Dette nu er livets gry.
Det er nyt ,hvis du er ny.
Hvis du ængster tiden bort, gør du Livet tomt og kort.
Hvis du glæder dig ved mangt,
gør du Nu”et rigt og langt.
Livet er en Labyrint.
Mange gange ender blindt.
Sejr vinde vil hvor vender,
hvor de blinde gange ender.
Alt det meget ingen når, gråner mange men”skers hår.
Glæd dig alt hvad du formår
over alt det lidt du når.
Den som tvivler på sin sag,
han er slagen før sit slag.
Vinter, sommer, høst og vår
hvad der kommer, husk det går.
Husk at smile før du sover,
så går dagens surhed over.
Hvis du frygter for besvær,
kan du li” så godt la” vær.
Hvis du uden vaklen vil,
er det næsten vundet spil.
Tykke bind om livets gang,
kan man skrive dagen lang.
Hjertesuk og jubelklang
kan man ikke ta” med tang.
Husk at elske mens du tør det.
Husk at leve mens du gør det.
Folk som ved hvad der er bedst,
hærger Verden som en pest.
Folk bli”r fler og fler og fler
men”sker laves ikke mer.
Verdens vejr er sort og surt.
Lykken er en liden urt.
Stjernerne på nattens blå
lærer men”sker at forstå.
Helbred er hvordan man har det.
Modstandskraft er som man ta”r det.
Hvis du vidste hvad du ved, når dit livslys er brændt ned,
så var meget mindre drøjt, mens det endnu brænder højt.
Vide, hvad man ikke ved
er en slags alvidenhed.
Den, Guds klarsyn falder på
ser det store i det små.
tæk dit tag med vid og viden,
Ånd alene trodser tiden
Piet Hein
Døden kan flamme som kornmo;
klarere ser vi enn før
hvert liv i dens hvite smerte:
det er de beste som dør.
De sterke, de rene av hjertet
som ville og våget mest;
rolige tok de avskjed,
en etter en gikk de vest.
De levende styrer verden,
en flokk blir alltid igjen,
de uunnværlige flinke,
livets nestbeste menn.
De beste blir myrdet i fengslet,
sopt vekk av kuler og sjø.
De beste blir aldri vår fremtid.
De beste har nok med å dø.
Slik hedrer vi dem, med avmakt,
med all den tomhet vi vet,
men da har vi sveket de beste,
forrådt dem med bitterhet.
De vil ikke sørges til døde,
men leve i mot og tro.
Bare i dristige hjerter
strømmer de falnes blod.
Er ikke hver som har kjent dem
mer rik enn de døde var –
for menn har hatt dem som venner
og barn har hatt dem til far.
De øket det livet de gikk fra.
De spøker i nye menn.
På deres grav skal skrives:
De beste blir alltid igjen.
–
Nordahl Grieg
To remember because it is beautiful…
Sofie Sörman : Vocals
Franco Piccinno : Piano
I´m currently in Batz sur Mer in the northern part of France at the Atlantic coast. Batz sur Mer is a beautiful little village, and on the coast line many fortunate people have wonderful, amazing summer houses. Many of them in the traditional breton style. It is a place of calmness and relaxation for the urban french, dutch, belgian people. So far I have only heard the french language spoken. My language deficit frustrates me quite a bit. I can´t wait to begin learning in Paris! The sun is hot, but the constant breeze from the sea keeps the temperature just perfect for a girl from the far North like me. The coast is wild and natural. There are no major tourist areas with large swimming pools or the like. No loud music from clubs and bars. But all this is not far away. I have been told that there is a lot to get up to in La Baule, the most popular town near by. In my case, the peaceful serenity of Batz sur Mer was just what I was looking for. I am expecting my two weeks in Paris to be filled with enough culture, noise and entertainment to balance the score.
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The Hotel Le Lichen de la Mer has 17 rooms, and I have now tried three of them. I must say, not surprisingly, I liked the one with the big terrace the best. Having a private terrace with a view that takes your breath away for three nights was fantastic. Unfortunately that was not the room I had booked… The manager just kindly offered it to me since it was available for the first three nights. Then I had to move down to the first floor (to the room I had actually booked) for one night, only to be back on top in a nice room today with a very nice view from the window this time. It is a charming little hotel that, as mentioned, has a magnificent view of the ocean. Both the manager and the owner of the hotel have been most friendly and helpful during my stay.
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Oh, to be so lucky to have a little house with a sea view in Batz sur Mer…
MORE PHOTOS:
Beach shots Street shots The church of Saint-Guénolé
Description:
A man escapes the chaos of the modern city-world by zoning out and imagining that he has some kind of control over it.
