MyInk

say what?!

2006-07-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

i think that one of the most interesting medical topics that there is is the disability of prosoprognosia, in other words 'face blindness' or 'facial recognition disability' (there is also agnosia which is identified as 'object blind', but for the purpose of simplicity today we will only focus on the former). face blindness is exactly what it sounds like and presents itself in several different ways. one, the person is litterally blind when it comes to the face and all facial features are a blur. two, the person does not have the ability to visually understand what any facial features (i.e. nose, mouth, eyes, cheeks, etc.) are and is not able to point out which is which. and three, the person is not visually able to hold a memory of another person's face for any amount of time. usually this includes the person's own face. other than this the person is able to see all things clearly, including other parts of the body, and usually relies on other things, such as hair cut/color or sound of voice, to be able to identify someone.

it currently is believed that people who suffer from face blindness have the face recognition part of their brain damaged, whether that part of their brain just never fully developed from birth or through an accident that occured latter in life. it is also hinted, though i dont think anyone actually know for sure, that prosoprognosia can be a symptom of asperger's syndrome, the same disability that tends to produce autism.

i have been studying face blindness for the past three years and due to the small amount of actual research done on the subject consider myself an ameture with a lot still to learn. most of what is found on the web and in books are personal accounts from those who live with the disability, and though i dont knock personal experience, there is little explaination in them to be found as to the scientific hows and whys of this problem. the best site of information for the interested is faceblind.org, the official site of the harvard university prosoprognosia research center.

what really attracts me to this peculilar topic and my whole intents and purposes for putting this on my blog is to change the common human prospective of how our body is set up to think and process. to understand that we acctually have a part of our brain thats' sole purpose is to construct understanding within ourselves as to what constitutes a nose, i think opens up a whole new avenue of human function both physical and psychological. this, in itself, brings me to the question of, "if they are seeing the same things that we are seeing, but are unable to make out the actual shape of a feature then could the answer to this be the solution for the blind?" and also "if for others it is just the inability to hold on to a memory of a face then could this be the solution for alzheimer's?" so what are your thoughts?

2006-07-14T18:06:00.000-07:00

convergence (c.1952) oil on canvas

i like this one because it expresses the convergence of people and cultures and beliefs. it shows that part of living in the world is coming into contact with each other and the more we converge the harder it is to tell anyone apart based on visual aspects.

i have decided to share my favorite artist with you. jackson pollock was a 1940-50s american painter and because society feels that she must catagorize everything, pollock is declared as an abstract artist. i feel that there is nothing worng with this except for the fact that the english word, "abstract" when applied to art, is definied as "having only intrinsic form with little or no attempt at pictorial representation or narrative content" (merriam-webster online). this definition does not correctly apply to pollock's paintings or any other artist for that matter because whether society can understand it or not, there will always be someone somewhere that will be able to connect what the artist was trying to say to what the piece actually says.

untitled (c.1950) ink on paper
pollock was one of the bests at expressing himself through ink.

i love that this shows pollock at work.

it looks like he is dancing with his brush and the paint is the result of the affair.

this picture to the right shows only a very small part of the actual painting to point out the beauty of the technique. the below pic is of the whole piece. full fathom five and is my favorite of all pollock's. looking at it makes me think of the ocean and the life within. it has such movement and rhythm like the ocean and it is one of the only pieces of art that has ever made me cry. someday i hope to see this in person. it is so beautiful!!

full fathom five (c.1947) oil on canvas with nails, tacks, buttons, coins, cigarettes, etc. they say pollock's paintings are scam-proof because they are impossible to duplicate exactly. i think the reason is fairly obvious.

MyInk

2006-07-13T17:17:00.000-07:00

this is my ink...meaning that everything that goes on this page is to reflect my opinions and ideas as truthfully as i can. i am not here to be politically correct or socially perfect or to impress anyone inculding teachers, friends or parents. my ink is to give me space to talk without interuption and express without intimidation. i invite all of those who are, will or have read this blog to express themselves equally honest by leaving comments if desired. all comments will be posted exactly as written unless you think its funny to be disgusting or cussing as those will not be posted at all. thank you.