Written Script for Wednesday

The intense culture of Iroquois Indians included a set of six different languages,
Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Tuscarora (Lewis and Redish). At the Great
Council and different religious events, mostly Mohawk was spoken. Children had different
games and toys, including cornhusk dolls and a game where a dart is thrown through a
moving hoop. For art and medicine, masks were created to frighten away evil spirits and
illness. This sacred form of recreation lead to the the False Face Society, a clan of
medicine men said to have special powers wearing their self-created wooden masks
(Iroquois).
It is obvious that the Iroquois Indians participated in a variety of activities,
many of
which for recreation. Our attempt to revive Onondaga Lake begins with an idea of
displaying all of these Iroquois traditions in order to educate children, and open minds
of adults and students. Hopefully, we bring more activity and publicity to Onondaga
Lake. It would be wonderful to cause the history of Onondaga Lake to come full circle
and bring back the excitement-filled atmosphere of the past. Our primary goal is to
provide at least one annual day of activity for visitors of Onondaga Lake.

The Iroquois lived in Longhouses which were about 25 feet by 200 feet
The longhouses could house a family of up to 60 people.
Family was matrilineal, meaning that women owned property and determined kinship
When married the husband moved into the wife?s longhouse and the children were part of
the mother?s clan
There were three clans, turtle, bear, and wolf, each headed by a clan mother.
Everyone within the longhouse cared for each other as though the children were their own
and that the person living with them were like their brother or sister.
The Iroquois League was created to maintain peace
This was accomplished through The Great Law of Peace which stated that Iroquois should
not kill one another
The leaders in the Iroquois council were nominated by tribal clan mothers, yet they were
all male.
Without any modern technology, the Native Americans of this area has to survive based
solely on instinct, especially when it comes to food. The Native Americans developed a
hunter-gatherer style of obtaining food. Although this means of gathering food may not be
consistent in the sense that there is always food available in one place, they found many
natural crops and new methods of cooking so there was always food available. The crops
that were the basis for their diet were corn, beans and squash. Corn, beans and squash
are commonly referred to by the Onondagas and the Oneidas specifically as the 3 sisters.
These foods were the three foods first ?given to us from our mother earth.? The Onondagas
live near the finger lakes area of present day New York. That allowed the Onondagas for
the spring and summer months to fish in the streams. The fall and winter allowed for the
hunting of deer, turkey, rabbit and game found throughout the area. The Cayuga tribe,
Mohawk tribe, and the Tuscarora tribe were primarily agricultural people. The women
planted crops of corn, beans, and squash and harvested wild berries and herbs. The men
hunted deer and elk and fished in the rivers and on the shores of Lake Ontario. The
tribes? recipes included cornbread, soups, and stews, which they cooked on stone hearths.
The Iroquois were a hunting, fishing and agricultural people. The young men hunted and
the women and elderly men did the gardening. Children served as lookouts to keep birds
and other pests from the fields. By this cooperative effort, everyone contributed to the
production of food in the Iroquois village. Livestock included pigs and other
domesticated animals.

For the festival, each tribe would create a traditional dish, one that is representative
of their history and one that they would like to be associated with from the general
populace. There is also a sense of decorum that is expected to be done when eating and
preparing food. For example, hunters and gatherers are taught to take only what is
needed. It is a lesson to learn not to deplete all of your resources and leave none for
the people who are following you tomorrow, or to save for your grandchildren of the
people not yet born. These are the messages that we would like to convey to the audience
through the food. The food isn?t merely corn, squash etc. There is a meaning behind each
piece of food and the Native Americans do not take anything for granted, a value which
should be conveyed to the people attending the festival.

If the festival is successful, it could become an annual event which would continuously
reunite the recreation of the area with the history of the people. The point of the
entire festival is to bring people back to Onondaga Lake. Since swimming and fishing was
banned from the Lake, they lost a lot of business. The Lake also has been separated from
its roots. The foundation for the Iroquois Confederacy was formed on the shores of the
Lake. The festival will revive the Lake, bringing back people, culture and recreation in
one epiphenomenon that will reunite the people and the area in which they live.


1-Show images of Native American recreational activities.

2-Address a detailed timeline of Native American history around Onondaga Lake and the
decline of recreation around the lake.

3-Play the Sacred Bowl Game.

According to legend, directly on the shore of Onondaga Lake, the warlike Onondaga
chief
Tadodaho was persuaded by Hiawatha and Deganawidah (the Peacemaker) to accept the Great
Law of Peace, thus creating the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, also known as the Iroquois
Confederacy (Onondaga Lake).

4- Show pictures and representations of this event.

The last of the grand resorts around Onondaga Lake, Maurer's Long Beach, closed down in
1938 (Williamson 10). By the mid twentieth century, Onondaga Lake had transformed from a
resort area filled with activity, water sports, boating, concerts, games and amusement
parks, to one of the most polluted lakes in America (Williamson).

5- Show pictures of Onondaga Lake and these activities.

The beginning of the resurgence is now. As a Superfund site, the government has
invested millions of dollars to clean up Onondaga Lake. Our project attempts to bring
the lake back to its roots, to honor history and bring back recreation around Onondaga
Lake.

Iroquois Indians played the Sacred Bowl Game and invented the sport of lacrosse
(Iroquois, Lewis and Redish). The strong and powerful nation of the Iroquois Confederacy
hunted, gathered crops, survived and thrived around the Onondaga Lake. Unappreciated
culture and traditions began around Onondaga Lake.

