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Leonardo Earthworks: Visual Artists for the Earth Group Author(s): Allison Butler Source: Leonardo, Vol. 20, No. 2, Special Issue: Visual Art, Sound, Music and Technology (1987), pp. 205-206 Published by: The MIT Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1578353 . Accessed: 12/06/2014 13:37 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . The MIT Press and Leonardo are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Leonardo. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 62.122.78.43 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 13:37:39 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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Leonardo

Earthworks: Visual Artists for the Earth GroupAuthor(s): Allison ButlerSource: Leonardo, Vol. 20, No. 2, Special Issue: Visual Art, Sound, Music and Technology (1987),pp. 205-206Published by: The MIT PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1578353 .

Accessed: 12/06/2014 13:37

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

The MIT Press and Leonardo are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access toLeonardo.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 62.122.78.43 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 13:37:39 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Commentaries Commentaries Commentaries

Readers' comments offering substantial theoretical and practical contributions to issues that have been raised in Leonardo are welcomed. The Editors reserve the right to shorten letters. Letters should be written in

English and sent to the Main Editorial Office.

Readers' comments offering substantial theoretical and practical contributions to issues that have been raised in Leonardo are welcomed. The Editors reserve the right to shorten letters. Letters should be written in

English and sent to the Main Editorial Office.

Readers' comments offering substantial theoretical and practical contributions to issues that have been raised in Leonardo are welcomed. The Editors reserve the right to shorten letters. Letters should be written in

English and sent to the Main Editorial Office.

COMMENTS ON "VISUAL MUSIC: THE SEARCH FOR AN AESTHETIC"

In the last quarter century my work has been exclusively with digital concepts, which my book Digital Harmony-On the Complementarity of Music and Visual Art attempts to outline. I think it is misleading that Tom DeWitt (Leonardo 20, No. 2, 1986) attributes to me the following: "Whitney describes his simple and effective algorithms for producing a pleasing time- variant image by modulating spirals."

In fact I believe we can introduce concepts of harmony into the world of visual aesthetics only because we have at last at our disposal the fast digital computer. Further, by far the greatest potential for musical structures derives from the dynamic physics of acoustic harmony which has sustained musical cultures around the world, not merely since pre-history but probably since before the dawn of universal language skills. Computers, once and for all time, have doubled harmony's historic aesthetic domain.

Music engages us and focuses our attention upon its dynamic patterns of time. Ranging from consonance to dissonance, the domain of harmony allows us to modulate time through dissonant tensions which can be resolved to cadential repose (in time). Differential digital graphics allow similar modulations in a domain that stretches across visual range from order to disorder. Digital harmony will introduce a new breed of artist/composer who will give active aesthetic shape to time through patterned interference which can be resolved (in time) with its own cadences. Color too will be modulated and resolved in many ways that stem from the computer's active control of the pixel point field in digital gray-scale steps of red, green and blue.

The purpose of my book was to define, as I understood them, some principles of harmony as they applied to graphic manipulations of dynamic, differential motion-pattern by computer. Whether my efforts constituted a final valid grammar seemed irrelevant. The purpose

COMMENTS ON "VISUAL MUSIC: THE SEARCH FOR AN AESTHETIC"

In the last quarter century my work has been exclusively with digital concepts, which my book Digital Harmony-On the Complementarity of Music and Visual Art attempts to outline. I think it is misleading that Tom DeWitt (Leonardo 20, No. 2, 1986) attributes to me the following: "Whitney describes his simple and effective algorithms for producing a pleasing time- variant image by modulating spirals."

In fact I believe we can introduce concepts of harmony into the world of visual aesthetics only because we have at last at our disposal the fast digital computer. Further, by far the greatest potential for musical structures derives from the dynamic physics of acoustic harmony which has sustained musical cultures around the world, not merely since pre-history but probably since before the dawn of universal language skills. Computers, once and for all time, have doubled harmony's historic aesthetic domain.

Music engages us and focuses our attention upon its dynamic patterns of time. Ranging from consonance to dissonance, the domain of harmony allows us to modulate time through dissonant tensions which can be resolved to cadential repose (in time). Differential digital graphics allow similar modulations in a domain that stretches across visual range from order to disorder. Digital harmony will introduce a new breed of artist/composer who will give active aesthetic shape to time through patterned interference which can be resolved (in time) with its own cadences. Color too will be modulated and resolved in many ways that stem from the computer's active control of the pixel point field in digital gray-scale steps of red, green and blue.

