On the Idea of the Mandala as a Governing Device in Indian Architectural Tradition

2000 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonit Bafna
Keyword(s):  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Modern Art ◽  
The Other ◽  
Current Understanding ◽  
Architectural Form ◽  
Historical Scholarship ◽  
Square Grid ◽  
Indian Architecture ◽  
Architectural Tradition ◽  
Two Bodies

This paper is an attempt to reconsider our current understanding of the role accorded to the mandala within traditional Indian architecture. It is generally held that the mandala-in particular the Vāstupuruṣamaṇḍala, the mandala associated with vāstu (inhabited or built site)-has played a determining role in the genesis of architectural form in India. Within more popular, and less circumspect, writings, this influence is held to be directly formal; the Vāstupuruṣamaṇḍala is traditionally drawn within a square grid, and any sign of an orthogonal planning or a grid-like layout is taken to be a sign that the form in question was based upon the mandala. In investigating the foundations of such a belief, this paper reviews two bodies of literature. The first is modern art-historical scholarship, an examination of which shows that the idea of a morphogenetic mandala emerged only recently, and that it was not so much culled from the traditional writing as constructed afresh by art historians such as Kramrisch. The other body of literature examined is that of the traditional writings on architecture, many of which are cited as key sources of evidence for this idea. Here it is argued that there is almost no direct evidence for the use of mandalas in laying out complexes or designing buildings, and that such ideas of the use of mandalas rest on several assumptions that must themselves be questioned.

Locating Afghan History

2013 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nile Green
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
The Other ◽  
Historical Process ◽  
Historical Scholarship ◽  
History Of ◽  
Missing Middle ◽  
Two Bodies

Afghanistan's 20th century has long been seen through an analytical dichotomy. One concentration of historical scholarship has sought to explain the fraught progress of Afghan nation-building in the 1910s and 1920s. A second has sought to explain the unraveling of the Afghan nation after 1979. Weighted toward the decades at either end of the century, this dichotomized field has been problematic in both chronological (and thereby processual) and methodological terms. On the level of chronology, the missing long mid-section (indeed, half) of the century between the framing coups of 1929 and 1979 has made it difficult to convincingly join together the two bodies of scholarship. Not only has the missing middle further cemented the division of scholarly labor but it also has made it more difficult to connect the history of the last quarter of the century to that of the first quarter (except as a story of parallels), rendering them discrete narratives of development, one ending and the other beginning with a coup. The problems are deeper than this, though, extending from questions of chronology and process to matters of method. For if in its focus on nationalism and nation-building the first-quarter scholarship is framed within the neat boundaries of national spaces and actors, then in its focus on the unraveling of the nation and its peoples through the consequences of Soviet intervention, the last-quarter scholarship elevates nonnational actors as the key agents of historical process.

Moderne Ikonen

2009 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-143
Author(s):  
Bernadette Collenberg-Plotnikov
Keyword(s):  
Mass Culture ◽  
Visual Experience ◽  
Modern Art ◽  
The Other ◽  
Recent Discussion ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Modern Mass

›Ikonen‹ sind heute nicht mehr nur die Ikonen der christlichen Kirche, sondern vor allem die Ikonen der modernen Massenkultur. Beide Arten von Ikonen werden in der neueren Kunstreflexion aufgegriffen: Kunst gilt entweder, verstanden als Erbin der religiösen Ikone, als Phänomen, das Absolutes in singulärer Weise anschaulich er- fahrbar macht. Oder aber die Kunst gilt umgekehrt lediglich als Klasse in der Welt der säkularen Ikonen. Demgegenüber wird im Beitrag erstens die These vertretenwerden, daß die neuere Kunst sowohl Aspekte transzendenter als auch immanenter Ikonen umfaßt. Zugleich ist es aber, so die zweite These, für unser Kunstverständnis charakteristisch, ein theoretisches Kontrastverhältnis zwischen Kunst und Ikone an- zunehmen. Dieses gründet auf einer spezifischen Reflexivität der Kunst, durch die sie sich von der Ikone beiderlei Art kategorial unterscheidet. Today, the word ›icon‹ usually no longer refers to the icons of the Christian church, but to the icons of the modern mass-culture. Both sorts of icons play a key-role in the recent discussion about art: Either art is supposed to be a descendant of the religious icon, a phenomenon that gives us a singular visual experience of the Absolute. On the other hand, art is supposed to be just one class among others in the wide world of the secular icons. In contrast to these two positions this essay contends that modern art comprehends aspects of transcendent as well as of immanent icons. Furthermore, it argues that at the same time it is characteristic for our notion of art to suppose a contrast between art and icon. This contrast is based on a specific reflectivity of art, which marks a categorical difference between art and both sorts of icons.

