Writing Sample

Prologue from Dus

Opening the Aperture: Examining Images of War in the Press

A number of policymakers have attributed America’s defeat in Vietnam, the first “television war,” to a collapse of public support caused by nightly news coverage of combat with associated iconic photographs and moving images. The assumptions underlying this opinion are that photographs and video footage of war have an inherent pacifistic bias, that the emotional impact of visual images can override reason, and that powerful images can drive or overturn foreign policy. This has led subsequent administrations to increase their control over the media’s coverage of war. During the Vietnam War, the press was relatively uncensored. As a response to the perceived role the press played in “losing” the Vietnam War, the press has been both highly managed and restricted by the military during the first Gulf War and the current conflict in Iraq. Generally, these restrictions have resulted in an emphasis on the technology used to conduct war at the expense of the human costs of war ranging from troop loss to collateral damage, i.e., civilian loss. In this paper, I critique the assumptions that have led the military and political establishment to feel that press management during conflict is a political necessity. I argue that the press, their audiences, and the government construct the meanings of images of war. They are not unambiguously pacifistic. Furthermore, the nature and level of debate among political elites has a much greater impact on the nature of press coverage of war than the press has on political debate. I contend that the ability of the press to present less politically managed images can benefit administrations by forcing them to refine policies, allowing them to maintain credibility

Lina Bo [Bardi] en Italia Nuevas líneas de investigación llevan al redescubrimiento de los proyectos de Bo y Pagani que habían caído en el olvido: dos instalaciones llevadas a cabo en Milán durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial

This paper shows that the years Lina Bo Bardi spent in Italy deserve further examination. In fact, bibliographical and archival research, which should be carried out in Italy and also at Lina Bo and P.M. Bardi Institute, can still reveal previously unknown materials. Following this line of research, a careful analysis of the magazine Lo Stile nella casa e nell’arredamento has revealed two forgotten designs of temporary structures for political events in Milan by the architects Bo and Pagani from 1942.Este artículo muestra que el período italiano de Lina Bo Bardi todavía tiene que ser examinado a fondo. La investigación del archivo y de la bibliografía, que debería ser efectuada sobre todo en Italia, pero también en el Instituto Lina Bo y P.M. Bardi, puede revelar materiales inéditos. Siguiendo esta línea de investigación, gracias al análisis minucioso de la revista Lo Stile nella casa e nell’arredamento han sido redescubiertos dos proyectos realizados por los arquitectos Lina Bo y Carlo Pagani en 1942, que habían caído en el olvido. Se trata de ejemplos de “arquitectura efímera” para unos eventos políticos en Milán.Esta contribuição mostra que o período italiano de Lina Bo Bardi é um tema ainda suscetível de aprofundamento e que a pesquisa de arquivo e bibliográfica, a ser realizada principalmente na Itália, mas também no Instituto Lina Bo e P.M. Bardi, pode restituir materiais inéditos. Seguindo essa linha de pesquisa, a análise cuidadosa da revista Lo Stile restituiu dois projetos realizados pelo ateliê Bo-Pagani que remontam a 1942 e caídos no esquecimento, exemplos de “arquitetura efêmera” por eventos políticos na cidade de Milão

Breaking Out of One’s Head (& Awakening to the World)

Herein, I review the shattering moment in my life when I awoke from the dream of self to find being as part of the living world and not in my head, discovering my perspectival center to be literally everywhere. Since awakening to the world takes one beyond thought and language thus also beyond the symbolic construction of time, it is strange to place this event and its aftermath as happening long ago in my life. It is forever present. This fact puts into question the reality of my daily journey from dawn to dusk with all the mundane tasks I must complete. My linear march into aging and death inexorably continues, yet it seems somehow unreal, worth a smile as the inevitable changes ensue. Still, I write of the events leading up to my time out of mind and then review the serious repercussions that followed when I was drawn back into ego only to find I did not have the conceptual tools or the maturity to understand what had occurred. I close by looking back with theories that might explain what happened. I am now ready to allow the memory to sink into peaceful oblivion and reference it from within my mind no more. Ironically, the memory itself with its façade of knowledge may prevent me from a new, unexpected mystical experience. Only by forgetting can I hope to leave a crack in the verbal armament of self, so the world soul may break through and free me once again