Climate Control and The Arctic Meltdown

As we have all probably seen in the news, our world has turned into a furnace instead of a freezer in certain parts of the world. In the Arctic, that is located right next to Greenland and Canada, the glaciers and ice are beginning to melt due to increase in temperatures. With this increase there are shrubs that are starting to form on the ice that will then cause the ice to melt even quicker. Studies have shown that ice loss in Antarctica has increased to 75% from 1996 to 2006. This amount of ice loss is equal to water shortages for up to one billion people in the future. The ice is very important to the animals and the humans in the world today. The animals in Arctic such as the Polar Bear, the Seals, the whales and the Peary Caribou rely on the cold weather to bear their children and to live on. The humans also need this ice because it is keeping a huge supply of water for future generations. We all know that we will always need water to survive. The animals in the Arctic as well as Greenland and Canada, need the water to survive on. These animals face extinction within 10 years and the glaciers could be ice-free. The glaciers are beginning to melt because of the fossil fuels and CO2 that is pushed into the air everyday from Industries, Manufacturers and Tar Sands.

The problem with the world today is that there are too many people who could care less about what they do to the world. They don’t think about their consequences for future generations and the animals that are striving to live. Some people are being selfish by not trying to recycle and reuse things. Within the United States we have tried to be more “Green” by making Green roofs and recycling things. One organization that I came across while doing my research on Arctic melting was Greenpeace International. This is an independent global campaigning organization that supports Mother Nature. They are trying to make the world a better place by making meaningful contributions to the world around them. One thing that Greenpeace has stood up against is the Tar Sands, also known as oil sands, which reside in Alberta, Canada that is owned by Shell. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHOerF5pWRA&feature=player_embedded ) They went into the Tar Sands on their own and made the people stop their engines and stop digging and drilling. According to Greenpeace scientists, Tar Sands are one of the biggest energy products in the world. Tar Sands are places where wilderness is turned it into toxic lakes, mines and refineries. These are the biggest suppliers of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions that are affecting the climate. One of these things is making a difference at the UN Climate Summit this year in Copenhagen, Denmark. This Climate Summit is a meeting in December of 2009, with all the world leaders to discuss a plan that they can obey to help earth and the people and animals within it. Greenpeace has come up with a good plan for the world. Here are their demands and solutions. Developed countries must, as a group, reduce emissions by at least 40% by 2020, we need to invest 140 billion a year for developing countries to be able to adapt to climate change, switch to renewable energy and stop deforestation, and deforestation must end by 2020. These things can all help the world. By stopping deforestation we can help the world clean itself up. The trees and plants can help clean the air, but we must also reduce the emissions that are being made by companies and industries. By having renewable resources available people are more apt to using them and to help the world.

I was searching for an idea in a science magazine found in the library. I was reading about how polar bears and seals were at risk of extinction. That is what originally attracted me to the climate change idea. Once I decided to look online for the same idea, I came across Greenpeace, which inspired me to look at how humans can change the horrible future that we see ahead of us. The impact of changing out actions is a huge impact on the world. We cannot stop global warming completely, but we can begin to slow down the impact that emissions have made on the environment. We can start taking down the polluters in this world to better the earth for the future generations to come. Scientists Paul Johnston made Greenpeace to take care of Mother Nature since she cannot take care of herself. There are 6 scientists that specialize in different parts of science, such as David Santillo who specializes in Organic Analytical chemistry and Environmental Protection.

Climate change is a big part of science because climate change is affecting the organisms, animals and humans in the world. We cannot enjoy the world if we do not take care of it. Science is when people who are knowledgeable of scientific studies experiment and use facts to build upon their knowledge. The scientists have observed the Arctic, as seen in the videos available on the Greenpeace website, and they have also kept record of the changes that have occurred in the Arctic and surrounding areas, noticing the dramatic change that the temperature rise has had on the environment. The scientists used our own knowledge of the disasters in the world to compare it to what we have not seen yet.

