reStAGEactivist art/disruptive technologies

In this article, I explore, with you, artists’ socio-political disruptions with communication technologies to inspire political action and social change, and how such art can be environmentally and socially useful. How does art function politically? What is activist art? What non-violent forms of dissent or disruptions to harmful practices are possible today with digital technologies, and how do artists manifest political perspectives in their practice

New approaches to the measurement of chlorophyll, related pigments and productivity in the sea

In the 1984 SBIR Call for Proposals, NASA solicited new methods to measure primary production and chlorophyll in the ocean. Biospherical Instruments Inc. responded to this call with a proposal first to study a variety of approaches to this problem. A second phase of research was then funded to pursue instrumentation to measure the sunlight stimulated naturally occurring fluorescence of chlorophyll in marine phytoplankton. The monitoring of global productivity, global fisheries resources, application of above surface-to-underwater optical communications systems, submarine detection applications, correlation, and calibration of remote sensing systems are but some of the reasons for developing inexpensive sensors to measure chlorophyll and productivity. Normally, productivity measurements are manpower and cost intensive and, with the exception of a very few expensive multiship research experiments, provide no contemporaneous data. We feel that the patented, simple sensors that we have designed will provide a cost effective method for large scale, synoptic, optical measurements in the ocean. This document is the final project report for a NASA sponsored SBIR Phase 2 effort to develop new methods for the measurements of primary production in the ocean. This project has been successfully completed, a U.S. patent was issued covering the methodology and sensors, and the first production run of instrumentation developed under this contract has sold out and been delivered

Review: Postmodern Art Education in Practice. Gude, O. (Ed.). (n.d.). Spiral Art Education

Book review of Spiral Art Education, Olivia Gude (Editor), University of Illinois, Chicago, 2003

Deep-Seated Culture: Understanding Sitting

Similar to the way that our culture influences how we interpret the world, the way that we sit in a chair and the type of chair that we are in positions what we see and how we are seen. Environmental cues communicate information through which we establish context and define a situation (Rapoport, 1982, p. 56). In this paper I examined the ways in which chairs (defined as that which is underneath us when sitting ) and sitting (defined as the infinite ways that we sustain our bodies in a bent position ranging from squatting, kneeling, reclining, or the lotus position) reflect cultural values and influence what we learn, through disempowering or empowering us.. Based on this examination, I collaborated with poet, Amy Klauke, to develop a multicultural environmental art unit that promotes understanding of the diverse ways that people organize space, time, meaning, and communication. The art unit described in the second half of this paper could serve as a curriculum model in which other objects of material culture (i.e., entrances, eating paraphernalia. etc.) are experientially deconstructed to reveal culturally constructed meanings

Editor’s Note: Social Action through Art

Continuing the tradition, begun with JSTAE 14, The Gallery features visual research, actions, and art that contribute to social change. Nine artists/activists/art educators, many serving as facilitators of projects involving diverse communities, have contributed images for The Gallery. The images direct our attention to issues of racism, exploitation, intolerance, war, world relations, joblessness, homelessness, a damaged infrastructure, women\u27s health, equal rights, and peace

Editorial

One way to look at the 1995-96 proposed social action through art theme is that issues of relevance continually emerge- that is the action itself. Social action as identified in these articles revolved around the issue of diversity. Some identified differences as an abrupt clash or confrontation, others as a negotiation between worlds. All were concerned that we critically examine the values embedded in images-whether in art history textbooks, everyday images surrounding us via entertainment systems, television, film, or computers; or in fine art

Book Review: African Women & ICTs: Investigating Technology, Gender and Empowerment

Review of African Women & ICTs: Investigating Technology, Gender and Empowerment, edited by Ineke Buskins & Anne Web

Editorial

The group of six articles in this volume explore the theme “invisible in plain sight.” The authors examine the structures that enable or disable cultural visibility. They question: Who creates the visions of the world? Whose views are pre-empted

Biomedical Terminologies and Ontologies: Enabling Biomedical Semantic Interoperability and Standards in Europe

In the management of biomedical data, vocabularies such as ontologies and terminologies (O/Ts) are used for (i) domain knowledge representation and (ii) interoperability. The knowledge representation role supports the automated reasoning on, and analysis of, data annotated with O/Ts. At an interoperability level, the use of a communal vocabulary standard for a particular domain is essential for large data repositories and information management systems to communicate consistently with one other. Consequently, the interoperability benefit of selecting a particular O/T as a standard for data exchange purposes is often seen by the end-user as a function of the number of applications using that vocabulary (and, by extension, the size of the user base). Furthermore, the adoption of an O/T as an interoperability standard requires confidence in its stability and guaranteed continuity as a resource