.

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Stendhal Syndrome Gaze deep, gaze crazy, just don’t touch the art.

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Jerusalem Syndrome Everyone can be a prophet during peak season, May thru August!

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We Americans want either to be thrilled or amused, and are ready to pay well for either sensation.

George C. Tilyou, founder of Steeplechase Park, Coney Island

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1876

Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia 100 years of American cultural and industrial progress 1

1893

World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago Sell the cookstove if necessary and come. You must see this fair. 2

1898

Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, Omaha

1901

Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo

1904

Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St Louis

1905

Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition, Portland Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way 3

1915

Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco

1933

Century of Progress International Exposition, Chicago

1939

New York World’s Fair, The World of Tomorrow

From the beginning, America’s World’s Fairs were crucial in articulating and solidifying American-ness. The Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876, the first World’s Fair to be held in the United States, celebrated a century of independence, and held only eleven years after the end of the Civil War, a decade of unity.4 National self-identification and the nature of American culture needed to be defined in order to present the Old World with a strong, shining and cohesive new power. Three themes would be identified with the American national character: Pioneer Spirit Republicanism & Democracy Progress 5 Washington DC, New York, St Louis, and Chicago all competed to host the Columbian Exposition scheduled for 1892, the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America. The heated deliberations went on for eight years, so long that when Chicago was finally chosen as the site, it was no longer possible to hold the fair on the dates intended.6 A fair grand enough for the great explorer would take another year to develop. Uncompromised in scale and scope, Chicago’s Columbian Exposition would be held in 1893.

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Welcome to you men of older civilizations to this young city whose most ancient landmark was built within the span of a present life.

Chicago Mayor Hempstead Washburne, dedication of the World’s Fair buildings.7

Chicago won the honor of hosting the Columbian Exposition in part because it boasted enough parkland to build the largest fair in history.

Covering 686 acres, it was nearly two and a half times the size of the 1889 Paris Exposition.8 Chicago needed to impress its importance as a city vital to the nation, and the nation needed to shine as a unified country to the world. The very architecture of the fair would communicate cohesiveness and strength. Aligning America with past empires, massive neo-classical pavilions were constructed with a common cornice height, promoting a civilized nation of well-planned cities. Constructed quickly in wood and steel, the structures were then covered with staff (a mixture of plaster, cement and jute fiber)9 to resemble marble, and painted a gleaming white.

The White City, as it was called, was thick with columns, fountains, and allegorical sculpture. Situated amidst pools and lagoons, the picturesque fair could be captured by handheld cameras; available for the first time, visitors could rent them for two dollars a day.10

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In 1890, the US Census Bureau announced that according to the data collected, and based on the definition of “frontier” in terms of population density, the frontier was finally and forever closed.11 Three years later, at the American Historical Association meeting held to coincide with Chicago’s Columbian Exposition, Fredrick Jackson Turner presented “The Significance of the Frontier in American History.”

That coarseness and strength combined with acuteness and inquisitiveness; that practical, inventive turn of mind, quick to find expedients; that masterful grasp of material things, lacking in the artistic but powerful to effect great ends; that restless, nervous energy; that dominant individualism, working for good and for evil, and withal that buoyancy and exuberance which comes with freedom--these are traits of the frontier, or traits called out elsewhere because of the existence of the frontier. […]

What the Mediterranean Sea was to the Greeks, breaking the bond of custom, offering new experiences, calling out new institutions and activities, that, and more, the ever retreating frontier has been to the United States [...] And now, four centuries from the discovery of America, at the end of a hundred years of life under the Constitution, the frontier has gone, and with its going has closed the first period of American history.12 By 1893, the frontier was already consigned to the realm of history and myth. Exhibits at the Columbian Exposition included Cowboys, Indians, and “Hunter’s Cabin,” a log cabin with dirt floor, built

by Theodore Roosevelt, as a museum in honor of Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett.13 Meanwhile, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show was enormously popular on the Midaway Fairgrounds.

As by a touch the machinery that gives life to this vast exposition is now set in motion, so at the same instant let our hopes and aspirations awaken forces which in all time to come shall influence the welfare, the dignity and the freedom of mankind.

Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, then touched a gilded electric button and the great engine of 8000 horsepower was set in motion.14

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The neo-classical architecture of the White City, while strategic, was conservative compared to that of recent European World’s Fairs.15 America needed to assert her dedication to innovation and progress. Daniel Burnham, Chief of Construction for the Chicago’s Columbian Exposition, held a nationwide contest to solicit ideas for a monument to industrial ingenuity, something to outshine Gustave Eiffel’s tower of the 1889 Paris Exposition. In describing the crowning glory of the exposition Burnham said, “Mere bigness is not what is wanted. Something novel, original, daring and unique must be designed and built if American engineers are to retain their prestige and standing.”16 George Washington Gale Ferris Junior’s plan for a giant wheel wasn’t taken seriously until it was almost too late. Ferris, who some called “a wild-eyed man with wheels in his head,” was given permission to build his wheel only twenty-two weeks before the beginning of the fair.17 On opening day, May 1, 1893, crews were still assembling the massive framework.

Ferris, a bridge-builder from Pittsburgh, called for an axle strong enough to bear a burden six times as great as the weight of the cantilever bridge across the Ohio River at Cincinnati. The heaviest piece of steel ever forged in the United States, the axel shaft was 45 feet long and weighted 46 tons.18 Dwarfing the “pleasure wheels” of the time, the Ferris Wheel featured 140-foot-high towers and a 250-foot-diameter wheel whose apex brought riders to a point higher than the crown of the Statue of Liberty.

Larger than a Pullman Palace Car, each of the 36 wood-veneered compartments was enclosed in glass, lined in crushed velvet, and could carry up to 60 passengers.19 For fifty cents each, the same price as general admission to the fair itself, 1.4 million riders went for two revolutions. The Ferris Wheel had so many requests for weddings to be performed while on board that one compartment was decorated and reserved just for this purpose.20 After visiting the fair on his honeymoon, a New York entrepreneur promptly ordered a half-sized wheel for his park in Coney Island, telling a reporter, “We Americans want either to be thrilled or amused, and are ready to pay well for either sensation.”21 Ferris’ wheel cost $750,000 to build, and while it turned a profit for the fair, it was a financial disaster for Ferris. He spent everything on his dream, never sought a patent, and died bankrupt and alone at the age of 36. At the close of the fair, the wheel was sold as scrap for $1,800.22 Instead of pillaging the materials, the new owners kept the pieces of wheel intact.

