Thursday, 10 March 2011
Was David scared stiff of Goliath?
Michelangelo's David is meant to be a representation in marble of the perfect male form. So why did his creator not make him - how would one say - a little better endowed?
As every visitor to Florence will know, the modest dimensions of David's "pisello" are a running joke with Italians, and the stuff of irreverent postcards.
But, in a paper to be published at the end of this month, two Florentine doctors offer a scientific explanation: the poor chap was shrivelled by the threat of mortal danger. Michelangelo's intention was to depict David as he confronted Goliath.
What the new study shows is that every anatomical detail - right down to the shaping of the muscles in his forehead - is consistent with the combined effects of fear, tension and aggression.
One of the authors of the paper, Pietro Antonio Bernabei, of the Careggi hospital, Florence, said one such effect would be "a contraction of the reproductive organs".
Last year, he and Professor Massimo Gulisano, of Florence University, conducted a computer-assisted study of the 4.34 metre-high statue, in the Galleria dell'Accademia. They emerged, in Professor Gulisano's words, "stupefied" by Michelangelo's physiological accuracy.
The only mistake is at a point in the centre of David's back that is hollow and ought to be rounded. Michelangelo was aware of the error. But, as he wrote at the time: "Mi manco matera" - "I lacked (enough) material".
Dr Bernabei said allowance had to be made for the conventions of high Renaissance art, which depicted activity in a "much more composed and elegant fashion than today". But, anatomically, everything about Michelangelo's David was consistent with a young man "at the moment immediately preceding the slinging of a stone". His right leg is tensed, while the left one juts forward "like that of a fencer, or even a boxer". Tension is written all over his face. His eyes are wide open. His nostrils are flared. And the muscles between his eyebrows stand out, exactly as they would if they were tightened by concentration and aggression.
David is holding something in his right hand, and it has conventionally been assumed that it is a stone. But Dr Gulisano said it is the handle of the sling.
The full findings are to be given in a paper written for the Dutch Institute for Art History, in Florence.
Michelangelo's masterpiece, completed in 1504, was put back on display last May after cleaning, which allowed its anatomical details to be studied much more easily than before.
Now just one great puzzle remains: why, since David was Jewish, did Michelangelo sculpt him uncircumcised?
John Hooper @'The Age' (2005)
Via
Can you legally arm Libya's rebels?
As Libya's rebels face off against better armed government troops, several prominent voices have argued that arming the rebels should be part of a more aggressive attempt to unseat the Gaddafi regime. Leave the wisdom of that policy to one side, how about the legality? The Security Council imposed an arms embargo on the country and I don't see much room in the text for sending anyone in Libya arms. Here's the relevant paragraph in the resolution:
The resolution does make several exceptions but none of them exempt weapons sent to rebels from the ban. The Council has established a committee to monitor the embargo, and it is empowered to make further exceptions. If the Council members want to create a loophole they can do so easily enough, but I don't see one yet.
David Bosco @'FP'
Decides that all Member States shall immediately take the necessary measures to prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer to the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, from or through their territories or by their nationals, or using their flag vessels or aircraft, of arms and related materiel of all types, including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, paramilitary equipment, and spare parts for the aforementioned, and technical assistance, training, financial or other assistance, related to military activities or the provision, maintenance or use of any arms and related materiel, including the provision of armed mercenary personnel whether or not originating in their territories...It's tempting to interpret the "Libyan Arab Jamahiriya" as referring to the regime only rather than to the entire Libyan territory. Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham argued that recently in response to the administration's insistence that arming the rebels would be illegal. As a matter of textual interpretation, the McCain/Graham position is a very tough one to defend. In several places, the resolution does refer to the "Libyan authorities"; if the Council had wanted to limit the arms embargo to the authorities, presumably it would have just said so.
The resolution does make several exceptions but none of them exempt weapons sent to rebels from the ban. The Council has established a committee to monitor the embargo, and it is empowered to make further exceptions. If the Council members want to create a loophole they can do so easily enough, but I don't see one yet.
David Bosco @'FP'
Map of The Internet
Non-Geek Version – The Map of the Internet is a visual representation of all the networks around the world that are interconnected to form the Internet as we know it today. These include small and large Internet service providers (ISPs), Internet exchange points, university networks, and organization networks such as Facebook and Google. The size of the nodes and the thickness of the lines speak to the size of those particular providers and the network connections in relation to one another.
Geek Version – You’re looking at all the autonomous systems that make up the Internet. Each autonomous system is a network operated by a single organization, and has routing connections to some number of neighboring autonomous systems. The image depicts a graph of 19,869 autonomous system nodes, joined by 44,344 connections. The sizing and layout of the autonomous systems are based on their eigenvector centrality, which is a measure of how central to the network each autonomous system is: an autonomous system is central if it is connected to other autonomous systems that are central. This is the same graph-theoretical concept that forms the basis of Google’s PageRank algorithm.
Via
Interactive version
HERE
Disappears @ La Route du Rock 2/18/11
Carving out a space somewhere in the middle of garage-punk snarl, shoegaze haze, and Krautrock grooves, Chicago’s Disappears features Brian Case (also of the Ponys and 90 Day Men), Boas members Graeme Gibson and Jonathan van Herik, and Damon Carruesco. The band started when Case’s other groups were on hiatus and he was recording demos with Gibson; Gibson brought van Herik into the project, and in turn, van Herik brought Carruesco into the fold. Soon after forming, the band self-released a series of 7" singles with artwork based on Can’s album Delay 1968, and made their material available for free on the Internet. Disappears began recording their debut studio album and signed to Touch & Go, appearing at the label’s showcase at 2009’s South by Southwest Festival, and also playing dates with Tortoise, Deerhunter, and Times New Viking. The band released 100 CD-Rs of Live Over the Rainbo, a live album from the Deerhunter/Times New Viking tour, that was eventually distributed by Plus Tapes and Rococco Records later in 2009. Disappears continued to play more high-profile Chicago shows, including a gig at the Pitchfork Music Festival and a 2009 New Year’s Eve show with the Jesus Lizard. Late in the year, the band moved to Kranky Records, who released their official debut album Lux in 2010. The band also recorded a single with Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley and the noise duo White/Light. Disappears took a sleeker, more psychedelic approach on 2011's Guider (Heather Phares)
Artists: Graeme Gibson, Jonathan van Herik, Brian Case, Damon Carruesco, Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth)
http://www.myspace.com/disappearsmusic
directlink
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