`The Next Los..` by Robert Gottlieb, Mark Vallianatos, Regina M. Free

The Next Los.. by Robert Gottlieb, Mark Vallianatos, Regina M. Freer, and Peter Dreier EssayHousing and confederacy development advocates in Los Angeles adopted a different approach in the late nine holds. They joined a broad-based spinal fusion in the difficult process of hammering out a multi-issue advancing agenda, and wherefore they worked together to pursue not just housing goals yet an array of policy recommendations related to parks and open space, transportation, cranch and race relations, and other cites not typically tackled by people focused on affordable housing. And their approach appeared to work L.A. subsequently created the nations largest municipal affordable housing swan fund and redrew its zoning ordinance to allow multifamily apartments above retail space on the broad boulevards crisscrossing the city. Robert Gottlieb, Mark Vallianatos, Regina M. Freer and Peter Dreier chart the growth and impact of this coalition in their enlightening recent apply, The Next Los Angeles The Struggle for a Livable City. The authors, scholar-activists from Occidental Colleges urban and environmental Policy ground, were at the center of the generally successful attempt to bring together a disparate array of activists and organizations in a unsanded civic left.At its most lively, this book provides an adroit insiders account of the construction of Progressive Los Angeles Network, or PLAN, and the development of a powerful labor-Latino bloc that provides modern L.A. with much of its softheartedness and soul. But the book offers readers to a greater extent, including details of a grassroots-driven progressive agenda and a revealing affectionate and policy-making history. This history, including the collapse of the old civic elite, the failure of top-down agenda stigmatizeting during the 1990s and the collapse of heavy industry, set the stage for a progressive revival in the late 1990s.The authors identify several key actors in this drama, n otably Jackie Goldberg, a reason city council member and current evidence legislator, who worked tirelessly to pull together various (and nightimes contrast) strands of the progressive community. But central to the narrative and to the line of descent of a muscular progressive movement was the overlapping emergence of a newly militant and Latino-led countywide labor movement with the early achievements of a new generation of Latino political leaders.Aided by longtime Los Angeles political journalist Harold Meyerson (a contributor to one chapter), the authors tell this story well, highlighting the ontogeny immenseness of service unions to the local labor movement the bold leadership of Miguel Contreras, head of the county labor federation until his death earlier this year and the entry of left-wing activists, including former labor organizers Gil Cedillo and Antonio Villaraigosa, into electoral politics.The authors dont shy away from discussing problems and challenges tied to the centrality of the labor-Latino alliance. They discuss, for example, the chasm between older Afri bathroom American leaders (such as Rep. Maxine Waters) and the new progressive movement, and the continuing battles between nationalists and progressives for leadership in the Latino community. But they are optimistic that alliance-oriented progressive politics can triumph over racial or ethnic nationalism in black and Latino politics.Unfortunately, the authors wrote before this years mayoral election provided the municipal left with a new set of challenges and opportunities. In a reversal of the 2001 outcome, Villaraigosa defeated James Hahn, a mainstream Democrat, in a runoff election. Villaraigosa, a long-time champion of the disadvantaged, won in part by building bridges to elements of the black leadership and parts of the white community that had opposed him before. The organized progressive coalition, however, split with the county federation of labor and some activists relief Hahn this time around.The incumbent, a mediocre mayor at trump, had delivered on key promises to the union movement, and Contreras and his allies returned the favor. They could not, however, deliver the votes, as large numbers of unionists stuck by Villaraigosa. How in effect the progressive alliance regroups will likely have a major impact on what Villaraigosa is able to accomplish as mayor, and it would be useful to be able to consider the authors perspective on these recent developments.Instead, Villaraigosas original high-profile bid for mayor provides a centerpiece to the book. The 2001 election drew attention to the growing capacity of Los Angeless municipal left. Running with the countenance of the county federation of labor (Contreras engineered the endorsement by the narrowest of margins) the big janitors, healthcare workers and hotel employees unions and an array of community organizations, the former speaker system of the state Assembly helped shift the citys policy d ebate to the left and in favor of previously marginalized populations.After Villaraigosas defeat, the citys progressive movement focused on pursuit of its agenda, moving the city to create the trust fund to finance affordable housing development and to tie approval for major development projects for example, Phase II of the Staples Center project to concessions on community benefits such as affordable housing, living-wage jobs, parks and other exoteric amenities. They also joined with the mayor and several of his union supporters in leading the campaign against San Fernando Valley and Hollywood secession. Ironically, these very successes would provide the reason for labor and some other members of the coalition to back Hahn in 2005.L.A.s progressives continued to work together in the wake of defeat because of a networking effort spearheaded by the authors Urban and Environmental Policy Institute, a role they downplay here. Acting as a secretariat, the institute helped pull togeth er PLAN, a coalition of labor unions, community groups, environmentalists, clergy, academics and others to meet the challenge of drafting a collective vision for the citys future. Reflecting on history, the authors write The growth of these movements created a critical mass of activism and support for a new progressive politics in Los Angeles. Missing, however, were the links between the different movements necessary to develop a broader, integrated perspective regarding the policy changes requisite to make the region more livable and democratic.PLAN largely succeeded in crafting a detailed agenda that addresses a range of housing, environmental, transportation and land use, labor, political and economic development issues, and in building a sense of commonality that had been missing in the progressive circles of Los Angeles. PLANs institutional future is uncertain, but its impact can still be felt. Last year, for example, many of the groups that were involved in creating PLANs age nda worked together to defeat a suffrage measure in the overwhelmingly black and Latino L.A. County city of Inglewood that would have exempted a Wal-Mart anchored retail development from established planning and regulatory processes.The Inglewood campaign showed maturing of the progressive coalition in the aftermath of the 2001 election. Most Copernican, it demonstrated the ability of African-American and Latino leaders and activists to bond together on an issue of common concern despite tensions in the recent past. Campaigns such as this suggest that a common agenda and shared vision will, in the end, prove more important to LAs progressives than short-term electoral differences.Despite the current challenges, Los Angeles offers a strategy for building and institutionalizing a civic left, one that housing advocates and other progressives can learn from, and The Next Los Angeles provides a good starting point for any serious student of forward-looking municipal politics.Los Angele ss history is a story of conflicting visions. Most historians, journalists, and filmmakers have focused on L.A. as a bastion of corporate greed, business boosterism, political corruption, cheap labor, use immigrants, and unregulated sprawl. The Next Los Angeles tells a different story that of the reformers and radicals who have struggled for alternative visions of social and economic justice.The authors chronicle efforts of progressive social movements that worked throughout the twentieth century to create a more livable, just, and democratic Los Angeles. These movementswhat the authors call Progressive L.A.have produced a new kind of labor movement, community-oriented environmentalism, and multi-ethnic coalition politics. This book shows how reformers have fought to transform a city characterized by huge economic disparities, concrete-encased rivers, and an endless landscape of subdivisions, freeways, and malls into a progressive model for regions around the country.The Next Los A ngeles includes a decade-by-decade historical snapshot of the citys progressive social movements and an in-depth exploration of key trends that are remaking L.A. at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It examines L.A.s changing political landscape, including grassroots initiatives to construct a new agenda for social transformation. At once a history, a policy analysis, and a road map for a progressive future, this book provides an exciting portrayal of a city on the cutting edge of many of the social, economic, and environmental changes sweeping across America.At its most lively, this book provides an intelligent insiders account of the construction of Progressive Los Angeles Network, or PLAN, and the emergence of a powerful labor-Latino bloc that provides progressive L.A. with much of its heart and soul. But the book offers readers more, including details of a grassroots-driving progressive agenda and a revealing social and political history. . . .The authors dont shy away from discussing problems and challenges . . . .A good starting point for any serious student of forward-looking municipal politics.James Goodno, San Francisco Chronicle Far and away the best single book for understanding the politics of Los Angeles.In light of that citys statewide influence, it is also a must read for those interested in the future of state politics. The books inspiring accounts of grassroots victories is perfect for getting activists in an upbeat mindset for the start of a new year. And that is something we all need.Randy Shaw, Beyondchron.org With this teeming account of its community and labor struggles, the city of angelsand apocalypsebecomes the city of hope.Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed On (Not) Getting By in America This wonderful book, with its evocations of LAs alternative histories, and its bold templates for social and environmental justice, is produce that the American Left is alive and well, especially in Southern California.Mike Davi s, author of Dead Cities A rare book combining history, analysis, strategy and a broadcast and it may well be carried out in this decade.Tom Hayden, former State Senator, Los AngelesThe authors Robert Gottlieb is Henry R. Luce prof of Urban and Environmental Policy and Director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College. Mark Vallianatos is Research Coordinator at the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College. Regina M. Freer is Associate Professor of Politics at Occidental College. Peter Dreier is E. P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics and Director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Program at Occidental College. With this rich account of its community and labor struggles, the city of angelsand apocalypsebecomes the city of hope.Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and DimedThis wonderful book is proof that the American Left is alive and well, especially in Southern California.Mike Davis, author of Dead CitiesAn intellig ent insiders account of the construction of the Progressive Los Angeles Network, or PLAN, and the emergence of a powerful labor-Latino bloc that provides progressive L.A. with much of its heart and soul. A good starting point for any serious student of forward-looking municipal politics.James Goodno, San Francisco ChronicleFar and away the best single book for understanding the politics of Los Angeles.Randy Shaw, Beyondchron.orgWhile most historians, journalists, and filmmakers have focused on Los Angeles as a bastion of corporate greed, business boosterism, political corruption, cheap labor, exploited immigrants, and unregulated sprawl, The Next Los Angeles tells a different story that of the reformers and radicals who have struggled for alternative visions of social and economic justice. In a new preface, the authors reflect on the multitude momentum of L.A.s progressive movement, including the 2005 landslide victory of Antonio Villaraigosa as mayor.Robert Gottlieb is Henry R. Lu ce Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College. Mark Vallianatos is Research Coordinator at the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College. Regina M. Freer is Associate Professor of Politics at Occidental College. Peter Dreier is E. P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics and Director of the Urban and Environmental Policy Program at Occidental College.Works Cited.The Next Los Angeles by Robert Gottlieb, Mark Vallianatos, Regina M. Freer, and Peter Dreier

Adaptation Evaluation Essay Example for Free

Adaptation Evaluation EssayTom Bombadil Add sense of mysteriousness. Boromirs confession Proud, arrogant warrior The Spirit of LOTR Was it kept? Improvements. A in the raw power has arisen. All must unite or fall divided. This is the story of the lord of the sound. The ring of power, forged in secret by the dark headmaster Sauron contained all of the might, malice and power of the Dark Lord. Its wearer would be invisible and almost invincible, but it would corrupt the heart of any(prenominal)one who wore it. Lord of the Rings is a typical steady-going vs. evil story.This time, however, good is losing badly. The Dark Lords forces will soon overcome all of Middle Earth, but there is one glint of hope for the forces of Good. Because the Dark Lord Sauron make the ring of power, his life is bound to it. If Good can prevent defeat for long enough so that the ring can be destroyed, Sauron shall be overcome. However, the ring of power can only be destroyed where it was made deep in Saurons realm. This means that hope is in speed and secrecy, not force. A fellowship of the ring is formed and the quest is begun.The Lord of The Rings The Fellowship of the ring is the first part of the trilogy, which shows how the fellowship evades the servants of the Dark Lord and how the fellowship at last breaks. A mighty warrior, Boromir is a member of the fellowship. He is lured by the temptation of power and tries to steal the ring. He does not fully understand that the ring corrupts any wearer. He is then asked by other members of the fellowship as to whether he has done anything, but he refuses doing anything wrong due to his arrogance.In the film, the plot is changed so that Boromir does try to take the ring, but he confesses everything. This was a major change as Boromir is meant to be a proud and arrogant human the author J. R. R. Tolkien eer shows most humans as easily corrupted. A large omission was Tom Bombadil. He was a father of the forest type man who has po wers of metrical composition and looks after the ring bearer. Tolkien added him to add a sense of mysteriousness to Lord of the Rings nobody knew who he was or where he came from. This was missed out in the film.Characters resembling him really did help the spirit of Lord of the Rings. Form one point of view the film did not keep the spirit of Lord of the Rings at all. Parts were missed out and some of the film seemed like a traditional Good vs. Bad film the beauty of Tolkien was that he took well know types of contain and added a slight change, but meant that the whole plot would be different. For example, in the Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins goes on a quest to retrieve dwarven treasure. However, he does not penury to go and as a result ends up doing a better job of getting the treasure than if he had wanted the treasure.This is the reason why memory the spirit of Lord of the Rings is so important, Lord of the Rings is unique. However, the film of Lord of the Rings has kept a large part of the spirit. It swings my emotions better than the book did and each character looked almost exactly as I imagined them to be. Because films need a great plot to be good, the director (Peter Jackson) has taken the good split and made them great he has really concentrated on the right parts. The film however was a bit too different from the book at times and too close at others.For example, there is an Im dead, oh no Im not scene part which was fine in the book, but should have been changed in the film. some other change that should have taken place was the fact that elves are shown as a dying any fading race in the Lord of the Rings film. In the book, elves couldnt die and the elves simply were leaving the land, not dying out. This was probably shown to make humans seem better. In conclusion, the Lord of the Rings film made great use of an excellent plot and unusual story. I think that the film was very good, but there was a small amount of way of life for improvement.

Wardens Five Rings | Overview and Analysis

Wardens Five Rings Overview and AnalysisWardens Five Rings theory is a good example real by Col. crapper Warden. It was first applied in a real struggle setting in the 1991 Gulf war incorporated in the available Thunder offensive scheme. It was the key theory that defined Operational Thunder strategy as it was known for Ameri stern Air Power in defeating Iraq melodic phrase force. The concept of the basketball team ring model revolves around five major areas of interest that mustiness be attacked and weekend sufficiently forwards enemy forces endure be (Warden, 1995).The five various levels are like rings of areas of influence that revolve around the core area which is leadership. The areas of influence as defined in the model have various intrinsic importances from each other and present unique values for an enemy to attack. In this model the notion advanced is that a military incursion in an enemy environment should st invention outwards (Warden, 1995). The idea is to peel the various layers that revolve around the core which is the leadership until at last the enemy is left vulnerable and captured. Once leadership is captured then the enemy has f solelyen and is captured.The Leadership at the centre of the model refers to the top organ of the enemy. The other areas are field military, infrastructure, population and system essentials. Field military force is the outer level that the enemy has put in place. It is the first level that must be overcome which is the enemy army. The second outer level is the civilian population of the enemy secern this too must be subdued and control guide. after population the target shifts to infrastructure that will derail efficient function of the enemy further. Second last level from the core is the system essential which refers to all the sectors that support and drive the overall enemy state such as economy (Warden, 1995).The five rings system theory is considered one of the most splendid military theories a dvanced so far. Its importance is in its ability to inform a regular nest that is coordinated to subdue an enemy. In this regard it good deal be roled to compile a list of specific military target. Choice of important enemy targets are identified using a predefined modeling and does not depend on speculation of the relative advantages presented by each (Warden, 1995). This is because by defining the levels of influence the associated sectors and areas can be clearly identified as well. And more importantly the military strategists are able to use a system formula to map out important enemy to targets (Warden, 1995).The Cuban projectile crisis is a historical moment and one of those few instances that the five ring model could not be applied as tactical military strategy among the Russians or the Cubans. The nature in which Cuban missile crisis unfolded was bound to involve the unify States forces and more than one country, both Russia and Cuba (Allison, Graham and Zelikow, 199 9). The situation was even extend since both countries were contemplating use of nuclear weapons which was at the he blind of the Cuban missile crisis.Indeed any vogue military offensive that would have involved Russian and United States would have been like the crash of the titans. The situation was triggered by the United States satellite evidence that Russia was actively deploying nuclear capability technology and installing it in Cuba backyard in secrecy (Allison et al, 1999). Earlier on United States had increased its military presence in Europe in what Russia could have interpreted to be a threat to its existence. However diplomacy and huge degree of restraining prevailed that averted the nuclear missile crisis at the time.What is clear though is that even The 5 ring model would not have been able to be applied at a military offensive where nuclear weapon was the choice of weapons. Indeed the military brains that had advance the systematic process presented in the 5 ring mod el had never contemplated even once the idea that nuclear missile would ever be used in modern world military solutions, despite the vast numbers of nuclear stockpiles that America and Russia have. This is because the five ring model subdivides any military offensive to five distinct stages (Allison et al, 1999).But its a fact that use