If you look back at the Iceman from the West on Page 10, you can see that the environment at that point was not polluted allowing the man to live a very long life, if he hadn’t have died. He had the food that he needed to live off the land. If we did not have the glaciers to hold him, he would have been at the bottom of the water and we would not have had this discovery to talk about. We heard that he had eaten venison and vegetable matter and some wheat, but if you look into the future you can see the environment declining because since the increase in temperature, the crops that used to be grown cannot survive. There has been a decrease in the growth of wheat, barley and maize. The animals cannot survive with the loss of vegetation and the loss of ice.

I hope you all enjoyed these ideas for solutions as much as I did!

Sources:

1. Gilbert, Marie. "Scientists Seek New Emphases on Climate Change Research." Bio-Medicine.org. Bio-Medicine, 10 Sept. 2009. Web. 24 Sept. 2009. http://www.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-1/Scientists-seek-new-emphases-in-Arctic-climate-change-research-9881-1/.

2. Johnston, Paul. "Greenpeace Climate Vision." Greenpeace.org. Greenpeace International, Jan. 2009. Web. 26 Sept. 2009. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports?related_item_id=89447.

3. Johnston, Paul. "Stop Climate Change." Greenpeace.org. Greenpeace International, Jan. 2009. Web. 25 Sept. 2009. http://weblog.greenpeace.org/climate/arctic_meltdown/.

4. Johnston, Paul. "WWF WARNS THAT MANY SPECIES FACE EXTINCTION." Greenpeace.org. Greenpeace.org, Jan. 2009. Web. 26 Sept. 2009. http://archive.greenpeace.org/climate/database/records/zgpz0633.html.

Hero of War

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpnWgCVfAxw

This is a song by the band Rise Against. It was released on the album "Appeal to Reason" which was released in 2008. The music video was released in 2009. I located the video on Youtube. Rise Against is a band which formed in 1999 and has seen a few changes in their lineup. Appeal to Reason is their fifth album.

The song and music video are about the wars in the middle east. The song follows the journey of a young soldier who enlists in the armed forces, travels to the middle east, and then returns home. He starts out naive and excited, thinking hes going to go out and see the world. He then moves on to boot camp where through the rigors of training he develops a strong bond with his fellow soldiers. In his excitement he declares that he'll be a hero and when he returns home everyone will be proud. However, things start to change once he makes his way to the middle east and begins his operations. He captures his target, and his fellow soldiers took the man away and beat and torture him. The soldier experience inner turmoil at the situation, and tries to tell them to stop, before caving and participating himself. He then tries to convince himself that what he is doing is necessary, and that he is going to be a hero.

Later on a woman walks towards him and he tells her to stop, but she continues to move. Fearing a potential threat, he shoot and kills the woman. However, as she falls to the group he sees that she is holding a flag that is "white as snow." A white flag signifies surrender. He becomes anguished and distressed, which is conveyed in the song through a small change in the chorus. Instead of saying "A hero of war, yeah that's what I'll be. And when I come home, they'll be damn proud of me", it changes to "A hero of war, is that what they see? Just medals and scars, so damn proud of me." The song then finishes with the soldier returning home, and a repeat of the beginning of the song when the recruiter asks him if he'd like to see the world. Through this Rise Against emphasizes the change he went through, from a light hearted young man who thought he was going to see the world, to a scarred soldier.

The aesthetic theory of this song would seem to be the Instrumental theory. There is a definite political opinion in this song. The songs purpose is to have an impact on society by pushing across the point that war, and specifically the wars in the middle east, are unnecessary, and our young soldiers are having experiences which are scarring them permanently. Through this medium, they hope to increase awareness on what they view as the senselessness of war, and the effects it has on those who participate. The members of Rise Against are expressing themselves through the medium of music in order to attempt to raise community awareness about a very current and relevant issue. It is definitely art.





Sources:


Rise Against. “Hero of War.” 2009. Online video clip. YouTube. Accessed on 22 September 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpnWgCVfAxw.


