05.06.2009
Hi there! Since I forgot to send out a blog last week I am going to reflect on what we went over in class last week as well as discuss Ross's topic.
First, Ross's topic seems very interesting and I am excited to discuss this in class. I thought that Lauren was right on in picking up on the masculine and feminine points of the victorian article. I thought that it was interesting that Mr. Carlyle decided to build a sound proof attic and in doing so, his wife (or whoever that woman was) was subjected to a lot of noise just so that he didn't have to deal with noise anymore. The other thing that I found ironic was about the racism that this brought out in people. They talked about the German's like they were pigs because they were apparently the ones making all the noise. If you made noise, it seems, you simply weren't cultured. I find this ironic because cars make a lot of noise and some of the groups used this as a building block for this argument against noise, but if you didn't have a car you probably didn't have enough money for one and you probably weren't one of the cultured people in their eyes anyways. The other thing I find funny is culture and be cultured to some people is having education, especially in the arts. Art can be viewed as a silent thing (paintings and pieces of art), but it can also be plays, musicals, and music itself. All these things make noise. Again it is simply ironic how they think that if you are making noise, you aren't cultured, but being cultured in a lot of ways makes noise.
In regards to last week:
I think that Lauren's presentation was compelling and I think that it has a solid foundation. In order to solidify the structure though, some transitions from person to person are needed. I, personally, was having trouble seeing how she was going to do that. I thought it was interesting to look at Susan Boyle's performance on that show and to discuss it in the realm of culture. That interview was also quite interesting. For a professional interviewer Diane Sawyer didn't know how to talk to Susan and I wonder if it had to do with Susan's appearance. She wasn't glammed up with perfect skin and make up and a beautiful face. She was wearing what she would normally wear with the exception that her hair was a little more styled. It will be interesting to know if Lauren got in touch with that other youtube character. She had a good voice, but was just a little depressing in her presentation. I did find it quite entertaining though. I think that if Lauren is going to be looking at blacks and the integration of other races, Adrian Piper or Glenn Ligon would be two artists that can be referred to rather shallowly to tie things together maybe.