Wide and Tall

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGufiv5PB2A

Today we further explored what a dense fact really is and this video, I think, is so jam packed with implications about the value of interdisciplinary study in our society and the media, I could talk about it forever, but maybe that's just because I am a dancer. I been dancing ballet since I was five years old, but I have never been savvy about companies and their personal aesthetics or famous dancers of the times. I believe that if you don't exert the effort to go and study these kinds of trends, particularly for non-mainstreem art forms, the practice of the art itself can be far removed from its culture, history, etcetera... Upon researching dancers I came across this video which featuring a ballerina, Alessandra Ferri and the singer Sting. He plays Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major on acoustic guitar as she dances. I found the union of the classical arts with such an icon of popular culture ironic because it is often because of the pop-culture that the more classical art forms are hushed away. Using an element of pop-culture to expose non-mainstream art such as ballet and classical music transforms the way these art forms are viewed and encourages interdisciplinary understanding. Transposing Bach's Cello Suite from cello to guitar remains true to the original piece yet allows it to transcend the stigmas of classical music as boring or old-fashioned because it is performed by a current popular icon, Sting, and through a medium that more people can relate to and understand which is guitar. The same logic applies for the ballet which is the real visual component of the video. The dancing is mesmerizing, but attention is only originally attracted because there is something to relate to through Sting as a popular artist. As I was watching the video I began to think about the growing value of interdisciplinary understanding in our culture. It is no longer enough to be proficient or exemplary in one discipline. As we were writing our papers on St. Olaf that was a value that many of the students and professors mentioned. I believe it is even included in the St. Olaf mission statement as a goal. One professor used a metaphor of height and width explaining that the goal at St. Olaf is not to produce people who are experts in one subject, or "tall" in one area, but instead are wide, in that they have a good understanding of multiple subjects or aspects of life. He said that the wideness is what will make us effective contributors to the world. Being "tall" in one area is almost exclusive and therefore not always useful to society as a whole. I think this video exemplifies this concept and allows  viewers to be a little bit wider in terms of their knowledge and appreciation for art and entertainment.

Lots more could be said as well about media the method of communication of this project. The project was accomplished through a video which makes it easily accessible by anyone with a computer. It is appropriate for the age of technology and really expedites that resource. Additionally directly from this video comes one of the most famous images of contemporary ballet photography shown below. I had seen this image many times before; it is famous, but I never knew it came directly from this project. Interestingly photography as media sometimes has an inverse effect compared to video because it is often circulated among a more specific demographic, in this case people involved with dance whereas videos are much more universal and can be 'happened upon' much more easily by anyone. Because of this, as media the photograph and video are complimentary in that they accomplish both, exposing non-mainstream art to the general public, and draw people out from within the dance world to experience this cross-disciplinary more contemporary exercise.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/7545/alessandra12preludepd0.jpg

You Are What You Own

The difference between "what you need and what you want" is no foreign concept for Americans. This is a motto by which mothers raise children to practice good shopping habits, but I wonder how much weight this phrase truly has in our culture. Last night, while taking inventory in my room, I realized how much STUFF I really have yet at the same time how much I couldn't imagine life without. For example, I probably have more than thirty shirts in my room.  Having a lot of different things to wear, I suppose, give my wardrobe variety, but is variety really a necessity? This exercise really showed me the extent of American consumerism and how that affects our culture. In a sense what we want almost becomes what we need or at the very least the boundary becomes blurry. I probably don't need thirty shirts, yet when try to think of what things I could live without, I can't imagine life without the luxury that quantity allows me to have.
These are a few of the GENERAL things I have in my room:
Technology:
   Cell phone
   Laptop
   Ipod + chargers & protective cases for all of the above
   Printer
   fan
Bed:
   Comforter
   4 Fleece Blankets
   Pillow
   pillow case & sheets, 2 sets
   mattress
Desk
   pens, pencils, markers, colored pencils, glue stick, scissors, tape, desk lamp, packing tape, binders, folders, dividers, paper, Textbooks, picture frame, chair
Food:
   mugs, plastic cups, plates, bowls, water bottle, dish towel, dish washing soap, water heater
   various snacks
Standing lamp
Book shelf
Dresser & Closet
   too many shirts for my own good
   jeans, yoga pants, performance slacks
   a few dresses
   about 7 pairs of shoes
   pjs
   sweatshirts
   laundry bag
   laundry detergent, bleach for colors, oxyclean
   towels, washcloth
Backpack, shoulder bag, purse
Toiletries
    Tissues, makeup, toothbrush & toothpaste, hair products, soap, deodorant, sewing kit, face creams/washes
    nail polish
Chair
Window seat
2 throw pillows
2 suitcases

Pocahontas Perplex

"The Native American woman like all women, needs a definition that stands apart from that of males, red or white."

