Monthly Archives: February 2015

Architecture

For this week’s blog, I wanted to stray a little further from the standard idea of what is considered art. After all, there wasn’t a specific medium that must be used. And since we are studying in PA, I thought it would of interest to find a work of art in this state. That’s how I came to research about the architecture Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater. In general, this blog will be focused more on the building itself rather than my thoughts.Screen Shot 2015-02-26 at 12.16.44 PM  Screen Shot 2015-02-26 at 12.16.15 PM

Here’s a background on this building. Located in Run Mill, PA, this building was first built to be a vacation house for Edgar Kaufmann and his family. At that time, Wright was unemployed and when Kaufmann approached him, he jumped to the opportunity. Fallingwater, as suggested by the name, resides somewhat in the woods and is located over a stream that eventually becomes a mini-waterfall. Now, this well known building is a museum. It is the only major house designed by Wright that is open to the public to view.

According to Wright, Fallingwater is a building that brings together man and nature. It suggests the possibility of living in harmony with the world around us and of appreciating the waterfalls, the forest, and the cliff on which the house was built upon.

While I wasn’t able to visit this site, I did do a bit of research on the exterior and interior of Fallingwater. The building itself is made of stone pieces that have a varying degree of thickness and length to create an aesthetic effect. From the outside on the trail, it is hard to see the building because the trees are blocking the view. However, upon rounding a corner, the building steps out into full view in an attempt to wow the viewer. In addition, there is a huge separation between the noise from the outside and inside of the house. From the outside, you can clearly hear the rushing sound of the waterfall just below the house. (However, it is interesting to note that from the balcony, you cannot see the waterfall itself. This was to make sure that this spectacle was not daily seen and would maintain its grandeur.) From the inside of the house, it is mainly quiet and serene. The center point was the fireplace what was carved from a boulder and had a spherical kettle that could swing above the fire. Also, Wright sometimes bent the structure of the house to incorporate the surroundings in an attempt to show harmony of man and nature. For example, a ceiling structure went around a tree that was growing there. The hallways had the boulder in the corner. The ceilings were either open or covered with glass. And finally, an open staircase led down directly to the stream under the house.Screen Shot 2015-02-26 at 12.16.37 PM

Wright himself carefully designed everything ranging from the foundation to the furniture and art of the house. The main theme was to have different layers that sometimes protruded from all sides and to have a sense of the horizontal and vertical feel. As stated before, the outside of the building showed the different pieces of stones. In addition, the different floors of the building crossed each other so there were terraces that protruded outwards on all sides – there weren’t the normal four sides of a building present. As for the furniture, many tables had a smaller foundation/support and an overlarge top. Artworks were often simple sculptures.

Overall, after looking through all the pictures and reading about Fallingwater, I would definitely say it is worthy to be called a work of art!

Resources:

“Fallingwater: Extraordinary Beautiful Waterfall House in Pennsylvania By Frank Lloyd Wright | Home Reviews.” Home Reviews. Home Reviews, 2011. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.

“Fallingwater | Home.” Fallingwater. Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, 2015. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.

Videoteca Pretérita. “Falling Water Frank Lloyd Wright.” YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.

A New Type of Energy Source

We have already talked about wind energy and geothermal energy. Each one had their pros and cons. For this week’s civic issues blog I want to talk about a lesser-known replaceable energy source. Take a guess – this source can provide a large amount of energy, it is not limited to only producing electricity, and a slight accident can cause homes to be evacuated and panic near the area. This type of energy is nuclear energy.

It is kind of hard to fully explain how a nuclear reaction works in order to generate energy. However, I can try to explain the basics. The structure that produces the energy is in the form of a radioactive uranium bundle. Uranium is an element that had spontaneous fission, meaning it breaks apart and releases energy. However, in order to speed up the action to generate a larger amount of energy in a shorter amount of time, the nuclear plant uses induced fission, meaning that fires a neutron at the Uranium to split it apart. Heat and radiation is released. The heat from this reaction is used to boil the water that surrounds the bundle and turn it into steam. This steam is what is used to turn the turbine and give energy to the generator to convert the energy into electricity. Also, an interesting this is that the water also has another function: it cools down the bundle and prevents overheating and melting. Without this function, there will be leakage of radioactive substances.

