scholarly journals Experimenting with work practices in a liminal space: A working period in a rural archipelago

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (10) ◽  
pp. 1371-1394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanne Vesala ◽  
Seppo Tuomivaara

Lived experiences in organizational liminal spaces ‘betwixt-and-between’ have begun to attract scholarly attention, but the full potential of liminal spaces in contemporary mobile and fluid working life has remained unexamined. This article contributes to theory by showing how a liminal experience in an alternative work environment is created via three dimensions: the aesthetic experience of a different environment, situated practices, and changes to work and life rhythms. Interview material was gathered from creative professionals working temporarily in a rural archipelago environment. The results suggest that the contrast of working in a calm natural environment supported experimentation with work practices, nurtured the formation of a communitas, and spurred imagination and reflection. The arrangement’s temporary nature heightened the intensity of participants’ experiences. However, this intensity varied depending on work community configurations and participants’ personal needs for change. This study deepens the current understanding of liminal spaces by showing how the nuances of physical and social spaces contribute to liminality and how liminality alters work rhythms. Future research should focus on how liminal workspaces can be created for individuals seeking a change in routine and increased community support.

Author(s):  
Sergio Espinosa Proa

Las obras de arte son objetos materiales que al mismo tiempo y de modos misteriosos son objetos espirituales (a saber: inmateriales). Utilizando a Kant y a Schiller, en este artículo se opone a la calificación platónica y aristotélica una concepción distinta del arte, que sería una manufactura humana no sometida a la lógica de la apropiación, sino de su contraria. El hombre es un ser racional, pero Kant le otorgó tres dimensiones a esta idea: la razón es conocimiento, mas también compasión y contemplación. Un ser humano tiene intereses teóricos, intereses prácticos... y desintereses múltiples. El "temple estético" al que Schiller hace referencia apunta a esta facultad de no hacer nada, a este aflojamiento de las tensiones, ocupaciones y preocupaciones, al puro deleite (o pavor) de estar meramente en el mundo. La experiencia o la emoción estética aflora cuando no esperamos nada —ni bueno ni malo— de las cosas. Es paradójico que una dimensión de nuestra racionalidad sea la facultad de no esperar, de no buscar, de no modificar o sustituir, de no mover un dedo, de simple y llanamente no hacer nada: es la facultad de dejar llegar, de dejar aparecer (y desaparecer), de dejar ser a las cosas; es la facultad de desactivar —momentáneamente— nuestras otras facultades. Works of art are material objects that at the same time and in mysterious ways are spiritual objects (i. e. immaterial). Using Kant and Schiller, this article opposes the Platonic and Aristotelian qualification with a different conception of art, which would be a human manufacture not subject to the logic of appropriation, but of its opposite. Man is a rational being, but Kant gave this idea three dimensions: reason is knowledge, but also compassion and contemplation. A human being has theoretical interests, practical interests… and multiple interests. The “aesthetic temper" to which Schiller refers points to this faculty of doing nothing, to this loosening of tensions, occupations and worries, to the pure delight (or dread) of being merely in the world. Aesthetic experience or emotion comes to the surface when we expect nothing —neither good nor bad— from things. It is paradoxical that one dimension of our rationality is the faculty of not waiting, of not seeking, of not modifying or substituting, of not moving a finger, of simply doing nothing: it is the faculty of letting come, of letting appear (and disappear), of letting things be; it is the faculty of deactivating —momentarily— our other faculties.


