Thomas Metzinger and his Self-model theory of subjectivity
August 26th, 2010

Been watching the three Leibniz lectures "Niemand sein. Ethik, Menschenbild und die Auflösung des Selbst im Zeitalter der Neurowissenschaften" by Thomas Metzinger. There is a shorter English version – his talk Being No One at the UC Berkeley 2005. Totally recommend to expose yourself to these mind-expanding ideas.

From MIT Press: "According to Thomas Metzinger, no such things as selves exist in the world: nobody ever had or was a self. All that exists are phenomenal selves, as they appear in conscious experience. The phenomenal self, however, is not a thing but an ongoing process; it is the content of a transparent self-model. In Being No One, Metzinger, a German philosopher, draws strongly on neuroscientific research to present a representationalist and functional analysis of what a consciously experienced first-person perspective actually is. Building a bridge between the humanities and the empirical sciences of the mind, he develops new conceptual toolkits and metaphors; uses case studies of unusual states of mind such as agnosia, neglect, blindsight, and hallucinations; and offers new sets of multilevel constraints for the concept of consciousness. Metzinger's central question is: How exactly does strong, consciously experienced subjectivity emerge out of objective events in the natural world? His epistemic goal is to determine whether conscious experience, in particular the experience of being someone that results from the emergence of a phenomenal self, can be analysed on subpersonal levels of description. He also asks if and how our Cartesian intuitions that subjective experiences as such can never be reductively explained are themselves ultimately rooted in the deeper representational structure of our conscious minds."

Thanks to Tobias Gallé!

Filed under: People

RIP Christoph Schlingesief (1960-2010)
August 21st, 2010

This post has to be in German. If you do not know the exceptional estate of Christoph Schlingensief familiarize yourself! Now! No excuses accepted.

Heute morgen habe ich den Text Radikale Demokratie von Reinhard Heil und Andreas Hetzel gelesen. Und heute nachmittag erreicht uns die Nachricht des Todes von Christoph Schlingensief. Etwas viel für einen sonnigen Samstag. Jetzt werde ich tun, was Schlingensief nicht mehr wollte, Rotwein trinken. Ich werde auf seinen Mut anstossen und hoffen, dass sich sehr bald eine adäquate Nachfolgerin zeigt.
Verdammt, was für ein riesiges Loch.

Geschockte Patienten.

Aus Hotel Ruhe: "Mut zum Gegenwind, Mut zum Verkannt-werden, Mut zum Alleiniger-Rufer-in-der-Wüste-Sein. Christoph Schlingensief hat dem deutschen Film und der Filmförderung den Zerrspiegel vorgehalten, und er hat das Theater und die Oper revolutioniert. Die Geschwindigkeit seiner Gedanken ist legendär, um seinen Assoziationsprüngen folgen zu können, bedurfte es Intuition."

Der letzte Eintrag aus seinem Blog: "07-08-2010- DIE BILDER VERSCHWINDEN AUTOMATISCH UND ÜBERMALEN SICH SO ODER SO ! - 'ERINNERN HEISST : VERGESSEN !' (Da können wir ruhig unbedingt auch mal schlafen!) Wie lange war es still... lange stiill. stoße jetzt nach ca. 3 wochen auf das letzte video hier. habe ich gleich gelöscht. wen soll das das interessieren? vielleicht sind solche vidoeblogs oder einträgen nur dann von intererrägen, wenn die angst zu gross wird. die angst, weil diese kleine illussion von --- aber nun nach den knapp 4 wochen scheint es anderes zu sein. die bilder (ixen) sich aus... da ist ja kein sentimentaler schmerz. die bausupsanz ist erstaunlich gut... und nun? wieder ein neues bild? wieder infos zu neuen dingen, die ,...... ja eigentlich was ?..... alles sehr oberflächlich und rechtschreibefehler häufen sich die dinge .... das baut läufz seit tmc auf. der appetetit läßt rasant nach. - ARD- TATORTREKA7 ...(warum werde ich icht nicht denn nicht wenigstes einer meiner halbwegs siution normalererenen situatuin aufgeklärt. so macht es mich nur traurig, piasch und"

