A fine new work by Wheeler Winston Dixon

Urban Renewal II from Wheeler Winston Dixon on Vimeo.

Many thanks Wheeler,

pt

Following from the last post... something very special:

While I was chatting with my friend Darko about the visual patterns created by variations of frequency, he mentioned Tan Dun, a Chinese composer who works with water sounds.

Here's what Darko wrote:

"Tan Dun's compositional origins reach toward traditional ritualistic washings and later (we may call it cultivised) so called "theatrical, public washings" and that is main reason he uses natural elements as instruments (water, paper and stones) with pseudo shamanic motions behind the scenes and incorporating some of classical Chinese string instruments into his arragements. 

The piece I attended during one of Zagreb's musical biennales was his opera "Marco Polo", a hard to "swallow" modernistic extravaganza with deep poliitcal background.

After Chen Kaige's movies (e.g., "Farewell My Concubine", 1993) Tan Dun's theatrical work is, in my opinion, the most relevant "high culture" connection between China and European states." 

So that little lead from Darko put me on a search for Tan Dun and his music and here's one special performance I stumbled upon:

Thanks for the great lead Darko!

PT

A bit of fun!

 Another offering from AEON which surprised me.

I hope you also find it surprising.                                                                             

I sent the following to our friend Ian Gibbins:

The video on waves was big news for me Ian, but possibly old news for you? However I would still like to hear your comments on that piece. You may know of some which take it further?

And this is what came back from Ian:

"The video is really good - but that underlying phenomenon has been well known for ages. The original versions used metal plates with sand or salt on them and then the edges of the plates were bowed with a violin bow or tapped lightly with a mallet or whatever. 

The pattern of the vibrations is determined primarily by the resonant properties of the plate, or in the video, the container for the water, or whatever. The frequency and strength of the input also matters. 

There are many examples of this type of thing out there but I don’t have links for them. I’m pretty sure that they use similar techniques for working out the best resonance pattern for the bodies of string instruments, drums, and other musical instruments that rely on resonance for sound amplifications.

At least some of these properties can be modelled digitally to some degree. For example, many software audio synthesisers model the resonant properties of different materials e.g., steel, wood, glass to generate sounds.

I just looked up about the figures on bowed metal plates. That was described by Ernst Florens Friedrich Chladni in 1785, a study that is considered to mark the origin of modern acoustics. This info is from a book “Instruments and the Imagination” by Thomas L Hankins and Robert j Silverman (Princeton University Press, 1995)."

Thanks for that information Ian, we may soon find something which takes this subject further.

pt

Progress report from Maggie Grout

Some months ago I posted some items about Maggie Grout and her visionary project “Thinking Huts”.

I first came across Maggie’s story via the Smithsonian Magazine. Since that time the enterprise to create a “printed” school in Madagascar has progressed to the actual building stage.

This morning I received the following pics and information from Maggie:

Hi Peter,

The good news is that we will be completing the school in the second half of February! The printer will be on the cargo ship next month to arrive on time.

So far we have raised about 200k and recently completed laying the foundation.

Now we are cargo shipping the printer to Madagascar with an expected arrival in February so that we can begin printing the school in the second half of the month.

 

 

We expect to have completed the school in March 2022.

Community volunteers will paint a mural that features gold elements and natural leaves. By then I hope we can travel and see the construction in person.

We are currently continuing fundraising efforts to extend our runway and try to scale up.

 

We are preparing for holiday fundraising at the moment and Giving Tuesday on November 30.

 

Thank you for your support and hope you are well,

Maggie

 

 

So, if any of our friends would like to make a contribution to this project:

 

http://thinkinghuts.funraise.org

pt

Archaeology and The Bible

This article from the Smithsonian Magazine is all about excavation in the Middle East, particularly referring to the time of King David and his wise son Solomon.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/archaeological-dig-reignites-debate-old-testament-historical-accuracy-180979011/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20211116-daily-responsive&spMailingID=45952087&spUserID=ODExMTAyNDM4MTIyS0&spJobID=2121870389&spReportId=MjEyMTg3MDM4OQS2

It brings into question much that I've thought about since the age of 15, especially concerning the historical accuracy or inaccuracy of the BIBLE, the great book upon which people who give evidence in court swear to tell "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth".

Here's a map of all the areas where major civilisations "collapsed" during the period between 1200 and 1100 BC:

The Smithsonian article raises many issues relating to the truth of any historical records. It confirms what I always sort of knew, that the stories relating to King David and Solomon his son were written about 300 or 400 years after they died and are more like great yarns, myths or legends than about real events.

