Friday, March 28, 2008
Bridge Art Fair - Opening Reception
Went to The Bridge Art Fair last nite. It was at the old "Tunnel" Nightclub bldg. Izzat why they called it "Bridge"? You know.."bridge and tunnel"? Anyway saw my friend Brenda Zlamany who was showing with Frost and Reed. Michael Musto was there for a short while. Saw some cool asian stuff, a nice New Orleans gallery. The art "festivalism" continues this week with Scope, Red Dot, Volta..my god so much art, where will people put it?
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Women
Lots of women give lip service to the virtues of spirituality and a charitable comportment toward making the world a better place but all of that flies out the window when it comes to ex-boyfriends or ex-would-be boyfriends.
Monday, March 24, 2008
hypocrite lecteur- mon semblable
Symbolic Interactionism Theory
Adapted from Scott Plunkett’s Course Pack
Overview
· Symbolic interaction theory describes the family as a unit of interacting personalities.
· This theory focuses attention on the way that people interact through symbols:
o words, gestures, rules, and roles.
· The symbolic interaction perspective is based on how humans develop a complex set of symbols to give meaning to the world (LaRossa & Reitzes, 1993).
· Meaning evolves from their interactions in their environment and with people.
· These interactions are subjectively interpreted through existing symbols.
· Understanding these symbols is important in understanding human behavior.
· Interactions with larger societal processes influence the individual, and vice-versa.
· It is through interaction that humans develop a concept of larger social structures and also of self concept.
· Society affects behavior through constraints by societal norms and values.
· Self concept also affects behavior.
· Symbolic interactionism’s unique contributions to family studies are
1. families are social groups and
2. that individuals develop both a concept of self and their identities through social interaction.
· Symbolic interactionism is the way we learn to interpret and give meaning to the world though our interactions with others.
Major Contributors (LaRossa & Reitzes, 1993)
· George Herbert Mead (1934) often cited as the main contributor to symbolic interactionism
· Never published his theory
· Blumer, his student published it after his death
o Meaning evolves from gestures (an action which produces a response in another)
o Language is a set of shared meaning
o Taking the role of the generalized other defined as the ability to extend interpersonal meanings to an entire group
· Herbert Blumer (1969) Mead’s Student
· credited with the term “symbolic interactionism.” He also summarized the basic assumptions of symbolic interaction from Mead’s earlier work
Major Assumptions about Self and Family (LaRossa & Reitzes, 1993)
· Individuals are not born with a sense of self but develop self concepts through social interaction
· Self concept is developed through the process of interaction and communication with others
· Self concept is shaped by the reactions of significant others and by our perceptions of their reactions
· Self concept, once developed, provides an important motive for behavior.
· Self fulfilling prophecy is the tendency for our expectations, and/or other’s expectations of us to evoke expected responses
· Humans interact and develop roles in the family according to symbols used to describe the family.
· These roles are based on the symbolic meaning attached to each role.
· How family members react to a situation is determined by how they interpret the situation. So, it is important to understand the symbols the family uses to understand their interactions and behaviors.
· In a family, complicated sets of meanings are transmitted through symbols that permit each member to communicate with each other and share experiences (Peterson, 1986).
Core Principles of Social Interaction Theory
1. Meaning
· Meaning itself is not inherent in objects
· Human beings act toward things on the basis of the meanings that they have assigned to them
· Meaning arises in the process of interaction between people. that is, it takes place in the context of relationships whether with family or community
· Meanings are handled in and modified through an interpretive process used by the person in dealing with things he or she encounters
· Once people define a situation as real, it's very real in its consequences
2. Language
· As human beings we have the unique ability to name things
· As children interact with family, peers, and others, they learn language and, concurrently, they learn the social meanings attached to certain words
o That is, language is the source of meaning
· Meaning arises out of social interactions with one another, and language is the vehicle
· In Mead’s view, social life and communication between people are possible only when we understand and can use a common language, (Wood, 1997)
3. Thought or “Minding”
· An ability distinctly different from animals in that we have the ability to think about things rather than simply reacting instinctually
· An inner conversation with oneself
· A reflective pause through which we modify our interpretation of symbols
· an ability to take the role of “The Other”
Major Premises of Symbolic Interaction Theory
1. Human beings act toward things on the basis of the meaning they have
§ These things do not have an inherent or unvarying meaning
§ Rather, their meanings differ depending on how we define and respond to them
§ how we define, or give meaning to the things we encounter
will shape our actions toward them
§ Therefore, if we wish to understand human behavior we must know how people define the things— objects, events, individuals, groups, structures—they encounter in their environment
2. The meaning attributed to those things arises out of social interaction with others
§ We are not born knowing the meanings of things
§ We don’t learn these meanings simply through individual experiences, but rather through the interactions with others
3. These meanings are modified through an interpretive
process
§ the meanings of the things we encounter, though formed by social interaction, are altered through our understandings