Aus Radikale Demokratie: "Im radikaldemokratischen Diskurs, dem etwa die Schriften von Claude Lefort, Ernesto Laclau, Chantal Mouffe, Etienne Balibar, Jacques Rancière und Jacques Derrida zugerechnet werden können, wird Demokratisierung als unend­liche Aufgabe begriffen. Im Mittelpunkt der Ausführungen dieser Autorinnen und Autoren steht mit unterschiedlichen Akzentu­ierungen und Konsequenzen der Gedanke, dass Demokratien agonal verfasst sind. Demokratische Ausein­ander­setzungen über die an­gemessene Einrichtung des Gemein­wesens lassen sich aus dieser Perspektive nicht in transzendentalen Rechts- oder Vernunftprinzipien verankern. Daraus ergibt sich die Forderung, dass die Mitte der Macht leer bleiben muss (Lefort), dass Demokratie im Kommen bleibt (Derrida), dass sie sich also niemals eine endgültige, durch einen Rekurs auf universelle Prinzipien ver­bindlich abgesicherte Gestalt geben kann und sollte. Es ist aus dieser Perspektive gerade eine Leerstelle im Zentrum der Gesell­schaft, die diese zusammenhält. Die demokratische Auseinandersetzung – auch über die Möglichkeits­be­dingun­gen der Demokratie – kann und sollte  nie zu einem Ende kommen. Als wesentli­ches Anliegen des Diskurses der radikalen Demokratie könnte man eine Verteidigung des Po­li­tischen, verstanden als Kraft der kollek­tiven Selbstinstituierung einer Gesellschaft, gegenüber der Politik, verstanden als Verwaltung des Gemeinwesens innerhalb etablierter Parameter, begreifen, die sich praktisch etwa in einer Forderung nach der Demokratisierung von Bürokratien, Wirtschaft, Bildung und Wissenschaft ausdrückt."

Filed under: People

Bill Bernbach (1911-1982)
August 20st, 2010

From The Enduring Legacy Of Bill Bernbach: "Most readers come away from their reading not with a clear, precise, detailed registration of its contents on their minds, but, rather, with a vague, misty idea which is formed as much by the pace, the proportions, the music of the writings, as by the literal words themselves."

Filed under: People

Visual Poetry by D.A. Levy
August 19th, 2010

Learned at least two things today. About D.A. Levy and – with no direct connection – about the meaning of 420. Am very grateful for the elucidation.

Thanks to Helen Schneider!

Filed under: People

by Paul Auster
August 18th, 2010

“To think of motion not merely as a function of the body but as an extension of the mind. In the same way, to think of speech not as an extension of the mind but as a function of the body. Sounds emerge from the voice to enter the air and surround and bounce off and enter the body that occupies that air, and though they cannot be seen, these sounds are no less a gesture than a hand is when outstretched in the air towards another hand, and in this gesture can be read the entire alphabet of desire, the body's need to be taken beyond itself, even as it dwells in the sphere of its own motion.

On the surface, this motion seems to be random. But such randomness does not, in itself, preclude a meaning. Or if meaning is not quite the word for it, then say the drift, or a consistent sense of what is happening, even as it changes, moment by moment. (...)

In the realm of the naked eye nothing happens that does not have its beginning and its end. And yet nowhere can we find the place or the moment at which we can say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this is where it begins, or this is where it ends. For some of us, it has begun before the beginning, and for others of us it will go on happening after the end. Where to find it? Don't look. Either it is here or it is not here. And whoever tries to find refuge in any one place, in any one moment, will never be where he thinks he is. In other words, say your good-byes. It is never too late. It is always too late.

To say the simplest thing possible. To go no farther than whatever it is I happen to find before me. To begin with this landscape, for example. Or even to note the things that are most near, as if in the tiny world before my eyes I might find an image of the life that exists beyond me, as if in a way I do not fully understand each thing in my life were connected to every other thing, which in turn connected me to the world at large, the endless world that looms up in the mind, as lethal and unknowable as desire itself. (...)

Consider the word "it." "It" is raining, we say, or how is "it" going? We feel we know what we are saying, and what we mean to say is that it, the word "it," stands for something that need not be said, or something that cannot be said. But if the thing we say is something that eludes us, something we do not understand, how can we persist in saying that we understand what we are saying? And yet it goes without saying that we do. The "it," for example, in the preceding sentence, "it goes without saying," is in fact nothing less than whatever it is that propels us into the act of speech itself. And if it, the word "it," is what continually recurs in any effort to define it, then it must be accepted as the given, the precondition of the saying of it. (...)