Johnny Loftus. "Rise Against Biography" Yahoo! Music. Web. 22 Sept. 2009. http://new.music.yahoo.com/rise-against/biography/

M-Theroy and Parallel Universe

When Einstein died he left behind unfinished work about the ultimate way to describe the universe and how it works. The two theories quantum mechanics and they theory of relativity hate each other and do not work well together. Many scientist and been trying to find something to bridge the gaps and find one theory to describe the universe. In the 1980’s physicists came up with a new theory S-Theory or String Theory. It started to explain all the mysteries of the universe. Particles are not in fact solid point as recently believed they were. In fact they are very small strings that randomly vibrate. But after many years of debate and study they have upgraded S-Theory to M-Theory or Membrane Theory. So particles are not just made up of tine vibrating strings but also membranes. But in order to make this theory we have to assume that there is in existence eleven different dimensions! M-Theory states that we all live on a giant and highly energetic membrane that is tethered to this wall by other visible dimensions that all floats around in the bulk. It also states that the other dimensions that we cannot see are incredibly small are in fact a lot closer then we have believed before. If you pick a point anywhere in the room, at that point there will be six or seven other dimensions that are curled up on that point but we are unaware of them. All that we see is not all that there is! M-Theory goes into great detail and length about the possible different universes. There are four different types of possible parallel universes!

The level one parallel universe is actually in the same universe as our, but is so far away from us that we cannot see it. It has been theorized that that are an infinite number of level 1 parallel universe in our own universe or now called the multiverse. So that means that every possible outcome of whatever could happen has happened in one of the universes.

The level 2 type parallel universe is described as giant ‘soap bubbles’ that float around in hyperspace. They theorize that the universe expanded so rapidly that is formed a giant ‘bubble’. These ‘bubble can clash with one another and even spawn baby brother and sister ‘bubbles’.

The level 3 universe differ from the level 1 and level 2 but one key factor. Level 1 and level 2 parallel universes are separated from us by time and space. In level 3 these copies of our universe are living in the exact same time and space as us. We cannot see them because they are separated from us by a different dimension that is in the same place! And to make matters even crazier there are an infinite amount of them as well! This means that there are multiple copies of you living multiple different lives. So the moment that you make a fleeting thought your whole body and the entire universe makes a quantum leap and into a separate universe where you make the other choice!

Even if you believe that this is very hard to believe think about this. It is a fact that electrons can disappear, reappear, and even be in two places at once. So if the whole universe is made out of atoms that have electrons that means the universe can be in two places at the same time so then you come to the conclusion that there has to be parallel universes!

The level 4 type universes are created either by quantum fluctuations or by membranes clashing together. In these level 4 universes are very different then the other level universes. In these universes all the rules that we know that govern the world and universe as we know it does not exist! In this level 4 universe the universe could just be a whole bunch of gas and particles that float around. The galaxies and worlds that we hold dear today would not form.

The scientists in the FERMI national acceleration laboratory located in Illinois are working right now to prove the existents of any one the four level universes. They are doing this by colliding particles at close to the speed of light and try to make the gravitons jump to different dimensions.

M-Theory has major effects on the scientific community. The implications of Parallel dimensions and universes are mind blowing. This could even have an effect on morality. Think about this that if you commit a crime in some universes you will actually get away with that crime. So why not commit that crime know that you might get away with it?

Wow that is a lot of writing I hope you have enjoyed my BRIEF summary of M-Theory and parallel universes as much as I did! This is one of the movies I have watched to find out information on it. the video is part 1 of 5. i am sorry but angel will not let me post the url as a hyperlink. so you will have to do it by copy and paste.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWIyam5cAko

Sources

Kaku, Michio. Parallel Worlds A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos. New York: Doubleday, 2004. Print.

Kaku, Michio. Physics of the Impossible A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel. New York: Doubleday, 2008. Print.

