Towards a new hermeneutics of art and anthropology collaborations

This article discusses collaborative projects and cooperations between artists and anthropologists as part of a hermeneutic field and argues that to be on speaking terms a mutual recognition of difference is crucially neccessary

Rooting Hybridity: Globalisation and the Challenges of mestizaje and crisol de razas for Contemporary Artists in Ecuador and Argentina

The work of some contemporary artists from Argentina and Ecuador is, in part, related to the issue of appropriation of indigenous cultures in a globalised world. Shifting identity constructions and ideological reformulations of national identities in the sense of mixture and homogeneity in Latin America provide the frame of reference, within which the works of artists making appropriations from indigenous cultures has to be analysed. The article suggests that appropriation is part of a general process of understanding the Other, and ultimately linked to the construction of new identities; it tries to point out the differences in artistic approaches to the appropriation of the indigenous, as well as to the national ideologies of mestizaje and crisol de razas

Multiphysical Simulation of Impulse Current Arcs in Spark Gaps for Industrial Applications

Digital prototyping enables cost-effective production and modular optimization of surge protection devices (SPD). Numerical model of SPD prototypes involves complex multiphysics phenomena. However, the processes related to impulse current arcs in spark gaps are not well understood so far. Limited knowledge exists regarding hydrodynamic effects, plasma states, and radiation properties. This work studies an impulse current 8/20 µs with an amplitude of about 5 kA in experiment and simulation

Italian immigrants in contemporary Buenos Aires: Their responses to changing political, economic and social circumstances.

The thesis is a study of Italians and their descendants in Buenos Aires and shows how they responded as individuals, families and groups, to changing political, economic and social situations in 20th century Argentina. Fieldresearch focused in particular on upper middle class and upper class Italians, and chapter 1 discusses their status with regard to the class structure of Argentine society. Italy is now among the world's top industrial nations, and Argentina, once a major immigration country, is now part of the so-called Third World. Chapters 2 and 3 provide the historical background to this 'inversion of roles' and consider its impact on Italians and their descendants. Chapter 4 is a detailed examination of the Argentine in 1988/89, a crucial year, characterized by the first democratic succession of presidents in 60 years, as well as by chronic economic problems. Chapter 5 familiarizes the reader with the urban context, where people live, work and interact: the historically formed geographic and social subdivisions of Buenos Aires. Chapter 6 is a study of Italian elite families and their descendants. Taking a diachronic approach, it investigates related issues of ethnic and national identity, class distinctions and political ideologies. These concerns remain consistent throughout the thesis: Chapter 7, taking a more chronological approach, looks at the narratives of three old men who came to Argentina in the times of mass immigration. In chapter 8, the controversial nature of becoming Argentine, characterized by interrupted processes of modernization and economic decline, surfaces in a discussion between an Italian and a descendant of Italians. The young generation descendants of Italian immigrants and their particular distinctions of food, language, class and political ideologies are analyzed in chapter 9. The politics of ethnicity and ethnic leadership are scrutinized in chapter 10. The concluding chapter 11, reflecting partly on the permutations of the image of 'America' among immigrants and descendants, develops some of the earlier issues in view of more theoretical concerns of image formation related to ethnic and national identity

Contested Grounds: Fieldwork Collaborations with Artists in Corrientes, Argentina

Chaque année, les habitants du village de Sainte Ana en Argentine célèbrent leur saint patron. Fruit d’une collaboration entre l’auteur et des artistes de Corrientes, chef-lieu de région, ce projet est basé sur une série de travaux impliquant plusieurs modes de participation à la procession (plutôt qu’une « observation de »), qui vont de la production d’une vidéo et de prise de notes de terrain, à la conception d’un nouveau vêtement pour la statue du Saint. Produisant des connaissances hybrides, l’appropriation et l’intervention dans le cadre de la religion populaire soulèvent des questions sur le statut épistémologique des collaborations entre art et anthropologie.Every year, the inhabitants of the Santa Ana village in Argentina celebrate their patron saint on July 26th. This project involved collaboration with contemporary visual artists from the nearby provincial capital, Corrientes, and the making of a series of hybrid ‘works’ between art and anthropology. This included material participation in (rather than “observation of”) the performance of the procession, i.e. making a new dress for the saint’s statue, producing a video, and field notes. The appropriation and material intervention into a setting of popular religiosity raise questions about the epistemological status of art and anthropology collaborations as hybrid knowledge productions

Towards a New Hermeneutics of Art and Anthropology Collaborations

This article discusses collaborative projects and cooperations between artists and anthropologists as part of a hermeneutic field and argues that to be on speaking terms a mutual recognition of difference is crucially neccessary

Diffusive mixing of periodic wave trains in reaction-diffusion systems

We consider reaction-diffusion systems on the infinite line that exhibit a family of spectrally stable spatially periodic wave trains u_0(kx-\om t;k) that are parameterized by the wave number $k$. We prove stable diffusive mixing of the asymptotic states $u_0(k x+\phi_{\pm};k)$ as x\ra \pm\infty with different phases $\phi_-\neq\phi_+$ at infinity for solutions that initially converge to these states as x\ra \pm\infty. The proof is based on Bloch wave analysis, renormalization theory, and a rigorous decomposition of the perturbations of these wave solutions into a phase mode, which shows diffusive behavior, and an exponentially damped remainder. Depending on the dispersion relation, the asymptotic states mix linearly with a Gaussian profile at lowest order or with a nonsymmetric non-Gaussian profile given by Burgers equation, which is the amplitude equation of the diffusive modes in the case of a nontrivial dispersion relation

Complementary Experimental and Simulation-based Characterization of Transient Arcs

Electric arcs generated by transient lightning-type surge currents in protection devices for low voltage appliances are studied by optical emission spectroscopy and spectra simulations. A surge pulse amplitude of 5kA and 8/20µs shape are applied. The arc radiation is recorded by a 3/4m spectrometer and a high-speed camera equipped with metal interference filters for the O I (777nm) and Hα (656nm) lines. Absolute calibration was realized using a tungsten strip lamp. The arc images indicate a non-symmetrical shape. To determine the plasma properties, accompanying simulation solving the equation of radiative transfer for a given pressure and a temperature profile was carried out assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium. Line broadening due to the Stark effect is taken into account. The computed and measured spectra are compared. The conditions are varied until the measured and computed spectra match