Category Archives: Anthropology

Hybrid Labs???

Art, Design

A HYBRID LABS Conference will take place at Aalto University in Finland on the dates of 31 May and 1 June 2018.

The conference, that is done in collaboration with Renewable Futures Network, will explore the notion of HYBRID LABS as places of trans-disciplinary practices.

On the first day there will be workshops that examine the role of artistic and creative practices during times of crisis.

The second day will be devoted to a Leonardo birthday celebration symposium.

As part of the activities an exhibition of art and design works will be held on campus.

Plants as intelligent beings?

Anthropology,

The article, The Intelligent Plant, was published in The New Yorker december 23, 2013. The author, Michael Pollan, offers us a brief survey of an emerging field devoted to the understanding of plants: “…The hypothesis that intelligent behavior in plants may be an emergent property of cells exchanging signals in a network might sound far-fetched, yet the way that intelligence emerges from a network of neurons may not be very different. Most neuroscientists would agree that, while brains considered as a whole function as centralized command centers for most animals, within the brain there doesn’t appear to be any command post; rather, one finds a leaderless network. That sense we get when we think about what might govern a plant—that there is no there there, no wizard behind the curtain pulling the levers—may apply equally well to our brains…”

Sylvia Rexach

America, Art, General

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Se pudiese decir que la historia de Syvia Rexach ( 1922-1961) en Puerto Rico es similar a la de Badding. Una increíble compositora y poetisa puertorriqueña quien escribió canciones que hoy se consideran clásicas. Encontré un vídeo de Las Caribelles – un grupo vocal de cuatro chicas fabulosas – cantando un medley de las canciones de Sylvia. El final incluye unas lineas de su famosa composición, Olas y arena. (Si quieres saber más sobre Las Caribelles, pincha aquí.)

Karonkka tradition

Anthropology, General

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“Dissertation karonkka is an old academic tradition. It is organized in honor of the Opponent. In karonkka, the Respondent also has the opportunity to thank her/his teachers, instructor and supporters for the help in different stages of the dissertation work. Karonkka is not a family festivity, although in addition to spouse, some close adult friends or relatives may be invited…” Read more

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Here are a couple of photos from Paula Bello Aragana’s karonkka. Paula was awarded a Doctor of Arts (In Art and Design) for her thesis on the topic of globalization.  For more information about her work see: Paula Bello’s dissertation, Goodscapes: Global Design Processes.

Una canción para terminar con uno y comenzar con otro…

America, Art, General

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Or “A song to end one and begin a new year”. Rock and roll has had a profound influence in different cultures throughout the world. The Latin American continent is no exception. Here is a live recording of the hit song, De pies a cabeza, by the legendary Mexican group, Maná. The song became quite famous, as it was used in the Spanish trailer of the Brazilian soap opera, Vampi. Dating to around 1993, this soap might be considered a precursor of the North American TV production of Buffy the Vampire. Here is a clip from an episode with the main character, Natasha, in Venice.

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A clip from the great Venezuelan rock group, Desorden público: Truena, truena… In its simple but original use of editing and special effects, the video is a wonderful example of creative elegance.

Digital Matter and Intangible Heritage

Anthropology, Design, Visualization

Finally! The special double issue on Digital Matter and Intangible Heritage edited by Lily Díaz and Maurizio Forte and published in the International Journal of Digital Culture and Intangible Heritage (IJDCE) by Inderscience Publishers is online and with the printed version to follow shortly.(See post on August 3, 2007 for initial call for papers.)

The web pages of the journal, table of contents (ToC) for the issue as well as an introductory essay by the editors can be accessed here: IJDCE Special Issue: Digital Matter and Intangible Heritage.

The issue deals with questions such What is intangible heritage? What new developments does the digital dimension afford to the areas of Culture and Heritage? What new paradigms for interaction emerge from the combination of more traditional humanistic practices such as Archaeology, History, Museum Studies with the newly emerging digital practices?

It features contributions by leading experts in areas such as embodiment, user experience from an ecological perspective; virtual tourism, journey and destination in the virtual dimension; new notions of audience and economic models as well as the development of new practices.

The issue concludes with a showcase of works by students from the Media Lab Helsinki.

For more information please contact me.

Digital Matter and Intangible Cultural Heritage

Anthropology, Design, General

Call for Papers

International Journal of Digital Cultural Heritage and Electronic Tourism

Special Issue

Editors: Prof. Lily Díaz-Kommonen
Maurizio Forte, PhD
Deadline for submitting abstracts: August 17, 2007
All final papers are due: September 28, 2007

In recent years, partly through the development of the Information Society with its associated trends of globalization, growing interconnectedness, and instant multi-modal communications that erode the boundaries of traditional societies, the concept of cultural heritage has evolved to encompass qualities that go beyond the original definitions pertaining the mere recording and preservation of cultural objects. Within the scope of UNESCO’s activities for example, the agency now recognizes cultural heritage as an irreplaceable source of knowledge with a significant role to play in the present as part of the goal towards a sustainable future.

From a knowledge management perspective UNESCO’s work has also expanded to include the two major classes of tangible and intangible heritage. Whereas tangible heritage includes the multiple physical expressions created by diverse human cultures in the past, intangible heritage-also referred to as living heritage-is used to designate present “practices, representations, expressions, as well as the knowledge and skills, that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage.”

The objective of this special issue will be to explore the notion of intangible heritage and its relationship with the digital media. From this perspective, we seek contributions related to the following topics:

1. Definition, analysis and examples about the notion of intangible digital cultural heritage from the artistic, scientific, and economic perspectives.
2. Ecological and systemic approaches that make use of digital cultural heritage-and specifically intangible heritage-for economic revitalization and development.
3. Design and implementation of digital applications for intangible heritage such as digital and multimedia archives dealing with oral traditions, narratives and myths from different regions throughout the planet.
4. Research into digital genres and how these might support and enable the transmission of diverse forms of intangible heritage as well as promote the creation of new ones.
5. The representation of space and cultural heritage through the use of digital media, including but not limited to the combined use of GIS and mobile devices.
6. Ontology design and implementation in digital cultural heritage applications from a cross-cultural and multiplatform application perspectives.
7. Explorations into the notion of heritage commodities and how these are being used, or can be used in the digital environment.
8. Application design, including but not limited to portals dealing with the commercial development of heritage commodities such as cuisine, knowledge, music, etc.
9. The use of peer-to-peer networks in the creation of virtual cultural heritage communities.
10. New applications of digitally born cultural heritage objects in within tangible public exhibition spaces.

Dr. Lily Diaz-Kommonen
Professor, Systems of Representation
& Digital Cultural Heritage
UNIVERSITY OF ART & DESIGN HELSINKI, MEDIA LAB
135C Hämeentie SF 00560
Helsinki, Finland
Tel. + 358 9 75630 338
Fax + 358 9 75630 555

e-mail: diaz@uiah.fi

Maurizio Forte, PhD., Senior Scientist, Coordinator of Virtual
Heritage lab
CNR – ITABC, ISTITUTO PER LE TECNOLOGIE APPLICATE AI BENI CULTURALI
Area della Ricerca Roma 1 – Montelibretti
Via Salaria Km. 29,300 – C.P. 10
00016 Monterotondo St. (ROMA)

Tel. ++39 06 90625274
Fax ++39 06 90672373

e-mail: maurizio.forte@itabc.cnr.it

To read more about the Journal.
To see the submission guidelines.