Parellel Universes. Perf. Michio Kaku. Parellel Universe. BBC, 12 July 2007. Web. 22 Sept. 2009. .

Parellel Universes. Perf. Michio Kaku. The History Channel, 2008. DVD.

Body Modifications

Just a warning you guys!!! This video is really graphic! :-/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OunA04eqrUA

JonathamO. "YouTube - World´s Strangest Body Modifications (Part 1)." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 26 Mar. 2009. Web. 15 Sept. 2009. .

This 21-year-old YouTube creator is from Portugal and has the username of JonathamO. It was created on March 26, 2009. There isn’t much background on the YouTube artist other than he compiled these images and has sequels to the video (parts two and three). In an excerpt about himself on his homepage, Jonatham O states, “Someone said one time on the comments that I am the World Strangest Uploader, and probably I am, my name is Jonathan and I have this channel to make videos about the strange things, the marvels in the world, I’m a bit crazy and I love good music, so I make research in the internet about interesting stuff and then combine them with a good music, like you can see in my videos…” He has almost eight million views of his videos so far.

This video really drew me in because it is so unusual. Body modification is a controversial topic because some people view it as “disgusting” yet others think of it as “cool”. There is definitely a “yuck” factor in this video. Some of the images made me cringe. However, I believe that the people who have these body modifications are looking to be different and are looking for some sort of reaction out of people whether it is good or bad. Many people believe that the body is made how it is supposed to stay. Others believe that they should be able to do whatever they want to their body because they own it in a sense. I love these sorts of controversial topics because it makes people talk and react to something that usually isn’t seen everyday.

The subject of this video is the most unusual body modifications. I believe that the artist is trying to show how far some people will go to truly express themselves and make a statement with their bodies. The artist of the video uses graphic images to get reactions out of his audience and subtle, calm music to go with what is being viewed. Whether or not the artist of the video uses calm music to contradict the harsh, graphic images or to try to calm the audience while they are watching the video is somewhat unknown. I think he used the music medium in both ways.

Body modification is art in my opinion. Artists sometimes paint something or draw something depending on what mood they are trying to convey. I feel people use body modification as a way to express inner emotions and feelings directly on their own flesh and bones (literally). Because of this, I believe that body modification represents the emotionalist view in Anderson’s “Quartet of Traditions”. However, it can be argued that body modification represents the instrumental view as well. When people get modifications done to their bodies, they are making an impact on others who look at them in different ways. Body modifications also make a significant impact on society and other art forms. The mimetic view can also be seen throughout this video. Those with the split tongues can sometimes represent a lizard and the burned wings in the back of others could possible represent an angel of some sort, etc.

I believe what we are talking about in class definitely relates to this video. Some people who view these people call them monsters or ugly. Others think it’s interesting and beautiful. I think these different views that people have can be seen with not only body modification, but in other art forms as well whether it be a painting or a tattoo. The “ancestor” of this art could date back to times when cultures made women had to wear rings around their neck to make it longer because it was perceived as beautiful. Other ancient body modifications can also be seen in Egypt where piercings represented the love of beauty. Body modification has been a form of ancient expression thousands of years ago and thousands of years to come.

Imagine Peace Tower

http://imaginepeace.com/news/imagine-peace-tower

This art piece is by Yoko Ono, the widow of John Lennon. This piece of art is dedicated to John, and was revealed on October 9, 2007. That day would have been John’s 67th birthday. It is located on Viðey Island in Reykjavík, Iceland. Yoko Ono is an artist, musician, and a filmmaker. A lot of her main work was done in the 1960s-1970s, and she was a huge fan of conceptual, experimental, and performance art (avant garde). John Lennon and Yoko Ono were very much into political activism. On their honeymoon in Amerstam they held a bed-in for peace at the Hilton Hotel from March 25-31. They knew that the press would be interested, so they invited them into their hotel room everyday from 9 in the morning until 9 at night. They held a second bed-in located in Montreal beginning May 26. They did the bed-ins to promote world peace. As a result to the Montreal bed-in, they recorded the song, “Give Peace A Chance.”

