The Most Boring Superhero

X-ray vision, super-human strength, and the ability to fly. Any of these abilities would be fantastic to have. But what if fate was cruel and gave me the most useless power in all of superdom history? Let’s take a quick look at some of the less impressive ingenuities and amazingly mundane marvels that our alternate universe has to offer!

Here’s a list of my top 20 best of the worst abilities:

1) Change your eye color at will.
2) Never sick on a workday.
3) Summon a pack of rabid squirrels.
4) Find something interesting on TV at any time.
5) Shrink or grow one inch for two minutes.
6) Put on wrinkled clothes on and make them pressed.
7) Always have proper change.
8) Remember the lyrics to every Yoko Ono song.
9) Rewind VCR tapes with your mind.
10) All people within eight feet of you smell like fish.
11) Transform into an exact replica of yourself.
12) Touch any car and know its fluid levels.
13) Be able to sort socks in complete darkness.
14) Know the exact contents of any box by simply shaking it.
15) Always come in first in any potato sack race.
16) Immediately know the thread count of any linen.
17) Bend the will of Sea Monkey’s to do your bidding.
18) Read the minds of anyone under the age of three months.
19) Sweat gravy.
20) Involuntary flight.

I believe the most tragic of all the abilities would be sweating gravy. Besides the obvious reasons, such as the incredibly large dry-cleaning bills and my dog licking my forehead while I was trying to sleep, would be the underlining conundrum: what if it was really delicious gravy? What if I opened up a restaurant and it flourished because of my award-winning gravy? How would I keep the origin of my piquant perspiration private? I guess you’ll have to wait till next week’s episode!

Participatory Art in the Digital Age

In 1952, John Cage’s seminal work 4’33”, in which the ambient sounds created by the audience of a recital Hall became music, redefined the boundaries of not only modern music but the role of the audience in a performance. Cage illustrated to the music world that chance and indeterminacy could be a driving force in formal composition. Although Cage illustrates the concept of indeterminacy quite clear through his music, we do see his concepts and techniques in other forms of art and performance.

In the digital age, participatory art has grown in popularity. With the advances in technology, artists have been creating new and interesting ways to manipulate and incorporate their artistic endeavors to actively involve the viewer. In this paper, I will argue that the traditional roles of audience/performance dynamics are being redefined through the use of new technologies and that a new aesthetic is being created through the medium of digital media. In particular, I will be focusing on Voice Tunnel (2013) by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Random International’s immersive environment, Rain Room (2012) and the online works of Rafaël Rozendaal.

John Cage’s work entitled, 4’33”, incorporated the methodological approach referred to as participatory or interactive art. In the essay, Interactive Art: the Art that Communicates, the authors Chee-Onn, Wong, Jung Keechul, and Yoon Joonsung define interactive art as “…art as art that can communicate. Interactive art is a form of art that heavily involves the spectators when projecting the artwork to them. Spectators either experience the piece of art through physical touch or by initiating interactivity in response to the artwork. The work evolves according to the feedback from the audience along the way.”1

Cage discusses his method of creation as “experimental”. Cage describes that the term “needs to be understood not as a descriptive of an act to be later judged in terms of success and failure, but simply as of an act the outcome of which is unknown.”2 Cage’s statement illustrates his intention of allowing malleability within a performance without illegitimatizing the final product.
Cage compares his musical form of creation to other disciplines of art by stating, “This openness exists in the fields of modern sculpture and architecture. The glass houses of Mies van der Rohe reflect their environment, presenting to the eye images of clouds, trees, or grass, according to the situation. And while looking at the constructions in wire of the sculptor Richard Lippold, it is inevitable that one will see other things, and people too, if they happen to be there at the same time, through the network of wires. There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear.”3 By allowing the viewer to be aware of not only the space that the art object inhabits but it’s interaction with its environment, Cage illustrates that there is no such thing as a value of zero.

Cage discusses how using the technology of the day will assist in allowing us to move away from the dogmatic canon of 18th and 19th century instruments. By redefining the word
“music”, Cage believes that a more appropriate term would be “organization of sound.”4 Cage imagines, that in the future, centers of experimental music will be established. In these sectors technology such as oscillators, turntables and generators will be available for the artists.5
In regards to the psychology of indeterminacy, Cage describes how listeners “turn” towards the unintentional. “This turning is psychological and seems at first to be a giving up of everything that belongs to humanity – for a musician, the giving up of music. This psychological turning leads to the world of nature, where, gradually or suddenly, one sees that humanity and nature, not separate, are in this world together; that nothing was lost when everything was given away. In fact, everything is gained. In musical terms, any sounds may occur in any combination and in any continuity.”6 This post-modern shift describes Cage’s efforts to remove the author from the work, thereby empowering indeterminacy as a driving force within the production.

Historically, man’s desire to interact with their environment has continuously manifested, from early primitive ritual to today’s world of cyberspace. Interactive routines continue in order to confirm our existence in everyday life.7 When trying to define the word “interaction”, we find varying interpretations depending on the context of the word. It is used in many disciplines such as philosophy, science, art and media. Interaction is what happens “in between” the communication between different disciplines, cultures and societies. When discussing interaction, is important not to dwell on what is produced on the small-scale, but the properties of what emerges from the interaction within the larger population. In contemporary times, computer technology has combined interactivity to encompass all aspects of contemporary life to include art, media and society.8 Unlike more traditional one-way mediums, such as TV or movies, interactive art allows a binary system to exist.

 This binary system is composed of an exertion from both our physical and mental being. Man’s desire of identity is deeply rooted in the world’s inherent nature of indeterminacy. Mankind seeks to find a satisfying moment by shaping ourselves, based on our uncertain nature.9 Ryu discusses the philosophical methodology of participation:
Just as we look into a mirror to confirm our image, we confirm our living existence through our binary oppositions. These oppositions can be found in any reflected surfaces, such as objects, living beings and intangible forms such as sound and movement. Once we find them, we build the interactive cycle, which is involved with dynamic mental activity, and, sometimes, motivated by a physical response. This process can become true because our body is also a transforming spiritual entity. In this process of becoming, we move our body toward this opposition and then our mind follows in order to become one entity. Playing a musical instrument and performing a puppet creates this gradual dimension shift, from control to interaction, from separation to assimilation, and from physical motivation to spiritual activation. Although the puppet and the puppeteer are not analogous, they are perfectly united by their relationship and interactions. In the end, the puppet becomes the image of the puppeteer and the puppeteer confirms himself.10

Here Ryu explains that by involving ourselves within our environment, these interactions validate our existence. This is expressed by the process of joining our mental and physical states to transform into a spiritual entity. So, where do we see examples of participatory art in the modern digital age? In the next three sections I will be taking a look at three different artists and how their artwork contributes to the new aesthetic of interactive art.

