AMS Group B Challenge (Medium) for TAM B

Which arm belongs to Venus de Milo?

We are responding to the definition of medium [3. Physical material or form used by artist, composer, etc.] by juxtaposing it with "a particular form of storage for digitized information, such as magnetic tape or discs" (definition for medium found in New Oxford American Dictionary).

Using the example of theatre and performance, we find that scripts and performances can be mediums for storage and archiving; however, once a performance ends--once the curtains fall--it is irrevocably lost. Performance is a medium for communication between actor/director and spectator/audience, but the medium is lost when the performance ends. Perhaps this hypothetical performance was recorded for archival purposes, now the digital media (a derivative of medium) is the medium for a new host of spectators to receive the performance.

We find that medium for performance and art is quite vast, while the word medium is simultaneously quite limited when referring to storage. Yet this is the same word...

If an artist sculpts with the medium of clay, but no one is there to look at it (to receive the performance or image), is clay still a medium?

WAR Group B CHALLENGE transition for AMS Group B

Transition

Original/ general definition is:

process of change of one form of state, style or place to another.

Refine:

Aristotle's 'anagnorisis' - transition of the tragic hero's state of mind from ignorance to knowledge, learning something about the plot and themselves.

Challenge:

Our group finds the refining definition too finalized a state. The kind of transition that brings about anagnorisis is more about being initiated into a new state and frame of mind than moving from point to point. After the realization and insight is obtained, there is a sense of stability and finality that accompanies anagnorisis. Transition, for us, is more closely affiliated with on-going movement and fluidity. Transition allows for both regression and progress, while anagnorisis is not supposed to include regression as a possibility.

In addition, anagnorisis carries with it an intrinsically positive connotation that is not inherent in transition. Transitions can be multi-directional, and do not always propel a social actor towards progress or enlightenment.



Both the general definition and the refinement seem to place emphasis on things being in one state or another or going from one state to another. We feel that it is equally important to be conscious of the states of in-betweenness or liminality that comes with transitions. It might be more beneficial to approach the term without thinking in polarities e.g. unknowing and knowing.

WAR Group C CHALLENGE [FLOW} for AMS Group C

TAM Group C Ua Kristina Jocelyn DEFINITION [Flow] for WAR Group C FLOW (v.):

1. to move along in a stream: The river flowed slowly to the sea.
2. to circulate: blood flowing through one's veins.
3. to stream or well forth: Warmth flows from the sun.
4. to issue or proceed from a source: Orders flowed from the office.
5. to menstruate.
6. to come or go as in a stream: A constant stream of humanity flowed by.
7. to proceed continuously and smoothly: Melody flowed from the violin.
8. to hang loosely at full length: Her hair flowed over her shoulders.
9. to abound in something: The tavern flowed with wine.
10. to rise and advance, as the tide (opposed to ebb).

Flow (Psychology):
the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity (Mihály Csíkszentmihályi 1990).

Challenge: Of the above definitions we’d like to focus on the psychological concept offered by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi as it offers a different path from the definition of 'flow' that we sent to Amsterdam. Looking at the etymology of Csíkszentmihályi 's theory in more depth: "Flow is so named because during Csíkszentmihályi's 1975 interviews several people described their 'flow' experiences using the metaphor of a water current carrying them along.[2] The psychological concept of flow as becoming absorbed in an activity is thus unrelated to the older phrase "to go with the flow" which means "to conform"." This seems to suggest that one experiences a false passivity during a state of 'flow', evidenced by the use of the analogy to water, which relates to definitions 1 and 6 from above. We would contend that this may perhaps raise concerns about the experience of 'flow' and the ability to measure one's responses and feelings in this state. Two of Csíkszentmihályi's components of flow are "A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness, the merging of action and awareness" and "Distorted sense of time, one's subjective experience of time is altered". Therefore, this would seem to indicate that an accurate portrayal of what the true state of 'flow' is can be hard to measure, or in fact impossible to understand outside of a highly subjective account.

Interestingly, Csíkszentmihályi also proposes a notion of 'group flow' in which members work together to achieve 'flow'. The methods for achieving this goal appear to involve several highly performative aspects, including working on one's feet, etc which is a stark contrast to the perceived image of the psychiatrist's couch. This is interesting to consider in how it relates to the very different definitions of 'flow'.