Ono, Yoko. Imagine Peace. 20 Sept. 2009. 20 Sept. 2009 ( I keep trying to post the link here, but it won't work for some reason.)

I was drawn to this piece of art because it was created by Yoko Ono. Her activism for human rights and peace has always fascinated me (it also helps that she was married to a Beatle =]). This specific project was especially interesting because it is a memorial to John Lennon, along with a continuation of their joint peace activism campaign. The story behind the tower is what I found most fascinating. The Imagine Peace website states that the idea of the tower was simply abstract over 40 years ago. Ono had listed on her Conceptual Sales List that she sent out to people who continuously followed her artwork. It was listed as a “Light House” and was described as, “A house constructed of light from prisms, which exists in accordance with the changes of the day.” In 1967 John asked Yoko if she would build one for his garden. She said she couldn't because it was simply conceptual, she made his dreams reality with this this Imagine Peace Tower.

The Imagine Peace Tower has the words “imagine peace” inscribed in 24 languages on the base of the tower. Ono wishes to have the tower of light emerge every year starting on John’s birthday, October 9th, and ending on the anniversary of his assassination, December 8th. It is illuminated two hours after sundown and lasts until midnight. The tower is also illuminated during Winter Solstice, December 21-28, New Years Eve, and during the first week of spring, March 21-28.

The subject of this piece of art is peace. The light tower is expressing a feeling. The piece is aesthetically pleasing, and gives a peaceful, angelic feeling. A technique that connects viewers to the piece of art has to do with another project of Ono’s called “Wish Trees.” The Wish Trees have been apart of her exhibitions all over the world. She invites people to write down their personal hopes for peace and to tie it to a tree branch. Over 500,000 wishes collected by Ono were buried under the Imagine Peace Tower. The writing of peace in all different languages located on the base of the tower seems to represent peace being universal. She isn’t trying to make peace happen in just one area of the world, it is supposed to be a collective act. The pictures of the Imagine Peace Tower are breathtaking, and the message and belief behind it is very empowering.

Art in my opinion has to evoke some sort of emotion. I have to get a feeling from looking, watching, or hearing the piece of art. I like when art is thought provoking. The Imagine Peace Tower is instrumental art. It was built with a specific purpose. The purpose is to memorialize John Lennon, and to represent peace.

The ancestors of this work can start at the beginning of time. There has always been fighting and wars, and there have always been people who have wished that the violence and hostility would stop. This piece also shares DNA with architecture that is built for art, also known as public art. Viewers of art can form their own opinion about what message a piece of art is trying to relay, the Imagine Peace Tower simply states it’s broad purpose.

The Gates

http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/tg.shtml

Christo and Jeanne-Claude

The Gates, Central Park, New York City

The process of the design, proposal and installation of The Gates spanned from 1979-2005.

The original designs for Central Park included gates that would close the park off to the public at night. When the actual gates were designed though, they were deemed too intricate for the park and the designers threw the idea of gates away. The concept stuck, however, and although no gates were actually present, the various entries to the park are referred to as gates. This is what originally inspired Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s idea for The Gates. On January 22, 2003, Mayor Bloomberg approved their proposal for a temporary installation of 7,503 of Christo’s gates in Central Park, which was completed on February 12, 2005. The installation was short; only 16 days, but the impact it had on visitors to the park during that time was phenomenal.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude have designed and installed a number of exhibitions in their years working together, including The Umbrellas in Japan and the USA, The Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin, and Wrapped Trees in Fondation Beyeler and Berower Park in Riehen, Switzerland.

Church, Jok. ""Christo and Jeanne-Claude"" Web. 18 Sept. 2009. <http://http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/tg.shtml>.

