Dialectical narcissism in the visual art of modernity

Modernist art and contemporary body and performance art seem radically different in their basic motivational structure, in their reception, in their contents, and in the theoretical discourse that they engender. Modernism is conventionally seen as a response to modernity that enhanced the unique aesthetic qualities of visual art, and because of that disposition, was frequently in opposition to the main thrust of both institutional academic art as well as developing modern society. This opposition was characteristically manifested as the avant-garde, a direction that progressively denigrated representational functions of art. Body and performance art, and other postmodern strategies brought back representation, especially of the body, with a stunning directness, eroticism, and frequently sadomasochistic performative challenges to the canon and modernist aesthetics. This thesis argues that narcissism as a drive operates dialectically within both these major trends as a fundamental unifying motivating force. The theme of narcissism is developed in psychoanalytic terms, not as character pathology of artists, but as a core idealizing drive central to the visual creative realm. The narcissistic drive imparts its qualities also to visuality itself, as a force underpinning scopic regimes. The idealizing effects of the drive assert themselves, paradoxically, also in recent developments such as "relational" art

A general approach for hysteresis-free, operationally stable metal halide perovskite field-effect transistors.

Despite sustained research, application of lead halide perovskites in field-effect transistors (FETs) has substantial concerns in terms of operational instabilities and hysteresis effects which are linked to its ionic nature. Here, we investigate the mechanism behind these instabilities and demonstrate an effective route to suppress them to realize high-performance perovskite FETs with low hysteresis, high threshold voltage stability (ΔVt 1 cm2/V·s at room temperature. We show that multiple cation incorporation using strain-relieving cations like Cs and cations such as Rb, which act as passivation/crystallization modifying agents, is an effective strategy for reducing vacancy concentration and ion migration in perovskite FETs. Furthermore, we demonstrate that treatment of perovskite films with positive azeotrope solvents that act as Lewis bases (acids) enables a further reduction in defect density and substantial improvement in performance and stability of n-type (p-type) perovskite devices

On the Dialectics of Charisma in Marina Abramović’s The Artist is Present

While ‘charisma’ can be found in dramatic and theatrical parlance, the term enjoys only minimal critical attention in theatre and performance studies, with scholarly work on presence and actor training methods taking the lead in defining charisma’s supposed ‘undefinable’ quality. Within this context, the article examines the appearance of the term ‘charismatic space’ in relation to Marina Abramovic’s retrospective The Artist is Present at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 2010. Here Abramovic uses this term to describe the shared space in which performer and spectator connect bodily, psychically, and spiritually through a shared sense of presence and energy in the moment of performance. Yet this is a space arguably constituted through a number of dialectical tensions and contradictions which, in dialogue with existing theatre scholarship on charisma, can be further understood by drawing on insights into charismatic leaders and charismatic authority in leadership studies. By examining the performance and its documentary traces in terms of dialectics we consider the political and ethical implications for how we think about power relations between artist/spectator in a neoliberal, market-driven art context. Here an alternative approach to conceiving of and facilitating a charismatic space is proposed which instead foregrounds what Bracha L. Ettinger calls a ‘matrixial encounter-event’: A relation of coexistence and compassion rather than dominance of self over other; performer over spectator; leader over follower. By illustrating the dialectical tensions in The Artist is Present, we consider the potential of the charismatic space not as generated through the seductive power or charm of an individual whose authority is tied to his/her ‘presence’, but as something co-produced within an ethical and relational space of trans-subjectivity

An empirical approach to selecting community-based alcohol interventions:combining research evidence, rural community views and professional opinion

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Given limited research evidence for community-based alcohol interventions, this study examines the intervention preferences of rural communities and alcohol professionals, and factors that influence their choices.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>Community preferences were identified by a survey of randomly selected individuals across 20 regional Australian communities. The preferences of alcohol professionals were identified by a survey of randomly selected members of the Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and Other Drugs. To identify preferred interventions and the extent of support for them, a budget allocation exercise was embedded in both surveys, asking respondents to allocate a given budget to different interventions. Tobit regression models were estimated to identify the characteristics that explain differences in intervention preferences.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Community respondents selected school programs most often (88.0%) and allocated it the largest proportion of funds, followed by promotion of safer drinking (71.3%), community programs (61.4%) and police enforcement of alcohol laws (60.4%). Professionals selected GP training most often (61.0%) and allocated it the largest proportion of funds, followed by school programs (36.6%), community programs (33.8%) and promotion of safer drinking (31.7%). Community views were susceptible to response bias. There were no significant predictors of professionals' preferences.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In the absence of sufficient research evidence for effective community-based alcohol interventions, rural communities and professionals both strongly support school programs, promotion of safer drinking and community programs. Rural communities also supported police enforcement of alcohol laws and professionals supported GP training. The impact of a combination of these strategies needs to be rigorously evaluated.</p