During the summer of 2013 in New York City, during the “Summer Streets” annual celebration, the Park Avenue tunnel was opened to pedestrians for an installation entitled Voice Tunnel. The installation was a large-scale, interactive collaborative work led by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. The piece consisted of over 300 spotlights that produced a column of light along the walls and ceiling of the tunnel. The process started with a fixture in the middle of the tunnel that would record the voice of a person. That recording was then saved. Subsequent recordings would then cause the recording before that to trigger the adjacent lights till eventually going to the exterior portions of the tunnel. The voice recording would also play through speakers which corresponded with the set of lights that it was traveling to. Each speaker would only play the single recording of each person so that there would be a rippling effect of the sound. The tunnel had 75 separate sets of lights and speakers, which means that any given moment 75 separate recordings of people’s voices were causing the lights to behave in a unique way. Once a single recording would be moved to the end of the tunnel, it would be gone. This installation required custom software, spotlights, computers, amps, microphones and miles of cable.11

Lozano-Hemmer discusses the uniqueness of being able to walk through a city space such as this, “The idea is to create some concert if you will, of voices inside a tunnel but they are not composed they are not pre-recorded. It’s all live it’s all crowd source it’s all whatever people want to say.”12
Lozano-Hemmer explains his thoughts on what light represents to him. He states, “As a Mexican, and I’m interested in the light of choppers looking for Mexicans at the border. I’m interested in the light of interrogation, I’m interested in the light that does not know if it is a particle or a wave. So the violence of light is what I’m attracted to. The project Voice Tunnel is subtle but it does have with it that vibration of the strobe does not have a spiritual experience but more of a sense of a party. All those people talking have a certain cacophony, a very urban experience rendered by the lights.” 13
In the spirit of John Cage’s 4′33″, Lozano-Hemmer says that he wishes not for people to come to the installation to see a show because at a traditional show there is a certain amount of passivity on the audience is part. He wishes for people to come and participate because they are the show, and without them there would be nothing.14

From May to July 2013, the Museum of Modern Art, in New York City, hosted a large-scale environment, created by Random International, entitled Rain Room. Random International is a collaborative group of conceptual artists, computer programmers and engineers which construct site specific installations. Rain room consists of a darkened room in which falling water would pour from the ceiling. The water would selectively stop pouring in an area where a human body was detected. This would offer the visitor the ability of controlling the rain. Rain Room was a carefully manipulated downpour of water that was controlled by an intricate system of water, injection molded tiles, solenoid valves, pressure regulators, custom software, 3D tracking cameras, steel beams, a computerized water management system and a grated floor.15

In a video entitled, In Conversation: Rain Room, Hannes Koch, Director of Random International, discusses the construction of the room, artists’ intent and the effects on its participants. Koch states that the room compels the audience to enter it. He then explains that the viewer gains a sense of empowerment by describing how usually one does not have the ability to control rain but in their room you do. Koch believes that the allure of the installation is that everyone’s experience is different. The dynamic of the room is that it compels the participant to interact in the space in ways that they normally would not, for example, moving slowly or even dancing while controlling their environment with their movements. Koch explains the artists’ intent by wanting to place the audience into an immersive environment where one would lose a sense of time and being while inside the installation. Like many of Cage’s performances, the installation had a definite entry and exit point but the experience between these two points had no determined time nor path.16 By framing the work by the confines of the physical space but allowing the participant the ability to craft their own experience within the art space, I believe that this is the method as which the audience is allowed to be empowered.

Rafaël Rozendaal is an artist who works in many mediums. He has produced digital music, drawings and writings but what I want to focus primarily on his websites. Rozendaal is unique in the sense that some of his artwork exists nowhere but the Internet. He creates interactive abstract works where the viewer is able to interact with his artwork, usually through either mousing over or clicking on his art. When I experienced his works of art for the first time, I found that I was only presented with a website with the art embedded completely within the frame of the window. There were no directions or indications as to how I should interact with the piece. I find that his work has a whimsical yet sophisticated feel to it.17 Rozendaal has several links to these websites embedded on his homepage. Be aware that these pieces of artwork are not embedded into his own website but inhabit their own personal web address. This is important to note because this is how he allows himself to sell his pieces of artwork. By selling the rights to the web address, in effect, he is allowed to give up ownership of that piece of artwork. Rozendaal stipulates in the sale of any of his websites that they will remain public. Collectors only by the rights to the domain name.18

Not only has this new age of electronic interaction given the artist and spectator new ways to interact with the singular art object but there is a paradigm shift in how digital art is being curated. In Jon Ippolito’s essay, Ten Myths of Internet Art, he explains the difficulties that museums and others in the art world are having when deciding how digital art is defined, and at times, misunderstood within the academic art community. Stimulated by ever-growing enthusiasm for the Internet as both a social and economic phenomena, we find an ever growing collection of news articles, scholarly works and museum exhibitions which incorporate new technologies and digital art. Ippolito states that one of the reasons that museum curators are having a hard time adapting to networked culture, are the numerous misconceptions about digital art and its consumers.19

Ippolito discusses that one of the reasons network culture is quickly spreading is because of the individual artists and programmers ability to work autonomously, needing not to rely on “Big science or Big industry”. The message of digital art is just as viable coming from the individual as it is from a corporation or largely funded group. Tools such as View Source, a browser feature that allows anyone to see how a webpage is built and reappropriate the code for their own use, allow the artist not to be bogged down writing code and thus allows the artist to focus on his art. This “DIY: do-it-yourself” philosophy allows the artist to make a difference just by filling the right cultural need through their project. This leveling of the playfield challenges the preset dogma of the artistic elite. 20

