I really felt that flow was one of the best manifestations to explain everything and in writing about it, the poam would become more flexible to describe and define anything. In doing this, I thought it was appropriate that my presentation of the project be two sided, and that the one side include an actual PFD and a description of all the the stages of it, to gain a better understanding of what a PFD was. These are shown in the following pictures.

Then, to compliment this and incorporate the poam into this, the opposite side was of the PFDs built around containing the written words. The words of the poem were written on the lines that indicated flow, serving to both show the flow, and give it some direction. Different lines converge and diverge to show that different beginnings can come together and also one line can split apart.

The words of the poam are shown below.

The aspect of framing that was most amazing to me was how something with one purpose (a PFD) can reassert itself in a totally unexpected way to become something different. The fact that this diagram could on one hand show a complete chemical process; things coming in, coming out, changing form (reacting) and some things staying the same. Or on the other hand, could be a literal representation of FLOW, with the corresponding definition of flow, was amazing to me. The thought of reconfiguration and re-expression was something that I found to be unique to framing. What can't framing explain? What can't it put into context? I learned a lot through this project, but one of the main points I took away was the ability of manifestation in different forms is something that a frame is capable of.

To sum up, my favorite quote presented here is that they are “Allowing the structures of the environment to dictate the architectural approach.” Also, I found it was interesting that: "Humans do not perceive a room as small if the ceiling is high." So to use this to they're advantage "The smaller the room, the higher the ceiling." Which in turn was accomplished by "extended site lines."

The best quote of all though was "openness of the space is truly an illusion." But was is an illusion? A trick of the photosynthetic reactions occuring inside our brains that our eyes say is sight.

Interesting thought . . . taking what's around you and adapting to that, instead of adapting your environment to yourself. Basically my thought is: as humans right now, we are still in a stage of conforming the environment around us to suite our needs, instead of establishing a balance and doing a better job of doing what we are give. I feel that Limited Fork, however loosely, supports these ideas and will explain how below.

Background
I know it may be clique to quote a movie such as The Matrix, but I feel that one quote in particular is very true, and applies to society right now:

"It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet."

Agent Smith, a computer program tasked at keeping control of humans in case you haven't seen the movie, lets one of the humans knows that this is how he feels about the human race. In a sense I feel that this is true; not only do we deal with many different economic and social problems on a daily basis, but in our seemingly never ending search for more power, we not only end up destroying acres and acres of land, but have also undoubtedly started and are in the midst of global warming. So what does the Penguin House have to do with any of this?

The Penguin House emphasizes balance and equilibrium with the environment. Instead of altering land to make it suitable for development, the creator took the challenge of adapting the things that we do control, our building materials and techniques, to fit the dilemma of creating a comfortable house in a limited amount of material. When we think back to more primitive human cultures, there are endless examples of humans finding an equilibrium with their environment. The Eskimo's built igloos out of snow because that is what they were surrounded by; Native Americans killed buffalo to get many of the consumables that they need, but didn't kill so many as to the point that herds died out (that didn't happen until European settlers started heading West); even in prehistoric times, when 'cavemen' were around, they lived in 'caves.'

The relationship of all this is that the Penguin House, no matter how loosely or indirectly related, using Limited Fork Theory to tackle one of the biggest problems facing humans today. The dilemma of finding an equilibrium with one's surroundings was conquered by framing the situation in a way in which the human eye and human mind perceived it to be something that it wasn't. In many parts of Japan, and specifically Tokyo there is a huge problem with the limited amount of land in which people have to live. Overpopulation and high costs of living for a very small amount of space are too serious problems that many people deal with. By using the building as a canvas and correctly framing it toward certain tendencies of the human eye's perception, the house is made to look bigger than it is.

And who thought that Limited Fork could have saved the world?

“The smaller the room, the higher the ceiling.”

“Extending site lines”

“Openness of the space is truly an illusion”

This is an awesome example of perception that I just came across. This video is of an Ames Room, a room created an intentional optical illusion. I wonder if the creator, ophthalmologist Adelbert Ames Jr., who first created one such room in 1934 had any idea about the consequences of this and its ties to Limited Fork. PERFECT example of framing, and how framing is influenced by one's perception. Linked here is a better description of the Ames room. When looking at the room from the top, nothing out of the ordinary is detected, other the the fact that you're looking at a room with a trapezoidal shape. The room takes advantage of being able to frame things in such a way that the eye is tricked into seeing something that is not, and thus influencing your perception that something that should not be happening is.

I wonder what all the people who bought the album in the fall think of the fact that they could have gotten both CDs for the price of one . . .

Another interesting plea that NIN has made with the release of this album, is for people to create their own music videos for the album.

