"Man There Ain't No Film in That Shit." : Materiality, Temporality and Politics of Pixelvision Video

Pixelvision der Firma Fisher-Prize war als explizites low-tech-Videosystem für Kinder konzipiert, bevor die amerikanische Künstlerin Sadie Benning Ende der 1980er Jahre ihren ersten Videofilm mit der PXL-2000 (so der Produktname dieser Spielzeugkamera) produzierte. Die Kamera war ein kommerzieller Misserfolg und Fisher Price stellte ihre Produktion nach nur einem Jahr wieder ein. In einer Zeit perfektionierter Videobilder, hochauflösender Fernsehstandards und ‚verlustfreier’ Computerbilder entdeckten in den 1990er Jahren immer mehr Künstler und Künstlerinnen den Reiz der pixeligen Bilder in Schwarz-Weiß, deren Bildauflösung von nur 100 Zeilen den normalen Fernsehstandard von rund 600 Zeilen um ein Vielfaches unterschreitet. Neben den Videos von Sadie Benning, die Fragen von Queerness und Gender unter autobiographischem Blickwinkel verhandeln, stellt mein Beitrag auch Another Girl, Another Planet (USA 1992) von Michael Almereyda zur Diskussion, einen experimentellen Kurzspielfilm, der die ästhetischen Qualitäten von Pixelvision mit der Thematik des Sich-Erinnerns in Verbindung bringt. Am Beispiel dieser case studies soll die Rolle obsoleter Medientechnologien in zeitgenössischen Kunstpraktiken untersucht, der besonderen Materialität und Textur von Pixelvision Rechnung getragen und Fragen der Temporalität verhandelt werden

An Acute Sense of Place: The Songs of Norman Blake

American flat-picking guitarist, singer and songwriter Norman Blake holds legendary status among guitar players, bluegrass, and folk musicians. The aim of this research is to analyze the interaction of sense of place in Norman Blake’s songwriting. This research will explore the techniques Blake uses to create that acute sense of place. Elements of literary criticism, cultural geography, ethnomusicology, and sense of place studies, as well as historical background information on Northern Alabama and North Georgia will be employed to show how this particular region of Southeastern Appalachia has informed Blake’s songwriting. The research questions that I aim to answer are how a sense of place has influenced Norman Blake’s songwriting, how his writing has influenced other songwriters in the field of 20th century folk music, bluegrass, Americana, and country music, and what songwriting techniques Blake has employed to create an acute sense of place

The role of income inequality and social policies on income-related health inequalities in Europe

The aim of the paper is to examine the role of income inequality and redistribution for income-related health inequalities in Europe. This paper contributes in two ways to the literature on macro determinants of socio-economic inequalities in health. First, it widens the distinctive focus of the research field on welfare state regimes to quantifiable measures such as social policy indicators. Second, looking at income differences completes studies on socio-economic health inequalities, which often analyse health inequalities based on educational differences. Methods: Using data from the European Values Study (2008/2009), 42 European countries are available for analysis. Country characteristics are derived from SWIID, Eurostat, and ILO and include indicators for income inequality, social policies, and economic performance. The data is analysed by using a two-step hierarchical estimation approach: At the first step - the individual level - the effect of household income on self-assessed health is extracted and introduced as an indicator measuring income-related health inequalities at the second step, the country-level. Results: Individual-level analyses reveal that income-related health inequalities exist all across Europe. Results from country-level analyses show that higher income inequality is significantly positively related to higher health inequalities while social policies do not show significant relations. Nevertheless, the results show the expected negative association between social policies and health inequalities. Economic performance also has a reducing influence on health inequalities. In all models, income inequality was the dominating explanatory effect for health inequalities. Conclusions: The analyses indicate that income inequality has more impact on health inequalities than social policies. On the contrary, social policies seemed to matter to all individuals regardless of socio-economic position since it is significantly positively linked to overall population health. Even though social policies are not significantly related to health inequalities, the power of public redistribution to impact health inequalities should not be downplayed. Social policies as a way of public redistribution are a possible instrument to reduce income inequalities which would in turn lead to a reduction in health inequalities