Another common misconception that Ippolito discusses, is that web art is confused with digital art. Through the art communities desire to compartmentalize artwork into traditional categories, their attempt to segregate these practices are hindering their progress to understand the digital medium. Internet artists use many ways to present their artwork. Interchangeability of digital format resists categorization. For example, “the transcript of improvisational theater conducted via a chat interface ends up on someone’s Web page as a static text file.”21 It is very easy for one to go online and visit a website of an experienced designer and find dazzling graphics, flash movies and other very impressive works of design but for these websites to qualify as art they must go beyond just visual appeal.22

Finally, Ippolito discusses the myth that Internet art is impossible to collect. One of the biggest obstacles in collecting Internet art is how quickly the platform that the art is designed on becomes obsolete. During the birth of digital art, programing languages, such as DOS and BASIC, were used to produce digital art. These languages are now obsolete, and so the pieces of art that were produced using these languages become inaccessible. Recently, the Guggenheim initiated a program for collecting online art. Alongside collecting traditional painting and sculpture, the Guggenheim has initiated the “Variable Media Initiative”. This project will initiate a method of storing obsolescent and ephemeral technology. Along with the digital files, the Guggenheim compiles information about the artist and a strategy on how to translate the art to new mediums once the current technology becomes obsolete. 23

By discussing artistic elements such as theme, composition and narrative the traditional art world has been able to evaluate how successful an art object is. These traditional methodologies become convoluted in the digital age. Within the realm of participatory digital art, how do we measure how successful a piece of artwork is? Is there a way to measure interactivity in artwork? Showing the spectator’s behavior is a way of quantifying the interactivity between the mediums. “Knowledge discovery” or data mining, when it comes to the information shared between the mediums, give us a reasonable clue to the intrinsic meaning of the interactivity. The common objective of interactivity is to gain truthful feedback and return a suitable communication with the spectator. In this way, a mutual communication is established between the spectators that are interacting and the art object, as if they are both “talking” in a sequence with mutual understanding. Therefore, an understanding of the actual information communicated between the spectator and art object is required for an effective interaction to take place.24

When the artist brings the interface to the level of human interaction, in lieu of using technological devices, this is referred to as “human computing”. In interactive art, the human computing approach can be used as a methodology to evaluate the effectiveness of the communication and be able to figure out the correct meaning of the interaction process to the spectator.
Interactive art that contains artificial intelligence, such as in Rain Room, is able to recognize the spectator’s requirements. A test of relations and data capturing for knowledge discovery provides the solution to the current spectator’s behavior. This allows the spectator to feel in control of the creation of the art itself, and, since it is interactive, the spectator will experience the art on a phenomenological level, receiving the ability to feel the sensation of the art. In this way, the artist can channel the creativity aspect in interactive art to the spectator and create a more personalized viewing experience.

Though, much of the data communicated may not contain reasons for behaving in certain manner, a change of behavior could appear during an interaction simply caused by curiosity or other external factors from the spectator.25 When we evaluate interactive art, or any style of art for that matter, one of the most important factors that we must consider is the level of satisfaction derived by the participant. Within participatory art, generally one of the most important criteria is the level of engagement in the interactive experience. When trying to gauge whether or not a piece of interactive art is a success or a failure, relies on how much information has been communicated through the interaction with the piece of artwork and how meaningful is the feedback to the spectator.”26

The goal of this paper is to argue how participatory art sprang from the movements of artists such as John cage and has evolved into a sophisticated art form which is enhanced by the technology of the day. Through looking at these examples, we can see how the art practices of yesterday are evolving into a new aesthetic. With views on art changing as quickly as the technology around us, I believe that if the art community does not allow itself the ability to adapt to these shifting times, the canon of art history will simply be left with the same old ideas being rehashed, Ad nauseam.

In the immortal words of Robert Zimmerman:
“Come mothers and fathers all over this land
And don't criticize what you can't understand
Your sons and your daughter are beyond your command
Your old role is rapidly aging
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend a hand
For the times they are a changing”


Works Cited:
Cage, John. “Silence: Lectures and Writings”. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1961. Web.
Chee-Onn, Wong, Jung Keechul, and Yoon Joonsung. "Interactive Art: The Art That Communicates". Leonardo 42.2 (2009): 180-181. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
Ippolito, Jon. "Ten Myths of Internet Art". Leonardo 35.5 (2002): 485-498. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
Ryu, Semi. "Ritualizing Interactive Media: From Motivation To Activation". Technoetic Arts: A Journal of Speculative Research 3.2 (2005): 105-123. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
http://www.lozano-hemmer.com/
http://www.newrafael.com/
http://random-international.com/work/rainroom/

1 Chee-Onn, Wong, Jung Keechul, and Yoon Joonsung. "Interactive Art: The Art That Communicates." Leonardo 42.2 (2009): 180-181. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Nov. 2013, pg. 180.
2 Cage, John. “Silence: Lectures and Writings.” Wesleyan University Press, 1961. pg. 13.
3 Cage, pg. 8.
3
4 Cage, pg.3.
5 Cage, pg 6.
6 Cage, pg. 8.
7 Ryu, Semi. "Ritualizing Interactive Media: From Motivation To Activation." Technoetic Arts: A Journal of Speculative Research 3.2 (2005): 105-123. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.” pg. 105.
8 Ryu, pg. 106.
9 Ryu, pg. 109
10 Ibid., pg. 110.
11 http://www.lozano-hemmer.com/voice_tunnel.php.
12 http://www.lozano-hemmer.com/voice_tunnel.php.
13 http://www.lozano-hemmer.com/voice_tunnel.php.
14 http://www.lozano-hemmer.com/voice_tunnel.php.
15 http://random-international.com/work/rainroom/
16 http://random-international.com/work/rainroom/
17 http://www.newrafael.com/
18 http://www.newrafael.com/
19 Ippolito, Jon. "Ten Myths of Internet Art." Leonardo 35.5 (2002): 485-498. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. pg. 485.
20 Ippolito, pg 486.
21 Ippolito, pg.486
22 Ibid., pg.486.
23 Ibid., pg. 487
24 Chee-Onn, et al., pg. 180.
25 Chee-Onn, et al., pg.180.
26 Chee-Onn, et al., pg. 181

Theater, Circus, Variety

This is a response to the essay entitled, “Theater, Circus, Variety” by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. The piece was originally published as a part of a book entitled “Theater of the Bauhaus” in 1924. To understand the importance of the piece I believe a brief overview of the Bauhaus school and their charter would be appropriate.

