Oil Eating Bacteria

Learned something interesting today in Government 2, Apparently a company called Osprey Biotechnics has created an oil eating bacteria called Munox. The intentional use of Munox is to help clean up the gulf oil spills. According to company president Vincent Scuilla "They would apply our bacteria directly on the water. The Bacteria attaches to the oil, which is its food, and the things start colonizing. And now these hungry bacteria are literally consuming the oil, digesting it, and breaking it down to harmless end products like CO2 and H2O." Four words. Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Oil is a form of plastic, therefore meaning that this bacteria is truly consuming plastics. Why not release the bacteria in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and allow it to consume the floating plastics that have joined together due to the current and created a mass twice the size of texas of floating garbage. With the use of the bacteria we can potentially erase the tons of garbage we have dumped into the ocean due to laziness and habit. Although the bacteria will not consume everything, (metals, fabrics, etc.) it will destroy the majority of the Patch allowing us to deal with the smaller amount left behind. The interesting aspect of the bacteria is that it only eats plastic based items, therefore when the plastic is not longer available, the bacteria dies, removing the risk for spreading to land. This is something we as a species should be worried about, and should be attempting to fix.

Truckin Down to Cooper

In an afternoon of spontainity an idea was birthed in the minds of our Photography class to take a trip to Cooper. Along the way I saw some interesting sights, met some wonderful people, and had some of the best ice-cream (Home Made!) I've ever had the pleasure or honor to enjoy. This is a collage of my trip (:

you never know what wonders you'll find when choosing the road less traveled

Mabel's Ice Cream Machine

Our Fountain Drinks are Made ONLY as you watch with delicious, cold, clear, pure water from the grassy cedar laden uplands and cool, clay-packed bottom of Big Creek Lake.

My .75 cent ice cream cone from Mabel's Home made Ice cream :) mmmmm

                                                   Mabel and her wonderful son

durring the Great Depression people were hired to go around and do murals to add art and beauty to towns...and also to give the government an excuse to spend money in an attempt to raise the economy. This is one of those murals.

Cooper Cemetary

Nifty little cabin found off some dirt road a little ways from the dam, made completely from wood

Part of the Dam

Goodbye Cooper!

The Forces of the Universe (Rant Fest)

So today my water bottle opened up in my purse...just enough water left in it after fitness class to leak out onto my camera that was nestled so lovingly in the bottom of my purse next to my keys and emergency pack of Excedrin (which is now gone due to the way this day appears to be going). Now my camera is dead. -.- I will be purchasing white rice after my 2 o'clock meeting and hoping that that helps draw out all the moisture...if not, Amazon here I come. I wouldn't trully mind all that much (this is typically my luck with cameras to be honest) except that over the past two months my car has been in the shop more than I have actually had it...acumulating around $700 in expenses. (my car is Kelly Blue Book priced for only $500 so that is muy no bueno) And not to mention the fact that  I have been out of my dorm room for two weeks going on three because the dorm people can not take care of the bed-bug problem. Sigh, the forces of the universe are in action and not in my favor. All I can do is hold my head up and keep moving on.

Chapter Four Tradition and the New in Current Art

In this chapter he begins with showing how even if you are breaking traditions you are in a sense still staying true and close to old traditions because you must have something to base the new traditions off of in order to make them different. He covers how one should not simply learn of the new styles to immediately try to shove them into their old styles instead they should study and practice the styles until the new ones force themselves into the artists old styles. if the artist attempts a premature grasping of this combination it most often results in a failed understanding of the meaning. He calls back on that vision of the cross country runner pushing and pushing himself and he applies it to an artist needing to get up early and work more and more and to overcome their preconceived limits and to set new heights. And most important of all, be willing to allow that cup to hold new ideas, new traditions, do not allow yourself to be so wound up on the old, and comfortable, accept change. He warns against many teachers who say stay strong to your traditions. While traditions are important, learning about other styles will help one to see the world differently and improve their traditional art in ways they never knew were possible. It will allow you to eventually combine the two and allow you to enhance your art with the arts you have let yourself explore. He Speaks of how he advocates for the teaching of "concept over technique, practice, or drill". It is interesting the example he provides of Japanese learning vs American learning of science and math, you should definitely look at that. And once again he reiterates that the student must be willing to reach out to the teacher and not simply expect to come to class and sit there and like a sponge soak it all up. They must put effort and attention into the assignment including especially the reading and lectures to truly understand the meaning of the class and styles. What he is saying is don't expect a miracle worker out of your teacher, you have to work work work and work some more if you ever expect to get any where in this major or any major for that matter.

