STAFF POSTING FROM BAZ ABOUT HEADINGS

The keywords analysis is developing already in intriguing ways, so many thanks indeed for all your inputs so far. But please note that it is important to identify in your posting Title/Heading which group you are a member of, especially if you are making an individual posting. Otherwise it will become very difficult to track back through the threads of various keywords as more postings are added as the Project evolves. Please check back to the Using the Blog guidelines document for suggestions about how to do this.

Key word - Flow

Flow in the Merriam Webster online dictionary:

1 a (1): to issue or move in a stream (2): circulate
b: to move with a continual change of place among the constituent particles
2: rise
3: abound
4 a: to proceed smoothly and readily
b: to have a smooth continuity
5: to hang loose and billowing
6: to derive from a source : come
7: to deform under stress without cracking or rupturing —used especially of minerals and rocks

Etymology:
Middle English, from Old English flōwan; akin to Old High German flouwen to rinse, wash, Latin pluere to rain, Greek plein to sail, float

I am interested in the psychological notion of flow and what this can mean in relation to performance (performing and reception):
‘[...] flow, or optimal experience, [is] related to many similar experiences that share the same structural attributes - deep concentration, a sense of control and freedom made possible by a balancing of challenges and skills, and a continuous development of meaningful complexity - experiences that follow immersion in religious rituals, in athletic competition, or in the performance of music or playing chess, in fact, any of a great number of structured interactions with the environment that result in deep enjoyment.’
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly, The art of seeing. An Interpretation of the Aesthetic Encounter. 1990, Getty Publications, p.182

AMS Group 1 Challenges Cosmopolitanism (Ty, Helen, Catherine, Jenna)

COSMOPOLITAN: adj. 1) having worldwide rather than limited or provincial scope or bearing 2) having wide international sophistication: worldly 3) composed of persons, constituents, or elements from all or many parts of the world

Challenge:

We think that it is very fashionable and almost prestigious now to be cosmopolitan, for example in European cultural funds.

It is probably directly connected with the EU and all the efforts which are made politically to keep this new conglomerate together.

And naturally artists/performing artists are on the for front of the cosmopolitan fashion. Not that it is a negative thing to be fashionable, but a lot of times fashionable tendencies and in this case cosmopolitanism start to be commercialized or shall I say become a capitalistic pursuit. And in art this tendency makes you question if there is still space for artistic values left then.
Image :

Enterprener, nomadic artist, theater maker from Singapore Ong Keng Sen
and his recent project where he chose artists, representing different countries with either cultural or political issues, and organised the presentation of their work in Europe . We saw it in Rotterdam.

He invited Belarus theater, performance artists from Riga, Turkish film maker, Tunisian musicians to name few. The cosmopolitanism of this enterprise is obvious, but what we felt at the presentation of this project was that the unsettling issues (either political,cultural or financial) which each of the participants have in their local context were somewhat exploited and represented in almost commercial way, usually used to sell the new hip gadget for example. It was done probably to fit into the new fashion of being cosmopolitan and thus popular with cultural funding of EU.

Key Word "OBRAZ" (образ)

1. Appearance, shape, exterior; aspect; character
2. Live, evident representation about someone or about something. That sees, dreamt, seems in imagination. A copy, a mould, a print in consciousness of the phenomena of the objective validity.
3. The generalised art perception of the validity given the shape of the concrete individual phenomenon. Character, the type created by the artist, the writer, the actor. Art reflexion of ideas and feelings in a sound, a word, paints, etc. the Evident image of any phenomenon through another, more concrete; comparison, likening.


The most equal word in english language is:
Image
1) a representation or likeness of a person or thing, especially in sculpture
2) an optically formed reproduction of an object, such as one formed by a lens or mirror
3) a person or thing that resembles another closely; double or copy
4) a mental representation or picture; idea produced by the imagination
5) the personality presented to the public by a person, organization, etc.
(Collins Dictionary)

1) a picture or statue of somene or something
2) a picture seen on a television or computer screen, through a lens, or reflected in a mirror
3)a picture in the mind
4)a word or phrase describing something in an imaginative way; a simile or metaphor
(Oxford English Dictionary)

This notion correlates also with such english words as:

Conception

1) something conceived; notion, idea, design, or plan
2) the description under which someone considers something her conception of freedom is wrong
3) the fertilization of an ovum by a sperm in the Fallopian tube followed by implantation in the womb

4) origin or beginning from its conception the plan was a failure

5) the act or power of forming notions; invention

Character
1) the combination of traits and qualities distinguishing the individual nature of a person or thing 2) one such distinguishing quality; characteristic

3) moral force; integrity

4) capacity, position, or status he spoke in the character of a friend rather than a father

5) a person represented in a play, film, story, etc.; role

Icon
The picturesque image - usually on a board - Jesus Christ, the Mother of god, sacred, scenes from the Scriptus, etc.

