The first person I noticed was a Caucasian man probably around 6’4 in height and pushing 250-275lbs in weight. He was wearing some really slick beats headphones, sported an Oregon backpack, and had a tattoo on his forearm. When looking at this man I automatically assumed that he was most likely an Oregon football player who played either on the offensive or defensive line. This was simply my assumption do to the sheer massiveness of the guy. It’s possible that he could have played a different sport or potentially no sport at all but this was just what came to mind first. When watching this guy I feel that his values and beliefs weigh heavily towards keeping physically fit, as it was obvious that he has been working out for quite some time. I also noticed that he walked with an extreme amount of confidence. Simply the way he carried himself was enough for me to believe that this man meant business everywhere he went. After writing down my assumptions and dissecting them it was apparent that my beliefs and values tend to lean towards sports. Apparently whenever I see a man who is physically fit I put them into the category of what sports they might play such as if someone is tall then they must play basketball or if someone is medium height but lean and muscular they might play baseball. I had never noticed this about myself before and it was a real eye opener.

The second person that I noticed was a younger kid possibly a freshman with medium height who wore a cross around his neck. It’s possible that he could have been older but my first assumption was that he had to be either a freshman or sophomore based on his physique. He didn’t walk as confident as the first man that I noticed but he still carried himself in a way that was assertive and direct. By looking at his attire, the cross especially, I feel that this kid is religious and possibly a Christian or Catholic. I have seen people where crosses around their neck before and then put it inside their shirt as they go into class or walk into a building but this kid didn’t do either. It was apparent that he was confident in who he was and what he believed and he wasn’t afraid of people judging him of his beliefs. I see a lot of my own values and personal beliefs in this kid because I am a Christian also and I have a gold cross that I sometimes wear to class or around the town. I am by no means flaunting it but it’s just a subtle statement of who I am, what I believe, and what you can expect from me if you decide to interact with me.

The third person that I noticed was a female, probably around 5’2 with pink hair and multiple piercings including a nose ring. In addition, her facial expression was rather distraught as she looked like she was having an extremely bad day. I believe this woman is trying to bring attention to herself and make a statement by forming her body appearance to stand out from everyone else. One of the assumptions that I made was maybe her family life hasn’t been the greatest. Maybe she grew up without a certain parent figure in her life or something of the sort. I could be completely off but I just felt like this lady has a lack of attention in her life and by dying her hair and having multiple piercings that make her “stand out” she can bring herself attention in a different way. I feel that in our culture if someone appears “out of the norm” then we tend to put them in a different category such as “misfit” or “outcast” without completely getting to know the full story. These people could be breaking inside and have no other outlet to express it. So ultimately when looking at this woman, my religious beliefs and values came into play again because right then and there I prayed for her that she would find peace in her life and finish out the day on a high note.

The article that I found comes from the Washington post and is quite thought provoking when deciding on the issue of whether food is art or not. The article is divided up into 4 parts but I’m only going talk about the first one for length’s sake.  In this first part, Palate vs. Palette: Avant-Garde Cuisine as contemporary art, it introduces the reader to a small restaurant just outside of Barcelona by the name of elBulli, which some claim is “one of today’s greatest temples of artistic innovation” (1, Gopnik). In this restaurant is the work of the well-known Ferran Adria, one of the greatest chefs in the world. When asked by one of his critics how good the experience was at elBulli he stated, “I enjoyed it enormously, and it made me vomit.” This is because some of Adria’s dishes consist of fried rabbit ears, embryonic pine nuts, and a Styrofoam box filled with parmesan air. Adria isn’t concerned with the taste per se but rather, he wants his cooking to be like encountering a foreign cuisine.  This brings to light the issue of “contemporary art” and how it plays into the whole role of art as food issue.