Bauhaus was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts. It was unique for its approach to design and functionality. The Bauhaus style, also known as the International Style, was marked by the absence of ornamentation and by harmony between the function of an object and its design. The most important influence on Bauhaus was modernism, finding its roots in Russian constructivism. It was founded with the idea of creating a "total" work of art in which all arts, including architecture, would eventually be brought together.
László Moholy-Nagy was a Hungarian painter and photographer as well as professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by constructivism and a strong advocate of the integration of technology and industry into the arts.

Moholy-Nagy’s essay “Theater, Circus, Variety” was his concept of a new form of theater practice in which we find common themes of the usage of form and space. We find in traditional theater that the human form is centralized, whereas Nagy relinquished the human form of centrality and placed it on equal footing with all the facets of theater being light, sound, movement, form, color, and shape.
Moholy-Nagy's idea of the "Theater of Totality," which he deems to be the theater of the future, puts man "on an equal footing with the other formative media" in contrast to the theater of today. He insists that one cannot simplify man to having definable meaning, and neither can you boil down other aspects of the theater. They should instead be a complex organism. Man in this scenario should be free to express in other ways than literary, but only in ways that are unique to man in order to make good use of his specialization.

In the pursuit of a theater of abstraction, or Theater of Totality as Moholy-Nagy called it, he denounced, like the Futurists, the primacy of the "logical-intellectual " literary text. Here the written word, and by extension the physical presence of the actor, was given equal footing in the larger interplay and integration of lighting, music, and stage design. The influence of machine technology, so prominent in Moholy-Nagy's work in painting, photography and film, led to the concept of the "Mechanized Eccentric," in which the centrality of the human body in traditional theater was ultimately incorporated in a mechanical rendering and abstract play of stage action and movement.
He envisioned fantastic mechanical devices moving across the multi-planed stage, an architectonic reorganization of theatrical space that would literally immerse spectators in 3-dimensional action. At this point of interpenetration, The Theater of Totality called for an end to the passivity of the audience, a theater which will "let them take hold and participate and actually allow them to fuse with the action on the stage at the peak of cathartic ecstasy."

Tim’s thoroughly UNOFFICIAL study guide.

Tim’s thoroughly UNOFFICIAL study guide.

DISCLAIMER: First off: I am not a professor, nor do I ever claim to be. Your Professor will always have the final say when it comes to grades, policies and so on. Sometimes, life is unfair and mistakes will be made. This is all part of everyone’s college career. With that said, what I do claim to be, is someone who has spent the better part of five years going to Stony Brook and roughly seven years of my life in college. College has always been a struggle for me but I have adopted some habits and strategies along the way that I would like to share with you. Some practical, some personal and some just outright silly. Use this guide at your own risk! - Tim

First Day of Class:

A wise man once said that, “87% of statistics are made up”. Although numbers can be twisted to prove most anything, there is a definite correlation between where a student sits in a class and their final grade. I’m not saying that you can’t get an “A” while sitting in the back nor are you guaranteed to ace the class by sitting in the front row. My point is this: Become engaged. Enjoy being a college student. Put the phone away. Surf the net later. Trust me, the world will still be there when you leave the classroom. For many, Art History classes are taken to fill out a requirement. Why not enjoy a break from all of the numbers? Every class I have ever taken has added something to my life. Sometimes you learn what to do and sometimes what not to do. Your professors are experts in their field, and in this age of “alternative facts”, sometimes it’s nice to just listen to someone who actually knows what their talking about!

Take Notes, Do the Readings:

            I’ve always envied students with great penmanship. If you’re one of those students who have mastered the art, disregard anything I have to add. For those who struggle with note-taking, like myself, here’s my advice: Stop taking notes. Well, not really. Most everything that the instructor is talking about can probably be found in the readings. I usually just write down a word of a phrase down in my notes and then go home and look it up. Franticly scribbling down every word causes me to become less engaged and more focused on trying to absorb the meaning of the lecture at that moment. Most lectures are a presentation of ideas that build on to themselves. Stay engaged with the lecture, as it might start making more sense halfway into it.

            Hate taking notes during class, how about taking notes before class? Many times, I will build myself a “cheat sheet” for the upcoming class. Most classes are structured in that you will read something now and then discuss it later. There’s no law saying that you can’t make yourself a sheet of talking points that you believe may be covered in class. Notice terms that you are unfamiliar with? Write them down and pre-define them for yourself. I famously do this for myself in my foreign language classes. If I know that we are going to be conjugating “être” and “avoir” in French class, you can bet that I’ll have a list right next to me on my desk. No need for fumbling though the book to find it. In the digital age, it’s so easy to do this now. No need to write everything long-hand, all I do is find what I need online, cut and paste onto a document and, viola, I’m ready to sound like an expert in class!

            All of these tricks mean nothing without doing the readings. I know what you’re thinking… remember, I’m a student too. At some point, we all hate doing the readings. This is where I need to mention that ugly word: Discipline. I define discipline as doing something regularly, that you don’t want to. By doing the readings, not only are you learning something but you are building positive habits that will take you far in life. For me, the bad news: I am a terribly slow reader. The good news: I know this. I know that I need to allot myself time for the readings. Another great idea is to keep a dictionary next to you and look up the words that you don’t know. Even better, nowadays, if you can get the readings in electronic form, most readers have a built-in dictionary where you can simply tap the word and it will define it for you. While you’re doing the readings, this is a good time to add any of your questions on to your study sheet for the following class. Still don’t get what they’re saying? Go watch a video after your readings. YouTube is the second largest search engine out there. There’s a good chance that someone made a video on the subject. Eat a sandwich, watch a video.

Studying:

            Learning is like eating (boy, I talk a lot about food, huh?). It’s no wonder, words like “cramming” and “binging” relate not only to food but to studying. Studying is only part of the digestive process. Just as biological digestion starts with the preparation and cooking of the food, then cutting up food into bite-sized pieces, studying is only part of the digestive process.

            Anyone who says that they work better under pressure is either a liar or in denial. Don’t fall for it. We all do better when we are given ample time to do something. In lieu of consulting the latest research on cognitive behavior, it’s widely believed that duration and repetition are key factors in learning.