Starring: Caspar Schjelbred
Directed, filmed and edited by: Jethro Massey
Filed under: Art, Photo | Tags: Art, Centre Pompidou, Photo, Vivan Sundaram, Waste & Consumption
Visiting the Centre Pompidou in Paris I discovered the indian artist Vivan Sundaram who has created a series of photographs called “Trash”.The artist comments on contemporary politics through his radical art works. “Trash” has been shown in its entirety as a multimedia exhibition of installations, photographs and videos at Sepia in New York. The works address the aesthetics and social implications of urban waste and global consumption.
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The photographs show landscapes built of discarded objects which seem both familiar and strange. I found them to evoke an unsettling feeling of looking at something that I should recognize, without actually being able to. After a while I recognize fragments, but still I can´t really navigate through the landscape. I think the artist visualizes in a great way how objects transform to a different state when being discarded, but still stay the same. It is the context, state and location which make them difficult to recognize as the objects they once were. They exist in limbo between usefulness and end of life.
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The transition between the categories of useful objects (for example brick, tire, circuit board) and the collective category “trash” is decided by a complex combination of routines, social norms, material characteristics, state and function, technological and political development, but in the end it is the context and location that makes something “trash”.
Photo borrowed from Walsh Gallery
Photographed at Centre Pompidou
Photographed at Centre Pompidou
Photo borrowed from artnet
Back in Paris two years after my first visit. I love this city! It is gorgeous. The beautiful architecture, the language, the sophistication, the food, the art, the music, the history – everything. Three days is too little time, so I´ve decided to go back in July for two weeks! Two weeks of strolling along the streets of Paris and of learning the language. Can´t wait!
So, finally I went to Barcelona! I have been wanting to see the city for some years now, after I failed to get there when I was living in Spain in 2005. It is beautiful. Walking through the streets I thought about its long history, and about the people who walked the streets hundreds, even thousands of years ago. If I squint my eyes I almost see them… In 218 B.C, the city was conquerred by romans. The architecture shows the roman influence, as well as the following gothic one. Much later in time, around the turn of the eighteenth century, catalan modernism, a version of art noveau put its mark on the city. Antoni Gaudí is the best known architect from this era. In 1883 he planned the construction of the cathedral La Familia Sagrada, which is still under construction today. He is also known for Parque Güell. I love the natural shapes and the fairy tale like, mystique expression. It is like he constructs his inner world for the world to see big scale. Amazing.
Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, an autonomous region in Spain. Catalonia has its own language, catalan, which is very different from spanish. Catalans have a very strong identity related to their history. During the dictatorship of general Franco, everything catalan was prohibited. After the fall of Franco democracy was reinstated and the catalan identity strengthened. Our guide told us that even if the history and the stories of struggles of the catalans are very old, people still feel strongly about their identity.
I decided to visit the city again sometime, but then in winter. It was difficult to see anything at Parque Güell due to the amount of people blocking the view. Those damned tourists… That is my plan for all those other big cities I would like to see. To go there off season. I hope I will remember…
More photo´s here
This summer I made a trip to Andalucia in the South of Spain. I wanted to repeat the nice holiday I had in France last year, but this year in Spain. I pictured driving around the area discovering new places. Therefor I looked for acommodation a bit outside the most popular tourist areas. Both because I don´t particularly like these kinds of areas and because it is cheaper to stay outside of them mostly. This year I had four travel companions, four lovely chicas to acompany me. We landed in Málaga and drove about 40km north to a little village called Nerja where we had booked two rooms in the really cute little hostel Hostal don Peque. The hostel is owned and run by a french couple who had just packed up everything and gone to Nerja to create a new life. A second life as she told us. The stay was very nice, with rooms brightly decorated by Clara, the owner and roof top terrace breakfasts. The village was pretty with white houses and narrow streets. There are several beaches to choose from, some small and some medium. The view from the beach and towards the city is nice because there are no big hotel buildings close to the beach. Somewhat more of a tourist place than I had imagined though. One of the main attractions was the Cuevas de Nerja. The Nerja caves formed over 200 million years ago. They are described to be like an underground cathedral. There is a stage in the middle of it were they do opera and theatrical plays. I can imagine that to be very nice. It was interesting to visit the caves, but not really dazzling. I made some good photo´s though, look here.
