Lau-Tzu Essays - Drinkware, Pitcher, Jug, Ewers,

Lau-Tzu We turn clay to make a vessel; But it is on the space where there is nothing That the utility of the vessel depends. Lao-Tzu 1 When we fill the jug, the pouring that fills it flows into the empty jug. The emptiness, the void, is what does the vessel's holding. The empty space, this nothing of the jug, is what the jug is as the holding vessel. . . . From start to finish the potter takes hold of the impalpable void and brings it forth as the container in the shape of the containing vessel. Martin Heidegger 2 These twenty six ewers by Peter Beasecker are a sustained meditation and inquiry within the medium of their facture on the form of the ewer. This also is a meditation and an inquiry on the form of the ewer, in another medium. The dialectical oppositions engaged by contemporary clay works--craft and art traditions, utilitarian and aesthetic objects, active use and contemplative regard, vessel and sculpture, surface and form, decoration and depth, concept and process--ramify in both the medium of their facture and the medium of this discourse. In both work in clay and in discursive engagement of those works, these terms deeply implicate their opposites. Form is a matter not simply of shape, but of the structure of the ewer as such, the necessary conditions of ewer-ness, a particular case of the vessel-form. The vessel-form, as Heidegger notes, can be as quotidian as a jug for holding something: The jug is a thing as a vessel--it can hold something. To be sure, this container has to be made. But its being made by the potter in no way constitutes what is peculiar and proper to the jug insofar as it is qua jug. The jug is not a vessel because it was made; rather, the jug had to be made because it is this holding vessel. 3 The jug is, and is thus a thing. The holdingness of the jug is its whatness, constituting the jug as a vessel. The particularities of its vesselness constitute the vessel as a ewer, and indeed as this ewer, with these characteristics. Juxtaposing several things together is to invite their comparison. Beasecker's ewers arrayed on shelves manifest their similarities and differences, eliciting comparison. Each of these ewers is a token within the type 'ewer'. The type is the universal, the class of things; the token is the particular instance, a member of the class. 4 Members of the class 'ewer' notwithstanding, each of these works is an individual, in a sense analogous to the application of the term to persons. The indiviudality of these pieces extends beyond the status of all artworks as quasi subjects:5 it is manifested by the inflections of form, evoking resonance with the gesture of the body. Variations within a type, these works are also variations from the type 'ewer' and variations on the type 'vessel'. Consequently, this essay is of necessity an exercise in interpreting the variorum. 6 The traditional type ewer is a wide-mouthed pitcher or jug, typically with a narrow neck, more or less bulbous body tapering and then swelling intto a relatively wide flairing foot. As the derivation of ewer from aquaria suggests, the ewer is traditionally a vessel for bring and pouring water for hand washing. 7 The general form of the ewer is similar to the classical Greek oinochoe, wine jug. Beasecker's interpretations of the ewer-form maintain the neck of the ewer, which in Beasecker's pieces assumes the function of an absent handle. Beasecker's pieces exchange the wide mouth, extended into a lip for pouring, of the traditional ewer-type for a thin, attenuated spout, emerging not as a modification of the mouth opening from a neck but rather extending directly from the body of the vessel. Freed of the necessity of pouring, the mouth can assume any of several shapes, suitable for filling the vessel; relative to the spout, the mouth is proportionately large. The result of this seperation and concomittant specialization of function is a vessel quicker to fill than to empty. This potential for relative ease of filling in comparison to slowness of pouring out emphasizes the function of the vessel as container, holder of liquid. To receive, to hold, and to pour out slowly is to concentrate attention on these functions. That which performs these several functions is a thing, a type of thing termed vessel. But any number of variations,