In 1904, 175 freight cars, running on a track built specifically for this purpose, hauled the pieces to the St Louis World’s Fair grounds, where the giant wheel was reconstructed.

Again, turning a profit for the fair. In May 1906, Ferris’ wheel was dynamited and once again sold for scrap. The whereabouts of the massive axle are unknown.23 In 2008, a World’s Fair will be held in Zaragoza, Spain with the theme “Water and Sustainable Development.” This recalls a previous water-themed fair, the New Orleans Exposition of 1984 “The World of Rivers: Fresh Water as a Source of Life.”24 New Orleans’ was the last World’s Fair to be held in the United States. Like George Ferris, it went bankrupt in mid-stream.

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NOTES

IMAGE NOTES

1

p 28.

“Exhibition Facts,” The Centennial Exhibition Digital Col-

Ephemera from the 1901 Pan-American Exposition,

lection, www.library.phila.gov, (Free Library of Phila, 2001).

Buffalo: announcement with dates, illustrations. Courtesy

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World’s Fair Collection, University of Maryland Libraries.

Author Hamlin Garland in a letter to his parents in

South Dakota, 1893. Lynn Sherr, America the Beautiful (New

p 29.

York: Public Affairs, 2001) p 24.

the Columbian Exposition in 1893. Souvenir coin of Chris-

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Motto of fair, as inscribed over main entrance.

topher Columbus and George Washington. All coins from

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Paul Greenhalgh, Ephemeral Vistas: The Expositions

the collection of Tom Hoffman. Images of coins courtesy

Universelles: Great Exhibitions and World’s Fairs, 1851-1939

Elongated coins made their debut as souvenirs from

Tom Hoffman, www.1893columbianexpo.com

(New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1988) p 127.

p 30.

5

Greenhalgh, p 127.

cago Historical Society) Reid Badger, The Great American

The Basin before construction, July 30, 1891 (Chi-

6

Erik Mattie, World’s Fairs (New York: Princeton Archi-

Fair (Chicago: Nelson Hall, 1979) p 66.

tectural Press, 1998) p 88.

—The destruction of the Court of Honor and Statue of the

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Republic, January 1894, Chicago Historical Society, CHS,

Frederick Saunders, Ed. “Dedication of the World’s Fair

Buildings: An Address by Mayor Hempstead Washburne, of

ICHi-25106.

Chicago,” Our National Jubilee (New York, 1894) p 1005.

—Souvenir coin of the Administration Building, 1893.

8

—I am Coming, Color lithograph, (Courier Lithograph Co.,

John E. Findling, Chicago’s Great World’s Fairs (Manches-

ter University Press, New York 1994) p 13.

Buffalo, N.Y., 1900) Prints & Photographs Division (207.6),

9

Library of Congress.

Edward Campbell, “Jackson Park’s Golden Lady, Then

and Now,” Hyde Park Herald, May 28, 2003.

p 31.

10 Mattie, p 88.

Chicago Historical Society, CHS, ICHi-02551. The Statue

Wreckage of Exposition, after the closing of the fair,

11 Karal Ann Marling, The Colossus of Roads: Myth and

of the Republic still standing in top left of image, as noted

Symbol along the American Highway (Minneapolis: University

by Neil Harris, Wim de Wit, James Gilbert, and Robert

of Minnesota Press, 1984) p 19.

W Rydell, Grand Illusions: Chicago’s World’s Fair of 1893

12 Frederick Jackson Turner, “The Significance of the Fron-

(Chicago Historical Society, 1993) p 9.

tier in American History,” The Frontier In American History

—The Court of Honor, with Daniel Chester French’s Statue

(New York: Henry Holt & Co, reprinted 1921).

of the Republic in the foreground. Photograph by C. D.

13 Marling, p 20.

Arnold, official photographer for the fair, Chicago Historical

14 Saunders, Ed. “Address by Hon. Grover Cleveland,

Society, CHS, ICHi-02524. The statue was covered in gold

President of the United States at the Opening of the World’s

leaf, measured sixty-five feet tall and stood on a forty-five foot

Fair May 1, 1893,” p 1005. Electricity, a relatively new inven-

high base. Wim de Wit, “Building a Illusion,” p 83.

tion, was used to great effect to light the White City at night,

—Souvenir coin of the Logging Cabin, Michigan’s Forestry

creating reflections in the many pools, lagoons, and fountains.

Exhibit, 1893.

The first successful use of electricity at a World’s Fair was

—William F. Cody with “Pawnee Bill” and “Buffalo Jones,”

the 1889 Paris Exposition, four years later, the Columbian

Salsbury collection, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, The

Exposition used ten times more electricity. David E. Nye,

Denver Public Library, NS-32.

Electrifying America (MIT Press, 1997).

—Ronald Reagan in the film Law and Order (Universal, 1953).

15 Many European critics reacted negatively to the White

p 32.

City. The French journal, La Construction Moderne printed

Neil Harris, Wim de Wit, James Gilbert, and Robert W

the critique: “Oh so familiar, and so hackneyed! […] Chicago

Rydell, Grand Illusions: Chicago’s World’s Fair of 1893 (Chi-

in 1893 resuscitates forms with which we want nothing more

cago Historical Society, 1993) p 137.

to do.” Arnold Lewis, An Early Encounter with Tomorrow

—Ferris Wheel, passengers in cars.

(University of Illinois Press, 1997) pp 176-177.

—Ferris Wheel, still under construction when the fair

16 Norman Bolotin and Christine Laing, The World’s

opened in May 1893, Bolotin and Laing, p 23.

Columbian Exposition: The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893

p 33.

(Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2002) p 23.

third of the original size, now stands in Hayes-Richards

17 The World’s Greatest Fair: Fair Saint Louis 1904, Dir.

traffic circle, site of the exposition’s Administration Building,

Scott Huegerich and Bob Miano (PBS, 2004).

at the opposite side of the Grand Basin site from where the

18 Bolotin and Laing, p 23.

original stood, www.hydepark.org

19 Miller, p 497; also Richard Weingardt, Engineering

—Souvenir, Columbian Exposition, 1893.

