title: Trash aesthetics and the sublime: Strategies for visualising the unrepresentable within a landscape of refuse

authors: Snake-Beings, Emit

abstract: Living in a technology-dependent society, it seems inevitable that our vision of the world is mediated and extended through our interactions with technology. We often realize the extent of technological mediation when our machines cease to function correctly. When a machine fails, we leave the predictably functioning world and enter into another realm. Think of the primitive magic of lighting candles during a power cut, where there is the potential of experiencing something sublime—something beyond the order and structure that technology imposes on us. On the other hand, when technology breaks it is also an opportunity to experience a myriad of emotions such as frustration, rage, loss, or boredom. In the face of technological failure, our ingrained response is to obtain a replacement, an upgrade, that promises greater freedom and a new way of visualizing the world. The old piece of technology turns to trash and falls silently and invisibly from our consciousness, as new technological vistas take command of our attention. The failure of machines can also be an intentional consequence of industry, such as the kind of in-built redundancy that drives the production and sale of new products, as discussed in Vance Packard’s book The Waste Makers or Slavoj Žižek’s commentary in Astra Taylor’s 2008 documentary Examined Life. While, in this sense, trash is intentional, there is also something about trash which has moved beyond function and human purpose: this is the link between trash and the realm of the sublime that I wish to explore in this essay.

text: Trash aesthetics and the sublime: Strategies for visualising the unrepresentable within a landscape of refuse Living in a technology-dependent society, it seems inevitable that our vision of the world is mediated and extended through our interactions with technology. We often realize the extent of technological mediation when our machines cease to function correctly. When a machine fails, we leave the predictably functioning world and enter into another realm. Think of the primitive magic of lighting candles during a power cut, where there is the potential of experiencing something sublime—something beyond the order and structure that technology imposes on us. On the other hand, when technology breaks it is also an opportunity to experience a myriad of emotions such as frustration, rage, loss, or boredom. In the face of technological failure, our ingrained response is to obtain a replacement, an upgrade, that promises greater freedom and a new way of visualizing the world. The old piece of technology turns to trash and falls silently and invisibly from our consciousness, as new technological vistas take command of our attention. The failure of machines can also be an intentional consequence of industry, such as the kind of in-built redundancy that drives the production and sale of new products, as discussed in Vance Packard’s book The Waste Makers or Slavoj Žižek’s commentary in Astra Taylor’s 2008 documentary Examined Life. While, in this sense, trash is intentional, there is also something about trash which has moved beyond function and human purpose: this is the link between trash and the realm of the sublime that I wish to explore in this essay.

year: 2015

title: Sheets of large superhydrophobic metal particles self assembled on water by the Cheerios effect

authors: Larmour, Iain A.

subjects: hydrophobic effect

abstract: Surface tension in water gives rise to a variety of phenomena some of which, such as the rise of water inside hydrophilic tubes under capillary action or the ability of pond skaters to walk on the surface of water, are so familiar that they seldom excite comment. However, there is still potential for new insights and discoveries to be made in this area. Two recent examples are the discovery that liquid marbles can be prepared by coating solvent droplets with powder and the elucidation of a general mechanism for the attraction of buoyant objects in liquids, the  Cheerios effect . Here we report a method for preparing large (up to 0.4 mm diameter) superhydrophobic copper particles and show that these particles, which have extraordinarily large contact angles but are much denser than water, give rise to a range of striking effects, including the ability to self assemble into sheets which can support objects that normally sink in water.

text: Sheets of large superhydrophobic metal particles self assembled on water by the Cheerios effect Surface tension in water gives rise to a variety of phenomena some of which, such as the rise of water inside hydrophilic tubes under capillary action or the ability of pond skaters to walk on the surface of water, are so familiar that they seldom excite comment. However, there is still potential for new insights and discoveries to be made in this area. Two recent examples are the discovery that liquid marbles can be prepared by coating solvent droplets with powder and the elucidation of a general mechanism for the attraction of buoyant objects in liquids, the  Cheerios effect . Here we report a method for preparing large (up to 0.4 mm diameter) superhydrophobic copper particles and show that these particles, which have extraordinarily large contact angles but are much denser than water, give rise to a range of striking effects, including the ability to self assemble into sheets which can support objects that normally sink in water.

year: 2008

title: Factors of desistance in violent offenders: Interpretative phenomenological analysis of the Tai Aroha programme

authors: Beattie, Christopher James

subjects: Desistance

abstract: The phenomenon of desistance from crime is central to the process of rehabilitation. This study examines desistance narratives from the Tai Aroha programme to identify the aspects of participation in a community-based special treatment unit that are effective from the perspective of participants. A review of desistance literature is presented in a New Zealand context. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to present common themes in 64 exit interviews of individuals who completed this programme over a period of 6 years. These themes were compared to the factors of desistance identified in the literature review. The three key concepts that emerged from this study as factors of desistance evident in the Tai Aroha programme were the Morphic Self, Family and Whanau, and Mindfulness. The concept of the Morphic Self is a perspective on the process of identity change as experienced by participants, and is a key product of this research. Three other factors were identified as prerequisites for successful completion of the programme that also therefore contribute to desistance: Motivation, Sobriety, and Peers and Support. Also identified from this research were aspects of the experience termed Elements of Influence, which are the facets of the participants, the programme and the interactions between the two that can be considered in order to improve the delivery of the programme and therefore promote desistance. A distinctive quality of the Tai Aroha programme that was influential in the successful promotion of desistance was its strong commitment to tikanga Māori and the incorporation of these cultural values into the lifestyle and therapeutic approaches adopted by the facilitators.

text: Factors of desistance in violent offenders: Interpretative phenomenological analysis of the Tai Aroha programme The phenomenon of desistance from crime is central to the process of rehabilitation. This study examines desistance narratives from the Tai Aroha programme to identify the aspects of participation in a community-based special treatment unit that are effective from the perspective of participants. A review of desistance literature is presented in a New Zealand context. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to present common themes in 64 exit interviews of individuals who completed this programme over a period of 6 years. These themes were compared to the factors of desistance identified in the literature review. The three key concepts that emerged from this study as factors of desistance evident in the Tai Aroha programme were the Morphic Self, Family and Whanau, and Mindfulness. The concept of the Morphic Self is a perspective on the process of identity change as experienced by participants, and is a key product of this research. Three other factors were identified as prerequisites for successful completion of the programme that also therefore contribute to desistance: Motivation, Sobriety, and Peers and Support. Also identified from this research were aspects of the experience termed Elements of Influence, which are the facets of the participants, the programme and the interactions between the two that can be considered in order to improve the delivery of the programme and therefore promote desistance. A distinctive quality of the Tai Aroha programme that was influential in the successful promotion of desistance was its strong commitment to tikanga Māori and the incorporation of these cultural values into the lifestyle and therapeutic approaches adopted by the facilitators.

year: 2018