A New Post from my friend Krystof Jurczynski

Monday, January 05, 2009

ART BASEL
Category: Art and Photography

"The water is warm." My colleague looked at me with disbelief and concern when I responded to the simple question, "What is your impression of Art Basel?" Really, at the beginning of December the Atlantic Ocean in Miami is like a soup. If we stay with culinary analogy, the largest art festival in the world was again like a gumbo. Hundreds of ingredients fighting for domination or attention in the end created a mushy gray-brown mixture. After going to countless pavilions, tents, galleries, overpasses and warehouses not one piece stunned, impressed or even touched me. The desperate search for individuality reminded me of high school students. All of them struggle to assert their uniqueness with clothing, haircuts or posture, but, when you look at them from a distance, they all seem the same. I have heard it said that "art represents the social, intellectual and economical status of society." However if this is true, then maybe this is the problem. Perhaps art should not attempt to hold a dialog with a culture of such obvious and shallow observations. Maybe it should denounce desperate attempts to achieve fifteen minutes of fame. Possibly it should embrace technique and craftsmanship as the essential part of the creative process. Essentially, Art should embrace real social issues and a sense of life and love which always have and always will be an inexhaustible source of reflection.

How has this happened? It occurred as we lost sight of the principle that art should be a vanguard of philosophical and social transformation, when we started to believe that the depiction of popular culture is the answer to the demand for intellectual exultation and finally, when we granted the status of artist to anyone who labeled himself as creative person.
A renowned economist and writer has described the United States economic system and stock market as a house of cards. It was developed to satisfy greed as a highly sophisticated mathematical system, in which even those at the top neither had expertise nor understood its complexity. As in the case of the banking system in a post war environment, art was created mostly as a response to itself. Visual movements, one after another, created retorts to each other's theses, strictly absorbed by style and pseudo sophistication. Art thereby not only alienated itself from the public but also slowly distanced itself from technical mastery. At the same time, artists claimed to be pulling away from object creation. This however was just an illusion. Events, happenings and installations documented as photographs or films, by definition turn out to be objects. Perhaps it is just me, but when I observe performances, I have an overwhelming feeling of embarrassment bordering on humiliation. Bad acting insufficient even in middle school theater, combined with remorseful music attempts to achieve an interdisciplinary connection. In practice this proves the point that we don't have multidisciplinary masters. My contemporaries presume that they multitask, but perhaps they just lack the ability to concentrate.

I am returning to kitchen! Can a chef think food? Can we taste his intellectualism? I know the counter argument. Sure – he can give direction to his assistant. However, he will forget how the parsnip smells, he will fail to understand that just an extra pinch of cumin will make a dish unique and he will be clueless how to de-bone a duck. Perhaps, his restaurant will be successful or even trendy, and maybe, just maybe one day Oprah will grant him the honor of presenting his signature "duck with parsnip" dish on her television show. Finally he will have a chance to present the depth of his knowledge and his philosophy of cooking, share his controversial character and ensure millions of people that "because it is easy" anyone can cook. Well, I still prefer my Grandma's duck. She would spend a good hour choosing the best bird in the market, and then slowly proceed with taking feathers off, cutting, basting and slow roasting. The smell and the intangible warmth could be sensed from our neighbor's house. Maybe because of her understanding, she created this meal to express appreciation and love.

In the late nineteen-fifties and sixties, tenured positions in art colleges were awarded to young, then-progressive artists. Most of them had a distinct dislike of "academia art" and the classical method of art education. I recognize the foundation of that point of view. There is nothing worse than a badly sculpted, painted or drawn realistic portrait. The empty, uninspired and dead depiction of a thinking, emotionally active human being is a crime. At the same time two badly constructed pieces of wood, hastily painted with primary colors and juxtaposed with two pages of artistic philosophy, drive me to suicidal thoughts. Have we forgotten that essential to any form of expression is knowledge, thought and passion? Although it can be aggressive, or even extravagant, innovation does not have to be ostentatious. Yes, it will require new forms but can also fall between one and two, the space of infinity.

