I have arrived in Athens, safe and sound. I didn't have my own Internet access on Thursday, which explains why most people won't have heard from me. That was sorted on Friday though. The first thing that needs to be said to put any potentially concerned minds at ease is that the strikes and public unrest you may have heard about gripping Athens at the moment doesn't affect me – I'm far from the scenes and don't need public transport to get to work either.
That said, time to start at the top: the flight. Olympic Airlines is not the most comfortable airline I've ever flown. There was a black control box under the seat in front of me, limiting my leg room a little (and that's so generous on economy class already). I rang the bell twice in rapid succession at about 2AM to ask flight attendant for some water (I was at the window and the guy next to me was asleep). Both times, the attendant stoop up, deactivated the light on her control panel and sat back down again – I was less than impressed.
In any event, long and uncomfortable flight aside, I arrived without hassle and discovered the joy of an EU passport in Europe – there was a dedicated line which made rapid progress, as the customs official merely looked at each one – no stamps or anything of the sort. I breezed through there, got my luggage easily, told a customs guy there was a satellite decoder in my bag and was waved through and was collecting my Hertz Seat Ibiza in no time.
Driving on the wrong side of the road presented a bit of a challenge, but I adapted early enough – and good thing too, since the only way from the airport is by highway. A tolled highway nogal – good thing I got Euro's before I left. I passed through the toll after exit 18 off the highway, knowing my hotel is between exits 18 and 17. However, the little sign that says "Holiday Inn Attica" is mounted on the offramp, which I saw as I cruised past it. No trouble, I figured, I'll take exit 17 and turn round. When I did that, I saw a small tarred road lead off back the way I wanted to go – and like an idiot I figured it must go where I want. So I took it, and it did take me to the hotel – the outskirts of the hotel. The road travelled around the hotel complex with no way in, crossed under the highway and then travelled around the complex on the other side of the highway. I drove back and forth like that for half an hour, and then finally made my way back to exit 17 – where I made my next mistake.
Having finally got to my hotel, I found they weren't ready for me, despite our travel office's request, so I waited until 10AM to check in. Finally though I could shower, shave, change and prepare to find Multichoice Hellas. I had a map provided by my contact at MCH, and I set out to find the place. Suffice to say, I got lost again, but a friendly security guard used his two English words and some sign language to finally point me in the right direction. The fact that there are no signs on the streets (in Greek or otherwise) and that MCH is actually signposted as NetMed made it a little trickier, but I finally arrived.
There were a bunch of Internet related issues, as mentioned above, but those are now sorted, and I've settled in quite nicely. The guy I'm working with is a great guy, and some progress is being made.
The city of Athens itself I haven't seen much of yet – that's for later today. What I have seen is very pleasant – there's a certain feel of home I appreciate: A certain less-than-fully-first-world feel. There are cracks on the pavements here and there, some of the cars are older than two years and little, almost indescribable things like that. It makes me feel like I'm at home – certainly more than in Australia 🙂 That said, it really is a beautiful place, and nothing is dirty or broken or rundown – just not quite as fully "first-world" as Australia was – more like SA.
One enduring image that stuck me of Athens was the view from the windows of the plane as we flew in – Athens is ringed by mountains, and at 6AM there was a blanket of cloud hiding draped behind them, being held at bay from sweeping over the city and into the sparkling blue harbour. It reminded me somewhat of the table cloth over Table Mountain, but only since they both involve clouds and mountains – it was really very striking in its own way. I can only regret I can't describe it very well. People who live in mountainous areas will have seen such a thing before – and indeed a similar effect used to develop behind Helderberg Mountain in Somerset West – but to see this as the sun was rising and playing over the filmy clouds was really a beautiful thing to behold.
All right, enough rambling, disconnected thoughts on Greece, Athens and uncomfortable airline seats – I'm sure I'll write some more next week. Until then, allow me to use one of the few Greek words I now know: "Yassas", useful both as hello and as goodbye.


text:
Home Crime Prosecutor: Jersey City man pleads guilty to killing 28-year-old with a shotgun...
Prosecutor: Jersey City man pleads guilty to killing 28-year-old with a shotgun in 2017
John Heinis
A Jersey City man has pleaded guilty to killing a 28-year-old with a shotgun back on July 3rd, 2017, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez announced.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
On Thursday, Keshawn Sparkman, 22, of Jersey City, pleaded guilty to one count of first-
degree aggravated manslaughter related to the shooting death of Rasasim Foster that occurred on July 3, 2017, Suarez said in a statement.
Sparkman admitted to shooting Foster with a shotgun on Clinton Avenue on that date at approximately 10:50 p.m., Jersey City police officers were dispatched to the area of
262 Clinton Ave. on a report of possible gunshots, authorities said.
Upon arrival, officers found Foster, 28, of Jersey City, on the ground at that location. He was unresponsive with apparent multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead a short time later, police said.
The state is recommending a sentence of 18 years in a New Jersey state prison subject to the No Early Release Act and the Graves Act. NERA would require Sparkman to serve 85 percent of the recommended 18 year sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
Sentencing in this case has been scheduled for October 25th before Hudson County Superior Court Judge Patrick Arre, who accepted the guilty plea.
Additionally, the state is represented in this case by Assistant Prosecutor David Feldman.
UPDATED: HCPO's homicide unit investigating death of a man found in Union City
Jury convicts Bayonne woman of manslaughter in homicide retrial for husband's death
Prosecutor: Jersey City man charged with murder for fatal Clinton Ave shooting
Prosecutor seeking public's help in finding killer of 19-year-old Jersey City man
Documents: Judge Suarez served as treasurer to Mayor Stack connected organization
Prosecutor: Jersey City man dies at hospital after being shot multiple times on Fulton Avenue
esther suarez
hudson county prosecutor's office
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Feeling the Bern? Jersey City campaign for Sanders to kickoff on Saturday
Prosecutor's office makes arrest in Union City sexual assault of 15-year-old girl
Hudson County Schools of Technology opens registration for GED, certification classes
Police: Woman arrested outside of Lincoln Tunnel for owing $17,500 in...
Police: Woman who got drunk at Billy Joel concert flees police...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This spacious upstairs room features a polished timber floor and ceiling, dressing table, two cane armchairs, authentic corner wardrobes and a TV cabinet with a fridge. Decorated in white and blue the room has two large windows facing the balcony. Access to the balcony is via the reader's alcove next door. Robes are provided for use when crossing the narrow hallway to the private bathroom - no "nudie" runs necessary!


Two-story executive office building with prime location along 65 Highway. Two restrooms and a break room on each floor. Very large conference room. Several executive offices on each floor with windows. Leased through May of 2019 at $18,800 per month. Extra lot included with building which has plenty of space for another building in the future.


1. When candle lovers think of candle brands Jo Malone is definitely what people think of. The home candles are the most well known I think as its the collection with the most selection. However, there is a hefty price tag - £39. These are actually the cheapest out of all the collections though, there's so many different scents and they come in groups: Citrus, Fruity, Light Floral, Floral, Spicy and Woody. There is 15 in this collection in total including a limited edition one. The candles also come in travel sizes which are £22 and I mentioned these in my stocking fillers guide. If your feeling extra generous you could dip into the more expensive collections which are: Luxury, Deluxe and Cologne Intense. I was shocked to see the luxury collection has price tags of £260!!! I think this is a ludicrous price for a candle and would definitely be sticking to the £39 candles this year. The scents are just so lovely and long lasting and I think its a really appreciative gift as people do though they are expensive. The home collection candles are 200g and have a burning time of 45 hours.
2. Last year I received an organiser from Paperchase from my best friend at the time I was working a lot of hours and did never know where I needed to be and at what time. I always just went with what I thought but when I was trying to organise to do things with my friends I never knew when I was free. So when she bought me this I was a bit like what do I do with it I've never had a diary in my life! But oh my its been so useful, this one is £12 and includes 18 month mid-year pocket organiser for 2013 - 2014. It includes a decorative hanging tag, inside pocket with card holder and another pocket at the back and the most useful part a mid-year insert July 2013 to December 2014. Its just perfect for everyone male and female and once you've used the pages you can just buy inserts for the next year so its a present which someone can potentially use for years.
3. A magazine subscription is another great present to someone. Everyone has there favourite magazine whether it be weekly gossip or the monthly's. Its just a great little present and its an easier than them having to go to the shops each week/month. As well as this is you always get a really good extra present for signing up to a subscription and with a bit of research, over the year you can save a lot of money. The great thing is your guaranteed that your going to get it on the release day. month after month and some magazines are really expensive these days. For example Elle is over £4 now and you can get a 6 month subscription for £9.99. Its a really good saving for the person and I think its a really appreciated gift.
4. Now, cosy pyjamas are a must for Christmas! A lot of people buy a pair themselves for the festive period with Christmas novelties and designs on them. But, for the new year its nice to have a nice pair of cosy pjs that you can snuggle in in winter and are extremely cosy. Primark have the most amazing range of pyjamas and there always thick and have cute designs on them and there about £8. If you want to splash out a little more as a present these ones in the picture are from Debenhams and are £25, there really lovely material and the designs are nice and simple but still colourful. On this theme a nice new pair of slippers are always appreciated as well!
5. If your really struggling with presents and can not think of anything to buy people then gift cards are a great alternative. Growing up my mum used to always buy them my cousins when they got a little older because she used to hate giving people money. She says that you know with a gift card they can get something they really want and you know your money hasn't gone to waste. Gift cards are good for anyone, any retail shop now sells gift cards so you can buy them for anyone of any age. Another great idea is vouchers like love2shop vouchers which you can use in many shops, so your not restricting the person to buying from one shop and they have a bit of variety and can shop round for something they really like.
6. In these upcoming winter months its going to get even more chilly than it already is unfortunately. That means one thing - the need to wrap up warm. I think an excellent present for men and women is buying them a new hat/gloves/scarf. This year I've bought my mum some really nice new pair of mittens which are fur lined and I think its a present that everyone appreciates its not necessarily that exciting or a present that is that out of the thought box. However, I think its a gift that I think that you know they will use. When I buy someone something I want them to be able to use it and not have it sat in a box not sure what to do with it.
7. Purses and wallets are another present which is an everyday essential and when people change up there wardrobes through the seasons people like to have a new purse/wallet. You are able to get them quite cheaply but you can also get more expensive ones which you know are going to last longer especially if its real leather and you know it will last. The only problem is they can be quite personal as in the design and what they like it to have inside it, but if its someone your close to have a nosy at there current one, if not ask someone who would know. Its better to get them something that there definitely going to like and has everything they need in it, than get them something you think that they might like and your unsure on it but get it anyway because they could like it.
8. Theatre/concert tickets are also a good present if you buying for a couple and there's always some really good deals on around this time of year. Maybe they really like a particular singer or band and have really wanted to see them for a while but just haven't got round to buying them for themselves. Some people really enjoy going to the theatre I know my parents do and so do my grandparents. Its just a really thoughtful gift and there's so many productions on in the new year, you will definitely be able to find something that you think they will enjoy. Its a memorable occasion and they will remember that the gift was thoughtful and from you. If you and your friend really fancy going to see something you could pay for you both to go it will be a really nice night out for both of you and you get a bit of pleasure as well!
9. I am a person who loves to wear a watch, whereas my sister hates them. I always have mine on and I think a nice watch is a great Christmas present. It is a personal gift and everyone likes different things so you might have to do a bit of investigating and look at the jewellery which they always wear to get clues but it really does make a lovely Christmas present. It can be an easy present really, watches come in all price ranges you can get a basic watch with nothing fancy for a tenner but if you fancy spending a little bit more maybe getting it as a main present. You can get a top of the range one with all the fancy bits to it and one which is better quality and will probably last a lot longer. People like particular brands of watches and the watch market is huge so I can definitely guarantee you will find one which is perfect for a man or woman. I think men are more interested in the gadgets, meanwhile women are more interested in the designer and the colour! Doing a bit of research first fill definitely give you a heads up and make you decision a little easier.
10. This my seem a little boring for a present but I think buying someone a gadget for there computer/phone/ipod or whatever piece of technology it is there is usually something you can buy to go along with it. I have heard about these juice boxes recently and was really intrigued by them. They are pretty pricey but especially with an iPhone they have such bad battery life especially for someone who's phone is essential for there daily work. They are a rechargeable smart battery concealed inside of a low-profile, light-weight, soft-touch case which means that the phone won't run out of battery it virtually doubles your battery life. Even other bits for their gadgets like an new case, bag or earphones something which they wont necessary ask for but would appreciate.