My not-so-secret weapon has always been flash cards. 20 minutes to an hour a day, once or twice a day. Nowadays, I use an online service called “Quizlet”. Although Quizlet is free, I pay $15.00 a year for their pro service, which allows me to add images to my cards. This is invaluable for an Art History student, as you may be becoming aware of. There are many other flashcard services out there but I find this one to suit my needs. In addition, for those with an iPad, may I suggest an app called, “Flashcards by NKO”. Through the combination of these two services, I can make the cards in Quizlet, then seamlessly import them to NKO. From there, you can both have the cards automatically cycle through at a set interval and the program will read out loud the information on the card. Sheer brilliance. As a photographer, I find myself doing a lot of work on my computer, so I’ll simply set up my iPad next to me and let it run for hours with it “talking” in the background. I have no choice but to remember the information this way. It’s like having the radio on in the background. Here’s the link to my account where you will find the information for this class: https://quizlet.com/tim_cole1

My other tried-and-true method is the dreaded “long-hand” technique. Yea, you guessed it, you write everything out by hand. Well not everything. This goes in line with the note-taking strategy. Bullet points are your friend. Sometimes, there’s no other way for me to remember something then to just get down and dirty, roll my sleeves up and write a bit of information 50 times till my brain says “uncle”.

Back to my flash cards. I know that I am a visual learner, so I exploit this by doing strange things. Here’s an example from when I was studying for my Master’s Art History comprehensive, in which I needed to know over 200 slides for one test: Artist, title and the exact dates of the artwork.

This is my slide for, “Nan Goldin, The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, 1981-86”.

When I visualized this slide, I not only remembered the image but also the cartoon bubbles and the music notes of the “ballad”. Silly? Yes. Effective? You bet ya.

Other times, I will use different fonts for different years. For example, for this class, where we have culture periods, I would do something like this:

Scipio Moorhead

Phillis Wheatley

Culture Period: Colonial 1620-1775

Charles Willson Peale

George Washington

Culture Period: Federal 1776-1820

Now when you visualize the information, you will have a visual clue if you forget the culture period. I have also used this technique with different colored type to represent different time periods or art movements.

Of course, these are not the only strategies in my playbook. I only show them to you to get your mind thinking in different ways. I have written little songs, I hold up a number with my fingers when I read something out loud…the list goes on. In the end, there really is only one answer to learning something: Do What Works for You! Recognize your weaknesses, exploit your strengths. Study often. Bite-sized pieces.

The Day of the Test:

            So, we took our notes and made our cards and sung our songs. All that is left, is to ace this test! We get to the exam and…we blank. What happened?! Well, there are a few things that could add to the already stressful task of test taking.

            There are several test-wrecking factors that can come into play. None of these ideas are my own but they haven’t let me down yet:

Before you Leave Home:

·         Get a good night’s rest.

·         Don’t party the night before.

·         Leave 20 minutes early.

·         Rely on your preparation.

·         Don’t try and learn something before the test.

·         Eat a light meal.

·         Drink water.

·         Don’t drink coffee. (Blasphemy!)

·         Stretch.

·         Skim your notes. Once again, do not try to learn something, just lightly review.

·         Dress comfortably, layers in winter. (You should always, anyways)

·         Grab two pens and a pencil.

In the Classroom:

·         Find a seat.

·         Place both feet on the floor.

·         Make a tight fist and then extend your fingers five times.

·         Place your hands on the desk, relaxed with your palms down.

·         Close your eyes.

·         Take a few deep breaths so that your stomach moves.

·         Open your eyes.

·         Ace the test.

When in Doubt:

·         Never leave an answer blank.

·         Guess. What can it hurt?

·         Refocus with some breathing.

·         Don’t look around. It can be disheartening and academically dangerous.

·         Call the proctor over if you need to get something from your bag.

·         Don’t leave early.

·         When done, read the whole test over, including the directions.

·         I never change my first answer unless I really know it to be wrong.

Well, I didn’t think this was going to be this long but I believe that most of it will be useful. I hope you all take something away from this. I wish you all the best of luck in your college experience and look forward to hearing great things about all of you in the future.

Best,

Tim Cole

Luckiest Person in the World

            “Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered.” – William Shakespeare.

            Fortune, karma, serendipity, or luck. Whichever term you use for the fickle finger of fate, one thing is always agreed on, you can always use more of it. So, what if we did have more? For that matter, what if I was the luckiest person in all of history? In the following exercise I’d like to discuss the advantages and even some pitfalls of being the luckiest man in the world.

            If I was the luckiest person in the world:

1. If I was stranded in a boat with three other people I wouldn’t chose the short straw to see who would get eaten.
2. I would only have good dreams while I was in a coma.
3. I would have just had a tetnus shot a week before being attacked by a raccoon.
4. My car would only run out of gas a mile from any gas station.
5. Gain noteriety by beating out Roy Sullivan by getting hit by lightning eight times.
6. I’d get my right hand caught in a tablesaw. (Ed. Note-I’m left handed)
7. The turkish prison I’m in would have gluten-free food.
8. Music would be outlawed the day I go deaf.
9. The poltergiest that inhabits my home would only break things I don’t care for.
10. The only Doctor that can re-attach my hand (see number 6) lives in my town.
11. My lottery winnings are exactly the bill for my Doctor fees. (See number 10)
12. A computer glitch pays out twice the premium of my life insurance policy.
13. Everytime I go to the DMV I find a quarter on the ground.
14. Cannibals consider me a delicacy.
15. I’m only bitten by people with no teeth.
16. I always survive my monthly shark attack.
17. I inherit my long lost Uncles glass eye collection.
18. I never lose a game of marbles.
19. My lawyer works pro-bono for my murder trial.
20. The voice in my head sounds like James Earl Jones.

I think the one example that stands out to me would be that the poltergiest that inhabits my home would only break things I don’t care for. How lucky would that be?! It would be a blessing in disguise. There are so many things that clutter my life. So many possessions that simply take up space that could be used more productively. My poltergiest would be doing me a favor, making the arduous task of selecting the chatskis and brick-a-brak to eliminate from my collection for me.