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First off I will talk about the pros of nuclear energy. The most obvious benefit into using this type of energy is that we will not have to rely on fossil fuels. There will be less greenhouse gases being released because of the stop or slowing down of the use of fossil fuels. In addition, research has already been found about nuclear energy and there are already a lot of nuclear plants around the world today. Thus, it would be fairly simple to incorporate more plants in different places. In addition, the amount of energy that is being provided by nuclear plants has been significant so far. In fact, in March 1, 2011, it was estimated that “there were 443 operating nuclear power reactors spread across the planet in 47 different countries. In 2009 alone, atomic energy accounted for 14 percent of the world’s electrical production. [And] In the United States, 104 nuclear power plants supply 20 percent of the electricity overall, with some states benefiting more than others” (Brian et.al).

As for the cons, there are some that really need to be given full attention to. The biggest concern when it comes to nuclear power plants is the chance of leakage. Take for example instances like the Three Mille Island or the event in Japan that was caused by an earthquake. If sudden natural occurrences like tornados or earthquakes can cause radioactive products to diffuse into the air and harm those living around the plant, the question becomes more difficult. After all, radioactive substances cannot be looked down upon – the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima prove this point. It has been shown that rather than the explosion itself the most deadly was the radiation that killed most people in a painful death. According to the website http://www.atomicarchive.com, many symptoms can occur and can range from hair loss, seizures, killed nerve cells, a destroyed thyroid, and increase vulnerability to infections, heart failure, diarrhea, vomiting of blood, and sterility. In addition that that concern, there are smaller concerns like where to dump the toxic waste, a long construction time, and that uranium sources are limited.

Overall, there are really large questions that must be answered before we look deeper into this possibility of using nuclear energy as a substitute power source for the fossil fuels. The wind power and geothermal power had the main issue of having a really high initial investment and the limiting factor of where the source can be set up. For nuclear plants, this is not an issue. Plants can be built almost anywhere. However, with nuclear power, one must be very cautious of radiation leakage. Perhaps at a certain level of risk, it would be much better to just forget about this source of power because the risk on humans greatly outweigh that of the benefits of more energy.

 

Resources:

Brain, Marshall, and Robert Lamb.  “How Nuclear Power Works”  09 October 2000.  HowStuffWorks.com. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-power.htm> 26 February 2015.

Presidio Buzz. “Nuclear Energy: Pros and Cons.” Triple Pundit RSS. TriplePundit, 23 Feb. 2009. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.

“Radiation Effects on Humans.” Radiation Effects on Humans. AJ Software & Multimedia, 2015. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.

“The Persistence of Memory”

If I were to describe my week, it would be “busy”. Insanely busy. Thus, I decided that for this blog post, I would find a piece of artwork that focused on the aspect of time. Which lead me to finding about this painting by the Spanish artist Salvador Dali called The Persistence of Memory. At a first glance, I would say that this painting is rather interesting. It raised a lot of questions. What did the melting clocks mean? That time is limited? And why do the cliffs in the background seem to stand out so much? What is the red oval in the in the far left corner of the painting? What are the small, black dots on it? How about the figure in the middle? Is it a horse? A rock? A bush? These questions essentially led me to do some research.Screen Shot 2015-02-19 at 3.17.01 PM

According to legomenon.com, the artist himself described it as “hand-painted dream photographs” (Shabi). This relation of the artwork and dreams seem to make sense. If we look at the painting, we can see different things that could suggest a setting of a dream. First of all, the melting clocks are unrealistic. There is a random hard thing in the top left corner that looks like a metal table in the middle of what seems like a deserted area. There’s a weird object in the middle of the painting that isn’t quite an object or a living organism. However, there’s a part of the painting that is rooted in reality – most of the objects are easy to be identified. The cliffs in the background are detailed and the shading is good. Thus, we can conclude that the painting is stating something about reality versus dreams.