text:
De Sint-Clemenskerk (Deens: Sankt Clemens Kirke) is een kerkgebouw op het Deense eiland Rømø.

Het kerkgebouw werd omstreeks 1200 gebouwd en fors vergroot in de 17e en 18e eeuw. Hij is gewijd aan de heilige Clemens, schutspatroon van de zeelieden. In het kerkgebouw hangen meerdere votiefschepen.

Opvallend zijn de 15 haken die aan het balkenplafond hangen. Een aantal dragen de initialen van de mannen die er hun hoed aan konden ophangen.

Vanaf 1800 verkocht de kerk rechten aan families om in de bepaalde kerkbanken te mogen zitten. De opbrengst ervan werd gebruikt voor het onderhoud van het gebouw. Ook nu zijn de namen nog altijd te lezen op de kerkbanken.

Externe link
  Website Clemenskerk, Rømø
  De kerk op Kort til Kirken

Clemens
Bouwwerk in Tønder

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Genres: Horror, Thriller
Starring: Lon Chaney Jr., Jack Hedley, Jill Dixon, Viola Keats, Marie Ney
Director: Don Sharp
Horror icon Lon Chaney Jr. (The Wolf Man, The Black Sleep) conjures up unspeakable evil as Morgan Whitlock, a modern-day warlock whose ancestors were burned at the stake. But now, after three long centuries of waiting, Morgan's family will finally have its revenge. The Whitlocks' 300-year-old matriarch has risen from the grave to wreak havoc upon the descendants of those who destroyed her coven, confiscated her estate and buried her alive! Horror veteran Don Sharp (The Kiss of the Vampire) directed this classic horror film written by Harry Spalding (Chosen Survivors, The Earth Dies Screaming) and featuring a wonderful cast that includes Jack Hedley (The New York Ripper), Jill Dixon (A Night to Remember) and Viola Keats (The Witches).
Movie Studio: Kino Lorber
Length:79 Minutes
Specs:Blu-ray


text:
Q: Tkinter: Canvases Binded to Events Hi I have a very specific code problem I would need a fresh pair of eyes to look at. I'm trying to make a GUI for an Othello game I programmed. I've just started and made green tiles that I will play the game in. To see that everything worked I made a simple function that is called every time one of the tiles is clicked. The function should then print the coordinates of the tile I just clicked to the console. However what it does is that it prints [7, 7]. This of course are the coordinates of the very last tile created. Anyway I don't know what I'm doing wrong but my guess is that I don't fully understand the .bind() function, thanks for any help.
Code:
from tkinter import *

def print_cors(event, cors):
    print(cors)

class GridFrame:
    def __init__(self, master):
        board = Frame(master, height=500, width=800, bg="brown")
        board.grid()
        self.column_frame_list =  [None]*8
        for x in range(0, len(self.column_frame_list)):
            self.column_frame_list[x] = [None]*8
            for y in range(0, len(self.column_frame_list[x])):
                self.column_frame_list[x][y] = Canvas(board, height=55, width=55, bg="green", bd=0, highlightthickness=0, relief='ridge')
                self.column_frame_list[x][y].bind("<Button-1>", lambda event: print_cors(event, [x,y]))
                self.column_frame_list[x][y].grid(row=y, column=x)

root = Tk()
root.wm_title("Reversi")
grid_frame = GridFrame(root)
root.mainloop()

A: Have you tried closing x and y in your function?
The problem is that x and y in the scope that the functions looks in are already changed to 7, 7 by the time the loop ends. The solution is to create a new scope where the wanted variables are set, and it can be done using a function that returns a function.
Try changing:
lambda event: print_cors(event, [x,y])

To:
(lambda _x, _y: lambda event: print_cors(event, [_x,_y]))(x,y)

This is a reconstruction of your problem:
>>> l = []
>>> for lam in l:
...     print lam()
...
>>> l = []
>>> for x in range(3):
...     l.append(lambda : x)
...
>>> for lam in l:
...     print lam()
...
2
2
2

And this is the solution with boxing the loop variables into the function's scope (closure) by adding them as parameters of an outer function:
>>> l = []
>>> for x in range(3):
...     l.append((lambda _x: lambda : _x)(x)) # close x into the function
...
>>> for lam in l:
...     print lam()
...
0
1
2

A: The usual solution is to replace:
self.column_frame_list[x][y].bind("<Button-1>", lambda event: print_cors(event, [x,y]))

with:
self.column_frame_list[x][y].bind("<Button-1>", lambda event, x=x, y=y: print_cors(event, [x,y]))

See
Tkinter assign button command in loop with lambda
for more explanations.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Some time back, the international media was flooded with reports of a baby in Mississippi who was cured of HIV. The miraculous procedure was performed by Dr. Gray, a pediatrician with the University of Massachusetts alongside Dr. Persaud of John Hopkins University.
The daring move to treat the child before confirmatory test results of infection was done thirty hours after the child's birth. In addition, Dr. Gray went a step further to use three drugs instead of the usual one or two. This could have posed a health risk, but against all odds the child survived and eighteen months later, was found to have no viral load despite the mother having discontinued the antiretroviral therapy. The one question on everyone's mind was: Could this be the breakthrough in finding the cure to HIV/AIDS epidemic?
We would all like to think so, but the fact still remains that there are over 34 Million people living with HIV globally and 1.7 Million fatalities annually. In Kenya, there are 1.6 Million people living with HIV and with such figures, the main focus currently is not to find a cure but to prevent transmission of HIV.
Several trials have been launched over the past few years to investigate whether certain drugs could be used to curb HIV infection before exposure. One such study funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was started in Kenya in 2011. The Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) study showed reduced risk of HIV acquisition by 73%. Another trial known as VOICE (Vaginal and Oral Intervention to Control the Epidemic) whose results were released on 4th March 2013 proved that the battle was far from over.
The results indicated that none of the three pre-exposure prophylaxis and microbicide intervention provided additional protection against HIV in the study. The large scale trial among African women utilized daily oral tenofovir, daily oral Truvada (TDF/FTC) and daily 1% vaginal tenofovir gel. However, the disappointing results were not due to the inefficiency of the drugs themselves, but were more likely as a result of the large number of women who did not use the products as directed.
The results which were presented in Atlanta at the 20th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) confirmed the correlation between higher levels of adherence and protection from HIV.


