01 marzo, 2010
Niega el Arte, despreciando lo retórico y academicista y cualquier canon impuesto.
Protesta contra todo convencionalismo volviendo a lo instintivo e irracional (lo absurdo, el sinsentido y el azar establecen la identidad entre el arte y la vida). Feísmo.
Temática en la que predominan los mecanismos absurdos
The pit and the pendulum; handling sceneries to move feelings
Carolyn
The pit and the pendulum is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe and published in 1842; it is also one of the most famous stories of Poe. Is well known Poe’s ability to move feelings, like on “the pit and the Pendulum” where his writing reflects all the desperation of its main character.
The story takes place during the Spanish Inquisition; on it the narrator, and also the main character, narrates the martyrdom of being under Inquisition hands, of being tortured to death. All these feelings are tangible through Poe’s writing, his good use of settings is really important during this story, even if in “the Pit and the Pendulum” only two settings are used, through all the story, the oppression of being imprisoned reaches to the reader. A good use of setting is a really important part of narrative writing, without it the story could be like an empty shell.
The first setting on this story was the Inquisition Court, on it the main character had been judged for the Inquisition, the appearance of Inquisitors is an important thing to consider, all their despiteful look made the main character descent to a first stage of desperation, that one where you’re ready for the worst but in the end, reality is more devastating of what you expected. Is also important the gloomy appearance of this court, like if it were all covered with darkness and the only light came from those seven candles mentioned by the main character. All this characteristics of the setting complement main character’s feelings described for Poe.
The other setting on the plot is the dungeon scenario, after all the anguish about what would happen to him, the main character is placed on a dark dungeon. Close to end is known that the shape of it changes constantly in order to confuse and torture the prisoner. One more time Poe’s description of the scenary, like a creepy place where all kind of sufferings take place, moves reader’s feelings to empathize with main character’s situation. Also the scene of the Pendulum at the climax part leads reader to feel the desperation of main character that is closer to death.
On “the pit and the Pendulum” the description of settings is a really important item, the scenario where the action took place, moves reader’s feelings to empathize with character’s situation therefore without it, the story's deepness would be ruined.
Poe’s exploded setting in order to make his stories more realistic like if the reader were the main character itself. Like If you were the one trapped on a dungeon under Inquisition punishment.
The legal and philosophic aspects of obedience are of enormous importance, but they say very little about how most people behave in concrete situations. I set up a simple experiment at Yale University to test how much pain an ordinary citizen would inflict on another person simply because he was ordered to by an experimental scientist. Stark authority was pitted against the volunteers strongest moral imperatives against hurting others, and, with the volunteers ears ringing with the screams of the victims, authority won more often than not.
All began in July 1961, many atrocities had been committed iduring the Second World War. Many culprits were judged in Nuremberg, at the end of the war. The chief defence was that they were only following orders from somebody above. This argument, followed to it's extreme would absolve every person involved in those atrocities, leaving just Hitler as the only person who could be found guilty (as he took orders from no one)! .
Popular opinion for some time after the end of the Second World War was that there was something in the German character that made them particularly cruel. I questioned this dispositional view of the German character. It would follow from this, that most people, regardless of nationality, would perform cruel acts upon another, under certain situations, of course!. Well the defence for many of the war criminals was that they had been just following orders. that's why i thought that people could commit atrocities when they are given orders by somebody in authority.
I tested my hypothesis by using a laboratory experiment. The subjects were chosen from volunteers who had responded to a newspaper article.
The volunteers were paid to participate in the experiment. One of my experimenters made it quite clear that they were paid the money just for appearing at the laboratory, and they were free to leave at anytime without forfeiting the money. Having said this though, the experimenter did not remind the subjects of their right to leave. Later in the experiment the subjects were to be told by the experimenter the exact opposite "You have no choice, you must go on".
The volunteers were told that this was an experiment into the effects of punishment upon learning. So at the beginning of the experiment the real volunteer is introduced to another 'subject' (really the victim was working for me). It is explained that one needs to be the teacher and the other the learner (or victim). A draw is fixed so that the real subject plays the part of the teacher. The victim was strapped into a chair. His wrists were covered with an electrode paste, and electrodes were placed upon the paste. The subject (teacher) is left in no doubt that the learner (victim) can not escape receiving electric shocks. Then the volunteer is taken into an adjoining room and shown the 'shock generator'. volunteer is led to believe that that machine can deliver shocks from 15 volts through to 450 volts to the victim, when really it produces nothing except an impressive electrical noise. The 'shock generator' has a switch for every voltage between 15 and 450 volts increasing in steps of 15 volts. Each switch is labelled, so as to give an impression of how severe the shock is (for example, 'danger: severe shock'). The volunteer was offered a real sample shock of 45 volts . All to convince the teacher that he was really giving shocks to the subject. The instructions were simple. The teacher reads a list of word pairs. The learner has to learn these. The teacher then tests the learner by giving him one of the words in a pair. The learner has to select the given word's paired word from four alternatives given by the teacher. If the learner gets an answer wrong, then he is administered a shock that is 15 volts higher than the voltage of the last shock delivered.