of even a single nuclear missile in enough to subdue an enemy state beyond measure. Moreover, causing an impact across all the five levels of any country to be paralyzed. Indeed it is the reason wherefore at the height of the crisis the United States omitted a preemptive attack on Cuba due to the remote chances that a single missile might survive the attack which then Cuba would certainly use on them. Besides all this, it would have meant that United States wage war against two hostile countries at the same time which would have limited their preciseness to respond. It is therefore unlikely that the 5 ring model would have been used in Cuban crisis.H owever in Vietnam War the five ring model could be applied to guide military offensive. In Vietnam War the United States was fighting in support of South Vietnam against North Vietnam. But the U.S was disadvantaged in a position of weakness due to the huge Northern Vietnamese army comparable to South Vietnamese army. In addition the South Vietnam commie affiliate were powerful and provided important military support to the offensive. The U.S therefore resorted to the 5 ring model against their military offensive in Vietnam which was instrumental in their succeeder during the war Vietnam.The gulf war that occurred in the 1991 is another example where the 5 ring model was successfully used in subduing the Iraq forces and the subsequent victory in the region. Soon after Iraq invaded Kuwait the United Nations recommended military solution. This saw a coalition force put together which applied combination of firepower and ground phalanx that advanced in Iraq. This military advance tar geted Iraq sectors that had significance value to the country which after their capture led to the ceasefire. Use of the 5 ring model approach in the war enabled the Iraq vital economic sector destruction through sustained firepower (Bard and Mitchell, 2009).Gulf war is one of the wars that saw a lot of allies especially those affiliated to the U.S participate in the Iraq attack. In deciding to intervene for Kuwait the reasons for United States were vested in its own interest. One Kuwait was a major oil exporter to the U.S, therefore U.S feared that war would destabilize the region and cause scarcity of oil in the region. Secondly U.S had allies in the region specifically Saudi-Arabian Arabia that now felt threatened by the expanding influence of Iraq which it felt that it needed to be curtailed. Lastly it was important that Iraq dont get to control a huge berth of the oil reserve in the region or indeed be a force of influence in the gulf peninsula, which would have happened had i t occupied Kuwait.In the aftermath of the war the cost of the military offensive was mainly paid by the Saudi Arabia to a total of $40 billion of the total $60billion that the war had cost. There was minimal American causalities 295 deaths due to the range of coalition forces that participated. In summary the gulf war provided the United States forces with a military experience in the region and was a successful venture. That America continues to cash on presently in more than one way.ReferencesAllison, Graham and Zelikow, P (1999). Essence of Decision Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis New York Longman Publishers.Bard, Mitchell. (2009). The Gulf War. Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved April 18, 2010, from http//www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Gulf_War.htmlBlum, William. The Vietnam War and The United States Lessons. Retrieved April 18, 2010, from (1995) http//www.vietnam.ttu.edu/virtualarchive/htmlWarden, J., A. (1995). Air Theory for the twenty-first Century. Battlefi eld of the Future 21st Century Warfare Issues. United States Air Force. Air and Space Power, 343. Retrieved April 18, 2010, from http//www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/battle/chp4.htmlWayne Thiebauds craft Style EssayWayne Thiebauds Art Style EssayWayne Thiebaud is an artist that has been associated with the set out Art culture and likewise was part of the realism that came out of the United States west coast. Thiebauds real life representation of his subject has been seen as one of many another(prenominal) beginnings photorealism. Before becoming a headstoneer, Thiebaud ploughed in New York City as a sign painter and also as a cartoonist. He completely began to paint in 1949, incorporating skills from his former occupations. Thiebaud is best known for the paintings that are associated with the production line of objects that can be found in diners and cafeterias, such as pies and pastries and others objects of common land e trulyday life.The Neapolitan Pie that I found in the Norton Museum embodies the proficiencys that he often used in his paintings. This painting with its thick paint adding to the depth and character led me to want to learn about the artist behind it. Thiebaud chose to celebrate and embrace the delights of the common place and rendered his realistic paintings with a brilliant eye for abstraction. Thiebauds painting technique can be described as a cookbook chronicling those that have added sizzle, seasoning or even sprinkle to its prolific palette What he valued to set out to do was to create a different visual species, which he described as being the ultimate accomplishment for all painters. Thiebaud says that art needs constant lawsuit of different aspects of itself in order to stay alive. He also states that art draws inspiration from everything around it. He is not shitless of showing in his paintings aspects from other artists who inspired him, My world is one crime I steal from every artist around the world. This may be why Thiebaud completely followed artists that were before him and also artists who were painting in his time period. Wayne Thiebaud had many artists in Abstract Expressionism and artists from Pop Art that he gathered techniques from. There were chaste time periods that he borrowed aspects from and combined with others to produce his own characteristic style. In this paper I will describe all these aspects and how their combination gave rise to the far-famed fetch we know Wayne Thiebaud for today.Thiebaud was a realist painter and painted at a time between Abstract Expressionism transaction and the Pop Art era. His growth as an artist started from when he was a young child and as a teenager made poster designs and on stage sets for theatre. Thiebaud worked at Universal Studios and also as an illustrator for the advertising department in New York. He later earned a degree from California State College in Sacramento and this was where he learned and became fond of the fine a rts. After this he began to study art history books intensively and the paintings in them, including the transitions in the kit and boodle from period to period. Thiebaud, while working, became friends with and kindle in the whole kit and caboodle of art from Willem De Kooning and Franz Kline who were abstract expressionist painters. This was a American post World War II art movement. the predecessor of this art movement is surrealism, which features elements of surprise and unexpected juxtapositions. Willem De Kooning also was involved with action painting, whose characteristics are spontaneous, splashed, or smeared onto a canvas. Kooning states, People are always trying to break the backs of paintings by expecting things which paintings cannot doits fairish a painting. A God damned painting. Just a little thing you smear stuff on. You just hope in the smearing that you havent insulted people that youre petition to look at it. This statement was a great influence in shaping th e thoughts of Thiebaud. He saw this as a quintessential idea for producing works of artBy the early 1960s the paintings he had produced now began to gain tension, balance, and grace. He placed the forms first and objects were pushed forward and put in a applicable order. He had been fashioning statements like this with his Neapolitan Pie for years before others further was packed together with other artists in the Pop Art period when the movement surfaced. Pop Art was a tradition that challenged the artwork at that time and wanted to show that anything the artist used, which was of mass-production of popular culture could can be connected with fine art. It was widely seen as a reaction and expansion of the dominant ideas of abstract realism, which was a spontaneous or subconscious creation. Pop Art does not refer directly to the art that they made, but the ideas that moved the whole movement itself. During this time, Thiebaud also saw works of art from the earliest pop artists R obert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns whose paintings were based on Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art. What Thiebaud did was abandoned most of the ideas that Pop Art committed itself to and react against it, which is surprising since he was seen as a vital part to this period. The work that Thiebaud produced is described as nostalgic views of popular culture and the American scene with which viewers of all kinds can easily identify. Most paintings in the Pop Art period were more intimidating for those viewing the work in museums and sometimes were too harsh to appreciate. What Thiebaud said was I am not a shake carrying Pop artist I dont like some(prenominal) of it. Pop to him was more of a business than an operation of honorable painting and he had too much respect for the original products that they played off of to be a part of Pop Art. So while this art period was taking off Thiebaud mulish that he was going to move on and became a professor at U-C Davis.Another influence of Wa yne Theibaud was of Abstract Expressionism, which was going on in the time he produced work, and can be seen in the thick brushstrokes and bold use of colour which was a constant theme in his works. Thiebaud began to paint images based on pabulum that he would see displayed in windows, focusing not on what he was painting but more on the shape of the objects. What impacted his painting this way was his inclination for simple objects, borrowing aspects of layouts for ads that he did while working as a cartoonist and sign painter. His simplicity to his designs could be understood and recognized as a method that he took into his paintings. This would also be around the 1960s and Thiebaud wanted to show depictions of the everyday American life while showing a rude(a) approach to art, representational art. Artists such as Stuart Davis and his Odol Bottle and Gerald Murphy and his Safety Razor were visions of the coming pop culture era even before Thiebaud began to paint work that would fit into it. As Thiebaud continued to work influences from other artists could be seen in his work like the paintings of Giorgio Morandi like his Still Life. Thiebaud long admired Giorgios work for their contemplative quiet, the palpable sense of protracted