The Iroquois practiced year-round festivals (Iroquois).

6-Show list of festivals and more pictures.

Slide 1 -The Iroquois lived in Longhouses which were about 25 feet by 200 feet
The longhouses could house a family of up to 60 people.
Slide 2 -Family was matrilineal, meaning that women owned property and determined kinship
When married the husband moved into the wife?s longhouse and the children were part of
the mother?s clan
There were three clans, turtle, bear, and wolf, each headed by a clan mother.
Everyone within the longhouse cared for each other as though the children were their own
and that the person living with them were like their brother or sister.
Slide 3 -The Iroquois League was created to maintain peace
This was accomplished through The Great Law of Peace which stated that Iroquois should
not kill one another
The leaders in the Iroquois council were nominated by tribal clan mothers, yet they were
all male.

As well as games there will be a section that will be devoted to the traditional dances
of the iroquois such as the eagle, bear, rabbit and stomp dances. All of the dances will
be preformed one after the other with a few minutes between. during this break one of
the dancers will explain the signifigance and origin of the dance to the spectators. An
example would be the rabbit dance. In this legend two hunters saw hunreds of rabbits
dancing around a larger rabbit. when the hunters returned to their village they showed
the elders the dance the rabbits preformed and the elders were impressed so they named
the dance after the rabbits to show their gratitude. Also before the dances that
spectators can participate in there will be a demonstration of how the dance is supposed
to be preformed. volunteers will then be able to preform along side the professional
dancers. Here is a clip of one of the most popular dances and is also a dance that the
audience can join in. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyaRMyZwmBc&feature=related)
It's called the bear dance. once all the dances have been completed there will be a
longer 30 min break before the dances are repeated. Dancing will start at around noon and
will continue until the festival ends with this fromula.

Dance & Music - Rick Dojan
Recreation - Jason Wang
Food - Stephanie Musat
Domestic & Housing - Zack Owens

Project Creative Brief

1. Our project attempts to address the problems with lack of recreation in Onondaga Lake by holding a type of festival to celebrate and bring awareness to the history of Onondaga Lake, including the formation of the Iroquois Confederacy of Native Americans.

2. The form of the project well be some type of large gathering with posters, food, culture and fun. As of now, the project seems to be taking the form of a fair, with different tables spread out with games, stories and people dressed up.

3. Onondaga Lake is a public place where all people, including families and students have access. Currently, it is a nice park, but it needs extra recreation because in most parts, industrialization has caused the ban of fishing, swimming and other lake related activities.

4. Long a time of Iroquois inhabitance, Onondaga Lake is a historical area where it is believed to have been the setting for the start of the Iroquois Confederacy. Industrialization and salt mining struck the area in the late 1800's and ever since then the lake has been considered one of the most polluted lakes in the country. Eventually, in 1994 Onondaga Lake has been chosen to become a Superfund site and now work is being done to return Onondaga Lake to its glory days of hotels and immense recreation.

5. This site is appropriate for the project because there are local schools around, so we can teach younger people. Also, the area is in an open space so it will not be too crowded. Possibilities seem endless for this type of project because of the amount of open space. The area, obviously, is an area with a great amount of history. An entire economy can survive around one lake. The lake also has a problem that needs to be addressed, pollution. Pollution even brings about different national concerns that can be addressed by dialog and our project.

6. This project is an integration because we want to bring about a sense of community formed around our event project. We want a sense of integration with Onondaga Lake in order to bring about new and consistent recreation. We do want to help shock our audience and make a statement, but our project is integration because our first priority is to allow people to have fun in our recreational event.

7. We will ask the state or the county and the people in charge of Onondaga Lake Park for permission. It should not be too hard because Onondaga Lake Park is a public space. Also, we can consider contacting museums and representatives of the Native American community.

8. The project disrupts the surrounding by transforming a quiet and boring area into an area of extravagance and excitement for one planned day.

9. Adrian Piper's Funk Lessons and Coco Fusco's The Couple in the cage inspired this project because Funk Lesson encouraged a gathering to create dialog and The Couple in the Cage did as well.

10. The goal is to bring excitement and fun for at least one day to Onondaga Lake. In the longterm if park recreation revives economically (i.e. More hotels, boating and fishing companies), then the project is a success. Also, we plan to bring awareness to the wonderful history of the area.

11. If at least one person shows up and experiences the festival, enjoys it and learns something about the Iroquois Confederacy, then the project is a success.

12. The target audience is regular people who would go to the park to run or bike. These people care about becoming fit and healthy. Hopefully, if they pass by the festival they will learn about many more things to do at the lake and they will bring their families over to experience the history and the fun. Some might react with indifference and not appreciate the disruption, but as long as we provide a path to just run right by, everything should be fine.