I was not only surprised by the fact that they had provided a new album so quickly, and that it was free, but that once again they are stepping beyond the bounds of what is normally expected from a band and doing what they want to do with their material.

I love all different kinds of music, but I definitely have a preference toward rock and industrial type music. This previous summer, I got to see my favorite band, Incubus, in concert. Not only was the experience of getting to see a band whose music I've admired a great experience from the standpoint of seeing how good of a band they were confirmed in person, but also their acknowledgment of their work beyond music.

Their most recent album was titled 'Light Grenades' and the show that they put on was certainly filled with 'light grenades.' Going to the concert only expecting to hear music and getting such an enhanced experience was an amazing thing. I'd also like to mention that the friend that went to the concert with me insisted that we push to the front of the crowd, and being in the midst of the mosh pit, being so close to the band, and seeing such an amazing light show was almost overwhelming. Indeed, the 'emotion' of the crowd, or what it took of them pushing back and forth truly was too much to take after several songs, and we had to retreat to the back. But at the beginning was one of the best parts.

Quicksand + A Kiss to Send Us Off

I certainly don't know if their intention to perform these two songs in such a way was thought of when creating the songs, but I know that having listened to the songs for some time before I went to this concert I had never imagined these two songs being put together like this. The band took advantage of the ups and downs of the song; the slow parts to the parts that were rocking to use as a part to enhance with a light show. The crowd was literally shown how to feel. I think that this was truly an amazing feat to control the entire crowd's reaction through a visual display. When the slow part of the song started off everyone was excited, but contained. Once the lights started their show, the crowd knew that it was time for the release, and everyone went crazy. I applaud this as a utilization of more than just their forte, more than using the music alone to excite the crowd, but to also incorporate the light show.

This being listed above was mostly to share one of my favorite bands and how much I enjoy their music. Hopefully though my description I have shown not only how much I like their music but also how much I pay attnetion to music in general. Now back to Limited Fork.

Incubus plays mostly rock, with some of their earlier music being more of a rock/punk blend. But one of the other genre's of music that I really enjoy is Industrial music. Of the various bands that have one time or another fit into this category, the most well known and also my favorite is Nine Inch Nails. They have produced many songs, with some of the more famous ones being only instrumental tracks. Their songs have also been featured in many movies: the track to the trailer for the movie 300 is a song of theirs, check it out.

To get back to the point, one of the things that Nine Inch Nails has encouraged as a band is the remixing of their songs. I first came across this when I downloaded 'The Limitless Potential,' which was a fan remix of Year Zero, off of BitTorrent last year. Although this remixing was not sponsored by the band, it was not discouraged. Not until the fall of this past year did the band finally directly sponsor this.

Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D

In November Nine Inch Nails released an album with the title listed above, maybe its more obvious to you than it was to me, but it took me several weeks before I was actually able to notice and recognize what this meant. Look at the title this way: YEAR/ZERO/REMIXED. But also include in the package was a 2nd CD, one that provided the fans and purchasers of the CD the content from the original Year Zero CD. But it wasn't just a CD of this information, it was a CD, with a disclosure asking for all people with the CD to play with the music. What they provided was a garage band compatible version of the CD (and also a PC compatible version with software within that works similar to garage band that could be used to modify the music) with the instruction to change the music. They have even set up a website where the remixes can be uploaded and voted upon by fans. If this sharing of their music and their PLEA for fans to change it wasn't enough, they even provided a website for which to fans can upload the changed music. Prof. Moss and I were able to talk about this, and the two biggest questions that were brought up were:

1) How does one claim ownership for any of this work?
2) What risk is being taken by Nine Inch Nails by providing this music?

The first question is the more difficult of the two, in my opinion. Obviously the band did this with the consent of the record label, but who is to say if the music that was provided is ever the property of the customer? And what amount of changes, if any, make it the property of the customer? The thought of Prof. Moss almost going to court to determine what amount of modifications link two pieces of work comes to mind.

The second question, I think, is much easier to tackle. The band has established that they encourage remixing music. They do run the risk that possibly the music that is produced by the remixers would be better than their own, but since music is a subjective thing and likes and dislikes are hard to determine, most people know where the music comes from. A good analogy for this would be comparing a farmer and a chef. A farmer cooks the corn, but the chef has the ability to modify it. The farmer isn't looked at any differently if corn is just boiled to cook or if it is prepared lavishly in a special dish. OBVIOUSLY this analogy is taken to the extreme, but hopefully it gets the point across.

The main point here is that the band went out on a limb, and did something TOTALLY unusual which ended up being trying to provide as much information as possible to people. Instead of restrictions, which it seems as though record companies like to impose, they were trying to provide as much for consumption as possible.

The amazing thing about supervision, is that the comparisons can be drawn between any of the pictures. The same similarities can be seen in everything from the extremely small to the cosmically large.

