Crit Studies

Link to Blogs: http://blackblackgull.blogspot.com/

Abstract:

Globalisation of the Middle Class, Steel and our Environment

I consider that these elements are tightly linked in a cause and effect relationship and are resultant of discoveries made during the industrial revolution, in particular the economical smelting of iron using coke.

My principal interest is in steel as a sculptural material but as a result of initial research, I cannot be unconcerned about the impact that steel production has on our environment and the future of this planet.

I think that steel has been a significant catalyst, an enabler, in the growth of a middle class population, initially in the UK following the industrial revolution and now spreading through countries like India and China. The immense populations of these countries further fuels the need for steel as their disposable incomes allows them to join the western world in ‘keeping up with the Jones’ - the pursuit of consumerism.

What I didn’t appreciate when I started working with steel as a sculptural material, was the dramatic quantity of carbon dioxide created in the manufacturing process.  In both the USA and China, steel production accounts for about 50% of their total CO2 emission. Clearly this makes steel production the single largest CO2 emitter. And somewhere behind this is production of cement, a vital ingredient in concrete. Both materials are used extensively in the building industry which is another long term interest through design and construction.

What will excess CO2 gas in our atmosphere do to the environment? How much of it is cycled into oxygen producing, carbon gathering plants and trees? How quickly are the forests of these trees being destroyed? How quickly could they be regrown? These questions have been speculated about for a number of years in the scientific arena. I would like to consider these questions, and others, in an art making context.  My interest is material, environmental, scientific, historical and social. But it is also future oriented (being an avid science fiction reader from way back).  I wonder about possible futures where our inhabitation of, and daily life on this planet is irreversibly altered by the impact of material production.

My research will therefore cover historical aspects of the production of iron and steel, the raw materials, methods and chemical reactions involved and the properties and uses steel is put to.  I will look into the carbon cycle and the greenhouse effect, and extrapolate the effects of steel production into the future. I may consider the working class, the middle class and consumer class and their dispersal and growth and appetite for steel from the industrial revolution to present day through war and political change, scientific discovery, transportation, building, space travel. I will look at other contributors to the pollution of our environment and the positive benefits of recycling and use minimisation. And I will look at artists and writers who have similar interests.

And I will seriously consider the dichotomy I face in doing this research and using steel as an art material. I will also scale of this project to something that is manageable by focusing on specific aspects that interest me.

I am reading Jannis Kounellis and Jared Diamond’s guns, germs and steel – a short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years

Danny 12 May
Re processes I'm thinking about - deeper ways of thinking about them/things that have happened
eg. concepts about production - what does this open up? What concepts make sense of these processes.

Eg. Middle class/es – theoretical term – links, helps us understand what it is

Suggestion – “apply pressure to concepts being used (oh yeah?)

                Middle class – who, what makes a class, class conscience, structural rules in relationship to other classes – upper, middle, lower etc – how these relate to socio eco groups etc – FUTURE – classes/economy/society

Theoretical dimensions – underpinnings

MARX – looking scientifically at society – Das Kapital – proposal for the future – a manifesto - >>>>could suggest a style of writing

Time & space – taking past as if it were in future – ie the idea of future artifact speculative

The magic of ???

Concepts that are strong –

Distopian scenario – how the future is described – think about theoretical concept – ask Qs of narratives & framing of them – what do histories make us think and feel about  - disquiet, ascetic story?

Affective/effective – underpinning ->> how do I feel? What shapes us? - theory can help us answer this

Class & industrialisation - >>consumption

1.       A question of class

2.       Possible futures >> what is going to happen? What will steel be used for? Will it be used? Etc

Immaterial labour – re the aesthetic of art  – think about material component

Future Distopia

Q’s to make me think...

                Why is it interesting?

                Why is it magical?

Find the magic – get behind the surface – to the underlying processes  

FOLLOW UP

David Harvey – video on Marx’s Das Kapital,  Neoliberalism (post Fordism) http://davidharvey.org/reading-capital/

Antonio Negri http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Negri You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04LtQu1prF8

Virno, Lazzartto http://transform.eipcp.net/correspondence/1149622058/print and http://digitallabor.org/speakers1/melissa_gregg

FURTHER FROM DANNY – 8 JUNE

What are the things I can find that will reveal/illuminate work/ideas

Feelings/sensations - >>> theory explains – what connects ideas singularity phenomenon – explains own experience within larger field

Economics >>>system,>>> Fordism

Distopia outcomes

Puzzling/problem soling

FOLLOW UP

“Creative Destruction” Shumpeter – economist  > reinvention

Michael Stevenson – Sydney exhibition – “Moniac” machine/early computer that represented economic theory