The purpose of my book was to define, as I understood them, some principles of harmony as they applied to graphic manipulations of dynamic, differential motion-pattern by computer. Whether my efforts constituted a final valid grammar seemed irrelevant. The purpose

COMMENTS ON "VISUAL MUSIC: THE SEARCH FOR AN AESTHETIC"

In the last quarter century my work has been exclusively with digital concepts, which my book Digital Harmony-On the Complementarity of Music and Visual Art attempts to outline. I think it is misleading that Tom DeWitt (Leonardo 20, No. 2, 1986) attributes to me the following: "Whitney describes his simple and effective algorithms for producing a pleasing time- variant image by modulating spirals."

In fact I believe we can introduce concepts of harmony into the world of visual aesthetics only because we have at last at our disposal the fast digital computer. Further, by far the greatest potential for musical structures derives from the dynamic physics of acoustic harmony which has sustained musical cultures around the world, not merely since pre-history but probably since before the dawn of universal language skills. Computers, once and for all time, have doubled harmony's historic aesthetic domain.

Music engages us and focuses our attention upon its dynamic patterns of time. Ranging from consonance to dissonance, the domain of harmony allows us to modulate time through dissonant tensions which can be resolved to cadential repose (in time). Differential digital graphics allow similar modulations in a domain that stretches across visual range from order to disorder. Digital harmony will introduce a new breed of artist/composer who will give active aesthetic shape to time through patterned interference which can be resolved (in time) with its own cadences. Color too will be modulated and resolved in many ways that stem from the computer's active control of the pixel point field in digital gray-scale steps of red, green and blue.

The purpose of my book was to define, as I understood them, some principles of harmony as they applied to graphic manipulations of dynamic, differential motion-pattern by computer. Whether my efforts constituted a final valid grammar seemed irrelevant. The purpose

was to document my own approach and to propose the seminal idea of making an approach to establish this lively new visual art and I urged others to join in.

I am happy that a colleague has taken up what was meant to be an intellectual challenge to enter into a dialog to examine the harmonic potentials that I had found in computer graphics. Tom DeWitt's considerable efforts in this direction are to be commended.

John Whitney 12018 Herradura

Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 U.S.A.

COMMENTS ON "SOUND SCULPTURE: ART, MUSIC,

EDUCATION AND RECREATION"

As an unwavering admirer of the Baschet brothers' work (Leonardo 20, Vol. 2, 1987) and thus likely to be blind to its faults, I can still perhaps be of some service by attempting briefly to put their work in a broad context.

It is remarkable how narrowly we humans tend to think of the sounding arts. In a world full of sound, a world potentially full of music, it would seem a natural thing to try to explore with open minds and imaginations the endless possibilities for producing colorful and divergent aural events; for devising new and various acoustical systems which might be harnessed for musical purposes, or, in a broader sense, enhance our general sound environment. Nowadays a modest number of artists and musicians are doing this. In the early 1950s, when Bernard and Francois Baschet began their acoustic explorations, very few were.

Two other builders who did create some extraordinary non-standard instru- ments earlier in this century come to mind, and the comparison to the Baschets may be interesting. The first was Luigi Russolo (1885- 1947), the Italian Futurist who sought to develop a music based in every day sounds rather than the convential approach to pitches and durations. To this end he built a number

was to document my own approach and to propose the seminal idea of making an approach to establish this lively new visual art and I urged others to join in.

I am happy that a colleague has taken up what was meant to be an intellectual challenge to enter into a dialog to examine the harmonic potentials that I had found in computer graphics. Tom DeWitt's considerable efforts in this direction are to be commended.

John Whitney 12018 Herradura

Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 U.S.A.

COMMENTS ON "SOUND SCULPTURE: ART, MUSIC,

EDUCATION AND RECREATION"

As an unwavering admirer of the Baschet brothers' work (Leonardo 20, Vol. 2, 1987) and thus likely to be blind to its faults, I can still perhaps be of some service by attempting briefly to put their work in a broad context.

It is remarkable how narrowly we humans tend to think of the sounding arts. In a world full of sound, a world potentially full of music, it would seem a natural thing to try to explore with open minds and imaginations the endless possibilities for producing colorful and divergent aural events; for devising new and various acoustical systems which might be harnessed for musical purposes, or, in a broader sense, enhance our general sound environment. Nowadays a modest number of artists and musicians are doing this. In the early 1950s, when Bernard and Francois Baschet began their acoustic explorations, very few were.

