About Fish, or Toward Radical Affinity in Paik’s Scores

It's a beautiful early fall afternoon, and once again, I find myself drawn into the orbit of Nam June Paik—a true luminary of the 20th century art scene and an indisputable pioneer in what we now refer to as 'video,' 'electronic,' or 'media art.' I've been tasked with crafting an essay on the subject of Paik's early scores, and I'm grappling with the decision of whether to take a comprehensive approach, encompassing the numerous works that were either inspired by or gave rise to primary and secondary scores [1], or to focus my attention on a single example that would most effectively illustrate my points. Given my contemplation on the aesthetics of decay, my decision becomes clear in an instant: I will center my exploration on 'Liberation Sonata for Fish,' a fascinating instance of a score-based creation by Paik, dating back to 1969, that notably embodies the concept of degradation

Caring For Performance: Recent Debates

Can performance art be conserved? If so, how, and if not, why not? Enhanced by short philosophical reflection surrounding conservation and its entanglement with the world, this essay reviews the debates that took place on the occasion of the international colloquium devoted to the conservation of performance, Performance: The Ethics and the Politics of Care. The colloquium was organized at Bern University of the Arts on May 29-30, 2021 within the research project Performance: Conservation, Materiality, Knowledge (Swiss National Science Foundation, 2020-24). The essay investigates the notion of performance through the lens of its conserveability and through a multidisciplinary perspective represented by a diversity of voices during the colloquium. It ultimately presents both performance and conservation as inherently unstable categories that require a careful and reflective approach.La performance peut-elle être conservée? Si oui, comment et si non, pourquoi pas ? Enrichi par une courte réflexion philosophique autour de la conservation et de ses interrelations avec le monde, cet essai passe en revue les débats qui ont eu lieu lors du colloque international consacré à la conservation de la performance, Performance: The Ethics and the Politics of Care. Le colloque a été organisé à la Haute école des arts de Berne les 29 et 30 mai 2021 dans le cadre du projet de recherche Performance: Conservation, Materiality, Knowledge (Conservation, Matérialité, Connaissance ; Fonds national suisse, 2020-24). Cet essai explore la notion de performance à travers le prisme de sa conservabilité et dans une perspective multidisciplinaire, reflétée par une diversité de voix réunies au colloque. Il présente finalement la performance et la conservation comme des catégories intrinsèquement instables qui nécessitent une approche attentive et réfléchie

Breach of Contact: An Intercultural Reading of China Miéville's 'The City and The City'

China Miéville’s 2009 'Weird' detective novel The City and The City is a tale of two city states, culturally distinct, between which unpoliced contact is forbidden. While residents of each city can learn about the other’s history, geography, politics, see photographs and watch news footage of the other city, relations between the two are tightly monitored and any direct contact requires a series of protocols, some of which might seem reasonable, or at least familiar: entry permits, international mail, international dialing codes, intercultural training courses. What complicates these apparently banal measures is the relative positioning of the two cities, each one around, within, amongst the other. The two populations live side by side, under a regime which requires ostentatious and systematic disregard or 'unnoticing' of the other in any context but a tightly regulated set of encounters. For all that interculturality is endemic to everyday life in the 21st century, what is striking is that critical and popular uptake of this novel so frequently decries the undesirability, the immorality even, of the cultural separation between the two populations, framing it as an allegory of unjust division within a single culture, and thus by implication endorsing the erasure of intercultural difference. We propose an alternative reading which sees this novel as exploring the management of intercultural encounters, and staging the irreducibility of intercultural difference. We examine how the intercultural is established in the novel, and ask how it compares to its representations in prevalent theoretical models, specifically that of the Third Place

Innovation and Preservation: Shadreck Chirikure on the Performance of Heritage

In conversation with Hanna Hölling, archaeologist Shadreck Chirikure discusses the continuity of cultural traditions through the sustained performance of heritage. For Chirikure, the continuity of intangible heritage is secured through its active use – even if this use means constant change and adaptation by new generations: “Continuity,” he argues, “enables change.” Uniting various indigenous as well as academic perspectives in his own work, Chirikure believes that including multiple standpoints in archaeological research and heritage projects will lead to the best outcomes

Safe Navigation of Cruise Ships in Greenlandic Waters – Legal Frame and Practical Challenges

Climate change provides for improved conditions for maritime navigation and results in increased activity in the Arctic. Those increased activities influence the safety at sea and risk of accidents. A disaster as the Costa Concordia incident would have far more serious consequences in Greenlandic waters than it had in Italy, therefore the question of prevention and disaster-preparedness is crucial. One approach to avoid risks is to create specific legislation. The legal system guiding safe navigation of cruise ships in/around Greenlandic waters is complex: the legal regime for navigation is set in different general and specific international, regional and national legal acts, partly non-binding, therefore issues of effectiveness arise. Safety is also influenced by practical issues, e.g. the lack of sufficient nautical charts for Greenlandic waters and “preparedness” at land to handle potential disasters, such as the SAR-system and preparedness of different actors, for example hospitals

The Seduction of Sarah: travel memoirs and intercultural learning

The paper explores the nexus between intercultural storytelling and intercultural learning. Noting the wide appeal of the travel memoir set in France, it takes as a case study a book that, while positioned within that genre, attempts to shift some predictable patterns: Sarah Turnbull’s best-selling Almost French. Analysis shows that the book in fact participates in a subtle play of genres, whereby the lure of the travel memoir is used to entice readers towards a position where they read the book as a guide to French culture. The particular form of hybridity attempted is, however, a delicate enterprise, as the reception of the book demonstrates, in that the intercultural lessons on offer risk being overshadowed by the expectations readers bring to the genre of the travel memoir. The paper examines the competing seductions operating throughout the text and relates the conditions for taking up the opportunity for intercultural learning to questions of genre. It offers a pedagogical uptake of the textual analysis, thus bridging disciplines in a way that mirrors Turnbull’s bridging of genre

Anaplastic thyroid cancer with life-threatening symptoms in an older female - a case report

Introduction: Anaplastic thyroid cancer, also called undifferentiated, is an uncommon and highly aggressive thyroid neoplasm that usually occurs in patients above 60 years of age (mean 65 years). Incidence is about 1-2 cases per million persons a year. [11] It accounts for 1-2% of thyroid cancer cases and probably develops from previously differentiated thyroid neoplasms. [1] Mutations of TP53 gene are most common and exist in 17-80% of patients. Other frequently mutated genes are RAS, BRAF and β-catenin. [3] The metastatic spread tends to occur through hematogenous and lymphatic pathways. The neoplasm presents as a rapidly enlarging neck mass that can cause compression on the neck structures giving symptoms such as dysphagia and dyspnea. Patients with established diagnosis of anaplastic thyroid cancer have very poor prognosis. Mean survival time of patients after confirmed diagnosis is 3 to 6 months and 5-year survival rate is estimated to be 5-14%. [2] Aim: The aim of this study is to portray the clinical presentation, course and complications of a patient suffering from anaplastic thyroid cancer. This case report includes performed procedures and implemented treatment. Description of the case: We present a case of an 87-year-old female that was admitted to the hospital with a large thyroid mass, symptoms of dysphagia, dyspnea and significant weight loss. Clinical picture was suspicious of anaplastic thyroid cancer. Further workup included laboratory testing, imaging and FNA biopsy. Surgical procedure of tracheostomy was conducted due to life-threatening dyspnea with consecutive patient’s monitoring in Intensive Care Unit. After achieving clinically stable state the patient was transferred to Clinical Department of Radiotherapy where palliative radiotherapy was initiated