Le cirque classique : entre tradition et récupération

Le cirque classique semble résister aux bouleversements sociaux et historiques de son temps, au risque de perdre ses capacités créatrices. Suivant un mouvement d’ouverture lancé par les « nouveaux cirques », certains artistes ou directeurs osent remettre en question leur pratique et proposer de nouvelles pistes. Dans une étude ethnologique s’intéressant à l’histoire du présent, l’auteure présente deux sortes de spectacles : celui, de l’ordre du rituel, marqué par la tradition et celui qui naît d’un processus personnalisé de création et de rupture avec le passé. Dans cette évolution, ce n’est pas seulement la pratique qui se modifie mais aussi le regard sur l’art et, plus largement, la manière de s’insérer dans la société.The classical circus seems to have withstood the social and historical changes of the times, with the risk however of losing its creative capacity. Following a general movement of openness undertaken by the "new circuses", some artists and circus directors dare to question their own practices and to propose new courses of action. In this ethnological study of the present, the author presents two types of shows: the first one is ritualized, marked by tradition, and the second is born of a personalized process of creation and rupture with the past. In this evolution, it is not only practice which undergoes change, but also the perception of art

PHOTOGRAPHING COYOTES

Wildlife photography has become an increasingly popular hobby over the last 10 years. Coyotes (Canis latrans) are among the more difficult animals to photograph under natural field conditions (i.e., in the wild ). For studying and photographing coyotes behaving routinely, I recommend the use of a draw station (i.e., cow carcass) and a blind that will all low relatively close inspection of coyote interactions

THE COYOTE IN SOUTHWESTERN FOLKLORE

Perhaps one of the first mentions of the coyote (Canis latrans) by Anglos in early-day journalism was from Mask Twain\u27s notes during his travels through the plains frontier in the early- to mid-19th century. Touring the frontier region before its inevitable subjugation to ranching and farming, Twain wrote of the coyote and its larger more infamous cousin, the wolf(C. lupus), In words which left no doubt to the reader the popular sentiments for such predators of the day Although derogatory in some respects, Twain did concede respect for Canis latrans and made mention of the tricks the coyote would play on domestic dogs as the wagons lumbered across the pristine landscape

Building Narratives of Joy: Experimenting with Transformational Narratives

At The Center for Cultural Power, we believe that narrative and cultural strategies are integral to creating a more equitable, inclusive, and just world. This groundbreaking impact report showcases our approaches to narrative change, featuring four case studies we've gathered over the last three years that cover topics from gender and reproductive justice to border narratives and civic engagement. Building power with Artist Disruptors and Culture Bearers creates global transformation through the disruption of inequitable and oppressive systems. We've found that in order to advance and create narrative change, there is a need for conscious collaboration which includes: Acknowledgment! Building power with artists is key to all of the rest of our successes  Committing to the hard work to care for and nurture belonging in our narrative networkFocusing on intersectional identitiesEngaging Artist Disruptors in our participatory narrative processIt's no secret that we're in an unprecedented and historic time but our commitment to Building Narratives of Joy allows us to deep dive into our unique narrative approaches which include: Starting with a solution rather than a problemExpressing urgency, hope, and/or humor; Sharing unique perspectives, strong artistic voices, and authenticity;Featuring personal narratives, especially the voices of community members; Focusing on a better future and getting there together by using the agency and power we already have; Showing action as something everyone is doing; and Reflecting the diverse audiences we are trying to reach in all ways! Through all of our work, we harness the power of narrative and cultural strategy to dismantle harmful narratives rooted in extraction and white supremacy and instead create and promote narratives of interdependence, empathy, and care.

Probing optical chirality in the near field of plasmonic nanostructures

PublishedWe directly probe the optical chirality in the near field of plasmonic nanostructures coated with a dye-doped polymer film by measuring the photoluminescence enhancement and analysing it with respect to its circular polarisation state

Cognitive control modulates preferential sensory processing of affective stimuli

Adaptive human behavior crucially relies on the ability of the brain to allocate resources automatically to emotionally significant stimuli. This ability has consistently been demonstrated by studies showing preferential processing of affective stimuli in sensory cortical areas. It is still unclear, however, whether this putatively automatic mechanism can be modulated by cognitive control processes. Here, we use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate whether preferential processing of an affective face distractor is suppressed when an affective distractor has previously elicited a response conflict in a word-face Stroop task. We analyzed this for three consecutive stages in the ventral stream of visual processing for which preferential processing of affective stimuli has previously been demonstrated: the striate area (BA 17), category-unspecific extrastriate areas (BA 18/19), and the fusiform face area (FFA). We found that response conflict led to a selective suppression of affective face processing in category-unspecific extrastriate areas and the FFA, and this effect was accompanied by changes in functional connectivity between these areas and the rostral anterior cingulate cortex. In contrast, preferential processing of affective face distractors was unaffected in the striate area. Our results indicate that cognitive control processes adaptively suppress preferential processing of affective stimuli under conditions where affective processing is detrimental because it elicits response conflict

Flank instability at Mount Etna: testing the sensitivity of forward models to the internal structure

The deformation recorded at Mount Etna during the last 15 years clearly shows that there is an interplay between activity of magmatic sources and instability of the SE sector. In particular, the anomalous sliding of the SE flank can be triggered by summit or flank eruptions (e.g., 2002), but it is also observed during quiescent loading phases (e.g., 1993-1997). This deformation is usually modeled by sub-horizontal dislocation surfaces (embedded in an elastic half space) whose parameters are determined fitting the observed surface deformation. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether models forced by a simple isotropic expansion source but taking into account the internal structure of Mount Etna are capable to focus a significant amount of horizontal deformation in the eastern flank. We perform computations based on the finite element method along a 2D cross section. The deformation models include both topography and a synthetic reconstruction of the internal layering constrained by geology, seismic tomography and experimental measurements of Etnean rocks. We study the sensitivity of the predicted surface displacement to variations of internal layers rheology and/or mechanical parameters. Our first results suggest that significant contributions to increase the deformation in the SE sector are due to plastic rheology of the clay layers and to asymmetrical distribution of elastic parameters related to the high velocity body underneath Mount Etna imaged by seismic tomography

Plasmonic meta-atoms and metasurfaces

Despite the extraordinary degree of interest in optical metamaterials in recent years, the hoped-for devices and applications have, in large part, yet to emerge. It is becoming clear that the first generation of metamaterial-based devices will most probably arise from their two-dimensional equivalents — metasurfaces. In this Review, we describe recent progress in the area of metasurfaces formed from plasmonic meta-atoms. In particular, we approach the subject from the perspective of the fundamental excitations supported by the meta-atoms and the interactions between them. We also identify some areas ripe for future research and indicate likely avenues for future device development.Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)Leverhulme Trus

Asymmetric dot dimers – optical properties and interactions

We present a study of the rich optical behaviour of the dark (grey) modes exhibited by asymmetric dot dimers and how this behaviour is modified upon interaction between dimers