Legends (Reston, VA: ASCE Publications, 2005) p 94.

­—Souvenir coin for the Ferris Wheel, 1893.

20 Huegerich and Miano (PBS).

—Souvenir coin promoting aluminum, 1893.

21 Donald L. Miller, City of the Century: The Epic of Chicago and the Making of America (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996) p 497; also see note 15.

22 Huegerich and Miano (PBS).

23 Ibid.

24 World’s Fair Museum, www.expomuseum.com.

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Ferris Wheel illustration on souvenir sheet music,

A replica of French’s Statue of the Republic, one

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Je viens de sortir du forum des halles.

Je vais directement vers le macdo du coin, celui en face de la fontaine.

Je fait la queue comme tout le monde.

Il y a du monde aujourd’hui.

C’est enfin mon tour.

I ‘ll have a Mac Muffin I really need it I need help mac muffin ? Mais il est deux heures monsieur, on ne sert plus de petit déjeuner a cette heure ci Pas de progress pour moi aujourd’hui. En allant vers le guichet du metro je passe par la cinémathèque. Aujourd’hui ils jouent The Hole, de Tsai Ming Liang.

Whaaaat!

I need to see this !

J’achete un ticket et rentre dans la salle noire. A la sortie je rencontre un de mes vieux amis, qui lui aussi a vu le film. On decide rapidement de prendre un pot au café du coin et de ratraper le temps perdu. On discute d’abord de nos derniers nouvelles.

Assez vite on en vient au film qu’on a vu.

What do you think ?

Well, I can’t believe it but I really liked it. I usually hate musicals. They are so redundant and dumb. I have a hard..

What do you mean dumb?

They have this thing that they want to say and they spend foreever saying it and every one is the scene is usually in on the action. Come on this has nothing to do with film. It’s just one of those left overs from the old stage. It’s like the viewer is too dumb to understand something that could take two cuts, or a gesture or something other than being hammered

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I woke up last week not remembering who I was. All I had was my belongings, my identifications cards and the way I talk. I noticed quickly that I was not from here.

I do not talk like they do around here, wherever here is. People keep asking me where I’m from. I don’t know so I say from here. But they persist., so I just say I don’t know. That way we can all be perplexed.

I speak three languages but all of them with an accent. I keep hoping that my tongues will help me define myself.

Trapped in my identity, I have no idea what that even is. Even when I find someone who speaks one of the languages I know, I am still confronted with alienation. My very name puts me at odds with them. I am not them, I am an other.

I find those who look like me, and they assume I am one of them. But they do not sound like anything I know.

One day, at the taco truck I was addressed in Spanish.

All I could mutter was n“ o able espagnol”. It happened again this morning on my way out the door. A man who lives on the street asked me if I am a white mountain.

I did’t understand. He kept repeating, y“ ou native?”

Well I guess I am a native.

Mac Muffin, film, language and identity Three characters The hardest part is always the beginning.

Just deciding on the names is difficult.

Can they be Francois, Bob and Mohammed ?

That seems too easy. These names have associations I am not inclined to embrace. For the time being I’m just going to call them A, B and C. They can just remain anonymous.

The first character, A, is an American expatriate in Paris.

A is searching for a Mac Muffin, really a Mac Guffin, the device used by Hitchcock to jump start an action. There will be a conversation between A and an old friend. As they talk it becomes less and less clear who is talking.

They become one character. A is interested in cinema, in studying films, two directors in particular - Alfred Hitchcock and Tsai Ming Liang. A studies Hitchcock’s use of editing to create tension and narrative. Visual language interests A more than dialogue.

The visual works on a subliminal level felt before recognized. Tsai Ming Liang’s vocabulary is much different but to the same end.

Long takes and singular angles emphasize the power of the actor

over the head with the same damn thing for too long. Maybe it makes sense on a stage where cuts, close-ups and all the things possible in film are just not an option. Why make a movie out of it? But Maybe I’ve watched too many.

OK, ok I get it. But what do you think about the film?

It really took me by surprise the first time I saw it. By the way this is probably the fourth or fifth time I’ve seen this movie.

Same here.

I think the musical parts are really accent points. Or interjections. The subject matter being kind of heavy, Yah that’s true for all of his movies!

I’ll grant you that. Loneliness, alienation, absence of love, these are all pretty central themes in all of Tsai’s movies. This one is no different but then in the middle of all this the musical interventions poke fun at these very themes.

Yeah, the humor is not lost. His previous movies, Vive L’Amour, Rebels of the Neon God, The River were so sad. I felt like crying afterward Maybe, but I believe the sadness and the way it was dealt with was necessary. The crisis is about Taiwan and its search for identity.

It’s China but not the true China.

It’s in Asia but also influenced by the western countries, it’s very American. It also deals with the malaise of the new generation and its own search for identity. It’s a rather international theme. It also deals with homosexuality and incest Yes, it’s both very traditional, the boy is very submissive, the way gay Asian men are usually represented. And it’s also contemporary. That issue of homosexuality and incest might be taken as a metaphor for the state of Taiwan in relation to mainland China.

Taiwan is basically at the mercy of the mainland, castrated by its previous

The faceless world of the internet is the perfect place to find my blank slate of identity. I can construct a self through a role playing game, explore an alternative self, and maybe even build a better one. But I wonder if I really want to be my old self. Isn’t it just the perfect opportunity to scrap it all and start fresh? But I don’t know how so I just repeat everything.

to be rather than to act. This is

Playing dominoes online with a distant opponent I am hit with a diatribe, He (or is it she?) complains that I am playing too slowly and declares that this is «because I’m black..» As expletives flash at the bottom of the playing window.

I wonder at the unchecked racism and think «How the hell would he know if I’m black?» I think to myself if I am then I’m a mighty white African American, (or Indonesian?, African ? or better yet Aboriginal?

to the formation of identity and

This is starting to drive me crazy. How can I be French?

I speak French. But my name is Arabic. Am I also Spanish / Latino/ Native / Italian. I am all of these or one of these or just a piecemeal. I need to find out.