1) Why does Nemerov use the frame of poetry if he believes style inherently deforms ideas? Does he view style as effortless?

The first three lines of 'Style' read as follows:

"Flaubert wanted to write a novel
About nothing. It was to have no subject
And be sustained upon the style alone,"

From this, I do not take that Nemerov believes that style deforms ideas, but that style is one of the most important components of an idea. Most people, in my experience (or lack of) don't just write poetry with no purpose in mind. Anyone can scribble down their ideas, write a research paper (based on their abilities and knowledge base) or make a list of statements that reflects their beliefs. When poetry is written, or to investigate a parallel, when poams are made there is almost always a purpose. The writer/creator has for some reason been compelled to write/create this project, and each piece of it is geared toward expressing what they set out to address. I feel that he used to frame of poetry to utilize a way of expression that's 'style' perfectly matched a description of style. In a poem, everything that is include is for a purpose. The style of the poem contributes to what is include and what is exclude. If something does not fit into the allness of the people the meaning dictates that it should be set apart and most times is. To address the second part of the question, style is viewed as something that takes much work and is achieved through much work and a lot of effort, and that is why poetry was chosen. In my opinion, had he thought style was effortless it also would have implied that he thought that it was meaningless, to not have a respect for the difficulty of something many times shows that it is viewed as unimportant. As explained above, poetry was chosen because it WAS NOT effortless, and indeed to a lot of work to convey just the right point. The entire poem, while on the first or second read through may seem to be disjointed and disconnected from the main topic of style throughout, reinforces this point in subtle ways.

The poem draws on things that although have been well documented, are things that are not physically existing (Disney characters). Style is something that can't be physically described as one thing. The appropriate style will depend a lot on the context of an individual work. You certainly wouldn't expect to hear industrial-style rock if you went to an orchestral concert. The style that something will take on, relates mainly to the context it is presented in. Nemerov does a good job making an attempt at describing a topic that is difficult to characterize. A book that was written about style would truly be a book written about nothing - in the fact that style is so dependent on the situation in which it is encountered. This is an extremely clever way of getting across the point of how complex of a topic style is. He also mentions:

"We thank the master. They can be read,
With difficulty, in the spirit alone,
Are not so wholly lost as certain works
Burned at Alexandria, flooded at Florence,
And are never taught at universities."

Looking back to the topics addressed above, what more perfect way could Nemerov described the indescribable? To talk about something in terms of something that once existed but no longer does. This implies that someone once knew about this, someone was able to learn about it which implies that it can be described. So Nemerov is opening up the door for his description and his characterization of something he just said was indescribable; but it is still tied into the unknown by connecting it with something that was lost long ago. The final phrase of this may have held true for a while, although now I do not feel that it does.

"And are never taught at universities."

Not formally, but indirectly, without a doubt. For what are we doing in English 340? Describing our own style, and how that relates to style, framing, allness, and the illumination that took us on that journey. There may be no class that directly addresses style, but it is a topic that is indirectly addressed in many different ways. Since style is much the product of ones own imagination, it can take on many different forms, and as such, shows up as a product of any number of products that are undertaken as a student. This statement applies to a class where the format is of going to lecture and taking notes, then taking a test and reciting was what spoken, but any class that encourages or even incorporates creativity allows this to happen, and in effect teaches style. He wraps this up by saying the following:

"Moreover, they are not deformed by style,
That fire that eats what it illuminates."

The first line goes back to the idea that the style of something is one of the defining factors. We can imagine all the great works that we will never see and were lost forever, but are able to overlook the small details could possible served to take away from the great idea behind the creation. Maybe these works had horrible grammar, and probably were in a language that we can't understand, but by saying that these works are not burdened by style exactly explains the allowance they are given, they are immune from the nuances associated with writing a work or creating a piece. He is saying that by writing a book about nothing that describes style, you can avoid all of the pitfalls of any piece of writing: grammar, language, presentation, and more accurately accomplish he goal of telling what style is.

2) What is the connection between the Disney characters and historic locations (Alexandria/Florence). How is this/is it at all related to a connection between style and imagination?

3) What is the origin of this idea, and how can it be claimed as one person's plan to write the books? Anyone could have thought of the idea, why attribute it to Flaubert, how does this help the conveying of a message?

-Everything seemed to "branch off" from a backbone of pieces that fit together into a straight line better than others, if also felt to me like there seemed to be a central puzzle piece that served as a nucleation point
-Pieces either fit, or didn't fit. If I didn't like how a piece was meshing with another, then I felt it didn't fit.
-By the time I was done, there was an assortment of pieces that didn't fit, literally anywhere, and it seemed that most of these pieces were end pieces.

