Discussion on the Works of Ukeles and Banksy - Abstract

Abstract

This article takes the opportunity to discuss two site specific artists in detail in relation to Kwon’s discussion of site specificity and integration Vs intervention. In addition it describes the works of theses artists in terms of Roger Fry’s Essay on Aesthetics. This analysis determines how these artists utilized their site of work to influence the audience to respond to their work of art/ performances. By taking a few of their works as illustrations, the article tries to establish the methods adopted by these artists are in accordance with the conceptions of site specificity. The integration of their work of art with the site of work, the effect of artists’ intervention into a specific location, and the results of their work of art are also discussed in detail in this article.

The Westphalian order

How is the contemporary globalization altering or undermining the Westphalian order?

The contemporary globalization has been altering the Westphalian order as well as undermining its importance in the global stage with regards to various factors. The Westphalian system which has the ‘nation – state’ as its basic unit (Suter, 2006, p.1) has been undergoing a reconstitution and its sovereign statehood is affected strongly by the forces of accelerating globalization (Conteh -Morgan, 2006, p.1). The objective of this article is to analyze the various issues which are altering and/or undermining the Westphalian order.

 The fundamental system of governance across the world is the Westphalian world order (Suter, 2006, p.1). It has four principles, namely, territoriality, sovereignty, legality and autonomy (Mc Grew, 2000, quoted Lange hove and Costea, 2005, p.3). For the efficient functioning of the world order, the competence of these four principles is important. Functioning as nation –state block, the responsibility of the Westphalian system is to provide welfare for its citizens, the defense around its boundaries, internal order and civic engagement (Lange hove and Costea, 2005, pp.3-4). The role of the Westphalian system in the execution of these duties has been greatly affected by the growing importance of the contemporary globalization.         

The concept of globalization may be defined as ‘a fundamental shift of transformation in the spatial scale of human social organization that links distant communities’ (Mc Grew, p.3). Globalization helps the human activities to shift from the constricted boundaries of the nation-state to the entire globe itself (Valaskakis, 2000). Due to the rise of the multi national corporations, the globalization of production, which paved way for the mass migration of the skilled labour, trans- border movement of the entrepreneurs, technology etc, is introduced. Globalization happening in various sectors at a rapid speed makes permanent marks on the face of the Westphalian world order.

In the economic sector, the emergence of the international corporations has changed the perspective of the global business. Subjects of a country no longer produce goods only for the local market. People do not entertain thoughts of patriotism when they buy a product in the market. They are primarily interested whether the product is cheap and is of good quality. A consumer uses goods in his day to day life which are probably manufactured in countries he has never visited. The corporations do not want their product to have a national identity since it becomes a burden in the global market (Suter, 2006, p.4).

Since the national governments lost control over their economies and hence are unable to provide employment for its citizens, the transnational corporations move across boundaries and encourage intertwining of national economies (Suter, 2006, p.4) thereby creating job opportunities around the globe.

The real power to organize production and marketing of goods rests with the multinational corporations and hence the global financial markets get to determine to which countries the terms of credit go (Mc Grew, p.8). Hence the significance of the role of the national governments in the financial sector is greatly reduced due to contemporary globalization.

            At the same time, the economic restructuring of countries ‘in response to globalization requirements tend to produce civil strife in structurally vulnerable states’ (Conteh-Morgan, 2006, p.3). Due to free global market competition, the disparities in individual income have become greater which lead to frustration, anger and hostility in states (Conteh-Morgan, 2006, p.3). This makes the nation susceptible to state failure and collective violence. Structurally weak states like the African countries failed to support mercantilism and could not provide national support under globalization pressures which made the states work for the upper class at the expense of the lower class (Conteh-Morgan, 2006, pp.9-10). Globalization in the African countries induced mass unemployment, increased national insecurity and violent uprisings targeted at the incumbent governments leading to state failure and state collapse (Conteh-Morgan, 2006, p.2).

            Globalization has also brought about another major change in the international arena that challenges the sovereignty of the Westphalian order. Though the existence of the nation-state block is important for national identity and local governance, the Westphalian order is now transforming into a world order where world regions play a central role in creating international relations (Langenhove and Costea, 2005, pp.21-22) due to contemporary globalization. A region comprising of many states becomes the centre of governance and has the authority for policy implementation and elaboration (Langenhove and Costea, 2005, p.7). The regional world order makes a certain region a geopolitical entity with Westphalian statehood properties. ‘The European Union (EU) is the world’s best example of how a regional inter-governmental organization is eroding the Westphalian system’ (Suter, 2006, P.3).