I was drawn to this installation for a number of reasons. Firstly, my uncle was one of the volunteers that worked for two weeks install the gates, and on the opening day, my family and I went with him to view the final product. Also, to many, The Gates were not considered art. Many thought that the entire process was wasteful, and didn’t fully appreciate the impact that Christo and Jeanne-Claude envisioned. I was included in this group of people until I further studied them in one of my high school art classes. It was then that I discovered the beauty of the contrast between the grays and browns of the park in winter and the bright saffron gates that moved through Central Park like a fiery river.

Even if a viewer does not consider the actual installation of The Gates to be art, they must consider the photo-like drawings that Christo and Jeanne-Claude rendered as part of their proposal for the installation. The careful planning and intricate care that they took in making this installation happen is truly amazing.

I would consider this piece of the formalist or emotionalist aesthetic view of art. The piece has no purpose other than to raise a reaction from the viewers. Also, the process in which I was put together involved 600 volunteers assembling the gates for a two week period, which provided them to be involved in creating one of the most well known pieces of contemporary public art.

Although many artists gain inspiration from another piece of art or item in their everyday life, I think that Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s installations are truly innovative and original. It is hard to connect a temporary installation such as The Gates to a masterpiece that has been displayed in museums and bartered for at auctions, however, like every artist, this pair was using their skills as designers and artists to convey their vision to their audience.

For What It's Worth

The lyrics and music for the short film are originally from 1967 by the acclaimed classic rock group Buffalo Springfield.

This music clip can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehzRS8mZOFM

It was comprised and posted on YouTube on January 02, 2008 by: http://www.youtube.com/thegratefulred

This piece consists of the YouTube artist, as well as the profound musical group Buffalo Springfield. The YouTube artist is referred to as "thegratefulred." She compiled the pictures, alterations, and dramatic effects to flow with the music, and really attribute to the heartfelt meaning and symbolism of Buffalo Springfield's unforgettable music creations. This YouTube artist has created and posted several other pieces. In addition, Buffalo Springfield is a remarkable group of musical artists.

Buffalo Springfield may have only been together for about too many years, but they were such a fundamentally outstanding muscial group, that they consequently set the stage for the country-rock and folk-rock music which really came about and expanded in the 1970's. In addition for leaving the roots for the presently popular American cultured style and movement. Not to mention the fact that Buffalo Springfield originally produced two of rock’s greatest guitarists in Neil Young and Stephen Stills.

This musical piece has always stood out to me as a remarkable song with hopefully aspirations and the purpose of motivating peace, to have love and compassion, and to end war and save lives. In particular, I love this particular video for the song because of how perfect it is with the peaceful images and anti-war pictures. This video clip flows together very poetically and wonderfully outspoken with symbolism, and motivation for a better way of life during a time overrun with war and suffering. It brings the lyrics, images, and music itself together in a very moving and inspirational way, as well as being purely enjoyable and aesthetically pleasing.

This is absolutely a delightfully enjoyable and thought-provoking piece of art. This is due to the immense musical talent and creative ability that was demonstrated in the poetic lyrics and musical sequences, as well as the collaboration of images and intermediate aspects to bring the entire piece together into an easily enjoyed music video.

When actually considering this work's aesthetic properties and value, the Instrumental and Emotionalist Theories would be most useful out of Anderson's "Quartet of Traditions." Specifically, this visual and musical piece strongly evokes powerful feelings and emotions, hence the Emotionalist Theories; in addition to it demonstrating it's ability to be a social, political, and possibly spiritual tool to hopefully motivate and improve life concerning the Instrumental Theories. It can be view many possible ways, as the supposed "ancestor" of this work being opera and musical creations within the distant past, as well as the most recent history; not to mention the photograph being the primary visual "ancestor," with the composition of countless photographs and possible digital images which collaborate together to perfect this piece of art.

I hope this has been aesthetically pleasing for everyone, especially since classic rock means a great deal to me, significantly with the immense emotional creativity and poetic symbolism.