I think one of the things to be seen here is that the recombination of these pieces yielded a product that only my criteria could form the end result of. As I noticed other's projects, I saw that others had TOTALLY different products than I did. But I still really felt that what I was doing was the only right way to do it. I think that this really is a result of my inability to let go of rules in anything that is some type of a classroom setting. I feel that other people were truly able to let go and use their imagination to make what they felt was the most fitting for the project. My creation was based on my engineering mindset, and the need for rules. This also brings up that even in the absence of rules, and only using imagination, there MUST be some rule book. Saying that there must be SOMETHING! Although I don't think that anyone did nothing, there were still puzzle pieces in front of everyone, and that amounts to something.

Posing a question

Because Euclid's Comet was something that I had just found, I had no problem asking questions about it, and people's perception as a work of art, as a poam, and even their knowledge of its existence. I was only able to disturb two different people from their studying, but neither had previously noticed the poam. Both had a difficult time imagining Euclid's Comet as a poam, even after I tried to give my best definition of what a poam was. This made me consider that while Dorothea had the intention of the poam fitting in and being deceptively 'unsee' by its use as a frame for the transition, maybe she did too good of a job hiding it so that people did not notice it. Once I came to this conclusion, it was really fascinating. This moment was probably the first time that I was truly able to appreciate the criticism of a work of art. It has always been so hard for me to understand how anyone could critique a piece of art, mostly because I have previously lacked the necessary tools to see a work of art, or a poam, in the correct light. At no previous time was I able to look for the framing, look for the conformations and the different perceptions from different angles. To see this work from a different angle click here. Finally, given these tools, it was apparent to me how pieces of art, and poams in kind, can be looked at with the rules of measure in mind, to gauge a sense of the intended purpose, the tricks the creator used to carry out this goals, and any possible unintended consequences that the creator stumbled upon while in the process of making their work. This is all that I have for now, possibly more to come later . . .

The Map

To get a better idea of why my map was created in the form that it was, please visit my post from my explanation in English 240 about the 'map.

Unintended Consequences

When I first made this poem, it was mostly an investigation into what the poem meant to me, and how I could convey this to others. What I am starting to learn now is that many of the things that I chose to do with the map where unintended, but served a purpose. First is the framing, each part of the video was put together almost, if I can look back at it now and put a term to it, haphazardly. The placement of most things were done with an idea of how to make things fit, but I didn't realize that in doing this, I was framing the poem, and framing each image and each section of the poem. Without knowing it, I used uninhabited space in most of the slides to focus the attention on the pictures and then the text that was incorporated with the pictures. The uninhabited space was serving the purpose of focusing attention to certain parts of the map, the parts with the content. One thing that I have noticed in many of Prof. Moss' video poams is that while uninhabited space is present, most of the space within the boundaries, or frame, of the window is at one point utilized, and not left untouched by some form of being. One poam that I enjoyed when I was introduced to it last semester and I feel that utilizes all of the space, at one point or another, is 'Heat Dozens. I feel that this is such a good example of using different parts and incorporating it all into a poam that I will reference it to try and use the different elements to make my poam complete.

The Falkirk Wheel

The href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkirk_Wheel"target="_blank">Falkirk Wheel is a piece of architecture that I first came across in my freshman year at the University. The second semester of my freshman year I took an Engineering Survey course, Engineering 110, where each lecture day a professor from a different department from the School of Engineering came in and talked a little bit about their type of Engineering. One of our professors that was in charge of the class was from the Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Department. One of the last emails he sent us, which I have still have save to this day, was about the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland. The Falkirk Wheel is a unique way of creating a lock that connects two bodies of water at different heights. When I was first introduced to this, I at first thought that it was something that looked nice aestheically, but that there was not much more to it than how cool it looked. The picture below is amazing, and gives an idea of how visually appealing the Falkirk Wheel is.

Image Source: cellar.org

So how is this relevant to, and where is the connection with English 340? The connection lies in the volume that is behind the aesthetically pleasing surface. I at first thought that this machine was just as simple as something that rotated and took a lot of energy to transport boats but did its job of connecting two different waterways. As it turns out, the process of rotating the wheel takes a very small amount of energy. When it was being designed the architect that created it took advantage of two things: balance between the two ends and Archimedes principle. Since anything that is placed in water will always displace its weight of water, the two sides of the wheel will remain balanced, even if there is not a boat on each side of the wheel. While this is also amazing to me from an engineering perspective, it has to be looked at from a 'volume' perspective. Most people would look at the wheel and understand only the basics, that it rotated and transported boats between the two bodies of water. Not until you look underneath the surface, and look at the volume, do you discover the true workings of the wheel, and how magnificent by taking advantage of a principle that has been known for hundreds of years.