An interesting article about a design firm in Paris whose tagline is 'Give Yourself the Worst'.
It all sounds very deliberately nasty, and by their own admission - it is. Something caught me during the interview, where the designer, Jean-Emmanuel "Valnoir" Simoulin, mentioned one of his underlying strategies for catching attention. When the interviewer puts forth the idea that Valnoir uses quite a lot of humour in his work, the artist replies:
"...what used to be called "second degree" in French. Something that Americans absolutely can't grasp. It's like pretending to take yourself exaggeratingly seriously, but deep down you are laughing out loud because it's a huge joke, which makes everyone uncomfortable."
I'll have to think on it some more, but that idea is interesting in the extreme.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
The nuanced world of homework, or Homework vs No Homework
Theres a funny thing about teachers and professors - they're people too.
I don't mean to be facetious, but it often strikes me that people in authority (whether police, politicians, teachers, etc) are often dehumanised through their roles or functions, and that their audience (for want of a better word) stops seeing them as complex creatures and either reduces them to universal automaton status, or rejects them outright for their authority.
I tend to see my school-work in a professional sense, and that my professors are coworkers (albeit much more experienced senior ones) working with me toward a common goal. With that in mind I try to do my best in everything, which is conducive to my own personal happiness. Internalising your goals that way has a curious advantage in your subsequent never being able to fail, unless you're lazy or disorganised - often the same thing.
A good friend of mine, known to take almost nothing seriously, said to me once that if you can do enough good work for your professors early in the semester, that your 'good grace' cup will overfloweth for the rest. He also said that paradoxically, if you barely do anything and only occasionally show up to class (essentially show that you think the class is unimportant), the professor will try to assert the importance of their class and what they have to say - not by punishing, but by hanging on each piece of work you hand up in the hope of a redemption.
Neither of these attitudes are my style, and I think its highly dependent on the person (and could result in a fat Fail and a shrug from some teachers) though it illustrates someone who understands the fact that these are people, capable of being played like any other flesh and blood instrument. Needless to say, my friend (who, just to clarify, is not me) is also very adept with ladies. And guys now that I think of it, though in a much more unwanted way.
I don't mean to be facetious, but it often strikes me that people in authority (whether police, politicians, teachers, etc) are often dehumanised through their roles or functions, and that their audience (for want of a better word) stops seeing them as complex creatures and either reduces them to universal automaton status, or rejects them outright for their authority.
I tend to see my school-work in a professional sense, and that my professors are coworkers (albeit much more experienced senior ones) working with me toward a common goal. With that in mind I try to do my best in everything, which is conducive to my own personal happiness. Internalising your goals that way has a curious advantage in your subsequent never being able to fail, unless you're lazy or disorganised - often the same thing.
A good friend of mine, known to take almost nothing seriously, said to me once that if you can do enough good work for your professors early in the semester, that your 'good grace' cup will overfloweth for the rest. He also said that paradoxically, if you barely do anything and only occasionally show up to class (essentially show that you think the class is unimportant), the professor will try to assert the importance of their class and what they have to say - not by punishing, but by hanging on each piece of work you hand up in the hope of a redemption.
Neither of these attitudes are my style, and I think its highly dependent on the person (and could result in a fat Fail and a shrug from some teachers) though it illustrates someone who understands the fact that these are people, capable of being played like any other flesh and blood instrument. Needless to say, my friend (who, just to clarify, is not me) is also very adept with ladies. And guys now that I think of it, though in a much more unwanted way.
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