Slow Art Boston – amazing
Michelle May, Payal Kripalani and the other artists at eInvite, who hosted Slow Art Boston and Slow Art Worcester this last weekend, described their Slow Art experience today on their corporate design blog (and posted many photos).
Slow Art was pretty amazing! I walked away from my museum falling in love with the work of Redon, learning about the tale of a long lost Del Sarto found in a church attic here in town, and seeing the excitement one “Slow Art-ee” felt when she saw the signature on a Albrucht Dürer woodcut print.
And here’s a photo of two participants looking at an El Greco.
Thanks to Payal and Michelle for hosting Slow Art this weekend – and for their blog post.
See their whole piece here.
Dawkins “Greatest Show on Earth”
New York Academy of Sciences, partner to Darwin150 and the Reading Odyssey, is hosting Richard Dawkins tonight in New York talking about his latest book, “The Greatest Show on Earth.” This book is squarely about evolution – and few write as well about evolution as Dawkins. I’ll be at the private reception and his subsequent talk. I look forward to meeting Dawkins. I’ve always loved his writings on evolution.
The event is over-sold and protestors are expected. Of course, our Darwin150 project is used to protest. We have removed thousands of creationist attacks from our Facebook page since we started it in January 2009.
We have a volunteer team whose only job is to constantly remove creationist attacks from the Darwin Facebook group. As soon as we ban and delete one attacker, another pops up.
With 250,000+ members celebrating Darwin, I supposed we should expect that we’d become a lightning rod for creationist attacks.
Homer Odyssey – Books 9-16 Study Guide Questions
Study Guide Questions – Discussion #2 Books 9 – 16 Reconciliations
9-12 Odysseus’ wanderings, “reconciling” Poseidon’s curse
1. Book 9 – wise leader?
Odysseus is often referred to as “wily, crafty and wise.” How wise of a leader is he in the events of Book 9 concerning the Cicones (pp. 126-127), Lotus Eaters (127), and Cyclopes (128-140)? How much of these hardships are Odysseus’ own fault? How much of these hardships are pre-determined by prophecy?
2. Book 10 – crew morale?
In Book 10, morale among Odysseus’ crew continues to decline. How do
the events of Aeolus’ bag of winds (pp. 141-143), Laestrygonians
(143-145), and Circe (145-157) contribute to the decline in morale of
the crew? What do we learn about Odysseus’ leadership and his
cleverness? Just when Odysseus is able to rescue his crew from
Circe’s bewitchment, he is notified of a very dangerous voyage he must
make to Hades. With Circe’s help, Odysseus must consult Tiresias the
prophet. Why? (see Books 10 & 11)
3. Book 11 – Hades
In Book 11, the shades/ghosts of many reveal themselves to Odysseus at
Acheron, the entrance to Hades. Before talking even to his mother
Anticleia, Odysseus makes sure to talk with Tiresias first. Then
Odysseus allows himself to talk to his mother and other famous Greek
women who appear. What is the significance to the plot of mentioning
these various Greek heroines (pp. 164-167)? As Odysseus continues to
tell of Agamemnon, Achilles and other famous Greek men, what does this
panorama of shades suggest about the Greek concept of Hades? of
Odysseus’ own fears?
4. Book 12 – Odysseus alone
How do the series of adventures in Book 12 (Sirens, Scylla, Oxen of
the Sun, Thunder & Lightning, Charybdis, Calypso) compare to the
series of adventures (Books 9-10) before Odysseus’ trip to Hades (Book
11)? Book 5 opens with Odysseus alone and Book 12 ends with Odysseus
alone. Now that Odysseus has come full circle in his flashbacks, what
is the relatonship between Odysseus and his crew? How are Odysseus’
feelings compounded by the lack of a crew?
13-16 Odysseus’ return to his native land, “reconciling” with Telemachus
5. Book 13 – Ithaka
In Book 13, Poseidon is not happy with the Phaeacians for conveying
Odysseus home safely. Given what happens to the Phaeacians in
response to Poseidon’s feelings, how is this action just? What does
Zeus think about it? Why does Zeus have anything to do with this?
Athena appears to Odysseus as he wakes up on his own island. What
part does she play in helping Odysseus? As clever as Odysseus is, why
would Athena’s help be necessary at this stage of the epic?
6. Book 14 – Hospitality revisted?
In what ways does Book 14 illustrate the ancient custom of
hospitality? How does hospitality in this chapter compare with the
hospitality of the Phaeacians (Books 8-13) or Nestor (Book 3) or
Menelaus (Books 4 & 15)? In Book 14, Odysseus tells two long tales
about both his origin and an incident with a cloak during the Trojan
War. His stories are inspired by Athena, the goddess of wisdom. How
does Odysseus balance the level of fiction with the level of truth in
his stories?