Two other builders who did create some extraordinary non-standard instru- ments earlier in this century come to mind, and the comparison to the Baschets may be interesting. The first was Luigi Russolo (1885- 1947), the Italian Futurist who sought to develop a music based in every day sounds rather than the convential approach to pitches and durations. To this end he built a number

was to document my own approach and to propose the seminal idea of making an approach to establish this lively new visual art and I urged others to join in.

I am happy that a colleague has taken up what was meant to be an intellectual challenge to enter into a dialog to examine the harmonic potentials that I had found in computer graphics. Tom DeWitt's considerable efforts in this direction are to be commended.

John Whitney 12018 Herradura

Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 U.S.A.

COMMENTS ON "SOUND SCULPTURE: ART, MUSIC,

EDUCATION AND RECREATION"

As an unwavering admirer of the Baschet brothers' work (Leonardo 20, Vol. 2, 1987) and thus likely to be blind to its faults, I can still perhaps be of some service by attempting briefly to put their work in a broad context.

It is remarkable how narrowly we humans tend to think of the sounding arts. In a world full of sound, a world potentially full of music, it would seem a natural thing to try to explore with open minds and imaginations the endless possibilities for producing colorful and divergent aural events; for devising new and various acoustical systems which might be harnessed for musical purposes, or, in a broader sense, enhance our general sound environment. Nowadays a modest number of artists and musicians are doing this. In the early 1950s, when Bernard and Francois Baschet began their acoustic explorations, very few were.

Two other builders who did create some extraordinary non-standard instru- ments earlier in this century come to mind, and the comparison to the Baschets may be interesting. The first was Luigi Russolo (1885- 1947), the Italian Futurist who sought to develop a music based in every day sounds rather than the convential approach to pitches and durations. To this end he built a number

of sounding devices which he called Intonarumuri. The other early builder was the American Harry Partch (1901-1976), who railed against the ascendancy of the twelve-tone equally tempered scale and designed instruments to produce a just scale which fit his own music theory. What is noteworthy about these two, in contrast to the Brothers Baschet, is that in devising new sound sources they were acting in the service of (if the term can be freed of prejudicial connotations) dogma. While the Baschets do like to theorize, speculate, tell instructive anecdotes and the like, there isn't much that could be called dogma in their work or writings, unless it be simply a love of life. They think and talk a lot about the visual effect of their structures, their educational value and the social interactive dynamics that arise in playing them, but one cannot help feeling that what the Baschets are really doing is creating sound for sound's own sake-an exploration, first and foremost, of acoustic possibilities.

In doing so they have come up with some wonderfully original and inspiring acoustic systems. While the "Sound Sculptures" article emphasizes sound resonators, some of the combinations of vibrating elements, energizing agents and modulating devices (to use the Baschets' terms) are equally intriguing. For the sake of the readers it is only unfortunate that the Baschets cannot put the sounds of the instruments into the words of the article.

Bart Hopkin Experimental Musical Instruments

P. O. Box 784 Nicasio, CA 94946

U.S.A.

EARTHWORKS-VISUAL ARTISTS FOR THE EARTH GROUP

In recent years, like thousands of others, I have become increasingly concerned about environmental issues, both nationally and internationally. For a long while I felt paralysed with fear and frustration. Nothing in our past has equipped us

of sounding devices which he called Intonarumuri. The other early builder was the American Harry Partch (1901-1976), who railed against the ascendancy of the twelve-tone equally tempered scale and designed instruments to produce a just scale which fit his own music theory. What is noteworthy about these two, in contrast to the Brothers Baschet, is that in devising new sound sources they were acting in the service of (if the term can be freed of prejudicial connotations) dogma. While the Baschets do like to theorize, speculate, tell instructive anecdotes and the like, there isn't much that could be called dogma in their work or writings, unless it be simply a love of life. They think and talk a lot about the visual effect of their structures, their educational value and the social interactive dynamics that arise in playing them, but one cannot help feeling that what the Baschets are really doing is creating sound for sound's own sake-an exploration, first and foremost, of acoustic possibilities.

In doing so they have come up with some wonderfully original and inspiring acoustic systems. While the "Sound Sculptures" article emphasizes sound resonators, some of the combinations of vibrating elements, energizing agents and modulating devices (to use the Baschets' terms) are equally intriguing. For the sake of the readers it is only unfortunate that the Baschets cannot put the sounds of the instruments into the words of the article.

Bart Hopkin Experimental Musical Instruments

P. O. Box 784 Nicasio, CA 94946

U.S.A.