At night I have strange hallucinations, or maybe they

the French New Wave’s call for total cinema. I imagine the narrative to be written in French, but the characters speak only English. Or perhaps they become confused and switch back and forth.

The second character, B, has suddenly lost his identity. He tries to figure out who he is. He researches how a person becomes a singular identity. He is interested in books that relate how language informs identity.

As his research progresses B is confronted with hard questions.

Should he strive to regain his old self or should he rather improve upon it? Maybe we could use some film technique to emphasize this feeling. B tries his hands at virtual worlds, assessing the potential of such tools to fashion identity. The role of gender in defining identity is explored through fantastic predictions of future evolution from human to machine. Showing some scenes from The Matrix would be good.

Especially those with the white background. B is increasingly confused. He has flash-backs.

He is now in Taipei, smoking cigarettes and looking nonchalant. He is seen alternatively selling watches in the streets, selling condiments in an indoor market, acting like a dead body in the river or inspecting a hole

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connection to China and unable to be emancipated. I remember reading about that in reference to The River.

I think though that the homosexuality and incest are really secondary. It’s really about confusion of identity, or the search for an identity. For me it’s really personal. I really connect to this.

It’s personal and international !

What about the theme of the water running throughout? It’s always raining or in this movie we just saw it’s leaking from every where. Well I guess it’s always leaking something really.

Yes, yes. I remember reading something about that. The water is the Yellow river, the maternal liquid.

The water is the polluted river, coming from the city, an underground canal, and it pollutes the youth, the future. The characters also pee a lot.

I guess the filth they ingest has to go somewhere.

You know what I really find interesting, and I have seen it mentioned several times before, is the mastery of both Tsai and Hitchcock to manipulate the camera to give you a sense of what is really going on. I mean all the little details that they both insert in their films are amazing. Like in Shadow of a doubt, when the uncle Charlie comes to town and the train has really black smoke coming out. The evil is coming to town, only you don’t realize that at first.

Yes, Hitchcock was a master of cuts. The only issue I have is that his movies are really entertainment, or at least most of them anyway.

I don’t think his masterpieces are just entertainment. But anyway the entertainment value, to me, regresses the impact of the camera work. It almost works too well for its own good. I don’t think as much about Hitchcock’s movies as I do Tsai’s.

Tsai’s stay with you, it’s almost like a state of mind.

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are just dreams. I am on a bridge. No it’s an overpass.

I am selling watches out of a suitcase. I sell my own watch to a girl just about to go to Paris. I am suddenly inexplicably interested in everything French. I am obssessed with changing every clock to the French time. The streets all light up with billboards that I do not recognize. The alphabet is foreign. Asian I think. I try to stick my leg through a hole in the floor.

Don’t ask me why. I try to balance myself on that leg.

In another dream I am riding the streets in a scooter but my vision is altered. I see everything sideways. I want to right my head but I can’t.

I think I have an accident.

Maybe it’s because of the swim I take in the sewer. In another dream I am spinning on a country fair ride. I am upside down. Everything is in black and white. It’s the sixties. Its Paris. The spinning sequence comes back another time when I am watching it on tv with what appear to be chinese subtitles. The action is the same. Again, the scene is in black and white, the place is France, and the time is the sixties. Except this time I can see the kid who is upside down. He is awfully familiar. I have seen him too many times reflected in the mirror.

in his living room floor. He is also in an amusement ride in a black and white France. He is living in movies and does not know it. Or maybe he does but is loathe to escape the fantasy. He is at once himself, Lee Kang Sheng and Jean-Pierre Léaud.

C, the third character is a writer.

Struggling with his craft, he is not sure if this is an autobiography or a treatment for a potential movie that his agent had insisted he work on. He has a hard time writing. His narrative does not come easy for him. He reads everything he can about screenwriting. He usually directs films so writing is a new experience for him. He prefers the natural method of acting. He aspires to John Cassavetes’s simple actions and absent plot, which to him is just like life itself. Like A, C believes that actors are strongest when they play themselves rather than a role. Maybe the character has more to add to this narrative than the author.

They all speak in the first person.

They are the same person.

Maybe each character’s story ends in mid sentence.

That would be appropriate.

There is no real end to this story.

44

Above the Fold The morbid aesthetic pleasure one takes in the sublimely cataclysmic image, the ecstatic agony of a devastated landscape, is indulged with dutiful regularity on the front pages of newspapers across the globe. The psychological permanence of these photos is at odds with the commercial ease and disposability of the newsprint object (often discarded the same day as it was received).

The twenty-five images contained here are a small excerpt from an ongoing collection of apocalyptic imagery from the front page of The New York Times.

The selection here represents two years worth of clippings, from November 2005 (when the collection began) to March 2007.

45

46

47

48

49

In many dynamic situations or complex control tasks humans rely on machine components to extend their sensory-motor capabilities. Through the use of such extensions (also known as prostheses), people are able to fly aircraft, drive automobiles and control processes in industrial plants. Mishaps, however,

can occur when the machine or the human loses situation awareness due to missing sensory information or misunderstanding of available information resources. http://www.ihmc.us/research/MultisensoryProstheses/

A cyborg is a cybernetic organism (i.e. an organism that is a self-regulating integration of artificial and natural systems). [trajectory of a bullet] The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space.[1] Ever since then, it has often been used to name those creatures that complicate traditional boundaries between

mind (or spirit) and matter, machine and animal, evolved and invented, living and dead: D. S. Halacy’s Cyborg: Evolution of the Superman in 1965 featured an introduction by Manfred Clynes, who wrote of a “new frontier” that was “not merely space, but more profoundly the relationship between ‘inner space’ to ‘outer space’ -a bridge...between mind and matter.”[2] The cyborg is often seen today merely as an organism that has enhanced abilities due to technology,[3] but this perhaps oversimplifies the category of feedback. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyborg

Fictional cyborgs are portrayed as a synthesis of organic and synthetic parts, and frequently pose the question of difference between human and machine as one concerned with morality, free will, and emphathy. Fictional cyborgs may be represented as visibly mechanical (e.g. the Borg in the Star Trek franchise or the Cylons from the 1978 TV series, Battlestar Galactica); or as almost indistinguishable from humans (e.g. the Cylons from the re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica). These fictional portrayals often register our society’s discomfort with its seemingly increasing reliance upon technology, particularly when used for war, and when used in ways that seem to threaten free will.