Contemporary art is defined as art made and produced by living artists today. However, it has roots going back to the early days of modernism and has gradually evolved throughout the years. There is a specific term that I feel vividly describes Adria’s form of contemporary art, and that’s the species centered view of art. Dissanayake’s species centered view correlates with this perfectly when she states that it, combines modernism’s proclamation that art is of supreme value and a source for heightened personal experience with postmodernisms insistence that it belongs to everyone and is potentially all around us. It does this by thinking of artmaking and experiencing as a human behavior” (Dissanayake, 22).  This is exactly what Adria’s purpose is when making these dishes for his customers. He provides a heightened personal experience with sources of “food” that is all around us in our everyday lives but which may not be instinctively thought of as being used in or part of art. For example, if you were to serve the average person a Styrofoam box filled with parmesan air as mentioned above they would look at you like you were crazy and walk out never to come back. This is what I find so fascinating and which goes back to Dissanayake point of “making something special.” Adria takes these items and provides an outlet for people to experience something that is totally beyond the norm when eating a piece of food. Isn’t that what all art is supposed to do? Provide the viewer with an experience while giving way to a whole new type of world that they may not normally be accustomed to?

Another key point in the article relates with the topic that we currently discussed this week and that is the experience of an “aesthetic reaction.” Now in the article that we read this week Urmson discusses aesthetic reactions only in the positive sense but doesn’t provide insight to a potential negative aesthetic reaction. However, this is where Tefler comes in and provides key insight that accurately describes what Adria is trying to do for his customers. Tefler states that, “an aesthetic reaction need not be a favourable one, and even where it is, pleasure may not be the right characterization of it.” Adria’s goal is not to provide people with tasteful pleasure, but rather to provide them with an aesthetic reaction that they’ve never had before, in some cases this could be the reaction of pure disgust. Now when thought of from afar we would think that an aesthetic reaction could not possibly be one of disgust, but I argue why not, its still using all of our human senses to derive whether the experience that was just had was a pleasurable one or not. Why does it always have to be a favorable one to be considered aesthetic?

Overall, I believe that his article sheds some really interesting light on the issue of whether food can be considered art or not because it could even be argued that the food isn’t really food at all but rather a cultural experience. In retrospect, after reading Teflers article in comparison with Gopnik’s I believe that all food can officially be considered art, and potentially on the flip side, some art could even be considered food. It simply just depends on the type of “aesthetic experience” that was had.

Gopnik, Blake. “Palate vs. Pallete.” Washington Post. The Washington Post, 23 Sept. 2009. Web. 01 Feb. 2014. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/09/22/ST2009092203340.html?sid=ST2009092203340>.

I absolutely believe that art can be a form of food. However, it needs to be brought about in the right circumstance. In last week’s post I discussed how my father sculpted a flag all out of wood in tribute to 9/11. He was able to express himself and his patriotism through this piece that he created. Well I believe that the same goes for my mom as well. As far back as I can remember my mom has been making the absolute best, made from scratch dinner dishes that her mom (my grandmother) taught her to make when she was a little girl. These dishes show my mom’s heritage, her background, and her sense of culture just as my dad was able to do with his carving.

This is why I believe that slow, thoughtfully prepared food is an art form. This is due to the fact that an “aesthetic reaction” is brought about for both parties involved. An aesthetic reaction is referred to by J.O. Urmson as a kind of pleasure brought about to one of our 5 senses and I can honestly say that whenever I eat my mom’s food each one of these senses is overflowing with awesomeness. However, I feel that it’s not these 5 senses that bring about an “aesthetic reaction” for her when she cooks for us. There is another untold sense that brings her joy. One of the quotes by Tefler, I feel explains this extremely well when he says, “some of the most powerful aesthetic reactions involve being impressed by some unexpected or short lived phenomenon – perhaps something too quick to pay attention to” (10).  Well I believe that this short lived phenomenon is the satisfaction that my mom gets for providing food for her children. Every time I ask her if she wants me to make dinner she turns me down and says absolutely not (and by no means do I argue). But this has always intrigued me. So I eventually asked her. I said, “mom why do you enjoy cooking so much”? And her answer really surprised me. She said I don’t really know how to explain it but whenever I cook and provide a meal for everyone I get a feeling of satisfaction and overwhelming accomplishment; like that of completing a project. This is my mom’s “aesthetic reaction”. She doesn’t necessarily get it from the smell and taste of her dishes that she makes (although I can’t see how not) but rather her aesthetic feeling comes from seeing my father, my brother and I clean up the beautiful meal that she prepared for us all.