So Denniston for example

Enjoyed figuring out aspects of it – it was like an obscured place – obscured by time – even this appealed. It was about exploring and discovery – exploring unknown territory - discovering things that were new to me – things I hadn’t considered or experienced before – mechanisms, workings  – how did they work? What turned this? Adjusted that? Why? What did it do? What connected to this place? – so a sense of pleasure in finding/figuring/working this out – problem solving. An apparently ancient mechanism operated by people in the past probably dead. The impact of time on the mechanism – rusting, decaying – obscuring its function - even this has a sense of beauty in the colours, textures, contrast of man-made against nature – green of ferns, grasses, bush, rock, earth

Noun

1.problem solving - the area of cognitive psychology that studies the processes involved in solving problems

cognitive psychology - an approach to psychology that emphasizes internal mental processes

2.problem solving - the thought processes involved in solving a problem

cerebration, intellection, mentation, thinking, thought process, thought - the process of using your mind to consider something carefully; "thinking always made him frown"; "she paused for thought"

convergent thinking - thinking that brings together information focused on solving a problem (especially solving problems that have a single correct solution)

inspiration - a sudden intuition as part of solving a problem

inquiry, research, enquiry - a search for knowledge; "their pottery deserves more research than it has received"

figuring, reckoning, calculation, computation - problem solving that involves numbers or quantities

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/problem+solving access 20 June

inspiration [ˌɪnspɪˈreɪʃən]

n

1. stimulation or arousal of the mind, feelings, etc., to special or unusual activity or creativity

2. the state or quality of being so stimulated or aroused

3. someone or something that causes this state

4. an idea or action resulting from such a state

5. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Physiology) the act or process of inhaling; breathing in

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/inspiration access 20 June

Problem solving - Tower of Hanoi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Hanoi

Concepts of Discovery and Exploration

http://www.justsciencenow.com/concepts/discovery.htm

This describes the sense of what I recall thinking about what I saw in Denniston – and what I take to the process of problem solving

Concept of Discovery

Discovery places a value on students' contacts with the world around them and how they interact with it. It relies on students' natural curiosity about the world and utilizes their ability to make sense of the things they touch, taste, or smell. It implies direct contacts with the world, a way of manipulating those contacts to form recognizable patterns, and developing structures for making sense of newly discovered information.

Processes of Discovery:

• Observing
  
  Observing is the process of paying attention to one's surroundings through the primary senses of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. It is the source of knowledge that humans employ most. Students enhance their scientific skills when they use observation in tandem with other processes such as predicting and experimenting. In order for this to occur, students need opportunities to evaluate and question their observational skills. Through these reflective experiences, students gain a sense of the importance of this process.
• Classifying
  
  Classifying is the process of grouping concepts, elements, or items that share a basic relationship. As new ideas are encountered, they are added to the previously established groups based on the shared characteristics. The process of classifying enhances scientific comprehension as it provides students opportunities to connect prior knowledge with new information.
• Measuring
  
  Measuring is an intrinsic scientific process as it yields information necessary for all other processes of scientific inquiry. It is a means of providing hard data for the purpose of confirming hypotheses and making predictions. For obvious reasons, information gathered during this process must be accurate and specific. Measuring is a valid process for making comparisons in definite terms regarding size, weight, and quantity.
• Inferring
  
  Inferring is the process of making an informed guess based on provided knowledge and information, which is an often time minimal at best. There are two types of inferring. One is deductive which means going from general to specific, and the other is inductive which involves moving from specific to general. This process requires students to have a sufficient background of personal experiences, as well as encouragement, in order to draw tentative conclusions and explanations.

Concept of Exploration

Exploration enlists students in a quest to extend beyond their world and engage in self-directed learning. Teachers establish the conditions under which students learn, but not necessarily the results. Students take an active role in establishing the parameters for exploration, and investigate and formulate conclusions about how their discovery relates to previous knowledge and experience. Optimum learning requires a minimum of teacher direction and a maximum of student action.

Processes of Exploration:

• Predicting
  
  Predicting is the data-driven process of extrapolating and manipulating information based on a minimum amount of data and/or prior knowledge. These predictions establish a framework for exploration. New information is then ushered in to support or refute the prediction.
• Experimenting
  
  Through the process of experimenting, ideas are proven or disproved. Experimenting is conducted through the identification and control of variables for the purpose of arriving at a cause-effect conclusion, and hypotheses are confirmed or denied. Essentially, students collect and manipulate data as well as assess results.