Schneemann Sounding: Embodied Sonic Systems

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-163
Author(s):  
Melissa Ragona

Abstract This essay examines the central position the medium of sound played in the work of the artist Carolee Schneemann (US, 1939–2019). By exploring a few key early works such as Glass Environment for Sound and Motion (1962), Chromelodeon (1963), and Noise Bodies (1965), it traces how her exposure to emergent forms in experimental music informed important translations she made of complex sonic structures into expanded, layered, constantly evolving visual systems. The essay argues that Schneemann transformed the body into a soft recording system that broadcast sonic testimonies of everyday encounters with the excesses of conspicuous consumption, the inequalities of gendered relations, and the disturbing encounters with state-mandated violence against other cultures, in particular the US invasion of Vietnam.

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oleg Riabov

This article deals with the US Cold War cinematographic construction of the Soviet enemy. The researcher focuses on the means of dehumanising the communist enemy, external and internal, by equating it to a machine. The author applies Nick Haslam’s dual model of dehumanization (2006), according to which dehumanization is visible in two main forms: animalistic, by associating members of the out-group with animals, and mechanistic, by associating them with a soulless machine. The materials used consist of US films from the “Long Fifties”, in which Hollywood, equating the enemy to machines, developed three plots: the robotic existence of individuals in a totalitarian society; the transformation of Americans into zombies by communists by means of Soviet science; and the body snatching of Americans by an alien mind, an allegory of a future communist occupation of the USA. The article demonstrates that dehumanization was implemented by directly labeling the representatives of the communist world as robots and by attributing to them a lack of emotions, consciousness, will, individuality, initiative, warmth, love, friendship, creative abilities, and even the ability to smile. Such an image of the enemy implied a moral exclusion, treating them as an inanimate object unworthy of empathy, including in the event of their destruction. The author points out that the use of mechanistic dehumanization was very effective. Essentialization of the differences between “us” and “them” occurred: the symbolic border between them is presented as a boundary between living and nonliving. The image of mortal danger was created: the “Red Machine” is strong and merciless, it cannot be moved to pity, and so it is permissible to destroy it. This image contributed to the legitimation of power: the political opponents of the authorities are represented as internal enemies who are anxious to turn Americans into obedient executors of someone else’s will and to deprive them of humanity. At the same time, the machine also has weaknesses, and it is possible to defeat it: since it is devoid of human creativity, it is clearly inferior to the free human spirit embodied in America.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eonyou Shin ◽  
Elahe Saeidi

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to categorize the whole body shapes of overweight and obese females in the US and examine apparel fit based on the current ASTM sizing standards related to the body shapes categorized.Design/methodology/approachBody scan data from 2,672 subjects were used. To categorize their whole body shapes using 97 body measurements, principal component analysis with varimax rotation, a hierarchical cluster analysis and K-means cluster analysis were used. To compare the ASTM sizing standards for plus sizes (curvy and straight) and missy sizes (curvy and straight), five body parts (bust, under bust, waist, top hip, hip) using the formula for fit tolerance (measurement plus half of the interval) were compared with the ASTM sizing standards to determine the size appropriate for each body part.FindingsFive whole body shapes among overweight and obese females in the US were categorized: Rectangle-curvy; parallelogram-moderately curvy; parallelogram-hip tilt; inverted trapezoid-moderately curvy and inverted trapezoid-hip tilt. When the body measurements in each body shape were compared with the current ASTM sizing systems for both misses and plus sizes, four-fifths or more of overweight and obese female adults in the US would find it difficult to obtain a perfect fit for both tops and bottoms.Originality/valueIdentifying whole body shapes among overweight and obese women in the US contributes significantly, as it will help apparel companies that target the markets of larger women develop a new sizing system. This study is the first attempt to analyze fit by comparing the ASTM sizing charts with body measurements in each body shape group. Further, the study contributes to the body-related literature by filling gaps in missing whole BS categories among overweight and obese females.


Author(s):  
Rowland Atkinson ◽  
Sarah Blandy

This chapter considers the meaning and importance of more psychological aspects of the private home. Homeownership has been argued to provide us with a deep sense of security of being in troubled times, when trust in community has been lost. Psychoanalytic and sociological theories of consumption practices are used here to examine the role of psychic development as it occurs within the home. Two functions of the home in particular are examined here, illustrated through fairy stories, fiction and films. First, the home's role as a bridge or mediator to the public world outside the home, meaning that a child's preparation for the outside world is largely dependent on parental perceptions of risk and insecurity. Second, the private (fearful) world inside what Freud termed the unheimlich home, hiding dreadful secrets. The current emphasis on control of outsiders' access to the home, and the developing culture of respecting others' homes as entirely private places, may make the home a domestic prison for its less powerful residents: women and children. Feminist analyses of the development of gender roles in the home and data on domestic violence show the dark underbelly of the sanctified private home. Although some homes are havens, others can be the site of domestic slavery and even more disturbing examples of power and abuse, such as Fred West, and the imprisonment of Fritzl's daughter in Austria and Jaycee Dugard in the US.


