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Present Past Subjects Projects Misc
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RACE SCIENCE AND THE OTHER
Date: 25 May 97 From: Paul Perry Ref: capeW #139 Hi All, I'm crossposting a mail that I've just sent off to Jules v/d Vijver, our director at media-gn. I thought it might be an interesting link/topic for our list to track... --------8< clip-------- Hi Jules, I browsed through an interesting and provocative book the other day in Utrecht. It's called 'The Race Gallery' and is about the re-emergence of racial science in psychology, socio-biology and other disciplines. I haven't bought the book (yet). Interesting, however, to consider the early and mid-century political abuses of scientific data (ie. American Eugenic movement, Germany facism) and the subsequent (and vehement) denial/suppression/dialectic taboo by society at large of these (and current) investigations... I'm mentioning it to you in regards to your discussion with Marlene Dumas and others concerning the representation of the 'other'. It would apppear that art discourse is certainly tailing behind science here and that IMHO, the art discourse is "a storm in a teacup" compared to the science discourse. There is a web site put up by the author of 'The Race Gallery', Marek Kohn which you might want to peruse: http://www.hrc.wmin.ac.uk/racegallery/ Regards, -- Paul Date: 26 May 97 From: davidkremers Ref: capeW #141 hi paul... racial science in psychology, socio-biology and other disciplines. ...all these disciplines are going to be coming under even stronger attack from newly discovered genetic differences within races [and within families]... our p. i. has just returned from a planning meeting on the next 15 years of the human genome project...and the directions are not what one would have predicted... it's important to remember that all the code in the species [and the variations in that code] have descended from a mere 100,000 individuals who emerged from africa just 100,000 years ago... It would apppear that art discourse is certainly tailing behind science here and that IMHO, the art discourse is "a storm in a teacup" compared to the science discourse. ...on the contrary...i think the battle over racism [and the general tribalization of modern culture] is an art one...even though some of it will be fought in science labs it will still be primarily an art battle... dk Date: 26 May 97 From: Jouke Kleerebezem Ref: capeW #142 PP/dk i think the battle over racism [and the general tribalization of modern culture] is an art one...even though some of it will be fought in science labs it will still be primarily an art battle... But can we be artistic racists? Just scanned the site Paul forwarded and followed some interesting links. Seems that one can pull it off to be one or another 'race realist' these days by adding some kind of legit epitethon ornans: scientific, realist... artistic? I'm all for any license ('commiting a crime in order to call that crime into question?' - pp?) and i think i agree that (apart from the fact that science _still_ seems to have something to prove cf. race 'theory', and art merely 'articulates' -- is that true my friends?) race should be at least as much an art (read: cultural) issue as a scientific one -- but i can follow Pauls HO that Art is tailing behind as far as the 'art discourse' indeed knows no Other but from any one or another Minority-Emancipatory point of view. (i can be wrong because i haven't read _most_ of the nth wave post-de-polit-ici-zing Text). What is it then that very much still connects art to emancipation? Scuse me. Got dragged away a bit. 'Tribalization of modern culture' (modern as in Modernist?) is an important topic beyond race/gender/multi-cultural main stream guilt ridden discourse. Aren't we confused on these issues? And again: there exists no (de-contextualized) 'art' discourse on 'race' just as there exists no 'science' discourse on 'race', we are past times in which Art and Science rule the world. There might as well be a 'media' discourse on race ('Benneton' cs.: 'cultural realist' movement). Race is here to stay with all the bloody _cultural_ diversity we love to love. David, just how much can/do we trust code? Code rules? Or is this touching the old nature/nurture cul-de-sac? Code as Speech? (Paul -- what is the Other vv. Marlene Dumas referring to -- just curious? She's white from South-Africa originally and one very clever dame, and fine artist, as shows her work -- so?) 'if you're not confused, you're not paying attention' (Michael Rothschild at the first Bionomics conference 1993) Jouke Date: 27 May 97 From: davidkremers Ref: capeW #143 hi guys... is that true my friends? race should be at least as much an art... ...race is becoming an artform...and one which is becoming tribalized to an extent that is it no longer easy to decipher by other races... cultural issue as a scientific one -- but i can follow Pauls HO that Art is tailing behind as far as the 'art discourse' ...or are we looking for the 'art discourse' in the wrong location?...is the 'art discourse' taking place in science?...or music?...or clothing?... What is it then that very much still connects art to emancipation? ...imagination...the human ability to be 'someplace else'... Scuse me. Got dragged away a bit. 