From opulence to sleekness: contemporary architecture and the luxury travel experience

Differences between 'old' and 'new' luxury: -Handcrafted by an artisan versus well-designed and offering precision assembly. -Precious natural materials (e.g., marble, gold or polished wood) versus high-tech and machine produced materials (e.g., polished concrete, stainless steel and high-grade laminex). -Things that are timeless and reflect wealth/aristocratic values versus things that are modern, 'hip', not overtly ostentatious

From opulence to sleekness: contemporary architecture and the luxury travel experience

Differences between 'old' and 'new' luxury: -Handcrafted by an artisan versus well-designed and offering precision assembly. -Precious natural materials (e.g., marble, gold or polished wood) versus high-tech and machine produced materials (e.g., polished concrete, stainless steel and high-grade laminex). -Things that are timeless and reflect wealth/aristocratic values versus things that are modern, 'hip', not overtly ostentatious

Twentieth Century Music and the Question of Modernity

In the first decade of the twentieth-century, many composers rejected the principles of tonality and regular beat. This signaled a dramatic challenge to the rationalist and linear conceptions of music that had existed in the West since the Renaissance. The 'break with tonality', Neo-Classicism, serialism, chance, minimalism and the return of the 'sacred' in music, are explored in this book for what they tell us about the condition of modernity. Modernity is here treated as a complex social and cultural formation, in which mythology, narrative, and the desire for 're-enchantment' have not completely disappeared. Through an analysis of Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Boulez and Cage, 'the author shows that the twentieth century composer often adopted an artistic personality akin to Max Weber's religious types of the prophet and priest, ascetic and mystic. Twentieth Century Music and the Question of Modernity advances a cultural sociology of modernity and shows that twentieth century musical culture often involved the adoption of 'apocalyptic' temporal narratives, a commitment to 'musical revolution', a desire to explore the limits of noise and sound, and, finally, redemption through the rediscovery of tonality. This book is essential reading for those interested in cultural sociology, sociological theory, music history, and modernity/modernism studies

More than a fashion choice: the everyday aesthetics of tattooing

[Extract] According to the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, 22% of Australian men and 29% of women aged 20 to 29 have at least one tattoo. In a 2013 survey conducted by Sydney-based McCrindle Research, a third of people with tattoos regretted them to some extent, and 14% had looked into or started the removal process. Laser removal has become cheaper and more readily available, but there are serious safety concerns around cheap lasers, poorly-trained operators and the risk of serious burns and scars to clients. Currently, guidelines on who can operate lasers and IPL machines vary widely by state. The Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday that national guidelines drawn up by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency are due to go out for public consultation later this month. But there's a bigger picture here. If 14% of people have looked into tattoo removal, and a third of those inked regret the decision to some extent, a clear majority seem happy with their choice. And in this, they form part of a rich and meaningful history

Aesthetic ecologies: how place shapes cultural production

In this paper, I outline a new approach within the sociology of art and cultural production that I label 'aesthetic ecologies'. While this approach is driven by recent concerns about the geographies of creativity (for e.g., why certain types of creativity cluster in time and place) and the economic significance to cities and regions of knowledge/cultural production, there are important predecessors. These include John Dewey's (1936) Art as Experience; Robert Park's The City; Gregory Bateson's Steps to an Ecology of Mind; James J. Gibson's Ecological Approach to Visual Perception; and more recently Tim Ingold's espousal of a 'poetics of dwelling' in Perceptions of Environment. There is also an ecological sensitivity at work in Reyner Banham's Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies; and, indeed, the field of California studies has produced interesting analyses of everything from the 'Palm Springs style of modernism' through to how the personal computer embodies a regional (and also very glocal) ethos. But how to conceptualize the dynamics of place without resorting to a new type of determinism? There is the problem that some of the writing on creativity and place tends to take the global metropolis as its model; and, in addition to glamourizing certain modes of spatial existence, adopts a one-size-fits-all set of policy prescriptions. My argument is that an emphasis on ranking cities or regions according to their occupational structure or the density of their creative networks does not necessarily capture the qualitative distinctiveness or 'genius' of place. In conclusion, I ponder the question: might it be that, in addition to terms such as 'art worlds' (Becker) and 'fields of cultural production' (Bourdieu), the sociology of art and cultural production need a theoretical concept comparable to the wine-making notion of terroir? Or, at the very least, an ability to explain how material and symbolic 'landscapes' shape creativity and the production of aesthetic goods