13. We want the audience to interact with the project with enthusiasm, just walking by, enjoying things and soaking in some historical facts about the lake. Also, if the audience asks more questions to people behind the booths, it will be best.

essay 3 rough draft

Jason Wang
November 5, 2007

Analysis of Brett Kashmere's “Valery's Ankle”


Brett Kashmere sets out to focus on one of the most dramatic events in hockey history, the 1972 Canada-Russia Summit Series. In the series, the long-haired, brash and talented Canadians faced the disciplined Russians when the shot heard around Canada occurred: Bobby Clarke slashes at Russian Valery Kharlamov's ankles with his stick and Valery's ankle snaps. Kashmere's film begins with the speech of Bobby Clarke, the flashy Canadian forward, but then the film evolves into something more than just a documentary. Eventually, Kashmere creates an entire film collage of some of the most vicious acts in the sport of hockey, set to the background sounds of Kashmere's own haunting narrative. Although the artist, Brett Kashmere, never actually experienced the 1972 Summit Series firsthand, it is clear that the essay film “Valery's Ankle” begins to serve as an archive for the expression of his own experiences. (Valery’s Ankle)
Strangely, at the end, the film begins to intermingle a modern reenactment of the 1972 Summit Series, starring Kashmere himself as a Canadian star, with the brutal scenes of the actual event. Perhaps Kashmere ran out of footage of the 1972 Summit Series, but the reenactment not only demonstrates the scenes leading up to the main event, but it also alerts viewers further to the personal connections Kashmere has with his film. As a young boy, Kashmere played hockey himself until about the age of fourteen or fifteen when he quit. Brett Kashmere says he was always one of the smallest boys on his team and one can infer that he himself definitely did not appreciate the roughness of hockey. After describing the events of the 1972 Summit Series, the film moves on to a collection of of violent hockey scenes. National Hockey League (NHL) team players fistfight each other, tomahawk each other with their sticks and check each other viciously into the sidelines. Many Canadian NHL teams are shown and different players are mentioned to be part of the scenes made up of violence, gore and dazed victims, all in the context of hockey. The genre of “Valery's Ankle” is an essay film because Kashmere narrates an essay complete with questions and a theme in the background of the movie images. The theme of “Valery's Ankle” involves violence in hockey and how it relates to Canadian culture and social history. To highlight these themes, Kashmere begins slowly with an explanation of the 1972 Canada-Russia Summit Series in order for viewers to understand this most significant event in sport history and know its relation to Canadian history. After this, Kashmere adds an onslaught of violent hockey scenes. Soon, slow tinkling music slows the action as Kashmere zooms in on the one violent act that unites them all, the slashing of Valery's ankle. The scene freezes, the tinkling music continues, the picture blurs and Kashmere's narrative with the many questions continues. In his narrative, Brett Kashmere explains his own childhood history as the tinkling bells music plays. The tinkling bells make the atmosphere seem mysterious and dark. It shocks viewers and promotes more questions from the mysterious feelings it evokes, while further enhancing the negative thoughts concerning the hockey violence in the film. The fast-paced action adds another piece of shock value to Kashmere's film because violent acts reel through the film quickly without stopping, allowing no time for viewers to stop and think, only to be thrown along for the dark ride filled hockey violence. Furthermore, Kashmere utilizes another technique persistent in most documentaries, commentary and facts that appear over a blank black background. These commentaries and facts with the violent hockey scenes equally appear at a fast pace. In one such fact, Valery Kharlamov mentions how Bobby Clarke seemed intent on harming him the entire series. In another quick factoid, the tragic early death of Kharlamov is mentioned. Is Kasmere being purposefully sympathetic towards the Russian? (Valery’s Ankle)
In Critical Art Ensemble's “Video and Resistance: Against Documentaries”, Critical Art Ensemble, the authors, conceive an entire argument against documentaries. Many of the points made in this article apply to Brett Kashmere's film. Obviously, “Video and Resistance: Against Documentaries” disapproves of documentaries, believing the art form to allow for the portrayal of biased views. Critical Art Ensemble gives the example of how sometimes filmmakers accelerate the pace of their film to further drive their opinions into the brains of viewers, without allowing viewers to think for themselves. In addition, inaccuracies existed in the first documentaries when facts and reality were misconstrued. Brett Kashmere's film can be considered as a documentary. Kashmere's film contains many attributes of the art form, including the portrayal of a historical event, with film clippings, the addition of facts and different interviews, but Kashmere's film “Valery's Ankle” is considered an essay film because it does branch away from the typical documentary. All of the faults Critical Art Ensemble finds with documentaries begin to appear in Kashmere's film, including a fast pace and certain obscurities. Kashmere never continues to delve into Canadian history or the entire context surrounding the violence in all the hockey games pictured. “I'm not an expert on hockey, hockey violence, or social violence”, writes Kashmere (E-mail page?). “In creating a documentary, one small adjustment could be made with minimal disturbance to the traditional model-to announce for a given work that the collection of images presented have already been fully digested within a specialized cultural perspective”, writes Critical Art Ensemble (46). Remarkably, Kashmere never falls into this trap of claiming full authority. Kashmere speaks about his own experiences as a hockey player directly in the film and also when he presents his film. It becomes obvious that Kashmere's own experiences contribute to the attitude of the film. What is the significance of “Valery's Ankle”? For every piece of art, there usually is an audience and a subject matter. (Valery’s Ankle)
Considering Brett Kashmere first begins by describing the 1972 Summit Series, one begins to wonder about the actual significance of this event. It was the first tournament to provide where the lines between amateur and pro hockey did not exist. Anyone could play and there was much dispute over who should represent Canada. “It was hockey of the highest caliber”. In the end Canada “defended its national pride” because Canada one the series in a heated 6-5 final game. (Podnieks) One thoughtful question is whether or not Canada would have won the series if Kharlamov was not injured. Would history have changed if Bobby Clarke did not slash Kharlamov's ankle and Canada lost? Possibly, the sport of hockey would be less violent without this one hallmark event, representing the most grotesque of violent acts. “One intention was to present a revisionist history of Canada-Soviet Summit Series, which is now so ingrained in the national mythology. And secondly, to use that series as a starting point for the construction of an alternative history of hockey in North America”, answers Brett Kashmere. With this intention in mind, “Valery's Ankle” can be classified as new genre public art.
Miwon Kwon writes about community based art in her book One Place After Another Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity, including many passages about new genre public art. In Kwon's passage about how to find a community that an artist addresses and involves, one art critic, Grant Kester, mentions, “a sense of specific, personal identification with civil and human right issues has nurtured our practice...We are from inside the belly of the beast trying to be responsible for and to people and things seriously wronged and wrong, that need work all around us in our immediate environment.” (Kwon) Brett Kashmere's work of art evolved from a simple documentary of a sporting event to a form of new genre public art because Kashmere's piece attempts to involve the community. Kashmere tries to make audiences think about the significance of a past event. “Valery's Ankle” reminds viewers of a significant turning point in history and it continues to attempt to cause readers to consider the harms of sport violence. The audience for “Valery's Ankle” is the general hockey fan, a fan who would be affected by the seeing the scenes of violence. It is true that many factors influence violence in sport including a psychological issue, people’s strange enjoyment of aggression, social dynamics and the media (Goldstein).
Since hockey is a sport the Canadians invented, does it make sense that Canadian hockey players would protect their sport at all cost and, in effect, win at all cost during international competitions? This relate to Kashmere’s creation of an alternate history. If Canada did not win, maybe hockey would be less violent. Kashmere wants the audience to think about this and other alternate histories to bring social awareness to a personal cause. This is why “Valery’s Ankle” would be considered new genre public art.
Hockey is comparably different from American football because of its fast-paced action, as dangerous blades cover player's skates and player's carry long sticks. Football is a slow and strategic sport, much like chess, even though athleticism and violent hits are also promoted. It is obvious that the issue of violence in sports is common around the world. The Todd Bertuzzi incident shown in the film where Bertuzzi tackles and punches an unaware player with his back turned the NHL has further evolved to have more strict rule and flashy new uniforms to encourage audiences of hockey to appreciate skating skills rather than violence. Obviously, this issue of sports violence is that is still common today.
The brutality of the hockey scenes shown in Valery's Ankle obviously demonstrates a violent sport history, but in an age today, violence sells, as medical precautions and rules have changed. The film Valery's Ankle is still a unique starting point to begin analyzing the history of sport itself and the social history of Canada. Valery’s Ankle is a perfect example of new genre public art because it involves a community, hockey fans, particularly Canadians. The film makes a statement and makes viewer think.