text:
Michael Ned Holte
Conversations and Interviews
Essays and Reviews
Microclimates: Made in L.A. 2014
Los Angeles: Hammer Museum
Tucked away at the end of a long driveway along a bland stretch of Eagle Rock Boulevard, with a Filipino restaurant next door serving as the only helpful landmark, one finds the Los Angeles Museum of Art. Founded by German born artist Alice Könitz in 2012 and situated just outside her Eagle Rock studio, LAMOA is, at thirteen feet in length, undoubtedly the smallest museum in the city for which it is named. If the open pavilion structure, sheltered by corrugated roofing, recalls the legacy of modernist architecture that takes advantage of the region's famously mild climate, it also recalls the artist's sculptures that frequently draw upon the city's vernacular structures—from its taco stands to its corporate towers. Acting as the museum's designer, director, and chief curator, Könitz has, to date, organized a series of solo shows for her artist peers willing and eager to work within the tiny institution's considerable constraints. LAMOA is emblematic of a number of recent artist-run spaces— including other self-styled museums—to appear in the Southern California landscape. Driven by a desire for more flexible and, presumably, more casual platforms for exhibition making, microinstitutions such as LAMOA have emerged at an anxious economic moment in which, for most artists— let's face it—the gap between the auction floor and the studio space grows exponentially wider. Still, it should be stated that such venues are not necessarily in opposition to the larger gallery and museum structure, but rather coexist along a broad spectrum of possible points of contact between artists and audiences. In the case of small-scale institutions, including LAMOA and Public Fiction (also represented in Made in L.A.), which operate in working-class neighborhoods littered with mostly anonymous studios, that audience is primarily made up of artists.
A few blocks south of LAMOA, in an upstairs studio that formerly served as a storage facility for police evidence, Tala Madani paints tableaux that are abject and funny in roughly equal measure. Her images of bald, bearded, beleaguered men and, more recently, of cheerfully innocent children playing in a literal world of shit intersect painterly virtuosity and crude approximation, as well as social anxiety and art-historical savvy. Madani's work has received considerable attention in recent years as well as critical acclaim, but curiously it has gone mostly unseen in her adopted city of Los Angeles.
Some twenty-three miles westward, on an eclectic street in Venice a few blocks from the beach, Magdalena Suarez Frimkess and Michael Frimkess maintain and are gradually expanding one of the city's most significant holdings of ceramic production, representing some four decades of collaborative work. While each Frimkess has honed a completely unique style—Michael mastered throwing pots from clay without the aid of water; Magdalena builds her pots into distinctively lumpy shapes before decorating them—the two have also pioneered a remarkable partnership in their shared medium. Though Michael is quick to deem many of his vessels "tests" or "experiments," he is just as eager to define Magdalena's redemptive ornamentation of these so-called castoffs as "masterpieces."[1] Drawing upon a wide range of historical and contemporary design motifs—from pop and cartoon imagery, including Popeye, Minnie Mouse, and Chile's Condorito, to family members and bicycling Venice denizens—such ornamentation is unabashedly nonhierarchical and global in its outlook, even though it is immediately clear that these pots could have been made only in the Frimkesses' studio.
By comparison, the collaborative studio of Gerard & Kelly, in a Lincoln Heights complex full of artists, seems provisionally situated. Moving to Los Angeles for graduate studies, the two had already developed their collaborative project in New York. Both trained and worked in dance before becoming artists—and many of their works in video, installation, and performance explicitly draw upon their backgrounds in movement while bringing critical scrutiny to art-historical and social concerns. Like Gerard & Kelly, many (though certainly not all) Los Angeles artists relocate because of school; upon arrival and after graduation, they find their adopted home a fecund environment for working, alone or in collaboration.
Born in Pomona, California, Marcia Hafif splits her time between her native state and New York, with a pleasantly spare house in Laguna Beach and a loft in Manhattan. For many years, Hafif has painted square monochromes, a format seemingly indifferent to geographic or cultural context. Still, a visit or two with the artist reveals her keen understanding of light and color (see, for example, the incredibly varied effects of adding a tiny drop of black paint to a given hue in her Shade paintings) and her diverse explorations, from photographing weeds on her Laguna property to writing about memorable meals—see her "Appendix A: Radical Cooking (for J-C)" in this volume—all evidence a deep-rooted investment in localized knowledge.
Often hiding in plain sight, most of the artists in Made in L.A. 2014 are known to one audience—be it enthusiastic peers or jet-setting art-world cognoscenti—but completely unknown to many others. The context of such an exhibition—that is, a regional biennial in a city of global cultural significance—provides an opportunity to overlay circles large and small, like a cluster of Venn diagrams.
Geography Lessons
Sales pitches about "the climate" repeat more often than any other in early brochures about Los Angeles. The boosterism continues in articles into the forties and fifties, and is well remembered in novels, films, critical essays into the present. As Aldous Huxley writes in 1939, the sunshine in Los Angeles worked on tourists like a spotlight, "as though on purpose to show the new arrival all the sights."[2]
One of the first facts I remember learning about Southern California, immediately upon moving here from southern Wisconsin, is that its geography comprises a constellation of discrete microclimates. I remember this information was followed with a specific number of microclimates—maybe it was eleven, or perhaps seventeen—but nearly two decades later, my memory of this geography lesson is as hazy as the morning fog in Santa Monica. The exact number is, finally, less important than one's acute awareness of varied climatic zones, engendered by the distinctive regional intersection of deserts, mountains, and the Pacific Ocean, if not by more individualized atmospheric conditions.
In Reyner Banham's influential study of Southern California, Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies (1971), the British author categorizes this notoriously sprawling megalopolis according to a quartet of (mostly invented) designations that are, at once, geographic, climatic, and psychological: Surfurbia, Foothills, the Plains of Id, and Autopia—the last of these referring to the city's expansive freeway system. Notably, Banham actually learned to drive so he could experience this "uniquely mobile metropolis" as a native would: "So, like earlier generations of English intellectuals who taught themselves Italian in order to read Dante in the original, I learned to drive in order to read Los Angeles in the original."[3] Seemingly, there are endless numbers of ways to read Los Angeles in the original, just as there is an infinite number of microclimates one might perceive—the smallest of these, perhaps, being the interior of one's car.
Researching an exhibition such as Made in L.A. is hardly a globetrotting affair; no frequent-flyer miles were accrued in its making. However, the odometer of my car provides evidence of quality time clocked in Autopia, with a far-flung itinerary of studio visits and meetings from Arcadia to Laguna, Inglewood to Eagle Rock, Pasadena to Koreatown, Boyle Heights to Venice, each destination representing a specific geocultural atmosphere. It's a map that would be familiar to the Hollywood location-scout character in Lake Overturn (2013), a multichannel video installation by Jibade-Khalil Huffman. The location scout, played by an actress, seems to lose her grip on the difference between fact and fiction while driving around the city, confusing movie locations with sites of personal significance.[4] Or it might be the difference between "Los Angeles" in all its complexity and the more readily exportable construct—the imago—of "L.A." For artists in Los Angeles, microclimates are as likely to be defined by psychological or political conditions as much as spatial or atmospheric ones. In No Lye (2012), a video by Danielle Dean, a group of young women gather in the steamy microclimate of a bathroom with the apparent purpose of building a bomb. Extreme artifice circumscribes their dialogue, which consists entirely of fragments from political speeches by Barack Obama, David Cameron, George W. Bush, and others—primarily addressing terrorism and radicalization—mixed with text excerpts from magazines such as Ebony, Essence, and Vogue. Dean's new project for Made in L.A. similarly deploys slogans and other signifiers from influential athletic shoe advertising campaigns, suggesting that successful branding strategies become internalized and embodied by consumers, including the artist's family.
Marina Pinsky constructs photographs that conflate space and time into complex images dense with information. Her research-driven approach sometimes parallels detective work, with the artist investigating safecracking in the Inland Empire region east of Los Angeles County or idlers at the upscale Grove shopping center. She often works from arrangements on the tabletop—echoing a photographic tradition that extends to the medium's origins with Louis Daguerre and William Henry Fox Talbot—but also the desktop, with its set of digital tools, and her midcity studio acts as a filter for data and cultural products she accumulates from the larger world. Kim Fisher similarly evokes a variety of trades in her Cypress Park studio— dyeing linen black for her paintings in large vats like an expert couturier and airbrushing her taped canvases like an auto detailer. Her canvases are constructed as much as painted, assembled, collage-like, with images (and an occasional snippet of text) torn from sun-faded fashion and lifestyle magazines. Working in a charming Atwater Village studio, Channing Hansen knits elaborate multicolored constructions based on scientific theories drawing upon quantum mechanics and hypothetical models such as black holes. A member of the Greater Los Angeles Spinning Guild, he often makes his own yarn and has even shorn sheep as part of his laborious process. With the resulting textiles stretched like paintings, his works are held in tension between a multiplicity of dimensions and the flatness of the picture plane.
Several artists in Made in L.A. treat memory as a kind of microclimatic condition. While My Getty Center, made by Judy Fiskin in 1999, is set against the atmospheric backdrop of El Niño—a storm system that wreaked havoc on the city in 1997 and received Hollywood-worthy attention—her video for the biennial, I'll Remember Mama (2013), is largely set in the hermetic confines of a West L.A. condo and, in parallel, a dollhouse. Combining found footage and personal narration, the project distills potent emotional content from small quarters. In her video Full Burn (2014), Mariah Garnett situates her camera on a veteran of the US military's Special Ops who saw combat and now works as a stunt actor. His calling card in Hollywood—another kind of business full of specialists—is getting set on fire. Garnett records an instance of this intense feat and plays it in slow motion, with a compelling soundtrack of the artist interviewing several other veterans about harrowing near-death experiences. Almost inevitably, the stunt becomes a "safe" opportunity to act out and repeat such traumatic moments in a ritualistic manner. On a related note, Emily Mast is utilizing the Hammer Museum as a site to reenact performed moments and gestures that have been "preordained" for the viewer with a video located near the entrance to the exhibition. The artist will stage each performance twice—once for the camera before the show opens, and again for an unwitting audience—approximating, according to the artist, the flash of life events in the moments before one's death. Unannounced, such seemingly random actions will activate discrete and perhaps marginal zones of the museum's architecture, otherwise indifferent to the people passing through each eerie microclimate of déjà vu.
Group Effort
Situated above a popular Vietnamese noodle restaurant on the corner of Broadway and Cottage Home, in a warren of herb dealers and artists' studios at the northern edge of Chinatown, is the KCHUNG radio station. Broadcasting to listeners within the rather limited range of the station's antenna who are tuned in to 1630 AM—or to those following the live stream online—KCHUNG exemplifies another microclimate of sorts, one that overlaps with a surprisingly vast network of the Los Angeles art world. A recent three-month public engagement at the Hammer only added to the station's visibility. Still, its mission statement appears to favor democratic process over entrepreneurial ambition, declaring, "Anyone can participate."[5] The growing number of shows broadcast from KCHUNG indeed represents a pluralistic set of interests and concerns, ranging from music (whether selected by DJs or performed live in the studio) to conversation or hybridized forms of content. As visitors to the Chinatown station will attest, show hosts are largely left to their own devices.
Yet, despite the modesty of its means, KCHUNG manages to support and give coherence to a diverse array of special interests while simultaneously representing a model of inclusivity. Also important, the station is a flexible collective platform that emphasizes—or at least accounts for—individual aspirations. In addition to KCHUNG's participation in Made in L.A. 2014, several individual artists in this exhibition host shows on a regular basis or have contributed in other ways. Harsh Patel, for example, designed the station's emphatic white-on-red logo and related brand identity.
Max Maslansky, whose near-psychedelic paintings of sexual encounters derived from images found in outdated men's magazines, is also host of the KCHUNG show Riffin', in which he discusses a range of topics with an invited guest. As the title suggests, the show is loose and improvised; its tone is frequently goofy, in seeming contrast to the darker psychological content and masterful command of materials revealed in the artist's paintings. Yet, both formats serve as vehicles for Maslansky's considerable id, connecting an extroverted radio personality with the painter in private, sifting through vintage porn. Barry Johnston's program, Final Party, mixes hardcore music and in-studio performance, sometimes overlapped. The phrase "final party" serves as a moniker for Johnston's live performances and, more generally, as a kind of motto for a variety of his activities, including the making of sculptures and banners. A visit to Johnston's live-work studio in an industrial area of Northeast Los Angeles suggests a solitary existence, but the Final Party motto (and radio show) poses a counterargument: the artist—particularly the performer—demands an audience.
A show hosted by Jennifer Moon presents a similar paradox. As its name hints, Adventures Within provides the artist a weekly opportunity for radical self-interrogation performed for a public audience. For much of her career, Moon has explored the topics of revolution and love—and the intersection of these concerns—as embodied by the individual. Several years ago, Moon served time for attempted robbery in the California Institution for Women, a correctional facility in Chino, and her project continued and even intensified in this context. (See her text "Assignment #1" in this volume.) Moon's work operates at the juncture of art and life, with such categorical distinctions losing rigid definition. While her "adventures within" test the limits of the individual— physically or psychologically or both—they also challenge the coherence of the social body.
An artist such as Moon embodies this potential contradiction as a dialectic of solitary pursuit and collective longing. Similarly, a remarkable number of artists in Made in L.A. 2014 participate in some collective or collaborative endeavor, or once did. Sarah Rara, along with collaborators including her partner, Luke Fischbeck, is a member of the music group Lucky Dragons and the drawing collective Sumi Ink Club, projects that frequently stress audience participation. In recent years, Rara also has produced numerous striking video works of methodically composed vignettes coupled with hypnotic soundtracks (often composed and performed with Fischbeck). Her video The Pollinators (2014) frames various species of bees against what the artist describes as "wild color spaces" that both attract and repel these hive-minded creatures.
A. L. Steiner moves fluidly among various group efforts, having collaborated with artists such as Zackary Drucker, Suzanne Wright, and Narcissister, as well as the collective Chicks on Speed, and she is a cofounder of the organization Working Artists and the Greater Economy (W.A.G.E.). Steiner's solo works often take shape as massive photo installations—albeit constellations of images taken by the artist that represent a community grouping to which she belongs. Harry Dodge produced a substantial number of acclaimed collaborative videos and, in the early 1990s, was a founder of the San Francisco-based performance space the Bearded Lady, which, according to the artist, "served as a gathering point for a pioneering, polysexual, queer literary and arts scene."[6] Dodge's recent mixed-media solo work— with drawings littered with ghosts, talking glue bottles, and various single-celled organisms—mordantly alludes to isolation and fragmentation of the social order, among other concerns. Dodge's video Fred Can Never Be Called Bald (2011), included in Made in L.A. 2014, mines the vast collective unconscious of YouTube and similar media sites yet locates the fleeting and often disturbing images found there as part of an intensely personal narrative: the video coincides with the death of the artist's mother.
While collectivity and collaboration represent increasingly popular modes of operation for many L.A. artists, it should be noted that such endeavors are just as often—or inevitably— contentious or tentative. Artists in Los Angeles or elsewhere typically maintain some distance between their studio work and participation in the social network. Most artists make their work first, if not foremost, for an audience of one. In an essay written for this volume, Jarett Kobek considers what he refers to as the "virtue" of alienation:
If no one is paying attention, then you have the space to do what you want. Which is how I think of Los Angeles. As a place that gave me room. I lived for years without speaking to another person who thought of himself as a writer. A gift. The worst thing for anyone who hasn't figured it out, who hasn't given himself over to his own internal weirdness and deciphered a way to translate that weirdness to the exterior world, is exposure.[7]
Though Kobek celebrates the notion that "Los Angeles grants this incredible gift of leaving you alone to develop your own praxis," it seems inevitable that many artists arrive in Southern California to meet a community of like-minded artists—or at least worthwhile discursive adversaries—in addition to the possibility of inventing or reinventing their praxes.[8]
Made in L.A. 2014 identifies a diverse set of artists positioned between the often idealized space of the individual and the often tenuous space of the collective. For example, Juan Capistrán deploys familiar emblems of collective resistance—bricks, Molotov cocktails, protest signs, and so on—but situates these in the evacuated space of the isolated individual. In ...when darkness has swallowed the reality…there is a light that never goes out… (2012), a neatly folded flag has been dyed and bleached so that it is neither black nor white, which is to say it is rendered illegible as a sign of resistance or of defeat. Such sustained tension might shade the virtue of alienation as Kobek defines it. In the photograph Still I Rise Above (2013), the artist grips onto a flagpole with both hands, body tautly extended. Wearing black, he seems to embody resistance, but at the same time he persists anxiously outside the group context, hung out to dry, with the pole bending ever so slightly toward collapse: one person's praxis is another person's predicament.
What became increasingly clear, however, as the impact of [Mike Kelley's] death rippled progressively outward, was the extent of his importance—personally, artistically, culturally— to a sprawling community that cared not only about him, but each other as well. Here, it is important to stress that a community is not simply a loose collection of well-meaning individuals. Rather, it is something with a discrete structure and a logic.[9]
Artist John Miller's obituary for his friend, CalArts classmate, and sometime collaborator Mike Kelley, who committed suicide in 2012, rubbed a still-raw wound, but his definition of community might have described a younger generation of Los Angeles artists—Kelley's "kids," Oedipally speaking, and I'm one of them—even better than he knew. Creative communities, collectives, and partnerships are often fragile mergers, but it seems clear that many Los Angeles artists are attracted to the logic and "discrete structure" of these plural efforts for a variety of reasons. And, as noted above, they are not necessarily undertaken at the expense of a singular studio practice.
