Engineer February 27, 2008
Posted by townsend51 in engineer, number 10, petition, science.add a comment
Image courtesy of betsythedevine
A petition has finally been responded to by number 10.
http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page14749.asp
The gist of it is that engineers, of the qualified variety, think that it is only fair, and indeed in the public good, for the title ‘engineer’ to be protected by law. This is to prevent any old Tom, Dick and Harry from gallivanting around doing dodgy deeds under the guise of an ‘engineer’. In fact, the title today is so undermined, and lacking in any sort of recognition, that it is unsurprising that young people get the wrong idea about what engineering is all about.
When I told my classmate that I’d applied to study engineering, the response was ‘So you want to be a mechanic?’ Of course, there is nothing wrong with being a mechanic, and indeed engineering shares the same vocational, practical roots, but the fact of the matter is a qualified engineer exists for a purpose – to design jet engines, software, cars, mobile phones, bridges – which requires more than a little knowledge and experience, and a bed rock of professionalism. That this isn’t recognised by the Government, and indeed society as a whole, is a travesty, and speaks volumes about the future of engineering in this country.
The statistics at the end of the petition are somewhat encouraging, but set amongst years of steady decline in admissions to science, engineering and maths courses, it is little to shout about. Herein lies the crux of the problem, and what I’d say to any young person considering their future, is that science and engineering are rewarding subjects intellectually, both in terms of technical and creative challenges, and the oft overlooked social facet, which informs everything that scientists and engineers do. Because at the end of the day, science and engineering is all about creating a better future for mankind, and what greater purpose is there than that?
Derek Jarman February 25, 2008
Posted by townsend51 in film, serpentine, video art.add a comment
Image courtesy of cromacom
The latest exhibition in the Serpentine gallery is dedicated to the work of one of Britain’s most important artist film makers, Derek Jarman. He came to prominence during the gay rights marches in the seventies, and was always a forthright and honest figure when it came to his personal feelings – something which is clearly reflected in his work.
The exhibition was curated by Isaac Julien, who has been influenced by the work of Jarman, and has, through this exhibition, celebrated the life of a truly remarkable figure. The first room displays late works, which consist of religious iconography dipped in tar. Though primarily known as a film maker, he worked with a breadth of medium, including painting, and it can be argued that his films have a painterly quality, with their composition, and the swarming, spectral look of 8mm film.
These films, and indeed more commercial ventures, using 35mm film, are featured in Julien’s new documentary ‘Derek’. The documentary succeeds so well, because Derek created work of such personal significance, laying his soul to bear through his work. A chronology of his work, interspersed with archival footage which illustrates the often hostile attitudes of the time toward homosexuality, and serves to enforce how brave and challenging Jarman’s works were, not only in terms of content, but that they actually exist in the filmic medium at all, because the work is so strikingly independent, where today independent cinema is itself a by-word, these films did not pander to audience expectations, but repeatedly exploded existing conventions about what a film could be about. One such instance is where two males, in a highly eroticised, water-drenched scene, exhibit the carnal, vicious, but also celebratory aspects of love, in a way that is not exploitative in the way that pornography is, but rather was a physical manifestation of what Jarman himself thought of homosexuality, in a time when gay rights were beginning to gain recognition, and all of the suppressed feelings found that crucial spark.
Another strident theme in his work is evident from his film ‘Carravaggio’, which was based on the eponymous painter, whose subjects were whores, who posed for highly religious paintings of the Virgin Mary. It is in no way a slight against religion, but rather serves to emphasise the humanity of normal people, and it is a common theme in Jarman’s work that his subjects are less than perfect. Often, Caravaggio is seen painting on screen, which is an apt mitigation of Jarman’s preoccupation with film and painting.
One of the greatest successes of his narrative films are the characters, who were brought to life by some of the best British acting talent. An example of which is from the film ‘The Last of England’, where Tilda Swinton performs with characteristic conviction. She is perhaps the most successful actor to have been involved with Jarman, having gone on to win an Academy award for her role in Michael Clayton. Though it is arguably her early work with Jarman that made her the actress she is today, something which she is clearly aware of by her narration of ‘Derek’. The narration takes the form of a recital of a letter which she wrote to Jarman, and is at once heart felt and sincere, and serves to underpin the lamentations of many when Jarman was to pass away after a long fight with HIV.
It was in his latter years, when the struggle with the illness was at its greatest, that Jarman created his most courageous work. Armed with the motifs that had featured so prominently throughout his career, he staged a great work of artistic defiance. It consists of a single shot of saturated blue colour filling the screen, as background to a soundtrack where Jarman’s and some of his favorite actors’ narration describes his life and vision.
The film ends with the words:
In time,
No one will remember our work
Our life will pass like the traces of a cloud
And be scattered like
Mist that is chased by the
Rays of the sun
For our time is the passing of a shadow
And our lives will run like
Sparks through the stubble.
I place a delphinium, Blue, upon your grave
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The exhibition is on at the Serpentine until 13th April 2008.
http://www.serpentinegallery.org/2007/04/derek_jarman_curated_by_isaac.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Jarman