Thus, we can look at the main symbol being used: clocks. Supposing that this painting is in a dream, we can say that the clocks (or time) are melting. However, in reality clocks are hard and do not yield to pressure. Perhaps what Dali wanted to state that time is soft or weak when in the dream state. If taken literally, the painting can mean that when in dreams and separated from reality, time doesn’t mean anything – it is slowly fading into nothing. Another piece of evidence to this idea is the red object in the bottom left corner. Upon further inspection, we can see that it is another type of clock – probably a picket watch. The black dots on the watch are ants. By placing ants on the watch, it makes it seem as though time is decaying and slowly wasting away.

Another aspect of the painting is the contrast between the meaning that the painting is showing and the title of the painting: The Persistence of Memory. If time is wasting away, then why would memory be persisting and never dying? Perhaps this a satire what Dali was using, to further emphasize that memory and time are twisted in the dream world (or the mind where dreams occur) and that perhaps memory isn’t everlasting and correct.

 

Resources:

Shabi, K. “Salvador Dali Persistence of Memory: Meaning of the Melting Clocks.”

Salvador Dali Persistence of Memory: Meaning of the Melting Clocks.

Legomenon Online Literary Journal & Magazine, 29 May 2013. Web. 12 Feb.

2015.

MLK Speech

How does MLK begin reframing the discourse around his activities involving civic disobedience? What is you response?

– MLK basically is reframing the discourse around his activities involving civic disobedience by saying pointing out how they (him and the people who follow him) are not in the wrong. First off, he addresses the clergymen in a polite voice. And in this voice, he points out that it was too late to keep postponing the right for freedom. He points out the injustice towards everyone and how logically they had to do something. In addition, I thought that it was really critical that he point out that they had no choice but to do something like breaking the law because the law was wrong.

What is your response to MLK’s explanation of non-violence?

– I would say that MLK’s explanation of non-violence is quite interesting. I understand that if fighting against fellow humans could cause riots and result in more hatred. By using violence, one can end up enforcing the idea that they were harmful/rude. In addition, by having non-violence, one can be respected. However, the problem is that non-violence can lead to nowhere/everything would move very slowly. In addition, just being non-violent doesn’t mean that other’s won’t be non-violent.

What are your thoughts on the in-group tensions and dynamics that both Malcolm and MLK attempt to confront?

– I feel that in-group tensions are not really about thinking for the best of the people, but rather due to corruption. Especially for Malcolm, those at the top were for money and power. As for MLK, he faced opposition in the area of the type of strategy to fight for freedom – one for doing nothing and one for going all out. He had to try to find the middle ground.

Malcolm’s Speech

I would say that Malcolm’s rationale for the creation of this organization is because he felt that the initial goal was starting to be lost because of the tactics that the previous group was trying use. Rather than fighting against each other, Malcolm wanted to make the Organization of Afro-American Unity to join all Africans together to fight against the prejudice. And rather than just sitting there passively, he wants to take action – fast and hard. One way of doing so is to learn to become more independent from whites, whether it is in the education aspect, increasing voters, and building their own community. Through building the community, one could essentially refine one’s culture, language, etc. It’s no longer following the “white” people’s rules, but being proud of being “black”.

My interpretation of the self-defense policy that Malcolm talks about is that it is okay to be violent. And instead of being a crime it would be called self-defense. This is all due to the fact that it is silly that they should stay there doing nothing and allowing the bullies to continue to bully them. Instead, according to the self-defense policy, when one is being bullied they have the right (second amendment to bear arms) to fight back to regain that freedom or right. And all this is possible through the law.

In this speech, education is such an important component because without education there is so much that can be hidden. By being educated one has more ability to stand up for what they believe in and have more of a say. It’s harder for others to look down on you if you are more educated or just as much as them. Thus, by changing the education for their children, they are essentially building up the next generation to fight against prejudice.