Ladies First: Formal Analysis and History of Statue of Hatshepsut

The following is a formal analysis of the statue Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut which is housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art located in New York City. As you approach the room you get a feeling of grandness with soft lighting. Within the room there are several statutes which reference Hatshepsut. Immediately you notice that the piece is of monumental size. Upon examination I found the dimensions of the statue to be of monumental size seemingly twice my size and of a grand nature.

The unknown sculptor carved the statue of red granite so that the viewer can view it in the round. The composition shows a linear symmetry. Hatshepsut, a female Egyptian Pharaoh, is portrayed in a stylized fashion with little signs of naturalism, although the statue clearly shows no sign of being a woman. Hatshepsut’s pose is of a submissive nature, since she is represented kneeling down bearing two jars. She is shown wearing the traditional nemes headdress of a Pharaoh. Of note, since Hatshepsut was a woman, it is interesting to see that she has been depicted adorned with the traditional Pharaonic beard. The statue consists of an engaged base. The actual artist of this piece is unknown.

As a result of Tuthmosis III’s iconoclastic attempts to remove Hatshepsut from history, the uraeus serpent on her headdress was removed, as were her eyes before he destroyed the entire sculpture. The figure shows the evidence of the damage as conservators carefully reassembled the figure from pieces found from the dumps near Hatshepsut's temple at Deir el-Bahri.

To fully understand the significance of this statue, I believe that an investigation into the life and times of Hatshepsut is in order.

Hatshepsut (1479-1458 B.C.E) ruled New Kingdom Egypt for around 20 years. She was one of the few female pharaohs in ancient Egypt’s history, and became ruler when her husband died. At that time Thutmose III, her stepson, was too young to rule. Hatshepsut had a difficult task ahead of her- she had to forgo the traditional feminine representations of a Queen to establish her role as Pharaoh. To legitimize her job of ruler, Hatshepsut started a large building program by creating several images, temples, and obelisks (a tall pointed stone pillar that has been built to remember an important person or event). She also broke away from the traditional role of Queen by leading several military campaigns. The visual representations of Hatshepsut ran a large gamut. These visual forms spanned from representations of her being obviously female and yet wearing the trappings of a Pharaoh to her not only devoid of physically female attributes but bearing the chest and build of a man.

Although motherhood was considered the greatest achievement for a woman in ancient Egyptian society, this was not considered the only role for a woman. Women in ancient Egyptian society were allowed to be educated, to own property and businesses, to work a job and even be involved in military leadership. Women even had the right to rule in the place of a male heir who was too young. When Hatshepsut's husband Thutmose II died early, he appointed his son of his second wife Isis, Thutmose III to be the Pharaoh of Egypt. Because Thutmose III was too young to rule, his stepmother Hatshepsut became the ruler by proxy. Soon after, Hatshepsut assumed the throne claiming herself king. She began commissioning sculptures and erecting architectural structures that depicted her divine right to be king.

During Hatshepsut’s rule we find a chronological change in the depictions of her appearance. Early depictions of Hatshepsut show herself in a more traditional view of a Queen. These portray her with physically female characteristics and traditional queen like accoutrements. However, shortly after this we find Hatshepsut slowly introducing a dual gendered image. In the later part of her rule, we find her representing herself in a blatant physically male form reminiscent of traditional Pharaonic representations.

Not only did Hatshepsut’s image appear to be female at one time and male the next, we find an androgynous quality to several of her representations. Traditionally, a male Pharaoh would be depicted with his primary wife. These representations were generally viewed metaphorically symbolizing the royal couple as the mother and father of Egypt. Since Hatshepsut did not have a formal partner she was generally depicted alone. By using the device of androgyny, Hatshepsut conveyed the idea that she was both mother and father of Egypt. By depicting herself in such a way she gain the favor of the Egyptian populace.

Breaking from tradition, we find a representation of Hatshepsut as a man. In Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut, Hatshepsut is represented as a fully male Pharaoh. She wears the nemes headdress and a traditional male kilt. Her midriff is uncovered and shows the squared chest of a man. She also wears a beard. She is kneeling and offering Miv'jars oí maat' to Amun, a ritual reserved for the King. Maat is the order of the universe, without which all of creation would perish. It was the duty of the pharaoh to uphold the law and administer justice. Because Hatshepsut is depicted as offering maat to Amun, she is displayed as the rightful king fulfilling her role as pharaoh. The large, open eyes and the small, thin nose are consistent to features depicted in her female images. Although these facial qualities contradict the masculine attributes, I believe that these features may have been used to represent Hatshepsut’s piety, such as seen in the votive statues of the Early Dynastic period.

I found a new outlook on art thorough the observation of formal analysis.  I was particularly struck by the variation of representations of Hatshepsut. By researching the history of this statue I now better understand the diversity of the statues and why I found them grouped together in this room. By reviewing the statues, I now have a better understanding of how Hatshepsut used her sculptural projects to solidify her right to rule. By Hatshepsut using both male and female gender in depictions of her, she not only solidified her image as the Pharaoh but was also able to keep her female identity.

Cabaret of Weimar Germany from 1920 to 1940

Weimar cabaret was a feature of late 1920s Germany. It is known for its high living, vibrant urban life and the popularization of new styles of music and dance. Having previously lived under authoritarian government, where entertainment and social activities were tightly regulated, many Germans thrived on the relaxed social attitudes of Weimar. The influx of American money and the economic revival of the mid to late 1920s encouraged celebration, spending and decadence. According to some historians, this extravagance may have been driven by a realization that this prosperity was both artificial and temporary. Many Germans spent big and partied hard, aware that both the economy and the government were destined to fail. The late Weimar era was one of liberal ideas, new forms of expression and pleasure-seeking. Weimar music, dance and entertainment was criticized by radicals on both sides of politics. On one side, the socialists believed it represented the wastefulness of capitalism as right-wing groups and reactionaries claimed it was evidence of weak government, resulting in moral decay and corruption.

The late Weimar era, or what is referred to as the ‘Golden Age of Weimar’, was particularly known for its cabarets. Most cabarets were restaurants or nightclubs where patrons sat at tables and were entertained by a procession of singers, dancers and comedians atop a small stage. Cabaret was, in fact, a French invention that dated back to the 1880s. Perhaps the most famous of all French cabarets, the Moulin Rouge, was notorious for allowing lewd dancing and employing prostitutes as dancers and waitresses. The German form, Kabarett, was, at first, more conservative and low-key. Berlin’s first cabaret nightclub dated back to 1901, however during the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II, German cabarets were not permitted to perform or promote bawdy humor, provocative dancing or political satire.