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The next stop was Almunecar about 30km north of Nerja, where we had rented a little town house with a roof terrace for 10 days. The town is similar to Nerja in the old town, but has a larger more modern part which is not so pretty. The town seems to be a holiday place for the spanish which was nice. Our town house was situated in the old town on top of a hill close to an old castle which was quite picturesque. Unfortunately the beds were horrible with very old uncomfortable mattresses. My bed broke down the first night which made me really annoyed. I ended up sleeping on the mattress in the living room downstairs. I cannot understand how people can put so little pride into something. If someone pays to stay at your house the least you can do is offer some decent beds. Oh well, I guess I survived. The heat took away more energy than I had thought, and we didn´t get around to hiring a car until less than a week before we were going home. We made a trip to Alhambra in Granada, the 600 year old fortress built by the moorish rulers. It was my second time there. It is a magnificent place with unbelievable palaces and gardens. View some photo´s here. We also made a few trips to Malaga city. The Museo Picasso Málaga was great, absolutely worth a visit. The museum building was beautiful, modern, cool and airy. I particularly like his filigree pencil drawings like this one for example.
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More photo´s from Alhambra here
I didn´t get to to as much traveling around as I had imagined and the heat and the humidity was a bit above my level of comfort, but all in all it was a nice holiday. I might vote for France though if I had to make a choice. Still I think spring or autumn would be better seasons to visit Andalucia, and I´m sure I would have been more taken by it then.
Oh my… already tired of the MariLee name. It is really difficult to choose a good name for stuff. The new one for my Epla store is <<birds & cloudberries>>. There is no symbolism really. I just like the two words and I think they go good together. I guess the name could reflect the store to be selling different categories of things, jewelry and vintage items. I think I am quite happy with this name ♥
http://birds_and_cloudberries.epla.no
Filed under: Reuse & Create
Susan Strasser refers, in her book Waste and Want – A social history of trash, to Claude Lévi-Strauss who describes the bricoleur. A bricoleur uses scraps, odds and ends to create new things. Tools and materials are collected because they could have potential in a new project, not because there is a master plan. New projects are created of putting to use what is at hand. He works in a closed universe and makes do with the things that are at hand (Strasser, 1999).
Filed under: Science and Technology Studies | Tags: Science & Technology Studies
Jeg gjør for tiden en webundersøkelse i forbindelse med min masteroppgave som handler om hvordan ting/gjenstander mister sin verdi. Har du 10 minutter, og besvarer spørsmålene i undersøkelsen kan du vinne fine premier! Temaet for undersøkelsen er møbler.
Trykk på linken for å komme til undersøkelsen:
http://historienomting.questionpro.com
We were to go on stage as late as 23:00, and were a bit worried about people leaving early, but as we went up there the place was even more packed with people than with the earlier bands. People were in a good mood, and our vocalist Linn Hege pushed them even higher with her special northern sense of humor.
We had so much fun, and people seemed to really enjoy our versions of Goldfrapp, PJ Harvey and Juliette and the Licks! They were even screaming for more as we went off the stage. The band is boosted with positive energy and meeting soon to plan the future. Keep tuned, more to come ;)
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After 5 hours cramped up in the Air Cairo plane we landed in heavy rain, lightning an thunder in Sharm el Sheik. As it should be on a charter trip, everything was neatly organized and we followed the directions of our travel guides to the right bus to take us to our hotel. (All our charter prejudices were affirmed on this trip by the way) Safely in our seats we were greatly amused by the spectacle of lightning and rain outside. Pulling up outside the hotel the amusement ended. It was totally blacked out! Later in our room, which to our luck was nice and dry, we found the candlelit first evening quite cozy and the adventurous arrival quite exiting. The staff had barely seen that kind of weather before, though their reaction was rather on the humorous side than on the panic one could have expected. Even the bar was open! It didnt really matter that the Black Labelled whiskey bottle did not contain whiskey but some un idenitfyible substance. We were happy with that and the cheese and tomatoes the bartender managed to bring us against all odds.
The rest of the week was enjoyably sunny and warm, relaxing at the beach and at the hotel pool with my STS articles.
Having to give up the plan to get a PADI diving license due to the obligatory fight with foreign bacteria was a disappointment, but the snorkeling experience on the last two days was amazing! My heart just smiles when I look into the world of these beautiful cute creatures. The coral reef we snorkeled at the national park Ras Mohamed was a great experience. I loved it!
My favorite little yellow cutie (above). Source: P. Villerius
Though Sharm el Sheik is a “tourist hell” of great dimensions with few authentic Egyptian cultural experiences, it was a nice little escape from the frozen existence at home.
“Alle dei 17 bamsemumsane låg urørlege i den grøne skåla.
Situasjonen var ganske spent allereie,
så dei tenkte alle som ein at det var best å ikkje laga noko oppstyr,
ikkje gjera noko som kunne dra merksemda mot den grøne skåla.
Det er ofte i slike situasjonar at nokon må hosta,
men slik var det heldigvis ikkje denne gongen.”