Alive Still

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathy Curtis
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Modern Art ◽  
Severe Form ◽  
The Other ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Right Hand ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
Village Voice

In 1942, at age twenty, after a vision-impaired and rebellious childhood in Richmond, Virginia, Nell Blaine decamped for New York. Operations had corrected her eyesight, and she was newly aware of modern art, so different from the literal style of her youthful drawings. In Manhattan, she met rising young artists and poets. Her life was hectic, with raucous parties in her loft, lovers of both sexes, and freelance design jobs, including a stint at the Village Voice. Initially drawn to the rigorous formalism of Piet Mondrian, she received critical praise for her jazzy abstractions. During the 1950s, she began to paint interiors and landscapes. By 1959, when the Whitney Museum purchased one of her paintings, her career was firmly established. That year, she contracted a severe form of polio on a trip to Greece; suddenly, she was a paraplegic. Undaunted, she taught herself to paint in oil with her left hand, reserving her right hand for watercolors. In her postpolio work, she achieved a freer style, expressive of the joy she found in flowers and landscapes. Living half the year in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and the other half in New York, she took special delight in painting the views from her windows and from her country garden. Critics found her new style irresistible, and she had a loyal circle of collectors; still, she struggled to earn enough money to pay the aides who made her life possible. At her side for her final twenty-nine years was her lover, painter Carolyn Harris.

The Origins of Domestic Sheep and Goats: a Reconsideration in the Light of the Fossil Evidence

1969 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 368-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Payne
Keyword(s):  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Present Situation ◽  
Wild Relatives ◽  
The Other ◽  
Domestic Sheep ◽  
Sheep And Goats ◽  
Animal Domestication ◽  
The Past ◽  
The One ◽  
And Control

In recent discussions of the origins and process of animal domestication (Reed, 1961, Zeuner, 1963), both authors rely on two kinds of evidence: on the one hand, the present distributions and characteristics of the different breeds of whatever animal is being discussed, together with its feral and wild relatives, and, on the other hand, the past record, given by literary and pictorial sources and the bones from archaeological and geological sites. Increased recognition of the limitations of the past record, whether in the accuracy of the information it appears to give (as in the case of pictorial sources), or in the certainty of the deductions we are at present capable of drawing from it (this applies especially to the osteological record), has led these authors to argue mainly from the present situation, using the past record to confirm or amplify the existing picture.Arguing from the present, many hypotheses about the origins and process of domestication are available. The only test we have, when attempting to choose between these, lies in the direct evidence of the past record. The past record, it is freely admitted, is very fragmentary: the information provided by the present situation is more exact, ranges over a much wider field, and is more open to test and control. Nevertheless, the past record, however imperfect it is, is the only direct evidence we have about the process of domestication.

Abnormal vascular function and morphology in preeclampsia: a study of isolated resistance vessels

1985 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Aalkjaer ◽  
H. Danielsen ◽  
P. Johannesen ◽  
E. B. Pedersen ◽  
A. Rasmussen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Angiotensin Ii ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Vascular Function ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
The Other ◽  
Vascular Changes ◽  
Direct Information ◽  
Vascular Abnormalities ◽  
Media Thickness ◽  
Resistance Vessels

