You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'happiness' category.
Arthur C. Brooks has written a great series of posts over at Freakonomics about personal happiness, according to politics, religion and the relative extremes of these beliefs. He’s recently published a book on Gross National Happiness.
Among his findings/ conjectures are that Conservatives Are Happier than Liberals.
A commenter says:
One possibility that springs to mind: Perhaps people who label themselves as “extremely” liberal or “extremely” conservative are also more likely to call themselves “very” happy. That is, someone who uses immoderate terms to describe his political views might also use immoderate terms to describe his degree of personal happiness — and that might reflect a difference in rhetorical style rather than a difference in life satisfaction.
There’s a correlation here between happiness and faith, it seems.
Earlier in the year I was at a seminar for utopian studies where the issue of religion and utopian thinking arose (this was specifically in relation to science fiction literature, and ‘religion’ seemed a relatively disparaging term in the way it was used).
This led me to wonder, could being an atheist - or at least lacking a belief in the afterlife - lead to an inability to imagine the future?
My recent work has involved making objects that use ‘technologies of their time’ in order to reflect on questions of memory, nostalgia and the gaps in collective histories. This has sometimes involved recording a sound or image digitally and ‘translating’ it into an analogue technology. (I know I’m treading all kinds of fine lines here).
Typically this gives the recorded image or sound a much more ‘thing’-like’ quality: unreliable memories, expressions and conversations suddenly become more solid and weighty. Vinyl acetates, 35mm slide film, magnetic VHS tape - all these technolgies are thrown into a kind of sculptural relief when imagined alongside the floating ephemera of mp3s, tiffs and jpegs. Read the rest of this entry »
This image held here
Hype cycle graphs can be sourced for consumer e-learning and a host of techie phenomena. What’s curious is what other social trends they might be applied to…
I am currently involved with a research project to result in site-specific artworks in the area where I live. I am finding this difficult as I’m having to confront head-on my position within the imagined polarities of rural/ urban, insider/ outsider, and art that is made for ‘here’ and ‘there’.
A week or two ago I accessed the Irish Times archive and compiled the series of articles written by Emer McNamara, about her move from Dublin to Leitrim in the late nineties (every second Thursday September 1999 – June 2000).
This series was called ‘Living on Main Street’ and contain detailed descriptions that move from observations about people and life in the town (names included), to the author’s personal life, to the sense of the broader social changes happening in the country as a whole, and the northwest in particular. They make interesting, if slightly uncomfortable reading – I can identify with her migration from the east and its economic pull, but not her decision to make such a very public diary. It feels raw to me, and I can only wonder at the social and emotional conflicts that must have played out within the micropolitics of the town.
The Ballroom of Romance:
a place (Glenfarne, Co. Leitrim, Ireland; see the above picture)
a piece of literature (short story by William Trevor)
a film (directed by Pat O’Connor).
The three ballrooms came into being in that order; the literature was inspired by the facade of the building as Trevor drove past one day on his way to Enniskillen, and the film was a rendition of the short story. Amazing that a structure known as the ‘Nissan Hut’ could inspire such diverse cultural productions.
More about The Ballroom of Romance here
The photograph above is by Gareth Kennedy, taken one day while passing on the bus to Enniskillen.
Recently I attended a conference where G, my partner and sometimes collaborator, was presenting, and I was not. What surprised me was the level of confusion about why this was the case. It hasn’t happened to me when I have presented on my own without him.
It’s clear enough to me that sometimes G works alone, sometimes I work alone, and sometimes we work together - though what might be better to say would be that we always work together but only sometimes produce jointly-authored work. We share a bed but sit on individual chairs. There are differences, arguments, and separations. We have a history of occupying very intimate shared living spaces (tents, shepherd’s huts and the like) but we also spend plenty of time apart. Too much sometimes.
I often wonder how other artist couples manage it, the dynamic of sharing living space, with or without the art that they might make together. What are the dynamics of this specific relation of collaboration - is it qualitatively different or ‘better’ than other forms of collaboration? And what are the risks, for the practice, and/or the relationship? Is it inevitable that the collaborative practice is ultimately subsumed into a) the biography of the relationship, or b) one of the individual practices, in a hierarchal format?
I’ve been compiling a list of artist couples who also collaborate on occasion, or as a mainstay of their practice. Other contributions are welcome… Nina Canell and Robin Watkins; Marina Abramovic and Ulay; Christo and Jeanne Claude; Claes Oldenburg and (I’m ashamed to say I don’t know the name of ‘his wife’). Are Allora and Calzadilla in a relationship? Not sure about that one. Jennifer and Kevin McCoy; Heather and Ivan Morison.
More thoughts on this to come.
This blog is not usually used in the interests of self-promotion, but the content seemed to fit here, this time, so here goes.
Above are two recent works exhibited at a show called City of Ideas at a self-storage warehouse in Galway, Ireland. The show was curated by Human Resources (Ben Roosevelt and Emma Houlihan).
Foreground:
Model for Experiencing Economic Panic/ Excitement
Background:
Landscape of Desires and Manias [Tulipmania, 1640s; South Sea Bubble, 1720; UK Railway Crash, 1830s]
These are experiments very much informed by the research themes in this blog, and the sense of emptiness and excess that pervaded the storage space. I’ve also recently been investigating the ‘Economic Worry Matrix’ and ideas of irrationality and so-called ‘market sentiment’.