Critical Art Ensemble. "Video and Resistance." The Electronic Disturbance: 37-46.

Goldstein, Jeffrey H., ed. Sports Violence.

Kwon, Miwon. One Place After Another: Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity. Cambridge: The MIT P, 2002. 1-218.

Podnieks, Andrew. Kings of the Ice : a History of World Hockey.

Valery's Ankle. Dir. Brett Kashmere.

essay 3 outline

Intro/Thesis 1
-a little bit about the project
-a little about the artist
Although the artist never actually experienced the 1972 Summit series firsthand, it is clear that the essay film Valery's Ankle begins to serve as an archive for the expression of Brett Kashmere's own experiences.

Paragraph 1- Strangely, the film begins to intermingle a modern reenactment of the 1972 Summit series with the brutal scenes of the actual event, starring the artist himself as a Canadian star.
-write about the form, the sites and sounds of the film
- fast-paced violent scenes, tinkling music, flashbacks, author's own narrative and so on
maybe Brett ran out of footage of the actual 1972 series

Paragraph 2- One begins to wonder about the actual significance of the 1972 Summit series.
Brett says it is a big point in Canadian history
talk about the participants and the audience of the film
talk about a little bit of the making of the film and how Brett began with the Summit Series, noticed the Bertuzzi incident and realized that the film could be applied to sport today, and then began collecting footage

Paragraph 3- Since hockey is a sport the Canadians invented, does it make sense that Canadian hockey players would protect their sport at all cost and, in effect, win at all cost during international competitions?
Write about histories of Canada, hockey, international relations, violence and 1972 events


Paragraph 4- Hockey is comparably different from American football because of its fast-paced action, as dangerous blades cover player's skates and player's carry long sticks. Football is a slow and strategic sport, much like chess, even though athleticism and violent hits are also promoted.
- what else makes these two sports different, similar?
-write about the film's implications and significance
-write about how the film makes one feel sympathy for Valery, but scared of Bobby Clarke with no teeth and a complete dedication to only the sport and only attacking and enforcing
-ironic because the author is Canadian, but different from Bobby Clarke
-is the author completely disapproving of his country, or just the violence, the sport, or what?

Conclusion/Thesis 2-
The brutality of the hockey scenes shown in Valery's Ankle obviously demonstrates a violent sport history, but in an age today, violence sells, as medical precautions and rules have changed. The film Valery's Ankle is still a unique starting point to begin analyzing the history of sport itself and the social history of Canada.

Quote:

“In other cases, a sense of specific, personal identification with civil and human right issues has nurtured our practice...We are from inside the belly of the beast trying to be responsible for and to people and things seriously wronged and wrong, that need work all around us in our immediate environment.”

(about Kester's analysis on community, community-based art and the question of what is a community; relates to Kashmere because his film evolved from one event to a general message to disapprove violence and Kashmere still cannot answer for violence in other sports-----> the community?----> Canadians?)