1. In order to obtain direct information about vascular changes associated with pre-eclampsia, the morphological and functional characteristics of isolated omental resistance vessels from 11 women with pre-eclampsia, 10 normotensive pregnant women and eight normotensive nonpregnant women were determined. 2. In vessels from the women with preeclampsia, the ratio of media thickness to lumen diameter was increased, compared with that in vessels from the other two groups. 3. The vessels from the women with preeclampsia had an increased responsiveness to angiotensin II and a decreased rate of relaxation, but only when compared with the vessels from the normotensive pregnant women. However, no difference in responsiveness to noradrenaline was found between any of the groups. 4. The angiotensin II responsiveness of the vessels from the women with pre-eclampsia and from the non-pregnant women were similar, suggesting that pre-eclampsia is associated with an absence of the change in vascular function which normally occurs during pregnancy. 5. The study provides direct evidence for an involvement of vascular abnormalities in the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia.

Photoreceptor coupling in turtle retina

1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 755-764 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.L. FIRSOV ◽  
D.G. GREEN
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Gap Junctions ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Physiological Responses ◽  
The Other ◽  
Morphological Data ◽  
Chelydra Serpentina ◽  
Intracellular Injection ◽  
Coupled Cells ◽  
High Degree

Photoreceptors in the isolated turtle retina of two species of turtle, Chelydra serpentina and Pseudemus scripta elegans, were penetrated with double-barrel electrodes. Physiological responses were recorded through one barrel and Neurobiotin tracer was injected from the other. Intracellular injection of Neurobiotin revealed patterns of tracer-coupled photoreceptors. Both the patterns of tracer coupling and the electrophysiology suggest a high degree of specificity of connections. Rods seem to be coupled only to rods and green and red cones seem to be coupled to cones of the same spectral type. Receptive-field profiles, measured with a thin, sharply focused slit of light, often had well-defined peaks and troughs in sensitivity. We have taken advantage of this observation and used the position of a peak in sensitivity to locate the position on the retina of a coupled cell. In one rod, it was possible to correlate physiological and morphological data and to show that the peaks in the physiological receptive field occurred at positions on the retina where there were dye-coupled cells. This provides direct evidence that gap junctions produce the physiological coupling between rods.

scholarly journals The molecular mechanism of the inherited phosphofructokinase deficiency associated with hemolysis and myopathy

Blood ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 629-635
Author(s):  
S Vora ◽  
L Corash ◽  
WK Engel ◽  
S Durham ◽  
C Seaman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Basis ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
The Other ◽  
Heterogeneous Mixture ◽  
Muscle Type ◽  
Crossover Point ◽  
Normal Human ◽  
Phosphofructokinase Deficiency ◽  
2,3 Dpg ◽  
Chromatographic Profiles

Normal human erythrocyte phosphofructokinase (ATP:c D-fructose-6, P-1- phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.11; PFK) has recently been shown to consist of a heterogeneous mixture of five tetrameric isozymes: M4, M3L, M2L2, ML3, and L4 (M, muscle type; L, liver type). In the light of these findings, we have investigated the molecular basis of the inherited erythrocyte PFK deficiency associated with myopathy and hemolysis (Tarui disease). The propositus, a 31-yr-old male, suffered from muscle weakness and myoglobinuria on exertion. He showed mild erythrocytosis despite laboratory evidence of hemolysis. In his erythrocytes a metabolic crossover point was found at the level of PFK; 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) was also significantly reduced. The PFK from the patient's erythrocytes consisted exclusively of the L4 isozyme, and there was a complete absence of the other four. The leukocyte and platelet PFKs from the patient showed normal activities, chromatographic profiles, and precipitation with anti-M4 antibody. These studies provide direct evidence that in Tarui disease the M-type subunits are absent; but the liver- and platelet-type subunits of PFK are unaffected. The paradox of mild erythrocytosis despite hemolysis reflects the decreased production of 2,3-DPG.

scholarly journals Wzniosłe i cielesne pożywienie w sztuce jedzenia i nie-jedzenia

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-68
Author(s):  
Robert Dobrowolski
Keyword(s):  
Modern Art ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Sublime ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Sensual Pleasure ◽  
The One