"Community," to some ears, might sound like a hokey contrivance, a leftover utopian aspiration of failed avant-gardes and, inevitably, the hippie generation Kelley frequently lashed out at. But some notion of community remains central to many artists in Los Angeles, whether as a provisional alliance or a dedicated membership. Wu Tsang has staked out a complex territory among several groups, including the art world and the transgender community, the latter represented by the denizens of Wildness, a weekly pop-up cabaret at the Silver Platter club in the Westlake neighborhood. Relentless in exploring interstitial spaces, Tsang's film about that scene, Wildness (2012), hovers between the genres of documentary and magic realism, and his new film, A day in the life of bliss (2014), further conflates categorical expectations, this time moving closer to science fiction. Shot in and around Mexico City, this video, in its subjects and crew, represents another set of overlapped circles.
Entry into any community, especially the art-world version, can be a complex task—especially without the benefit of an MFA peer group, a tribe largely born of contingency. Samara Golden arrived in Los Angeles after receiving her degree in New York, and her eventual sense of inclusion was hard-won and not without awkward moments. Golden's installation Busts (2011– ), initially exhibited at the artist-run Workspace, in Boyle Heights, and reconfigured for Made in L.A. 2014, ambitiously includes a more or less recognizable sculptural representation of everyone she encountered in Los Angeles while making the work, primarily consisting of a tight-knit caste of artists fresh out of school.
The preponderance of these communities—surely an intersection of small cliques and expansive networks—is noteworthy in the context of the present exhibition, but it is also worth considering the history of such groupings. Organized by David Frantz, curator of ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, and presented within Made in L.A. 2014 as its own exhibition, Tony Greene: Amid Voluptuous Calm provides historical evidence of an artistic circle around and including Greene—who died of AIDS-related illness in 1990 at the age of thirty-four—and serves as a significant precedent for other circles represented in the larger exhibition. A graduate of CalArts, Greene was part of a group that included many of his classmates, such as Catherine Opie and Richard Hawkins—the latter a frequent collaborator—as well as faculty member Millie Wilson. Frantz's exhibition also considers the work of performance artists Ron Athey and partners Bob Flanagan and Sheree Rose, as well as archival materials from the height of the AIDS epidemic, and suggests a tight overlapping of circles during that time linking the art world, the literary community (centered at Beyond Baroque, in Venice), and the gay and lesbian communities. While Greene is now receiving belated attention, including this exhibition, his absence from the spotlight for more than two decades attests to the continuing trauma of the AIDS crisis—what Hawkins has referred to as a "black hole"—and the fragility of communities over time.[10] And Greene's peers are largely responsible for the renewed focus on his brief career and life.
Worth remembering is that there was not one singular response to the AIDS crisis within the gay and lesbian communities but many responses, and the response of the Los Angeles artists Frantz includes in Amid Voluptuous Calm was deemed inappropriate by many critics and activists. Organized by Hawkins and Dennis Cooper at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) in 1989, the exhibition Against Nature: A Show by Homosexual Men— with a catalogue cover designed by Greene—received a furious storm of criticism for its emphasis on decadence (in the tradition of J. K. Huysmans, whose fin-de-siècle novel À rebours [1884] provided the show's title) and bodily desire in the face of mass casualties.[11] The gradual slackening of the circle of artists represented here owes less to this moment of crisis than to the exigencies of time: an important reminder that any group is the result of proximity, concerted effort, and shared agendas—and is, ultimately, a tenuous construct.
Exiles and Émigrés, or the Regional Global Biennial
In the complex process of organizing a biennial, I have often faced a litany of pesky questions—including a number of my own. In June 2012, I reviewed the first edition of Made in L.A. for Artforum. Then, in the months between my writing this review, which included some less-than-positive comments, and its being published, the Hammer asked me to co-curate the exhibition's sequel. My candor provided for an awkward moment when this invitation arrived. "Overall," I wrote, "one was left wondering what, exactly, made this exhibition 'LA' beyond the mailing addresses of its artists. Would the stamp of the region be so readily visible on these works if they were shown elsewhere?"[12]
And then, more pointedly: "The first edition of Made in L.A. left open the question of whether the city really needs such a determinedly local biennial." This question will undoubtedly remain open for others, but it bears mentioning that Los Angeles occupies a significant if unique place in the biennial circuit—one that is not exactly the center, especially if commerce is the measure, but hardly a marginal node either. It is also worth noting (as I did in my review) that the first incarnation of Made in L.A. featured artists from Angola, Botswana, Canada, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Scotland, Spain, and Vietnam, among other countries; the present edition, while smaller than the first, includes artists born or raised in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, and Venezuela. In other words, despite its decidedly boosterish title and emphasis on local production, Made in L.A. is a biennial exhibition that embraces the global and eclectic purview of its artists—much like the city these exiles embrace in reciprocity.
It's hardly news that many artists arrive in Southern California to attend one of the region's influential MFA programs, and perhaps it's also no surprise that many of those artists choose to live and work in Los Angeles after graduation: the considerable price of that terminal degree includes a built-in audience of one's peers, and the preponderance of emergent collectives, artist-run spaces, and even KCHUNG provides evidence of the groundswell. (So, too, my swollen inbox, indexing all these networked strategies.)
What's also worth acknowledging is the number of talented artists who move to Los Angeles after graduating elsewhere, even if many of them have had little or no presence in the city's commercial galleries or museums; instead, they work largely "undercover" in Southern California while exhibiting in New York, Europe, or other locales. How many times have I visited a Los Angeles studio to see work destined to leave town? It's not a new condition, but an exhibition such as Made in L.A. surely provides a platform for unveiling any number of the city's most prolific artists hiding in plain sight.
Gabriel Kuri, who was born in Mexico and worked in Brussels for a decade, is a recent transplant to Los Angeles. It would be hard (and perhaps foolhardy) to argue that his work connotes "Los Angeles" in any specific sense, yet one could just as easily argue that his sculpture fits comfortably in a regional historical context driven by the collision of the found object (a tradition including George Herms, Noah Purifoy, and many others) and hallucinatory-level, scaleshifting fabrication (Charles Ray and Robert Therrien come to mind). Ricky Swallow, an Australian who emigrated in 2002, draws upon much of the same sculptural legacy. His decade-plus in Southern California (almost long enough to qualify him as "native," though he represented Australia in the Venice Biennale in 2005) has included many quality hours in flea markets and made him a devoted autodidact of regional art and design. In 2013, he organized Grapevine-, a significant exhibition of living California ceramicists, including Made in L.A. artists Magdalena Suarez Frimkess and Michael Frimkess. And over the years, his own work has moved from the more familiar, spectacular concerns of "Los Angeles sculpture" toward a more idiosyncratic approach, one arguably richer in its proximity to localized concerns.[13]
Brian O'Connell recently returned to Los Angeles after working in New York, where he participated in Greater New York at MoMA PS1 in 2010. A CalArts graduate, O'Connell was born in Belgium and has lived in Germany and Amsterdam; his move back to the West Coast inspired him to investigate a collection of L.A. vacation slides taken in the 1950s by his architect grandfather while traveling from Germany, including many images of the city's international style buildings. The artist's current research into geoinformatics, coupled with his reading of Thomas Mann's diary entries about arriving in Los Angeles, isolates highly specific vantages, geographic and historical, into the city. A native of Brasília, Clarissa Tossin has made a substantial body of work about that utopian modernist capital, designed by celebrated architect Oscar Niemeyer, and her Made in L.A. installation features the Volkswagen named for the city. Splitting her time between Brazil and Los Angeles, Tossin extended her research to include Niemeyer's Strick House, the only example of the architect's residential work in the United States. Such connections, whether serendipitous or not, point to Los Angeles as a localized microcosm of a larger globalized network importing and exporting utopian aspirations. For Tossin, this network is embedded in the transnational movement of an old VW Brasilia—a hatchback originally marketed to a burgeoning middle class but now, decades later, favored by Brazilian handymen—from its native city to Los Angeles.
Born in Naples, Piero Golia did not move to Los Angeles to attend school; rather, he started one upon arriving here. Along with artist Eric Wesley, Golia founded the Mountain School of Arts in 2005, a nonaccredited, itinerant institution initially headquartered in the now defunct Mountain Bar in Chinatown. The one-year program boasts an international cast of visiting artists and an eclectic faculty (Made in L.A. 2014 artist Channing Hansen teaches the program's science class, focusing on the history of women scientists) and has served as a gateway to Los Angeles for many artists—though not necessarily as an alternative to the region's graduate programs: some artists transition from the Mountain School to pursue their MFAs. Perhaps due to the surprising longevity of his curriculum, Golia is acknowledged locally as both an impresario and an artist. Yet he exhibits frequently outside his chosen base of operation, and his signature work in Los Angeles is, arguably, a light atop the Standard Hotel in Hollywood that glows when he is in town and is dark when he is away; it's a fitting symbol of the global Los Angeles artist and his (or her) often elusive audience.
Studio Remix: Tangled Chains, Closed Circuits
If, throughout this text, I have insinuated that the studio is a compelling environment to view art (and the artist at work), I should also acknowledge that one (meaning "I") should not idealize the studio as a site of reception. Nor should one idealize the museum (or gallery) either. There is an important legacy of critical considerations of such idealizing—from the writings of Brian O'Doherty and Daniel Buren to the work of influential Los Angeles artists Michael Asher and Andrea Fraser—that is, even in summary, beyond my scope here.[14] Yet, despite a significant tradition of "poststudio" practice, the vast majority of artists I have encountered in Los Angeles continue to maintain studios of some kind, and the studio remains a significant site of encounter—surely just as anxious as ideal—for a small but enthusiastic audience of one's peers (not to mention curators, teachers, and other viewers). When there is a dearth of formal exhibition opportunities, the studio might also operate as the only venue for the work in question.
As varied as they may look or operate, such privatized and intensely localized spaces can provide important insights. For example, in the work of Lecia Dole-Recio, a thick paper surface used to protect the studio floor—upon which most of her work is made—gradually becomes covered with a palimpsest of errant paint marks, footprints, and abrasions, and is then frequently repurposed as collage material. Such circulation becomes apparent in the proximity of studio and end product, but one can just as easily detect evidence of discrete elements—scraps of colored paper, cardboard, painted fragments, typically in geometric shapes—migrating from one hybridized construction of painting and collage to another, much like genetic information. The studio of Caitlin Lonegan offers similar kinds of clues— some found on the artist's bookshelves. A solo exhibition in 2012 was titled The Mark on the Wall, a fitting name for a show of ostensibly abstract paintings and drawings, but the phrase is a direct allusion to Virginia Woolf's story of the same name. Lonegan titled another body of paintings White Page, possibly another writerly reference. However, her works display little or no overt literary content, and she has declared her distance from any autobiographical or psychoanalytic reading of her work, stating bluntly, "It's not interesting if you know where the artist is."[15]
In the case of a dancer, however, it is entirely necessary to know where the artist is. Jmy James Kidd, a recent transplant to Los Angeles from New York, does business as James Kidd Studio. Within a month of arriving, Kidd founded Pieter, a dance and exhibition space used for private rehearsal and public performance. Kidd often works in collaboration, in various group formations, at Pieter and other venues, as well as in the urban landscape; she also makes costumes, which frequently feature in performances by her and others. Pieter operates primarily through a barter system that includes the FREE Boutique, which constituents take from or add to, in a kind of casual homeostasis. While such a localized microeconomy is hardly specific to Los Angeles, it seems like a particularly viable option here and one growing in popularity. Whether rebuffed by the larger economy or indifferent to it, the city's art community—traced, in part, by Made in L.A. 2014—is rich with inventive self-starters eager to try new models or reconfigure old ones.
In 2014, a work of art may circulate in many forms—in the context of an exhibition, inevitably, but also as a JPEG or Vimeo link or an old-fashioned book. Despite a prophecy of the end of publishing, artists remain stubbornly committed to printed matter as a form and mode of transmission and not necessarily to the exclusion of digital platforms. Devin Kenny is an artist who takes an all-of-the-above approach to dissemination, compiling mix-tapes that may circulate in real life or as digital files, producing videos—often remakes of hip-hop originals—that can be viewed online or, in the context of a gallery setting, on a vintage monitor with headphones. He might refer you to one of his websites, or he might give you a book representing his work. Such a promiscuous approach to media undoubtedly points to important generational shifts but also signals a complex circuit from the site of the production to the site of reception— in Kenny's case, these sites could be one and the same.
Like Kenny, Harsh Patel moves fluidly among media formats, working as both designer and artist while maintaining a densely layered website with a tangled chain of links to design commissions, found images, logos, and symbols, often without annotation or attribution. While belonging to a generation that has consistently pushed the limits of "too much information," often in the very public arena of the social network, Patel remains outwardly elusive—and intentionally so. Deeply invested in subcultural codes—a tote bag produced by Patel reads "Westside Suede Fan Club," possibly a club with only one member—he deliberately uses design to frustrate circulation rather than ensure that field's traditional expectations of effective communication. He favors typefaces that threaten illegibility to a wide audience, and sometimes uses silkscreen printing and various forms of mechanical reproduction to produce artist's books in tiny editions that are distributed by him personally, if they are distributed at all.
Drawing such microscopic circles, Patel's interpersonal distribution system recalls the work of Los Angeles- and San Francisco-based artist Wallace Berman (1926–1976), now a thoroughly historicized figure associated with the Beat movement but at the time known mostly to an energetic group of his peers.[16] In the late 1950s, Berman began work on Semina, a series of publications that included poetry, photography, and letterpress by Berman and his small circle. Hand assembled, each issue was distributed entirely at the whim of the artist, diagramming a closed circuit. Public Fiction, founded by Lauren Mackler, echoes aspects of Berman's Semina approach, fostering community through stunningly designed publications, as well as three-month exhibitions organized in a Highland Park storefront named the Museum of Public Fiction. Importantly, Mackler provides little evidence of a hierarchical relationship between exhibition and publication; rather, the two formats represent different facets of the same project, which might also manifest as performance or another form of live event. Like the Los Angeles Museum of Art, Public Fiction is a platform for a small, mostly localized constituency of artists, though it occasionally casts a wider net. (Mackler has organized shows under this banner elsewhere, including in Turin, Italy, and presently at the Hammer, in the context of this biennial.) Mackler is a recent arrival in Los Angeles, and Public Fiction provided her a context in which to work in her adopted city. In turn, this endeavor also established a coherent circle around an otherwise scattered network of artists, writers, and other public intellectuals who have appeared in shows at the Museum of Public Fiction or in Public Fiction publications— including, perhaps not surprisingly, a number of the artists in Made in L.A. 2014.
Organizing a biennial is a complex business, one inevitably delimited by the time and place of its making. Contingency is a guiding principle of the research, and the findings are necessarily partial, if not occasionally contradictory. One hope is that Made in L.A. 2014—an exhibition intended for a relatively broad audience—can describe the larger atmospheric condition of the city's art world by spotlighting the number of diverse idiosyncratic microclimates that define it. As the sales pitch goes, it's a climate that could exist only in Los Angeles.
1. Michael Frimkess in conversation with the author, Los Angeles, November 25, 2013.
2. Norman M. Klein, The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memory (London: Verso, 1997), 31.
3. Reyner Banham, Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies (London and New York: Penguin, 1971).
4. Lake Overturn was initially a live performance on July 7, 2013, with the actress set against a backdrop of footage from apocalyptic blockbusters and footage shot by Hu!man. The performance took place in a small, private Santa Monica screening room and was included in The Machine Project Field Guide to L.A. Architecture, coinciding with the Getty Center's initiative Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in L.A.
5. See http://www.kchungradio.org/ participate.html, accessed December 1, 2013.
6. See http://harrydodge.com, accessed December 18, 2013.
7. See Jarett Kobek, "Dit is Inden Hert," this volume.
8. Kobek in e-mail to the author, May 30, 2013.
9. John Miller, "From My Institution to Yours: A Personal Remembrance," Art Agenda, February 6, 2012, http:// www.art-agenda.com/reviews/mikekelley-1954-2012/.
10. Richard Hawkins in conversation with the author, Los Angeles, May 11, 2013.
11. See Matias Viegener's account of this acrimony in his "Protective Forgetting: The Short Life and Urgent Work of Tony Greene," this volume.
12. Michael Ned Holte, "Made in L.A., Hammer Museum," Artforum, October 2012, p. 259.
13. "Working within the scale that I have the past few years is also a type of reaction . . . almost consciously, to distance the work from L.A. bigboy sculpture—where surface and decisions can seem overlooked or allowed to become more generalized." Ricky Swallow in e-mail to the author, September 10, 2012.
14. See, for example, Andrea Fraser, "From the Critique of Institutions to an Institution of Critique," Artforum, September 2005, pp. 278–283, 332, which provides a cogent history of practices most closely associated with "institutional critique" while also considering the complications of that legacy as invoked or recuperated in a variety of contemporary practices.
15. Caitlin Lonegan artist entry, Made in L.A. 2014.
16. The bibliography on Wallace Berman and Semina is increasingly expansive, but the definitive resource remains Michael Duncan and Kristine McKenna, Semina Culture: Wallace Berman & His Circle (New York: D.A.P., 2005). The well-received exhibition of the same title debuted at the Santa Monica Museum of Art in 2005 before traveling to numerous other venues.