Aesthetic ecologies: how place shapes cultural production

In this paper, I outline a new approach within the sociology of art and cultural production that I label 'aesthetic ecologies'. While this approach is driven by recent concerns about the geographies of creativity (for e.g., why certain types of creativity cluster in time and place) and the economic significance to cities and regions of knowledge/cultural production, there are important predecessors. These include John Dewey's (1936) Art as Experience; Robert Park's The City; Gregory Bateson's Steps to an Ecology of Mind; James J. Gibson's Ecological Approach to Visual Perception; and more recently Tim Ingold's espousal of a 'poetics of dwelling' in Perceptions of Environment. There is also an ecological sensitivity at work in Reyner Banham's Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies; and, indeed, the field of California studies has produced interesting analyses of everything from the 'Palm Springs style of modernism' through to how the personal computer embodies a regional (and also very glocal) ethos. But how to conceptualize the dynamics of place without resorting to a new type of determinism? There is the problem that some of the writing on creativity and place tends to take the global metropolis as its model; and, in addition to glamourizing certain modes of spatial existence, adopts a one-size-fits-all set of policy prescriptions. My argument is that an emphasis on ranking cities or regions according to their occupational structure or the density of their creative networks does not necessarily capture the qualitative distinctiveness or 'genius' of place. In conclusion, I ponder the question: might it be that, in addition to terms such as 'art worlds' (Becker) and 'fields of cultural production' (Bourdieu), the sociology of art and cultural production need a theoretical concept comparable to the wine-making notion of terroir? Or, at the very least, an ability to explain how material and symbolic 'landscapes' shape creativity and the production of aesthetic goods

Contemporary landscape theory and the tropics: notes for a phenomenological-material account of 'lushness'

Recent developments in landscape studies and associated fields of research (e.g., cultural geography, place-theory and material culture studies) have been gesturing towards a 'non-representational' account of landscape. Central to such literatures is an attempt to move away from the notion that the landscape is some kind of tabula rasa upon which culture inscribes images and iconography, narratives and representations. Whether influenced by Latour's Actor Network Theory, landscape phenomenology, Bachelardean accounts of substances, or the anthropology and sociology of the senses, this line of thinking posits that landscapes are places where we 'dwell', engage in a variety of practical activities and which offer their own distinctive 'affordances' or agential affects. What might this theoretical development mean for sociocultural studies of the tropics? In this paper, I contend that a phenomenological-material account of tropical phenomena can profitably be focused on a quality we might term 'lushness'*. Lushness involves an excessive, if not decadent, amount of something; and tends to suggest voluptuousness, fecundity, density, vividness, an object or ambience that arouses the senses, as well as the sensation of feeling refreshed. Tropical lushness 'affords' various embodied activities from lying on the sand to immersing oneself in water or the taking of cover under dense canopies. Tropical landscapes encourage outdoor-ness and often blur the boundary between inside and outside. In considering the phenomenological-cum-material qualities of the lush, I reflect on four instances: tropical landscaping of gardens and public spaces; the geography and affordances associated with tropical waterfalls; buildings and other structures that take on a 'ruinous' state due to tropical conditions; and the social and culinary life of tropical fruit (e.g., lychees, bananas, mangos, durians, and paw-paws). Drawing on such cases, I will suggest that tropical lushness involves a spectrum of aesthetic and material possibilities ranging from the cultivated to the supposedly 'wild', and that discerning the boundary between the cultural and the natural – in the case of tropical lushness – is no straightforward matter

Contemporary landscape theory and the tropics: notes for a phenomenological-material account of 'lushness'

Recent developments in landscape studies and associated fields of research (e.g., cultural geography, place-theory and material culture studies) have been gesturing towards a 'non-representational' account of landscape. Central to such literatures is an attempt to move away from the notion that the landscape is some kind of tabula rasa upon which culture inscribes images and iconography, narratives and representations. Whether influenced by Latour's Actor Network Theory, landscape phenomenology, Bachelardean accounts of substances, or the anthropology and sociology of the senses, this line of thinking posits that landscapes are places where we 'dwell', engage in a variety of practical activities and which offer their own distinctive 'affordances' or agential affects. What might this theoretical development mean for sociocultural studies of the tropics? In this paper, I contend that a phenomenological-material account of tropical phenomena can profitably be focused on a quality we might term 'lushness'*. Lushness involves an excessive, if not decadent, amount of something; and tends to suggest voluptuousness, fecundity, density, vividness, an object or ambience that arouses the senses, as well as the sensation of feeling refreshed. Tropical lushness 'affords' various embodied activities from lying on the sand to immersing oneself in water or the taking of cover under dense canopies. Tropical landscapes encourage outdoor-ness and often blur the boundary between inside and outside. In considering the phenomenological-cum-material qualities of the lush, I reflect on four instances: tropical landscaping of gardens and public spaces; the geography and affordances associated with tropical waterfalls; buildings and other structures that take on a 'ruinous' state due to tropical conditions; and the social and culinary life of tropical fruit (e.g., lychees, bananas, mangos, durians, and paw-paws). Drawing on such cases, I will suggest that tropical lushness involves a spectrum of aesthetic and material possibilities ranging from the cultivated to the supposedly 'wild', and that discerning the boundary between the cultural and the natural – in the case of tropical lushness – is no straightforward matter