Sources:

http://www.reasontorock.com/tracks/for_what_its_worth.html

www.rockhall.com/inductee/buffalo-springfield

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehzRS8mZOFM

www.youtube.com/thegratefulred

Elizabeth Crawford--Slam Poetry

This is a poem entitled “Pretty.” Katie Makkai performed this piece at the National Poetry Slam, a performance poetry competition where teams from across the country participate in a large-scale poetry slam. This piece is from the 2002 competition.

It is hard not to pay attention when someone begins a slam poem. Clearly it is different from just reciting or reading a poem out of a book. The feeling and raw emotion behind the words is what draws me to this art form; you can see from this clip that by the end of the piece the artist is almost crying with the depth of her emotion. The poets really feel the words they are saying, and that shows in their performances. In this particular piece, Makkai is expressing her detestation for the word “pretty” and questions society for making young women feel insecure about themselves. She recounts the story of her mother trying to “fix” her, as if how she was wasn’t enough, and vows that no daughter of hers will ever be considered “merely pretty,” because that word could not define everything she will be. The personal journey that Makkai relates to the listener really helps us to understand what is being expressed, as does the passion she uses to relay how important this subject is to her.

In my opinion, this slam poem is art because it is something that took the artist time, skill, and effort to produce. It makes the audience think hard about the subject and presents it in an accessible way, which, to me, is a characteristic of art. The theory from the Quartet of Traditions that best describes this piece is the Emotionalist theory because it explores psychological experiences and feelings. The name of this theory says it all: this piece is about expressing emotion.

The ancestors of this work of art date back to the time humans first started communicating. Oral traditions and storytelling are similar to slam poetry because in order to tell a good story it must be able to grab the listener and hold their attention. To do this it must be filled with emotion so that it is relatable to the audience. Every culture has a history of oral traditions, but one that stands out to me is African traditions. According to Central Oregon Community College, “traditionally, Africans have revered good stories and storytellers, as have most past and present peoples around the world who are rooted in oral cultures and traditions. Ancient writing traditions do exist on the African continent, but most Africans today, as in the past, are primarily oral peoples, and their art forms are oral rather than literary.” The stories of African cultures are often performed alongside songs or dances, incorporating the performance aspect of slam poetry. Another form of art that could be considered to share DNA with slam poetry is the bards and troubadours of medieval times. Though, according to the University of Idaho, the stories of the bards and troubadours were performed in the form of songs, the element of orally and emotionally recounting events is still present, especially since a song can be considered a type of poem.

I hope you enjoyed this video as much as I did! Have I opened your eyes to a new form of art and expression that you didn’t know about before?


Sources:

Makkai, Kate. “Pretty.” 2002. Online video clip. YouTube. Accessed on 8 September 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6wJl37N9C0.

Agatucci, Cora. "African Storytelling." Central Oregon Community College, 2008. Web. 8 Sept. 2009. http://web.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/hum211/afrstory.htm.

"Bards, Music, and Arthurian Legend." University of Idaho, 13 Apr. 1997. Web. 8 Sept. 2009. .

This piece of art work is titled Dying. The Artist, Alex Grey, is a modern day visionary. He creates art that shows the universal image of the human being. He creates his art by a combination of meditative techniques and entheogenic substances to achieve visionary levels of consciousness . He then translates that to his art.

"Death and Dying." Erowid, Sept. 2005. Web. 7 Sept. 2009. .

I was first introduced to this work through the band Tool. Alex Grey does the art work for Tool. Alex Grey makes art about subjects that greatly interest me and his art shows a level of universal depth that really is not seen in most contemporary pieces.

The subject expressed is death and the departure from the body. The painting depicts the final veil of life being lifted as the being departs from the body. The artist chose to use a perspective that implies the being is moving toward the infinite and the unknown. While one could infer plenty from this depiction the subject matter is one that is impossible to truly know.

This piece of art is very instrumental in understanding Death and the process of dying and thus viewing this piece of art one would most certainly use the instrumental theory.

This piece of art does not exclusively share with any particular culture or tradition as it is meant to depict the universal nature of death and its relation to humanity.

-Eric Geller