text:
900 North Michigan Theaters
7 people favorited this theater
Previously operated by: Cineplex Odeon
Functions: Gymnasium
Broadway Playhouse at Water...
Rush Theatre
Esquire Theatre
Carnegie Theatre
Opened September 30, 1989.
Contributed by Aaron wood
JohnSanchez on January 16, 2004 at 1:09 pm
The 900 N Michigan theater was a twin located on the bottom level of the 900 North Shopping Center. Both theaters were rather large and held around 600 each. They played a mixture of first run, exclusive first run, and art films. I saw such films as "Cobb", "Best in Show", and "Adaptation" in their exclusive showings at 900 North. There were rumblings for about a year before the theater closed that it was in danger. The manager told me it was a week to week operation. The theatre closed in February of 2003 with "Adaptation" as its final booking which was on both screens.
paytonc on May 25, 2005 at 3:55 pm
The space was converted to an Equinox health club in 2004. Competition from the megaplex closed four smaller theaters along Michigan—McClurg, 900 North, Water Tower, and the Fine Arts (further south). Rumors have surrounded the Esquire for a while, as it sits on prime real estate.
.pc
reiermann on July 5, 2005 at 7:12 am
These were nice, modern theaters when they fist opened. I saw a lot of big Hollywood films here. Sound and projection were for the time state-of-the-art (DTS and 70mm). After a couple of years, they started becoming run-down. The location was great. Decor was cookie-cutter Cineplex Odeon: mauve was the predominant color-scheme.
Paul Fortini on September 14, 2006 at 7:07 am
It is interesting that back when Sony-Loews and Cineplex Odeon merged, this was one of the theatres that was to be divested. The theatre was supposed to have been sold to the ill-fated Meridien Theatres chain (which lasted about 2 years). The owners of the building didn't think that Meridien had the financial means for this property—it is in the "high-rent district" of Chicago—thus the sale was never consummated.
The United States Department of Justice did take Loews-Cineplex to court because of this failure to divest the theatre. I found the following from doing a Google search:
"The 900 North Michigan Avenue theatre is a two screen site located a few blocks from the 600 Michigan Avenue location. Because of its small size and unusual location (in the basement of a very upscale multi-use development), this theatre historically has had lower revenues than the 600 North Michigan location. When Loews presented Meredian as the potential purchaser for this theatre in February, 1999, the landlord consented to an assignment of the lease to Meredian. However, because the landlord had refused to consent to the assignment of the 600 North Michigan lease to Meredian, Meredian's banker declined to finance an independent purchase of 900 North Michigan."—from the USDOJ website on the lawsuit.
It all eventually became a moot point anyways. Even though the theatre remained with Loews, it was closed in 2003 and converted to a health club. There are those who say that Cineplex-Odeon opened up this theatre in response to getting booted out of the nearby Esquire (in favor of Sony-Loews)and that C-O was going to apply the Esquire name on this theatre.
mattlife75 on January 1, 2007 at 2:07 pm
Saw "Snow Falling on Cedars" here. I liked this theater, it was kind of a hidden gem on the Mag Mile. I guess having two screens just didn't cut it.
Byte19 on January 11, 2012 at 3:46 pm
the amount of memories in this place will always be special to me…. saw Batman 26 of my 42 times in this theater… (my first poster came from here, Batman, as well) saw the Oscar-Winning Silence of The Lambs here… MET Roger Ebert while watching Mystery Men… saw Dragonheart, Memento, Eraser, and so much more there… these screens are sorely missed…
rivest266 on November 23, 2014 at 11:02 am
September 30th, 1989 grand opening ad in photo section
bhusar on June 3, 2018 at 8:13 am
I saw Scorsese's The Age Of Innocence here on the day of release, and Apollo 13. Another one gone.