'Tribalization of modern culture' (modern as in Modernist?) is an important topic beyond race/gender/multi-cultural main stream guilt ridden discourse. Aren't we confused on these issues? ...race is becoming an artform...and one which is becoming tribalized to an extent that is it no longer easy to decipher by other races... ...or are we looking for the 'art discourse' in the wrong location?...is the 'art discourse' taking place in science?...or music?...or clothing?... David, just how much can/do we trust code? Code rules? Or is this touching the old nature/nurture cul-de-sac? Code as Speech? ...we are the code...did you all read the amsse [Art Meets Science and Spirituality in a Changing Economy] stuff on david bohm?...the problem with the nature/nurture cul-de-sac is we don't view it as a spacetime problem... dk Date: 28 May 97 From: Paul Perry Ref: capeW #144 Jouke wrote: (and I've edited a bit for emphasis) But can we be artistic racists? 'Tribalization of modern culture' is an important topic beyond race/gender/multi-cultural main stream guilt ridden discourse. Race is here to stay with all the bloody _cultural_ diversity we love to love. Whoa... keep it down or we could get kicked out of this joint... -- Paul Date: 28 May 97 From: Paul Perry Ref: capeW #145 david wrote: our p. i. has just returned from a planning meeting on the next 15 years of the human genome project...and the directions are not what one would have predicted... Pray tell, I'm curious... Whither does the wind blow? (and while you are at it, what's a p. i.?) On to the next post... -- Paul Date: 28 May 97 From: Paul Perry Ref: capeW #146 AND DAVID WROTE: i think the battle over racism [and the general tribalization of modern culture] is an art one... AND THEN DAVID WROTE: ...race is becoming an artform...and one which is becoming tribalized to an extent that is it no longer easy to decipher by other races... AND THEN DAVID WROTE: ...we are the code... hmm... enough editing for one night. CU tomorrow guys. -- Paul Date: 29 May 97 From: Jouke Kleerebezem Ref: capeW #147 *Gene/Meme-Deep in the Hoopla* PP wrote: (and I've edited a bit for emphasis) Nothing like some good articulation eh? I wrote: But can we be artistic racists? after having been introduced to the (we are aware etc.) _disputable_ notion of 'race realism' and 'scientific racism' (mainly from dfnt suspicious Chris - G Factor - Brand) (http://www.csra.net/lrand/CBrand.htm), I tossed it up... in the realm of the arts... to see it float... where laws don't apply and license rules (we know too well how 'tolerance'-dependent this makes us); how much significant information traffic can such liberties generate across the [art / rest of culture] (Bateson) equation? I wrote: 'Tribalization of modern culture' is an important topic beyond race/gender/multi-cultural main stream guilt ridden discourse. race issues are in the air... today there's 'diversity affordances' that allow for Turkish Koerds to kill other Turkish Koerds in the Hague (a mother and 5 kids of a 12 person family burned to death after their house was set on fire) and immediately have hundreds of people demonstrate in the streets against racism -- and have some nut march organiser (dutch guy) send himself race-offensive mail and set his own house on fire... (how's that for guilt/confusion, while this is of course not general but indeed typical. This confusion is comparably new to the Dutch, despite of our colonial past -- or as a result of it maybe -- we have been tolerant, but are we still? Can 'dutch' tolerance cope with 'imported' intolerance: can we outlive 'tolerance diversity' without institutionalizing/isolating it, getho-wise?). The extreme right French National Front got 15% of the vote, nation wide, in the first round of the elections last Sunday) I always wondered whether I would have been aware of heavy weather aproaching when WWII was being 'prepared' and whether i would have acted in time (whatever act i would have decided for), and how much aware i would be if conditons would change for the worse in my own time?) diversity is a mix, not segregation. I can't stand some of the autochtone dutch cultural habits, but does this make me a racist? a cannibal, an elitist? I try to be tolerant as long as rational possible, as long as realistic, i try to stay 'in the mix', whatever ingredients are added. So indeed: Race is here to stay with all the bloody _cultural_ diversity we love to love. race as gender as 'cultura/traditional' -- as flexible as changeable as claimable as negotiable as wild hope...? ok, but trans-humanism doesn't imply trans-racism then? Just asking. And how about trans-sexism? I told you we are confused on these issues. When we read about female sadistic cruelties in