Overall I believe that I take more of a post-modernist view when it comes to food rather than a modernist. I don’t put myself up in the elite category when I try and make a home cooked meal for my roommates and I don’t believe my mom does either. I agree that some food, especially at expensive restaurants, can be viewed as art due to the degree of the food and elegance of the preparation that the food was prepared with. However, this doesn’t mean that my mom’s food would stack up any differently. Dissanayake stated that art took into account human history, human cultures, and human psychology. On one hand you have the expensive restaurant that could be viewed in the mindset of human psychology, i.e. it looks great and I’m paying a lot for it so it must be art. Then on the other hand you have my mom whose cooking could be viewed as more part of a human culture because her cooking comes from her mother and her grandmother’s heritage. Both I would argue are pieces of art just in two separate categories.

As a westerner, Oregonian and small town child, it’s pretty safe to say that my view of art was somewhat skewed throughout my childhood, as I had no need or appreciation for it until my recent anthropology class. This anthropology class opened my eyes up to the fact that in most other countries, art is a form of self-authenticity. It describes you and gives you purpose. It gives one the ability to express certain feelings and emotions that tell a vivid story. Dissanayake explains it perfectly and correlates everything I’d learned in my anthropology class in her quote about understanding art that says, “In order to include human history, human cultures and human psychology, art must be viewed as an inherent universal trait of the human species, as normal as language, sex, sociability, aggression, or any of the other characteristics” (16).

After reading this article and seeing all the comparisons between my recent class and everything I’ve read thus far, it hurts me that for so long I’ve been blinded as to what art really is. Originally, I would just look at a piece of art and think “yeah that’s cool”, but I wouldn’t truly feel how moving the piece actually was. In my mind, I was under the impression of, as Dissanayake said, “the idea of art for art’s sake, suggesting that art had no purpose but to “be” and to provide opportunities for enjoying an aesthetic experience that was its own reward” (18).

My biggest example I can see throughout my life is simply through the artwork of my dad. Ever since my father was a kid he has been doing carpentry. He started out building organs for churches and slowly progressed his craft from there. He soon realized that this wasn’t going to be a profitable profession so he switched over and is now working in Portland but he still does these projects on the side. Now after 9/11 my father set out on a project to honor all of the people who lost their lives from the civilians in the towers, to the firefighters who rushed in, and to the armed service men who fought trying to bring these men to justice. He built a 5’x5’ flag all out of wood, complete with waves as to give it the effect of it blowing in the wind. Looking back after he finished the project I was amazed at this piece that he had created but it never really hit home until now. This piece that my dad made gave him closure. It gave him a sense of pride to know that he was part of the greatest country on earth. Beforehand I hadn’t seen it, but now every time I look at that flag I see a part of him, his history, his background, his patriotism and his ever dying love for this country. It brings me to tears every time I see his piece now and it kills me to think that I was so blind to this deeper meaning of his artwork.

Dissanayake is spot on in her article. Her species-centered view of art is exactly the way my dad sees everything that he makes, I just never knew it. She explains that, “There is a valid and intrinsic association between what humans have always found to be important, and certain ways, called the arts, they have found to manifest, reinforce, and grasp this importance” (26). My dad has grasped this importance for years now and I’m proud to say that I officially have as well.

Family
Friendship
Integrity
Loyalty
Wealth
Personal Development
Enjoyment
Wisdom
Personal Accomplishment
Community
Security
Service
Independence
Health
Leadership
Prestige
Creativity
Location
Power
Expertness

The first thing that stuck out to me when looking at my top 5 life values in comparison with what I’ve done over the past day was that literally everything that I did, had something to do with the top 5 mentioned. Family and integrity were the two biggest belief patters that I inherited from my family with family being the most important of all. I was taught at a very young age that no matter what happened throughout life good or bad you could always rely on your family for advice or help. For example, this morning I called up my brother a few hours ago to see how everything was going for him and to just talk about things in general. He’s currently stationed in Ft. Benning, Georgia right now as a member of the army so I haven’t been able to see him much. My brother and I have always been very close I try and talk to him at least twice a week. Today, I also went out and had lunch with one of my friends that I haven’t seen in a while. We were roommates freshman year, yet over the past few terms we kind of went our separate ways. It really bugged me that I hadn’t talked to him in a while so I made it a point to see if he wanted to get something to eat and catch up. I value every single one of my friendships which is why its number 3 on my list and I proactively try to keep them all intact whether young or old. This interaction double dips with number 4 on my list as well, this showing loyalty to my friends.