Geothermal Energy

Last week I mentioned about wind energy and its pros and cons. I mentioned that wind energy is renewable and doesn’t take up too much space if planned well but requires a large initial investment and can potentially affect animals. This week, I am going to focus on another form of green energy – geothermal energy. So what is geothermal energy? Well, if we split the word up into “geo” meaning earth and “thermal” meaning energy, we can see that it is the energy that is found underneath the Earth’s surface. This form of energy is not something new. In fact, in the past, geothermal energy in the form of heat was used to heat homes and baths. Some have even turned it into a business – hot springs resorts. However, the conversion of this energy into electricity is another thing in itself.

So where exactly does this energy come from? To put it generally, geothermal energy comes from three different sources: volcanoes, geysers, and hot springs. But more specifically, it is a little bit more complex. Underneath the earth is molten rock called magma. This is where the temperature is really, really hot. And around the depth of 10,000 meters, the temperature is hot enough to boil water. Thus, when water leaks into this area, it starts to boil and turns into steam. By building a network of geothermal heat pumps underneath the ground, we can capture the steam and force it upwards to the ground level. Once we have this steam, we can lead it to turn turbines and activate generators – and eventually generate electricity.

Let’s take a look at the advantages first. One of the more obvious benefits of geothermal energy is that is produces no pollution and is a renewable form of energy that is constantly providing energy 24/7. There will be no CO2 being spewed into the air and a geyser or hot spring area is not going to say “well, it’s already 2 am in the morning, I think I’m going to take a rest.” Seeing that we are now seeing a decline in fossil fuels and facing problems like global warming, these two factors are a big plus. In addition to being renewable, geothermal energy can be found around to world today. There will not be one country heavily depending on another. In fact, America has quite a few areas there geothermal energy is readily available – the western states, Hawaii, and Alaska. And according to the Geothermal Energy Association, in 2013, America had about “3,386 MW of installed geothermal capacity” (“Geothermal Basics Current Use”). In addition, as stated before, geothermal energy is not only used for electricity – in its heat form, it can be used to heat the home and baths. Therefore, we do not have to worry about things like burning fossil fuels to do so. And finally, investing in geothermal energy would mean more jobs for those who live around there – a benefit for those who are currently unemployed.

However, many of these benefits are overshadowed by problems/disadvantages. The first and most important disadvantage is that many of the areas that can provide geothermal energy are located in areas that have a high frequency of earthquakes and volcano activity. Thus, while there are lots of potential areas to gather geothermal energy, the possibility of placing either homes or factories under danger makes many think twice. Due to this high possibility of constant damage, many companies are unwilling to finance the building of geothermal heat pumps. Add that with the fact that initial investments are high and suddenly there are a lot less sponsors. In addition, solutions to this problem are rare because the transport of geothermal energy is difficult as well. There are few factors in this problem. First of all, transporting hot steam is really difficult. Secondly, there is a possibility of harmful gases being released along the way. Therefore, in order to use geothermal energy, you need to be in that same area. The last disadvantage is that while geothermal energy is renewable, it is still possible that the area can lose steam. How? If too much water is injected or if the temperature falls too sharply, it can affect the boiling of the water into steam.

 

Resources:

“Alternative Energy Sources – Solar, Wind, Geothermal, Biomass, Ocean and Other Energy Sources.” ConserveEnergyFuture. Conserve Energy Future, 20 Jan. 2013. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.

“Geothermal Basics Current Use.” Geothermal Basics Current Use. Geothermal Energy Association, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.

Artwork at Work

For this week, I wanted to deviate from the normal definition of “artwork”. Since the last two blogs featured artwork that was just looked at for fun, I thought that perhaps I could show how artwork can be used for a more active purpose and the extent to which they might be or might not be useful. As you can see below, this time I am focusing on two different advertisements.

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Let me give you a brief introduction for the advertisement on the left. It is a National Geographic 3D crocodile ad that was posted at the bottom of an escalator in Brazil. The words on the top are translated to be: “Ready for an adventure through the Brazilian forests? Wild world with Richard Rasmussen.”

The advertisement on the right is a lot easier for us to understand – this was painted on the set of stairs and was advocating for the movement for more disability friendly buildings.

When I first saw these two advertisements, I must say that I was surprised. Unlike more advertisements I had seen before, these two certainly caught my eye. However, I would say that one is much more effective than the other in multiple ways.