§ An individual’s interpretation of the meaning will guide and determine action
7 Major Assumptions of Symbolic Interactionism Theory
1. People are unique creatures because of their ability to use symbols.
2. People become distinctively human through their interaction with others.
3. People are conscious and self-reflective beings who actively shape their own behavior.
4. People are purposful creatures who act in and toward situations.
5. Human society consists of people engaging in symbolic interaction.
6. The ‘social act’ should be the fundamental unit of social psychological analysis.
7. To understand people’s social acts, we need to use methods that enable us to discern the meanings they attribute to these acts.
Major Concepts, Definitions and Terms
§ Identities - the self meanings in a role.
§ Language – A system of symbolds shared with other memebers of society, used for the purposes of communication and representation
§ Looking Glass Self - the mental image that results from taking the role of the other. imaging how we look to another person.
§ Meaning – the purpose or significance attributed to something. Meaning is determined by how we respond to and make use of it
§ Mind – A process of mental activity consisiting of self, interaction, And reflection, based on socially acquired symbols. Does not refer to an inner psychic world separated from society.
· Naming or Labeling - Name-calling can be devastating because it forces us to view ourselves. through a warped mirror. Name calling like stupid can lead to a self – fulfilling prophecy. If a person sees himself as stupid he is likely to act stupid.
· Roles refer to “collections of expectations that define regularized patterns of behavior within family life” (Peterson, 1986, p. 22).
· Roles within the family may include but not be limited to the following: nurturer, socializer, provider, and decision-maker.
· Role-taking is the ability to see oneself as an object, in other words, to be able to see how others perceive oneself.
· Role-taking allows the individual to monitor and coordinate personal behavior in order to facilitate interaction with others and also to anticipate the responses of other individuals.
· Role conflict refers to the situation in which there are conflicting expectations about a specified role.
· Role making is the “process of improvising, exploring, and judging what is appropriate on the basis of the situation and the response of others at the moment” (Peterson, 1986, p. 23).
· The Self
o According to Mead, self does not exist at birth but is developed through interaction with others
o emerges from the social interaction of humans in which the individual takes on the role of the "other" and internalizes the attitudes and perceptions of others through those interactions
o The interaction of an individual’s self-conception ("I") and the generalized, perceived view that others have of the individual
("Me")
o The ongoing process of combining the “I” and the “ME.”
“I”
o An individual’s self-conception
o The subjective self
“Me” - The “Generalized Other”
o the generalized, perceived view that others have of the individual
o The mental image of onseself that is based on expectations and responses from others
o The image of the self seen in other people's reactions
· Self-concept: the image we have of who and what we are (formed in childhood by how significant others treat/respond to us). The self-concept is not fixed and unchanging – if in childhood your teachers tell you you’re stupid, but later in life your teachers and friends begin to treat you as if you’re very bright, your self-concept is likely to change.
· Self-fulfilling prophecy- The tendency for our expectations to evoke responses in others that confirm what we originally anticipated. Each one of us affects how others view themselves. Our expectations evoke responses that confirm what we originally anticipated. Phenomenon: The way I choose to see the world creates the world I see.
· Significant symbol – A word or gesture that has a common meaning to an individual and others.
· Social Act – Behavior that in some way takes into account the “other” person, group or social organization, and is guided by what they do. It emerges through the process of communication and interaction.
· Symbol manipulation – The means through which we motivate others to action through the use of symbols
Since people are symbolic creatures, they can interpret and talk about
their inner experiences, such as their thoughts or desires, thus enhancing communnication and interactions with others
Adapted from Scott Plunkett’s Course Pack
Overview
· Symbolic interaction theory describes the family as a unit of interacting personalities.
· This theory focuses attention on the way that people interact through symbols:
o words, gestures, rules, and roles.
· The symbolic interaction perspective is based on how humans develop a complex set of symbols to give meaning to the world (LaRossa & Reitzes, 1993).
· Meaning evolves from their interactions in their environment and with people.
· These interactions are subjectively interpreted through existing symbols.