Manner
a way of doing or being

Type
the general form, plan, or design distinguishing a particular group

Pattern
1) an arrangement of repeated or corresponding parts, decorative motifs, etc
2) a plan or diagram used as a guide in making something
3) a standard way of moving, acting, etc
4) a decorative design; style



Mode
1) a manner or way of doing, acting, or existing
2) the current fashion or style.


Sources: Collins Dictionary, Oxford English Dictionary

AMS Group 1 Challenges Cosmopolitanism (Ty, Helen, Catherine, Jenna)

A Challenge to Cosmopolitanism: Amsterdam vs. Europe

It is not difficult to imagine Europe, or at least the "Europe" (European Union) that is circumscribed by the bureaucrats in Brussels-- who, we should not forget, granted us the permission and funding for this MAIPR programme-- as one huge and growing cosmopolitan region. This cosmopolitanism is perhaps one of the more visible results of the EU project. The opening of national borders and adoption of the Euro in most nations, among many other developments, may have allowed most of its constituents to develop a "worldwide, rather than limited or provincial scope", imbuing them with a sense of worldliness, of a "wide international sophistication" (Merriam-Webster Online. 18 September 2008). Being European, can therefore be considered being cosmopolitan.

In the effort to realize a cosmopolitan Europe, the EU project may have also stifled habits and practices that characterize the particular cosmopolitanism(s) of the member states. The Netherlands was one of the original members of the EU, and it's capital, Amsterdam, has always been well known for it's liberal thinking attitudes; however, now there is a slow but concerted attempt to eradicate legalized prostitution. The EU does not subscribe to decriminalization of marijuana or the legalization of prostitution, and therefore Amsterdam continues to receive funding in support of campaigning against these two things which make the city unique. Owners of the famous windows in the Red-Light district are being bought out by the city, and slowly but surely more and more windows are branded "I amsterdam" and filled with mannequins that stare blankly at passers-by and wear the latest fashion trends. Even the landmark penis fountain (photo above), considered to be the symbol of the red-light district, has been removed. This is in line with the new policies from Brussels that aim to homogenize--er, harmonize-- practices all over Europe.

While we are not going to make a stand on the ethics and politics of prostitution in this space, we find it odd and contradictory that an increasingly "cosmopolitan" Europe would stamp out what, in our minds, makes Amsterdam, well, cosmopolitan. It seems that in this instance cosmopolitanism is becoming more analogous to homogenization and conformity than to broadening our views about the world. 

Keyword – falhanço

FALHANÇO, the act or effect of failing; being unsuccessful; mistake; defeat; fiasco

failure, lack of success, act of failing
a person attempt that fails
«As a writer he was a complete failure»
the non-performance or non-production of something
«She died of heart failure»

fiasco, a complete failure of something planned

mistake, something done wrongly or that should not have been done; to think wrongly that

Sources: Dicionário Houaiss da Língua Portuguesa, Temas e Debates
Dictionary of English and Culture, Longman

Ta-Da!

Keyword: Ta-Da!

Defined in the Oxford American Dictionary as:

ta-da (also ta-dah): exclamation; an imitation of a fanfare, used typically to call attention to an impressive entrance or a dramatic announcement. 

ORIGIN late 20th cent.: imitative

I chose this word because it is a word that is often used within the subculture of the University of Alberta (in Canada), my previous institution. It originates from a teacher, Jan Henderson, who works primarily in the area concerning the healing power of humor. She teaches clown and our introductory performance classes.

The meaning behind ta-da, is to embrace or celebrate your mistakes and failures, and then move on. The idea is that we all make mistakes, especially during the creative process, but there is no use dwelling on them. She gives us 5 seconds to dwell on them, and celebrate them by exclaiming "ta-da!", and then we are expected to move on and continue to be productive.