I know a handful of people who have asked me what is the point of art. They told me that they don’t understand and a select few have expressed to me that it is a seemingly pointless thing to pursue in comparison to pursuing more “lucrative” professions like healthcare or business. This article brings up a few good reasons why creative people are required. In the grand scheme of things, artificial intelligence can compute mathematics and scientific equations but it can’t generate creative thought, yet. Also, there needs to be experts on both sides of the pendulum to achieve equilibrium and maximize quality output.
After reading this article, I sat and contemplated for a little while. I mostly thought about my increasing awareness of human impact on the environment and this newly acquired bit of information about ways to capture rain water for various tasks like dish washing, toilet running, etc. I am almost ashamed to admit that I have not given much thought to where the water comes from and where it goes. The cycle of ignorance is dissipating but then there is the cycle of inactivity to tackle next. Regarding the article, I am most fascinated by the solutions the author depicted for collecting rain run-off around the world.
When I imagine a suburb I think of Seaside, out of the movie The Truman Show. I found something about that movie to be inherently creepy. Likewise the idea of the “burb” disturbs me somewhat; I do agree with Ballad in that the bleakest future possible would be, as he describes, a “vast conforming suburb of the soul”.
When I look at my own home, my house isn’t in a suburb, but all the older, ranch style homes are now being torn down and gigantic McMansions are being erected in their place. I quite literally see the toxic runoff from all the chemically fertilized lawns that the author refers to--more and more I see ”TruGreen ChemLawn” trucks roll down the street.
I also have seen from experience the “donut of blight” the author refers to. Not only is my hometown of Bloomfield Hills about 15 minutes north of Detroit, its about five minutes south of Pontiac, a city whose police force was just halved due to such an extreme budget deficit.
When a problem exists in such a “sprawling” manner it can be extremely difficult to contain. The idea of condensing inwards wasn’t something that was at first apparent to me, but that may be because its so incredibly simple. The example of Addison Texas and how well it worked in a real world implementation just goes to prove that it should be used as a model in future solutions for cities plagued by suburban sprawl.
In response to the article Place Breaking on page 479, I found it interesting that they are stating that you should be well aware of the potential of your surrounding area for any kind of disaster potential. Although it is certainly a great concept, I think that there are many other factors that need to be considered when chosing where you will live.
I would agree that certain areas of our country have potential weather and earth issues. So I guess if you went truly with the message of this article, you would chose not to live on many of the coastal cities. Specifically, no one would live in Florida and certainly not in the New Orleans area, and with the potential for earth quakes, many areas of California would be off limits.
The problem with letting potential disasters be the answer for where you live is that the real guide of where people live is based upon where you have a job or can find a job; not to mention many people live within the confines of where the primary family units live.
Although making a decision of where to live based upon what the potential of disaster is, is a safe way of making the decision; there has to be other considerations.
The more we learn about our Earth and the impact of changing weather and other factors; the more knowledgeable we will be about how they will affect us.
After reading the article, I had to rethink of the environment which I was placed in. I always cared about what was happening inside my habitat area but never actually thought about what do those activities have impact on the place I was situated in.
The article asks the reader to question themselves such as "What's overhead?" "What's underfoot?" "Who's been here previously?" "What's likely to happen here next week?" From these basic questions we can weave an understanding of natural facts and artifacts into a durable fabric of identity and citizenship.
In "New Yorker" article "apartment", environmental writer Bill McKibben investigates how energy and water is supplied to his Manhattan apartment. His journey led him to the hydroelectric power dams of James Bay, Ontario, the uranium mine of Hack Canyon, Arizona, an offshore oil loading platform in Brazil and the freshwater reservoirs of New York's Catskill Mountains. From this astonishing investigation, one can see how simple electricity and water supplies are complex in terms of technology and connected to different areas as far as another side of hemisphere. From this article, I have realized that I have always taken the environemnt for granted and also thought about how my apartment is heated in this cold winter. I learned that nothing can be taken for granted.
Political issues are the most popular sources for artists. Politic takes very many general issues like climate change, poverty, and wars. I once took “introduction to International Relationship” during summer school. The class required students to read so many books. And there was one kid I got close with. I asked him why such global issues are not solved yet if every president from nations agreed on stopping it, why they don’t just illegalizes such polluting behaviors of industrialization. The kid was like, “it is not that simple, nations have to worry about the money, which nation will be responsible for this situations, or got power the most.” Politic was such hard subject for artists have to take. I decided not to say bad things about politicians since then.
Many changes have been occurred in this country. Segregation has been disappeared, and a black president was elected. The writer said that great movements toward a change within a society always begin with statements of great optimism. We have to be willing to look directly global catastrophes in the face and courageously point out that radical changes for the better are possible. History attests that if we can show people a better future, we can build movements that will change the world. ]
Art Meets Technology pg. 96
ReplyDeleteI know a handful of people who have asked me what is the point of art. They told me that they don’t understand and a select few have expressed to me that it is a seemingly pointless thing to pursue in comparison to pursuing more “lucrative” professions like healthcare or business. This article brings up a few good reasons why creative people are required. In the grand scheme of things, artificial intelligence can compute mathematics and scientific equations but it can’t generate creative thought, yet. Also, there needs to be experts on both sides of the pendulum to achieve equilibrium and maximize quality output.