            With the increasing awareness of the international human rights, the domestic affairs of the states can be intervened in the notion of preventing injustice, intolerance and violence thereby questioning sovereign equality of the states (Ingvarsdóttir, 2009, p.35). Though there will be no permanent damage done to the Westphalian order due to the intervention by human rights organizations, the order has to adjust itself to accommodate to the needs of the international human rights, the awareness of which is surely brought about by the globalization.

            Also the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) increasingly gain popularity over the national governments and influence governments in decision making process. People cease to have faith in their local political parties in power who fail to introduce policies owing to accelerating globalization. (Suter, 2006, p.5)  NGOs bring people together to work for a greater goal, encourage them to volunteer themselves to work for community welfare, raise concerns about public issues, provide continued care which the governments might prefer to ignore, (Suter, 2006, pp.5-6) and hence providing the people with an alternative set up to work out the social issues. The significant influence of the NGOs over the Westphalian system is strengthened by globalization.

            Many of such above factors brought about by globalization alter or undermine the Westphalian order. The overall impact of globalization on the Westphalian order can be summed up as the reduction in the policy capacity and policy legitimacy of national governments (Valaskakis, 2000). It seems that global financial system, the internet, global environment, spread of epidemics, genetic engineering, international terrorism and weapons of mass destruction (Valaskakis, 2000) do not have borders and do not come under the control of any particular nation.  

            Globalization is making considerable changes in economical, social, legal, military, cultural and ecological sectors thereby altering the Westphalian order continuously. It is by no means to argue that the Westphalian order will disappear in the wake of globalization. In fact the sovereignty of the Westphalian order is, ‘a flexible but a resilient concept’ (Ingvarsdóttir, 2009, p.38) which can adapt itself to the changes brought about by forces of globalization. 

References

Conteh-Morgan, E, 2006, ‘Globalization, state failure, and collective violence: The case of Sierra Leon’, International Journal of Peace Studies, Volume 11, Number 2,  PDF e – book.

Ingvarsdóttir, A, 2009, ‘The Fall of Westphalia? Sovereignty of States Post Globalization’, University of Akureyri, PDF e – book.

Langenhove, LV and Costea AC, 2005, ‘Inter-regionalism and the Future of Multilateralism’, UNU – CRIS occasional papers, United Nations University, PDF e – book.

McGrew, A, ‘Globalization and global politics’, PDF e – book.

Suter, K, 2006, ‘Globalization and the new world order’, Contemporary Review, PDF e – book.

Valaskakis, K, 2000, ‘From ‘Westphalia’ To ‘Seattle’: Long-Term Trends In Global  

    Governance’, OECD Forum On 21st Century Governance, Expo 2000, Hanover  Germany.  

International Rights Exhibition of Books on Indian Cinema at 20th New Delhi World Book fair

M A Sikandar

Director

Edit/20NDWBF/Theme/2011-12

Dear Publisher/Author

As you are aware, during New Delhi World Book Fairs, National Book Trust, India organises a Theme Pavilion to showcase books related to a particular field. During the 18^th New Delhi World Book Fair, the Theme was presented in the form of an International Rights Exhibition of the Works on and by Mahatma Gandhi titled IN WORDS AND IN DEEDS to commemorate the 60^th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of our Father of the Nation. During the 19^th New Delhi World Book Fair, the Theme was READING OUR COMMON WEALTH: An International Rights Exhibition of the Books on Sports in India organised on the occasion of the Commonwealth Games.

In view of the immense response received to the concept of the Rights Exhibition, National Book Trust, India is now happy to announce that during the 20^th New Delhi World Book Fair (25 February-04 March 2012), the Theme would be POINT OF VIEW: An International Rights Exhibition of Books on Indian Cinema (Towards Hundred Years of Indian Cinema). The International Rights Exhibition of the books on Indian Cinema has twin purpose: a) it is aimed at showcasing and documenting publications on Cinema in India by bringing out an Annotated Rights Catalogue and b) it seeks to bring into focus from the perspective of the publishing industry the role and contribution of the Cinematic medium towards popular culture as the centenary year celebrations of Indian Cinema approaches. It also gels with the objectives of National Action Plan for the Readership Development among the Youth (NAPRDY) mooted by NBT, India which is ‘Bringing Youth and Books Closer.’

Books published in English, all Indian and foreign languages on Indian cinema, actors, directors, producers, music directors and the vast spectrum of professions that make cinema, its history, sociology, economics,  legends, myths, problems and prospects and anything gelling with the concept will be welcomed for inclusion in the Catalogue as well as for display during the Exhibition. A publicity card on the event giving other details is enclosed for your kind reference.