looking that they convey, and their delicate, varied effects achieved with seemingly minimal means. The influence of this was not just in how Thiebaud structured his work, but also by how he manipulated the light and the slow moving strokes to enhance the form of the object. This aspect of manipulating light also was something he used in his signs and works, making a shadow where there is none to draw the eye to areas that there would be none and giving the work depth. This aspect was also borrowed from the tromp loeil (fool the eye) painter John Peto, who painted the Letter Rack, who also was said to have an influence on Thiebaud. Due to this influence, Thiebaud would never have any space of where the object would leave the f oliate it would be represented in its entirety showing the readers that it would not be real. He would arrange the object in his painting into a shallow space and used shadows, as previously stated, to suggest some form of depth without there actually being any depth tromp loeil.The Neapolitan Pie and all the works Thiebaud has produced had notable influences from his background and artists whom he studied and who had an influence on what he produced. Thiebaud had a way of dragging his paint across his canvas in a smooth way that would enhance the luscious textures of oil and transform itself into the very object that he was trying to portray. This, by the artists, refers to object transference and roots can also be traced to Morandi, but also in artists such as Joaquin Sorolla. He painted objects that are common placed around any individual as those of Stuart Davis and Gerald Murphy. Thiebaud had a strong inclination in painting common objects much earlier than those of the Pop cu lture movement. When Thiebaud first began to paint these common objects though he found it humorous and channeled his cartoonist abilities with his row of piesWhen I painted the first row of pies, I can remember sitting and laughing sort of a silly relief Now I have flipped out The one thing that allowed me to do that was having been a cartoonist. I did one and thought, Thats really crazy, but no one is going to look at these things anyway, so what the heck.However with all of his pastry paintings he handled the paint in a way that makes his work very distinctive. His paintings bring forth a realism of complete visual delight. He made anew the representational subject matter with a bold palette and used his skillful display of brushwork acquired from the Abstract Expressionists he admired.Wayne Thiebaud copied from the masters because he respected art so much that he wanted to learn from those greats that came before him. What he did was add his own style to it so as to expand on what he learned into a different category, so as to be seen in a new light. He delighted in the works of other art periods like Abstract Expressionism and Realism and saw it as an take note to study an be apart of the art movement. He rejected the ideas of the Pop Art movement that he was classified in because he respected the art work they ridiculed too much to make a mockery of it. He was said as feeling honoured that he was able to apply himself and that he became a force in the artistic movement that is still evolving today. His work will forever be a staple and used as a pawn for artist that come behind him to study learn from and elaborate on.

Survey Engine to Assess Indirect Attainment Parameter in OBE

Survey Engine to Assess Indirect Attainment Parameter in OBE1 INTRODUCTIONThe proposed system consists to ii modulesAdminUsersReportThe administrator endure perform several operations such as add and delete Question in suspicion bank and creating subject field etc. The administrator cans also fling email to user to give persuasion and generate report.The User can receive an email to give adopt he can give panorama by opening link in email received by him. If user does non give value he lead receive email again for survey.The Generated report ar utile for useful for upshot based education system where improvement and needful changes are made into the system by use survey reports.1.2 COMPANY PROFILEFounded in 2007, e-Sutra Chronicles Pvt. Ltd is a technology products firm based in Bangalore, India. Our innovative, crime syndicate creating products for the Indian and international education sector are marketed under the brand name of Contineo.Our vision is to build wor ld class products with Indian relevance and world-wide applicability.Our mission is to accelerate the adoption of academic autonomy in India through IT.Contineo is a pioneering OBE enabling software program platform for capital punishment and administartion of academic autonomy contineo executes estimable academic autonomy cluminating in secure confidential accurate,efficient and auditable examination of both the digitized answer script and coventional paper and pen variety.The contineo IT platform helps to plaques to quickly implement OBE adapt to work ates of academic autonomy execute credible examiniations and simplify accredition. While providing insightful analysis so as to all toldow institutes to focus on academic inovation and research.2. lit SURVEYEXISTING SYSTEMCurrently to find information about(predicate) survey we have to depend on various different sources to gain or find informationBefore the computerization of the survey system. Survey was taken manually usi ng papers. The manual system requires lot of man power. A soulfulness has to handle all the section wish creating survey taking survey by using paper etc. which was so lengthy and tedious job.A Person has to manually check the records and primary(prenominal)tain it. Then he generate reports it is very difficult job. If there is some inquiry for any information about survey then we need to check all the survey information and then the information was given. It was very tedious process.Limitation of manual systemWastage of handsInaccuracy in Maintaining records conviction consumingPROPOSED SYSTEMThe proposed system is a sack up based screening that helps to take survey from the people online. Admin pass on setup survey and send email to invite people for survey. People leave behind give survey. In management dashboard we can maintain all the stuff like who is responded those who not respond we can send remainder email. Survey is based on question and option each option has w eightiness age and this weight age is analyzed by using different OBE parameter. By using formulas graph and report are generated.Advantages of proposed systemSaves manpowerAccuracy in Maintaining recordsTime SavingFEASIBILITY STUDYOnce you define a problem you have to check whether it is feasible or not, because all achievable solutions are not feasible and feasible one is not always possible. A feasibleness study is a test of checking your system proposal and its work ability, impact on the organization ability to meet user needs an effective use of resources. When a new application is proposed it can be goes through a feasibility study before it is approved for deployment.During feasibility analysis for this project, following issues are to be considered.The Key Considerations In Feasibility Study AreTechnical Feasibility. organizational Feasibility.Economical Feasibility.Behavioral Feasibility.Technical FeasibilityIn Technical Feasibility study, we have to test whether the prop osed system can be developed using quick technology or not. The proposed system can be implemented with the alert technology with few changes easily.Organizational FeasibilityOrganizational Feasibility is the study to find the priority given to the system in the organization. The objective of the proposed system is to reduce the maintenance and overload of management employees. Using Online Application for survey the company can maintain all the detail of survey.Economical FeasibilityEconomic feasibility means that the benefits of project are greater than the costs incurred.1. Manpower costAs the proposed system is automating the survey it doesnt require any additional man power thereby reducing the manpower cost.2. Hardware and Software costThe organization already has a computer network and the proposed system can be installed without any additional expenditure of hardware and software.Behavioral FeasibilityIn behavioral feasibility an estimate is made of how strong a reactio n the user staff is likely to have towards the phylogeny of a computerized system. As the firm is in process of development so there are no chances of resistance from the users.TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES USEDTOOLS USED1) LAMP Server is a Linux web development environment. It allows you to create web applications with Apache2, PHP and a MySQL database. Alongside, PHPMyAdmin allows you to manage easily your databases.2) Firebug What is Firebug?Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of web development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor lizard CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web rascal.3) phpmyadmin It is a open source free tool developed in PHP. It handle the data of MYSQL by using graphical user interface and web browser. It can do various businesss such as add, delete, switch databases, tables, rows etc. by executing SQL command.4) Mysql workbench It is good software of Mysql. This is useful creating database. Adding foreign keys and all is easy. We can also draw EER diagram which show exact relation between tables.5) gedit this is ubuntu by default editor where we can draw up code. It shows line number and other details.TECHNOLOGIES USEDThe technology selected forimplementing the application is PHP, and joomla framework MVC component since it was the urgency of the Client to develop an Interactive User Friendly Application. The development was done in a Linux environment using for security reasons.The MVC software design kindThere are three parts to the MVC design pattern the model, perspective, and controller. The controller and view may both be considered a part of the presentation layer while the model may be seen as a fusion of the business logic and data-access layers.Each element of the MVC is represented in Joomla by an abstract class Jmodel, JView, and JController. These classes are located in the joomla.application.component library.MODELA model will normally contain data access methods to retrieve, add, remove, and update data stored within a specific data source. The model allows us to modify data. The methods that define business logic are essentially defining the behavior of the dataVIEWThe view defines how we present our data. In Joomla, when we use a view to display HTML, we use layouts (a form of template) that provide us with an extra layer of control and enable us to present our data in multiple formats. In addition to HTML, views can be formatted to present data in other formats such as PDF or news feeds.CONRTOLLERThe controller