2019 ◽  
pp. 127-150
Author(s):  
Katherine Dugan

This chapter examines missionaries’ romantic relationships and argues that the way these young adults date, marry, and procreate shapes their position in the US Catholic landscape. These emerging adults develop wide-ranging and gendered interpretations of chastity. They discipline themselves and their co-missionaries to follow Catholic dictums articulated in Humanae Vitae and Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body More than personal ethics, however, this chapter posits that missionaries’ practices of Catholic romance are part of their pro-life politics. How and why these Catholic millennials embody the transitions from singlehood to family life proclaims their proud, dynamically orthodox Catholic alternative to contemporary sexual ethics in the United States.


2002 ◽  
Vol 41 (04) ◽  
pp. 245-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Rosse ◽  
J. F. Brinkley

Summary Objectives: Survey current work primarily funded by the US Human Brain Project (HBP) that involves substantial use of images. Organize this work around a framework based on the physical organization of the body. Methods: Pointers to individual research efforts were obtained through the HBP home page as well as personal contacts from HBP annual meetings. References from these sources were followed to find closely related work. The individual research efforts were then studied and characterized. Results: The subject of the review is the intersection of neuroinformatics (information about the brain), imaging informatics (information about images), and structural informatics (information about the physical structure of the body). Of the 30 funded projects currently listed on the HBP web site, at least 22 make heavy use of images. These projects are described in terms of broad categories of structural imaging, functional imaging, and image-based brain information systems. Conclusions: Understanding the most complex entity known (the brain) gives rise to many interesting and difficult problems in informatics and computer science. Although much progress has been made by HBP and other neuroinformatics researchers, a great many problems remain that will require substantial informatics research efforts. Thus, the HPB can and should be seen as an excellent driving application area for biomedical informatics research.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna R. Rochester ◽  
Ashley L. Bolden ◽  
Katherine E. Pelch ◽  
Carol F. Kwiatkowski

Triclocarban (TCC) is an antimicrobial agent used in personal care products. Although frequently studied with another antimicrobial, triclosan, it is not as well researched, and there are very few reviews of the biological activity of TCC. TCC has been shown to be a possible endocrine disruptor, acting by enhancing the activity of endogenous hormones. TCC has been banned in the US for certain applications; however, many human populations, in and outside the US, exhibit exposure to TCC. Because of the concern of the health effects of TCC, we conducted a scoping review in order to map the current body of literature on the endocrine, reproductive, and developmental effects of TCC. The aim of this scoping review was to identify possible endpoints for future systematic review and to make recommendations for future research. A search of the literature until August 2017 yielded 32 relevant studies in humans, rodents, fish, invertebrates, and in vitro. Based on the robustness of the literature in all three evidence streams (human, animal, and in vitro), we identified three endpoints for possible systematic review: estrogenic activity, androgenic activity, and offspring growth. In this review, we describe the body of evidence and make recommendations for future research.


Author(s):  
John Prados

The assassination of Osama bin Laden by SEAL Team 6 in May 2011 will certainly figure among the greatest achievements of US Special Forces. After nearly ten years of searching, they descended into his Pakistan compound in the middle of the night, killed him, and secreted the body back into Afghanistan. Interest in these forces had always been high, but it spiked to new levels following this success. There was a larger lesson here too. For serious jobs, the president invariably turns to the US Special Forces: the SEALs, Delta Force, the Green Berets, and the USAF’s Special Tactics squad. Given that secretive grab-and-snatch operations in remote locales characterize contemporary warfare as much as traditional firefights, the Special Forces now fill a central role in American military strategy and tactics. Not surprisingly, the daring and secretive nature of these commando operations has generated a great deal of interest. The American public has an overwhelmingly favorable view of the forces, and nations around the world recognize them as the most capable fighting units: the tip of the American spear, so to speak. But how much do we know about them? What are their origins? What function do they fill in the larger military structure? Who can become a member? What do trainees have to go through? What sort of missions do Special Forces perform, and what are they expected to accomplish? Despite their importance, much of what they do remains a mystery because their operations are clandestine and the sources elusive. In The US Special Forces: What Everyone Needs to Know, eminent scholar John Prados brings his deep expertise to the subject and provides a pithy primer on the various components of America’s special forces. The US military has long employed Special Forces in some form or another, but it was in the Cold War when they assumed their present form, and in Vietnam where they achieved critical mass. Interestingly, the Special Forces suffered a rapid decline in numbers after that conflict despite the fact that the United States had already identified terrorism as a growing security threat. The revival of Special Forces began under the Reagan administration. After 9/11 they experienced explosive growth, and are now integral to all US military missions. Prados traces how this happened and examines the various roles the Special Forces now play. They have taken over many functions of the regular military, a trend that Prados does not expect will end any time soon. This will be a definitive primer on the elite units in the most powerful military the world has ever known.