A truly profound mirror object by the young Luxembourgish artist Sali Muller! In her work, Muller questions our self-confidence and the role we play in society. In Spiegel, we assure ourselves, sometimes we speak for ourselves and practice our everyday roles. Even in art and psychology, the topos of narcissism is closely linked to the mirror image. Through multi-part, smooth-cut mirror segments, Muller radically questions our search for wholeness and individuality. The indivisible individuality is visually dissected here. Each viewpoint leads to an invisible emptiness.


Latest research has proven that when preschoolers are enjoying they can be acting like scientists – basically forming hypotheses, conducting experiments, working out probabilities, deciphering choices and the way things work. I can't say that you should not retake it, however for you it is important to set down what's the value for retaking a class (TIME and cash) as well as the misplaced alternative on some other 'factor' (Your own happiness and free time with pals for example or volunteering at a girls and boys house or walking dogs on the human society and many others and so forth and so on).
Section 7 of the Schooling Act 1996 applies to England and Wales: Obligatory schooling 7: Duty of parents to secure training of children of obligatory school age shall trigger him to receive efficient full-time training appropriate- a: to his age, skill and aptitude, and b: to any special educational needs he might have, both by common in school or in any other case.
That is my request and a responsbility to inform, guide, help and carve a path for all the youthful ones out there (and naturally to all of the lecturers and managers of educational institutes), to please take a look at the GREATER IMAGE, do not get stuck with only the grades that you are getting, or just that 6-eight hours that you're spending going to highschool or school and strutting back in direction of house.
The educational level of Kansas adults ought to continue to rise because educational efficiency by Kansas college students has additionally improved, together with highschool commencement rates, the National Assessment of Educational Progress fourth and eighth grade reading and math assessments, and faculty preparation checks, corresponding to the proportion of students meeting all four college ready benchmarks" on the ACT take a look at.
This discourse just isn't an try and merely register as soon as presence in the scene of global educational brain storming on a topic that draws majority of Scholars' consideration akin to this , but to provide a crucial analysis of how much of those developments have been appreciated and embraced by educational establishments and the impact so far.