After World War I cabarets became very popular across Europe. The Weimar government’s lifting of censorship saw German cabarets transform and flourish. Entertainment in the cabaret’s of Berlin, Munich and other cities were dominated by two themes, namely: sex and politics. Stories, jokes, songs and dancing were peppered with sexual innuendo. As the 1920s progressed this gave way to open displays of nudity, to the point where most German cabarets had at least some topless dancers. Some cabarets were patronized by gay men, lesbians and transvestites. A population once forced to conceal their sexuality, now basked in the liberal cabaret scene to openly display and discuss it their sexuality.

The cabarets also provided Germans with an outlet for political views and criticism. A good deal of the stand-up comedy on cabaret stages was done by ‘political humorists’, who ridiculed all points along the political spectrum. Their mockery, parody and satire was ‘anything goes’; no leader, party, policy or idea was spared. Cabaret songs often contained a political subtext. Mischa Spoliansky’s popular tune, “It’s All a Swindle” of 1931, was a typical example:

“Politicians are magicians
Who make swindles disappear
The bribes they are taking
The deals they are making
Never reach the public’s ear
The left betrays, the right dismays
The country’s broke – and guess who pays?
But tax each swindle in the making
Profits will be record breaking
Everyone swindles some
So vote for who will steal for you.”

The Evolution of Cabaret

Cabaret during World War I: 1914-1919

Cabaret during the First World War in Germany did not thrive on social criticism or political commentary; instead, it was heavily regulated by Germany’s Imperial government. The head of state and government was Kaiser Wilhelm II who ran the empire until 1918 when military fighting ceased in WWI and a democratic German republic, A.K.A, the Weimar Republic, was later formed. Though cabaret first came to Germany in 1901, approximately twenty years after its inception in France, it took nearly two decades for Germany to find their own particular style. Cabaret found an outlet in pre-war Munich, a city much smaller than Berlin, filled with artists and intellectuals--one that provided an overall welcoming environment for café culture; but because of censorship in Germany at the time, Germans were unable to use their creative talents to alter the art form to appropriately reflect its new German context and the movement as a whole was not unified or exceptional in any way. The cabaret of pre 1919 was heavily influenced by the war, spouting extreme nationalism and very little else.

Controversies over entertainment’s place in wartime Germany were abundant. During the first few weeks of the war, cabarets closed all across Germany, only to reopen later when it became apparent that taking France would be more difficult than originally imagined. Two camps of thought existed: those who believed the times were too serious to warrant entertainment and venues of amusement and drink, and those who maintained that it was specifically because of the seriousness of the times that such amusements and distractions were needed. Either way, most agree that the cabarets of World War I Germany were primarily for entertainment purposes only. Lacking any practical political element, except as a podium of government encouraged, nationalist propaganda. Cabarets of this period did not provide serious outlets for political expression, despite being highly influenced by wartime politics.

The real politics of the cabarets in this time period rested in their actual existence: the fact that cabarets were localities of amusement where alcohol: a symbol of prosperity, good times and excess thrived and stood in contrast to the dismal life of most German citizens.

The existence of cabarets was politically controversial and they provided an outlet for nationalist rhetoric, Germany would have to wait until the proclamation of a Democratic Republic before cabaret truly became a venue for political commentary.

Cabaret in the Weimar Republic: 1919-1933

The Weimar Republic is perhaps, the most interesting time period for cabaret in 20th century history. The fact that cabaret thrived in Weimar Germany is well documented. In Laurence Senelick’s book, “Cabaret Performance: Volume II: Europe 1920-1940: Sketches, Songs, Monologues, Memoirs.”, we find Austrian writer Stefan Zweig providing a description of the cultural capital of the Weimar Republic:

“Berlin transformed itself into the Babel of the world. Bars, amusement parks, pubs shot up like mushrooms. It was a veritable witches’ Sabbath, for the Germans brought to perversion all their vehemence and love of system…Amid the general collapse of values, a kind of insanity took hold of precisely those middle-class circles which has hitherto been unwavering in their orderliness.’ Amid this breakdown, the cabaret, once regarded as the haunt of a certain type of liberated individual, now lured a bourgeois as well as a bohemian audience.”

 Due to the newly formed, far more liberal government, censorship became relaxed and cabaretists found themselves with a great deal more freedom to discuss any topic relevant to life in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s. As before, their favorites were sex and politics. Some performances were so unwholesome that a second word became necessary to distinguish between performances catering to lustful interests (Cabaret), and those performances primarily centered on political discourse (Kabarett) and both types were prominent in interwar Germany.

The extreme nationalism left over from imperial times did not immediately disappear. Many cabarets spent the first half of the 1920s attempting to throw off the nationalist rhetoric encouraged by the previous war. The severe nationalist rhetoric was heightened by a fear that something similar to the Bolshevik revolution in Russia might occur in Germany. As the economy spun out of control and hyperinflation took effect, German politics became increasingly more divided. Both left and right parties used the medium of cabaret to present their conflicting political views.

The result of such ideological conflicts was the production of an extremely rich pool of material that cabarets drew from. Dialogue became increasingly more politicized and performers were given free rein to critique and satirize with censorship restrictions being removed and public opinion supporting open discussion. Common questions posed were those surrounding the concept of just how socialist were the Social Democrats or whether or not Germany was really a Republic.

Not all performances were deeply political as most reflected on current events and satirized public figures while the audience maintained an active role in the performance. Closely tied with audience participation is the issue of public opinion. Gone with the war were feelings that the only way to be politically supportive was by biting one’s tongue instead, the interwar chaos helped encourage German citizens to examine, criticize and attempt to find a better way of life.

The popularity of cabaret was twofold: A) citizens viewed it as a medium for examining the state and B) depressed from the instability of the interwar years, people were in desperate need of distraction, amusement and all the other benefits that the cabaret provided. The key as to why German cabaret thrived during the Weimar Republic is the above two factors combined with a guilt-free and allowing environment. People could go to a cabaret, have a beer, some laughs and critique the state without the feeling that they were undermining Germany. It was this transformation in public opinion that allowed cabaret to go from existing only in a technical sense in World War I to the powerful cultural, intellectual and political force it became in the Weimar Republic.