My last two values are wealth and integrity. Over these past 3 and a half years of college my whole mindset was, “ you have to get a good job so you can make more money and be happy”. However, this is the one value now that I can honestly say is no longer valid. Money, although important isn’t everything in life. I was raised in a middle class family and there were times where we didn’t have the money to do certain things yet my parents always found a way to bring me and my brother enjoyment even if it meant giving up that trip to Disneyland due to cost and instead being replaced with a day of fishing. In addition, I would say that this is now one of my current goals in life that I want to continue to pursue. No matter what the money circumstance is I always want to make sure that I find a way to make life enjoyable. This could mean a day on the lake or simply kicking back with friends and watching football. Whatever it is, I want to make sure that I’m bringing enjoyment to myself and my friends around me. Last but not least, is the value of integrity. I try each and every day to hold myself accountable to my conscience and that means sometimes doing things that most other people wouldn’t do in certain situations. For example, yesterday I was at the store and the clerk rang me up for 5 dollars less than it should have been. Most people would have kept quiet and not said a word but that’s not what my conscience told me to do. I pointed out her mistake and she ended up giving me the 5 dollars off anyway because it was her mistake. However, I felt at peace with my conscience knowing I did the right thing. Integrity is trait that you don’t see a lot of anymore and I try and hold myself to the highest standard of that as well.

On page 7 at the very bottom, a question is asked that I had never really thought about before that rather peaked my interest. Lewis asks, “But do values, in the sense of freely chosen values, truly exist? Are human beings instead driven by inherited instincts, instincts that we like to dress up with the term values, so that we can pretend there is a measure of choice in the process, when it is really all programmed into our genes”(Lewis 7)? In response to his own question he states that, “there is a good deal of evidence that human beings are not primarily driven by genetically determined instincts but are rather free to make their own choices” (Lewis 7)

I would like to first agree with this statement as I have found that not all of my family and friends believe in the same things as their parents or grandparents. For example, one of my best friends from high school is a stout conservative who agrees with almost anything and everything that he reads on fox news or hears on conservative radio. His dad however is the complete opposite. His core beliefs lie solely in the democratic party and he is quite liberal on almost every major political issue. Did my friend’s parents beliefs get passed down to him through his genetics? Obviously not because they are on both ends of the spectrum when it comes to politics. However, they are identical in physique, voice tone, and have the exact same mannerisms as one another so obviously their genetic makeup as far as physical appearance goes is pretty much identical. This just goes to show that in terms of our “values” and “beliefs”, not all are always passed down to us from the genetics of our parents or grandparents.

However, on the opposite side I would also concur that about 90% of my friends share the same beliefs and values as their parents. Ultimately giving a valid argument to the latter of what I stated above.

In conclusion, I believe that yes, human beings are free to make their own choices and decide on issues for themselves. But at the same time I also believe that a big part of the issue is the overall personality, influences, and upbringing of the child which play the biggest role in what they believe as adults.

Source: Lewis, H. (1990). A Question of Values: Six Ways We Make the Personal Choices That Shape Our Lives. Axios Press

This blog post is in reference to The Early Lead’s article regarding Lindsey Vonn’s withdrawll from the Olympics.

LIndsey Vonn recently tweeted out the shocking news that she will be withdrawing from the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. After suffering a sprained MCL in last February’s race in D’Isere, France mixed with a torn ACL from continued racing the pain seems have finally gotten to the point of unbearability and would ultimately be too dangerous for her long term knee health to continue on into the Olympics.

As an active skiier and snowboarder my heart goes out to Lindsey as I can only imagine the type of emotional carnage that she is going through. This has been something that she has done her whole life and her body is now starting to fail her. Mountain sports such as these take a serious toll on the body both physically and mentally, especially when doing this type of thing for a living where your health is your life blood and if your health fails you then you can’t make money.

I hope and pray that Lindsey is able to make a full recovery and compete in the 2018 Winter Olympics if she chooses to do so. And as for all of the other USA team members, you’ll be getting 110% of my rooting capabilities during your events.

Go Team USA!