· Understanding these symbols is important in understanding human behavior.
· Interactions with larger societal processes influence the individual, and vice-versa.
· It is through interaction that humans develop a concept of larger social structures and also of self concept.
· Society affects behavior through constraints by societal norms and values.
· Self concept also affects behavior.
· Symbolic interactionism’s unique contributions to family studies are
1. families are social groups and
2. that individuals develop both a concept of self and their identities through social interaction.
· Symbolic interactionism is the way we learn to interpret and give meaning to the world though our interactions with others.
Major Contributors (LaRossa & Reitzes, 1993)
· George Herbert Mead (1934) often cited as the main contributor to symbolic interactionism
· Never published his theory
· Blumer, his student published it after his death
o Meaning evolves from gestures (an action which produces a response in another)
o Language is a set of shared meaning
o Taking the role of the generalized other defined as the ability to extend interpersonal meanings to an entire group
· Herbert Blumer (1969) Mead’s Student
· credited with the term “symbolic interactionism.” He also summarized the basic assumptions of symbolic interaction from Mead’s earlier work
Major Assumptions about Self and Family (LaRossa & Reitzes, 1993)
· Individuals are not born with a sense of self but develop self concepts through social interaction
· Self concept is developed through the process of interaction and communication with others
· Self concept is shaped by the reactions of significant others and by our perceptions of their reactions
· Self concept, once developed, provides an important motive for behavior.
· Self fulfilling prophecy is the tendency for our expectations, and/or other’s expectations of us to evoke expected responses
· Humans interact and develop roles in the family according to symbols used to describe the family.
· These roles are based on the symbolic meaning attached to each role.
· How family members react to a situation is determined by how they interpret the situation. So, it is important to understand the symbols the family uses to understand their interactions and behaviors.
· In a family, complicated sets of meanings are transmitted through symbols that permit each member to communicate with each other and share experiences (Peterson, 1986).
Core Principles of Social Interaction Theory
1. Meaning
· Meaning itself is not inherent in objects
· Human beings act toward things on the basis of the meanings that they have assigned to them
· Meaning arises in the process of interaction between people. that is, it takes place in the context of relationships whether with family or community
· Meanings are handled in and modified through an interpretive process used by the person in dealing with things he or she encounters
· Once people define a situation as real, it's very real in its consequences
2. Language
· As human beings we have the unique ability to name things
· As children interact with family, peers, and others, they learn language and, concurrently, they learn the social meanings attached to certain words
o That is, language is the source of meaning
· Meaning arises out of social interactions with one another, and language is the vehicle
· In Mead’s view, social life and communication between people are possible only when we understand and can use a common language, (Wood, 1997)
3. Thought or “Minding”
· An ability distinctly different from animals in that we have the ability to think about things rather than simply reacting instinctually
· An inner conversation with oneself
· A reflective pause through which we modify our interpretation of symbols
· an ability to take the role of “The Other”
Major Premises of Symbolic Interaction Theory
1. Human beings act toward things on the basis of the meaning they have
§ These things do not have an inherent or unvarying meaning
§ Rather, their meanings differ depending on how we define and respond to them
§ how we define, or give meaning to the things we encounter
will shape our actions toward them
§ Therefore, if we wish to understand human behavior we must know how people define the things— objects, events, individuals, groups, structures—they encounter in their environment
2. The meaning attributed to those things arises out of social interaction with others
§ We are not born knowing the meanings of things
§ We don’t learn these meanings simply through individual experiences, but rather through the interactions with others
3. These meanings are modified through an interpretive
process
§ the meanings of the things we encounter, though formed by social interaction, are altered through our understandings
§ An individual’s interpretation of the meaning will guide and determine action
7 Major Assumptions of Symbolic Interactionism Theory
1. People are unique creatures because of their ability to use symbols.
2. People become distinctively human through their interaction with others.
3. People are conscious and self-reflective beings who actively shape their own behavior.
4. People are purposful creatures who act in and toward situations.
5. Human society consists of people engaging in symbolic interaction.
6. The ‘social act’ should be the fundamental unit of social psychological analysis.
7. To understand people’s social acts, we need to use methods that enable us to discern the meanings they attribute to these acts.
Major Concepts, Definitions and Terms
§ Identities - the self meanings in a role.
§ Language – A system of symbolds shared with other memebers of society, used for the purposes of communication and representation
§ Looking Glass Self - the mental image that results from taking the role of the other. imaging how we look to another person.
§ Meaning – the purpose or significance attributed to something. Meaning is determined by how we respond to and make use of it
§ Mind – A process of mental activity consisiting of self, interaction, And reflection, based on socially acquired symbols. Does not refer to an inner psychic world separated from society.
· Naming or Labeling - Name-calling can be devastating because it forces us to view ourselves. through a warped mirror. Name calling like stupid can lead to a self – fulfilling prophecy. If a person sees himself as stupid he is likely to act stupid.
· Roles refer to “collections of expectations that define regularized patterns of behavior within family life” (Peterson, 1986, p. 22).
· Roles within the family may include but not be limited to the following: nurturer, socializer, provider, and decision-maker.
· Role-taking is the ability to see oneself as an object, in other words, to be able to see how others perceive oneself.
· Role-taking allows the individual to monitor and coordinate personal behavior in order to facilitate interaction with others and also to anticipate the responses of other individuals.
· Role conflict refers to the situation in which there are conflicting expectations about a specified role.
· Role making is the “process of improvising, exploring, and judging what is appropriate on the basis of the situation and the response of others at the moment” (Peterson, 1986, p. 23).
· The Self
o According to Mead, self does not exist at birth but is developed through interaction with others
o emerges from the social interaction of humans in which the individual takes on the role of the "other" and internalizes the attitudes and perceptions of others through those interactions
o The interaction of an individual’s self-conception ("I") and the generalized, perceived view that others have of the individual
("Me")
o The ongoing process of combining the “I” and the “ME.”
“I”
o An individual’s self-conception
o The subjective self
“Me” - The “Generalized Other”
o the generalized, perceived view that others have of the individual
o The mental image of onseself that is based on expectations and responses from others
o The image of the self seen in other people's reactions
· Self-concept: the image we have of who and what we are (formed in childhood by how significant others treat/respond to us). The self-concept is not fixed and unchanging – if in childhood your teachers tell you you’re stupid, but later in life your teachers and friends begin to treat you as if you’re very bright, your self-concept is likely to change.
· Self-fulfilling prophecy- The tendency for our expectations to evoke responses in others that confirm what we originally anticipated. Each one of us affects how others view themselves. Our expectations evoke responses that confirm what we originally anticipated. Phenomenon: The way I choose to see the world creates the world I see.
· Significant symbol – A word or gesture that has a common meaning to an individual and others.
· Social Act – Behavior that in some way takes into account the “other” person, group or social organization, and is guided by what they do. It emerges through the process of communication and interaction.
· Symbol manipulation – The means through which we motivate others to action through the use of symbols
Since people are symbolic creatures, they can interpret and talk about
their inner experiences, such as their thoughts or desires, thus enhancing communnication and interactions with others
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Last coupla days
Thursday night I went out to Chelsea. Strolled into Lehmann Maupin and saw an Ashley Bickerton show. Highly recommend it. Paintings about a PoMo Gaughin redux. Saw Maureen Mahoney, she looked so hot. Maureen always looks great, tanned. I didn't say hello because I had forgotten her name at the time and it had been so long. I was also a bit embarrassed. I don't want to start talking to the big people in the artworld until I really get things going. Walked from Chelsea to Jakes Saloon, which I am really NOT supposed to do as I am trying to save money, along the way saw some chicks looking at this hot pink shag coat thrown out in an HM bag. I made a joke that they could wear it and come "work the streets" for me. They passed on the offer AND the coat, so of course I took the coat. I walked into this totally straight sports bar and people loved it.
Saturday-Walked thru Williamsburg, dropped into Pierogi, saw Joe Amrhein. He is always nice to me. It's awkward, I always ask what he is doing, I avoid talking about myself 'cause I aint doing much..yet. Walked down Bedford, saw Larry Walzak and also Christian Faun's wife Liz. Everybody was cordial if a little tense. Bought candy for my roommate's kids. Easter Candy.
Oh there was a cool "pillow fight" anti-war protest in Union Square.
Saturday-Walked thru Williamsburg, dropped into Pierogi, saw Joe Amrhein. He is always nice to me. It's awkward, I always ask what he is doing, I avoid talking about myself 'cause I aint doing much..yet. Walked down Bedford, saw Larry Walzak and also Christian Faun's wife Liz. Everybody was cordial if a little tense. Bought candy for my roommate's kids. Easter Candy.
Oh there was a cool "pillow fight" anti-war protest in Union Square.