From Kwon Reading, page 144

essay 3 topic

Brett Kashmere - Valery's Ankle

Questions:
Why didn't the Canadians wear helmets in the 1972 Summit series and what does this signify?

How has hockey changed since the Bertuzzi incident?

If hockey represents Canadian culture and history, how is it comparable or different from American football?


Sources:
Kings of the ice : a history of world hockey / authors, Andrew Podnieks ......
(SUMMIT Keyword Search: "NHL Hockey")

Climate of violence; the French literary tradition from Baudelaire to the...
(SUMMIT Keyword Search: "Valery's Ankle")

The prevention of violence in sport / Manuel Cameron.

Sport matters : sociological studies of sport, violence, and civilization /...
author: Eric Dunning

Sports violence / edited by Jeffrey H. Goldstein.

Violence and sport / Michael D. Smith. (author is from Canada too)

(SUMMIT Keyword Search: "Sport Violence")

"Culture in Action" and New Genre Public Art

Suzanne Lacy links the occurence of new genre public art to the development of various groups, such as Marxist and feminist artists, who have interests in leftist politics, community involvement, social activism and new audiences. "According to Lacy, such interests lead to an attack on aesthetic categories bound to specificities of media, as well as the space of their presentation, and challenge the established criteria of cultural value based on aesthetic quality and individualistic notions of artistic competence" (Kwon 106). In other words, artists and activists begin to stray from common and generic pieces of art to impose new artistic ideas that further involve audiences and the community. This is all in order to challenge cultural status quo.

The project, The Chicago Urban Ecology Action Group, involving Mark Dion and the Chicago Urban Ecology Action Group, is an example of new genre public art. Instead of building a statue of a golden tree on a certain block of town to help spur environmental action, a generic example of art that does not involve the community, Mark Dion creates a new environment study group of twelve local students. The group met every week for one year and Dion was the team leader and also the teacher. Miwon Kwon writes about the "Culture in Action" art initiative of 1993 in Chicago and classifies Dion's work (part of this initiative) as a temporary creation of a new community. The creation "became synonymous with Dion's own artistic production". Dion's group directly involved people. The unique interaction of the students represents Dion's creative project, which brings awareness to the environment. Obviously, social activism is involved because Dion gives students an opportunity to learn and even go on a field trip to Belize. (Kwon 126)

Questions about an artist's goals exist and one begins to wonder how this new genre public art has come about. Along with Lacy's arguments, one can also argue how the freedom of a democratic society has created this start to a new art form that focuses on exploring a revealing new ideas. Also, in a capitalist society, one may want to use this new form of art to promote their own activities. Dion's The Chicago Urban Ecology Action Group certainly brought attention to his other works. Basically, to accompany a "democratic" society, art's progression has involved from metaphorical images to works that everyone can be involved with. Seemingly, artists attempt to bring new significance to art by intermingling it with practical contributions to society, including the development of new cultures.


Kwon, Miwon. One Place After Another: Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity. Cambridge: The MIT P, 2002. 1-218.

Video and Resistance

Critical Art Ensemble, the authors of "Video and Resistance: Against Documentaries", attempt to make readers question the authority of documentaries. The passage begins by describing how photography clarified vague memories and spurred a “Realism and literary Naturalism” movement that emphasized facts. According Critical Art Ensemble, the first documentaries were not factual because the Lumiére brothere's Workers Leaving the Lumiére Factory served merely as an advertisement for industrialization and Elephant Processions at Phnom Penh displayed a culture that never existed. In addition, Robert Flaherty's Nanook of the North and D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation both had no factual integrity, especially since Flaherty completely conceptualized a walrus hunt in his documentary. The passage ends with a step-by-step procedure of how a documentary maker will obscure truths in order to convince viewers to sympathize with a guerrilla faction.

As "Video and Resistance: Against Documentaries" addresses documentary films, Susan Sontag's "The Image-World" addresses the influences of photography. Sontag writes, “Cameras are the antidote and the disease, a means of appropriating reality and a means of making it obsolete.” Sontag writes about how some things in photographed form disturb us more than a real experience. She also addresses how in eastern culture it is encouraged to take photographs with the least amount of artistic expression, obscurity and grotesqueness. Both Critical Art Ensemble and Susan Sontag mention how sometimes an image or film can obscure reality, but Sontag seems to be more accepting of how images can also appropriate reality and coexist cohesively with society. Critical Art Ensemble only seems to focus on filmmakers' mistakes of omitting full truths. Both pieces make readers aware of the relationship between reality and images.


Robert Flaherty's Nanook of the North
(http://uashome.alaska.edu/~jndfg20/website/nanook.gif)

An Essay 2 Revision: Environmental Justice in Onondaga County

Jason Wang
10/14/07

The disastrous pollution situation of Onondaga Lake perfectly demonstrates a few failures of the government's expensive emergency Superfund program, but the example also brings hope for improvement. Overall, one hopes that businesses, government and organizations can all work together to clean up and prevent hazardous waste, eliminating public health disasters, while improving life and cleaning the environment for future life.