determines what operation or task has been bespeaked and, based on the request, selects the appropriate model(s) and passes any data modification requests to the appropriate model, creates a view, and associates one or more models with the view. The controller does not ready data it only calls methods in the model. The controller does not display data but rather creates a view that can display the data.JOOMLAJoomla is a modular an d extensible PHP MySQL CMS (Content Management organisation). It is an open-source project, which is released under version 2 of the GPL license. Joomla has fast become one of the most popular open source CMSs, which is proved by its numerous awards and massive online community.PHPPHP originally stood for Personal Home Page and was released as a free, open source project. Over sequence, the language was reworked to meet the needs of its users. GUI applications PHP generally runs on a web server, taking PHP code as its input and creating web pages as output.HTMLHTML is used to creating the web page either of Static or of Dynamic and used to develop the user friendly web pages.HTML uses ASCII quotations for both the main text and formatting instructions. The main text is data and the whole information is used by the browser to format the data. A HTML document is simply a text file, which contains genuine information you would like to publish.HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTSHardw are RequirementsThe basic hardware requirements are as followsPROCESSOR Pentium IV above.RAM 512 MB above.HARD magnetic disc 10 GB above.MONITOR Color.Software RequirementsOPERATING SYSTEM Linux Ubuntu 12.04SERVER LAMP serverDATABASE MysqlBROWSER Mozilla Firefox/Google chromeTOOLS USED Mysql workbenchUSER INTERFACE HTML, CSS, JavaScriptLANGUAGES PHP fashion model Joomla3 SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATIONUSERSUsers are those who are actually going to use this software. The survey locomotive to assess indirect attainment parameters in outcome based education has two types of users. Both of these users are provided with different user interfaces.UsersUsers are the actual users of this system. They use this software in to give an feedback. The user will receive an email for survey he has give survey which is very useful for outcome based education system make changes in system.Admin administrator is the person who is going to maintain this software. He is provided with the interface that helps to create an survey an send email to users and generate report. This software must satisfy the time and reanimate constraints of both the users.FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTSFunctional requirements are very important system requirements in a software requirements in a software engineering process (or at micro level, a sub part of requirement engineering) such as technical specifications, system design parameters etc. In contrast there is one more requirements which are based on some parameters such as performance of the system, software quality attributes, reliability and security, cost constraints, design/implementation constraints.The functional requirement defines the capabilities and functions that a system must be able to perform successfully.The System must provide following functionalities -Keeping records survey.A expand Report regarding the survey should be maintained and produced whenever needed.Storing the feedback complaints given by the users.The Fe edback and Complaints given by the users should be stored and accessible by the Admin. Keeping details about the users he is given survey or not.Sending emails.The Admin can notify users regarding information of survey through email.User friendly user interfaceUser will get good user friendly interface.The software should run on variousoperating systems with different browsers.NON-FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTSNon-Functional requirements define the needs in terms of performance, consistent database requirements, design constraints, standards compliance, reliability, availability, security, maintainability, and portability.PerformancePerformance requirements define how fast the system responds. The load time for user interface screens shall take no longer than ten seconds. pass along queries shall be return results within few seconds. ReliabilitySystem should specify the factors required to establish the required reliability of the software system at time of delivery. AvailabilityThe webs ite is available as and when user needs.MaintainabilityData in the System shall be easily maintained. scrutiny rigorously and fixing bugs as it occurs to make the application robustScalabilityThe system should scale well as the number of users increase. Its a large survey base application so as the meter of user increase the application should provide the same performanceTestabilityThe Developed system is tested with test goals, test methods used, and test resources. The result is stored with proper value so that it can be referred for future testing conditions.4 SYSTEM DESIGNSYSTEM PERSPECTIVEThis system is a replacement for the manual existing systems to get survey from users. The authenticated users only allowed using the services of the system. So that the related information can be accessed by the particular users.Survey engine to assess indirect attainment parameters in outcome based education is aimed at developing a web-based system that helps people to get the details reg arding the request from the users.Our application helps to maintain the details of survey i. e. feedback is taken from users to improve outcome based education system.Our application provides a way to produce staff, course, industry survey reports with graphs, which helps in analyzing growth and suggestion of institute. This can be achieved by graphs like PI, Bar graphs.CONTEXT DIAGRAMSystem DesignDesign is the blue crisscross of the system documentation. Designing process starts after identifying reports and other outputs the system will produce. It should be done carefully since if it is incorrect, it will produce the incorrect outputs.CONTEXT take DATA FLOW DIAGRAM OF PROPOSED SYSTEMHere is the Context Level DFD and lets see it containsFirst admin login. He can add question in question bank. Then he creates a survey by selecting question from question bank and assigns it to a particular survey. After that he send email to user. user will receive email and gives survey. Accordin g to the user response report are generated.5 DETAILED DESIGNSUse-Case DiagramSEQUENCE DIAGRAMSCOLLABARATION DIAGRAMS activity DIAGRAMDATABASE DESIGNCONCEPTUAL SCHEMA 6 IMPLEMENTATIONSCREEN SHOTS7 SOFTWARE TESTINGIntroductionSoftware testing is the execution of course to find its faults. The testing process focuses on the logical internals of the software, ensuring that all rumors have been tested and on the functional externals, that is conducting test to uncover errors and ensure that defined inputs will produce actual results agreed with required results. The following test strategies were adopted to test the system. scrutiny StrategiesThere are two general strategies for testing software. These are as followsCode Testing This examines the logic of the program. To follow this test, cases are developed such that every path of program is tested.Specification Testing Specification Testing examines the specification starting what the program should do and how it should perform unde r various conditions. Then test cases are developed for each condition and combinations of conditions and to be submitted for processing.Testing Method UsedHere black box testing and statistical testing are used. In black box testing, all possible types of inputs and seen for corresponding outputs and if not giving, code are corrected. In statistical testing, checking for all variables whether they assigned values before using it, whether array bound correctly defined, whether looping statement terminating without going to infinite loop, whether function parameter are passed in order and about number of parameters etc., are checked successfully and found correct everything works satisfactorily.The stages in testing process are Unit TestingIndividual components are tested to ensure that they operate correctly. Each component tested on an individual basis without other system components.Ex. Checked for Username and Password with the table, after the next module is loaded session all ocation.System TestingSystem testing is actually a series of different tests whose primary purpose is fully to exercise the computer-based system. The system tests that where applied are recovery testing and performance testing.Finally a refresh or audit is conducted which is a final evaluation that occurs only after operating the system long enough for user to have gained a familiarity with it. System testing was done by the inspection team to verify that all the functionality identified is the software requirement specification has been implemented. Defects that crept in the system has been found shortcoming free and is working well. System testing is concerned with interfaces, design logic, control flow recovery, procedures throughput, capacity and timing characteristics of the entire system. For blank field, alphabets, number and special character validation.8 CONCLUSIONThe present computerized system is useful for creating survey. This system is developed as simple as possible to user. Being user-friendly software the user doesnt find any difficulty in using it.Creating survey and taking survey by using paper. Which was so lengthy and tedious job. This software overcomes these problems.Importance of the systemLess manual work.Increased efficiency.Decreases the rate of errors.It reduces the time consumption.Quick (instant) result.9 FUTURE ENHANCEMENTSWe can use this project in all the Institute where survey is required. We can manage all the information of survey in cloud. The coding pattern is kept as dynamic as possible with minimum amount of static values to make it easier for future extensions. As the current system is expected to add more functionality and dependency according to requirement changes and technology, proper coding standards and working platform have been kept in mind to produce a quality product. This will be a singularity which will be added in future.Appendix ABIBLIOGRAPHYReference BooksRobert W. Sebesta Programming the world wide web, 4th edition, Pearson Education, 2008Ian Sommerville Software Engineering,8th Edition, Pearson Education, 2007Elmasri and Navathe, Fundamentals of Database Systems, 4th, Edition, Pearson Education 2003. know Joomla 1.5 Extension and Framework Development Second Edition The Professional Guide to Programming JoomlaWebsitehttps//docs.joomla.org/http//www.php.net/http//www.w3schools.com/http//www.joomla.org/KLEDRMSSCET, BelgaumDepartment of MCA 2014-2015