It is a neverending experience. Here we go again. We meet regularly for listening, speaking, reading and writing. We learn a lot about Great Britain and the British. Grammar and its use is sometimes a topic. You won't miss poems, jokes and limericks. The participants enjoy our lessons and that is most important. So join us and find out that English can be fun.


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Three To Watch - Sunderland
It's the final game of the season on Saturday and Blues take on Sunderland LIVE on Sky Sports at Roots Hall.
Ahead of this weekend's fixture, we take a look at three key players in Jack Ross' squad.
Aiden McGeady
Irish winger Aiden McGeady is certainly one of the Black Cats players that Blues need to watch out for on Saturday, he has played 34 games in Sky Bet League one this season. He is currently Sunderland's top goal scorer this campaign, McGeady has scored 11 goals in the league as well as also chipping in with five assists.
The 33-year-old joined Sunderland from Everton on July 13th 2017 and cost a fee off 252k, he also had a long tenure with Scottish club Celtic back in 2004 which lasted all the way until 2010 when he decided to leave for Russian club Spartak Moscow.
McGeady missed out on Tuesday's away trip to Fleetwood through an injury and is to be assessed going into Saturday's game, if he does end up playing a part in this weekend's fixture, he will be a serious threat for the opponents.
George Honeyman
George Honeyman has been one of Sunderland's most influential players this season, with Honeyman getting handed the captaincy at the beginning of the season at the age of 23-years-old he has only gone from strength to strength for them so since progressing through the academy.
The Englishmen has played in 34 league games this season netting six goals in the league and also assisting three along the way. Honeyman's main position for the Black Cats this season has been as an attacking midfielder role, playing just behind their main striker.
Will Grigg
Will Grigg signed for Sunderland for a fee of four million pounds on January 31st 2019 from Wigan Athletic, since joining the top of the table club Grigg has scored four goals in 16 appearances also chipping in with two assists. Grigg is also a full Northern Ireland international having played 13 times in total and scoring two goals for his country.
The 27-year-old striker played half of this season in the Championship for his previous club Wigan, where he featured in 17 games, bagging four goals also getting one assist. Over the 33 games played across both divisions he has scored eight goals and picked up three assists.
Southend United vs Sunderland on 04 May 19
Three To Watch


SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FEES: use discount code "10%OFF" for a 10% discount for families with two or more children enrolling in the club. Membership will be prorated for the remaining sessions.
NOTE: All under 18 players are required to wear protective eyewear meeting ASTM F803 standards or prescription eyewear (glasses) at all times when in the gymnasiums. Non-prescription safety eyewear will be available for purchase by members in September.


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Q: Nginx - transparently redirect traffic into another server block I have a NGINX configuration with two virtual hosts (server {} blocks): one serving a human-readable site on the primary domain, and the other acting as a reverse-proxy for a specialized service on a subdomain.
http {
    <...>

    server {
        listen 443 ssl http2;
        server my.tld;
        <...>

        location / {
            root /srv/http;
            <...>
        }
    }

    server {
        listen 443 ssl http2;
        server svc.my.tld;

        <complex reverse-proxy setup with many location blocks>
    }
}

For some reason, some clients of the specialized service send their requests to the primary domain (i. e. I see my.tld/api/endpoint instead of svc.my.tld/api/endpoint in the logs). I cannot fix these clients. They also don't follow redirects.
Is there any way to transparently redirect those requests into the correct server {} block, without duplicating the whole reverse-proxy configuration in the main server block?


Whoever coined the phrase "sleeping like a baby" certainly didn't live in the high-tech age. Indeed, new studies show that babies are losing sleep and touch screens are to blame.
Now, it's long been known that too much staring at the screen isn't good for any of us, but when it comes to babies, toddlers and small children in general, the lack of sleep at a crucial stage of growth may actually impair cognitive development, as Salon recently reported. And yet everywhere you go, you see toddlers clutching iPads in their strollers and babies gawking at iPhones while mom waits in a supermarket line. Our devices have come to impact so many of our daily activities that our children are growing up bathed in a digital glow.
And that's the rub. A Scientific Reports study published last year revealed that there is a significant link between the use of touch screens with sleep problems in infants and toddlers. Traditional screen time, such as television and video games, also affects sleep, but it's a less omnipresent force in our lives. On the other hand, touch screen devices (phones, tablets, cameras) are everywhere at all times and that means the correlation between use of media and loss of shuteye is more dire than ever. For babies in particular, the lack of sleep in those early months and years can impair brain development.
Using data from 715 parents, the researchers explored the relationship between media use and sleep patterns (sleep duration, frequencies of night waking, ease of getting to sleep). They found that 75 percent of toddlers between 6 months and three years use a touch screen on a daily basis. Fifty-one percent of babies between 6 and 11 months use a screen. And virtually all of those babies, a staggering 90 percent, are still engaging in the same level of media use when they are 25 to 36 months of age. The trouble is that every additional hour of tablet use by these is associated with 15.6 minutes less total sleep per night, which adds up to 95 hours of less sleep a year.
While the facts are sobering and pediatricians have long warned about curbing screen time, it can still be hard to pull off in the real world, especially at a time when kindergarteners attend computer labs and many kids are expected to do school assignments on a computer.
For the record, the American Academy of Pediatrics has set firm guidelines for media use. For children younger than 18 months, they recommend avoiding all screens, except video-chatting. They add that parents of children 18 to 24 months of age who want to introduce digital media should choose high-quality programming and watch it with their children. Ages 2 to 5 years should be limited to 1 hour per day. For all children, they advise holding the line on media free zones, such as the dinner table and the bedroom, and making sure that the screens are not keeping kids from sleeping, eating and playing.
Sadly, although tech moguls, such as Steve Jobs, famously limited his own children's access to technology, the rest of us often fall under the thrall of the screen.
Still it's hard to keep kids from longing for more screen time and using the devices as a way to keep kids quiet and distracted when you have to run errands. Sometimes handing a kid your phone is the easiest way to avoid a tantrum.
Elizabeth Shipsides, a Fremont mother of three, says that sometimes it's the parents, and not the kids, who become reliant on the gadgets. The trouble is that with three boys under 10, it's hard to get anything done without the electronic babysitter.
Another East Bay mom admits she started letting her little girl take the iPad to bed with her for 15 minutes a night because it was the only way to get her to stay in bed.
It's also important to note that different children react differently to stimulation. One child may nod off amid an episode of "Peppa Pig," while others need a solid time buffer with no tech of any kind before they can power down enough to drift off.
Fabisiak adds that setting a good example may be the key. If parents check email at the dinner table and clutch their phone at bedtime, then kids will too. Unplugging from devices has to be modeled to children.


Crowdfunding is already well-established in the Internet age. Beyond Kickstarter, several ICO projects perform their versions of raising funds, for various purposes. Now, Root Project claims to bring fundraising to the most vulnerable layers of society, and foster crowdfunding for community-minded projects.
The Root Project is a well-known organizer of campaigns with a socially significant impact. Now, a token is added to share in the wealth of cryptocurrency. With this move, the Root platform recalls the move of Kickstarter, which also looked into adopting token sales as a source of raising venture capital.
Roots Project is different, and bets on an already established reputation, a network of experts and other organizations. The ICO, which should already have started the sale, but may, in fact, last for a very short time, is a different opportunity, caring a bit less about technology and profits, and more about using the blockchain and tokenization for community charity and social campaigns.
The Root Project ICO aims to use the far reach of the crypto community to expand the goals of the fundraising platform. ICO backers would gain voting access and more control over the projects, by holding the ROOT token.
The Root ICO requires a pre-registration and white-listing. The ICO dates, spanning just a few days, were announced on the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The way fundraising would be done is that the funding would once again be gathered up in USD currency, but some of the proceeds would buy back the tokens. Some of the hard-capped tokens would also be reserved in a fund-like entity.
The Roots Project was co-founded by Dr. Nicholas Adams Judge, a political scientist, and big data expert. The team also includes co-founder Chris Place, a marketing and startup expert, and Anton Kraminkin, the development director, is an early cryptocurrency adopter.
Users can buy the ROOTS token in the current ICO, which still has not announced an official start, but allows for pre-registration. In addition, tokens can be earned by participating in the Root Project ecosystem. Donors will receive some ROOTS.
Additionally, the token would also serve as a reward for experts who pitch in to evaluate donation products and their impact on the communities.
Tokens will also be awarded for initiating projects, and bringing them to completion with adequate funding.
The ROOTS token does not list an intention for being traded on exchanges. As an ERC-20 token, it would be compatible with the EtherDelta system.
Root Project is extremely popular. Adding cryptocurrency to the mix may only grow this popularity. The Root Token itself has a very prominent spot in the ecosystem, and demand for this digital asset may remain high.
The project is well-staffed with experts and advisors and has a clear idea of continuing the activity in a more efficient way, adding a token into the mix for improving the fundraising process.
With a strong brand name, this well-organized ICO has no restrictions for US-based investors. There are no upper or lower limits for participation. And if buying the tokens in the ICO, for Ethereum, is not enough, users may also earn tokens in the future.
Root Project is a well-established fundraising platform. The risk of participating in the ICO is that sometimes, famous organizations perform poorly, and their token is rejected by crypto traders. It is unknown whether Root Project would manage to market itself effectively to the crypto community, and make its token visible and well-represented on exchanges.
Buyers who would seek a high-quality project to sell quickly may bypass this ICO, which could prove to be a long-term proposition and a better fit for socially-minded investors, who want to generally support this project.
Root Project has built a unique, app-enabled system that mixes the enthusiasm of amateur fundraising with a serious, on-the-ground organization with vast experience in social projects. This means that a wide user base would be able to propose campaigns and complete them with the help of experts from the already established ground team of the Root Project organization.
The token is additionally appealing since purchases can be written off as tax-deductible donations.
The Root Project has also joined the Blockchain for Social Impact Coalition, a world-spanning organization, which includes 20 other partners from Geneva, Glasgow, and London to New York, San Francisco and DC. The Coalition works on social issues in the most disadvantaged areas of the world.
While Roots Project may become the non-profit fundraiser of the crypto world, the ICO has also gathered around backers who only care about the token market price, for a quick speculative gain. Because of this, My Rating for Roots Project is 3/5. An otherwise excellently executed ICO with a clear socially-minded idea, Roots Project's token sale contains risks, and it is best not to over-invest unless there is also a clear plan for participating in the ecosystem. Trading the token profitably may end up with losses.


