Endless Knots

Extremely connected and incredibly creative

Thanks to Robin Chase, the extremely insightful founder of Buzzcar (and cofounder of Zipcar), whom I got to know when we both participated in Springboard, please enjoy this metaphor of how one thing can lead to another in the hands of an artist, in this case (see NY Times, "Turning a Page, the Joseph Herscher Way," "[who] builds Rube Goldberg machines in Williamsburg, Brooklyn."

 

 

 

 

 

Dance your PhD

Enough of those dry defenses. Science, the esteemed journal of AAAS, the weekly (or is it a daily) which I, for one, don't normally associate with modern dance (or rap), sponsors an annual "Dance your PhD" contest and I'm rooting for my friend, Mount Sinai Medical School PhD-candidate Kate Collins (scroll down for her bio).

Here's how the brilliant Kate (the lead dancer/cell of the basal nucleus of the amygdala!) explains her submission to the contest (I just like the moves, never mind that my nephew, James Murrough, plays the only male role in the video): 

When first encountering a fear-eliciting stimulus, animals evince innate defensive behaviors, such as freezing. With time, most are able to overcome their automatic fear reactions and regain the capacity for organized, goal-directed action. Rodent research suggests that activity in the central nucleus of the amygdala drives stereotyped, automatic fear responses. Activity in the basal nucleus of the amygdala, conversely, appears to enable flexible and adaptive fear responses. Evidence suggests that the central and basal nuclei compete for dominance during fear, with the "winning" (more active) nucleus determining the behavior expressed.

Do similar patterns of neural activity subsume these behaviors in humans? In Kate Collins' dissertation, she is exploring the neural substrates of both automatic and goal-directed fear responses, and the transition between the two opposing states.

And now, for your enjoyment, neural substrates performing to Finger Eleven's "Paralyzer" and Young MC's "Bust A Move."

Dance Your PhD - Bust A Move: Taking Action in the Face of Fear from Alex Susse on Vimeo.

 

 

"Bucky and [really] Me" - and Ed Hauben and Jeff Stamps on Feb 2

Unless we're blizzard-ed out on Wed, Feb 2, Jeff, Ed, and I will be the post-performance discussion folks following "R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE" at the A.R.T. in Cambridge.

Specific focus is Margaret Fuller's influence on Bucky - but I would never have met Bucky had it not been for Ed, who worked with Bucky in New York and Carbondale, and Jeff (who introduced me to Ed), whose work, like that of so many others, has been profoundly influenced by the man whose self-description included this very sensible idea: "I Seem to Be a Verb."

Annie DiMario, production dramaturg, will lead the discussion.

Eliza Stamps at Edgewater Gallery

 

 
It's Knot Serious, ink on paper, 6" x 5" (11" x 9" framed)

Edgewater Gallery, Middlebury, VT
Here.

In knots at Spattered Columns

Lover of (endless) knots that we are, a must-post.

New show in NY including the "Forget-Me-Knot Neuftych (We're Knot Alone)" by Eliza. "Structured at Spattered Columns, 491 Broadway (near Broome), 5th Floor, NYC, April 14th through May 13th.

This image, Knot In My Town, from the Forget-Me-Knot series but (k)not in this show.

 

Mandela on the walls

Catching up on a bunch of queued-up/blog-worthy stuff this morning. Here you'll find three paintings and a note explaining them (not that you can read anything but the artist's signature) that sit on the walls in the hallway outside Interaction Institute for Social Change and, in this case, more importantly because it's responsible for their being there, Hunt Alternatives Fund. Artist is none other than Nelson Mandela who painted them while imprisoned on Robbins Island.

Unfortunately, I can't supply any more info about the paintings or why they're there except to note that Swanee Hunt, co-founder of the fund and former ambassador, has a long history of policy and social change work in Africa. Anyone who knows how Ms. Hunt came to acquire these paintings, please chime in.

I snapped these shots while lingering in the hallway at the IISC conference on networks last week.

 

 
 

Eliza and friends at Verge Art Fair

It's Armory Show week in New York, which means there's art all over the city, including at Verge Art Fair at the Dylan Hotel.

From Forget-Me-Knots series, ink on paper, Eliza Stamps

There, you can see wildspace and the work of Eliza Stamps, known in these parts as Daughter #2, along with her colleagues, Emily Bolevice, Carissa Carman, and Crystal Gregor

"Some incredible finds are ink drawings by..."

Apartment Therapy ("saving the world, one room at a time") has a nice pointer--nice blog too) to the work of Eliza Stamps (Daughter #2 to loyal readers), featured at Fair Folks & A Goat ("an art gallery, retail store, and Parisian salon all in one"):

Some incredible finds are ink drawings by Eliza Stamps, which consist of tiny concentric circles linked up to form larger shapes without ever breaking contact.

Artists, writers: Hudson Valley residency

Sounds heavenly:

chashama North is a residency program for artists and writers designed as a nourishing environment within which great artwork is born. The program offers live and work space for seven rotating artists-in-residence from June-October. chaNorth provides artists with a setting that nurtures their body, allowing their artistic practice to flourish. The residency fosters a culture of both serious artistic production and play...Application here.

Lunch at chashama North

Now this is origami

Again, thanks to Ian Lamont, the amazing folds of Brian Chan. With Brian's permission, I'm posting a few here not yet available on his site, and leading off, because we're so close to The 'Tute, this one, the logo of MIT, which is on his site.