There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.Leonard Cohen

Inner Life Directions

Expanding Reality

Danielle Levy

  • The Power of The Pen

    In the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attack and the ensuing demonstrations, it is even more important to note instances of the power of the pen. In December 2014 the Los Angeles Times ran a four parts series “Products of Mexico” where it documented the conditions of megafarms in that country. Those large enterprises and corporations are the source of much of the fruits and vegetables consumed in the United States. As one can deduce as the reason behind the series, they are places of abuse, with dangerous and squalid housing, with children as young as 6 working in the fields, with workers being denied wages, with company owned stores charging high prices and placing the workers in a perpetual indebtedness. The report was accompanied by striking pictures making the message vivid and poignant. Since its publication two groups have launched a joint social responsibility initiative to help abate or resolve the conditions: The Confederation of Agribusiness Associations in the Mexican state of Sinaloa and the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas in Arizona. In addition the series has prodded several activists and organizations to renew their interest and pursue solutions, thus giving the problem enough visibility to create an impetus .

    The power of the pen shouldn’t be overrated, but neither should it be underestimated.

  • Robots And The Future of Work

    Sometimes big changes happen imperceptibly, away from the headlines. They happen drop by drop until the proverbial one that makes the bucket overflow. That’s what happening with robots. They’re gaining ground as the society and the labor force in (more…)

  • Reality, Rothko and Reproductive Technology

    The painter Mark Rothko painted few murals, among the best known are those from the penthouse of Harvard’s Holyoke Center installed there by the artist in 1964. Although precautions were taken by Rothko and others, the murals began to fade and by 1979 the university removed the paintings. Rothko had created translucent colors by using dry pigments with animal skin glue and whole egg. These were absorbed into unvarnished canvases and made the surface quite porous. As a result traditional ways of restoring paintings could not be used. Narayan Khandekar, Senior Conservation Scientist at Harvard came up with the notion of projecting lights onto the canvass using a camera and a software algorithm thus restoring the paintings without touching them. When looked at in this manner the murals now look the way they originally did. As of last November they are once more exhibited. Each day the lights are turned off for one hour so that the difference can be appreciated. But with or without the lights the technique has led to discussion and even debate as to what is the nature of a work of art and what are the implications of such technique for art in general. But the questions raised do go beyond the art world, to the use of technology certainly, and to the definition of reality. If technology can reproduce a unique work of art, where is reproductive technology taking us? Similarly if reality or what is tangibly real can be cleverly reproduced, do we need to redefine reality, or extend its meaning to include the reproduction thus obtained?

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