Kurt Johannessen
http://www.morgenbladet.no/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100115/KULTUR/701159949
The COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference 7-18 December 2009 is one of the most debated events of our time. The need for nations to reach an agreement on measures to prevent drastic climate change is urgent, and characterized as “the last chance” to commit to joint action. The first conference of its kind was the COP1 in Berlin, 1995. An important and often mentioned conference is also the COP3 in Kyoto, 1997, which resulted in the Kyoto protocol after intense negotiations. It was the first time a protocol introduced binding targets for greenhouse gas emissions in 37 industrialized countries from 2008 – 2012. The protocol came into force in 2005. Norway has increased its emissions every year since 2005, but the government has now decided to supersede the Kyoto target by 10 per cent. This goal can not be reached without buying CO2 permits which are regulated by the concepts of Emissions Trading System (ETS) and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
ETS (also known as Cap & Trade) is a market based system where permits for a given amount of pollution get distributed by government to industry to create a financial incentive to reduce pollution. These permits can be traded amongst different actors. CDM is aimed to enable global emission reduction in the overall most cost-effective way. Critics argue that ETS and CDM allows “Business as usual” to the largest polluters , and that the mechanisms prevent rather than promote effective measures against global warming. It is alleged that the systems are simply not cost-effective, and that the same measures could be implemented to a much lower cost through already established programs. ETS has in recent time also been criticized for being a distraction, creating a false sense of progress, leaving it to the market to fix the problem and being a tool for big industry to maintain business as usual. Critics are asking if ETS could be working against its purpose, and be stalling the energy revolution? Which are the forces who are pushing this solution onto the world and what is their agenda? Is there being put too much effort into an insufficient system rather than into developing the “real” technical solutions to the energy/emissions problem?
ETS is as a technology constructed by forces in society to closely fit into our existing systems. At the same time the choices and decisions being made and/or not being made, the actions taken and/or not taken as a result of the existence of an Emissions Trading System are shaping society and nature simultaneously. ETS is a technology co-produced with nature and society. The politically- and symbolically sustaining forces in the discourse of climate change seem to be of substantial power and are in effect stalling radical social change and a real energy revolution. The Emissions Trading System is a good example of how the existing arrangements of society limit the adaptability of society. Scientists are producing more and more frightening results predicting catastrophe if the world does not act now. Institutions are facilitating the production of the same results, distributing representations of it to the public and the policy makers to give it political effect. In spite of the existence of an array of renewable energy technologies either ready for implementation or close to it, the main “fix” on the table in Copenhagen was how to agree on a fair world Emissions Trading System, so that the existing market economy which sustains the wealth of the “northern elite”, does not collapse. This project becomes dangerous if it creates a system which serves as a distraction from developing the real solutions to facilitate the energy revolution to break us out of the oil age. We could be destroying our home in the pursuit of infinite growth and material prosperity.
The US environmental activist Annie Leonard concludes in “The Story of Cap & Trade” : “You can´t solve a problem with the thinking that created it”, and in this case I agree.
I have discovered an artist I had not heard of before. Anna-Eva Bergman. I find her compositions very interesting. The contruction and philigran lines, the metallic surfaces embedded appeal to me.
Anna-Eva Bergman (1909 – 1987). Married to the painter Hans Hartung and frequenting the same circles as Picasso and Braque, she was better known abroad than in Norway. For the first time Anna-Eva Bergman’s unknown surrealist works are presented together in a major exhibition at the Henie-Onstad senter in Oslo.
Filed under: Environment, Innovation, Politics | Tags: Environment, Innovation, Politics
The recent work of Prof. Keith Smith at the Australian Innovation Research Centre, University of Tasmania, points to the need for global coordination of innovation systems to achieve radical innovation and create a new regime not dependent on hydrocarbons. Why is this a task for national and global government?
The obstacles to business:
- High risk and uncertainty
- Long time horizon and prolonged financial commitment
- The need to search along multiple overlapping paths with unforseen capital losses along the way
- Coordination
How is Norway approaching this?
Filed under: Architecture, Science and Technology Studies | Tags: Architecture, Oslo, Science & Technology Studies
Harry Collins and Robert Evans have in their book “Rethinking Expertise” (2007) made an attempt to categorise differend types of knowledge. The periodic table of expertise that they have created is based on the idea of tacit knowledge, and names and places the different kinds of expertise. The term `tacit knowledge’ was used my Michael Polanyi to refer to those things we can do without being able to explain how. Individuals acquire expertise through being members of expert groups. It takes much time and effort to socialize into these groups. A large part of the knowledge acquired can not be explained formally. It is knowledge that is embedded in language and society. Tacit knowledge is an important part of all kind of expertises. Collins and Evans argue for a realist theory of expertise independent of the social attribution of expertise. They are critisizing the STS approach of describing the social attribution of knowledge without taking a stand (the importance of symmetry in STS). One should be able to assess who has knowledge and who not. They call it “The third way”. Still they acknowledge that the boundaries of knowledge can be difficult to draw in a strict way in real life. It is a first attempt to categorize different kinds of knowledge. A broad definition of expertise could be “to know what you are talking about”, there is no difference between knowledge and expertise. Expertise is in culture and in practice, and is found more in practice than in books. It is about doing, performing and talking. (H. Collins, R. Evans, 2007)
Interactional Expertise is fluency in the technical language associated with a specialism. The ability to expertly converse about expertise without being able to practice it. It is learned through linguistic socialisation and achieved by spending enough time with practitioners. Interactional expertise is an expertise between informal and formal knowledge – between books and practice.