Life And Works Of Robert Mapplethorpe Film Studies Essay

Life And Works Of Robert Mapplethorpe Film Studies EssayThe third of six barbarianren, Robert Mapplethorpe was born into a working-class Catholic family in Floral Park, Long Island on November 4th 1946. His childhood and adolescence were difficult because of his gawky physicality, his brothers athletic and academic success and his own early demonstration of exquisite talent. After an accelerated c atomic number 18er in high school, Mapplethorpe entered the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn to study technical illustration and where he became a member of the ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps) in a bid to placate his father who disapproved of his artistic ambitions. Because of his experimentation with hippy culture and his fathers hostility, he never completed his degree at Pratt instead he moved to Manhattan effective before the summer of 1969.Mapplethorpes early artistic endeavours focused on collage work with found objects and jewellery design. In 1970 a associate resident of the Chelsea Hotel introduced him to pictorial consequencey with the gift of a Polaroid camera and Mapplethorpe started by experimenting with self- formulas. Mapplethorpe had his first one-man show in November 1970, scarcely did non achieve recognition in the New York art world until 1977. On February 4th 1977, Mapplethorpe had joint shows at the Holly Solomon Gallery and the Kitchen. Although both(prenominal) shows were organised by Solomon, the mainstream exhibition featured his flowers and characterizations while the caravan exhibit consisted of his sex yields. This segregation of subject matter would continue throughout Mapplethorpes career. scarce over a decade later, Mapplethorpe was the subject of retrospectives in Amsterdam, London and the joined States. In July of 1988 the Whitney Museum of American Art honoured Mapplethorpe with a retrospective exhibition, their first for a photographer. In December 1988, a slightly larger retrospective, The Perfect Moment, opened at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia.Mapplethorpe was able to experience his rise to the pinnacle of the art world, but, as he commented to numerous interviewers, he was unable to study advantage of the fame. He died from complications related to Aids on March 9th 1989. Memorial services were held at the Catholic Church Mapplethorpe had attended as a child in Floral Park and at the Whitney Museum in New York.Populated mainly with members of New York Citys social and artistic elite, Robert Mapplethorpes book of portraits, Certain People, has a backing with more than one possible meaning as noned in Susan Sontags bear witness.There is certain in the sense of some and not others and certain in the sense of self-confident, sure, clear. Certain People are, mostly, people found, coaxed or arranged into a certainty most themselves. That is what seduces, that is what is disclosed in these bulletins of a great photographers observations and encounters.Although they are not famous in the like way as Annie Liebovitz, Philip Glass or Bruce Chatwin people who appear in Certain People Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter are exceptional in their own right. In their stance and with their defiant survey, they bring in the same self-assurance as the celebrities that Mapplethorpe photographed. His camera treats them with the same dignity as that reserved for Lord S outrightdon or Louise Bourgeois. Their portrait exemplifies umteen of the trendal and thematic concerns that inform Mapplethorpes larger body of work.Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter (1979) (fig. 1) is a portrait staged accord to the conventions of the royal couple portrait of depth Europe or the formal family portrait of the Victorian Age. Ridley and Heeter are centred in the frame and stupefyed frontally with respect to the viewer. Ridley is seated with Heeter standing at his side. The setting for the portrait is clearly national, presumably the living room of the couple. The heavy buttoned wing -backed leather top in which Ridley is seated, the Oriental carpet beneath his feet, the modern lines of the console gameboard to his right as well as the objets dart on the various surfaces indicate a degree of taste and wealth. The just-so arrangement of the furniture clearly signifies a jocund male aesthetic of a particular winsome. The parallel costuming of Ridley and Heeter indicate a gay male aesthetic of a very different but equally stylised kind.Heeter stands to Ridleys left casually holding two metal rings from which hangs a chain connected to the studded leather collar close to Ridleys neck. In his left hand, Heeter holds a riding crop, angled toward Ridley, resting inside the arm of the chair, in ominous proximity to Ridleys body much as a rider would hold it against the flank of his mount. Heeter is adorned in full leather drag cap, jacket, studded belt, cod-piece trousers and biker boots. To emphasise the confidence with which he carries his force out, he leans a gainst Ridleys chair and crosses his right arse over his left in a relaxed, semi-swaggering stance. Ridleys leather uniform is virtually identical to Heeters biker boots, leather chaps, biker jacket. The differences among Ridleys and Heeters costumes indicate their respective positions in the family instead of a cap, Ridley wears a collar, instead of a riding crop, he sports fetter these differences, along with the pairs physical positions gesture toward the power differential that the couple perform.From this description of the photograph, Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter could be characterised as a family portrait of a sadomasochistic couple. Although hardly as shocking as many of Mapplethorpes other sadomasochistic-themed photographs, the image is still unsettling. First, the portrait disturbs the classificatory terms it invokes. Is it possible for family, sadomasochism or portrait to mean the same thing independently and jumbled up together? If the picture grants Heeter and Rid ley a certain kind of elegance, beauty and dignity, is this evidence that depressions of family, domesticity and coupling are sufficiently elastic to incorporate sadomasochistic eroticism? If Ridley and Heeter are able to pose their unconventionally adorned bodies according to the codes of the conventional family portrait, is this evidence that family, domesticity and coupling have always already incorporated sadomasochistic eroticism? Second, aside from complicating dominant narratives of familial relationships, this portrait exposes something about the relationship between the practices of photography and self-presentation. What does the staging of Ridley and Heeter in full leather drag show about the ideological work of portraiture writ large? What does this photograph expose about the relationship between power, eroticism, staginess and image making? Given that both sets of questions relate to the tension between the pictures subject matter and its figural codes, is it fair to conclude that the relationship between gist the sadomasochistic couple and form the family portrait makes Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter much(prenominal) an arresting photograph? More precisely, is it the photographs combination of form and nitty-gritty which helps us to see the never-before-related phenomena sadomasochistic couple and formal portrait in a different way, that makes this photograph worthy of critical analysis?In the following chapters I will focus on the relationship between form and satiate in Mapplethorpes images, with attention to his sex pictures. The interaction of form and content in these images, I contend, trains the viewer to see in a impertinently way not only to see the specific subject matter differently, but to see the practice of image making in art or in life differently. The beauty of Mapplethorpes images renders culturally unpalatable subject matter enthralling and desirable. The stylised composition of Mapplethorpes images also reflec ts in the forms of self-stylisation within the images, using photographic style to expose personal styling as an equivalent staging, construction and performance. Form and content, then, be given sometimes co-operatively, sometimes in opposition to make the spectator aware of the assumptions they bring to the photograph. The analysis of Mapplethorpes images will attend not only to how he represents maleness and the performance of gay male identity but also to how his images take to the woods attention to the dynamics of representation itself.Most commentators identify the curious disjunction between the visual appeal of his photographs as pictures and the discomforting nature of his subject matter as the quintessential element of Mapplethorpes pictorial style. Arthur Danto, one of Mapplethorpes staunchest defenders characterises the artists work as both Dionysian and Apollonian at once. According to Danto, the sexual energy of the images content has a dialectic relationship to t heir chastely classic style of presentation this tension is so profound, Danto finds Hegels notion of aufhebung a useful concept with which to address Mapplethorpes images. The forbidden and unsettling content of Mapplethorpes images is not erased by their pristine and mannered formalisation, and even the most sexually explicit of Mapplethorpes images both go beyond and fail as pornography, precisely because of their crisp beauty and clean elegance. The content is preserved. But it is also negated, and it is transcended, and that means the work cannot merely be reduced to its content. Ingrid Sischy, one of the most eloquent writers on Mapplethorpes sexual imagery, identifies this tension between form and content as the source of shock in Mapplethorpes photographs What shocks isnt just the material, but how it is so artfully presented. The content, lighting, composition, sense of order and aesthetics all combine to give the photograph an unforgettable impact. The photographs impact d epends on the audacious resource to present the forbidden, the transgressive, the underground, the violent, and the repressed in a beautiful manner. As Sischy goes on to observe, Mapplethorpes eye for beauty enables the pictures to challenge, among other things, prevailing notions about sadomasochism and homoeroticism. Germano Celants audition in the register from a Guggenheim exhibition compares Mapplethorpes photographs with Mannerist paintings. He argues that Mapplethorpes style works to both defuse and legitimise the content of his images by linking them to aesthetic codes of the past. Extending Dantos observation about the importance of the tension between form and content for understanding Mapplethorpes work aesthetically, Sischy and Celant argue that this tension is the key to evaluating Mapplethorpes images politically. Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter illustrates how the relationship between form and content functions across Mapplethorpes body of work. As already noted the t ension between the mundanity of the portraits setting and style and the atypicality of the subjects costume and identity generates the images energy and arrests the viewers attention. As Danto observes They look as though this were the most natural thing in the world for them to be doing in their middle-class living room. But what is a sexual slave doing sitting that way in a comfortable armchair? Form and content also generate tension with respect to time. To what historical moment does this photograph rightfully belong? As several commentators have noted, Mapplethorpes sex photographs are important, if for no other reason, because they document a certain gay male subculture whose adherents failed to survive the ravages of Aids. This subject matter, closely buttoned to the sexual exploration of the 70s, was captured, however, using a visual aesthetic associated with late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century photography, if not older notions of symmetry, order and perfection. As Joan Didion observed in her introductory essay to Mapplethorpes collection of female portraits, Some WomenRobert Mapplethorpes work has often been seen as an aesthetic sport, so entirely outside any historical or social context, and so new, as to resist interpretation. This newness has in fact become so fixed an idea about Mapplethorpe that we tend to overlook the source of his strength, which derived, from the beginning, less from the shock of the new than from the shock of the old. There was, above all, the perilous imposition of order on chaos, of classical form on unthinkable images.Didions comments clarify that Mapplethorpes images are uncomplete without historical context nor fixed within a sensation historical context. Instead, subject and style belong to different, and seemingly disparate, historical moments and social milieu. The form of Mapplethorpes photographs, however, renders the content of his images thinkable, palatable, legitimate. Mapplethorpes combination of for m and content, then, is anything but dilettantism.Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter also plays with the distinction between public and private spaces. The space of the picture is a living room, a domestic space, a space hidden from the worlds prying eyes and attendant judgements. The sexual identity evoked by the subjects costumes also signifies private space they are culturally unsounded as taboo, necessitating secrecy. The space of the portrait, both generally as a visual form and specifically as an artefact in a book or gallery, is, however, public. The staged presentation of these subjects underlines that they are opening their private spaces to public scrutiny. This picture is not a snapshot it is not a candid photo it is not an image captured on the sly as in the work of Garry Winogrand. It is, instead, a formal portrait that required preparation and planning. As Danto points out, when emphasising the relationship of trust that Mapplethorpe must(prenominal) have developed with hi s photographic subjects, indicated by the settings, the staging, the careful execution and the use of names, in the photographs titles, it is clear that Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter, like Mapplethorpes other subjects, have consented to having this image made. They have admitted Mapplethorpe (and, consequently, the viewer) into their lives, such that the photographer and, consequently, the viewer shares a moral space with them. Heeter and Ridleys consensual act of opening their home works to situate the spectator non-consensually in a common, private space. This characterisation of the taboo to public scrutiny compels the viewer to accept this intrusion into the public sphere by voluntarily opening the walls of their private space, Ridley and Heeter have challenged the boundaries of what is acceptable in the public space. The form of the photograph as a posed portrait, then, sharpens the political challenge of its content.The troubling of the boundary between public and private esta blishes a tangled relationship between the image and temporality. As a portrait, Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter is the memorialisation of a single instant in the life of this couple. At the same time, given the disjunction between their regalia and their setting, the portrait necessarily invokes a before and an after. Insofar as Heeters and Ridleys costumes mean a particular set of sexual practices, they are not practices that likely take place (primarily) in the space in which they are photographed. Their costumes suggest the space of the playroom, the dungeon, the sex club places significantly different from the one they occupy. The portrait evokes a place and time outside the environs of the setting for the erotic activity it suggests. Because the sexual activity suggested by this photograph is understood as taboo, as requiring a private space, even though it is being exposed to a public viewing, the portrait also intimates that these costumes and these roles are not the totali ty of the lives of these portrait subjects. Just as the picture suggests other times and places for sexual activity, the specificity of the intimated sexual activity, by negative implication, suggests non-sexual times and places in these subjects lives that require different styles of self-presentation. The temporal and spatial limitations on this particular self-stylisation are underlined by the incongruity of costume and setting. The form/content distinctions of this image, then, invest it with a temporal dimension.The photograph suggests a relationship of dominance and entrance the power dynamics at play in the image, however, are neither simple nor singular. On the most basic level, there is the power of the gaze, a power generated by the image that situates both the spectator and the pictorial subject. This gaze arguably belongs to Mapplethorpe and the spectator and is exercised against Heeter and Ridley. Even if Heeter and Ridley have been costumed, posed, lit and framed by M applethorpe, to claim that they have been objectified by his gaze fails to account for the complexity of the image. Ridley and Heeter both look at the camera with hard and fixed stares they are not giving over their bodies, their lives or their subjectivities to the spectator. Ridley and Heeter from each one adopt a physical pose that underpins the defiance of their respective looks Heeters nonchalant stance and Ridleys open-legged seating position situate them in the full solidity of their corporeal frames. When looking at Heeter and Ridley, the spectator is just as likely to feel intimidated, challenged and threatened as in control of the image. In this way, the power Ridley and Heeter restrain vis--vis the gaze relates to and underscores their consent to the image-making process. At the same time, their tight leather outfits draw attention to the precise contours of their bodies. The silver studs on Heeters codpiece and the positioning of Ridleys legs and hands also draw visu al attention to their respective genital regions. In this way the portrait trades in traditional mechanisms of eroticising and objectifying its subjects. Because they have been trapped in the image, and because this photograph will now circulate freely outside of their control, however, their resistance to the power of the scopic regime is limited and partial. The photograph, then, transforms Heeter and Ridley into objects for contemplation. The spectators visual inspection of them, however, is disrupted by their respective looks, their physical poses and the iconography of sadomasochism within the photograph. The gaze that structures this image is neither straightforward nor unidirectional.The power dynamic between the portraits subjects is also complex. Heeters superior vertical position along with his grasp of the riding crop and Ridleys chains are evidence of his dominance. At the same time Ridley is foregrounded in the pictorial space and his face is both more clearly visible a nd more bright lit, making him the focus of visual attention. Ridleys name is also given priority in the portraits title. While this priority is consistent with Western left-to-right titling practice, it runs against the perceived practice of many sadomasochistic practitioners who often deny the submissive partner the referential use of a name, personal pronouns or even capital letters. As Richard Meyer observed when lay out that the formal properties of Mapplethorpes photographs often work to undo the power dynamics of his images content The contradictions of this portrait defeat any essentialist interpretation of Ridley and Heeter in (or as) their sadomasochistic roles. Building on a close reading of the Meyer article, I would add that it is the compositional elements of the picture that serve to disrupt the meaning of its specific iconography. In other words, with respect to how the picture trades in the erotics of dominance and submission, the form of the image undercuts its m anifest content.The incongruity of costume and setting also works to complicate the readings of power in the image. In an essay largely critical of Mapplethorpes images, C. S. Manegold writes that the dream promised by this portrait is one of pain, of submission, of servitude, a willing walk toward death. She goes on to claim that Mapplethorpes sadomasochistic photographs are funded by a fascistic aesthetic. While I agree that this image trades in the iconography of domination and submission, I would dispute that the leather gear is Nazi-esque, it is merely hyper-masculine and owes much more to the ride cop or the cowboy than any sort of Nazi influence, there are certainly no badges or insignia to indicate such a position and is merely Manegold herself showing what her personal/political history brings to the table in terms of domination. Any characterisation of the image as representing only a single form of erotic or gendered self-presentation founders on the details of the photo graph itself. Looking only at Heeters riding crop and studded cod-piece or only at Ridleys handcuffs and locked collar, Manegolds characterisation of the image as one infused with pain and death and fascinated with a fascistic masculinity may seem self-justified. What happens, however, when the spectator notices the old geezer brass clock, the carefully arranged books or the delicate figurines that are also part of the picture? Are these details irrelevant? Do they also signify death and embody fascism? Or do they expose the sadomasochistic self-presentation of Ridley and Heeter as convincing, chilling, arousing, and disturbing as it might be as, at root, a performance, a ritual, an enactment? Although it is implicit in what I said about the image and