ART & ORGANISM
A SEMINAR
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grayed out notes with links below are from last year’s seminar and indicate how discussions emerge and interconnect.
They represent examples of topics that may be covered as we proceed. The exact offerings are determined by
● the basic course objectives (integration of ways of knowing the world at multiple levels of organization);
● specific interests of seminar participants;
● Emerging research and scholarship in constituent fields;
● specific interests of guest experts that may visit to explore their interests in the light of A&O.
| meeting | 2023 | Tues | ||
| 1 | Jan | 24 | ||
| 2 | 31 | |||
| 3 | Feb | 7 | ||
| 4 | 14 | |||
| 5 | 21 | |||
| 6 | 28 | |||
| 7 | Mar | 7 | ||
| 14 | SPRING BREAK | |||
| 8 | 21 | |||
| 9 | 28 | |||
| 10 | Apr | 4 | ||
| 11 | 11 | |||
| 12 | 18 | |||
| 13 | 25 | |||
| 14 | May | 2 | ||
| 15 | 9 | LAST DAY | ||
| dates
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links are from 2022
(contents will be slightly different in 2023) |
topics drawn from following themes | likely activities |
| January 24, 2023 | A&O (1) | ● CONNECTIONS! Within and Between us ● The art and science of art and science– how they co-constitute our cognitive universe ● what do WORDS really MEAN? ● MEANINGS are DEEPER than WORDS | ● Check-in (who we are and our interests; 2-3 minutes at most) ● the IDEA of CONNECTIONS ● the PROBLEM with WORDS ● PSYCHO-SEMANTIC WORD MAPS ● Check-out (what ideas stood out for you?) possibly by e-mail READ notes for meeting 1 |
| January 31, 2023 | A&O (2) | ● NOTES for meeting 2–emphasizing connections and DEEP ETHOLOGY, real animals in the real world ● EXISTENTIAL PHENOMENOLOGY real people in the real world | ● Check-in (who we are and our interests; 2-3 minutes at most; comment on what stood out from last week) ● Continue with DEEP ETHOLOGY and the aspects of ART. Check-out (things that stood out this week, by e-mail from your diary notes, taken during class). |
| February 7, 2023 | A&O (3) | ● When you are asked what something “means” you have one question: what are its connections. THEN answer from both canonical (shared) tradition and from within you (unique–and much deeper); facts & feelings.
How do we know what to believe: COHERENCE and CORRESPONDENCE. Patterns of influence between traits: PLEIOTROPY and POLYGENIC. Balance ● Essential Tensions ● INDIVIDUATION and SOCIALIZATION● SENSATIONS, PERCEPTIONS, CONCEPTIONS |
traits influence–and are influenced by–other traits (including between levels of organization) –how does that work? Human development, cultural transmission, “learning to learn” … Bias, congenital and acquired |
| February 14, 2023 | A&O (4) | ● first Powerpoint development discussion about behavior of your choice followed by comments on its DEEP ethology.
DEVELOPMENT, BIAS, and learning, ● congenital and acquired bias: how WEIRD we are; The “body bias”–Meaning and the Body |
EMERGENCE |
| February 21, 2023 | A&O (5) | ● Powerpoint presentations? … NEEDS ● CHANGE: the maelstrom of perpetual disintegration and renewal;● key ideas that lead up to STRESS | consolidate DEVELOPMENT; and MIND MAPS What level of organization are YOU? |
| February 28, 2023 | A&O (6) | ● EMERGENCE and EXCEPTIONALISM … going between levels of organization. CONSCIOUSNESS
ART and SCIENCE and TRUTH;● when TRUTH is a LIE; ● is SAPIENCE and SENTIENCE |
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| March 7, 2023 | A&O (7) | ● A Stroke of Insight … PLAUSIBLE STORIES,
● TRUTH and BELIEF (correspondence and coherence) ● KEY EVOLUTIONARY CONCEPT: RITUALIZATION; Does RITUALIZATION explain our assessment of beauty. ● PERCEPTION: BRING EXAMPLES of ART representing an anchor for an aspect of your topic (could be a short narrative of a personal experience) |
“How do we know?” — Perception and stimuli;
“adaptation”, “fitness”, “selection pressure,” NEEDS & STRESS. |
| March 14, 2023
spring break |
The surrealist André Breton quoted the poet Paul Éluard: –there is another world, but it’s in this one. Raymond Queneau said, the world is not what it seems—but it isn’t anything else, either. “These two ideas are the bedrock of Breton’s approach. If a book is only what it seems to be about, then somehow the author has failed.” | ||
| March 21, 2023 | A&O (8) | ● DREAMS; CREATIVITY’ “what were they thinking?! (why do we care?) What will we learn from CAVE ART about the creation, transmission, and reception of art & artifacts engendered in such an alien context by people we can barely imagine? | what can ancient cave art tell us about the cognitive competencies of the artists?
what can PAREIDOLIA tell us about PERCEPTIONS and BIAS ? (“filling-in”) what can RITUALIZATION tell us about BRICOLAGE and EVOLUTION ? |
| March 28, 2023 | A&O (9) | ● continue with IMPLICATIONS of ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, CREATIVITY, DREAMS … yearning. | |
| April 4, 2023 | A&O (10) | ● TRIAL PRESENTATIONS Are your ideas premature? or too unique to be recognizable by others? (re-read ao-reading-prematurity-and-uniqueness-gunther-stent-in-sci-amer-1972/ )
CONTINUING last week emphasizing TRUTH and BEAUTY. |
ART & ARTIFACT ,,, WHAT is in the mind of the artist? does it matter? why do we want to know about our ancestors |
| April 11, 2023 | A&O (11) | MORE presentations – thinking about how hallucinations work and how we might use them | Please post powerpoints as attachments to e-mail |
| April 18, 2023 | A&O (12) | Finish PPt presentations. | Please post powerpoints as attachments to e-mail |
| April 25, 2023 | A&O (13) |
Special Guest: Beauvais Lyons MEET at the print shop: art and architecture room 241. |
How does EXPFRESSIVED, PROJECTIVE, or PRODUCTIVE ART contribute to insight: the value of drawing as part of your “describe the hell out of it” ethic |
| May 2, 2023 | A&O (14) | WHAT DO WE WANT? WHY DO WE WANT IT? How do we get it? whatdoes it feel like?
STUDENT PRESENTATIONS and DEBRIEFING: what has stood out? what has changed? Powerpoint perfections |
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May 9, 2023 changed to SATURDAY MAY 13, 2-5PM |
A&O (15)
Final Exam and au revoir! off campus pot-luck social adieu, adios, arrivederci, sayonara |
FINAL “EXAM” “Be well, do good work, and keep in touch” |
be prepared to create a mind-map.
DEADLINE for Semester Report: (paper or Artwork+artist’s statement) is May 17 (registrar’s scheduled final exam time) |