Rayna Green's essay, The Pocahontas Perplex, mainly focuses on portrayal of Native American women as sex symbols and she makes the point that these representations of Native American women stem from the white male (and of European origin) perspective. I would like to elaborate on this point and explore the identity of the Native American woman. Some distinctions that Green makes in her article are the concept of the "good indian" as one who helps white men. She also distinguishes between the idea of the Squaw and the Princess. The Squaw is physically described in crude terms portrayed as sexually more 'savage' which may perhaps translate to the contemporary adjective, 'easy,'  than her 'sister' the Princess. On the other hand the Princess, descended from a barbarous, primitive indian Queen, resembling the European perspective of Natives of South America, is the morally transformed, closer to Caucasian in appearance, with adornments reminiscent of Roman dress and figure, yet somehow this makes her more 'American'. Equally so both identities were given to the Native American woman by European males. They controlled the identity of this demographic and their influence on the minds of people throughout history is profound. The images and the identity that white European males created for the Natives have stayed prominent throughout the course of history. Even Disney's interpretation of Pocahontas is heavily based on the notion of the Indian Princess. The virtue of Pocahontas is determined by the standards of white men.  She is good because she saved John Smith. She is good because she served as a liaison between conflicting groups of people, yet often seemed to remain in favor of the Virginia company. Additionally, even the way Pocahontas is depicted physically is determined by white men's standards. In the film she is incredibly thin with legs that extend for days. She unmistakably well endowed in hips and bosom. Her arms and fingers are gentile and feminine. She is portrayed this way because that is the way whites wanted to see her. Her identity comes from a desire to create something desirous out of a seemingly compassionate 10 year old. In the identity white males created for her, we lose sight of the reality that she was in fact a child when the Europeans first encountered her. Furthermore, the fact that her identity and the identity of Native women in general comes from white men is also a product of a cultural and language barrier. Unfortunately because of the influence of white culture in America there wasn't really a way, historically for whites to receive an identity coming from the Natives themselves. Unfortunately because of the few primary documents (most if not all of which containing a white bias) that exist of Pocahontas we may never truly understand Native American women as they were when the Europeans first encountered them. Thus the identity that whites created for them is the only one we can study and analyze, yet at the same time it is one that we can never trust.

John Rolfe

In his letter of 1614 John Rolfe says,

"I make betweene God and my own conscience, be a sufficient witness, at the dreadfull day of judgement...to condemne me herin, if my chiefest intent and purpose be not, to strive with all my power of body and minde, in the undertaking of so mightie a matter....for the good of this plantation, for the honour of our countrie, for the glory of God, for my owne salvation and for the converting to the true knowledge of God and Jesus christ, an un beleeving creature, namely Pokahuntas."

After paring down this line, if found it's true meaning slightly disturbing. Underneath the unfamiliar spellings and the confusion of the long run-on sentence, basically John Rolfe is making a covenant with God that for the benefit of his community, his country, and for the glory of God, to convert Pokahuntas to Christianity. To believe that converting one Native woman to Christianity would have such an overwhelming effect is beyond me. At first it opened my eyes to the weight that Pokahuntas had in their society. She must have carried great significance if converting her would dramatically benefit their entire community. However, as I continued on in his letter I began to wonder if it wasn't just about John Rolfe. The way he glorified her and her potential made me think that it wasn't just that she had particular significance in their society, but it was that Rolfe was, i think it is fair to say, obsessed with her. Later finding out John Rolfe married her only affirmed this suspicion and, as disturbing as it was, began to see a humor in the relationship between his feelings toward her and contemporary interactions between people who are interested in each other today. Whole concepts such as facebook-stalking which are widely understood today are rooted in the same emotions Rolfe felt in writing this letter, although he couldn't explicitly admit to those feelings because it would have been socially inappropriate at the time.

Native American Imagery as a Symbol of America

Many images of Native Americans have famously represented America and although other images have come to contribute to our national identity, this image has remained most constant. I find this ironic because throughout our history we spent so much effort in conquering Native American lands and ultimately crushed their culture. Why would something that we have historically destroyed hold such weight in our own identity? Perhaps it is because the Natives were the first beings Europeans encountered upon arriving in the New World. The people here were different than themselves. They wore different (and sometimes less) clothing. They lived within nature as opposed to apart from it or conquering it to shape it in their own fashions. These were the first impressions Europeans got of America. America, as a place, absorbed the seemingly 'wildness' of it's inhabitants thus the image of America reflects that first impression.

On the Subject of Stress

I think it goes without saying that for the past week my blog has been subpar or....non-existant. Last week I had my first couple serious college writing assignments and exams (multiple on the same day) and I think it is fair to say that the stress is starting to get to me. In coming to this realization, I began to wonder how I should remedy this, and then started to consider how Americans, on a whole, deal with stress. Much has been said about our culture relating to our work ethic. Americans are efficient. Americans are ambitious. Americans are busy, driven, productive. Essentially Americans are workaholics. I don't think we really know how to relax. Perhaps more sleep would help with the stress. Perhaps I need time to myself apart from my work, however; neither of these seem like good options because they take time away from work that needs to be done. They are anti-productive. Instead, I think the more 'American', reaction to stress is to do is to do more work in order to distract yourself from the other work you don't have time to do. There are many Americans who live this way. I think one of the things we value most is time and how to use it instead of how to use it and how to not use it. Even our entertainment mostly revolves around instant gratification. We might rather watch a 2 hour film than read the corresponding 500 page book over the course of 2 weeks. We don't like to wait for plots to develop slowly, as in many French films. We always need to be entertained. I think sometimes we confuse entertainment with relaxation. I think what Americans really need is to find the time to do nothing and to change their view of nothing. Time to do nothing can be just as fulfilling as time spent cramming to get work done and I believe it would help make us a healthier people. So perhaps although detrimental to my grade, i'm sure, leaving my blog alone for a few days has given me a chance to recharge, but to those who read my blog know that I will catch up and I am back to stay.