Chapter Three Artists And Teachers

In this chapter Dunning covers the importance of the relationship between teacher and student and the need of understanding in what a student should expect out of their learning experience with said teacher. Again he makes the reference to the already full cup and the need for the student to empty their cup in order for any more knowledge or eh hem tea to go in. By building a solid relationship with the teacher and not over expecting or under expecting what they will get out of the class and the teachings, a student allows opportunities to open up to them. With a teachers guidance a student can find themselves pushed farther than they thought they could go, or have a boost of self motivation, a teacher is like a helping hand and there for the student even in the darkest times, as long as the student is willing to reach out and meet the helping hand half way. A teacher can help provide ideas to their students without expecting the student to believe or follow the idea, but simply to have the idea for future references, to ponder upon and use whenever the student decides is necessary. It is up to the student to be open minded enough to allow the ideas to flow into their mind to sit and mature until the student is able to accept that particular idea. A student also plays a huge role in this relationship...they can not simply sit there and allow the teacher to condition themselves to become boring. They must reach out as well with questions and inquiries. They must wish to seek the knowledge to increase their talents and re-fill their cup with new ideas and theories. Between the teachers ideas and the students preconceived ideas the student will reach a final point and decision, allowing them to realize exactly what it is they believe.

Chapter Two Reading-And Reading Right

This chapter starts out by criticizing the method almost all schools use to teach their students to read; Factual instead of analytical. He speaks of how school after school teaches their students to memorize dates, times, weights etc instead of analyzing the hows, and whys of the situation to grasp a better understanding and to analyze the events deeper. From here he discusses the meaning of the word 'bright' in regards to ones knowledge. For him bright=interested in ideas because ideas=intelligence. It is interesting how Dunning discusses the ideas of IQ's and how while two people may start out with the same IQ level, if person A does not push themselves to read material they only partially understand, but person B does, then in a few years they will have two completely different IQ levels with person B having surpassed A. Apparently in the Medieval ages an artist was expected to be a Bible Scholar, and since during that time the Bible was the epitome of scholarly knowledge you were considered well learned having studied it. Although times have changed knowledge is necessary in order to excel in any given work field, especially art because even if one graduates and finds that what they have worked with and come to understand is now considered 'past art' or 'outdated' it is still important to be well knowledged in past art styles. Simply because you can draw does not mean you will excel in you field. In order to obtain a spot in a gallery or have your pieces printed in papers you must be able to first converse intelligently with the necessary people. I love the quote he uses from Cofucius on page 27 "Learning without thought is useless; thought without learning is dangerous." this could not be more true because if you are not going to take the time to understand and analyze what it is you are trying to learn than their is no point, and if you are going to try to understand or claim to understand something without at first trying to learn about it than that can lead to very dangerous situations such as war or putting your foot in your mouth. Interesting book so far, if you are wanting to read it yourself google it under Advice to Young Artists in a Postmodern Era; by William B. Dunning, Ben Mahmoud.

advice to young artists in a postmodern era chapter ONE Talents, Intelligence, and Art

This was a great chapter, I loved how the author starts out with an image or model of how we currently perceive intelligence in comparison to one another. He shows that we shouldn't judge one another on the same levels of intelligence, because whilst you may be good at English and writing, someone else may struggle in that but excel in math. Or take a mechanic, he can tell you all the parts on a car, he can look it over run some tests and fix the problem. Your doctor is the same, he simply looks at, knows, and heals people bodies, yet most times we believe that Doctors are smarter than mechanics. hm. We generally place a higher emphases on 'book-smart' people than those who are 'street-smart' without giving a thought that both people are smart in different areas. Just because those areas are different doesn't mean that the 'street-smart' person is any less intelligent than the 'book-smart' person. Often times the book-smart person has a knack for memorizing while the street smart person has learned these lessons of life first hand.
Next the author discusses how despite learning impediments such as dyslexia, one can persevere and overcome these learning setbacks. By creating a learning pattern and sticking to it you can train your brain to still itself and allow you to concentrate not only on what the text is saying but also on what it means. He observed that many times when a student allowed themselves to do this than they would surpass their 'normal' classmates in reading and understanding and would become better artists because of it.  I love the image he provides in the form of the cross country runner running even though he is 'pleasantly tired' and even when he is 'very tired' and to continue till it 'becomes so painful they can not run anymore' and even then 'they must run some more.' It shows that in learning you must press on. Even when you think you have learned it you must continue to learn and continue to learn, you must press yourself beyond what you thought were your limits and set new limits. He speaks of the importance of coaches or teachers in every big-league player, or well known artist, or successful politician...they wouldnt have gotten that chance without their coach or teacher. From here he moves on to discuss the meaning of the word 'genius' and how it is loosly tossed around by young artists. He explains how postmodern artists do not use nor accept the word genius in regards to an artist, instead they deem society and culture to sculpt the art. It is interesting how he speaks of the arrogance of Piccaso claiming to be a genius at the age of fourteen, yet when his art of that age is observed, it is of nineteenth century senior level student works. He compares a young artist latching onto a specific style before exploring many others is akin to a premature marriage and settling for 'pretty good' and not 'damn good'. The end of the chapter covered the quest of not seeking the answer but of determining what infact is the question. Interesting Chapter over all.