Recentering the Cartographies of Karate : Martial Arts Tourism in Okinawa

Background. Since the beginning of the 2010s, the Okinawan Government has been making significant efforts to develop, professionalize, and promote karate tourism in Okinawa, since this is known to be an essential sector for the island's economy. Problem and aim. A systematized study into the nature of karate tourism in Okinawa has so far not been conducted. This article offers a comprehensive overview of the historical development of martial arts tourism in Okinawa, by discussing the most recent events in karate as a martial arts tourism niche and its ongoing institutionalization. Method. The method of research presents and analyses a corpus of institutional and public sources of information on karate tourism available through the web. It should be noted that web presence is one of the leading action methods for the Japanese and Okinawan governments, and hence it supplies a valuable resource of information, particularly considering the lack of specific scholarly references on the matter. The article incorporates academic literature on martial arts tourism and other relevant types of sports and cultural tourism, as well as a body of work on Japanese and Okinawan studies examining the subject. Results. The creation of an official karate tourism industry in Okinawa responds to Japan's economic and cultural plans for attracting higher numbers of tourists to the country, thus increasing overall revenues and fostering regional revitalization. However, Okinawan karate as a martial art and tourism sector is also conditioned by powerful global and transnational factors superimposed onto local interests and narratives. Conclusions. Karate tourism is being actively promoted by the Japanese Government and the Okinawan Prefectural Government as a form of martial arts tourism intermingling cultural and sporting factors. Despite this convergence of economic objectives, hierarchical tensions exist as the Okinawan and mainland definitions of traditional karate and its cultural significance differ, forcing a debate on the current touristic institutionalization process for karate

Review

OBRA RESSENYADA: Thomas FELDMANN, Ankō Itosu. The Man. The Master. The Myth. Biography of a Legend.Esta reseña considera el libro Ankō Itosu. The Man. The Master. The Myth. Biography of a Legend, publicado en 2021 por Thomas Feldmann. Nos encontramos ante un estudio exhaustivo de la biografía de Ankō Itosu (1831-1915), nacido en las islas de Okinawa y figura esencial para interpretar la evolución inicial de la historia del karate durante el siglo XX. Aproximadamente dos décadas antes de que este arte marcial autóctono fuera popularizado en Japón por Funakoshi Gichin (1868-1957) y Mabuni Kenwa (1889-1952) y oficialmente reconocido por la Dainippon Butokukai[La Sociedad de las Virtudes Marciales del Gran Japón] (1933), Itosu consolidó importantes cambios técnicos y discursivos para el karate. Su novedosa forma de practicar y describir el karate, que aún moldea la actual percepción del arte, tenía, entre otras, la intención de sustentar su inclusión en el sistema escolar de Okinawa. Utilizando una gran cantidad de fuentes escritas y orales, documentos históricos y estudios académicos sobre Okinawa, este libro ofrece una vívida imagen de Itosu. De una manera poco habitual entre los libros sobre el tema, el texto no sólo explora los primeros días del karate moderno a través de las vicisitudes existenciales del maestro, sino que, lo que es aún más importante, lo hace atendiendo a cómo se articulaba la vida cultural, social y política en Okinawa durante la época. Tan notable esfuerzo aporta un valor que no debería pasar desapercibido ni para los investigadores de las artes marciales ni para cualquier otro lector interesado en la materia.This review considers the book Anko Itosu. The Man. The Master. The Myth. Biography of a Legend, published in 2021 by Thomas Feldmann. The volume is a thorough biographical study of Anko Itosu (1831-1915), Okinawan born and essential figure to interpret initial developments of karate history during the 20th century. Approximately two decades before this indigenous martial art was to be popularized in mainland Japan by Funakoshi Gichin (1868-1957) and Mabuni Kenwa (1889-1952), and officially recognized by the Dainippon Butokukai [Greater Japan Martial Arts Virtue Society] (1933), Itosu consolidated important technical and discursive changes for karate. This novel way to practice and describe karate, still molding the perception of the art today, had the intention, among others, to further support its inclusion in the school system of Okinawa. Using a huge amount of written and oral sources, historical documents, and scholarly studies on Okinawa, this text offers a vivid picture of Itosu's life. In a manner unusual among the publications on the topic, the text not only explores the early days of modern karate through the existential vicissitudes of the master, but even more importantly it does so against the background of how the cultural, social, and political life was articulated in Okinawa at the time. Such a remarkable effort bears a value that should not go unnoticed among martial arts researchers and the interested reader alike