It happens, and as it continues to happen, we forget where we were when it began. Later, when we have traveled from this moment as far as we have travelled from the beginning, we will forget where we are now. Eventually, we will all go home, and if there are those among us who do not have a home, it is certain, nevertheless, that they will leave this place to go wherever it is they must. If nothing else, life has taught us all this one thing: whoever is here now will not be here later.

I dedicate these words to the things in life I do not understand, to each thing passing away before my eyes. I dedicate these words to the impossibility of finding a word equal to the silence inside me. (...)

I realize in the end that I am probably powerless to affect the outcome of even the least thing that happens, but nevertheless, and in spite of myself, as if in an act of blind faith, I want to assume full responsibility. (...)”

From Disappearances – Selected Poems (1988) by Paul Auster

Thanks to Nicola Richter!

Filed under: People

Wang Gang-Feng. An Hui Province, 1982. The People's Republic of China.
August 17th, 2010

Filed under: Wunderkammer

Waltzing with Mantovani
August 11th, 2010

From Wikipedia: "The version of Charmaine by the Mantovani Orchestra is used quite often in comedy to provide comedic effect whenever a romantic situation is created."

Filed under: People

by Pawel Althamer and Artur Żmijewski
August 10th, 2010

Saw this piece on the weekend at Maastricht's Bonnefantenmuseum and was glued to the screen by its humour, courage and emotional impact.
From culture.pl: "Resembling Althamer's student-era work is also the film series, recorded with Artur Żmijewski, called The So Called Waves and Other Phenomena of the Mind (2003-2004). The films document Althamer exploring various ways of non-rational cognition, which he deems to be means of broadening human perception, using consciousness-altering substances (LSD, peyote, hashish, the truth serum) or hypnosis. (...)
One of the films of the So Called Waves... series is Weronika (2004), showing the artist 'discover the world anew' during a walk with his daughter. In many of his works and actions, Althamer tries to persuade the viewers to perceive the world around them more creatively."

Filed under: People

Paintings by Chris Wool
August 6th, 2010

From the New York Times: "Here is a fine time capsule. In the 1980's, Christopher Wool was doing a Neo-Pop sort of painting using commercial rollers to apply decorative patterns to white panels. One day he saw a new white truck violated by the spray-painted words sex and luv. Mr. Wool made his own painting using those words and went on to make paintings with big, black stenciled letters saying things like Run Dog Run or Sell the House, Sell the Car, Sell the Kids. The paintings captured the scary, euphoric mood of a high-flying period not unlike our own.

In 1989 Mr. Wool created a series of word paintings on paper for a tome called Black Book. The 22 pieces are exhibited for the first time here, in an elegant wrap-around installation. Each page bears a nine-letter word broken up into a stack of three-letter groups. Blocky nine-inch letters spell the names of disturbing character types: terrorist, anarchist, mercenary, paranoiac, and so on.

The percussive typography joins the verbal content to aggressive and somehow morally imperative effect. With minimal means, Mr. Wool conjured a world of political anxiety that the novelist Robert Stone might have envisioned."

Filed under: People

by Chrissie Abbott
August 3rd, 2010

Found via the wonderful My Love for You Is A Stampede Of Horses.

Filed under: People

What is it?
August 2nd, 2010

From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: "Friendship essentially involves a distinctive kind of concern for your friend, a concern which might reasonably be understood as a kind of love. Philosophers from the ancient Greeks on have traditionally distinguished three notions that can properly be called love: agape, eros, and philia. Agape is a kind of love that does not respond to the antecedent value of its object but instead is thought to create value in the beloved; it has come through the Christian tradition to mean the sort of love God has for us persons as well as, by extension, our love for God and our love for humankind in general. By contrast, em>eros and philia are generally understood to be responsive to the merits of their objects—to the beloved's properties, especially his goodness or beauty. The difference is that eros is a kind of passionate desire for an object, typically sexual in nature, whereas 'philia' originally meant a kind of affectionate regard or friendly feeling towards not just one's friends but also possibly towards family members, business partners, and one's country at large (Liddell et al., 1940; Cooper, 1977a). Given this classification of kinds of love, philia seems to be that which is most clearly relevant to friendship (though just what philia amounts to needs to be clarified in more detail).

For this reason, love and friendship often get lumped together as a single topic; nonetheless, there are significant differences between them. As understood here, love is an evaluative attitude directed at particular persons as such, an attitude which we might take towards someone whether or not that love is reciprocated and whether or not we have an established relationship with her. Friendship, by contrast, is essentially a kind of relationship grounded in a particular kind of special concern each has for the other as the person she is; and whereas we must make conceptual room for the idea of unrequited love, unrequited friendship is senseless. Consequently, accounts of friendship tend to understand it not merely as a case of reciprocal love of some form (together with mutual acknowledgment of this love), but as essentially involving significant interactions between the friends — as being in this sense a certain kind of relationship.