Thinking Differently About Water Pg. 189
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article, I sat and contemplated for a little while. I mostly thought about my increasing awareness of human impact on the environment and this newly acquired bit of information about ways to capture rain water for various tasks like dish washing, toilet running, etc. I am almost ashamed to admit that I have not given much thought to where the water comes from and where it goes. The cycle of ignorance is dissipating but then there is the cycle of inactivity to tackle next. Regarding the article, I am most fascinated by the solutions the author depicted for collecting rain run-off around the world.
Retrofitting the Suburbs pg. 238
ReplyDeleteWhen I imagine a suburb I think of Seaside, out of the movie The Truman Show. I found something about that movie to be inherently creepy. Likewise the idea of the “burb” disturbs me somewhat; I do agree with Ballad in that the bleakest future possible would be, as he describes, a “vast conforming suburb of the soul”.
When I look at my own home, my house isn’t in a suburb, but all the older, ranch style homes are now being torn down and gigantic McMansions are being erected in their place. I quite literally see the toxic runoff from all the chemically fertilized lawns that the author refers to--more and more I see ”TruGreen ChemLawn” trucks roll down the street.
I also have seen from experience the “donut of blight” the author refers to. Not only is my hometown of Bloomfield Hills about 15 minutes north of Detroit, its about five minutes south of Pontiac, a city whose police force was just halved due to such an extreme budget deficit.
When a problem exists in such a “sprawling” manner it can be extremely difficult to contain. The idea of condensing inwards wasn’t something that was at first apparent to me, but that may be because its so incredibly simple. The example of Addison Texas and how well it worked in a real world implementation just goes to prove that it should be used as a model in future solutions for cities plagued by suburban sprawl.
In response to the article Place Breaking on page 479, I found it interesting that they are stating that you should be well aware of the potential of your surrounding area for any kind of disaster potential. Although it is certainly a great concept, I think that there are many other factors that need to be considered when chosing where you will live.
ReplyDeleteI would agree that certain areas of our country have potential weather and earth issues. So I guess if you went truly with the message of this article, you would chose not to live on many of the coastal cities. Specifically, no one would live in Florida and certainly not in the New Orleans area, and with the potential for earth quakes, many areas of California would be off limits.
The problem with letting potential disasters be the answer for where you live is that the real guide of where people live is based upon where you have a job or can find a job; not to mention many people live within the confines of where the primary family units live.
Although making a decision of where to live based upon what the potential of disaster is, is a safe way of making the decision; there has to be other considerations.
The more we learn about our Earth and the impact of changing weather and other factors; the more knowledgeable we will be about how they will affect us.
Placing yourself p 476
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, I had to rethink of the environment which I was placed in. I always cared about what was happening inside my habitat area but never actually thought about what do those activities have impact on the place I was situated in.
The article asks the reader to question themselves such as "What's overhead?" "What's underfoot?" "Who's been here previously?" "What's likely to happen here next week?" From these basic questions we can weave an understanding of natural facts and artifacts into a durable fabric of identity and citizenship.
In "New Yorker" article "apartment", environmental writer Bill McKibben investigates how energy and water is supplied to his Manhattan apartment. His journey led him to the hydroelectric power dams of James Bay, Ontario, the uranium mine of Hack Canyon, Arizona, an offshore oil loading platform in Brazil and the freshwater reservoirs of New York's Catskill Mountains. From this astonishing investigation, one can see how simple electricity and water supplies are complex in terms of technology and connected to different areas as far as another side of hemisphere. From this article, I have realized that I have always taken the environemnt for granted and also thought about how my apartment is heated in this cold winter.
I learned that nothing can be taken for granted.
Movement Building Pg 142
ReplyDeletePolitical issues are the most popular sources for artists. Politic takes very many general issues like climate change, poverty, and wars. I once took “introduction to International Relationship” during summer school. The class required students to read so many books. And there was one kid I got close with. I asked him why such global issues are not solved yet if every president from nations agreed on stopping it, why they don’t just illegalizes such polluting behaviors of industrialization. The kid was like, “it is not that simple, nations have to worry about the money, which nation will be responsible for this situations, or got power the most.” Politic was such hard subject for artists have to take. I decided not to say bad things about politicians since then.
Many changes have been occurred in this country. Segregation has been disappeared, and a black president was elected. The writer said that great movements toward a change within a society always begin with statements of great optimism. We have to be willing to look directly global catastrophes in the face and courageously point out that radical changes for the better are possible. History attests that if we can show people a better future, we can build movements that will change the world. ]