The Politics of Abstract Art. Forma 1 and the Italian Communist Party

Este artículo examina el papel del grupo de artistas abstractos Forma 1 en relación con la política cultural del Partido Comunista Italiano durante la posguerra, como ejemplo de los intentos de superar la dicotomía establecida en Italia entre arte abstracto y realismo socialista y producir una alternativa a la confrontación entre ambos discursos estéticos. Mientras los artistas realistas socialistas subrayaban la necesidad de expresar contenidos políticos explícitos con un estilo que asegurase su máxima legibilidad para una audiencia de masas, los artistas de Forma 1 argumentaban que la abstracción significaba una crítica de la representación pictórica que podía contribuir a la crítica de la ideología burguesa, armonizando de este modo el marxismo con los desarrollos artísticos más avanzados. El PCI, por su parte, basaba su política artística en amplias alianzas de artistas e intelectuales antifascistas, que cada vez eran más difíciles de mantener en el clima de creciente confrontación política y cultural que siguió a la II Guerra Mundial

Mixing and decorrelation in infinite measure: the case of the periodic sinai billiard

We investigate the question of the rate of mixing for observables of a Z d-extension of a probability preserving dynamical system with good spectral properties. We state general mixing results, including expansions of every order. The main part of this article is devoted to the study of mixing rate for smooth observables of the Z 2-periodic Sinai billiard, with different kinds of results depending on whether the horizon is finite or infinite. We establish a first order mixing result when the horizon is infinite. In the finite horizon case, we establish an asymptotic expansion of every order, enabling the study of the mixing rate even for observables with null integrals

‘Sand’s Way’: The Voices of George Sand’s François the Waif in Marcel Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past

This paper traces one of the origins of Marcel Proust’s artistic vocation in his fascination for a novel by George Sand, François le Champi (François the Waif). In Remembrance of Things Past, the adult writer explores the gradual recognition of this early phase of his formation: Sand’s novel appears in the ‘Combray’ section in Swann’s Way and it reappears at the moment of apparent illumination regarding his future as a writer in Time Regained. Leaving deliberately aside the psychoanalytic implications of the story, this article will instead emphasise the ‘vocality’ of the story, taken from the oral tradition of the provincial Berry countryside and imbued with colloquial texture, to show how the retelling of this moment in time when the novel was encountered includes a definition of what artistic vocation is for the narrator

Occurrence and Distribution of Cyanobacteria and their Toxins in Silver Lake, New Hampshire

A study of Silver Lake, NH was performed as part of a 5-lake assessment of cyanobacteria prevalence and distribution. Multi-parameter fluorescence probe measurements of chlorophyll a and cyanobacteria concentrations (PC, phycocyanin fluorescence) were evaluated in addition to physical and chemical characteristics of the lake. Silver Lake did not exhibit summer stratification suggesting a recent mixing event. It had oligotrophic levels of Chlorophyll a (1.93 ± 0.06 mg L-1) and of TP (10.10 mg L-1), yet PC levels were the highest of all the lakes studied (248691 ± 963 Microcystis cell equivalents mL-1). The cyanobacteria Microcystis dominated the phytoplankton community. Microcystin levels varied from a mean 72.43 ± 21.21 pg mL-1 in transect water to 137.69 ± 46.9 pg mL-1 in sediment water. Chlorophyll distribution was rather homogeneous while cyanobacteria levels were highest towards the shallow, embayed NE part of the lake where a section of a State Park beach is located. Implications include potential increase in exposure to toxins by water users. Heterogeneous distribution of cyanobacteria emphasizes the importance of extensive sampling beyond pelagic sampling sites to more accurately inform decision-making regarding health and safety of water bodies