I take this opportunity to request you to send your relevant titles with the details as per the format given in the card to make it a memorable and meaningful event for the publishing community.

For any further details or clarification please feel free to contact Dr. Baldev Singh Baddan, Chief Editor & Joint Director and Nodal Officer of the project or Shri Kumar Vikram, Editor & Project-Incharge at nbtrightscell@gmail.com.

Looking forward to receive your kind co-operation in this venture,

With kind regards

To study is to score?

The recently released SSLC results effected many thoughts in me. The result percent is close to eighty six and as usual girls performed better than boys. Again the notion of studying in a private school enables a student perform better results is proved wrong by the excellent top results produced by the students who belong to government schools. Five students scored 496 out of 500 and came out as state toppers (first place), twelve scored 495 to occupy the second place. About 12500 of them scored a centum in Mathematics. And the details followed in the same fashion.  Students, parents, teachers and the school management were ecstatic of their results and celebrated incessantly. Television presenters called the toppers over the phone and asked the inevitable questions, ‘which group are you going to select for the higher secondary? What is it you want to become in your life?’ etc. They have along with them the specialists in Education who suggested the students about their selection of groups in the higher secondary level and even compared the present year’s results with the previous years. They were concerned about not many students getting centum in Tamil and suggested the examiners to encourage the students by giving them centum in Tamil, thereby avoiding the danger of students opting for other languages instead of their mother tongue.

            Students’ ambition for the future revolved around either Engineering, or Medicine or Indian Administrative service. Rarely did I hear a student announcing her true desire to study anything other than the above said fields, for which the students cannot be blamed. They have been always taught that once they complete their education they must be settled into a profession which provides them with sufficient wealth for their life time. Education is primarily a helping tool to achieve this goal. You top SSLC to get into your desired group in +2; you score high marks in higher secondary to get a professional seat in a reputed institute; you top your graduation to get a placement in one of the numerous multinational companies to settle down in your life. And that is it. This is, and has been the ambition for the parents and students and even teachers for the past many years.

            I just want explore the possibilities education offers to an individual to grow into a complete person. Keeping aside all the incorrect notions about education, let us ask ourselves the question, what is the true purpose of education?

 Education aims at improving the overall personality of an individual. Education given to a person enables him to think independently and provides him an opportunity to realize his true potential. It offers him unlimited possibilities to act upon a current situation in relevance to agreeable standards of social responsibilities.

Education prepares the learners for an unpredictable future. When he is presented with an unprecedented state of affairs, he is able to draw inferences from the storage of his acquired knowledge to comprehend, compare, analyze, determine, and to react to a given situation.  Education gives him the skills, knowledge and the courage to plan for a change in the conditions of life about which he becomes aware of.

Of course, by acquiring the necessary education an individual can earn a living; lead a life of comfort and refrain from involving activities that will cause damage to society and the surroundings.

According to John Dewy (1938), the true purpose of education is to ascertain the causes for the conflicts and to provide a more deeper and inclusive plan of operations. .

However much we dwell on the purpose and benefits of education, the present set up and the social expectation do not allow either the learners or the educators to employ the concepts of education. It has always been a case of transfer of information from teacher to students and from students to the examiners. Once the assessment of the concepts is completed, the concepts are forgotten, as though. As for now the primary purpose of education is to help the students with high grades. They do not have to continue their pursuit once their intention is fulfilled. Even during the period of learning, the learning strategies are only aimed at producing material benefits; not spiritual. Students are in an intense race, and hence they have to adhere to the techniques which will provide them factual results.

There is no hope of doing perfect research

The question of whether doing a perfect research is possible or not is based on the degree of perfection expected out of the results of a particular research.  Researches in any field are undertaken with an intention to improve upon the prevailing conditions. Doing a perfect research in my understanding is obtaining a set of perfect results at the completion of the research which are absolute that should not lead us to further investigation.  A perfect research demands desirable conditions, maximum number of specimens with all possible qualitative aspects, absolute precision and accuracy in measurements throughout the process.  Errors due to the biased approach of the observers, time constraint, and limited access to gathering information may prevent us from conducting a perfect research.

 The meaning of the word research is a methodical investigation into a subject in order to discover facts, to establish or revise a theory or to develop a plan of action based on the facts discovered (Microsoft Encarta Dictionary, encarta.msn.com).  Obviously the results of a research can always be improved upon further by doing researches again and the theories established by one research can be revised or even negated by the next one.  Hence it is impossible to do a perfect research. I intend to support my argument by discussing with detailed reference to two examples of research done.