It also describes an epoch 1200 -1100 years before the time of Christ when many areas of the Eastern Mediterranean were smashed either by numerous giant eruptions or a single cataclysm.Historians are unsure what might have caused the demise of powerful civilisations which flourished up to that time. Then a slow recovery in many countries followed from that devastation.

If you were to produce a movie set in the time of King David you'd probably include the story of David' struggle with Goliath

or the very wise King Solomon who discovered the true mother of two contenders by threatening to divide the baby in half

 Another great story! Or myth? Or a legend?

The entire issue of what "Israel" was like in the time of David (and Goliath) or Solomon (with or without Sheba) is difficult territory to study because it is based upon writings which were not written during the period they describe. Imagine what sort of historical facts could be accurately described by a group of people who recorded them three or four hundred years after they had occured, without access to written descriptions from the actual period.

If you are in the mood to read this article, I think you'll find it extemely thought provoking, has some great images of archaeological digs, and raises many interesting points of reference to the ongoing debate.

pt

 

extra reading

https://aeon.co/essays/eilat-mazar-dug-with-a-bible-in-one-hand-and-a-spade-in-the-other

New work from my friend Darko

The other day I received this new work from Darko who many of our friends know from our Facebook connections. Darko has recently been banned for life by the Facebook algorithm. 

 Darko Duilo - Marija, Marina, Martina (2021)

While I was running the "Armchair Traveller" on FB Darko was a prolific contributor to our site, in every way, with his own striking images, with films by others which he suggested to us, and for his hugely intelligent commentary on many occasions.

Now he has found a home on this blog and he will not be censored!

Here are a few words which Darko sent me which may provide you with some points of reference:

"It could be said that this work was primarily inspired by the classic psychoanalytic novel "The Three Faces of Eve" (1957) by the American psychiatrist Corbett H. Thigpen. At the end of the same year director Nunnally Johnson shot a visually impressive mystery drama feature film based on that book. I brought the demons of connection doomed to fall into passive abandonment (as an excluded analytical "object" physically accessible to the masses of witnesses in the same places) to the traditional notion of a slut, a whore and a corrupt woman at the risk of being labeled as a hard misogynist, and indeed with a lot of understanding for the person who attracted me at first, according to the natural energy of establishing spontaneous / uncorrupted male - female relationship as an ideal of a kind. M from the checkout foil alludes to my mother, and the mere form of the objectification can be adapted by anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation. If necessary, once again I record one big SORRY for the lady."

When someone looks at a work like Darko's movie one may think at first it is some sort of jumble. Many films in the independent, avant garde, experimental scene are mistakenly judged as messy, inarticulate and even empty, when they are actually deeply reflective and loaded with references which may seem oblique or appear gratuitous. 

I find that has often been the case when people react negatively to works which I would call poetic, because they have failed to read the film, or are put off by the apparent disorder of the work and their own desire for clarity and neatness.

So I welcome Darko to his new home on this blog, a place where his work will be presented without interference from some insidious algorithm by a social media platform which has failed at so many levels to protect its members from misinformation, bullying, spreading lies, even posting self-glorification by terrorists. 

Thanks Darko!

pt

 

From Aeon: Max Cooper's "MYTH", Images by Susi Sie

 Max Cooper's

"Myth" 

images by Susi Sie

There’s an irony at the core of the Berlin-based artist Susi Sie’s work. Starting from a macroscopic scale – that is, just barely visible to the naked human eye – she builds scenes imbued with a breathtaking grandiosity, immersing audiences in the surreal landscapes that materialise when the Universe’s fine details are brought into human view. Eschewing digital effects, her films find beauty and wonder in the often mysterious nature of reality, and especially that which is often hiding just beneath the surface.

Myth conjures the cloud patterns of some unknown world, melding swirls of black, white, and vibrant shades of red that, at times, mimic blood moving under a microscope. 

Myth is part of a larger project from the London-based electronica composer and producer Max Cooper titled Emergence (2016). A work at the intersection of science, music and visual art, the audiovisual concept album contemplates ‘the idea of natural laws which give rise to the world we live in’. 

Sie’s contribution explores the relationship between science and myth via the metaphor of black holes, which have, for decades, been subject to endless human speculation. That Sie keeps her own materials a secret adds yet another rich layer to the labyrinthine concept.

Once more, many thanks to AEON/PSYCHE for discovering such fine work and sharing with us.

pt

From my sister, Chris Tammer

 

Collages

"Disquietude"

“Over the moon”

"Powerlines"

“Too late”

"Castles in the sand"

Very funny commercials from Swedish director Roy Andersson (auteur of We, The Living).

My friend John Hughes sent us this astonishing Vimeo:

 

Some of you may already have seen it via Facebook.

Burberry - Open Spaces / Dir. Megaforce from MEGAFORCE on Vimeo.