To have Contributory Expertise is to know enough to contribute to the development of a specific expertise. A deep understanding. It is the “real” knowledge, the practice. (H. Collins, R. Evans, 2007)
(MH, 2010)
Could it be argued that in the design of the open international competition for architects for a design of the Norwegian Opera House (1999), there was imbedded a demand for an expertise which was suited to produce a Nordic if not even a Norwegian winner?
All of the architects participating in the competition posessed approximately the same contributory expertise as the competition only was open to architects with an approved examination under the EU’s architect directive. This means that Norwegian participants had to be civil architects or members of NAL. Foreign participants inside the EEA area had to document that they have qualifications equivalent to the European Union’s Directive. Other foreign participants had to document equivalent qualifications. However, the tacit knowledge achieved through the embedment in the Nordic/Norwegian culture of strong social democratic values, as well as interactional expertise towards the involved actors put Snøhetta in a special position probably along with the other Norwegian contributors to the competition.
It could seem that the international approach towards the competition was to a large extent encouraged and forced by the EEA Agreement and NAL. The strong focus on the Norwegian language in the jury and also the missing internationality of the jury members, gives Snøhetta and other Norwegian/Nordic architects the advantage of tacit knowledge within the Nordic culture. It gives them an expertise which communicates with the expertise of the jury members. Snøhetta and the other Norwegian contributors were in addition closely connected to NAL through the membership of employed architects. Snøhetta posessed additional interactional expertise achieved through the collaboration with Statsbygg on the exposition “Ny opera i Bjørvika”.
There was a course in academic writing today at uni, by the American Lynn P. Nygaard. She told us what to think about to write a good academic text in a very clear and inspiring way, and the humor kept us awake. Later I was so inspired that I bought her book “Writing for Scholars – A practical guide to Making sense and Being Heard”.
Towards the end of the day she gave us some tips on how to make the most out of the writing process that I want to remember:
>Writing reveals holes in your thinking. In your head you can have vague ideas which coexist. It becomes more clear when you have to make decisions on how to write it.
> Many good ideas appear while you are writing. It is a process. Writing pushes you and forces you to think.
> Don´t wait to long to start writing! It is part of the research, not something you do after reading, sampling etc
> It is difficult because it is part of the thinking process. Don´t do too much at the same time.
> The creative part: Making sence of all the ideas, the caos. Let ideas flow, don´t think of language etc.
> The critical part: Making sence of it to others.
> Don´t do creative and critical at the same time! Writers block ist mostly too much in the brain not too little.
> You have to learn to write even if you´re not inspired!
>Be ready when ideas come! Notice when you tend to get your ideas! Exercising, driving, listening to music+++ Recreate these situations! Write them down.
Freewriting is when you sit down and just write without thinking or planning on what to write. You just write what falls into your head without stopping. This can warm you up tp the real writing task and make unexpected ideas surface.
Here is what I wrote during 5 minutes:
Not to write anything. No… Environmental subjects how to find the right angle, am I going to? What will it take, is it in my interest, literary review will decide on what, get inspired by the literary review? Maybe something will get clearer, now I don´t know what to do, there is very little time. This course helped, I am inspired to write, I hope I will be when I get home, maybe I should buy the book, but I probably will do something else, I hope not, but playing the guitar and painting is always more tempting, as is the internet, my blog and my photography. How to find the best case for my masters? Where to look, there are to many interesting subjects, why can´t I name just one which is perfect? How do I connect to my past bachelor in product design, do I really want to move that far away from my creative side, how do i combine the creativeness with something meaningful? Does it have to be energy?