The victim gives responses after each question, until the 300 volt shock. At this point pounding on the wall is heard and there's not response to the question received. As could be expected subjects turned to the experimenter for guidance at this point. My experimenter instructs the teacher to treat the absence of a response as an incorrect answer. At higher voltages the victim gives no response, giving the impression that he is at the very least unconscious, and at the worse dead! Naturally, subjects will turn to the experimenter for guidance again, before administering shocks of greater than 300 volts. The experimenter just order to the volunteer to continue. If the teacher pointed out that it would seem the learner wanted to withdraw from the experiment, the experimenter just insisted to go on until the victim has learned all the word pairs correctly. The experiment would end either when the 450-volt shock had been administered, or when the subject walked out.
Many subjects became extremely nervous. Evidence for this was sweating, trembling, stuttering, biting lips, digging fingernails into their flesh. Fourteen subjects demonstrated nervous laughter. In short, although many subjects administered shocks up to 450 volts, they experienced acute stress. It was very interesting to draw a parallel with the Nazi execution squads, who were given extra rations of alcohol, presumably to counter the stress that their terrible acts produced within themselves.
that's how i concluded that Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become really clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with their morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority
http://www.garysturt.free-online.co.uk/milgram.htm
22 febrero, 2010
In the '60s, Stanley Milgram conducted a psychological study that found that the majority of ordinary people are able to do much harm if forced to do so.
The idea emerged at the trial of Adolf Eichmann in 1960. Eichmann was sentenced to death in Jerusalem for crimes against humanity during the Nazi regime. He took care of logistics. He planned the collection, transportation and extermination of the Jews. However, at trial, Eichmann expressed shock at the hatred she showed the Jews, saying he had only followed orders, and to obey orders was a good thing. In his diary, in prison, wrote: "The orders were most important in my life and had to obey without question. Six psychiatrists testified that Eichmann was sane, who had a normal family life and several witnesses said it was an ordinary person.
Stanley Milgram was very intrigued. Eichmann was a normal name, even bored, had nothing against Jews. Why had participated in the Holocaust? Is it only through obedience? Could it be that all other Nazi accomplices just follow orders? Or that Germans were different?
A year after the trial, Milgram conducted an experiment at Yale University that shocked the world. Most participants agreed to give lethal electric shocks to a victim if they were forced to do so.
The experiment
Milgram wanted to find out how easily it can convince ordinary people to commit atrocities like those committed by the Germans in World War II. He wanted to know how far a person obeying an order to harm another person.
He placed an ad asking for volunteers for a study related to memory and learning.
Participants were 40 men aged between 20 and 50 years with various kinds of education from primary school only to doctorates. The procedure was as follows: a researcher explained to a participant and an accomplice (the participant believes at all times that is another volunteer) that will test the effects of punishment on learning.
He tells them both that the goal is to see how much punishment is necessary to learn better and that will make one other student and teacher. It asks them to take out a piece of paper from a box to see what role they are about to play in the experiment. The accomplice always comes out the role of "student" and the participant, the "master".
In another room is subject to the "student" to a kind of electric chair and was placed electrodes. You have to learn a list of paired words. Then, the "master" and he'll say the words "student" will remember which one it is associated. And if it fails, the "master" gives you a download.
At the beginning of the study, the teacher receives an actual discharge of 45 volts to see the pain they cause to the "pupil." Then you say you should start to administer electric shocks to his "pupil" every time you make a mistake, increasing the discharge voltage at a time. The generator had 30 switches marked from 15 volts (download soft) to 450 (danger, download mortal).
The "false students" gave wrong answers to particular purpose, and for each failure, the professor would give you a shock. When he refused and was directed to the researcher, he gave instructions (4 procedures):
Procedure 1: Please continue.
Procedure 2: The experiment requires that it continue.
Procedure 3: It is absolutely essential to continue.
Procedure 4: You do not have another alternative. Should continue.
If that last sentence after the "master" refused to continue, he stopped the experiment. If not, he stopped after he had administered the maximum 450 volts three times in succession
This experiment would be considered unethical today, but revealed surprising results. Before that, psychologists were asked, middle-class people and students what they thought would happen. Everyone thought that only some sadistic maximum voltage applied. However, 65% of "teachers" punished the "students" with a maximum of 450 volts. No participant steadfastly refused to give less than 300 volts.