Somalia we are sooo surprised... (I remember I was, or at least, I had to read and think twice, shocked). We just have some very deep embedded (gene-deep? at least 'meme-deep') judgements/reflexes on these issues. And we behave accordingly. Whoa... keep it down or we could get kicked out of this joint... all of this could be a bit too political for interstellar overdrive, but _politics_, like _racism_ is very much in the air, again, i can see it float... it darkens the sun, hindering navigation, forcing to change course... Jouke Date: 29 May 97 From: Jouke Kleerebezem Ref: capeW #148 *PI/IQ/IE* PP wrote: Pray tell, I'm curious... Whither does the wind blow? (and while your at it, what's a p i?) progress inspection? Jouke Date: 29 May 97 From: davidkremers Ref: capeW #149 hi guys... Pray tell, I'm curious... Whither does the wind blow? ...sorry i'm not at liberty to discuss that for a while... what's a p i? ...principal investigator...i e scientist who heads up a lab... dk Date: 29 May 97 From: davidkremers Ref: capeW #150 JK wrote: wondered whether I would have been aware of heavy weather aproaching when WWII was being 'prepared' and whether i would have acted in time ...the former yes, my father remembers his family discussing hitler's election to chancellor and expecting the approaching war as early as autumn 1936...and as to the latter, the artists closest to technology...breuer, gropius, moholy-nagy...were all safely settled in the usa by 1938...if they outlawed your internet connection you would leave wouldn't you?... all of this could be a bit too political for interstellar overdrive, but _politics_, like _racism_ is very much in the air, again, i can see it float... it darkens the sun, hindering navigation, forcing to change course... ...to paraphrase a recent article...people don't want to be tolerated, they want to be accepted for who they are...tolerance is fairly easy for a general population to pull off in times of economic stability...it's good for business...but acceptance is another matter...is this perhaps one of the reasons for the recent spate of interest in E.T. s?... dk Date: 30 May 97 From: Paul Perry Ref: capeW #151 *A Few Good Races* JK, What have you been eating for breakfast? Race is here to stay with all the bloody _cultural_ diversity we love to love. ...race as gender as 'cultura/traditional' -- as flexible as changeable as claimable as negotiable as wild hope...? And who was it that said: "Give me my own *race* or give me death"? Race as rocket fuel, race (with a false french accent) as 'difference', differential, potential, energy force, energy source, claimable, blame-able, death race on a rampage, inter-racial (salmon) spawn, new races of bastard progeny, different, differentiated, the race trace, named and identified, in apartments, apart races - - - - - and long life to them. ok, but trans-humanism doesn't imply trans-racism then? Just asking. What's the difference between trans-racism and post-racism? Does not the prefix 'trans' mean 'across' (ie. space) and 'post' mean 'beyond/after' (ie. time)? all of this could be a bit too political for interstellar overdrive I like the (confus-able) potential contained in the 'trans-race' entity (person, place or thing). Who sez we can not consider racial potential as a formidable power source? Jetter, in the __Void Captain's Tale__ has a interstellar craft's engine 'void jump' on cue with a woman's orgasm. Give me a few good races and I'll give you a good ship. -- Paul Date: 30 May 97 From: Paul Perry Ref: capeW #152 *Acceptance (Yeechhh) Tolerance (Yeaaay!)* david wrote: ...to paraphrase a recent article...people don't want to be tolerated, they want to be accepted for who they are...tolerance is fairly easy for a general population to pull off in times of economic stability...it's good for business...but acceptance is another matter...is this perhaps one of the reasons for the recent spate of interest in et s?... Thanks but I'd rather be tolerated than accepted. Acceptance (in my mind and IMHO) pre-supposes 'understanding' and that's both bad for business and (again IMHO) diversity (racism). Understanding smacks of condescendation (affability to perceived inferiors). It may be true that people "want to be accepted for who they are..." , but it strikes me that some people also want to climb back into their mother's c. You are right david, tolerance is a Dutch meme. But I would suggest that tolerance facilitates (affords) trade rather than (as you suggest) it being the other way around (times of economic stability 'affording' tolerance). Today's secret word has to be: RESPECT. Healthy respect of the 'other' contains more value than either (IMO misguided/false) acceptance or tolerance behaviour. Demand respect. Accept no substitutes. -- Paul Date: 30 May 97 From: Paul Perry Ref: capeW #153 *Correction: A Few Good Races* I wrote: I like the (confus-able) potential contained in the 'trans-race' entity (person, place or thing). Who sez we can not consider racial potential as a formidable power source? Jetter, in