Filed under: Science and Technology Studies, Scribbles | Tags: Actor Network Theory, Science & Technology Studies, Scribbles
“Om vi skalar av allting till grunden, skapar vi en klarhet som gör det enklare att leva. Komplexitet kan skapa drastiska intryck, men enkelhet tillåter oss att fokusera och uppskatta med en djup och rörande känslighet. Stimulans får vi från vår omgivning. Lugn kommer inifrån oss själva. Världen är i ständig rörelse men själen förblir orörlig och tar del av oändligheten, likt klippan som vilar vid havets oupphörliga flöde. Genom att avlägsna det oväsen som omger oss, bekräftar vi i vårt inre det sköna hos det som återstår. Jag har velat fånga den flyktiga stillheten men också vår längtan efter inre lugn. Med enkla, rena och avskalade former vill jag röra vid en stilla punkt inom oss, spegla sökandet efter en djupare harmoni och balans. Mellanrummen i livet är av betydelse för helheten. Att våga stanna upp, lyssna och följa en inre längtan är mod“.
- Caterina Benassi
Norway:
The growth in waste has now passed the growth of the economy measured in GDP
(Hermine) “Begreifst du das nicht, du gelehrter Herr: dass ich dir darum gefalle und für dich wichtig bin, weil ich wie eine art Spiegel für dich bin, weil in mir innen etwas ist, was dir Antwort gibt und dich versteht? Eigentlich sollten alle Menschen füreinander solche Spiegel sein und einander so antworten und entsprechen, aber solche Käuze wie du sind eben wunderlich und verlaufen sich leicht in eine Verzauberung, dass sie in den Augen andrer Menschen nichts mehr sehen und lesen können, dass es sie nichts mehr angeht. Und wenn dann so ein Kauz plötzlich doch wieder ein Gesicht findet, das ihn wirklich anschaut, in dem er etwas wie Antwort und Verwandtschaft spürt, ja, dann hat er natürlich eine Freude.”
(Mozart) “Das ist ja zum Lachen, du Drachen, zum lauten Lachen, zum Verkrachen, zum In-die-Hosen-Machen! O du gläubiges Herze, mit deiner Druckerschwärtze, mit deinem Seelenschmerze, ich stifte dir eine Kerze, nur so zum Scherze. Geschnickelt, geschnackelt, spetakelt, schabernackelt, mit dem Schwanz gewackelt, nicht lang gefackelt. Gott befohlen, der Teufel wird dich holen, verhauen und versolen für dein schreiben und Kohlen, hast ja alles zusammengestohlen.”
“Wenn ich eine Weile ohne Lust und ohne Schmerz war und die laue fade Erträglichkeit sogenannter guter Tage geatmet habe, dann wird mir in meiner kindischen Seele so windig weh und elend, dass ich die verrostete Dankbarkeitsleier dem schläfrigen Zufriedenheitsgott ins zufriedene Gesicht schmeisse und lieber einen rect teuflischen Schmerz in mir brennen fühle als diese bekömmliche Zimmertemperatur.”
“Denn dies hasste, verabscheute und verfluchte ich von allem doch am innigsten: diese Zufriedenheit, diese Gesundheit, Behaglichkeit, diesen gepflegten Optimismus des Bürgers, diese fette gedeiliche Zucht des Mittelmässigen, Normalen, Durchschnittlichen.”
Filed under: Environment, Politics, Science and Technology Studies | Tags: Environment, Politics, Science & Technology Studies
In our time the concept of waste has developed into a significant issue which concerns all of society; governments, industry, community, nature, science and technology. One could say, in the way that Bruno Latour claims there to be no Nature with a capital N, there is also no Waste with a capital W. Waste is a term constructed by humans. To define what is waste or not there has to be some social order to define it. A quick reading through some of the official documents released on the issues of waste in Norway reveals an array of definitions to different categories of waste and what goes into them. Industrial waste, municipal waste, demolition and construction waste, hazardous waste and so on.
Waste brings with it many problems. There are toxic chemicals, depletion of natural resources, emissions, various social problems of exploitation, health, poverty and loss of habitat to mention some. The problems are grounded in how society is constructed. The goal of the market economy is infinite growth through the steady flow of capital and goods. This flow of goods has turned into a flow of waste, because the timeframe in which the goods are perceived to usable is getting smaller and smaller. Low quality non repairable products, low prices (externalized costs), fashion and marketing are accelerating the turnover of material goods.
Governments are dealing with the issue of waste through laws and regulations. An increasing effort in waste management through government is certainly improving conditions caused by the effects of the problem, but at the same time some of the effort is being annulled by the vast increase in the amount of waste. In Norway the growth in waste has now passed the growth of the economy measured in GDP (Klima- og forurensningsdirektoratet, 2010).
