Seven states – Tennessee, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Alaska and Louisiana – have had both houses of their legislatures sovereignty resolutions. Alaska Gov. Palin and Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen are currently the only governors to have signed their states’ sovereignty resolutions.

The resolutions all address the Tenth Amendment that says: “powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

“Now more than ever, state governments must exercise their Constitutional right to say no to the expansion of the federal government’s reckless deficit spending and abuse of power,” Sen. Baker said. “With this resolution, our Legislature can send a message to Washington that our state’s rights must be respected.”

The full text of Florida’s memorial is available on http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2009/07/16/florida-senate-to-consider-state-sovereignty/.

Rhythm

Designers and artists have a whole box full of tools. Rhythm is one of the least considered, most used. Elements are arranged in such a way as to establish a pattern. The pattern may be designed to control eye movement, or to trigger emotional response, or simply because the artist or designer had a specific tune stuck in their head. (Hey, it happens!) In fact, music and visual art share many basic design factors! The flow of piece lies in the rhythm.

Examples:

Movement: Both of the samples below share a similar rhythm, both use the rhythm to establish movement. Yet, obviously, the theme and content of these works is very different. (You may recall proximity and color relationship from previous entry?)

When you look at the piece below, make a note of where your eye wants to go… what is the first thing you see in the piece? Is there a point where your eye wants to “rest”?

It is human nature to seek out rhythm and patterns. Our brain quite naturally wants to play, “which of these things is not like the others?” at any age. The first step in that game is to associate things which are similar. Thus, the human eye bounces across similar things, in search of anything that doesn’t “belong”.

 Perspective provides the illusion of depth on a flat plane. We are provided with a very distinct idea of a large, outdoor area. The arrangement of panels recedes a good distance. We are made to feel as though we could walk through the piece. Utilizing repitition, the viewer is quite literally “told” what to expect next, and “snagged” when that pattern is disrupted. 

Yes, your perception is unique… just like everybody else’s. Yet, in nearly every moment of our daily lives, the mood and the scene is set by an artist or designer, with a specific objective in mind. Consider the arrangement of desks in an office, the color of the walls in the super market (can you recall EVER having seen the walls inside a super market?), or the “austere” or “stoic” appearance of government and judicial buildings. The purpose is to recognize the influences these things have. Why is the area around the customer service desk painted such a cool blue, yet 10 ft away is a display of childrens toys in primary colors? Perhaps so Mom is calm and the kid will be distracted? Subtle or blatant, the effects are everywhere. Those who are not prepared to recognize it, not “literate”, are not making informed choices.

What are the basic premises of visual language? The term has been virtually redefined in the computer age. Yet. basic premises still remain. To be literate is to know how to recognize not only the iconography of an alphabet, but also to have the ability to assign meaning to the strings of characters arranged on a page. The same is true of visual language. To be literate is to be able to recognize the iconography and “read” the arrangement of elements in a given piece. We know, from our first grade phonics lessons, when we see certain phonetic couplings of letters in text that a specific sound and meaning are inscribed. In this, we have learned to recognize a relationship between these letters and words. Perhaps, if you attended college and took more than a rudimentary art class, you learned to recognize spatial relationships between forms. Unless you took an advanced art class, you probably did not learn to “read” the iconography and metaphor in painting or sculpture.

So it is that few adults today realize that the visual artist or visual language composer has taken upon him/herself to quite literally control not only the movement of your eye, but to some extent even your cognitive response to the images presented. But, how, you might ask? (As well you should!)

1. Relationships: There are number of ways to manipulate your response to something by establishing relationships between forms and through the use of color. An artist can create tension, or impart placid harmony through the placement of objects or forms or through the use of color.

Let us consider our response to a small sphere cradled in a ribbon-like form. To most people, this confers a sense of nurturing, perhaps parenting, certainly safety and comfort. This is because we have mentally assigned a relationship to the two forms, whether or not we are conscious of it.  Please consider the four examples below, which all employ the same two elements. What is the relationship between the two forms in each example? This is an example of utilizing proximity to establish relationship.

It is a given that people have a cultural library of meanings which they will assign to specific colors. Red, for example… what is your immediate response to the color red? MOst of us in the west will assign three possible meanings to the color. Stop/danger, anger, and passion. A very large red painting is irritating, over time. Red excited our eyes and causes the photo receptors to fire in quick succession. It is almost impossible to ignore, even with concerted effort. The same is true of yellow, and yet yellow is generally associated with happiness… thus, we dont mind so much being in the presence of a large “sunny” canvas. We are not irritated by the presence of a big happy thing. We are likely to find our mood uplifted after 20 minutes or so.

With this in mind, look at the many ways that information is visually presented. Charts and graphs,  illustrations, headlines and photos, even forms you are asked to fill out every day of your life are carefully arranged to influence your perception.

The Brothers Mcleod: Glamming the spam

The Chive 

Awesome site, with lots of really twisted stuff to explore. They can show you how to go viral in 2.4 nano seconds, too.

User Beware

So much internet, so many scams… I feel compelled to offer a warning. You don’t have to be a fool to be fooled. No matter how slick or smart you may be, there’s a scammer waiting with a bridge that has your name on it. Okay, so maybe it’s not a bridge. It might be friendship, a charity, or anything else you desire. For every desire (and who of us does not have any?) there is a scam and a scammer on the internet. There is a real danger of harm. Not only to your wallet, but to career, family, and more.  I will cite examples, for the benefit of those who may not be aware. Anyone who knows it all can just skip this part.

1. Laugh now, but Bill Gates will not send you a check for forwarding that email. Likely as not, there’s a string, a worm, or spyware attached. DON’T forward the chain mail emails, people… PLEASE! And, you MUST know that I will not, no matter how cute it is, or how heart rending the message, or what my religious conviction may be. If I want to support our troops, and I do, I have many alternatives besides forwarding spyware.

2. WHO is behind that screen name? It almost certainly is NOT who you think it is. If you want to develop a relationship with someone you met online, you should be prepared to be surprised. I have personally been making the most of the internet since about 1984 or so. Many of the people I have met online, the vast majority in fact, are utter frauds. I have met many of these people in person, as well, in groups at coffee houses, pizza parlors, and private parties. Hundreds of them, over the years. I can count on one hand the number of people who were exactly as they presented themselves to be online, including myself. Now, I like a surprise. I like odd balls, too. I am quite sure, however, that many of the people I have met were dangerous under other circumstances. Don’t invest more of yourself mentally, emotionally, or in any other way… than you can afford to lose. Let common sense prevail, or take your lumps and pray they leave you with stumps. This is NOT the place for kids to make friends under any circumstances. I would like to personally hammer anyone who lets thier kid get involved in social networking online. Better to dangle them, bloodied, in shark infested waters. The odds of them emerging unscathed are certainly better.

3. IF YOU DON’T ACT LIKE VICTIM, YOU WON’T BE ONE. What does a victim act like? Well, they ignore the warning signs. Victims give more, ask less, and typically are motivated by “need.” You are likely to ignore the fact that the site doesnt have a valid security certificate if you just found the expensive gadget your husband or child needed for 50% off. You will ignore the fact the tell tale clues that your friend may not be the nice guy or gal they claim to be if you are very lonely. The internet is not a cure for loneliness, and it’s a poor substitute for a life. Someone looking for a “victim” has an eye for what you need or desire most in life. The predator will be interested in you, often ingratiating or flattering, always opportunistic and looking for ways to elicit your trust. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

There are so many horror stories… we don’t need any more.

EDWARD KIENHOLZ   Gads, I love this artist!

Exquisite craftsmanship, mixed medium installations, provocative, thoughtful… awesome!

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