Author(s):  
Gina Cima Vallarino ◽  
Juan C. González González

Este trabajo atañe a la experiencia teatral desde la estética y las ciencias cognitivas. Se defiende la idea de que la actuación estética puede ser entendida como actuación verosímil. Si la experiencia estética posee tres dimensiones –sensorial, conceptual y hedonista–, la verosimilitud en la actuación se lograría en términos de una estrecha y apropiada relación entre ellas. La experiencia estética del espectador sería, pues, una consecuencia de lo que éste percibe, piensa y siente. A su vez, los estudios empíricos permiten establecer criterios objetivos de evaluación para juzgar una actuación como verosímil, tanto por parte del actor como del espectador. In Defense of the Concept of “Aesthetic Performance” as Truthful Theatrical PerformanceThis work concerns Aesthetics and Cognitive Science. Furthermore, deals with theatrical issues, defending the idea that an aesthetic performance can be understood as a truthful performance. If the aesthetic experience has three dimensions –sensory, conceptual and hedonistic–, the truthfulness of the performance would be achieved thanks to a close and appropriate relationship between them. The aesthetic experience of the spectator would thus be a consequence of what he/she perceives, thinks and feels. At the same time, empirical studies allow to establish objective criteria of evaluation for judging the truthfulness of a performance, by both the actor and the spectator. Recibido: 03 de agosto de 2020Aceptado: 14 de diciembre de 2020


Author(s):  
Marcello Di Paola ◽  
Serena Ciccarelli

This paper describes the disorienting aesthetics of some environments that are characteristic of the Anthropocene. We refer to these environments as ‘mashed-up’ and present three dimensions – phenomenological, epistemological and narrative – of the aesthetic disorientation they can trigger. We then advance the suggestion that a rich, nuanced and meaningful aesthetic experience of mashed-up Anthropocene environments (MAEs) calls for a mode of appreciation grounded on performative practices of aesthetic familiarisation with particular MAEs and entities and processes thereof. Familiarisation with MAEs, we further note, can have disorienting codas of its own. It can reveal and highlight, rather than eliminate or alleviate, the solid strangeness of Earth even in the systemically humanised world of the Anthropocene, and it can expose and tie at least some of our agency, identity and sources of meaning in life to the same unstable evolvability of particular MAEs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 44
Author(s):  
Paul J. Silvia ◽  
Rebekah M. Rodriguez ◽  
Katherine N. Cotter ◽  
Alexander P. Christensen

The psychology of art and aesthetics has a long-standing interest in how low-level features, such as symmetry, curvature, and color, affect people’s aesthetic experience. Recent research in this tradition suggests that people find glossy, shiny objects and materials more attractive than flat, matte ones. The present experiment sought to replicate and extend research on the attractiveness of images printed on glossy and flat paper. To control for several possible confounding factors, glossiness was manipulated between-person and varied with methods that held constant factors like weight, color quality, and resolution. To extend past work, we explored art expertise and Openness to Experience as potential moderators. A sample of 100 adults viewed landscape photographs on either high-gloss photo paper or on identical paper in which a flat, matte spray finish had been applied. Ratings of attractiveness showed weak evidence for replication. People rated the glossy pictures as more attractive than the matte ones, but the effect size was small (d = −0.23 [−0.62, 0.16]) and not statistically significant. Attractiveness ratings were significantly moderated, however, by individual differences in the aesthetic appreciation facet of Openness to Experience. When aesthetic appreciation was high, people found the images attractive regardless of condition; when it was low, people strongly preferred the glossy images over the matte ones, thus showing the classic glossiness effect. We conclude with some methodological caveats for future research.


2021 ◽  
pp. 22-26
Author(s):  
Cinzia Di Dio ◽  
Vittorio Gallese

In this chapter, the authors comment on their original review published in 2009 in Current Opinion in Neurobiology where, as they build a general theoretical framework that encompasses major empirical work in the field of neuroaesthetics since then, they also emphasize the role of the motor system and emotions in building an aesthetic experience. In this chapter, the authors extend their previous view with further empirical evidence, including from clinical and developmental psychology, thus supporting the idea that perception is not a mere “visual” copy of what is before our eyes, but the result of a complex construction whose outcome depends on the contribution of our body and its motor potential, our senses and emotions, imagination and memories. While the authors offer some food for thought for future research, they conclude by introducing a fairly recent line of study that explores the role of embodiment in architecture.