As Annie Leonard writes in the book “The Story of Stuff” (2010), waste is not defined by what it is but by where it is. The definition of waste is interesting because it determines action taken on it. For my master thesis I have decided to look into definitions made of waste by the Norwegian government and how these definitions are co-produced with policy and technology development in the sector. How is the notion of waste conceptualized? How are new categories of waste formed? Who are the experts in demarcating the categories of waste? My assumption is that there is a need for a redifinition of the concept of waste which has emerged through time because it is now unable to deal with the problems caused by the out dated definitions
Bruno Latour´s bold statement “there is no Nature with a capital N” is refreshing (How to Bring the Sciences Into Democracy, 2004). Maybe the same would be true for the concept of Waste? As I have established through his thoughts; how waste is defined is a product of processes and relationships within the networks of sciences, natures and politics. To create new thought on the concept of Waste one must look at wastes (in the plural) intertwined in different networks. Again to compare with Latour´s concept of natures; issues concerning natures always have to do with specific natures; that river, that endangered species and so on. The same thing could be said about Waste. There is no such thing as Waste with a capital W. There is only glass, plastic, packaging, paper and so on. Therefore one must also talk about wastes in the plural. Latour claims the political power of the term Nature to be lying in its unity, in its singular use; “nature in general”. It is impossible for natures to play the same political role. For instance; how does industry protect natures? What force can the science of natures enact? The singular form of Nature has been created to be able to rival the singular form of Politics. It is a convenient ordering. I ask myself, is the same true for the unity of Waste? Does the unity of Waste give power?
While doing some spring cleaning I came across my bachelor project which was inspired by The Shakers. I remember now why I was so inspired by the philosophy of these people concerning things. I am very drawn to their sense of simplicity, craftsmanship and space.
The Shakers originate form a group of persecuted Protestants in France, who fled to England in 1706. In 1774 they emigrated to New York, where they bought land, and called it “The New world “. Here they lived together in villages where each “unit” was responsible for the production of goods for personal use and for trade with other Shaker villages and eventually also with “the world”. Ann Lee was a leading figure in the Shaker group. She was also known as Mother Ann, or just Mother. Equality, pacifism, absolution and common property were qualities valued high in the community. The Shakers were very concerned with harmony between the spiritual and the physical environment with which they surrounded themselves. Simplicity, cleanliness, order, industry and perfection were the means to achieve the goal. Mother Ann emphasized that all assets should be functional and modest, not trendy and grandiose. She believed that the extravagance of an object caused the heart to open up to pride, vanity and lust, and that it destroyed the natural material and the practical purpose of the object itself. ”Anything with an precisely defined purpose, can be described as perfect because it answers perfectly to the purpose it was designed for.” When they built their houses, they were careful to plan for storage. This led to integrated storage in the walls. The storage was pre planned to fit their specific needs. Often there could be 3 to 6 people in one bedroom, and this created the need for separate storage. The storage was mostly made of drawers. Since there were so many people living together, it was important that all things had their permanent place, so that they would be easy to find for all residents. They had a great production of oval and round boxes for different things, which were color coded for content. They also made cleaning easier, by mounting pegs high on the wall in every room, where everything from chairs to hats and coats were hung. The beds had wheels, so they would be easy to move.
According to Wikipedia there is only one Shaker group left living in the United States with three living members. The disappearance of the Shakers is caused by living in celibacy and building their community partly through adoption of orphans, which turned illegal in the 1960s.
Another spring-clean-find. What an important task I had that day in life.
I found a bunch of old drawings from my childhood. My dad put them together for me for my 25th birthday. So, I guess this is how people live. They eat, and talk, and make birthday cakes, and kill flies. Notice the poor lonely guy on the lower left. I think it´s raining.
After posting the old childhood drawing, my book with Pushwagners Soft City came to mind. Obviously I was subconsciously inspired by great artists already in my early youth! My drawing is not dated, but mid/late 80´s would be a fair guess. Soft City which is a cartoon made by Hariton Pushwagner (Terje Brofoss, 1940), is, as it seems to me, about ordinary mass produced life with a touch of the 50´s.
Det finnes stunder
da alle ord er grå
da sorga er et høstsyn:
et vissent sevblad frøsi fast
i isen på ei å.
—
Det finnes stunder
da alle ord er små,
da lykka er et vårsyn:
ei solgnist i en dråpe dogg
som siger langs et strå.
—
Hans Børli
Filed under: Quotes, Science and Technology Studies | Tags: Mary Douglas, Quotes, Science & Technology Studies
The struggle and the search for authenticity is haunting a lot of people. It is visible just by looking at people around you. Some still can´t let go of the thought that some people just are, that there are people unconscious of their appearance. Sadly, I must agree with Mary Douglas.
“There are no items of clothing or of food or of other practical use which we do not seize upon as theatrical props to dramatise the way we want to present our roles and the scene we are playing in. Everything we do is significant, nothing is without its conscious symbolic load. Moreover, nothing is lost on the audience.” — Mary Douglas
A simple and low fat dessert or coffee break snack: Put about three big spoons of Kesam vanilje (or vanilla youghurt) in a small bowl, sprinkle a 1/4 of a biscuit and cinnamon on top. Yum!
