Toronto, Ontario
The Power Plant Gallery: Color in mostly black ink drawing by Abdelkader Benchamma (2023) Trees – Comastesque (where Comastesque is a style of geometric decorative inlay stonework in church floors and walls of Medieval Italy). Part of the major solo exhibition Solastalgia: Archaeologies of Loss (where Solastalgia is distress in a lived experience of negatively perceived environmental change, compared to eco-anxiety that is anticipatory). Abstractions of a fragmented landscape becoming an interwoven topography. (The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Harbourfront, Queen Quay West, Toronto, Ontario) 20231104
Power Plant Gallery: One of two east galleries for solo show of Abdelkader Benchamma (2023) Solastalgia: Archaeologies of Loss (where Solastalgia is distress in a lived experience of negatively perceived environmental change, compared to eco-anxiety that is anticipatory). Pan of (i) Engramme, 2020, (ii) untitled ink drawings on wall (2023), (iii) Engramme – Souterrain, 2023, (iv) more untitled drawings on wall (2023, and (v) two. Untitled (2023) framed works. (The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Harbourfront, Queen Quay West, Toronto, Ontario) 20231104
Riverside neighbourhood: New natural gas furnace and heat pump installed, 4 days after technician found a cracked block on the old one. Attached red tag mean fuel shutoff for 4 days, cool inside as outside temperature dipped to freezing at night. Old furnace was 20 years old on an expected 15 year life, we switched out air conditioner in year 10 of a 13-year life because cooling and heating are now integrated as a system. (Riverside neighbourhood, Toronto, Ontario) 20231113Propeller Art Gallery: Elements of Nature show #RuthMaude @encaustic_art (2023) Four Elements #1-12 has small encaustic pantings arranged four rows by three columns. Unsure whether the themes, top to bottom, are fire, water, sky and ground. Noticed a little red dot beside the upper right painting, could mean that this set may not again be seen together as a collection. (Propeller Art Gallery, Abell Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20231116Union Station: Floor-to-ceiling mural @blakeangeconeb (2023) Sharing, about transmission of knowledge through storytelling to the young, the third of three in the Eighth Fire series. The Oak Room used to be a restaurant at the northwest corner of the railway station, removed to provide a throughfare to the Skywalk and Union Pearson Express. Thousands of people must walk by the painting every day, hard to judge if the people sitting in the collection of chairs further west if they’re waiting for someone, or eluding the late fall cold. (Union Station, Front Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20231119Grand Opera Lane, Scotia Plaza: Lighted outline sculpture of cervid (deer) species in late November might bring reindeer to mind, but life size and shape of antlers identifies moose indigenous to Canada. Open setback is by the former site of the Grand Opera House (1874-1927) before the financial district overtook the neighbourhood. Locale was largely unoccupied on a Sunday evening, with major construction having closed the street to vehicular traffic. (Grand Opera Lane, Scotia Plaza, Adelaide Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20231119May Yan Seafood Restaurant: Mangled understanding of order led to 2 lobsters delivered to table, plus expected beef tenderloin and fish fillets, with scallops on tofu with black bean sauce and pea shoots on their way. Enough leftovers for senior’s lunch and maybe dinner tomorrow. Arrived for dinner later than expected, after rush hour traffic, shopping for rolling walker, and switching mobile phone providers for my father. (May Yan Seafood Restaruant, Sheppard Avenue East, Scarborough, Ontario) 20231122Onsite Gallery: On floor of southwest edge of gallery, @EsteyDucuara (2020-2023) Black Hole, mineral coal of 282 cm diameter. Atmosphere of fear associated with open-cast coal mining in Colombia, the lines this version of the installation were inspired by aerial views of the roads east of Toronto. Part of the On Americanity and Other Experiences of Belonging exhbition, bridging Global North and Global South. (Onsite Gallery, Richmond Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20231123Berczy Park: Illuminated stack of presents of the Old Town Cavalcade of Lights topped by giant white bone continuing the fun of the #ClaudeCormier (2017) Dog Fountain that is unlit for the winter season. The 27 dog statues looking up at the golden bone on top of the fountain have water turned off from November through April. With chilly temperatures, many pedestrians crossing through the park at the end of the work day. (Berczy Park, Wellington Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20231123SDM