EARTHWORKS-VISUAL ARTISTS FOR THE EARTH GROUP

In recent years, like thousands of others, I have become increasingly concerned about environmental issues, both nationally and internationally. For a long while I felt paralysed with fear and frustration. Nothing in our past has equipped us

of sounding devices which he called Intonarumuri. The other early builder was the American Harry Partch (1901-1976), who railed against the ascendancy of the twelve-tone equally tempered scale and designed instruments to produce a just scale which fit his own music theory. What is noteworthy about these two, in contrast to the Brothers Baschet, is that in devising new sound sources they were acting in the service of (if the term can be freed of prejudicial connotations) dogma. While the Baschets do like to theorize, speculate, tell instructive anecdotes and the like, there isn't much that could be called dogma in their work or writings, unless it be simply a love of life. They think and talk a lot about the visual effect of their structures, their educational value and the social interactive dynamics that arise in playing them, but one cannot help feeling that what the Baschets are really doing is creating sound for sound's own sake-an exploration, first and foremost, of acoustic possibilities.

In doing so they have come up with some wonderfully original and inspiring acoustic systems. While the "Sound Sculptures" article emphasizes sound resonators, some of the combinations of vibrating elements, energizing agents and modulating devices (to use the Baschets' terms) are equally intriguing. For the sake of the readers it is only unfortunate that the Baschets cannot put the sounds of the instruments into the words of the article.

Bart Hopkin Experimental Musical Instruments

P. O. Box 784 Nicasio, CA 94946

U.S.A.

EARTHWORKS-VISUAL ARTISTS FOR THE EARTH GROUP

In recent years, like thousands of others, I have become increasingly concerned about environmental issues, both nationally and internationally. For a long while I felt paralysed with fear and frustration. Nothing in our past has equipped us

Pergamon Journals Ltd. Printed in Great Britain. 0024-094X/87 $3.00+0.00

Pergamon Journals Ltd. Printed in Great Britain. 0024-094X/87 $3.00+0.00

Pergamon Journals Ltd. Printed in Great Britain. 0024-094X/87 $3.00+0.00

LEONARDO, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 205-212,1987 LEONARDO, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 205-212,1987 LEONARDO, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 205-212,1987

This content downloaded from 62.122.78.43 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 13:37:39 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

personally or politically to deal with the scale of environmental degradation and crisis that now exists globally.

Some recent reports concerning the earth:

The minimum estimate on the de- struction of tropical moist forests is quoted at six million hectares a year. Earthlife magazine quotes it at 100 acres a minute.

At least one species of plant, animal or insect life becomes extinct every day.

Many areas of the third world are reaching what has been described as 'environmental bankruptcy'.

In the destruction of forests around the world, remaining nutrients in the topsoil of these areas quickly wash away. Earthlife quotes that in India 'Six billion tonnes of topsoil are washed downstream every year.'

Earthscan reports that one fifth of humanity is classified as 'the absolute poor'-'Their circumstances compel them to destroy the very resources upon which they depend'.

Forest dwellers, indigenous to forests around the world are the immediate casualities in forest clearance-many, like Amazon Indians, suffer appalling atrocities from those who destroy their homes and land.

There seems little political will to grasp the enormity of the crisis; governments around the world, of all political persuasions tend to look only to their own short-term political and military ends.

There are many more facts, points or statistics that could be quoted-and it seems that even these few points, randomly selected, and quoted here, are enough to bewilder us-but we need not feel bewildered or frustrated. As individuals we can inform ourselves of the issues involved. We can decide to support initiatives that are already underway. I would like to suggest that there is something specific that we, as artists, can do.

After some discussion with fellow artists, I am anxious to start a nationwide artists for the earth group called Earthworks (provisional title).

The initial aims of the group would be: * to promote visual art as a viable way

of raising public consciousness about environmental issues

* to promote the causes of existing environmental pressure groups by

personally or politically to deal with the scale of environmental degradation and crisis that now exists globally.

Some recent reports concerning the earth:

The minimum estimate on the de- struction of tropical moist forests is quoted at six million hectares a year. Earthlife magazine quotes it at 100 acres a minute.

At least one species of plant, animal or insect life becomes extinct every day.

Many areas of the third world are reaching what has been described as 'environmental bankruptcy'.

In the destruction of forests around the world, remaining nutrients in the topsoil of these areas quickly wash away. Earthlife quotes that in India 'Six billion tonnes of topsoil are washed downstream every year.'