7. Book 15 – Piety
In Book 15, both Odysseus’ and Telemachus’ piety (i.e. duty to the
gods) is revealed in auguries (or bird signs). How do the auguries
support the intertwining of Odysseus’ and Telemachus’ lives? How does
Telemachus’ piety show with respect to Theoclymenus? How does
Eumaeus’ piety show with respect to Odysseus? According to Greek
thinking, is Telemachus’ and Odysseus’ reunion left to chance in any
way? In many ways, this book is about origins. Why do you suppose
Homer chose this moment to unveil Eumaeus’ origin, Theoclymenus’
origin and even information about Odysseus’ father, Laertes and
mother, Anticleia? What do Eumaeus’ and Theoclymenus’ stories tell us
about nobility as an inner quality or characteristic of a person?
8. Book 16 – Telemachus and Odysseus
As dawn breaks at the opening of Book 16, Telemachus arrives safely to
the swineherd’s hut. Before the day is over, he will be re-united
with his father Odysseus. Having been only an infant when Odysseus
left for Troy, how does Telemachus recognize his father? Why then
does he still doubt his senses? (see pp. 245-246). How is Penelope’s
character defined in this book? Ignorant of Odysseus’ return, what do
Penelope’s actions reveal about her situation with the suitors? How
does Eurymachus’ pretending contrast with Penelope’s honesty about the
situation? By the end of the day, Eumaeus returns to his hut and
Telemachus asks about the plot against him by the suitors. How do
Telemachus’ and Odysseus’ pretending contrast with Eumaeus’ honesty
about the situation?
Smithsonian Magazine covers Slow Art
The Smithsonian Magazine
covered Slow Art today. Thanks, Smithsonian – you really got the idea. And thanks for the great tortoise photo. Here’s the beginning of the article:
I think most of us are familiar with the adage, “steady and slow wins the race.” So why is it that art museum visitors spend their time observing artwork as if they were at the supermarket? Given that they like what they’re looking at (why else would they blow all of eight seconds?) that really only allows enough time for the following train of thought: “Oh, that’s pretty… I rather like that… I wonder if they have this on a postcard at the gift shop… Crap, I don’t have any cash on me. Do they accept credit here?… Ooo! What’s that over there?”
Read the whole article here.
Thanks, Phil
Slow Art Ukraine
I received a lovely note from a Ukranian curator talking about a recent piece of performance art he curated at the national museum in the Ukraine.
See his text below and the attached documents.
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His attention was continually moving from observing his own physical movement, the sensations of the museum space around him, and the artwork he was looking at. Meanwhile, visitors circulated through the gallery. They expressed varying degrees of interest in the performer: some observed him from close up, some asked questions, some ignored him completely, while others were drawn by his concentration to stare at the same icon.
I have attached the curator’s text, press release, and a few photos from the event. If you are interested, please feel free to contact me for more information. Good luck with Slow Art on Saturday. Best wishes,Larissa Babij
And here’s the press release and curator’s notes:
Thanks,
Phil
Welcome
The Reading Odyssey, a non-profit, aims to reignite curiosity and lifelong learning.
Marathon2500 Anniversary Celebration
Registration is open for Marathon2500, the celebration of the 2,500 year anniversary of the Battle of Marathon. The Reading Odyssey’s Marathon2500 features free 8-part web/phone-based lecture series and multiple sections of Herodotus (phone/web-based reading groups).
Visit our Marathon2500 website
Sign-up for the next Marathon2500 lecture, Tue. Oct 7 at 7pm ET:
Free registration and info
Register or find out more about the Herodotus reading groups:
Free registration and information
Find out more about Slow Art Day
Archives of past reading groups
Aeschylus Aristotle Darwin Homer Herodotus Old Testament
Plato Thucydides Team of Rivals Seeking Wisdom
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Slow Art at American Art
Jeff Gates, Lead Producer New Media Initiatives at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, is co-hosting Slow Art in DC with Georgina Goodlander and her staff at the Luce Foundation Center. Jeff has written a lovely blog post on Eye Level about the Slow Art movement and what they are doing at American Art to participate.
Jeff, as his title suggests, is a leader in online technology and social media. He, however, also always emphasizes the importance of face-to-face interaction.
He sees Slow Art as a way of building and extending online relationships and, of course, as a way to support museums and appreciate art.
Jeff says in his Slow Art at American Art blog post:
Social media is really hot right now. It’s a good way to bring our content to the surface and connect with people interested in our museum and our artworks. I always tell people, however, that there is nothing like face-to-face contact, and no social media app can compete with that. Twitter, blogs, and Facebook, after all, are only conduits for connecting people.