Real cyborgs are more frequently people who use cybernetic technology to repair or overcome the physical and mental constraints of their bodies. While the majority of all cyborgs are mammals, they can also be reptiles as well.

stills taken from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Episode 602 “Room Service” TM CBS Broadcasting Inc. 2005, 2006 and Alliance Atlantis Productions, Inc.

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Anatomy of a Bullet Wound One of the tools used to compare the effects of ammunition is the “wound profile.” Wound profiles are simply dimensioned photographs or carefully prepared scale drawings of test firings in calibrated ballistic gelatin. The wound profiles below are some typical examples of what a bullet does on impact.

Properly prepared and calibrated ballistic gelatin gives performance and penetration results within about 2 percent of of results obtained in actual tissue. “Properly prepared” means that the gelatin is a 10 percent mixture of ballistic gelatin (Kind and Knox Type 250) prepared water heated to no more than104° F (40° C) and then stored and shot at a stabilized 39° F (4° C).

This particular profile is that of an early .45ACP 185gr. Silvertip Winchester @ 940 f/s. This is a classic non-fragmenting expanding bullet wound profile. The narr ow portion at the start of the permanent cavity is called the “neck” and its length is a function of the bullet’s design. This particular load is a little short on penetration at 25cm (9.8”) with an expansion of .85”. As a comparison the Hornady +P 230gr XTP at 880 f/s gave 15.6” penetration and .72” expansion, the Hornady 200gr XTP at 850 f/s gave 18.5” and .54”, the Winchester 230gr Black Talon at 858 f/s gave 13.5” and .73”, and the Remington 185gr at 1020 f/s gave 10.5” and .83”.

Interestingly, Winchester must have got the word because a later lot of this ammunition gave 882 f/s and 11” of penetration and .74” expansion. For comparison the GI M1911 Ball ammo (230gr at 869 f/s) produced a penetration of 26”.

This particular profile is that of a ..38SPL +P 158gr. lead semi-wadcutter hollow point “FBI” load @ 880 f/s. This is another classic non-fragmenting expanding bullet wound profile.

This particular load shows good penetration at 32cm (12.6”) and good expansion at .59”. Perhaps this is one reason that this loading has a good reputation on the street. The Winchester Black Talon 9mm 147gr JHP at 981 f/s produced an almost identical profile with penetration of 35cm (13.8”) and and expansion of .61”. In the .40 caliber ammo the profiles were very similar with the Hornaday 155gr XTP at 1090 givin “ penetration and .57” expansion, the 180gr XTP at 970 f/s giving 14.5” and .67”, and the Winchester 180gr Black Talon giving 13.4” and .68”.

This profile is the Remington 125gr JSP .357 Magnum at 1390 f/s which has an excellent reputation on the street. Note the shape and size of the temporary and permanent cavities are very similar to the .38 Special round above and penetration is only about 1.5” greater. Expansion is .66”, only .07” greater than the .38 round in spite of the vastly increased velocity. An excellent example of good bullet construction at work. The equivelent JHP round gives about 10 percent less penetration and a .70 expansion.

This profile is the M855 5.56mm NATO cartridge, with a 62gr steel core FMJ boat tailed bullet @ 3035 f/s. This is a classic fragmenting rifle bullet profile. Penetration is acceptable at 34cm (13.4”). Note the long narrow neck of about 9 cm (4”) before the bullet tumbles and fragments. The original M193 55gr round produces a similar profile but it has a longer neck, and slightly smaller temporary and permanent cavities. Both of these bullets fracture at the cannelure at velocities above about 2700 f/s. Below that velocity the bullets simply tumble without producing the extensive permanent cavity much like the 7.62 mm M80 ball round.

This is the wound profile of the 7.62x39 PS Steel Core AK-47 round at 2340 f/s. Great penetration but otherwise not very impressive, eh? The permanent cavity is flat in cross-section. I removed two sections so the image would fit on the page better. At around 60cm the bullet yawed downward and wound up base first as shown.

This is the profile of the 5.45mm AK-74 round at 3066 f/s. The lack of fragmentation makes a smaller permanent wound cavity then that achieved by the M16. However, penetration in flesh is better because of no fragmentation. The permanent cavity is actually flat in cross-section due to the long narrow bullet’s tumbling so it is not as effective as the M16 rounds.

This profile is the M80 7.62mm NATO cartridge, a 149gr FMJ boat tailed bullet at 2730 f/s. This is a classic FMJ military bullet profile for modern non-fragmenting / non-expanding spitzer bullets. The bullet ends up base first at a penetration of 25.6”. The permanent cavity is flat in cross-section. Note the long neck before the bullet starts to tumble, but in this case at only 2700 f/s and with its heavy jacket the bullet doesn’t fragment. Interestingly, if this bullet is driven at 3000 f/s it fragments and behaves just like the M855 5.56mm bullet. Have you noticed the trend for FMJ spitzer flat base/spitzer BT bullets that do not fragment to end up base first?

This profile is of the Winchester .30-30 170gr Silvertip at 2020 f/s. This is typical of medium velocity, expanding rifle bullets.

This profile is of the Winchester .30-06 150gr Softpoint at 2923 f/s. Note the larger permanent cavity than the .30-30 but almost identical penetration. Not something you want to get shot with.

This profile is of the wound created by a 12ga. 27 pellet #4 buck at 1350 f/s. Penetration depth of the deepest single pellet is only 10.6” with the majority between 6” and 10”, which corresponds to the known performance of #4 buck--in other word erratic. #1, 00, or 000 buck are a much better choices giving penetrations of about 13”, 14” and 15” respectively for standard lead buckshot. While I don’t have any profiles available, reports I have received from testers indicate that the use of hardened and/or plated buckshot can provide about a 10-15 percent increase in penetration due to the lack of pellet deformation with the harder pellets.