Earthscan reports that one fifth of humanity is classified as 'the absolute poor'-'Their circumstances compel them to destroy the very resources upon which they depend'.

Forest dwellers, indigenous to forests around the world are the immediate casualities in forest clearance-many, like Amazon Indians, suffer appalling atrocities from those who destroy their homes and land.

There seems little political will to grasp the enormity of the crisis; governments around the world, of all political persuasions tend to look only to their own short-term political and military ends.

There are many more facts, points or statistics that could be quoted-and it seems that even these few points, randomly selected, and quoted here, are enough to bewilder us-but we need not feel bewildered or frustrated. As individuals we can inform ourselves of the issues involved. We can decide to support initiatives that are already underway. I would like to suggest that there is something specific that we, as artists, can do.

After some discussion with fellow artists, I am anxious to start a nationwide artists for the earth group called Earthworks (provisional title).

The initial aims of the group would be: * to promote visual art as a viable way

of raising public consciousness about environmental issues

* to promote the causes of existing environmental pressure groups by the exhibition and selling of works (plus cards and posters, etc.); to run workshops and try to organise residencies in support of their aims and causes

* to raise artists' awareness of environ-

the exhibition and selling of works (plus cards and posters, etc.); to run workshops and try to organise residencies in support of their aims and causes

* to raise artists' awareness of environ-

mental issues, perhaps by circulating visual, written and statistical infor- mation on current environmental issues to artists, for dissemination into their work

* by doing so, to promote a demon- strable public platform through exhibition, workshop or residencies in galleries, schools, community centres etc., for artists to make a direct contribution to those causes they feel most strongly about.

* To do this Earthworks wishes to create over the next eighteen months to two years a list of individuals or existing artists-environmental groups, interested, able and willing to work for environmental groups and causes

* to create a quarterly newsletter for artists about environmental issues

* to arrange and promote an exhibition for artists working for these causes

* to begin to create a nucleus library on all aspects of environmental issues to be used by artists as a reference source on national and international issues or projects.

Allison Butler Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art

9 Cherwell Street Oxford OX4 1BG U.K.

COMMENTS ON "THE EXPERIENCE OF KNOWING:

SPECIAL CLASSES IN ART AND SCIENCE"

My colleague, Nik Warren, argues commendably for "the complementarity of science and art courses" in his article (Leonardo 19, 230-236, 1986). He uses an earlier article by David Saxon (Leonardo 16, 316-319, 1983), as well as resources for his courses based on Capra's The Tao of Physics and on the works of Newton and Goethe, to defend what he considers a major concern in education: "how to integrate an understanding of science and technology into the fabric of a liberal arts education". It is to that concern that I wish to address my remarks.

Warren considers the educational concern as, in Saxon's words, defined by the need for students "to distinguish between sense and nonsense when it comes to science". But neither author addresses the question of the definition of science ... or of art either. Yet the belief that 'science' and 'art' are discrete areas

mental issues, perhaps by circulating visual, written and statistical infor- mation on current environmental issues to artists, for dissemination into their work

* by doing so, to promote a demon- strable public platform through exhibition, workshop or residencies in galleries, schools, community centres etc., for artists to make a direct contribution to those causes they feel most strongly about.

* To do this Earthworks wishes to create over the next eighteen months to two years a list of individuals or existing artists-environmental groups, interested, able and willing to work for environmental groups and causes

* to create a quarterly newsletter for artists about environmental issues

* to arrange and promote an exhibition for artists working for these causes

* to begin to create a nucleus library on all aspects of environmental issues to be used by artists as a reference source on national and international issues or projects.

Allison Butler Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art

9 Cherwell Street Oxford OX4 1BG U.K.

COMMENTS ON "THE EXPERIENCE OF KNOWING:

SPECIAL CLASSES IN ART AND SCIENCE"

My colleague, Nik Warren, argues commendably for "the complementarity of science and art courses" in his article (Leonardo 19, 230-236, 1986). He uses an earlier article by David Saxon (Leonardo 16, 316-319, 1983), as well as resources for his courses based on Capra's The Tao of Physics and on the works of Newton and Goethe, to defend what he considers a major concern in education: "how to integrate an understanding of science and technology into the fabric of a liberal arts education". It is to that concern that I wish to address my remarks.

