Epistemology & Me.

Epistemology as way of knowing rings true to my natural thought processes especially in a sociological gaze. To see and observe in the action of what is going on is to truly grasp, from the fine sensory details, upward. The film Man With A Movie Camera really hammers home this point through its thorough representation of then modern Eastern European life. The film also manages to convey its messages in the universal language of music which makes the whole experience that much more powerful. The film toys with technological feats of the day and creates a very convincing montage of everyday life from sunup to sundown.

We can apply this for our uses of understanding ethno-media through the idea of self reflection and broad understandings of our effect on the subject matter. Our ways of seeing the world must include ourselves in it, our actions spawn their own reactions that may not have occurred if we weren't there. Looking backwards on the things we've studied up until this point, each has had a camera, subject, and a director - it is important to not forget to turn the camera around once in a while and reverse the roles in order to understand the effect of each player in the game. I feel as though I will revisit this theme when we begin working on our group film projects.

The loose narrative stirred up an eerie connection to the hustle and bustle of our daily lives today and to, perhaps, the triteness of it all - in a technological sense - seeing how far we've come in such a short time. I was also reminded of a contemporary experiment in film done in a very similar way- Koyaanisqatsi- Godfrey Reggio's epic cinescape.

This is an 8 minute segment called "Vessels," in it one can clearly see the critique of modern life but through the the lens of the camera. The music is composed by famed minimalist Philip Glass and is quite enchanting.
Enjoy and I'm sure the parallels of theme and style will leap out to you.

A DAY IN THE LIFE: Estelle the Jewish Grandma.

1) The grandma is always cooking for her friends and family for the sustenance of her kinship is of the utmost importance to her.









2) Sitting before the meal discussing the importance of the day of atonement for Judaism, Yom Kipper.












3) The spread of food that she made for the pre-fast meal. Presentation is a big concern for her and how the food looks is just as important as taste.













4) She reads from the prayer book.













5) This is her praying before the yartzeit candles which symbolize dead family members including her husband.
















6) This is how she passes the time in between cooking meals, a daily ritual of crossword puzzles.

Critiquing the Critics

In the all too jaded 21st century it is easy to forget that only a hundred short years ago the world was a much different landscape, both physically and culturally. One field to witness these changes along the way and with a critical eye are the fields of anthropology and sociology. These social sciences have already grappled with their identity a few times in their relatively brief lifespans as disciplines. The bottom was pulled out from its Euro-centric, colonialist beginnings during the post war academic expansion of 1960's and 70's the roots of the science were called into serious question, especially as to who's truth the world was receiving. Some of the early anthropologists - namely, Malinowski and Mead were receiving some staunch criticisms from their contemporaries in the field. The voice of James Clifford rings out, in his book the Predicament of Culture as one of the social scientists of today who is trying to make head or tails of a discipline that has "no sovereign scientific method or ethical stance [that] can guarantee the truth..." Clifford pulls out all the stops as he like most ethnographers grapple with how to represent the people they have just studied, along with the sometimes sketchy beginnings of anthropology- he marks six ways in which ethnography pulled itself together in a formula that could work as a discipline - 1) persona of ethnographers, 2) only a basic understanding of native terms/language was need, 3) an emphasis on the power of the trained ethnographer's observation, 4) theoretical abstractions acting as archetypes could save time, 5) studying a specific part of a culture as opposed to the WHOLE thing was helpful, and 6) a glimpse with the right eye could take a snapshot of a true "ethnographic present."

A science that is subject to such scrutiny within is a double edged sword. It is important to maintain a skepticism about what information you are being presented, but at the same time there must be a trust that the work was carried out under certain standards or methods that best represent the direction of the human world. Clifford's critique of colonialist ethnography falls in line with the 1993 anti-ethnographic film of a fictionalized culture, The Couple in the Cage. The film, much like the title describes, features a rather unusual male and female of a made up tribe from deep in the rain forrest that is being paraded around museums across the globe as essentially freaks. Part art project and part social critique of the way that "scientists" have treated people, especially those different then themselves. The film overlaps nicely with Clifford's stance that to make a complete ethnography, the ethnographers themselves, must never stop questioning authority and remain as culturally relative as possible.

And relating to the film's inspirations:
Here's a scene from Tod Browning's FREAKS! (1932) ----- Exploitation or Entertainment?

Not just some conspiracy Doc....

While it's still 9/11 and I have a good excuse to post this:

THE POWER OF NIGHTMARES

a BBC Documentary Series aired in 2004 that puts our post 9/11 lives
in a very historical context. its like its from the future. I think
today is a very important time to reflect on how badly we as Americans
have been mindfucked by people with an agenda. watch the whole series
and tell your friends to do the same. then tell your school boards to
show it to our country's children. Enjoy.
-Harlan