It's been a while since I've written and I'd like to apologize. I'd been traveling much more than usual and though I've been reading, the traveling, visitors from overseas, some internet connectivity issues have resulted in this silence.
I'd like to share my World Book Night experience and to encourage anyone who is considering signing up for it next year to do so. I was lucky to be able to give away 20 copies of Marcus Zusak's The Book Thief. I had initially intended to spend the day in NYC - visiting Sunset Park and Manhattan, traveling around without a specific base. But my relatives decided to visit the East Coast from the Philippines. My favorite aunt, her daughter, son-in-law and grandson were in Boston & Gloucester, MA for 10 days so I made 2 trips to Boston to see them. I spent World Book Night in Gloucester & Boston.
I headed to the train platform and tried to come up with a better strategy. A woman smiled at my bag of books and World Book Night pin. I immediately started talking about World Book Night and she wrote down that she couldn't hear. I took out a book and showed it to her and when she wrote down the title, I offered it to her. And then wrote her a note about World Book Night just as she was writing me a huge THANK YOU! I suspect that she is a reader as well, so I tried to find a non-reader for my next recipient.
I spent much of the hour long train ride to Boston thinking of how to approach the ticket collector, but couldn't find her when we finally reached North Station. I walked back into the different compartments and got a few suspicious looks. At the women's bathroom, this youngish woman was refilling the soap dispensers. I asked her if she'd read a good book lately and she was quite puzzled but polite when she said no. I gave her a copy of The Book Thief and explained that it was a wonderful read - a bit tough in the beginning but to keep reading and it is amazing. And that a middle school kid would enjoy it as well. She seemed to like the idea of sharing the book with a kid and promised to read the book.
I walked around the area and found a small Holiday Inn Express nearby. Figuring that the friendly man at reception could always use a good read, I asked if he'd read anything good lately. As he said no to my strange question, I offered him a copy of The Book Thief. I explained about World Book Night and that the book was a wonderful read. It has a tough beginning but to keep at it. He seemed delighted and my second real successful introduction. Buoyed up with these recent successes, I approached a few cab drivers and a parking garage attendant. None of them were interested in a good read. The parking attendant was in the middle of a good book - and didn't seem interested in someone else (like me!) picking out his next read. And the cab drivers just weren't interested.
So, I headed back to the South End with my list of places to visit. I dropped off a book at Lasker's, a small neighborhood store, where the owner works 7 days a week. He was glad to receive the book and didn't quite believe that it was offered for free. This lead us to a discussion of what we really loved about America. We'd both emigrated to the US and find that these acts of private generosity are part of what we love about America.
I wasn't able to go to all the spots I'd initially planned (locksmith, small pizza parlor, neighborhood bank, etc.) in the South End. Instead, I walked down Tremont Street in the South End and stopped into the small businesses. I found a young man stocking bottles in the wine store who was happy to receive a good book to read, a woman who promised to share the book with others, several women manicurists who were very happy to have a book to share with their middle school children. A number of people refused the offer of a book - quite a few didn't read in English and some just thought I must be a bit strange.
My nephew Pancho was visiting from the Philippines and though he's a smart 12-year old, he doesn't read all that much. His parents aren't readers and Pancho is busy with school, tennis, his friends, etc. I'd made the mistake of handing him a stack of books when I saw them earlier in the week. Apparently, if he has unread books, his parents curtail his tv time and his time with friends until he's caught up with his reading. He finds books a bit stressful and was quite clear that he wasn't interested in receiving another book. He explained this to me early the morning of April 23, when we were all still at Gloucester. I figured that if Pancho didn't want a copy of The Book Thief, I might persuade his mother to read it and to share it with him at a later date. I gave away 19 copies of the book and kept one for Pancho or his mother. I saw them that evening and was telling everyone about my day and World Book Night. Pancho was listening quite intently and asked me if I still had a copy of The Book Thief. This is a picture of Pancho reading The Book Thief.


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RSP MA-level Courses
The following courses are offered by the Romani Studies Program to MA and PhD students in the 2021/2022 academic year. The courses can be taken within the framework of the advanced certificate or simply as elective courses (outside of the certificate program).
Fall term:
RSP5066 Patterns of exclusion, dilemmas of inclusion: Roma policies and politics in the 21st century
Marton Rovid
2 credits, 2021-22 Fall term
Hybrid teaching:
- onsite at the Vienna Campus, room: QS D-107 Thursdays 17.40-19.20
- online participation: please see in the course description
The aim of this course is to introduce students to various forms of social exclusion Roma face in the 21st century, and the dilemmas policy-makers, NGOs and activists encounter when promoting the equality of Roma. The course is composed of three parts. First, the debates on 'Who are the Roma?' are discussed. Shall the 'Roma' be seen as a non-territorial nation, the biggest European minority or as a label referring to diverse ethnic groups or a socio-ethnic class? Theoretical questions of labelling, group-making and self-determination are examined in view of the case of Roma. The second part discusses the various patterns of exclusion Roma face (in the fields of education, labour market and residence). Debates on the relation between recognition and redistribution, as well as ethnicity and poverty are studied. Furthermore, the applicability of the analytical category of 'underclass' to case of Roma is examined. The third part of the course analyses the role of various actors and the dilemmas they face when promoting the participation, equality, and inclusion of Roma. The foremost theories of multiculturalism and the main forms of political autonomy are discussed. Particular attention is paid to the role of NGOs and international organizations in the codification, spread and acceptance of norms in relation to Roma. The challenges and shortcomings of Roma inclusion policies and National Roma Integration Strategies are discussed in depth. The course ends by reflecting on how to tackle enduring form of injustice.
Winter Term:
RSP5061 Critical Approaches to Romani Studies
Angéla Kócze, Márton Rövid
4 credits, 2021-22 Winter term
(Thursdays 17.40-19.20)
The course aims to re-envision Romani Studies through a critical lens and discuss further possibility to use new theoretical frameworks such as gender, critical race, and post-colonial theories to understand the situation of Roma in the context of changing social, economic, cultural, and political landscapes in Europe. Students will discuss concepts and arguments from the orientalist folklorist via anthropological and sociological studies and engage with emancipatory scholarship.
By the end of the course, student should be able to:
understand key concepts and approaches in Romani studies
form theoretically and historically grounded understanding of the main ways in which anti-Romani racism operate
critically reflect upon academic and policy papers on Romani people
present coherent arguments in both oral and written forms in English
Spring Term:
RSP 5065 Race, justice, solidarity: addressing anti-Roma Racism in contemporary Europe
Márton Rövid
2 credits, 2021-22 Spring term
(Schedule - TBC)
The growing literature on racial justice in the field of political theory usually tracks the legacy of colonialism and imperialism, white settlement and African slavery, that systematically privileges 'whites' globally, and that needs to be 'repaired'. The moral grounding and forms of reparations are highly debated not only in academia but in countless political fora. However, both academic and political debates have largely taken place in post-colonial contexts and ignored the enduring forms of injustice Romani peoples face.
In the course we are going to assess the relevance of normative debates around racial justice for the case of Roma in two steps. First, arguments on the forms, desirability, and feasibility of reparations are reviewed. Some scholars distinguish remembrance, reconciliation, restorative justice, and reparations. The United Nations distinguishes five forms of reparations: restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, and guarantees of non-repetition. We discuss the relation between racial justice and democratic solidarity. Second, contemporary academic and political debates on anti-gypsyism are assessed in light of the literature on racial justice. To what extent and under what conditions can social and education policies remedy enduring racial injustice? What is the relation between social inclusion and tackling anti-gypsyism? Who and on what grounds can demand racial justice on behalf of Roma? Who have benefited from the exploitation of Roma and who bear responsibility for past and present forms of oppression? What are the responsibilities of so-called post-socialist states, churches, companies, settlements? To what extent is it desirable and feasible to tackle white privilege in Eastern Europe?
LEGS5172 Critical Race Theory: Race and Law from the United States to Europe
Angéla Kócze, Mathias Möschel
(Schedule TBC)
Critical Race Theory emerged in American legal academia at the end of the 1980s as a critique of the limitations both of orthodox liberal civil rights scholarship and of the failure to address race by scholars belonging to Critical Legal Studies. Since then, critical race theorists have developed a rich body of scholarship and critique. This course will thus explore what hides behind the ideas and concepts of "interest convergence", "intersectionality", "unconscious racism", "white privilege" and "legal storytelling". This will allow at the same time to better understand the developments of legal social theories concerning race issues in the United States from the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to today's "post-racial" articulations after the election of President Obama. Race, racialization, racism and its humiliation and inferiorization historically produced and contemporarily articulated, yet so often in denial in Europe. The prevailing myth of "European colorblindness" masks Europe as a space which never was "racial". Thus it makes difficult to challenge the narrative within a European theoretical framework that constantly treats race as an external issue that does not need to be theorized. Some scholars name it as a "racial amnesia", which contributes to the erasure of the history of European racism and the history of Europeans of color that makes unspeakable the processes of internal racialization. Critical Race Theory can challenge the "European colorblindness" by providing theorizations of the racilization of Roma and the extremely violent anti-Gypsyism that only recently receives some theorization in academia. This course examines the geneology and applicability of Critical Race Theory in in Europe, particularly in the case of racialized groups, such as Roma.
To learn more about the topics you will be discussing in the courses, you can review the previous syllabi of RSP5066 and RSP5061 .
Patterns of exclusion, dilemmas of inclusion: Roma policies and politics in the 21st century
Critical Approaches to Romani Studies