I happened to come across a research article in the NCCAM (National Centre for Complementary and Alternative medicine) website, originally published in Clinical infectious Diseases. The researchers at the University of Michigan conducted a study to see whether drinking cranberry juice is better than placebo, a simulated medical intervention, in preventing urinary tract infections (UTI). The study was conducted among 319 college aged women with symptoms of an acute UTI. For six months they were randomly assigned to drink either 27% cranberry juice or non-cranberry juice (placebo). Periodically the participants provided urine specimens and completed questionnaires. The results of the study showed drinking cranberry juice offered no better protection compared with placebo (“Cranberry juice no better than placebo” nccam.nih.gov )

 However findings from a previous study in similar populations in which cranberry juice proved to reduce the recurrences of UTIs. The researchers cited that the previous studies were unable to detect a significant effect because they were inadequately powered (“Cranberry juice no better than placebo” nccam.nih.gov ). Hence it is proved that the previous studies were not perfect. Also the present research is aimed at establishing the effect of cranberry juice against that of a medical component, while cranberry juice has been used primarily as a home remedy for UTIs. There could many factors such as the size and average age of the population, the duration of the study, the condition of the urinary samples, the details given in the questionnaires which may hinder the accuracy of the study thereby preventing a perfect research to be conducted.

 Another article published in the US National Institutes of Health website, I read that scientists discovered that calorie restriction, along with various other factors, can prevent people from aging. They have conducted a research in some animals and found up to 40 per cent of fewer calories than normal showed significant effects on disease and markers of aging (“Can we prevent aging?” nia.nih.gov). It has been found to extend the life of many species. The article also said, “Early findings of the Comprehensive Assessment of Long-term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy (CALERIE) study show that slightly overweight adults who cut their calorie consumption by 20 to 30 percent lowered their fasting insulin levels and core body temperature. Both of these changes correlate with increased longevity in animal models” (“Can we prevent aging?” nia.nih.gov). Hence it can be concluded that calorie restriction will prevent us from aging.

But there are some contradictory factors found along with the positive results. The effects of calorie restriction are not universal. Several species did not show any lifespan extension by calorie restriction. In some species, calorie restriction appears to shorten lifespan. Hence these factors prevent us to conclude that calorie restriction can definitely extend lifespan in humans. Therefore further research needs to be conducted to establish the truth of the fact. This proves that the research on calorie restriction is not a perfect one. Hereditary factors, climatic conditions in which the humans live in and the type of food they take strongly influence human lifespan. During research these same reasons could have hindered the prospect of producing a perfect research.

On the basis of these arguments, I completely agree with the statement that there is no hope of doing perfect research. Though doing a perfect research is impossible it must be accepted that researches are being carried out in various fields for the betterment of mankind and we must encourage researches as the studies continue to evolve towards the peak of perfection.

Works cited

n.p “Research.” Microsoft Encarta Dictionary. n.pag. n.d. encarta.msn.com  Web. 03 May 2011

 n.p  “Cranberry juice no better than placebo at preventing recurrent UTIs.” n.pag. 24 March 2011 nccam.nih.gov. web 03 May 2011

Barbosa-Cesnik C, Brown MB, Buxton M, et al. “Cranberry juice fails to prevent recurrent urinary tract infection: results from a randomized placebo-controlled trial.” Clinical Infectious Diseases. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.2011 Jan;52(1):23-3. Web 4 May 2011

n.p.  “Can we prevent aging?” 27 Aug 2010. n.pag. nia.nih.gov. web 04 May 2011

Life of Pi

Life of Pi is a Man Booker prize winning novel written by Yann Martel. Martel visited India to write a novel which happens in another country. But when he heard a true story of a sixteen year old boy from a person he met during his stay in India, his whole plan changed.

                I came to know of this novel when the Tamil writer S.Ramakrishnan recommended this in his website. I happened to see this novel in a sale in our school conducted for fund raising. The book was written in 2002 I think, but by the appearance it looked as if it was printed seventy five years ago. Nearly a hundred pages had come off the binding, and the remaining pages were also on the verge separating themselves from their parent if we made an attempt to read. But the thing that caught my attention was its price, five ruffia, fifteen rupees in Indian currency. So I bought it after making sure all the pages are present inside the book and started reading it immediately.