2000 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-123
Author(s):  
Amr Sabet

From Wealth to Power is a study in the social and historical dynamics contributingto the rise and fall of essential actors in the international system. Itattempts to join history with social sciences theory in order to shed light onbroad theoretical topics in world politics, such as the rise of new great powers.In so doing it seeks to add to the body of scholarship that combined the studyof state structure with traditional international relations theory. The particularfocus is on the expansive rise of the United States, not only to world prominence,but also as a modem state. American foreign policy during the period1865-1908 is examined in light of changes in the state structure along the fourmajor variables- scope, autonomy, coherence, and capacity (p. 40)- touchingupon that country's domestic and administrative development.The first of the six chapters of the book poses the main questions that Zakariaattempts to address: ''What turns rich nations into 'great powers'?'' "Why, as states grow increasingly wealthy, do they build large annies, entangle themselvesin politics beyond their borders, and seek international influence?""What factors speed or retard the translation of material resources into politicalinterests?" (p. 3) and finally, "Under what conditions do states expand theirpolitical interests abroad?" (p. 18). Such questions visualize, on the one hand,a strong and direct correlation between great powers' economic rise and falland their growth or decline. Anomalies, on the other hand, are explained as a"Dutch disease," or the malady that does not allow "a nation of unequalledindividual prosperity and commercial prowess from remaining a state of greatinfluence and power" (pp. 4-5). The latter, Zakaria claims, was an Americanaffliction during the second half of the nineteenth century. This was particularlytrue during the relatively long period of nonexpansion and isolation followingthe Civil War (1860--64). Despite a tremendous increase in wealth, productivity,and power, it was not until the 1890s that the US began expandingagain. Zakaria considers this to be an aberration, reflecting a "highly unusualgap between power and interests" that lasted for some thirty years (p. 5). Anexplanation, according to him, would not only require a full historical account,but also "first-cut theories" which clarify national behavior (p. 8) ...


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary K. Foster ◽  
Agnes B. Meinhard

[First paragraph of Introduction]: The rapidly growing literature investigating corporate social responsibility (CSR) attests to the world-wide interest in this trend, both from an academic perspective and as a legitimate component of commercial success (Burson-Marsteller, 2000; Waddock & Graves, 1997). To date, most of the research has been conducted in the US, and indeed research interest in this topic dates back to the 1930s and 1940s (Carroll, 1999). The body of knowledge about CSR in Canada is more modest and has mostly focused on investigating social disclosure from an accounting perspective (Levin, 1982; Zeghal & Ahmed, 1990). One reason for this narrow focus has been historical. Unlike in the US, the Canadian government has been the primary architect, builder and funder of the social safety net. Until very recently, this dominant role of government has preempted the need for widespread corporate participation in the provision of social services. Thus tracking the nature and scope of CSR activities in the private sector has not been a major area of interest for Canadian researchers. Indeed, as recently as the 1980s, much of the CSR focus in Annual Reports of Canadian companies was on internal human resource issues such as employee health, safety and training, and not on community and social service issues (Zeghal & Ahmed, 1990). Keywords: CVSS, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Working Paper Series,TRSM, Ted Rogers School of Management Citation:


Somatechnics ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Sundén

This article takes as its point of departure the social media presence of a human musical automaton called Rabbit. As part of the US-based band Steam Powered Giraffe, Rabbit is performed by Bunny Bennett, who recently came out as a transgender woman. As a result of this shift, Rabbit is being transformed from a male automaton into a transgender female robot. The news of the transformation hit like a bomb in the emotionally invested fan base. The story of the transitioning robot is an intimate coming together of technologies, imagination, and transgender embodiment. It is a story that deserves scholarly attention for two reasons: This case offers ways of re-casting the discussion in transgender studies within a post-humanist framework of somatechnics. Secondly, it is a case which foregrounds an understanding of gender as a question of time. In focusing on transition as a continuous, open-ended process, gender is primarily understood as a temporal form which cuts or vibrates through the body in highly material, embodied ways. The domain of queer temporality is rather densely theorised, but what about trans- temporality? If queer temporality first and foremost deals with sexuality and time, what would it mean to shift the focus to gender? Drawing on Gilles Deleuze on time, this article is a contribution to the field of transgender studies on the question of trans- temporality in a technological vein.


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