According to the US Public Research Group (PIRG), one out of four Americans live within four miles of a Superfund site. Superfund is a government funded program that cleans up hazardous waste. Between 1980 and 2003, at a cost of more than $1 billion a year, the program has cleaned up 886 sites, which leaves 1,203 more sites on the “National Priorities List” that still need to be addressed. Marianne Lamont Horinko, an assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), states that 699 construction projects in 436 sites remain, but funding for the Superfund program has significantly diminished since excise taxes on chemical and oil industries expired in 1995. The portion of the program funded by individual taxpayers has increased from 18 percent to 53 percent. Julie Wolk, environmental health advocate for PIRG, states, “taxpayers are paying more...the number of Superfund sites getting cleaned up [each year] has dropped by more than half.” (Knickerbocker)

Many criticize Superfund for its litigious methods of tracking down companies to pay for the cleaning because by the end of the process (in some cases) most of the money is used for lawyers, private investigators, consultants and other administrative overhead. Superfund can also discourage investment in new development when land buyers begin to fear liability for pollution. With all of these criticisms of Superfund, it remains politically infeasible to eliminate it, but administrators must find a way to pay for it. In the end, taxpayers continue to fund a majority of an increasingly inefficient Superfund program. (Knickerbocker)

In 1994, Onondaga Lake, located right on the edge of Syracuse, NY, was added to the EPA's Superfund list, consisting of areas most in need of cleanup. During the mid twentieth century, pollution from such companies as the Allied Chemical and Dye Corp contaminated Onondaga Lake with mercury and numerous other harmful substances. Additionally, sewage dumping and sewer overflows became prevalent, causing Onondaga Lake to become one of America's most polluted lakes. Resorts were driven away, most of the lake became unsafe to swim in and recreation around the area diminished. (Williamson)

EPA's ultimate goal is to make Superfund “faster, fairer and more efficient”, but many variables influence the success of Superfund, so one solution may not satisfy all situations or all people. In the case of Onondaga Lake, businesses, inhabitants, tourists and the government all had stakes into the historical area (Williamson). One study analyzes the factors involved in remediation at Superfund sites, under three models, “Administrative Convenience/Transaction Costs”, “Problem Severity” and “Political Pressure”. Surprisingly, too much community involvement causes decreased remedial progress because local groups tend to burden the federal Superfund program by prolonging the process with lobbies for certain permanent actions. Not surprisingly, an increase in political oversight improves results. Also, it is found that the EPA is more likely to focus on lower-risk sites, basically sites with cheaper costs. (Daley 375)

Regarding Onondaga Lake, things did not improve until New York's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) became responsible for enforcing the Federal Clean Water Act of 1972. Then, in 1979 a new metropolitan sewage treatment plan, known as “Metro” was built to provide clean water flow into the lake, but still Metro polluted the lake with excessive amounts of phosphorous and ammonia (Williamson 10). In 1994, the EPA further entrusted DEC with $2.7 million to coordinate and spearhead cooperation among federal, state and local organizations, including the Onondaga Lake Management Conference, to clean Onondaga Lake (Swinn 1). Also, a few years after Onondaga Lake became a Superfund site in 1994, Metro was finally required to reduce its amounts of ammonia and phosphorous discharges in 1998. Since 2004, ammonia reduction goals have been met and now Metro is one of the world's most advanced waste-water treatment plants in the country. By 2012, all sewer overflows will no longer contribute bacteria and floating waste to the lake (Williamson 11). It is evident that political action was an impetus for the efforts to clean Onondaga Lake.

Still, the largest problem remains in paying for Superfund. According to the aforementioned analysis “transaction costs systematically influence remedial progress at Superfund sites” (Daley 386). Different solutions may help in preventing pollution, thus possibly decreasing Superfund costs. In 1994 Governor Mario M. Cuomo established the New York State Governor's Awards for Pollution Prevention and several companies were awarded for reduction of pollutants (Swinn 1). Awards like these can definitely help promote the idea of ultimately reducing hazardous waste, which relates to the idea of more political oversight and action. Only when the government enacted the Federal Clean Water Act of 1972 did the situation of Onondaga Lake become addressed, after over twenty years of overwhelming pollution (Williamson 10). Still, even after this initial act, more action was needed to clean the lake. Today, The Onondaga Lake Partnership continues to work with the government, organizations and the public to limit phosphorous contamination and develop a shared vision for the lake (Williamson 12). The Onondaga Lake Partnership is a large committee consisting of government, public and private interest groups, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. EPA (Williamson 11). Although local community involvement can sometimes be a burden for the federal Superfund program, it can also help if these organizations work with government leaders, like The Onondaga Lake Partnership does. Studies show that if an elected official from a site's congressional district sits on a Superfund oversight committee, this site is twenty percent more likely to be completed (Daley 387).

Overall, more political action is needed to make Superfund better. An inevitable circle of criticism exists when discussing the renewal of excise taxes for chemical and oil companies because more than just these companies are responsible for pollution. Instead, Superfund needs to be revised with a better plan regarding the distribution of its funds. Instead of unfair methods of choosing only low-risk sites, a new plan should create better laws that award businesses for environmental advances, while also enforcing federal pollution regulations. Also, the most hazardous areas should be addressed first. Changes in the sources of pollutions, where water pollution from run-offs is more prevalent (like with Onondaga Lake) and where mining companies now begin to contribute to pollution as well, the federal government must reevaluate their plans (Williamson, Knickerbocker 12). New plans should begin by focusing on the prevention of pollution, spearheaded by organizations like the Onondaga Lake Partnership willing to work with the government. Then, political action can be made to compromise and serve the needs of different areas, possibly by adding more oversight. Again, only after the DEC gained further responsibility did Onondaga Lake begin to solve its horrendous problems. During this time of Superfund inefficiency, the federal government needs to pay further attention to the environment and enact further laws to enforce environmental guidelines.