Cabaret in Nazi Germany: 1933-1945

As expected, Nazi Germany was not the most supportive environment for cabaret. German Cabaret suffered on many different levels. Firstly, most cabaret performers as well as those responsible for running the day-to-day operations of cabarets were either Jewish or liberal and as such, were Nazi targets. The majority fled the country in the first couple weeks after the National Socialist takeover. Those who chose to stay were forced into agreeing to produce apolitical pieces and were later forced into performing “positive cabaret”. Positive cabaret was a term coined by the Nazis, and it was intended to provide only positive responses to Nazi activities, while mocking the actions of their enemies.

This lasted until 1937 when Joseph Goebbels outlawed all forms of political expression on the German stage. Long before the ultimate demise of cabaret in the German state, (as versions of cabaret were still being performed in concentration camps) Nazi dominance had destroyed an art form that required freedom of expression to survive. Public opinion no longer backed cabaret as, once again, was seen as frivolous in comparison to events of the time, as well as lacking any substantive value due to Nazi reforms. Many famous performers, choreographers and composers committed suicide and died in concentration camps.

Basic Dynamics of Cabaret

According to Peter Jelavich, in his book Berlin Cabaret, the “ideal type” of cabaret consists of a small stage in a relatively small hall, where the audience sat around tables. The intimacy of the setting allowed direct, Eye to eye contact between performers and spectators. The show consists of short, five or 10 minute numbers from several different genres, usually songs, and comic monologues, dialogues and skits, less frequently dances, pantomimes, puppet shows, or even short films. They dealt in a satirical manner with topical issues such as, sex (being the most popular), commercial fashions, cultural fads and least of all, politics. These numbers were usually presented by professional singers and actors, but often writers, composers, or dancers would perform their own works. The presentations were linked together by a conferencier, a type of MC who interacted with the audience, made witty remarks about the events of the day, and introduced the performances.

Pure type of cabaret was rare, and when it appeared, it was short lived. All aspects of cabaret were subject to change. With increasing popularity, a troupe might move to larger quarters: the stage would expand and, more important, the auditorium would be enlarged to be filled no longer with tables, but with rows of chairs facing the performance. The intimacy of the ideal type cabaret, and intimacy between actors and audience (and among the spectators themselves), would be lost. The content of performances likewise might be changed. It could become more literary and dramatic.

When mainly professional actors were involved or there was an influx of good cabaret material, or when the audience preferred more conventional dramatic forms, one-act skits would come to dominate the program This would lead to a total conversion to drama. In effect, the cabaret would become a regular theater. In contrast, a cabaret might become less literary, or decidedly nonliterary. If censorship hindered parody or satire, or if an audience wanted more show and less tell, then the stage would be left with variety acts, and the cabaret would end up as just another vaudeville show. If the truth felt commercially compelled to appeal to the absolutely lowest common denominator of public taste, it would mutate into a purveyor of what Germans in the 20s called “nude dancing.” That is precisely what most stages calling themselves “cabarets” are today.

Conclusion

By tracking the development of German cabaret during World War I, the Weimar Republic and National Socialist Germany it is evident that the level of political discourse contained within cabaret depended on the level of state involvement and general public opinion of the time. Meaningful cabaret thrived in the interwar period when social problems were widespread, but were equally matched by freedom of expression.

In conclusion, there are five major points in regards to cabaret

1. After decades of restrictive, authoritarian government, Weimar was a period of social liberalization.

2. In post-1924 economic revival saw many seek new forms of leisure and entertainment, like Kabarett.

3. German cabaret entertainment revolved around themes of sexual liberation and political criticism.

4. The cabarets followed no political line: any party or leader was subject to criticism or mockery.

5. Many feared the impact the ‘cabaret culture’ was having on German society and public morality.

Notes:

All forms of public criticism were banned by a censor on theatres in the German Empire, however. This was lifted at the end of the First World War, allowing the kabarett artists to deal with social themes and political developments of the time. This meant that German kabarett really began to blossom in the 1920s and 1930s, bringing forth all kinds of new cabaret artists, such as Werner Finck at the Katakombe, Karl Valentin (died 1948) at the Wien-München, Fritz Grünbaum and Karl Farkas at the Kabarett Simpl in Vienna, and Claire Waldoff. Some of their texts were written by great literary figures such as Kurt Tucholsky, Erich Kästner, and Klaus Mann.

When the Nazi party came to power in 1933, they started to repress this intellectual criticism of the times. Kabarett in Germany was hit badly. (Kander and Ebb's Broadway musical, Cabaret, based on the Christopher Isherwood novel, Goodbye to Berlin, deals with this period.) In 1935 Werner Finck was briefly imprisoned and sent to a concentration camp; at the end of that year Kurt Tucholsky committed suicide; and nearly all German-speaking kabarett artists fled into exile in Switzerland, France, Scandinavia, or the USA.

Agitprop (/ˈædʒᵻtprɒp/; from Russian: агитпроп [ɐɡʲɪtˈprop], derived from agitation and propaganda)[1] is stage plays, pamphlets, motion pictures and other art forms with an explicitly political message.

The term agitprop originated in the Russian SFSR (which later joined the Soviet Union), as a shortened form of отдел агитации и пропаганды (otdel agitatsii i propagandy), i.e., Department for Agitation and Propaganda, which was part of the central and regional committees of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The department was later renamed Ideological Department.

In the case of agitprop, the ideas to be disseminated were those of communism, including explanations of the policy of the Communist Party and the Soviet state. In other contexts, propaganda could mean dissemination of any kind of beneficial knowledge, e.g., of new methods in agriculture.

The term agitprop gave rise to agitprop theatre, a highly politicized left-wing theatre originated in 1920s Europe and spread to America; the plays of Bertolt Brecht are a notable example.[2] Russian agitprop theater was noted for its cardboard characters of perfect virtue and complete evil, and its coarse ridicule.[3] Gradually the term agitprop came to describe any kind of highly politicized art. After the October Revolution of 1917, an agitprop train toured the country, with artists and actors performing simple plays and broadcasting propaganda.[4] It had a printing press on board the train to allow posters to be reproduced and thrown out of the windows if it passed through villages.[5]