Nonetheless, questions can be raised about precisely how to distinguish romantic relationships, grounded in eros, from relationships of friendship, grounded in philia, insofar as each involves significant interactions between the involved parties that stem from a kind of reciprocal love that is responsive to merit. Clearly the two differ insofar as romantic love normally has a kind of sexual involvement that friendship lacks; yet, as Thomas (1989) asks, is that enough to explain the real differences between them? Badhwar (2003, 65–66) seems to think so, claiming that the sexual involvement enters into romantic love in part through a passion and yearning for physical union, whereas friendship involves instead a desire for a more psychological identification. Yet it is not clear exactly how to understand this: precisely what kind of "psychological identification" or intimacy is characteristic of friendship? (For further discussion, see Section 1.2.)

In philosophical discussions of friendship, it is common to follow Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII) in distinguishing three kinds of friendship: friendships of pleasure, of utility, and of virtue. Although it is a bit unclear how to understand these distinctions, the basic idea seems to be that pleasure, utility, and virtue are the reasons we have in these various kinds of relationships for loving our friend. That is, I may love my friend because of the pleasure I get out of her, or because of the ways in which she is useful to me, or because I find her to have a virtuous character. Given the involvement of love in each case, all three kinds of friendship seem to involve a concern for your friend for his sake and not for your own.

There is an apparent tension here between the idea that friendship essentially involves being concerned for your friend for his sake and the idea of pleasure and utility friendships: how can you be concerned for him for his sake if you do that only because of the pleasure or utility you get out of it? If you benefit your friend because, ultimately, of the benefits you receive, it would seem that you do not properly love your friend for his sake, and so your relationship is not fully one of friendship after all. So it looks like pleasure and utility friendships are at best deficient modes of friendship; by contrast, virtue friendships, because they are motivated by the excellences of your friend's character, are genuine, non-deficient friendships. For this reason, most contemporary accounts, by focusing their attention on the non-deficient forms of friendship, ignore pleasure and utility friendships."

Filed under: Wunderkammer

Edited by Jeffrey K. Zeig
August 1st, 2010

From Amazon: "This book is a direct transcript of a week long hypnosis/ psychotherapy seminar performed by Milton H. Erickson at the end of his life, and at the height of his expertise. It reads with the hypnotic fluidity of a good novel while teaching a tremendous amount – about many things. Erickson weaves his way through various teaching tales while interacting with people in the seminar."
If you are interested in unconscious learning this book is a must read.

Thanks to Tristan Thönnissen!

Filed under: Reading

by Ray Carney
July 26th, 2010

From Wikipedia: "Cassavetes is the subject of several books about the actor/filmmakers life. Cassavetes on Cassavetes is a collection of interviews collected or conducted by Boston University film scholar Ray Carney, in which the late filmmaker recalls his experiences, influences and outlook in the film industry. In the Oscar 2005 edition of Vanity Fair magazine, one article features a tribute to Cassavetes by three members of his stock company: Gena Rowlands, and actors Ben Gazzara and Peter Falk."
From Faber and Faber: "Professor Ray Carney, a friend and admirer of Cassavetes, presents a book that offers us Cassavetes in his own words - frank, uncompromising, humane, and passionate about both life and art."

Filed under: Reading

by The Wolfgang Press
July 25th, 2010

"It felt so good, you know."

Filed under: Wunderkammer

by Joe Quirk
July 21st, 2010

"We Homo sapiens are very good at thinking clearly and surviving in a social context, until it's time to trade genes, at which point we go mad. The stupidity of our overwhelming passions comes from a deeper wisdom than anything the wise can control. The definition of passion: when you become animated by an ancient imperative that transcends your mortal life. Passion comes from before you were born, and it reaches out beyond your death. To a gene, your passions are more important than you. We celebrate that ecstatic agony in our art and gossip, because there is no state achievable by humans that is more self-transcendent."

Thanks to William Bennett!