For the National Geographic advertisement, I would say that the main function of the ad is to shock people and thus leave an impression on their mind. This part was very well done. By having the advertisement being 3D makes it stand out – who wouldn’t notice a really realistic looking crocodile at the bottom of the stairs? In fact, when I first saw it, I had thought that it was real. Having the crocodile poking out of the water as if it was about to launch itself at you certainly guarantees that the advertisement won’t be forgotten. However, there were a few things that could have hurt the advertisement’s purpose. First of all, I kind of feel that this scare is a little bit too much. Because it is at the bottom of the escalator, some people may be paying attention to what is at the bottom, especially if there happens to be people in front of them. The shock of being faced with a 3D picture of a dangerous creature could lead to them jerking back and possible stumbling/tripping. If this does happen, it would be hard to have a good impression. In addition, when reading the translation, it was hard to understand what the advertisement was about in one glance. Was it promoting the TV show? Was it promoting touring the Brazilian forests? Was it advertising the Rasmussen man himself? Overall, I would say that this advertisement was too eye catching and wasn’t as effective as it could have been.

On the other hand, I thought that the artwork of Mt. Everest was really effective in communicating the message. First of all, the purpose was clearly stated: building more disability-friendly areas. I thought that it was a brilliant idea to put the ad on the stairs – a place that posed a challenge for some. In addition, by having Mt. Everest looming so high up, even if it was someone that didn’t mind stairs, all of a sudden it seems a little harder.

Personally, I would say that sympathy would work more effectively than shock or fear in an advertisement. What would you say?

Pictures from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2572059/The-National-Geographic-3D-crocodile-escalator-advert-Brazil-thats-TOO-realistic.html

Artist’s Drawing of an Artist

After last week’s famous “Starry Night” piece of artwork, I thought about focusing on a different type of art – one that is simple and easy to understand. After doing a little bit of research and browsing through quite a few good art websites, I decided on one of Pawel Kuczynski’s drawings. Unfortunately I couldn’t find out the title of this piece.

Screen Shot 2015-02-04 at 2.58.51 PMhttp://www.artfido.com/blog/paintings-that-will-make-you-question-everything-wrong-in-this-world/

And while I would really like to have given you a short biography on him, his webpage is in polish…so I am going to focus more on the drawing itself. But I’ll just leave you with one thing I do know about his artwork: they are meant to make you think a deeper and pay attention a little more to the world around you.

I would say that the thing that first captured my attention when I was scrolling through a pile of pictures was the contrasting colors. In the sea of brown stands a huge puddle of sky blue and hidden in the background is a pool of red. It made me wonder: why that choice? Looking at the scene being depicted, the brown does seem to fit in. A person is dead – nothing to be happy about. But that leads to the question about the blue and the red. Why does it seem like the dead man and his last moments seem to be the most interesting out of all there is to offer in the world? I think that there are many interpretations. One possible way to look at this is that Kuczynski is commenting about the life of the artist. It always seems that artist never really gets appreciated for anything he does until he’s dead. Suddenly, the prices increase sharply and everyone’s fighting over the last of his art. But what about the artist? Instead of getting that reward, he or she usually dies penniless. Another way of looking at this artwork focuses on the spilled paint itself. Looking closer, you can see that the blue paint is like the image of the sky. Perhaps Kuczynski was saying that unlike most of the men in suits, it is the artist that is able to appreciate the beauty of the world around them. Hence, the contrast between the paint and the dreary surroundings. Another, somewhat similar, interpretation is that Kuczynski was mourning over the loss of another artist. Must the artist die in the middle of the road to catch someone’s attention? Perhaps he was in the middle of painting the sky and fell. But rather than attention towards the artist who was trying so hard to bring something valuable in people’s lives, everyone is focusing on the spilled paint.

But of course, any of these ways of looking at this drawing can be what Kuczynski was aiming for. Hey, maybe all of them are correct in one way or another. What do you think this painting represents in relation to our modern day society today? Why is the background brown? Why is the artist seen in such clothing in comparison to everyone else? Why is everyone looking away from him? Why the sky?