The source of the inspiration to the name of my blog, the delicious caramel (made by La Bretagne En Boite) I tasted i St Brevin Les Pins, France, July last summer has launched a webshop for their caramel products! Highly recommended ♥
http://labretagneenboite.wizishop.com/
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As there seems to be baby-boom-time in my circle of friends, I often find myself in lack of a gift to bring to the first visit to meet the newborn. I decided to make some stuffed animals of my stash of left over fabrics. It turned into a family of bunnies steadily increasing in numbers. I have been experimenting with the different faces trying to bring them some personality. The ones in front of the picture are my first experiments where I chose the shape that multiplied through the back row of bunnies. A friend pointed out to me that the first row looks like they just died, which made another friend think of “The Book of Bunny Suicides”, a comic strip by Andy Riley. It is hilarious:
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Filed under: Encounters, Environment, Excursions, Science and Technology Studies | Tags: Encounters, Environment, Science & Technology Studies
I took a trip to a big recycling station in Oslo to see what people throw away, and hopefully talk to them about why. There was quite a long line of cars going into the station, and it took me about 20 minutes to get in. When I drove into the area I pretended to be there for the same reason as everybody else, to throw something away. I wanted to observe before I revealed myself. I brought my camera, which might not have been such a good idea because it made people nervous. I took a few photos down in the containers, not of people as they threw things into them, but only of what was already down there. I heard someone whisper behind me, “hm, why is she taking pictures?”. The situation was a bit uncomfortable. I felt like I was there to expose someone, and that people felt exposed, caught in the act so to say. I could not get my self to ask someone for an interview because I was experiencing such strong discomfort by the situation, and was struggling with the feeling of getting too close to people, like I was disturbing them in a private matter. In addition, I found no opening remark that could be disarming. No matter how I rephrased my opening line, I felt like I was standing there raising my finger at people, accusing them of something and moralizing. There was a stressful atmosphere at the site, people were running to and from their vehicles with “rubbish” to do away with. It seemed to me that they just wanted to be very quickly done with this uncomfortable, boring but necessary task. I can imagine the relief they felt when they were driving out the gate – finally rid of that old junk! I tried to chat with some of the older guys that worked there. They were nice and confirmed that people throw a lot of useful stuff. Although there is a container for reusable things for Fretex to pick up and sell in their stores, much is still thrown in with other materials in the waste containers. Probably because people either do not know that there is a Fretex container, they can not be bothered to be doing that much sorting and therefore throw everything in the same container, or they simply define some of the usable stuff not to be usable. After a while one of the guys in the staff approached me and told me that there were some people wondering what I was doing, since I was taking pictures, it was not allowed to take pictures on the premises. I replied that I was only looking at what people were throwing away, since I was writing my thesis on waste, and I did not think it would be a big deal looking around since the station is a public place. Well, the guy did not agree that it was a public place and told me to clear the matter with a woman at the office. If not, I could risk being “thrown on my head into one of the containers”. Oh dear, I said, and began to walk towards the office. On the way there, I was very unsure about the whole thing and decided that I had to figure out a new strategy before talking to the office people. I sneaked back to my car and drove off.
The discomfort I felt, and the discomfort I interpreted into the people who were there actually says something about how I and probably many others feel about disposing of things. There are in many cases negative emotions tied to the act of disposal. This immoral contribution to our materialistic culture. That is probably why we often postpone the act itself for quite a long time. People store things in attics, basements, cabins, try to sell it or give it away. It is only when none of these options work, that most people drive it to a recycling station or a landfill. I think that this is the last resort for many people. For others it may certainly be the easiest way out, the most effective one if they want to get rid of something as quickly as possible. These people ignore the negative emotions the might have regarding wastefulness, if they have any, and just do what they have to. Whilst driving out the gate relief comes to most people. The stuff can be forgotten about. Out of sight out of mind, isn´t that how it is?
(Above: The Fretex container)
So, I have been processing this experience in my mind since last friday, and decided to try again. This time I am going to clear it with the right people at the office. I have already sent an email making a request for the permission to interview people while they are waiting in their cars to get in to the station. Hopefully they will be more open for an interview in this situation. The reply came quickly from the office, but the email was passed on to the right person and I am still awaiting the response.
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To be continued…
Erased & Replaced is preparing for the concert at Blå on the 9th of June! :)
Set list:
Ooh la la (Goldfrapp)
Who the fuck (PJ Harvey)
Hot Kiss (Juliette and the Licks)
New bandphotos:
More photos here