Filed under: Wunderkammer

You can not afford to miss this!
July 19th, 2010

Stanley Kubrick's Boxes was made for Channel 4 in the UK by Guardian journalist Jon Ronson. His 2004 article, Citizen Kubrick, is the basis for the documentary.
From the Guardian: "Stanley Kubrick's films were landmark events - majestic, memorable and richly researched. But, as the years went by, the time between films grew longer and longer, and less and less was seen of the director. What on earth was he doing? Two years after his death, Jon Ronson was invited to the Kubrick estate and let loose among the fabled archive. He was looking for a solution to the mystery - this is what he found."
(Thanks to Stephan Telaar!)

Thus: 53, 55, 56, 57, 60, 62, 64, 68, 71, 75, 80, 87, 99.

1953 – Fear and Desire
1955 – Killer's Kiss
1956 – The Killing
1957 – Paths of Glory
1960 – Spartacus
1962 – Lolita
1964 – Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
1968 – 2001: A Space Odyssey
1971 – A Clockwork Orange
1975 – Barry Lyndon
1980 – The Shining
1987 – Full Metal Jacket
1999 – Eyes Wide Shut

Filed under: People

Surrender!
July 18th, 2010

In this life-time you are being asked to release and surrender. Surrender is the opposite of giving up. It is freeing yourself from the desire to be in control, letting go of how you think things should be. Surrender is freedom. You are being invited to release yourself from the bondage of preconceived action, to let everything be all right as it is, so that you can live a more inspired life in the moment!

You are being asked to take action in the process of surrender and release. You are requested to die a symbolic death, to surrender your limiting beliefs. Symbolic death unveils the self by cutting away the outgrown parts of yourself that no longer serve you. In such death, ego structures fall away to reveal the garden of the true self. Look for new ways of being, new people, new ideas, and new directions that will move into the vacuum created through surrender and release. 

Holding on to past patterns and grievances only limits the possibilities. Forgive yourself. Forgive others. Let go. Surrender whatever limits you. Face whatever you are resisting. In the experience of any loss, it is never too late to complete. Through your willingness to walk in the dark forest, insights and revelations will naturally emerge.

Accept the truth of your present situation. Through accepting what is, you are free to go forward. Change and growth become easier and more natural. 

Thanks to Nicola Richer!

Filed under: Wunderkammer

The Dream Before by Laurie Anderson
July 15th, 2010

From Dangerous Minds: "I'll cop out and leave it to our able Dangerous Minds readers to discern the meaning of the shared birth date of Benjamin the leading German Marxist philosopher (who would have been 108 years old), Derrida the French founder of deconstruction (80), and Curtis the lead singer of the century's most existential pop band (54). If you went to a liberal arts college from 1980 onwards, you probably have your opinions about it.
And so, please enjoy some fragments of the lives of these auspicious birthday boys. Party hats & thinking caps ON!"

Fragments for Walter Benjamin

Filed under: People

Wesendonck-Lieder by Richard Wagner
July 5th, 2010

Sag, welch wunderbare Träume
Halten meinen Sinn umfangen,
Daß sie nicht wie leere Schäume
Sind in ödes Nichts vergangen?

Träume, die in jeder Stunde,
Jedem Tage schöner blühn,
Und mit ihrer Himmelskunde
Selig durchs Gemüte ziehn!

Träume, die wie hehre Strahlen
In die Seele sich versenken,
Dort ein ewig Bild zu malen:
Allvergessen, Eingedenken!

Träume, wie wenn Frühlingssonne
Aus dem Schnee die Blüten küßt,
Daß zu nie geahnter Wonne
Sie der neue Tag begrüßt,

Daß sie wachsen, daß sie blühen,
Träumend spenden ihren Duft,
Sanft an deiner Brust verglühen,
Und dann sinken in die Gruft.

(From: The Lied and Art Song Texts Page)

Article by Claudia Gerdes
June 28th, 2010

Last week lovely and proactive journalist Claudia Gerdes wrote an article (German) about my Visual Music Archive for the renowned design magazine PAGE. The community of people actually using the archive is now constantly growing. And the upcoming summer break will give me the chance to include more artists and their projects...

Filed under: Projects > Others

Mental hiccup
June 27th, 2010

From ScienceBlogs: "…one of the most impressive talents of the human mind. We don't just know things - we know we know them, which leads to feelings of knowing. I've written about this before, but one of my favorite examples of such feelings is when a word is on the tip of the tongue. Perhaps it occurs when you run into an old acquaintance whose name you can't remember, although you know that it begins with the letter J. Or perhaps you struggle to recall the title of a recent movie, even though you can describe the plot in perfect detail.