This is an actual photograph of the wound created by a 12 ga load of 1_ ounces (about 169 pellets)of #4 shot (not buckshot) at 1200 f/s. The maximum penetration is about 11 inches but the majority of the shot is located between about 5_ and 7_ inches. The damage pattern is typical of shotgun wounds at field distanc

es.

This profile is of the 12ga 1oz (437gr) rifled slug at 1513 f/s. That’s about a 1” wound channel and 14” of penetration! Observed penetration for Foster type rifled slugs ranges from 14” to around 18” depending on brand and hardness. No wonder some professional hunters like the 12ga slug as a bear stopper at close range. However, the soft lead slug doesn’t fare too well on hard targets This profile is of the so-called “wonder bullet” the .357 Glasser Safety Slug, 80gr prefragmented bullet at 1785 f/s. This is typical performance of the ultra light weight, high velocity and prefragmented bullets in general . Note the very shallow penetration (4.7”). I’m not impressed, are you?

What to do, what to do...

While the energy dump school has been disproved there is still a minor battle going on between the temporary cavity and big hole schools, and perhaps the real answer lie somewhere between the two. There are many failures of both the high performance/high velocity temporary cavity loads (especially the lighter bullet weight loadings) and also the big bore/big hole loads. While general experience seems to favor the big hole loads, nothing is certain. A lot still depends on the condition of the target.

One famous case of small and fast failure (temporary cavity loads) was widely distributed in law enforcement training circles. A perp (Oops, excuse me--alleged perp.) received an incredible number of 9mm expanding bullets (somewhere around 36--all over his body including the chest and face) yet was not seriously inconvenienced for several minutes. Another similar case was the infamous FBI Dade County shoot out wherein one of the aggressively behaving antisocial misfits was hit solidly with a “high performance” 9mm 115gr JHP. Though the wound would have eventually proved fatal, it failed to penetrate deep enough. He was able to continue fighting and killed several agents with a rifle before being taken out of the fight with a more powerful and destructive load.

lot of folks. A drugged up goblin was shot through

As to “big hole” failures, here in the People’s Republic of NJ there was an incident awhile back that shook a the back door and seat of a van he was driving with a 12ga slug. He exited the van with an inch-and-a half hole blown clear through his chest. (Yes, Virginia, daylight was visible!) He ran about 25 yards firing his pistol at his pursuers until he collapsed. (And you thought you were well armed with your 9mm / .357 / 10mm / .45, eh?)

Check the wound profiles above for the 12ga slug and compare it with a pistol bullet profile. Then ask yourself if you will ever feel well armed ever again. Under those circumstances a tactical nuke might have been needed to provide the needed incapacitation. In the hunting area I’m sure that you have heard of accounts of Cape Buffalo receiving well placed hits of tremendous size and power (500 grains at 2000-2400 f/s) and who yet turned on their antagonist with malice afore thought and lethal intent even though the should have, by all rights, been dead on the spot.

Aways, keep this medical fact in mind: Bullet hits to the torso cannot be counted upon to cause a person (or for that matter a game animal) to immediately cease his actions. Even a total loss of blood flow to the brain can still allow 10 seconds of purposeful action—more than enough time to empty a magazine into you or to stomp you to death. As for me, even though there are no guarantees, I want to stack the deck in my favor as much as possible. I want to reliably cause the most damage possible with every shot. Since bullet expansion can’t always be counted on due to intervening material and Hornady or Winchester don’t offer tactical nuclear bullets, I don’t like to count on a small bullet hopefully expanding to a bigger diameter. I like to stay with big at the start. Should I ever be lucky to go after dangerous big game I’ll use all the gun I can handle. For personal defense I carry a .45 with 200-230 grain expanding bullets of proven design and penetration, but wouldn’t feel too under gunned with a stout .40/10mm. ...and then there is always the Mozambique drill.

Wound profiles courtesy Dr. Martin Fackler Gelatin photograph courtesy of Letterman Army Institute of Research

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From: Story type: NDE Location: Albuquerque, NM Source: Form Submission In 1976 when I was 13 years old, I was accidentally shot in the chest with a .38 by a friend who’s mom had told him “this gun’s never loaded”. So, we were playing around with it when it discharged point-blank, the bullet entering right below my sternum. It was a ghastly wound - the gun contained hollow-point bullets, and my liver and right lung were torn apart.

While in the hospital, I was bleeding out as fast as they could pump blood into me (liver wounds are like that). It was during the second or third operation during that first night that I seemed to regain consciousness, lift out of my body,

and rise toward the ceiling. I noticed the overhead fluorescent lights coming very close, then I turned over and I could see all the doctors and nurses working on my body, but it was pretty dark - not a lot of details other than lots of blood.

The whole experience didn’t last very long, but I am convinced that this was a NDE. I later learned that my heart had stopped that night while they were operating on me, and I was lucky enough to have it restarted

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Wound Closure Device Model 8301 Wound BulletTM Closure Device Wounds that can not be closed primarily have long been an exceptional challenge for the surgical team. Many have resorted to time-consuming, improvisational methods to manage these cases. What is needed is a simple, effective method that has versatility for a wide array of applications. In cooperation with Temple University Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Boehringer Laboratories, Inc. has developed just such a device. The revolutionary Wound BulletTM closure device can be an effective part of the management of all types of difficult to close wounds including fasciotomies, abdominal compartment syndrome, and trauma.

If you have a patient who is suffering with an open wound, the Wound BulletTM may prove to be the solution you have both been waiting for.

DESCRIPTION The design features a shaft within a cylinder through which standard sutures are threaded. By turning the internal shaft with the use of a simple tool, tension is applied to the surrounding tissue. Tension is maintained by the periodic tightening of the sutures as needed. Because the tension is distributed evenly, approximation smoothly follows the natural contour of the body and provides improved aesthetic results.

Intraoperative placement during thigh fasciotomy. Progression of wound closure. Day 2 (left) and day 4 (right).

Closure achieved on day 5 ADVANTAGES Simple application and tensioning method preserves the integrity of the tissue at the woundmargin and can eliminate the need for repositioning.

Internal braking mechanism and release providereliable operation.

Disposable- no risk of cross-contamination.

Compact size and release mechanism allow foreasier packing and dressing Compatible with vacuum dressings due to lowprofile design. Approximation required for closurecan be achieved in a fraction of the traditional time.