temporality previously, it bears emphasising that insofar as the portrait highlights the performative nature of (sadomasochistic or masculine) identity, this also relates to the temporality of the image. Because a performance requir es a repeated bodily gesture, it also requires temporal duration. In other words, does the incongruity between the general setting and the specific costuming show that each signifies an alternative way to fashion a life? A less incongruous picture could have been crafted by stripping the room bare of furniture, positioning Ridley on his knees and painting the walls black. Equally less incongruous a picture could also have been crafted by stripping Ridley of his chains, positioning Heeter on the arm of the chair and dressing the pair in flannels and blazers. The posing of this master-slave duo in a well-appointed, to the point of chi-chi, living room, however, shows that the respective systems of decoration are fully parallel, even though they might imply different relationships to hegemonic masculinity. What Mapplethorpe has done is signify hyper-masculinity and then gone on to problematise it.By focusing the spectators attention on the stylisation of their clothing and prop up thro ugh its sharp focus and bright lighting, the style of the portrait underlines that Ridley and Heeters gear is drag, a costume, a mode of self-presentation, a performance. In addition, by staging Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter in a setting where their self-presentation as devotees of sadomasochistic eroticism would stand out in exaggerated bas-relief, the portrait calls attention to the artifice, the staginess of their chosen identity. The inherent theatricality of the picture is further emphasised by the dynamics of sadomasochistic erotic play itself. Given its emphasis on roles, costumes, props, scenes, the adornment of the body and implements of sexual arousal, sadomasochism despite the public of the pain/pleasure experienced by its participants is a complex set of ritualised gestures. With these features in mind, it becomes easier to see how form and content are not merely in productive tension, but are virtually undone almost reversed by the portrait.Previously I identified t he sadomasochistic couple as the content of the portrait, but the emphasis on performance, artifice and theatricality demonstrates that the term sadomasochistic couple is as much a formal trope enabling a reading of a situation as it is a pre-interpretive category with content. The viewer identifies Lyle Heeter and Brian Ridley as practitioners of sadomasochism not because their portrait contains sexual content, but because it trades in the signifying codes of the leather uniform. Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter provides no evidence that its subjects participate in sadomasochistic acts it reveals only that they understand how to participate in sadomasochistic signification. If this portrait were placed next to one of a gay male couple in jeans and t-shirts posed in their living room and another couple in biker gear in a fetish bar, the mobility of sadomasochistic couple as an interpretive grid would be much clearer. By the same token, the classical and mannered stylisation of the image is not merely the formal code by which this portrait has been organised it is the very subject matter of the photograph. On the one hand, Heeter and Ridley, as a sadomasochistic couple, are irrelevant i.e. negated and transcended. They are little more than one possible signifier that enables a set of meanings and associations to attach to an image. Other visual and cultural incongruities could have been used to achieve the same kind of shock and disorientation. On the other hand, Ridley and Heeters identity as a sadomasochistic couple is absolutely essential to the image, not because it is at odds with the domestic setting of the portrait, but because sadomasochism as a highly theatrical, self-aware, ritualised mode of erotic behaviour fraught with its own contradictions and tensions provides the most useful set of signifying codes for exploring the formal concerns about self-stylisation with which the portrait engages. The theatricality of sadomasochism, captured in a highly st ylised portrait exposes the performance of masculinity that Heeter and Ridley and countless others are attempting. In this way that portraits iconography both participates in and potentially disrupts certain fantastic constructions of the masculine self. Sadomasochism, then, is a useful point of entry into Mapplethorpes larger body of work not only because it is the subject matter of a large number of his photographs or it is the subject matter that catapulted him to fame, but because sadomasochism as a practice is so directly parallel to the notions of theatrical self-presentation with which Mapplethorpes images deal. As noted previously, it is not only the thematic of the photographs that are important, but also how they train the viewer to see.

A Chioce Made Easy Essay -- essays research papers fc

A Choice Made EasyChoosing educational software for youngsterren is certainly not an easy task. Because so many options are available, it is easy to be overwhelmed by all the vividly colored packages, the intriguing characters, and fantastic claims of academic enhancements. How in the world does one actually choose? Fortunately, all is not lost. A software package is available, which truly encompasses those qualities, and does so without assaulting the purchasers pocketbook. My Personal Tutor by Microsoft, is a budget sensitive, educational enhancement package for childaren, with excite graphics and an incredible academic framework. For this reason, a recent review of this program stated that Microsoft has made a great contribution to childrens learning (Dr. Toy).In fact, My Personal Tutor is the best choice of childrens educational software.The activities in My Personal Tutor facilitate learning in vital academic disciplines. Because of the technological advancement of our societ y, todays students require more strength in critical idea, reading, and math skills than ever before. This three CD set is dedicated to enhancing skills in those areas. For example, in Turrus Sea Quest, the student further develops thinking skills in order to advance through the game format. By work out unfinished sentences, analyzing and finish number or shape patterns, challenging memory with matching, and matching analog compared to digital time, the child assists Captain Scratch in setting free the imperil sea creatures. In another CD, Sams Hide & Seek, the child strengthens reading skills in a virtual museum, with six separate rooms where the child plays interactive word games or reads stories in order to help Sam find his friends. However, the word games are not simple mindless entertainment. For instance, by solving incomplete sentences a stratum emerges. During this process, an amusing, vividly colored picture is painted depicting the story the child is creating. In ano ther challenging exercise, the student reads stories and answers questions relating to the story content in order to gain points, thereby fostering comprehension. Finally, in a third CD, the childs world becomes an incredible space send off where the goal is to help a new friend, Spy, capture alien stowaways. In Spys Space Station, traditional math of the p... ...osoft is the best choice of childrens educational enhancement software.Works CitedDr. Toys 100 Best Childrens Products for 1998. San Francisco, CA. 1999.Microsoft Kids Page. Redmond, WA. November 17, 1998. OutlineThesis My Personal Tutor is the best choice of childrens educational software.I. The activities in My Personal Tutor facilitate learning in vital academic disciplines. A. In Turrus Sea Quest, the student further develops thinking skills.B. In Sams Hide & Seek, the child strengthens reading skills.C. In Skys Space Station, traditional math is transformed into exciting activities.II. by dint of well-designed game objectives, My personal Tutor generates long term interest.A. All the activities are designed as a means to an end.B. The goals are met methodically through a sense of teamworkC. The interactive characters are encouraging throughout the challenge.III. Parents can feel confident that the purchase of this set is a cost-effective enhancement to the childs education, as well as anexcellent source of reinforcement for vital social skills.A. The price is only $14.95 after the rebate.B. My Personal Tutor is not hold to academics only.

Drive-by Shootings on Londons Streets :: Expository Essays Research Papers

Drive-by Shootings on Londons StreetsClose your eyes and sit back in your recliner. Let the cool gingersnap refresh you as you relax in your hardwood floored den and sip your English tea. Now picture London. What kind of an image comes to mind? Perhaps the cultivate languages of its inhabitants or just the aura of properness that encompasses typical visions of the great city of London. I am not writing to deny the eloquence of London, I am instead writing to challenge the notion of sophistication that some(prenominal) of us hold true to London. Could a city of such brilliance and royalty always fester with the day to day problems that we witness daily in our own country? I argue, yes. When one thinks of America, the thoughts tend to centralize around, The American Dream. The legality is, the American dream is no longer an ideal that all strive to obtain. Instead the title is now a preface to a long sassy of dog eat dog. America is full of controversy to reach the ideal of stabi lity, family life, and security. It seems that the way many Americans attempt to gratify their dreams is to lie, cheat, scheme, and that is just the beginning. Lately, the petty competition has led to drugs, crime, and hideous acts of violence. Unfortunately, the trend is catching on. London, England seems to have joined in the rat race and the London news has the headlines to prove it. It seems that something is gone from the old England, or at least the way it expendd to be perceived. Crime in London is at an all time high and the amount of drug use and violence is soaring. Although several Americans are already well acquainted with the date rape drug, Royhypnol, the streets of London are now getting a dose of it as well. According to a recent issue of The London Student newspaper, the drug first came to notice in Scotland a year ago. The paper also makes many references to the previous and vigorous use of the drug in the U.S. Unfortunately, it seems that London has seen its fair share of the drug as well. The British police have already been certified of the problem and are asked to be aware of the presence of the drug along with its possible side effects. London women are being advised to watch their tipsiness at all times and never accept a drink offered to them by a stranger.