What's interesting about this mental hiccup is that, even though the mind can't remember the information, it's convinced that it knows it. We have a vague feeling that, if we continue to search for the missing word, we'll be able to find it. (This is a universal experience: The vast majority of languages, from Afrikaans to Hindi to Arabic, even rely on tongue metaphors to describe the tip-of-the-tongue moment.) But here's the mystery: If we've forgotten a person's name, then why are we so convinced that we remember it? What does it mean to know something without being able to access it?

This is where feelings of knowing prove essential. The feeling is a signal that we can find the answer, if only we keep on thinking about the question. And these feelings aren't just relevant when we can't remember someone's name. Think, for instance, about the last time you raised your hand to speak in a group setting: Did you know exactly what you were going to say when you decided to open your mouth? Probably not. Instead, you had a funny hunch that you had something worthwhile to say, and so you began talking without knowing how the sentence would end. Likewise, those players on Jeopardy are able to ring the buzzer before they can actually articulate the answer. All they have is a feeling, and that feeling is enough.

These feelings of knowing illustrate the power of our emotions. The first thing to note is that these feelings are often extremely accurate."

Filed under: Wunderkammer

by John Naughton
June 22nd, 2010

From Guardian: "In spite of all the answers the internet has given us, its full potential to transform our lives remains the great unknown. Here are the nine key steps to understanding the most powerful tool of our age – and where it's taking us."

Filed under: Wunderkammer

...and it is not a test.
June 21st, 2010

Filed under: Wunderkammer

"In a world which really is topsy-turvy, the true is a moment of the false." Guy Debord
June 20th, 2010

Via the New Shelton wet/dry: "The Preface to the Phenomenology, all by itself, is considered one of Hegel's major works and a major text in the history of philosophy, because in it he sets out the core of his philosophical method and what distinguishes it from that of any previous philosophy, especially that of his German Idealist predecessors (Kant, Fichte, and Schelling).

Hegel's approach, referred to as the Hegelian method, consists of actually examining consciousness' experience of both itself and of its objects and eliciting the contradictions and dynamic movement that come to light in looking at this experience. Hegel uses the phrase pure looking at (reines Zusehen) to describe this method. If consciousness just pays attention to what is actually present in itself and its relation to its objects, it will see that what looks like stable and fixed forms dissolve into a dialectical movement. Thus philosophy, according to Hegel, cannot just set out arguments based on a flow of deductive reasoning. Rather, it must look at actual consciousness, as it really exists." (From Wikipedia)

Filed under: People

Motion design studio Feedmee shows what's left over
June 15th, 2010

Gerry Menschik, managing director at Feedmee, invited me to present the Visual Music Archive and participate in a discussion on the unseen, hidden and lost – alongside Nicola Richter, Katinka Buddenkotte and Amy Zayed at their UNSEEN opening and blog release party on June 16th, 2010.

Filed under: Talks & Workshops

Colors / Black
June 13th, 2010

From Cabinet: "The contemporary philosopher Giorgio Agamben, following Aristotle, remarks that the fact that we see darkness means that our eyes have not only the potential to see, but also the potential not to see. (If we had only the potential to see, we would never have the experience of not-seeing.) This twofold potential, to do and not to do, is not only a feature of our sight, Agamben argues; it is the essence of our humanity: 'The greatness — and also the abyss — of human potentiality is that it is first of all potential not to act, potential for darkness.' Because we are capable of inaction, we know that we have the ability to act, and also the choice of whether to act or not. Black, the color of not seeing, not doing, is in that sense the color of freedom."

Filed under: Wunderkammer

by Laurie Anderson
June 12th, 2010

Yes, it's been a while but since I have been reminded this week it is now time to reveal that I still am a fan of hers. So, reconsider Home of the Brave (1986).

"Flying Birds.
Excellent Birds.
Watch them fly.
There they go."

"Well I was talking to a friend
And I was saying:
I wanted you.
And I was looking for you.
But I couldn't find you. I couldn't find you.
And he said: Hey!
Are you talking to me?
Or are you just practicing
For one of those performances of yours?
Huh?
Language! It's a virus!"

"O Superman. (...)
And I've got a message to give to you.
Here come the planes.
So you better get ready. Ready to go. You can come
as you are, but pay as you go. Pay as you go."