Disease and responsibility

Note:There are numerous competing conceptualizations of disease, including highly normative definitions and purportedly value-free or structure/ function approaches. The lack of clarity of the concept of disease has led to broadening of the notion of disease, especially in the realm of psychiatry. More inclusive concepts of disease have increased demand on health-care systems and professionals, have increased use of the medical excuse in the courtroom and in the workplace, and have affected the ways in which society responds to issues of responsibility. It is proposed that disease can be defined as the breakdown of bodily intentionality, where the concept of bodily intentionality provides norms against which to_ judge whether disease is present. The concept of bodily intentionality is derived in part from action theory. This new definition is then used to evaluate the prevailing psychiatric classification of mental disorders, DSM 111, and general implications for various areas of responsibility are investigated.Il existe de nombreuses conceptualisations rivales de la maladie, notamment des définitions éminemment normatives et des démarches qui seraient dénuées de valeur ou des démarches structurelles/fonctionnelles. Le manque de clarté du concept de maladie a donné lieu à un élargissement de cette notion, surtout au royaume de la psychiatrie. Des notions plus globales de la maladie ont multiplié les astreintes qui s'exercent sur les systèmes et les professionnels de la sante, également le prétexte de l'excuse médicale dans les tribunaux et au travail et ont influe sur la façon dont la société réagit aux problèmes de responsabilité. Nous proposons de définir la maladie comme une avarie de l'intentionnalité corporelle, le concept d'intentionnalité corporelle constituant une norme par rapport a laquelle il est possible de juger si la maladie est présente ou non. Le concept d'intentionnalité corporelle provient partiellement de la théorie de !'action. Cette nouvelle définition nous sert alors à évaluer la classification psychiatrique des dérèglements mentaux, la DSM 111, tandis que nous nous interrogeons sur ses répercussions générales sur divers secteurs de responsabilité

Marc Quinn

"Gathering over forty recent works, DHC/ART’s inaugural exhibition by conceptual artist Marc Quinn is the largest ever mounted in North America and the artist’s first solo show in Canada. Marc Quinn is a central figure within British art whose work is principally concerned with the body’s mutability in time, its physical presence in space and its anxiety within culture. His work also poignantly explores mortality, beauty, kinship and the interplay of art and science. [...] A fully illustrated catalogue with essays by British art historian Lynda Nead and Montreal psychoanalyst Harvey Giesbrecht accompanies the exhibition." -- Publisher's website

A general approach for hysteresis-free, operationally stable metal halide perovskite field-effect transistors.

Despite sustained research, application of lead halide perovskites in field-effect transistors (FETs) has substantial concerns in terms of operational instabilities and hysteresis effects which are linked to its ionic nature. Here, we investigate the mechanism behind these instabilities and demonstrate an effective route to suppress them to realize high-performance perovskite FETs with low hysteresis, high threshold voltage stability (ΔVt 1 cm2/V·s at room temperature. We show that multiple cation incorporation using strain-relieving cations like Cs and cations such as Rb, which act as passivation/crystallization modifying agents, is an effective strategy for reducing vacancy concentration and ion migration in perovskite FETs. Furthermore, we demonstrate that treatment of perovskite films with positive azeotrope solvents that act as Lewis bases (acids) enables a further reduction in defect density and substantial improvement in performance and stability of n-type (p-type) perovskite devices

A general approach for hysteresis-free, operationally stable metal halide perovskite field-effect transistors.

Despite sustained research, application of lead halide perovskites in field-effect transistors (FETs) has substantial concerns in terms of operational instabilities and hysteresis effects which are linked to its ionic nature. Here, we investigate the mechanism behind these instabilities and demonstrate an effective route to suppress them to realize high-performance perovskite FETs with low hysteresis, high threshold voltage stability (ΔVt 1 cm2/V·s at room temperature. We show that multiple cation incorporation using strain-relieving cations like Cs and cations such as Rb, which act as passivation/crystallization modifying agents, is an effective strategy for reducing vacancy concentration and ion migration in perovskite FETs. Furthermore, we demonstrate that treatment of perovskite films with positive azeotrope solvents that act as Lewis bases (acids) enables a further reduction in defect density and substantial improvement in performance and stability of n-type (p-type) perovskite devices