                The hero of the novel is a sixteen year old boy named Piscine Patel, the son of a Zoo director in Pondicherry, India. Since the students of his school made a mockery of his name, calling him ‘pissing Patel’ he decided to change his name. When he visits a new school he introduced himself as Pi. The name was catchy and was quickly popularized. Pi was interested in all three major religions in India, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam and tries to follow all the religions simultaneously. Representatives of three religions meet the boy’s father in the hope of trying to attract Pi towards their religion. But Pi liked all the religions and wants to worship Rama, Jesus and Allah equally.

                Being the son of a Zoo director gives him the opportunity of living with the animals. He knows in and out about the behaviour of wild animals. In fact, his involvement in the religious activities and his wide knowledge of the wild animals led him to choose to study theology and Zoology at his graduation level.

                The story happens in 1970s I suppose. It was the time when Mrs Indira Gandhi, the prime minister of India, enforced emergency throughout the country. Pi’s father foresees the danger of running a zoo business and decided to migrate to Canada. He sells the Zoo but not the animals. Since it is a good bargain to sell the animals in America, Pi’s family, along with the animals travel in a cargo ship to Canada.

                On its course the ship meets with an accident and sinks. The boy was thrown on to a lifeboat and onto the sea. He survived the accident along with a zebra with a broken leg, an orangutan, a hyena and 450 pound royal Bengal tiger.

                Though it was almost certain that all the creatures on the lifeboat would die killing each other or try to save them from being killed by one another or of natural causes, the novel describes the miraculous escape of the boy from the dangerous animals and also from the cruelties of the sea.

                The continuing pages tell us the compelling incidences that involve the boy attempting to survive through the ordeals. He tries everything that is possible to prolong his life until a savior of some sort sights him. He utilizes all the materials that were available in the lifeboat and the persisting situations around him to his benefit and cheats death.

                It is hard to believe that for the major part of the novel, Pi was the only human character and yet the pace and interest of the novel did not go down; in fact they go up once Pi ends up on a life boat. Yann Martel’s style of writing is simple, lucid and humorous even in the most catastrophic situations.

                The story of Pi is a prime example of why we should believe in God. It proves even when you are thrust into a calamity; miracles are bound to happen if you have faith in God and life. Life presents itself with simple solutions for major adversities when you have willingness to survive. Life of Pi is not only a story, but a lesson to all of us who lose hope and interest in life even when we live comfortably.

To be continued.

Splashes of ignorance

I have been listening to swami Guruparananda's Vivekachudamani audio classes while reading Swami Dayananda Saraswathy's Vivekacudamani, talks on 108 selected verses. Jayachandran strongly recommended to me to read the book. He even explained to me how the book helped him realize his true nature. He said the book transformed him entirely. I have read the book once. It did not initally have any great impact on me. I listened to the audio classes also once.But the effort did not seem to have an effect on me, or I did not think that way. 

Vedanta tradition always talks about the necessary qualification one must possess in order study the shastra and understand the vision of it. But then you come to know of the qualifications only when you start studying Vedanta. Hence it is told that for the one who does not have the qualifications, listening to the classes will enable him to acquire them. For a person who has the required qualifications, listening any of the maha vakhya is sufficient enough to understand his true nature and attain liberation.

What I have been writing here is not going to be coherent since I am neither a qualified teacher nor a spirited sadhaka. That is precisely why I have named these series of passages “out of dust bin” I just trash the garbage into this blog from my primary dust bin, my mind. What I have decided is to write only the things that will help me grow and which may not harm others’ feelings.  Horrible things are surely playing hide and seek in mind, which is of no use to share them with anyone, let alone harmful. I can only pray the almighty to help me overcome my weakness and focus on my sadhana. Hence I will be writing about anything, about spirituality, about the things that have inspired me. I will be happy if these passages are of any help to you. Kindly do not hesitate to help me with your wise words. 

Before we go on to see what actually are the necessary qualifications for a spiritual aspirant, let us analyse the exact reasons why we seek liberation and from what. When young, we all strive for happy life and make efforts to attain that happy life. We learn hard, write entrance exams, we graduate, post graduate, write competitive examinations, look for lucrative jobs, marry and reproduce. At certain point of time somewhere in between all these activities the futility of all these efforts stands up right in front of our face. However hard we try to fulfill the requirements of our mind, there seems always a void bigger than the already filled up area. Death appears on our front door and remains a larger reality than the life itself. We feel very limited and insignificant. Yet we want be to be happy all the time. We never want to be sad and uncomfortable. But the life always plays hide and seek games with us. We seem to be happy sometimes, and we are sad sometimes, in fact, to admit openly, most of the times.