"Anyway, we got into their boat and left the island.
But they never stayed anywhere very long.
Because the woman was restless. She was a hothead.
She was a woman in love.
And this is not a story people tell.
It is something I know myself.
And when I do my job, I am thinking about these things.
Because when I do my job, that is what I think about.
Oooo la la la.
Yeah La La La.
Voici. Voila'.
Here. And there.
Ooo la la la.
Oh yes.
Voici le Langue D'Amour.
This is the language of love."

Filed under: People

Who says staying at the world's best hotels has to cost a fortune?
June 7th, 2010

Who's taking me?

Filed under: Wunderkammer

Bodies are composed of an infinity of infinitely small parts
June 5th, 2010

From the New Shelton wet/dry: "we think we know everything through our mind, but (spinoza:) the human mind has no knowledge of the body.

there are no fewer things in the mind that exceed our consciousness than there are things in the body that exceed our knowledge. (deleuze)

4) other sets of small parts (others bodies) have an effect on me. they can modify or destroy the relation which characterises my body. like the cold water on my skin, the food that i eat, a bullet, etc.

5) there's another kind of relation between bodies. this time it is not about the effect of a body on another body, but about the agreement or disagreement of the relations between two bodies. it's about the composition of the relations between two bodies.
like the water and my body, when i swim.

6) for each kind of relation between bodies, there's a kind of knowledge. (...)

7) wondering what it's like when it gets interesting? look at the relations between people, same as the relations between water and bodies. the beauty of spinoza's mechanism."

Filed under: Wunderkammer

Visual Music Archive and Bonner Durchmusterung
June 1st, 2010

On 10 June 2010 at 17h00, I will present the Visual Music Archive at the Institute For Music And Media (Room A 2.24). In the course of my sabbatical research semester, I produced an online archive for my teaching field of Visual Music. For the first time, it is now possible to find all relevant information on this genre online.
In my lecture, I will briefly explain what is meant by the term Visual Music and how the online archive can be used for this art category and beyond.

To allow people to experience Visual Music directly with their own senses, the presentation will be followed by the 10-channel electronic composition Bonner Durchmusterung by composer Marcus Schmickler of Cologne. As well as Schmickler, Prof. Dr. Alberto de Campo (sonification) of the Berlin University of the Arts and the artist Carsten Goertz/ farn (visualization) were also involved in realisation of the work.

Filed under: Talks & Workshops

(or not)
May 30st, 2010

From EurekAlert: "Ever since ancient times, scholars have puzzled over the reasons that some musical note combinations sound so sweet while others are just downright dreadful. The Greeks believed that simple ratios in the string lengths of musical instruments were the key, maintaining that the precise mathematical relationships endowed certain chords with a special, even divine, quality. Twentieth-century composers, on the other hand, have leaned toward the notion that musical tastes are really all in what you are used to hearing. (...)

The researchers' results show that musical chords sound good or bad mostly depending on whether the notes being played produce frequencies that are harmonically related or not. Beating didn't turn out to be as important. Surprisingly, the preference for harmonic frequencies was stronger in people with experience playing musical instruments. In other words, learning plays a role — perhaps even a primary one, McDermott argues.

Whether you would get the same result in people from other parts of the world remains to be seen, McDermott says, but the effect of musical experience on the results suggests otherwise. 'It suggests that Westerners learn to like the sound of harmonic frequencies because of their importance in Western music. Listeners with different experience might well have different preferences.' The diversity of music from other cultures is consistent with this. 'Intervals and chords that are dissonant by Western standards are fairly common in some cultures,' he says. 'Diversity is the rule, not the exception.'"

Field under: Visual Music

Predict.
May 27th, 2010

From The School Of Life: "We like to think of our introspected motivations as predictive facts that will tell us what we will do. However, as Wilson  demonstrates, our inner reflections discover not facts but a story we tell to ourselves about ourselves. These stories tend to be rose-tinted. We see ourselves as more consistent, admirable and steadfast than we turn out to be. We forget contrary behaviour and previous weakness and focus on being better.
(...) Consequently, if we want to know what you will do next, it is often better to ask others than it is to ask yourself. Friends and family can know you better than you know yourself. Even strangers, who can see a situation more clearly than you, can make better predictions. Which also means that, despite our wish to be flies-on-the-wall as negotiations unfold, and our urge to see inside the minds of the protagonists, it turns out we may well know what our leaders will do next better than they do."

Filed under: Wunderkammer

From the last draft
May 24th, 2010

At that moment, a great oldie-but-goodie BLASTS from the jukebox.

MIA: I wanna dance.

VINCENT: I'm not much of a dancer.