2021 ◽  
pp. 88-92
Author(s):  
Vittorio Gallese ◽  
David Freedberg ◽  
Maria Alessandra Umiltà

In this chapter, the authors summarize their research in the experimental aesthetics of visual art and cinema, motivated by the following assumptions: (1) vision is more complex than the mere activation of the “visual brain”; (2) our visual experience of the world is the outcome of multimodal integration processes, with the motor system as key player; (3) aesthetic experience must be framed within the broader notion of intersubjectivity, as artworks are mediators of the relationship between the subjectivities of artists/creators and beholders; and (4) empathy is an important ingredient of our response to works of art. Capitalizing on the results of their research, one privileging embodiment and the performative quality of perception and cognition, preliminary suggestions for a future research agenda are outlined. Embodied simulation, a model of perception and cognition, can provide a new take on these issues, fostering a newly based dialogue between neuroscience and the humanities.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Silvia ◽  
Alexander P. Christensen ◽  
Katherine N. Cotter

The psychology of art and aesthetics has a long-standing interest in how low-level features, such as symmetry, curvature, and color, affect people’s aesthetic experience. Recent research in this tradition suggests that people find glossy, shiny objects and materials more attractive than flat, matte ones. The present experiment sought to replicate and extend research on the attractiveness of paper, by far the most widely used material in this growing literature. To control for several possible confounding factors, glossiness was manipulated between-person and varied with methods that held constant factors like weight, color quality, and resolution. To extend past work, we explored art expertise and Openness to Experience as potential moderating factors. A sample of 100 adults viewed landscape photographs on either high-gloss photo paper or on identical paper in which a flat, matte spray finish had been applied. Ratings of attractiveness showed weak evidence for replication. The main effect of glossiness revealed that people found the glossy pictures more attractive than the matte ones, but the effect size was small (d = -.23 [-.62, .16]) and not statistically significant. This effect was significantly moderated, however, by individual differences in the aesthetic appreciation facet of Openness to Experience. When aesthetic appreciation was high, people found the images attractive regardless of condition; when it was low, people strongly preferred the glossy images over the matte ones, thus showing the classic glossiness effect. We conclude with some methodological caveats for future research.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ella Forgie ◽  
Hollis Lai ◽  
Bo Cao ◽  
Eleni Stroulia ◽  
Andrew James Greenshaw ◽  
...  

UNSTRUCTURED As many as 80% of internet users seek health information online. The social determinants of health (SDoH) are intimately related to who has access to the internet and healthcare as a whole. Those who face more barriers to care are more likely to benefit from accessing health information online, granted the information they are retrieving is accurate. Virtual communities on social media platforms are particularly interesting as venues for seeking health information online because peers have been shown to influence health behaviour more than almost anything else. Thus, it is important to recognize the potential of social media to have positive mediation effects on health, so long as any negative mediation effects are reconcilable. As a positive mediator of health, social media can be used as a direct or indirect mode of communication between physicians and patients, a venue for health promotion and health information, and a community support network. False or misleading content, social contagion, confirmation bias, and security and privacy concerns must be mitigated in order to realize full potential of social media as a positive mediator of health. In any case, it is clear that the intersections between the SDoH, social media, and health are intimate, and they must be taken into consideration by physicians. Here, we argue that a paradigm shift in the physician-patient relationship is warranted, one where physicians: a) acknowledge the impacts of the SDoH on information-seeking behaviour, b) recognize the positive and negative roles of social media as a mediator of health through the lens of the SDoH, and c) use social media to catalyze positive changes in the standard of care.


Author(s):  
Bart Vandenabeele

Schopenhauer explores the paradoxical nature of the aesthetic experience of the sublime in a richer way than his predecessors did by rightfully emphasizing the prominent role of the aesthetic object and the ultimately affirmative character of the pleasurable experience it offers. Unlike Kant, Schopenhauer’s doctrine of the sublime does not appeal to the superiority of human reason over nature but affirms the ultimately “superhuman” unity of the world, of which the human being is merely a puny fragment. The author focuses on Schopenhauer’s treatment of the experience of the sublime in nature and argues that Schopenhauer makes two distinct attempts to resolve the paradox of the sublime and that Schopenhauer’s second attempt, which has been neglected in the literature, establishes the sublime as a viable aesthetic concept with profound significance.


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