Accelerated closure can limit the need for skingraft as well as reduce risk of infection.

CALL TODAY FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION!

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Film noir can be seen as both a screen style, and a perspective on human existence and society. Its narrative structures incorporate a dark world view that is the result of a confrontation with nihilism. The cause of nihilism, in short, appears when peoples ideals are shattered. In the twentieth century tradition could not cope with the social development, and this causes a moral problem (which is easy spotted in film noir)...At this point my thoughts go to the affluent mass consuming society of the United States. Another thought is that maybe the country as a whole, not just its bourgeoisie, tried to fight nihilism with materialism, for the willingness to annihilate the world before giving up its political system must be called nihilism. I think it can be safe to say that film noir is an American attempt to engage this phenomenon.

Text prepared by Lise Hordnes for From Revolution to Reconstruction - an .HTML project.

Last update: 2003-3-6 time: 07:04 © 1994- 2006. All rights reserved. Department of Humanities Computing

CSI TAPE DISPENSER W/ YELLOW CAUTION TAPE

a reala CSI withbut thisrather yellow caution tape! It looks just like the Important Note: Strictly speaking, filmFeel noirlike is not genre, real tape used in crime scenes but works just like normal scotch tape. the mood, style, point-of-view, or tone of a film. It is also helpful to $7.99 realize that ‘film noir’ usually refers to a distinct historical period of film history - the decade of film-making after World War II, similar to the German Expressionism or the French New Wave periods.

However, it was labeled as such only after the classic period - early Community.tvguide.com/blog/TV-Show-Blog/Csi-Crime-Scene%2F700000039 noir film-makers didn’t even use the film designation (as they would Written by David Steed the labels “western” or “musical”), and were not conscious that their February 15, 2007: The Miniatures films labeled noirs but I love what he brings to CSI. Once again, I was on the edge of my seat the entire I love the miniature killer! OK, so I don’t lovewould the killerbe himself, obviously,

1996-2007 ©aby Tim Dirks.

All rights reserved episode, right from the start when weCreated saw whatinessentially was Grissom freak-out.

I loved the opening scene when he was scurrying down the hall with a very panicked look on his face. After all, Gil is the guy who always believes the evidence will point to the suspect, and at the moment he was holding a fourth model, he knew it had led him astray this time.

I must give my props to Gil, though. I know he’s great at noticing the little details, and, well, it’s his job, but I would have driven myself nuts trying to find the ever so slightest of clues in a miniature model. But he found the date on the newspaper (kudos to the producers for using the correct date), the cat behind the books, the menus that were able to help them find the right building, the notes on the dolls, and best of all, he did an autopsy on the body to find the lungs!

The notes on the bloody doll faces were certainly the most intriguing of the findings. We’ve talked about what the dolls meant at length in previous blogs, and there have been lots of theories. I don’t know if we’re actually done with them yet, but I wasn’t anticipating a message on them of “You Were Wrong.” (Sorry, those were the three words I saw, but I know there were four miniatures, so I’m assuming there’s another word that I just missed, right?) The best part is that I’m incredibly intrigued, and really, this could go in many directions now. I don’t understand how the killer could possibly know they were going to get the wrong person, unless he and Ernie Dell had this plan going the entire time. Maybe they were all there for just this reason, but there has to be some significance to the doll itself. I was half expecting one of Ernie’s old home videos to have the doll in it, with the blood on her face.

And of course, I was sure the killer was the doctor’s brother, after everything that went down. So of course, when they found his tear at the crime scene I leaned back in the chair thinking he was caught. I just figured all three of the other victims were former patients and did something to the doctor that her brother didn’t like. Of course, they threw me for a loop when it was revealed that he helped her commit suicide because he thought he could just blame it on the miniature killer.

But of course, however far away the crew might still be from catching the killer, they finally figured out a common bond between all the victims — Ernie’s son. I suppose that’s one step, because before this they were confused as to what the victims had in common.

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http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bltaxi.htm History of the Taxi - Taxicab and Taximeters

By Mary Bellis The name taxicab - usually abbreviated to taxi - derives from the taximeter, the instrument which measures the distance traveled - or time taken - thus allowing an accurate fare to be determined. This device was invented by the German inventor, Wilhelm Bruhn in 1891. Gottlieb Daimler built the world’s first dedicated taxi in 1897 called the Daimler Victoria. The taxi came equipped with the newly invented taxi meter. On 16 June, 1897 the Daimler Victoria taxi was delivered to Friedrich Greiner, a Stuttgart entrepreneur who started the world’s first motorized taxi company.

By the end of the 19th century, automobiles began to appear on city streets throughout the country. It was not long before a number of these cars were hiring themselves out in competition with horse-drawn carriages. Although these electric-powered cabs were slightly impractical (with batteries weighing upwards of eight hundred pounds), by 1899 there were nearly one hundred of them on New York’s streets. Many believed that these new cabs would provide a cleaner, quieter, and faster way to travel. But progress has always had its price, and on September 13th of that year, a sixty-eight year-old man named

Henry H. Bliss was helping a friend from a street car when a taxi swerved and hit him, giving

Bliss the dubious distinction of being the first American to die in an automobile accident, and giving cabbies a first glimpse at a reputation they would soon solidify. http://www.sdearthtimes.com/cut_to_chase/ctc_91.html

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Illnes is the night-side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born 56 holds dual

citizenship, 57 in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer

to use only the good passport, sooner or later each is obliged, at least for a spell, to58 identify

ourselves59 as citzens of that other place.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>S­­­usan Sontag, Illness as Metaphor, 1978

Upon Hooves, In Flight basis of Ancient Egyptian spiri-

“This variety of canary are considered, and, I think,

tuality was rooted in the after-

justly so, the nobility of the canary race […] so exceed-

life. The preparation and antici-

ingly slender, that it gave anyone the idea that it could

pation of expiration defined their

be passed through a lady’s gold ring.

culture. The earliest evidence (Dynasty I,

[…] When I ventured to ask the price of a noble

2960-2770 BC) from Egypt indicates that

hen with immense shoulders, a nice sleek head, good

beds were used in burials as biers for the deceased.