Warren considers the educational concern as, in Saxon's words, defined by the need for students "to distinguish between sense and nonsense when it comes to science". But neither author addresses the question of the definition of science ... or of art either. Yet the belief that 'science' and 'art' are discrete areas of knowledge is, on the one hand, at the heart of Warren's concern, and on the other, the underpinning of our whole educational enterprise. Post-secondary educational institutions go to extreme

of knowledge is, on the one hand, at the heart of Warren's concern, and on the other, the underpinning of our whole educational enterprise. Post-secondary educational institutions go to extreme

lengths to create Schools of Engineering, Sociology, etc.

Degrees are defined for specific disciplines. Even when an effort toward integration is permitted, as in a School of Education, disdain is leveled at its 'non- disciplinary' nature. As a Professor of Education, I was academically invisible to my colleagues from the Mathematics or Anthropology departments.

But we need go no further than an elementary school teacher's lesson-plan book to know that 'integration' is limited to forced busing. Reading period is different from Arithmetic, despite the fact that Mathematics is a language used to describe and predict natural pheno- mena. The Social Studies (History) period is different from the Language Arts period despite the fact that our cultural context cannot be described except through the medium of language. Because no attention is paid to this aspect of the concern, I conclude that the author is more interested in avoiding such issues than in confronting them in the process of suggesting a viable substitute (which is beautifully developed in this article).

At a time when computer technology is driving us backward toward a deterministic science through the exploitation of Artificial Intelligence (see Roszak's The Information Cult, Pantheon Books, 1986), we need a bold 'de-schooling' attitude put forth by those who can not only articulate the problems but offer viable economic solutions to them. We have had one experience in the 'de-schooling' genre, that of the Open Education movement of the 1960s, but we failed then to concretize the rationale for why feeling good about learning was more valuable than feeling good about pacifying the authority figure of the teacher/professor by regurgitating transmuted information. Consequently, the best of that era is gone, and what is left, if anything, is frustration over knowing that we are headed toward a renaissance and we are not prepared for it nor do we have leadership ready to champion it.

Warren's presentation of his course syllabi is mainly a residual of that past, in the form of a utopian concept of universal and personal knowledge. That is an excellent place to begin. We now need a 'model' which is political and economic as much as it is educational: a model which defines the 'payoffs' for the established schooling enterprise when encouraged to shift learners to inter-

lengths to create Schools of Engineering, Sociology, etc.

Degrees are defined for specific disciplines. Even when an effort toward integration is permitted, as in a School of Education, disdain is leveled at its 'non- disciplinary' nature. As a Professor of Education, I was academically invisible to my colleagues from the Mathematics or Anthropology departments.

But we need go no further than an elementary school teacher's lesson-plan book to know that 'integration' is limited to forced busing. Reading period is different from Arithmetic, despite the fact that Mathematics is a language used to describe and predict natural pheno- mena. The Social Studies (History) period is different from the Language Arts period despite the fact that our cultural context cannot be described except through the medium of language. Because no attention is paid to this aspect of the concern, I conclude that the author is more interested in avoiding such issues than in confronting them in the process of suggesting a viable substitute (which is beautifully developed in this article).

At a time when computer technology is driving us backward toward a deterministic science through the exploitation of Artificial Intelligence (see Roszak's The Information Cult, Pantheon Books, 1986), we need a bold 'de-schooling' attitude put forth by those who can not only articulate the problems but offer viable economic solutions to them. We have had one experience in the 'de-schooling' genre, that of the Open Education movement of the 1960s, but we failed then to concretize the rationale for why feeling good about learning was more valuable than feeling good about pacifying the authority figure of the teacher/professor by regurgitating transmuted information. Consequently, the best of that era is gone, and what is left, if anything, is frustration over knowing that we are headed toward a renaissance and we are not prepared for it nor do we have leadership ready to champion it.

Warren's presentation of his course syllabi is mainly a residual of that past, in the form of a utopian concept of universal and personal knowledge. That is an excellent place to begin. We now need a 'model' which is political and economic as much as it is educational: a model which defines the 'payoffs' for the established schooling enterprise when encouraged to shift learners to inter- dependence (see Dohemann, The Alchemy of Intelligence, Metamorphous Press, Lake Oswego, Oregon, 1984) and away from dependency, to synthesis and away from conformity, to empowerment and

dependence (see Dohemann, The Alchemy of Intelligence, Metamorphous Press, Lake Oswego, Oregon, 1984) and away from dependency, to synthesis and away from conformity, to empowerment and

206 206 Commentaries Commentaries

This content downloaded from 62.122.78.43 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 13:37:39 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions