February 8, 2007
The new (old) future of anthropology
A Forced Anthropology Merger
In 1998, after years of strife, anthropologists at Stanford split their highly respected department in two, with one department more oriented around science and another around culture. Many anthropologists elsewhere were distressed by the split, fearing it signaled an inability of scholars from different parts of the discipline to work together. People wondered if other departments would also divide.
While there are a few similarly split anthropology programs (Duke University being among the more prominent examples), there was no groundswell to divide. And now Stanford’s two anthropology departments are getting back together again.
(continued at http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/02/06/stanford)
BAM: Measure of Time
The rain today made me melancholy, so I decided to walk down to the Berkeley Art Museum in search of some color (I was hoping for orange). I came across an exhibit that I wish I had known about during our collaboration on “the contemporary” last semester, Measure of Time (I hadn’t been to BAM in quite a while, I guess this exhibit has been there since 2/2006). I was particularly struck by the disaccord between two pieces: Sol LeWitt’s “A sphere lit from the top, four sides, and all their combinations” (2004) and Shirley Shor’s “Landslide” (2004).
Matmos on the Re-Dematerialization of the Art Object
Continuing our discussion from last semester, thinking about both textual and musical form, Matmos, a local (SF) post-rock band will be “speaking” as part of the 10th Anniversary Bash for the Art, Technology and Culture Colloquium
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