Knowing Imagination

Happy Birthday, Salvador Dali

Today, Sunday, May 11, 2008, would be the 104th birthday of Salvador Dali if he were still alive.  He died in 1989 but his work is still highly recognized and admired.

His work was influenced by Sigmund Freud’s work on the subconscious, published around the 1920’s, and he was a member of the Surrealists, a group of artists in Paris around the same time who emphasized the unconscious over reason.

I had the good fortune to be present at the opening of a show of his in New York 30 or 40 years ago where he was present. Although I do not remember him as large in physical stature, I clearly recall his enormous charisma as he entered the room in his black, crimson-lined cape and walking stick. I often now wish I had the temerity then to approach him. I cherish the memory of that event.

Read about Dali at Britannica.com.

Read about Dali at Wikipedia.

Poetry to Heal

Here's a link to an article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer from April 24, 2008, about a program for teens at King County's juvenile detention center. It is run by Richard Gold, who founded Pongo Publishing, a nonprofit devoted to working with youth in difficult circumstances and bringing their words to the world. Pongo volunteers have compiled seven chapbooks of youth poetry, which they sell at the Folklife and Bumbershoot festivals, though the authors are identified only by their first names and ages. Be sure to read down to the bottom of the page and read some of the moving poems written by these kids.

I love to see this kind of program for so many reasons but mainly because it assumes the best of the people involved and offers them a vehicle for expression that just may change their lives. I wish the program and the teens all the best in this endeavor. (Sent in by Linda Chapman, ATR-BC. Thanks, Linda)

Computer Influence on Human Learning & Memory

This article from Wired is about how human memory works and how computers can enhance it- not by storing more data for retrieval but by training the mind. It is remarkable to read how different our expectations for learning and memory are from the results of this research. To be in accordance with the patterns of learning that are described here would require some significant divergence in lifestyle from what most of us currently do- as well described in the piece.

I wonder if these new discoveries in learning and memory are as much a result of computers' influence on us as the influence of the human's development of computers.

Music and Technology: Creativity

This is another video from TED.com that is at once imaginative, technological, artistic, and moving. The use of technology to increase access to expression and creativity is always welcome and the technology presented here is no exception. MIT Media Lab, who created Guitar Wizard by the way, shows some of its new developments and showcases a musical piece written and performed by a man with cerebral palsy. Watching this, I had tears in my my eyes and joy in my heart- and from the images of the audience at the presentation, I wasn't alone in my response. Enjoy.