Architecture and Activism in Brazil

As part of the 2010 International Studies Lecture Series: Contemporary Visual Culture in East Asia, Latin America and Europe (organized by Dr. Smith's Paideia cohort: Kimberly Griffin, Emily Gutzmer, Connor Hanrahan, Kinsey Keck, Dianna Parra, Tommy Rogers, & Stephanie Taylor):

Daniela Sandler

Department of the History of Art & Visual Culture

University of California at Santa Cruz

"Urban Stagecraft:

Architecture, Public Space, and Social Inequality in Sao Paulo"

Friday April 16

12:00 PM, Cullen 37

Since the 1990s, high-profile architectural and cultural initiatives have popped up in the middle of crime-ridden, dilapidated neighborhood of Luz, in Sao Paulo. The district, nicknamed "Crackland" for its drug problems, has become home to cutting-edge urban design and adaptive-reuse projects.

While the government attempts to refashion the area into a Cultural Pole, the population- including slum inhabitants, homeless, street vendors, and mass-transit commuters- has been further segregated. Local social movements, however, have found ways to demand a more demographic and divers city by transforming the meanings, perceptions, and images of buildings and urban space.

Student Works Symposium

Another campus event for today, the annual student works symposium.

Student Works Symposium - From Every Voice

April 14th at 5:00 pm

McCombs Campus Center

Oral Presentation 5:00-6:00 and 7-8:30 pm

Poster Presentations 6:00-7:00 pm

Exhibitions and Creative Works 6:00-7:00 pm

The official SU news story can be found here, and full details with schedule here.

A few that caught my eye for being relevant to art or technology:

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Zhao Mengfu's Handscroll Autumn Colors: Antiquity and Politics in Early Yuan Paintings. Elise Huff. Roy B. Shilling Jr. Room, 7:45PM.

Shen Zhou's Lofty Mount Lu: Revitalizing Antiquity. Derryn Jameson. Roy B. Shilling Jr. Room, 8:00PM.

Suspension of Disbelief: Baroque Fascination with the Fantastic and Fallacious. Andrea Loer. Marsha Shields Ballroom, 7:15PM.

Computers for Honduran Children. Natalie Sanders and Kim Garcia. Merzbach Room 7:30PM.

LOL Mom and Dad, Who's Txting Now? Remedying Middle-Aged Resistance to Text Messaging through Advertising. Lili McEntire. Merzbach Room, 8:00PM.

Paint the Light: A Series of Multimedia Artworks. Duncan Alexander. Bishops Lounge, 6:00PM.

Insect Macrophotography: Portraiture as a Presence. Carlos Barron. Bishops Lounge, 6:00PM.

Reconstructing High-Resolution Images from Multiple Blurry, Noisy Low-Resolution Images. Tommy Rogers. Poster presentation, Bishops Lounge.

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There's a ton more, representing every possible field or interest that Southwestern's students are involved in. Should be interesting!

Aztec Lecture Today!

It's a busy time of year with several events around campus. Today don't miss Dr. Hajovsky's lecture 'Portrait and Portrayal: Betraying Personhood in Aztec Stone Sculpture', April 14th (today) from 4:45-5:15 in the art history classroom FAC 235.

Image: Portrait of Nezahualcoyotl from Codex Ixtlilxochitl, page 106 recto. Texcoco, Mexico, ca. 1580

Here's the official blurb from campus notices:

Though Nezahualcoyotl’s sculpted portrait at Tetzcotzingo was destroyed by Mexico’s first bishop in the sixteenth century, it was constructed at the same time that itinerant Aztec sculptors were developing a common imperial style in the Valley of Mexico. This paper considers the limits and expectations of Aztec sculpted portraits from Texcoco and Tenochtitlan by studying their features and comparing them with ritual performance and Nahuatl categories of the body. Although many of the fragmented sculptures remain stripped of their original contexts, I suggest that Aztec portraits of rulers and warriors were distinguished not by the physical attributes of the body and face, but rather by positioning sculpture in the landscape and by verbalizing it in specific ritual contexts. Portraits exist in tension between the verbal recognition of an individual’s merit and the visual expression of aesthetic and social ideals, and this tension reveals Aztec notions of personhood as it coexisted with a public ritual structure.

Old/New Images

During a lunchtime perusal of CNN I came across an interesting iReporter gallery where users have aligned historic photos to the modern-day sites. That probably made no sense so click here to see what I mean.
I liked this shot of the Alamo. The photographer explains how it took a long time to line up and how he got lots of funny looks from tourists and Alamo guards. I actually had wedding party pictures taken in front of the Alamo so I can sympathize. This is a great shot and amazing that there aren't tons of people in the shot- the site, in downtown San Antonio, can be quite a zoo.

If you read through, it's interesting how and what many of the photographers discovered during their projects. Just another example of how images can be powerful learning tools!

Someone with spare time ought to do similar shots with historic photos of the Southwestern campus! For instance, the picture in the Cullen business office of the 1901 (or similar) women's tennis team perched on the steps of Mood Hall.

Lady Gaga and Polaroid

A bit of interesting news that I found out about through my husband, who's in the ACC Photography program.

After ceasing production last year, Polaroid is relaunching itself with Lady Gaga as creative director. This article is a bit vague about how she will "blend the iconic history of Polaroid with the digital era", but it should definitely prove fascinating. Music aside, I personally am intrigued by her creative collective 'Haus of Gaga', ala Andy Warhol, and the fact she started out as a New York performance artist. And I was definitely sad about the discontinuation of Polaroid, so am thrilled that it will go on!