Looks Matter Felice C.FrankelAngela H.DePaceVisual Strategies: A Practical Guide to Graphics for Scientists and Engineers2012Yale University PressNew Haven, CT, USA153 pp. $35.00

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Post 1990s Dance Theatre and (the idea of) the Neutral

PhDThe thesis focuses on the concept of neutrality in the works of contemporary European (post 1990s) choreographers. While broad ideas around neutrality are considered, the thesis primarily engages with Roland Barthes’ definition of neutrality as a structural term: 'every inflection that, dodging or baffling the paradigmatic, oppositional structure of meaning, aims at the suspension of the conflictual basis of discourse'. I argue that the minimalist work of Judson Church, New York City, is anticipating the interest in the neutral that will more strongly formulate itself in dance theatre after the 1990s. In the first chapter on Jérôme Bel, the concept of neutrality is introduced as a general idea, together with its inherent problem. The 'problem' is not that this or that element that Bel chooses cannot be perceived as neutral, but that neutral or stage zero can never be neutral enough. The second chapter, dedicated to the work of Thomas Lehmen, explores the idea of 'neutralization' in relation to the notion of the self in Lehmen's performance, where 'It is not I or you who lives: 'one' (une vie) lives in us' (P. Hallward). In the third chapter I argue that in Raimund Hoghe’s performances, love is conceived essentially as a balance between narcissism and pure object-love – as a neutral state. The fourth chapter, on Croatia’s BADco., gravitates around the ways in which group processes function, arguing that the idea of the neutral is located in the ‘invisible hand’ of emergence. The thesis shifts academic performance analysis towards a more concept-based approach, unpicking and/or constructing timeless, abstract and broad concepts and ideas that the work of these choreographers resonates with

Synthèse de métamatériaux acoustiques par voie microfluidique

This work is dedicated to the synthesis of a new kind of acoustic metamaterials working in the ultrasonic range. The study is based on cavity resonance which can influence physical quantities involved in acoustic wave propagation. For amplifying these resonances, a large phase velocity contrast is required between the matrix and the inclusions.For the ultrasonic range and because of size requirements, the implementation is achieved using microfluidics. First, samples are generated using robotic-assisted emulsification which leads to a very small size polydispersity, around 1%. For these calibrated emulsions, different modes of acoustic resonance are clearly identified. We then generated polydisperse samples on purpose (up to 12%) and correlated the quality factor of the resonances to the size dispersity. Then, in order to enhance the resonance magnitude, silica-based xerogels are synthesized and templated using digital millifluidics. The chemical reaction along with the final xerogel micro-beads (≈ 100 μm radius) are characterized with a large variety of techniques (Raman, rheology, compression and density measurement, BET, SEM...). Acoustic measurements on these systems show that there is a frequency range with a negative acoustic refractive index for a at high enough volume fraction of xerogel particles (20%).Ces travaux sont consacrés à la synthèse d'un nouveau type de métamatériaux acoustiques dans le domaine ultrasonore. L'étude porte sur les résonances de cavité, elles peuvent influer sur les différentes grandeurs physiques impliquées dans la propagation des ondes acoustiques. Pour amplifier les résonances, la stratégie a été de mettre en place un contraste de vitesse de phase entre la matrice et les inclusions résonantes. Pour travailler dans le domaine ultrasonore, les techniques de mise en oeuvre sont issues de la microfluidique. Les premiers échantillons sont élaborés par émulsification micrométrique assistée par robotique. Cela permet d'obtenir des polydispersités de l'ordre de 1%. Différents modes de résonances acoustiques ont ainsi été observés. Les recherches ont été poussées jusqu'à l'étude de la polydispersité (1 à 12 %) et l'analyse de systèmes comprenant deux populations de gouttes. Le reste du travail s'est fait en millifluidique avec la mise en forme de dispersions de billes de xérogel de silice avec de plus importants contrastes de vitesse. La synthèse utilisée est une réaction de type sol-gel en milieu basique salin. Le montage millifluidique a été mis en place et calibré pour cette synthèse. La réaction chimique et les particules obtenues ont été caractérisées de nombreuses manières (Raman, rhéologie, mesure de compression, de densité, BET, MEB...). Les mesures acoustiques sur de tels systèmes ont permis de mettre en évidence des gammes de fréquence pour lesquelles l'indice de réfraction acoustique était négatif les plus fortes fractions volumiques (≈ 20%)