Journal Report Link to Seminar Report for 'The Attic'.

Hello,

I had the honour of posting a journal report for 'The Attic' recently, regarding the last 'Brown Bag Seminar' for this term: ‘Past, Present and Future of Medical Museums' with Dr. Samuel J.M.M. Alberti. It was a very pleasant discussion. The report is posted at the following URL:

http://attic-museumstudies.blogspot.com/2011/12/last-brown-bag-seminar-of-2011.html

Corroborating Evidence of Aesthetic Socialisation?

This is the Christmas Tree that my mum decorated in her J. Lawson Advent Calendar today:




This is the Christmas Tree that I decorated in my J. Lawson Advent Calender last week:




:) Should I be surprised that the trees are so similar? The lights are different and she did put more ornaments on than I . . . still, it's amazing to me! A world apart but we are still independently drawn to the same aesthetics in Christmas tree design . . . the power of socialisation?

Research to the Rescue.

What a long strange day. Remind me what 'normal' is, please? In any case, Twitter has been reset; I guess everything about the account is supposed to be fine now. I'm very grateful that Twitter took care of things so quickly--many thanks.

Second Test of the KEBS: Zombie Flying Monkey Squadron.

Testing again to see 'what happens' if I post to Twitter from my blog . . . if it works AGAIN the there is a very mysterious dynamic going on with my accounts (that I am able to add from blog and mobile but that my new password will not work online). I am truly hoping this is all just some glitch, rather than my account having been hacked. Now. Where was that classified in the Felgary Times I noticed the other day . . . the one listing for inexpensive "Ferocious Zombie Flying Monkey Squadron" rentals . . .

Afternoon Update: it did not work this time, suggesting that I was able to access my Twitter account previously this morning because the account was already open on my desktop . . . which doesn't make sense. Does this suggest that my computer itself has been hacked? I wasn't aware that this was even possible: that some random hacker could 'have their way' with my iMac. This is not feeling in the least bit 'okay'.

Here is what I wrote in my 'orovoco' blog: http://orovoco.blogspot.com/

This is a test of the KEBS; this is only a test . . .

This is a test of the KEBS; this is only a test . . .

There was a time that the Gmail account was the Gmail account, Twitter was Twitter, Facebook was Facebook, Youtube was Youtube. Now with the 'ease' of 'associated' accounts--such as Gmail with Youtube, it's 'one stop log on' . . . except of course, if for example the Youtube you favour is not associated with the Gmail account you favour. There is also this tricky business of passwords. If you change a password for one account it would appear you might be changing for another account. Not very convenient. Sometime simplification actually complicates things. Right now, I can't sign into my Twitter account because it won't accept the information that I KNOW is the right information. Under the circumstances it may be a glitch, or the account may have been hacked or perhaps, I myself don't understand what is associated with what (in terms of account apps and passwords; I may have inadvertently changed my password for an associated account without realising it).

The reason I made the password changes at my Twitter is that for some time now, I have felt that at some point, my account had been quietly compromised . I had reports from friends that I was blocking and/or dropping them when I'm quite certain I've never blocked or dropped them. This is the sort of thing that some hacker might do, just because it is annoying and because they can.

Growl.

Moreover, it will be days apparently before this gets sorted. Until then, I am in 'radio silence' mode in-so-far as my Twitter account is concerned. It may sound silly but this is a serious challenge to necessary communications in graduate school. I suppose it does afford me an enforced time period of productivity away from social media networking but I am quite worried about this.

If my account has been hacked, or was previously hacked . . . what was the hacker doing in my name, that I don't know about? It is disconcerting. I'm going to try posting this to Twitter and see if it automatically works (the way my mobile has been working) . . . Then I am going to not post anything at all to twitter until further notice.

Evening Update: updating by mobile did work once, but then did not (work) the next time I tried. It is all disquieting. At least the seminar I went to this afternoon was pleasant.

Updates for Research 'Pillow Book' Journal.

I am busily in the midst of updating the research journal list of weekly activities. I'm afraid it persists in having a title much less dry than the contents of the journal itself.

The URL is : http://orovoco.blogspot.com/

Thank you for your patience and I hope everyone's own research/work/creative projects are progressing well.

~kaj

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An Open Letter to Nottingham Contemporary.

Dearest Nottingham Contemporary,

I do not know where you received your training in curatorial practice but I was taught that when an object is removed from exhibition, it is necessary to clearly post an official notice regarding the removal. Ideally, the notice should explain that the object has been temporarily removed for conservation purposes. If the object is on loan to another collection/institution, the notice should detail the disposition of the object’s whereabouts as well as the length of time on loan.

Here is the image of Weber’s Large Dark Chimes

as displayed in your guidebook:

Here is the image I took during a recent visit:I realise the image is not of the best quality but as you can fairly plainly see, the Standing Naked Man portion of Large Dark Chimes is not present in the current exhibition space and there is no explanation for his absence; Standing Naked Man has simply ‘gone missing’. Now while I can appreciate that an exhibition of this nature must take significant curatorial maintenance, there really should be some sort of posted notice placed within the exhibition space, clearly explicating the reason for a valuable object’s absence—in this case a notice saying (for example):

“Standing Naked Man is currently on display in our café as Seated Naked Man Eating His Lunch. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused to your visit. Thank you.”

(Or you know, something like that; obviously, the particulars would be somewhat variable.)

I tell you, it is quite fortunate that Nottingham Contemporary's general reputation for excellence in display practice stands on its own merits! Yet it must be said: without the considerable strength of the visiting If you leave me I’m not coming & already there exhibit (an assemblage organised by Weber) and without the provocative worth of the thematically associated, general exhibitions in the Small Exhibitions Room (which include the work of Ruth Claxton and Andrew Wilson), I would be very, very disappointed in you. Again, I do commend that you are taking the responsibility of conservation of your objects seriously but really, it is a matter of professionalism.

Thank you and best wishes,

Kirstin James, Investigative Museologist.

Postscript: I do understand the pressures involved in the display of valuable objects. Have you actually lost or misplaced Standing Naked Man? Has he been stolen? If it is some such complication and you fear for the insurance costs, I know of a good solicitor that may be able to help you through this time of crisis. Best wishes and good luck with the recovery of your lost object!

From Visit to Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Visit to Yorkshire Sculpture Garden (Short Version) from Stena James on Vimeo.

This is a brief visual comment upon the experience of 'silence' and 'sound' during a recent visit to Yorkshire Sculpture Park. There is a longer, 'general impressions' version in the works that I will publish soon.