neck, legs, &c., which had excited the mirth of all

The body was tightly contracted upon the bed, while

present, and not a few were the witticisms that were

it rested only a few inches from the ground. The rails

levelled at the poor unoffending object, One said it

of the bed were constructed from local wood while a

was a “young camel,” another that it was a “Richard

thin rope of plant fibers, woven and looped over the

the Third,” but all appeared agreed that it was natu-

rails formed the beds surface. The supports of the bed

rally deformed, except myself, and I certainly was the

were the carved front and hind legs of a bull, a sacred

only one who appeared to have the least desire to pos-

creature for the Egyptians. The gesture and positioning

sess it. Greenwell tried to dissuade me from having it,

of the bull legs always faced outward as if to be walk-

and he was sure there was “something wrong with its

ing forward. The stride of the bull would ensure their

back.” Nevertheless, I had a fancy for it, whether it was

transition into the next world.

maimed or not, and said I would purchase it if it was not a very expensive bird, as I was not sure then but it

The Robert Linlithgow Wallace recalls in “The Canary Book” when purchasing his first Belgium Canary:

might possibly be deformed, and consequently of little value.”

—Robert Linlithgow Wallace, “The Canary Book”, 1884.

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American Singer Canary was bred in the

cal interpretation or presentation of song. Song

US after World War II by a group of women,

should not be monotonous, either by a sustained

heartbroken by the loss of the men in their

note or notes, or through repetition. The more

lives. Perhaps to conjure a spirit or fill a void, the bird

variety the better. The official definition of Ren-

was bred specifically to create one of the most varied,

dition (from section S. 7.) is:

complex and diverse songs. This was done by cross

Song of the AMERICAN SINGER

breeding a German Roller Canary, which has a bub-

should have just the right amount of blending

bly, warble sound, and a Border Canary, with a high

of roller and border to be pleasing to the ear,

pitched sound.

neither too loud, harsh or monotonous, of the right quality, strength and variety, without any

There is no exact sound for the American Singer

more than 6 chop notes in his song.

canary, however the following is a definition of Song in

Although subject to personal preference,

the ASC Constitution (from section G. 32.) is:

here are many of the characteristics of Rendition:

Refers to Freedom and Rendition of Bird. A musical sequence of notes and tours naturally given, not too loud or too soft, medium, pleas-

­­—VARIETY: a change in general song, intermixture

ing to the average human ear; varied, full songs,

or succession of different tours and notes pleasing to

no repetition of short tours or notes becoming

the human ear.

monotonous. No overly sustained notes. In red

—VOLUME: medium is desired, not too loud or too soft.

factor American Singers the song will be more

—LENGTH: the longer the total song the better

varied due to wild Siskin notes breaking into the

—RANGE: capable of wide dynamic range, without be-

natural American Singer Song. In all American

coming thin on the high notes or muddy in the low range.

Singer songs a balance of the songs of founda-

—TONE: pleasing tone is desired, no harsh or nasal

tion birds must show neither too much roller nor

notes.

too much border. If too much of either show,

—TEMPO: the delivery should be slow enough so the

a bird will be faulted under rendition for value

song can be understood by humans.

of song.

—CREATIVITY: changes the order of the tours, con-

In shows, ten percent of their score is for

stantly surprises the listener.

Freedom, which means how soon and how often

—SMOOTHNESS: song should smoothly build up,

they sing. A good, healthy bird should sing on

then taper off, not cut off abruptly or stick on one

and off all day. So at a show, the first 10 minutes

note for too long.

are devoted to counting how many times each

—SHOWMANSHIP: the bird should stand upright

bird starts singing. Each song is worth one point

and proud while singing, no roller hoop (horizontal

up to a maximum of 10 points.

stance) or singing from the bottom of the cage.

Sixty percent of the show score is for song

—QUALITY: depth and richness of song notes.

Rendition. In the ASC Constitution, the term

—STRENGTH: vigor shown in a strong song, not nec-

Rendition refers to song as a whole, the musi-

essarily loud; power of endurance.

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…some have thought That Bees have Portions of Etherial Thought: Endu’d with Particles of Heavenly Fires: For God the whole created Mass inspires; Thro’ Heav’n, and Earth, and Oceans depth he throws His influence round, and kindles as he goes. Hence Flocks, and Herds, and men, and Beasts, and Fowls With Breath are quickn’d; and attract their Souls. Hence take the Forms his Prescience did ordain, And into him at length resolve again. No room is left for Death, they mount the Sky, And to their own congenial Planets fly. ­—From Virgil’s “Georgics”, Book IV

How To Get Bees from an Ox: In the springtime, you must take a two-year-old ox into a small house with four windows, stop up its nostrils and mouth, bludgeon it to death, and leave it in the room, along with cassia, thyme, and branches.

—From Virgil’s Georgics, Book IV, 29 BCE

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Curious is published as a project undertaken by students in the Spring 2007 Graduate Seminar in the Department of Sculpture and Extended Media at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.

June 2007 This publication is made possible through the School of the Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Published by the Department of Sculpture and Extended Media, Virginia Commonwealth University.

1000 West Broad Street Richmond, Virginia, 23284, USA Telephone: 804.828.1511 Seminar leader: Kendall Buster, Associate Professor Cover design: Taylor Baldwin Individual page designs: the artists Concept and layout editor: Siemon Allen, Flat International

© 2007 Department of Sculpture and Extended Media, Virginia Commonwealth University. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission of the copyright holder.

Fair users are of course free to do their thing.

Printed and bound in Hong Kong by Permanent Typesetting & Printing Co. Ltd

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Curious is a project undertaken by students in the Spring 2007 Graduate Seminar in the Department of Sculpture and Extended Media at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.

The twelve artists represented in this book were each asked to produce from two to six pages that reflected self-directed personal research and, more importantly, operated in an oblique relationship to a studio practice focused primarily on object making. From internet sampling to collage of antique books, from scanned archival material and collected artifacts to sketches and watercolors, from brief private actions to elaborately staged scenes, the result is a window into each of these artist’s creative process. Evidence that behind the curious object is a curious mind.

taylor baldwin sami ben larbi nathan carder lily cox-richard christina fisher david grainger eli kessler aj liberto rosemarie padovano jesse robinson james sham matthew spahr

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