Wzniosłe i cielesne pożywienie w sztuce jedzenia i nie-jedzeniaPrzenikające współczesną sztukę rozmaite, często przeciwstawne, strategie estetyczne manifestują się w  kulinarnym artyzmie nowoczesnej kuchni, a  także w  zmieniających się pod jej wpływem postawach i  zwyczajach żywieniowych. Z  jednej strony — abiektualizacyjny porządek dadaistycznej dezynwoltury, perwersyjna obrona przed całkowitym nihilizmem, w  perwersyjny sposób dekonstruuje estetykę jedzenia w  kuchni fusion; z  drugiej — zupełnie odmienna i  szczególnie zaskakująca w  wypadku sztuki jedzenia, charakterystyczna dla kuchni molekularnej, estetyka wzniosłości, zbliżająca się niekiedy do anorektycznej awersji wobec ciała, ale też nigdy nieporzucająca perspektywy smaku i  związanej z  nią zmysłowej przyjemności. The sublime and carnal food in the art of eating and not eatingVarious aesthetic strategies present in modern art, often contradictory, are not only manifested in culinary art of modern cuisine, but also in changing dietary attitudes and habits. On the one hand — abject order of dadaistic unceremoniousness, defense against complete nihilism, perversely deconstructs the food aesthetics in fusion cuisine; on the other hand — completely surprising in the context of food art, characteristic of molecular cuisine, aesthetics of sublime acquires sometimes anorectic aversion to the body, but never abandons the taste and connected with it sensual pleasure.

The Stoic Ontology of Geometrical Limits

Phronesis ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 54 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 371-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Eunyoung Ju
Keyword(s):  
Direct Evidence ◽  
The Other ◽  
Specific Topic ◽  
Textual Evidence ◽  
The One ◽  
Metaphysical Status

AbstractScholars have long recognised the interest of the Stoics' thought on geometrical limits, both as a specific topic in their physics and within the context of the school's ontological taxonomy. Unfortunately, insufficient textual evidence remains for us to reconstruct their discussion fully. The sources we do have on Stoic geometrical themes are highly polemical, tending to reveal a disagreement as to whether limit is to be understood as a mere concept, as a body or as an incorporeal. In my view, this disagreement held among the historical Stoics, rather than simply reflecting a doxographical divergence in transmission. This apparently Stoic disagreement has generated extensive debate, in which there is still no consensus as to a standard Stoic doctrine of limit. The evidence is thin, and little of it refers in detail to specific texts, especially from the school's founders. But in its overall features the evidence suggests that Posidonius and Cleomedes differed from their Stoic precursors on this topic. There are also grounds for believing that some degree of disagreement obtained between the early Stoics over the metaphysical status of shape. Assuming the Stoics did so disagree, the principal question in the scholarship on Stoic ontology is whether there were actually positions that might be called "standard" within Stoicism on the topic of limit. In attempting to answer this question, my discussion initially sets out to illuminate certain features of early Stoic thinking about limit, and then takes stock of the views offered by late Stoics, notably Posidonius and Cleomedes. Attention to Stoic arguments suggests that the school's founders developed two accounts of shape: on the one hand, as a thought-construct, and, on the other, as a body. In an attempt to resolve the crux bequeathed to them, the school's successors suggested that limits are incorporeal. While the authorship of this last notion cannot be securely identified on account of the absence of direct evidence, it may be traced back to Posidonius, and it went on to have subsequent influence on Stoic thinking, namely in Cleomedes' astronomy.

Translocation of the neuronal cytoskeleton and axonal locomotion

1982 ◽  
Vol 299 (1095) ◽  
pp. 313-327 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Axonal Transport ◽  
Cell Body ◽  
Cytoskeletal Proteins ◽  
The Other ◽  
Current Understanding ◽  
Axonal Elongation ◽  
Neuronal Cytoskeleton ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Neuron Cell Body

Recent studies of axonal transport indicate that cytoskeletal proteins are assembled into polymers in the neuron cell body and that these polymers move from the cell body toward the end of the axon. On the other hand, membranous elements appear to be inserted into the axonal plasma membrane preferentially at the end of the axon. These new observations are explored in relation to our current understanding of axonal elongation.

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