Free Essays on Senior Citizens

Senior Citizen Driving 1. One day, not long ago...I came out of my house to leave for work. On the way to my car I noticed the little old lady across the street walking to here car with what appeared to be a phone book. To my surprise she laid the phone book down onto the seat and proceeded to climb in...I then decided to watch this rare occasion, since she only drives once a month or so. Well after a few minutes, she finally got her giant Cadillac started and began to back out of her drive way. She was backing up with one wheel one the drive way and one on the grass.... I felt this was a little humorous, and decided to watch her drive down the street. She cruised down the street at a top speed of 5 mph! After watching this I decided to go back into my house for a few more minutes just to be sure she was out of the area. The old people driving today pose a definite threat to everyone else’s safety. I recommend that we impose regulations that work to cease allowing old people to drive after they are unable to think for themselves. 2. Body Concern, particularly among "younger" drivers, about the number of "older" drivers on the roads and their driving abilities is already growing. Statistics, when calculated based on all people injured or killed in traffic crashes, may indicate that older drivers are at a disproportionate risk for becoming involved in fatal crashes. For example nationally, in 1995 senior citizens accounted for:  · 5% of all people injured in traffic crashes;  · 13% of all traffic fatalities;  · 13% of all vehicle occupant fatalities; and  · 18% of all pedestrian fatalities. Statistics show that in two-vehicle fatal crashes involving an older and a younger driver, it is 3.1 times as likely that the vehicle driven by the older person will be struck. In 27% of these two-vehicle fatal crashes the older driver was turning left. A. According to the Highway Traffic Safety Commission, Collision rates for ... Free Essays on Senior Citizens Free Essays on Senior Citizens Senior Citizen Driving 1. One day, not long ago...I came out of my house to leave for work. On the way to my car I noticed the little old lady across the street walking to here car with what appeared to be a phone book. To my surprise she laid the phone book down onto the seat and proceeded to climb in...I then decided to watch this rare occasion, since she only drives once a month or so. Well after a few minutes, she finally got her giant Cadillac started and began to back out of her drive way. She was backing up with one wheel one the drive way and one on the grass.... I felt this was a little humorous, and decided to watch her drive down the street. She cruised down the street at a top speed of 5 mph! After watching this I decided to go back into my house for a few more minutes just to be sure she was out of the area. The old people driving today pose a definite threat to everyone else’s safety. I recommend that we impose regulations that work to cease allowing old people to drive after they are unable to think for themselves. 2. Body Concern, particularly among "younger" drivers, about the number of "older" drivers on the roads and their driving abilities is already growing. Statistics, when calculated based on all people injured or killed in traffic crashes, may indicate that older drivers are at a disproportionate risk for becoming involved in fatal crashes. For example nationally, in 1995 senior citizens accounted for:  · 5% of all people injured in traffic crashes;  · 13% of all traffic fatalities;  · 13% of all vehicle occupant fatalities; and  · 18% of all pedestrian fatalities. Statistics show that in two-vehicle fatal crashes involving an older and a younger driver, it is 3.1 times as likely that the vehicle driven by the older person will be struck. In 27% of these two-vehicle fatal crashes the older driver was turning left. A. According to the Highway Traffic Safety Commission, Collision rates for ...

Advertising Appeals to Our Imperfect Lives & to Our desire to satisfy Essay

Advertising Appeals to Our Imperfect Lives & to Our desire to satisfy ourselves - Essay Example The belief that people hold, that their decisions cannot be affected by the media and the advertisements, makes media very strong because when a person purchases a product they are convinced that they really need it. However, in most instances, this is not true. The average individual in the American society sees very many adverts per day. These adverts are available in almost all corners of life ranging from home where most part of the television is advertisements to the office where an individual doing research on the Internet is exposed to many more adverts in this media that has become more pronounced in the contemporary world. The ads that are directed towards the female population range from beauty, fashion, and diets. The companies undertaking the advertising usually do enough market research to know which side of the society can be exploited to the advantage of increased sales volume and market share for these businesses. The adverts are projected towards ensuring that the cu stomers would be pleased to the point of thinking that their lives would become perfect if they purchased certain goods. If the media does not find a need to exploit, they can create some to make people think that they need the product being advocated for. Creation of an area to exploit makes people think that they have a problem or even make them doubt themselves. This would definitely prompt people to try the product to see whether the perceived problem would be eliminated. This is during the quest to make lives perfect, which according to people, can be achieved through elimination of the problems that cause the imperfection. The need to create doubts in people is usually the result of intense competition that has been taking place in the modern world between the main players in the business sector. However, during most instances, the ads are designed to exploit the existing needs that people cannot live without. For instance, most magazines intended for the male population have