Works Cited

Daley, Dorothy M., and David F. Layton. "Policy Implementation and the Environmental Protection Agency: What Factors Influence Remediation at Superfund Sites?." Policy Studies Journal 32.3 (2004): 375-92. Social Sciences Full Text. H. W. Wilson. Syracuse University Library, Syracuse, NY. 7 Oct. 2007 [http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/].

Knickerbocker, Brad. "Superfund Program: A Smaller Cleanup Rag." The Christian Science Monitor 14 Nov. 2003. 2 Oct. 2007 [http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1114/p02s01-usgn.html?related].

Swinn, Brian W.. "DEC receives $2.7 million to clean up Onondaga Lake." The Conservationist 49 (1994): 38-9. General Science Full Text. H. W. Wilson. Syracuse University Library,Syracuse, NY. 7 Oct. 2007 [http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/].

Williamson, Karen, and Don Hesler. "Return to Glory: The resurgence of Onandaga Lake." New York State Conservationist 61.1 (2006): 7-14. Readers' Guide Full Text. H. W. Wilson.Syracuse University Library, Syracuse, NY. 7 Oct. 2007 [http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/].

Homework: An Additonal Source

http://www.safefromtoxics.org/tx.asp?id2=20920

Superfund Article Synopsis

According to the US Public Research Group (PIRG), one out of four Americans live within four miles of a Superfund site. Superfund is a government funded program that cleans up hazardous waste. Since 1980, at a cost of more than $1 billion a year, the program has cleaned up 886 sites by 2003, which leaves 1,203 more sites on the “National Priorities List” that still need to be addressed. Marianne Lamont Horinko, an assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), states that 699 construction projects in 436 site remain, but funding for the Superfund program has significantly diminished since excise taxes on chemical and oil industries expired in 1995. The portion of the program funded by individual taxpayers has increased from 18 percent to 53 percent. Julie Wolk, environmental health advocate for PIRG, states, “taxpayers are paying more...the number of Superfund sites getting cleaned up [each year] has dropped by more than half.” Many criticize Superfund for its litigious methods of tracking down companies to pay for the cleaning because by the end of the process (in some cases) most of the money is used for lawyers, private investigators, consultants and other administrative overhead. Superfund can also discourage investing in new development when land buyers begin to fear liability for pollution. With all of these criticisms of Superfund, it remains politically infeasible to eliminate it, but administrators must find a way to pay for it. In the end, taxpayers continue to fund a majority of an increasingly inefficient Superfund program. (Knickerbocker)

Knickerbocker, Brad. "Superfund Program: A Smaller Cleanup Rag." The Christian Science Monitor 14 Nov. 2003. 2 Oct. 2007 [http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/1114/p02s01-usgn.html?related].



Additional Link:

Onondaga Lake Restoration: What Has Been Done So Far from the Onondaga Lake Partnership website.

America's Fears

A librarian's collection can form historical arguments and create “debates of the day”. Librarian Sean Quimby, has collected an assortment of material in an attempt to identify the root of fear. Ideas of alien invasions, guns, cutthroat politics, terrorism, anarchy and chaos accompany the emotion of fear. Sean Quimby will be teaching a course on American fear and there are literally hundreds of books, and even works of art, that can be used to teach the course. Sean Quimby's lecture called “Phobia: Collecting in the History of Fear” begins by identifying the Boogie Man, and then describes isolation as a driving force behind fear. What can be scarier than sleeping alone in your bed at night as a scary monster attacks you? Edward Munsch's famous painting called “Scream” is a perfect example, besides the Boogie Man, of how fear is linked to isolation. The subject of “Scream” ironically remains surrounded in only a shroud of nothingness. Charles Darwin describes fear as a terrible, horrible, raw and animalistic nerve interruption. Barry Glasner's book called “Culture of Fear” blames the advent of guns for fear and Peter Stearns “American Fear: The Causes and Consequences of High Anxiety” identifies the roots of fear as relating to non-whites and apocalypse disrupting lavish American lifestyle.

These ideas lead to the history of fear, events involving Joe McCarthy's vicious anti-communist attacks and George Bush's presidential term. Fear first appear in British literature in “Beowulf” and the Oxford dictionary identifies fear as “peril” or a “sudden and terrible event”, just like how the monster Grendel in “Beowulf” suddenly attacks, or as an emotion involving “pain, evil and dread”. Sean Quimby then begins to identify Mary Rowlandson's idea of a “paranoid American invasion fantasy” to explain such events and ideas in history such as aliens, John Wayne, terrorism, the anti-Masonic party and Saco and Venzetti. Were Saco and Venzetti accused of murder only because they were Italian immigrants? An exhibit on the sixth floor of Syracuse University's E.S. Bird Library displays many books on Saco and Venzetti and according to Quimby, it does seem like Americans have some sort of visceral fear of people with dark skin, possibly thought to be carriers of disease. This “invasion fantasy”, according to Hadley Cantril's book “The Invasion From Mars” is a national character flaw and the radio is not responsible for it. Is it implied that natural fear is?

Finally, Sean Quimby moves on to the second part of his lecture about the causes of fear. He states one idea about an increased “therapeutic culture” where we need solace from a higher power, like God, and fear is an antidote that cures this desire for solace. According to John Vasso's “Phobia” fear is only psychotic madness. And, in psychoanalysis, fear is attributed to selfish, sexual desire, further impacted by material consumption.