As the level of discharge increased, the "pupil", taught for the representation, began banging on the glass that separates it from the "master," whimpering. She complained of suffering from heart disease. He howled in pain, asked to finish his experiment, and finally to reach the 270 volts he cried in agony. The participant actually listened to a recording of moans and cries of pain. If the download reached 300 volts, the "pupil" dejarba responding to questions and began to convulse.
Upon reaching the 75-volt, many "teachers" were getting nervous amid complaints of pain in his "pupils" and wanted to stop the experiment, but the iron authority of the investigator made them continue. At 135 volts, many of the "teachers" are stopped and questioned the purpose of the experiment. A number continuing to assert that they were not responsible for the consequences. Some participants even began to laugh nervously when he heard the cries of pain from his "pupil."
In subsequent follow-up studies, Milgram demonstrated that women were just as obedient as men, even more nervous. The study was replicated in other countries with similar results. In Germany, 85% of subjects administered lethal electric shocks to the learner.
In 1999, Thomas Blass, a professor at the University of Maryland published an analysis of all experiments of this kind conducted so far and concluded that the number of participants who applied voltages notable was between 61% and 66% in any year of performance or place of research.
27 enero, 2010
Basilica de San Vital en Ravena
La Basílica de San Vitale en Ravenna data de mediados del siglo VI y contiene lo que probablemente son los mejores mosaicos bizantinos en el mundo occidental.
Historia
La construcción de la Basílica de San Vitale fue iniciado por Ecclesio, obispo de Ravena, poco después de un viaje a Bizancio con el Papa Juan en 525. Amalasunta sucedió a su padre, Teodorico como rey de los godos y de Ravenna, ambos gobernantes eran Arios pero Amalasunta era más tolerante de los católicos de lo que el había sido.
La construcción de la Basílica de San Vitale comenzó en el año 526 en el sitio del martirio de San Vital. La iglesia fue casi totalmente financiada por un individuo rico llamado Juliano Argentarius. Este personaje por lo demás desconocido se cree que fue un banquero privado de Rávena o tal vez un enviado real de Justiniano, enviado para prepararle el camino para la conquista de Bizancio.
Exterior
San Vitale es una iglesia con cúpula pequeña en el estilo arquitectónico bizantino. Cuenta con una planta octogonal, con una historia de dos ambulatorios que encierra un espacio central bajo una gran cúpula. Se adjunta en un ángulo hacia el lado oeste un porche de entrada o pórtico, mientras que un pequeño coro y el ábside se extiende hacia el este.
InteriorLa gran cúpula está decorada con interesantes pinturas murales del siglo 18th-, pero el resto del interior es totalmente bizantina y ofrece un ambiente auténtico de la antigüedad. Y lo mas reconocido son los magníficos mosaicos bizantinos en verde y oro en el techo del coro y del abside.
Los Mozaicos del presbiterio
El arco que marca la entrada en el presbiterio está decorado con grandes medallones de mosaico de Cristo (con barba), los Doce Apóstoles, y otros dos santos que son probablemente Gervasio y Protasio, hijos de San Vital. Cada apóstol tiene una apariencia diferente y peinado. Alrededor de la medallones hay pares de los delfines con sus colas cruzadas, globos y cruces.
El presbiterio (también conocido como santuario o coro) está totalmente decorada con hermosos mosaicos en las paredes y el techo. Sobre un fondo naturalista de plantas y animales,las escenas de los mosaicos relatan la Eucaristía llevada a cabo en el altar mayor. Después de la consagración del pan y el vino, el sacerdote oró:
"Mira a estos favorables y amables semblantes y aceptalos, como aceptaste los dones de tu siervo justo Abel y el sacrificio de nuestro patriarca Abraham que su sumo sacerdote Melquisedec te ofrecio, un sacrificio santo, una víctima sin mancha".
Mosaicos en el Abside
La pared de la izquierda tiene un mosaico del emperador Justiniano (R. 527-65) y su séquito. Justiniano fue un gran legislador y uno de los emperadores bizantinos más poderosos. Está en el centro del mosaico, lleva la púrpura imperial y sostiene una larga patena de oro, la bandeja en la que el pan se coloca durante la misa, a su izquierda se encuentra Maximiano, arzobispo de Ravena, sosteniendo una cruz con piedras preciosas. Algunos de los otros hombres, tambien sostienen objetos, incluyendo un incensario, un libro de ornato, y el escudo de un soldado que muestra el monograma de Cristo.
La pared de la derecha tiene un mosaico de la emperatriz Teodora, cortesana, actriz y esposa de Justiniano, con su corte. Correspondiendo a la patena de Justiniano, la emperatriz sostiene la copa de la comunión. "Bordados" en su vestido hay una representación pequeña de los Reyes Magos, lo que indica la intención de asociarse, como muchos otros gobernantes cristianos, con los reyes bíblicos que llevaron regalos al Niño Jesús.