MIA: Now I'm the one gettin' gyped. I do believe Marsellus told you to take me out and do whatever I wanted. Well, now I want to dance.

Vincent smiles and begins taking off his boots. Mia triumphantly casts hers off.  He takes her hand, escorting her to the dance floor. The two face each other for that brief moment before you begin to dance, than they both break into a devilish twist. Mia's version of the twist is that of a sexy cat. Vincent is pure Mr. Cool as he gets into a hip-swivelling rhythm that would make Mr. Checker proud.

The OTHER DANCERS on the floor are trying to do the same thing, but Vincent and Mia seem to be strangely shaking their asses in sync. The two definitely share a rhythm and share smiles as they SING ALONG with the last verse of the Golden Oldie.

(They had a hi-fi phono, boy, did they let it blast
Seven hundred little records, all rock, rhythm and jazz
But when the sun went down, the rapid tempo of the music fell
"C'est la vie", say the old folks, it goes to show you can never tell)

Filed under: Wunderkammer

You Probably Think This Perfume Is About You
May 22nd, 2010

"Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be.
As a friend, as a friend, as an old enemy.
Take your time, hurry up, choice is yours, don't be late.
Take a rest, as a friend, as an old memory."

And here is the perfume: Black Afgano

Filed under: Wunderkammer

Like a summer with a thousand July's, you intoxicate my soul with your eyes
May 20th, 2010

From ScienceBlogs: "Subjective experience poses a major problem for neuroscientists and philosophers alike, and the relationship between them and brain function is particularly puzzling. How can I know that my perception of the colour red is the same as yours, when my experience of the colour occupies a private mental world to which nobody else has access? How is the sensory information from an object transformed into an experience that enters conscious awareness? The neural mechanisms involved are like a black box, whose inner workings are a complete mystery.

In synaesthesia, the information entering one sensory system gives rise to sensations in another sensory modality. Letters can evoke colours, for example, and movements can evoke sounds. These extraordinary additional sensations therefore offer a unique opportunity to investigate how the subjective experiences of healthy people are related to brain function. Dutch psychologists now report that different types of synaesthetic experiences are associated with different brain mechanisms, providing a rare glimpse into the workings of the black box."

Filed under: Visual Music

A Perfect Match? On The Alliance Of Sound And Visuals
May 15th, 2010

Prof. Birgit Gurtner invited me to give a talk on May 17th and a lecture on May 18th at the University of Applied Sciences' MultiMediaArt department. The MultiMediaArt Bachelor programme focuses on giving the students an overall qualifaction in different media disciplines. After a basic multimedia education students specialize in either audio, film/tv, mediadesign or computer animation.

Filed under: Talks & Workshops

"Nothing lasts. You can't count on anything but yourself." Dashiell Hammett
May 8th, 2010

From Wikipedia: "The question regarding personal identity has addressed the conditions under which a person at one time is the same person at another time, known as personal continuity. This sort of analysis of personal identity provides a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for the identity of the person over time. In the modern philosophy of mind, this concept of personal identity is sometimes referred to as the diachronic problem of personal identity. The synchronic problem is grounded in the question of what features or traits characterize a given person at one time."

Filed under: Wunderkammer

10 antithetical traits often present in creative people
May 7th, 2010

From Psychology Today: "Creative individuals are remarkable for their ability to adapt to almost any situation and to make do with whatever is at hand to reach their goals. If I had to express in one word what makes their personalities different from others, it's complexity. They show tendencies of thought and action that in most people are segregated. They contain contradictory extremes; instead of being an individual, each of them is a multitude."

Filed under: Wunderkammer

"It ain't what they call you, it's what you answer to." W. C. Fields
May 1st, 2010

From Wikipedia: "Walpurgis Night (Walpurgisnacht) is a traditional religious holiday of pre-Christian origin, celebrated today by Christian as well as non-Christian communities, on April 30 or May 1 in large parts of Central and Northern Europe.
The current festival is, in most countries that celebrate it, named after Saint Walpurga, born in Devon about 710. Due to the coincidence of her holy day falling on the same day as the pagan holiday on which it was based, her name became associated with the celebrations. Walpurga was honoured in the same way that Vikings had celebrated spring and as they spread throughout Europe, the two dates became mixed together and created the Walpurgis Night celebration. Early Christianity had a policy of Christianising pagan festivals so it is perhaps no accident that St. Walpurga's day was set to May 1."

Filed under: Wunderkammer