A show at the Whitney I’m sorry I’m missing. More here
Image: Richard Serra, Television Delivers People, 1973
A previous post dealt with the Sligo Silver Rush - now the propsecting focus has shifted to Co. Mayo.
A company’s plan for a “small scale” gold mine in Co Mayo is running into determined opposition from groups who fear the project would damage the landscape and environment. The controversy echoes the row which embroiled mining companies Glencar and Andaman Resources when they tried to exploit gold resources at Creggaunbaun, near Louisburgh, and Croagh Patrick in the early 1990s.
“Mayo’s Gold Limited”, a subsidiary of Aurum Explorations, is seeking the go-ahead for what the company describes as a “tourist gold mine” at Creggaunbaun which would primarily be involved in the manufacture of jewellery. Mining would be carried out in an environmentally sensitive process similar to “keyhole surgery” the company promises, and Croagh Patrick would be out of bounds for the venture.
However, concern was expressed at the weekend that Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan had declared his intention to grant prospecting licences to the company in respect of 135 designated townlands. Mayo County Councillor Margaret Adams says there are a lot of unanswered questions about the company’s plans. Representatives should be invited to a meeting to explain their exact proposals, she said. Westport Tourism has also discussed the company’s proposals and says all its members are strongly opposed to them.
Paddy Hopkins, chairman of the Mayo Environmental Group, says the proposal will meet the same level of determined opposition as the plans by Glencar and Andaman to mine gold at Cregganbaun and Croagh Patrick did on the last occasion. “We are trying to get as many groups and individuals as possible to write to Minister Ryan opposing the granting of the prospecting licences.”
In a document sent to local landowners in the Creggaunbaun area, Mayo’s Gold Limited says it is offering “a completely new approach” to any potential extraction of local gold resources.
Company spokesman Tom O’Gorman said it is thought sufficient gold resources can be established to provide a sustainable development which would provide long-term employment and a unique tourism attraction in the area for 20 or more years.
From Tom Shiel at The Irish Times & Friends of the Irish Environment
Portion of bread given to Thomas Ash while on Hunger Strike, Dingle Library/ Leabharlann Daingean Uí Chúis
Yesterday’s words were gathered around the town from conversation, observation, questions, emails and books. It’s interesting to observe a picture of the place emerging, and how that’s informed by the words I’m trying to extract. I’m aware that these words are impositions I’m making, more in the spirit of addition than uncovering, and it’s interesting to watch myself doing that. Now that the week is ending, and the presentation is due to happen today, my ability or attempts to think a little bit more through Irish are sadly dissipating.
Previous posts have addressed the topic of nostalgia, and mentioned how different and particular words are present for it in different languages. Almost invariably these words emerge at the formation of a new national state, or come to consciousness after a war or revolution. (See this post) I was interested in the possibility of there being an Irish equivalent after the emergence of the Free State, and I’ve been trying to track it down. Part of this journey of course lies in the extrapolation of what nostalgia is or feels like - longing, sadness, homesickness, sentimentality… and for what - place, time, or something else. It was interesting to see these conversations emerge from the question (asked in Irish) about how to locate this feeling, idea, single word.
Suggestions made to me and argued over included uaigneas (more like ‘loneliness’); bheith buartha; maoineachas. Most people were unable to locate an exact word, which makes me think perhaps I am looking at the question backwards in terms of ‘untranslatabilty’. Finally I ended up with a series of dictionaries in the library - the most appropriate place really (see photos) - and reached what seems to be the definitive answer: cumha.
Yesterday’s words: tír grátheoir (patriot - literally ‘country-lover’); ag iompú catsúla ar (making eyes at); cuidsúlach (eyecatching); tnúthán (longing); cúlaitheach (retrogressive); barántúil/ údarach/ intaofa (authentic); sochar (profit); inneach na cainte (texture of speech)
There are plans in Milwaukee to build a public sculpture of the Fonz, the character from hit TV show Happy Days based in the city.
Visit Milwaukee, a non-profit group that promotes the city as a tourism and convention destination, is leading an effort to raise $85,000 to commission the statue. So far, Visit Milwaukee has raised $45,000, and the group is confident it will meet its timetable of unveiling a bronze Fonz in 2008, said Dave Fantle, the agency’s vice president of public relations. The agency already has contacted four artists and hopes to choose a sculptor by the end of October, he said. Visit Milwaukee got the idea of a Fonzie statue from TV Land, a cable network that broadcasts reruns of vintage shows. TV Land has donated six sculptures commemorating memorable TV events or characters to various cities, such as Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore). All six sculptures are from shows mainly popular in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, in keeping with TV Land’s focus on its baby boomer audience.
So this potential statue seems to represent a doubling of nostalgia, the twinning of the desire for a past located in fiction: the Happy Days sitcom was produced in the 70s and 80s, in a setting two decades earlier.
See here for a vox pop of opinions from Milwaukee residents.
Hewitt & Jordan and Dave Beech: The function of public art for regeneration is to sex up the control of the under-classes www.hewittandjordan.com
Once this nostalgia buzz gets going it is very hard to stop. Plans for future posts involve etch-a-sketch, spirograph, holga cameras, super 8, rubik’s cubes, connect 4…. in the meantime here is a great photo from 1968. (This is clearly the dangerous type of nostalgia, possibly in its original contagious sense)
Photo © Ed Van der Elsken, Belgie 1968 Twins - Courtesy Hasted Hunt
Recent Comments