In a world of wiretaps and assault rifles, a librarian's collection attempts to create new debate, in particular by referring back to history and collecting numerous different manuscripts. Quimby focuses on collecting books about Saco and Venzetti. Did America's fear destroy the lives of two innocent immigrant workers or were these two men actually guilty of anarchy? The lecture significantly fails in forming any type of conclusion, only mentioning a breadth of further references. I think hardly any debate was created by the lecture because I could not understand many of the references to a long American history. Even though a large display of books about Saco and Venzetti exists on the sixth floor of Syracuse University's E.S. Bird Library, Quimby never even begins to explain their story. Additionally, the extremely long list of author's theories all seemed to generalize Americans as whites crazily afraid of difference. Today, an amalgam of different types of people inhabit America and many citizens have embraced diversity. Although Sean Quimby's lecture is particularly strong in a time where we are at war against terrorism, Quimby never connects today's War on Terrorism to America's illegitimate and intuitive fears. Unfortunately, after the lecture, I am more confused as ever about fear and cannot make any conclusions. I think fear is only an emotion that everybody can have. Quimby never responds to anything significant that applies to life today and this is why I believe Quimby's lecture fails to respond to my generation's concerns.

Binh Danh's “One Week's Dead” and Susan Sontag's “The Image-World”

If art is human expression, what does Binh Danh mean to display as he combines the faces of forty-two dead Vietnam War soldiers with grass and leaves? Is Danh's artwork merely a tribute to those who have lost their lives or is there more behind the symbolism? The first thing I begin to see while browsing through the exhibit of Danh's work at Light Work is the tall grass, but then the faces pop out at me through the grass and I feel like I am walking back in time to envision the scared American soldiers hiding in the bushes. As a testimony about war, I believe Binh Danh's pieces to be against war in general. The reason I believe this is because of Danh's focus on the individual soldiers instead of the overall grand scheme of the war. It is the soldier's faces that stand out as something extraordinary, against the backdrop of ordinary nature. Thus, I think that Danh's art demonstrates that even though war can sometimes be about protecting one's land, expanding and conquering as well, war should truly be about the freedom of individual people and since war ultimately results in more deaths, it should not be a solution to any problem. In any case, I believe Danh is expressing a disturbance, most likely resulting from the conflict of living in both Vietnam and the United States, because of the wildness of the grass and grotesque green color prevalent in all of the pieces. These theories are perfect topics for debate and many may look at Danh's work as something different from the way I see it. Finally, the exhibit definitely can be applied to the United State's current War on Terrorism because many believe that ultimately this current War on Terrorism will go down in history as a mistake like the Vietnam War. These believers think war is unnecessary and this relates to my theories on Danh's “One Week's Dead”.

“And one photograph, unlike one painting, implies that there will be others”, states Susan Sontag in “The Image-World”. Susan Sontag writes this because she adds that paintings sum up, but photographs always leave room for more interpretation. In this same way, the addition of portrait photos of soldier's to Dahn's works allow for viewers to continue to reflect on the meaning of his art, even as time moves on because real people are involved. It is amazing that Danh's subject matter can still be applied to society today. In addition, Sontag remarks that in today's world, particularly in western society, artists and photographers have free artistic expression. “One Week's Dead” is a perfect example of Sontag's idea of image's growing importance in society as they continue to change and evolve based on individual artist's discretion. Sontag states that in photographs the “dramatic is dramatized” and she also writes, “Often something disturbs us more in photographed form than it does when we actually experience it.” In the end, I believe Binh Danh's unique dramatization concerning the Vietnam War is an impetus for the disapproval of war.

What On Earth Is Art?

I define art as a piece of human expression, especially in the form of an aesthetic object, such as a painting. My memorable experience with art took place in eighth grade art class when a portion of the class was instructed to create a clay sculpture. What did I end up constructing? It looked like a white elephant, but it really was an abstract object with a sturdy foundation and numerous tentacles, nooks, crannies and curves, about the size of a large grapefruit. In the end, my teacher suggested I paint my sculpture white. The pure white color was perfect because it did not tarnish the strange beauty of my creation. It only enhanced it. I spent a few days molding my clay and maybe another day painting it. I received high praise, but then I threw my masterpiece into the garbage can on my way out of class. I do not know why I did that, but I will always remember this piece as something great created with my own two hands. I remember trying to express every one of my emotions as I sat at my seat molding: emotions possibly including boredom, awkwardness, pride (considering I was one of few in the class selected to actually create a sculpture) and confusion (I had no idea what I was making). The piece certainly turned out to evoke many of these feelings and it had a certain sense of balanced stability, though completely abstract and random. Going into the project I had no intentions. I only attempted to express the ineffable and this eventually resulted in successful art.
Although I had this one successful experience with art, art is as foreign to me as it is to the extraterrestrial described in part one of de Duve's excerpt from "Art was a proper name". As the alien attempts to define art, he collects information and contemplates conflicting theories, but I think the alien does realize that the skill of art is something that all humans are born with. The alien realizes that anyone, including me, can experience art. Then, in part two, de Duve places the reader into the position of a historian to demonstrate the importance of art in humanity's history. Finally, de Duve describes art as it appeals to a regular citizen as something that is supposed to create debate and provoke feelings. Throughout these point of views, de Duve regularly uses Duchamp's Fountain as an example. Can an ordinary object be art? At what point did art become an attraction for common people? Does Duchamp's Fountain disgust or awe you? The definition of art is debatable, but from my own experiences and from de Duve's essay I define art simply as how it is defined above, a piece of human expression that anyone can create.