Friday, March 21, 2008
old friends old wineskins
Consider this argument at whatever level of recursion you please. An individual attempting to reform his own life within an autopoietic family cannot fully be his new self because the family insists that he is actually his old self. A country attempting to become a socialist state cannot fully become socialist; because there exists an international autopoietic capitalism in which it is embedded, by which the revolutionary country is deemed allopoietic. These conclusions derive from entailments of premises which the authors have placed in our hands. I think they are most valuable.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Pre-BiEnnial
haven't seen the show yet. as lay public the expectation is sort of survey and summation of the contemporary scene.. not flights of fancy for whatever guest curator you have. off the bat i'm bitchin' bout who's missin'..kara walker, kehinde wiley, barnaby furnas..maybe they are there..we'll see.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
banality cont'd
according to the script I would continue working at the day job that I don't like and dabble in Sunday painting, until maybe I quit in disgust or got fired. Then I would look for another dead end job. The artwork in the studio will be mediocre arts and crafts stabs at derivative ideas, my roommate and I would have some petty falling out or the place would be hit by some catastrophe, like the building being sold, a fire, flood, robbery etc. Either way the "art" would go nowhere and I would wind up "starting all over again" like I always do. My friends would be the same old friends who say one thing to my face and another behind my back. They don't really speak honestly about the work because they (rightfully) see it as mediocre and never think of interacting with me authentically anyway. Haveing lost my "youthful good" looks I am now a potbellied old geezer who women don't think twice about so there is no real romance to speak of except me and cyber porn..yikes..
I don't know any successful men first hand, only thru their wives and girlfriends, ( I am never referred to available females by these people) but I occasionally bump into the former classmate or outright famous person who feigns polite interest but can't wait to get away.. this is the story of my life...not very interesting..kind of sad...my social is nothing to speak of..bar crawls playing the jukebox, pretending I am in the 70's, 80's and 90's again..gallery trolling, gladhanding "successful people"..
I don't know any successful men first hand, only thru their wives and girlfriends, ( I am never referred to available females by these people) but I occasionally bump into the former classmate or outright famous person who feigns polite interest but can't wait to get away.. this is the story of my life...not very interesting..kind of sad...my social is nothing to speak of..bar crawls playing the jukebox, pretending I am in the 70's, 80's and 90's again..gallery trolling, gladhanding "successful people"..
Embracing the banal
Although I have in my life shaken hands with or been in the same room with this or that superstar I still have , in "Transactional Analysis " terms, a "non-winners" script. I am not quite an out and out "loser"..just a person who seems to flirt with greatness , or great people and scenes, but never seems to "arrive". Looking forward to the studio in LIC and seeing where the Summer and Fall take me.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
more on that dream
http://w.youtuI was so obsessed with this girl..we had a one night (non stand) where we walked up thru the Brown University campus in a lite warm rain, she was so beautiful, I never forgot that night, but the next day she turned so cold to me..but I was hooked. It was sick, man.
Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream
Maybe it was the garlic and onions in the spaghetti sauce, but woke up from the strangest dream last nite..a girl I knew in college, maybe my first love, maybe not, never consummated, she has easily forgotten me, there have been many more since her, but..in the dream she had a baby, she and I were alone in my room for some reason, we rode the bus thru my old neighborhood in Harlem, she was a white girl from Ct who's something of a respected artist now, we talked about the detail in the architecture and stained glass in a building on 8th avenue and 110th, we talked about her ass and she showed me her vagina (hey it was a dream after all)I kissed her, deep, that was the best part of the dream..maybe it means nothing, maybe everything..maybe it was just the garlic. The Ides of March are approaching..it's 5am..I should get some sleep, gotta be up in an hour.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Message to an old friend (s)
You want to make good informed decisions and choices in your life, it's easiest to do that with people who are honest, forthright and on the level.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Saturday, March 1, 2008
drawing again
It's nice to get back to drawing again. You have to find a medium that you have affinity for. I have been in my head for so long about art, it's nice to struggle with the materiality of the compressed charcoal. I learn something with each session of trying to bring out the image.
Bad art
"We", the ordinary wage earning nobody, live as spectators in the grand spectacle of "unreal" reality. The grand inauthentic parade of power and capital. We all KNOW something is not right but we stand by as helpless consumers of the super narrative of Capital's military domination of the modern world. As a so called "intellectual" I can't just stand by and watch..I have to write someting down...unlike the other workers, I want to claim that I "love" what I do..I want it to be visible...
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