I, of course, agree and am glad to have the support and leadership of someone like Jeff and the staff at the American Art Museum.
If you are in the DC area this Saturday, October 17, then I encourage you to sign-up for the free Slow Art in DC.
Otherwise, Slow Art is in 16 cities. See all the events listed here.
Phil
P.S. If you go to DC, then you get to see this wonderful David Hockney.
Flavorpill features Slow Art New York
Flavorpill featured Slow Art New York at the top of their weekly issue.
Leah Taylor, managing editor, opened up the issue with this:
Stop and smell the… art? I’m all for taking a breather, for relaxing my power walk, but this week, Slow Art takes it to a whole new, sloth-like level, challenging MoMA visitors to spend anywhere from ten minutes to an hour on a single piece of art. It’s an intriguing experiment for us hurry-up-and-wait New Yorkers, and (I should think) a particularly difficult one — even for the most discerning and deliberate arthounds.
Thanks, Leah and the good folks at Flavorpill. See the current issue here.
Or see the screenshot here:
Google Wave – wait?
At the Reading Odyssey the goal is to use the simplest technology to engage adults in playing with the greatest ideas of humanity. We don’t get excited about technology for technology sake.
We use Twitter, Facebook, blogs (obviously), websites, webcasts, Citrix Online’s HiDefConferencing and Citrix Online’s GoToWebinar, Campaign Monitor and others tools and technologies in the service of our reading groups, phone and web lectures, conferences, Slow Art events and online campaigns.
We have been watching the development of a new Google product, Google Wave, since last May. It is hard to overstate the level of chatter and expectation (and hype) about this new Google product.
Google Wave seems quite complex. According to even TechCrunch, a major source of the Google Wave hype, “Wave is much more complicated than Twitter, and that could well be a downside.”
Charlie Munger, one of the Reading Odyssey’s Accidental Advisors (meaning he doesn’t know he’s advising us) suggests setting filters for vetting new ideas. We have filters for the books we read. We read works by the likes of Aristotle, Darwin, Homer and Shakespeare. Our criteria for book selection is simple: the book has to have been vetted by many people over many years. In some cases, that means thousands of years and in other cases hundreds or tens. Does that mean that a few good things do not come to our attention? Yes. But, we find that the really good stuff has a way of eventually making it through. Munger himself admits that using filters means that once-in-a-while something good is blocked. But, he says – and we agree – it’s well worth the benefit of blocking the 99% that would waste our time.
We apply filters not just to the books we read but also to the new technologies we consider employing. Our filter for using new technology for the Reading Odyssey combines the following criteria:
1. The new technology meets a significant unmet need for consumer/end-user
2. It gains high marks in ease-of-use and good design
3. Wide consumer adoption (we need to know that all of our readers use it).
The phone, for example, is one of the technologies we use the most. Our phone-based reading groups work really well. That technology meets all three criteria above – obviously.
Facebook, which does not get high marks for usability and design, has, however, gained huge acceptance. So, sometimes if one or more criteria are met in an overwhelming way, then that means that technology *may* pass our filter. Facebook is so big and has gained such wide acceptance that it has proven great for reaching much larger audiences than any other avenue. And it indeed has been quite useful – we run the 250,000+ member Darwin campaign there.
We have just recently added webcasts because that technology (and the proliferation of high-speed Internet) has finally made it possible to run a decent webcast without significant consumer pain.
As for Google Wave, it’s not clear that it meets a real need. And it certainly does not gain high marks for usability and design. And wide acceptance may or not come with time.
So we’ll wait.
The Virtue of Wild Things
There was an op-ed in the New York Times yesterday from David Brooks that re-examines the classical notions of character against a modern notion. The philosopher’s notion of character according to Brooks is one that’s ingrained (see myth and Homer) and expressed though heroic action. The modern, psychological notion of character is something that depends on the situation. Brooks is setting up something of a straw man here, since those of us in the Aristotle reading group know that Aristotle said that character and virtue depends on the situation. Virtue requires hard work and practice and is not necessarily achieved through innate “character.” So it’s something of a false comparison.
Brooks uses the new film adaptation of the Maurice Sendak book Where The Wild Things Are. In the film version a boy named Max tries, and fails, to control a group of whiny and adrift monsters. He pretends to be their virtuous king, but cannot make them happy by heroic action. Their happiest moments are when they are working together as a community, building a fort, sleeping in a big pile, etc.
The key section of the column is this:
Readers, don’t you think Aristotle would have sided with the moderns here?
21. October 2009 by Arrian
Categories: Aristotle, Commentary | Tags: Aristotle, great books, maurice sendak, philosophy, Plato, psychology, virtue, where the wild things are | Comments Off on The Virtue of Wild Things