After the sixties we witnessed a widening of the schism in the balanced approach to art education. An individual may graduate with a Master of Fine Arts, having taken only three credits of foundation drawing, three credits of foundation painting and without classes in live drawing or sculpture. Curriculum will assure the student that composition is not really necessary, color theory is an unpleasant prospect and anatomy is just a sound (could it be forbidden?). This creates a troubling situation when young artists know how to talk in general about art but sadly are unable to articulate on the subject due to limited visual vocabulary. This problem echoes the current tendencies of our society. We talk incessantly, even when we should not, for example, when driving a car. My aversion to this tendency validates Yul Brynner in the "King and I" saying: "man should be silent when has nothing to say"

We live in a very exciting time. In the proverbs of some cultures this is a dreadful wish, though I don't think we have choice. To summarize will take too long, however it is worth it to mention a new president, a collapsing of world economy, a few conflicts (in my younger days I believe we called them wars) and the complete disintegration of human interaction. Certainly artists misunderstand political correctness and are frightened to assault issues of race and social order. Nevertheless, I am dismayed that at this bustling point in history only a few artists feel compelled to comment, analyze or criticize any of these events. And even if they do, their creations are predictable, simplistic and trivial compared to Doctor Phil's remarks about penguin sexuality. Please understand. I am far from appointing an artist the function of "social worker" or "political activist." Fortunately the time of "social-art" is past (except maybe deep Siberia.) I find it hard to believe that most artists, alienated from important events, discover meaning in the scrutiny of a composition of two intersecting triangles. It may be that an artist could create a philosophy around that desideratum. However the lack of comprehension by the viewer calls into question the motivation in generating art.

I believe we create art because it is difficult. I trust that the beginning of any form of artistic expression is an internal struggle between knowledge, feelings and beliefs. And I hope that the lifetime of any creative person is a journey towards a complete realization of who he is and where he is going; starkly real, free of self-pity, and undistorted by a mirror of empty wishes. Only then can art have the ability to influence and make a permanent impact on the viewer.

While analyzing the history of visual art, it is undeniable that a large percentage was influenced by human emotion. Surely love was a dominating force, and not only during the time of Lord Byron and Pushkin. Although the Romantic Movement is largely disregarded by contemporary society as a cheap sentiment, it actually magnified ideas of pure love and uncompromised honor. Personally I don't see anything wrong in this attitude; moreover, I strongly believe romantic philosophy should be taught as an obligatory subject in schools of law and economics. Perhaps this is just foolish; can sensitivity be learned? Inside, we all yearn for emotional bliss, when love is immune to the egotism, wholly altruistic. Even if passion fades away or remains unattainable, this torment was used countless times as inspiration for creative expression in music, poetry and the visual arts. What is then happening with new art? Are we immune to human feelings? In some aspects, unfortunately yes. In a culture of instant coffee, fast food, superficial interactions and instantaneous sex, we have forgotten ecstasy and despair. Particularly, at this time, artists and intellectuals should have the will and honesty to address these issues not leaving them exclusively to commoners of reality.

"The water is cold," noticed one of the older residents on North Beach. I managed a smile, trying to avoid conversation. The gentleman was persistent. "Have you seen Art Basel? This was trash. I prefer 'Impressionism'." To nod or not to nod; this was my question. I chose a grin and I shielded myself away from explanations. I peremptorily judged his lack of preparation, education and taste. I am not sure I was correct in arbitrating his statement. It only occurred to me much later that art is a discipline in which people do not shy away from profound statements based on shallow information and half truths. But after all, this behavior is integrated into most aspects of our lives; art mirrors the social order. We have stopped asking questions – all answers are given. Just turn on the TV or search the Internet.

7:19 AM 0 Comments(Add Comment) |0 KudosTran

A Dispatch on avoiding the Swine Flu from my friend Oli

Boletín de información para la prevención

Este es un boletin que se envio este dia a todo el personal de la empresa para la que laboro pero quiero compartirlo con todos ustedes mis amigos es importante estar informados.

Se sugiere a todo el personal de la Empresa especialmente a los Departamentos de Seguridad y Bodegas, las empresas internas y Cuadrilla de descarga tomar todas las medidas de precaución durante el tiempo que dure la emergencia por el brote en México de la Gripe Porcina.

Debe considerarse extremar medidas para todos los transportes y embarques de mercancías procedentes de México.

Definicion:

La gripe porcina o influenza porcina es una enfermedad infecciosa causada por un virus perteneciente a la familia orthomyxoviridae y que afecta fundamentalmente a poblaciones porcinas. Estas cepas virales son conocidas como virus de la influenza porcina o SIV, por las siglas en inglés de Swine Influenza Viruses, aunque esta distinción no está basada en filogenia. Las cepas de SIV detectadas hasta la fecha han sido clasificadas como parte del género Influenzavirus C o alguno de los subtipos del género Influenzavirus A.

Sintomatología:

Los animales pasan por un cuadro respiratorio caracterizado por tos y frecuencia respiratoria elevada, estornudos, temperatura basal elevada, descargas nasales, letargia, dificultades respiratorias (frecuencia de respiración elevada además de respiración bucal) y apetito reducido.

La excreción nasal del virus puede aparecer aproximadamente a las 24 horas de la infección. Las tasas de morbilidad son altas y pueden llegar al 100 por ciento, aunque la mortalidad es bastante baja y la mayoría de cerdos se recuperan tras unos 5 o 7 días tras la aparición de los síntomas.

La transmisión de la enfermedad se realiza por contacto a través de secreciones que contengan el virus (a través de la tos o el estornudo, así como por las descargas nasales).

La gripe porcina infecta a muchas personas cada año, y se encuentra típicamente en aquellos que han estado en contacto con cerdos de forma ocupacional, aunque también puede producirse transmisión persona-a-persona.

Los síntomas en seres humanos incluyen: fiebre, desorientación, rigidez en las articulaciones, vómitos y pérdida de la conciencia y muchas veces puede terminar en la muerte.

Departamento de Seguridad Industrial

Guatemala. Abril 27 de 2009

El Truco del Manco

Una pelicula bien chula. Para ver una entrevista sobre ella pulse AQUI

Cualquier persona quien sabe donde se puede encontrar esta peli en un formato adecuado para los DVD en EEUU, por favor, que me avise. Gracias!

Musical Recommendations:

Ingravitto - Macaco
Dani and the crew of Macaco have made a career of skillfully crafting grooves that mix equal parts flamenco, reggae & dub, pop and hip-hop into a potent brew. Personal favorites:
Mama Tierra - a great song raising environmental awareness of the lasting damage being done to the planet. Available on iTunes.

Young Folks (single) - Peter Bjorn & John
This song, with its light, breezy melody and 60s-reminiscent pop sound, while not brand spanking new (I think it came out in the middle of 2007), certainly captured my attention. Plus, the video is kinda nice, in a creepy way. It has an eerie-looking, pastel hand drawn look about it with an animation style that looks like a comic strip or moving paper dolls.

Sadat X - Black October
Great album. Judging from the lyrics, Sadat sounds like he's on his way to do a short bid. Insightful lyrics speak to the things he'll miss while inside as well as the situation that led him to this end. Support one of the great 'lunchbox emcees' in the business.

Wal-Mart vice president to speak at College of Law Earth Day Celebration

Wal-Mart vice president to speak at College of Law Earth Day Celebration


WHAT: To celebrate successes and address challenges in protecting the Earth’s environment, Florida International University’s College of Law will host its 4th annual Earth Day Celebration. The theme of the event will be “Overcoming Challenges to Sustainability in a Global Society.” Topics will include how law relates to issues of environmental protection and quality, and how FIU is addressing sustainability issues. A question and answer period will follow the discussion.

WHO: Phyllis P. Harris, vice president of environmental compliance at Wal-Mart Stores will be the distinguished keynote speaker. Harris is responsible for developing corporate environmental compliance programs for 4,200 Wal-Mart stores across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Previously, she served as the deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) at the United States Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C.

WHEN: Wednesday, April 22 at 1 p.m.

WHERE: Rafael Diaz-Balart Hall Auditorium 1000, FIU College of Law, 11200 SW

8th Street, Miami, FL 33199. The event is free and open to the public. Lunch will be provided.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Carlton Waterhouse, associate professor of law, at 305-348-7263 or carlton.waterhouse@fiu.edu.

A nice article by Andrew Manis

This was in the Macon Telegraph.

By Dr. Manis
When Are WE Going to Get Over It?

For much of the last forty years, ever since America "fixed" its race problem in the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, we white people have been impatient with African Americans who continued to blame race for their difficulties. Often we have heard whites ask, "When are African Americans finally going to get over it?

Now I want to ask: "When are we White Americans going to get over our ridiculous obsession with skin color?

Recent reports that "Election Spurs Hundreds' of Race Threats, Crimes" should frighten and infuriate every one of us. Having grown up in "Bombingham," Alabama in the 1960s, I remember overhearing an avalanche of comments about what many white classmates and their parents wanted to do to John and Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Eventually, as you may recall, in all three cases, someone decided to do more than "talk the talk."

Since our recent presidential election, to our eternal shame we are once again hearing the same reprehensible talk I remember from my boyhood.

We white people have controlled political life in the disunited colonies and United States for some 400 years on this continent. Conservative whites have been in power 28 of the last 40 years. Even during the eight Clinton years, conservatives in Congress blocked most of his agenda and pulled him to the right. Yet never in that period did I read any headlines suggesting that anyone was calling for the assassinations of presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, or either of the Bushes. Criticize them, yes. Call for their impeachment, perhaps.

But there were no bounties on their heads. And even when someone did try to kill Ronald Reagan, the perpetrator was non-political mental case who wanted merely to impress Jody Foster.
But elect a liberal who happens to be Black and we're back in the sixties again. At this point in our history, we should be proud that we've proven what conservatives are always saying -that in America anything is possible, EVEN electing a black man as president. But instead we now hear that schoolchildren from Maine to California are talking about wanting to "assassinate Obama."

Fighting the urge to throw up, I can only ask, "How long?" How long before we white people realize we can't make our nation, much less the whole world, look like us? How long until we white people can -once and for all- get over this hell-conceived preoccupation with skin color? How long until we white people get over the demonic conviction that white skin makes us superior? How long before we white people get over our bitter resentments about being demoted to the status of equality with non-whites?

How long before we get over our expectations that we should be at the head of the line merely because of our white skin? How long until we white people end our silence and call out our peers when they share the latest racist jokes in the privacy of our white-only conversations?

I believe in free speech, but how long until we white people start making racist loudmouths as socially uncomfortable as we do flag burners? How long until we white people will stop insisting that blacks exercise personal responsibility, build strong families, educate themselves enough to edit the Harvard Law Review, and work hard enough to become President of the United States, only to threaten to assassinate them when they do?

How long before we starting "living out the true meaning" of our creeds, both civil and religious, that all men and women are created equal and that "red and yellow, black and white" all are precious in God's sight?

Until this past November 4, I didn't believe this country would ever elect an African American to the presidency. I still don't believe I'll live long enough to see us white people get over our racism problem.

But here's my three-point plan:

First, everyday that Barack Obama lives in the White House that Black Slaves Built I'm going to pray that God (and the Secret Service) will protect him and his family from us white people.

Second, I'm going to report to the FBI any white person I overhear saying, in seriousness or in jest, anything of a threatening nature about President Obama.

Third, I'm going to pray to live long enough to see America surprise the world once again, when white people can "in spirit and in truth" sing of our damnable color prejudice, "We HAVE overcome."


Andrew Manis is author of Macon Black and White and serves on the steering committee of Macon's Center for Racial understanding.
It takes a Village to protect our President!!!

Forbes magazine breaks the shocking news: the US is NOT a meritocracy!

Oh Heavens, where will it all end?

Billionaire Clusters
by Duncan Greenberg
Wednesday, April 1, 2009provided byForbes

Want to become a billionaire? Up your chances by dropping out of college, working at Goldman Sachs or joining Skull & Bones.

Are billionaires born or made? What are the common attributes among the uber-wealthy? Are there any true secrets of the self-made?

We get these questions a lot, and decided it was time to go beyond the broad answers of smarts, ambition and luck by sorting through our database of wealthy individuals in search of bona fide trends. We analyzed everything from the billionaires' parents' professions to where they went to school, their track records in the early stages of their careers and other experiences that may have put them on the path to extreme wealth.

Our admittedly unscientific study of the 657 self-made billionaires we counted in February for our list of the World's Billionaires yielded some interesting results.

First, a significant percentage of billionaires had parents with a high aptitude for math. The ability to crunch numbers is crucial to becoming a billionaire, and mathematical prowess is hereditary. Some of the most common professions among the parents of American billionaires (for whom we could find the information) were engineer, accountant and small-business owner.

Consistent with the rest of the population, more American billionaires were born in the fall than in any other season. However, relatively few billionaires were born in December, traditionally the month with the eighth highest birth rate. This anomaly holds true among billionaires in the U.S. and abroad.

More than 20% of the 292 of the self-made American billionaires on the most recent list of the World's Billionaires have either never started or never completed college. This is especially true of those destined for careers as technology entrepreneurs: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Larry Ellison, and Theodore Waitt.

Billionaires who derive their fortunes from finance make up one of the most highly educated sub-groups: More than 55% of them have graduate degrees. Nearly 90% of those with M.B.A.s obtained their master's degree from one of three Ivy League schools: Harvard, Columbia or U. Penn's Wharton School of Business.

Goldman Sachs has attracted a large share of hungry minds that went on to garner 10-figure fortunes. At least 11 current and recent billionaire financiers worked at Goldman early in their careers, including Edward Lampert, Daniel Och, Tom Steyer and Richard Perry.

Several billionaires suffered a bitter professional setback early in their careers that heightened their fear of failure. Pharmaceutical tycoon R.J. Kirk's first venture was a flop--an experience he regrets but appreciates. "Failure early on is a necessary condition for success, though not a sufficient one," he told Forbes in 2007.

According to a statement read by Phil Falcone during a congressional hearing in November, his botched buyout of a company in Newark in the early 1990s taught him "several valuable lessons that have had a profound impact upon my success as a hedge fund manager."

Several current and former billionaires rounded out their Yale careers as members of Skull and Bones, the secret society portrayed with enigmatic relish by Hollywood in movies like The Skulls and W. Among those who were inducted: investor Edward Lampert, Blackstone co-founder Steven Schwarzman, and FedEx founder Frederick Smith.

Parents Had Math-Related Careers

The ability to crunch numbers is normally a key to becoming a billionaire. Often, mathematical prowess is hereditary. Some of the most common professions among the parents of American billionaires for whom we could find that information were engineer, accountant and small-business owner.

September Birthdays

Of the 380 self-made American tycoons who have appeared on the Forbes list of the World's Billionaires in the past three years, 42 were born in September--more than in any other month. Maybe that's because September is the month the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans is published.

Tech Titans Who Dropped Out of College

Forget everything your guidance counselor told you: You don't have to go to college to be successful. More than 20% of the self-made American moguls on the most recent list of the World's Billionaires never finished college. Many of them made their fortunes in tech. Among them: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Larry Ellison, (Oracle) and Theodore Waitt (Gateway).

Skull and Bones

Several current and former billionaires rounded out their Yale careers as members of Skull and Bones, the secret society portrayed with enigmatic relish by Hollywood in movies like The Skulls and W. Among those who were inducted: investor Edward Lampert, Blackstone co-founder Steven Schwarzman and FedEx founder Frederick Smith.

Goldman Sachs

A stint at investment bank Goldman Sachs is a prime credential for becoming a finance billionaire. Of the 68 self-made American billionaires that derive their fortunes from finance, at least eight cut their teeth in Goldman's investment banking, trading, or asset management divisions. The company's crown jewel: its "risk arbitrage" unit, which launched the careers of billionaires Edward Lampert and Daniel Och, as well as former billionaires Tom Steyer and Richard Perry.

Click here for the full list of billionaire clusters.
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