Performance characteristics of ammonia engines using direct injection strategies

In this study performance characteristics of ammonia engines using direct injection strategies are investigated. Ammonia is a carbon-free fuel, and thus its combustion does not produce carbon dioxide, a critical greenhouse gas. Ammonia can be produced by using renewable energy sources (e.g., wind and solar) and used as an energy carrier. Recent research also has shown that the efficiency of solar thermochemical production of ammonia can be increased by combining the ammonia solid-state synthesis cycle with hydrogen production. Ammonia is under consideration for a potential storage method for wind energy. Ammonia\u27s nature as carbon-free and its ability to be renewably produced make it an alternative to fossil fuels. In this study two direct injection strategies are tested and performance data, and exhaust emissions are recorded and analyzed. The first strategy tested liquid direct injection in a compression-ignition (diesel) engine utilizing highly advanced injection timings. Ammonia was used with dimethyl ether (DME) in a duel fuel combustion strategy. Ammonia was mixed with DME prior to injection. DME was chosen as a diesel substitute for its close fuel properties to ammonia. Three ammonia-DME ratios were tested: 100%DME, 60%DME-40%NH3, and 40%DME-60%NH3. Engine speeds of 1900 rpm and 2500 rpm were used based on the operational capability of 40%DME-60%NH3. Operation at 40%DME-60%NH3 required injection timing ranging from 90-340. Highly advanced injection timings resulted in homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion (HCCI). Cycle-to-cycle variations were reduced with increased load. NOx, NH3, CO, CO2, and HC were reduced with increased load for 40%DME-60%NH3. Low temperature combustion from low in-cylinder temperature from ammonia vaporization resulted in low NOx emissions meeting EPA emissions standards for small engine operation. The second strategy tested gaseous direct injection of ammonia in a spark-ignition (gasoline) engine. A CFR engine was operated at idle using the existing gasoline port injection system. Ammonia was directly injected using a solenoid injector. A ruthenium catalyst was implementing to partially decompose ammonia into hydrogen. Testing was performed over a range of seven performance modes using gasoline, gasoline-ammonia, and gasoline-ammonia with ruthenium catalyst. Injection timings of 270, 320, and 370 BTDC were used. Gasoline-ammonia showed little improvement in break specific energy consumption and CO2, and exhibited increased levels of NOx and HC over performance modes using gasoline only. Due to ammonia\u27s low flammability limits and slow flame speed combustion efficiency was reduced. With the ruthenium catalyst Improvements in flywheel power were seen over performance modes without catalyst. The peak in-cylinder pressure was increased, and the start of ignition was advanced over both gasoline-ammonia and gasoline only performance modes. There was a significant reduction in NOx and NH3 present in the exhaust. Hydrogen present in the fuel increased combustion efficiency due to high flammability limits and high flame speed. Improvements in combustion efficiency resulted in reduced CO and HC over both gasoline-ammonia and gasoline only performance modes

Health inequalities in Europe: Does minimum income protection make a difference?

Poverty, a risk factor for ill health, could be alleviated by generous welfare states. However, do generous social policies also reduce the health implications of socio-economic inequalities? This study investigates how minimum income protection is associated with socio-economic health inequalities. The author hypothesises that higher benefit levels are associated with lower health inequalities between income groups. Minimum income benefits support the people most in need, and therefore should improve the health of the lowest income groups, which in turn would reduce overall health inequalities. This hypothesis is tested with the European Social Survey (2002-2012) and the SaMip dataset using three-level multilevel models, covering 26 countries. The results show a robust relationship between benefit levels and individual self-rated health. However, the hypothesis of reduced health inequalities is not completely supported, since the findings for the cross-level interactions between income quintiles and benefit levels differ for each quintile

Hard-Pressed in the Heartland: the Hormel Strike and the Future of the Labor Movement

Review of: Hard-Pressed in the Heartland: The Hormel Strike and the Future of the Labor Movement. Rachleff, Peter