the __Void Captain's Tale__ has a interstellar craft's engine 'void jump' on cue with a woman's orgasm. I wrote Jetter, but I meant Spinrad. My excuses. -- Paul Date: 30 May 97 From: Paul Perry Ref: capeW #155 *Phenotype Elucidation (and some reflection)* Hi all, jk: David, just how much can/do we trust code? Code rules? dk: ...we are the code... For those of you (lurkers!) not completely at home with the distinction between genotype and phenotype (and because I'd like to broaden our 'race' discussion...) I'm enclosing the following definitions: PHENOTYPE: The physical characteristics, collectively, of an organism, determined by the *genotype* and the environment. Organisms with the same genotype may have different phenotypes in different environments. For example, two plants may be genotypically short, but if one is grown under conditions of poor light, it will become etiolated and hence taller than the other. Organisms with the same genotype may also show different phenotypes if the *penetrance* of the gene differs. On the other hand, organisms with different genotypes may have the same phenotype if each contains a dominant gene: in the same environment the homozyous organism AA is phenotypically identical to the heterozygous Aa in respect of gene A. PENETRANCE (EXPRESSIVITY): The extent to which the effects of a gene are shown in the organism possessing it. It is expressed as the percentage of organisms showing the effect of a gene out of the total number known to possess it. Penetrance can vary considerably with different genes and with different organisms possessing the same gene. In Mendelian genetics, penetrance is assumed to be 100 per cent. Variations in penetrance are thought to be due to the modifying action of other genes present and to the effects of the environment. GENOTYPE: The genetic complement of an organism, ie. the particular set of alleles it possesses. The term is often used in contrast to the phenotype (appearance) of the organism. dk: the problem with the nature/nurture cul-de-sac is we don't view it as a spacetime problem... Is nature/nuture (the classical psychological sociological question) the same as the genotype/phenotype equation? Nurture (not code) are the environmental 'affordances' that Gibson refers to in his 'Ecological Approach to Visual Perception'. Last night at dinner Arno (one of my MFA students) described an old seventies SF movie he had seen on TV where the astronauts were travelling through space in a biosphere. Striking was the depiction of the inhabitants exercise routine and equipment: 70's style running machines and (for the women) belly/abdominal floor rollers. Exercise equipment (and its use) locked in a time frame? The 'environment' locked in a time frame? The biosphere as a selection criteria and phenotypical 'affordance'? If we (I) desire (genetic) diversity and treat it as a 'good' is looking at code/race 'otherness' enough? I've always felt that the practice of engaging in 'creative anachronisms' is more than just charming. It might really be important... Supporting environmental 'difference' (and thus racial difference) not only by supporting 'spatial' environmental diversity but also 'temporal' environment diversity? Think: Stephenson's Neo Vickys (Neo Victorians) Think: Toffler's references in 'War and Anti-War' to the return to Medici tactics Think: The re-emergence of contemporary feudal/caste social systems. -- Paul Date: 30 May 97 From: Paul Perry Ref: capeW #156 *More Articulation of Gene Deep in the Hoopla* Jouke wrote: Nothing like some good articulation eh? It helps. But can we be artistic racists? after having been introduced to the (we are aware etc.) _disputable_ notion of 'race realism' and 'scientific racism' (mainly from definitely suspicious Chris - G Factor - Brand) (http://www.csra.net/lrand/CBrand.htm), I tossed it up... in the realm of the arts... to see it float... where laws don't apply and license rules (we know too well how 'tolerance'-dependent this makes us); how much significant information traffic can such liberties generate across the [art / rest of culture] (Bateson) equation? Okay, yes, we (rude artists?) are very dependent on the 'tolerance' of the rest of our society. (And today, at risk of Rushdie-like 'fatwah', other societies.) Now what would you rather have: 1) tolerance 2) acceptance 3) respect The question of how much significance can be generated is perhaps less interesting than that other phrase of yours JK, published many years ago, to wit: "How much significance can we bear?" Rephrasing 'bearance': How much significance can we (or they) tolerate? And re-introducing another 'expression' from a few weeks ago (ie. threshold): How much significance can we (or they) discern? --> Respect engenders curiousity, elaboration/articulation and further evolution. -- Paul Please report errors to --> errors@alamut.com This page was first created on --> 6/9/98; 7:16:48 CET This page was last modified on --> 6/9/98; 9:38:38 CET
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