Lake Share Blvd E.: In left shoulder, 7th Covid vaccination (Pfizer BioNTech Comirnaty XBB.1.5), then in right shoulder, annual flu vaccination (Standard-dose quadrivalent (QIV), either FluLaval Tetra or Fluzone Quadrivalent)). Routine injection by pharmacist with booked appointment, no ill effects later in the day. Bike over to this pharmacy branch, because the one in walking distance from our home is booked into next week. (Shoppers Drug Mart, Lake Shore Blvd E., Toronto) 20231124Justina M. Barnicke Gallery: Hanging from the wall, #TimWhiten (2014) Hallelujah I is horizontal lilac branches with an umbrella handle suspended into vertical branches, gallery lighting casting shadows down. Part of the The Performance of Shadows exhbition, in the bridging of material and spiritual experiences. Not at this show is (2015) Hallelujah II that looks similar, with a glass cane instead of the umbrella handle. (Justina M. Barnicke Gallery, Hart House, University of Toronto) 20231125University of Toronto Art Centre: Inside a glsss case, Barbara-Ann Watso (2009) Panier de Marriage [Marriage Basket] woven of ash splints and sweetgrass. Historically, Abenaki Basket-Making Industry flourished 1870–1920, by the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. Baskets continue to be part of the Abenaki tradition passed down through generations, as the community has migrated along the Saint-François River, extending from Quebec into Maine. (University of Toronto Art Centre, University College, University of Toronto) 20231125
Lambert Lounge: Conversation for Possibilities theme hosted by @redesign saying farewell after 15 years of mostly-monthly #DesignWithDialogue sessions. Strong turnout, with participants having attended since 2008, to someone coming for the first time. Sticky notes posted on flip charts on the wall, in response to questions about what was learned, and value of semi-structured dialogue. (Lambert Lounge, OCAD University, McCaul Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20221129
The International Society for General Systems Research formed circa 1956 became the International Society for the Systems Sciences in 1988. In 1985, Bela H. Banathy organized the annual meeting on the theme of “Systems Inquiring”. Proceedings normally are published in the year following. In 1987, John A. Dillon summarized Banathy’s perspective in the yearbook, General […]
For five immersive days, a team of six researchers had the opporunity to collaborate on ideas on rhythmic shifts (mostly based on Systems Changes Learning) and anticipatory systems (in the legacy of Robert Rosen). The 2024 Banathy Conversation was organized by the Creative Systemic Research Platform Institute, facilitated by Susu Nousala, Gary S. Metcalf, and […]
Systems Processes Theory has been under development for many decades, led by Len Troncale, a past president of the International Society for the Ssytems Sciences. Many have found getting a grip on the science to be a demanding task, both in scope and in depth. Over many decades, Lynn Rasmussen was a collaborator, refining and […]
The Socio-Technical Systems (STS) perspective, dating back to the studies of Eric L. Trist and Fred E. Emery, was on the reading list of organizational behaviour classes in my undergraduate and master’s degree programs. It wasn’t until 15 years later, when I got involved with the systems sciences and David L. Hawk, that the Socio-Ecological […]
Civic Tech can be described as projects using technology “for the public good“. Civic Tech may be related to, but different from Gov Tech. For the May 2024 Systems Thinking Onrtario, we had two knowledgeable guests in conversation. Dorothy Eng, executive director of Code for Canada since 2021, related her professional journey from engineering to […]
On my May trip through the UK, I accepted an offer to lead an Expert-Led Session at the University of Hull. I had previously been a Research Fellow of the Centre for Systems Studies, but haven’t travelled to the Hull for some years. As we worked out the arrangements, I found out that the seminar […]
David L. Hawk (American management theorist, architect, and systems scientist) has been hosting a weekly television show broadcast on Bold Brave Tv from the New York area on Wednesdays 6pm ET, remotely from his home in Iowa. Live, callers can join…Read more ›
Following the first day lecture on Philosophy of Chinese Medicine 1 for the Global University for Sustainability, Keekok Lee continued on a second day on some topics: * Anatomy as structure; physiology as function (and process); * Process ontology, and thing ontology; * Qi ju as qi-in-concentrating mode, and qi san as qi-in-dissipsating mode; and […]
The philosophy of science underlying Classical Chinese Medicine, in this lecture by Keekok Lee, provides insights into ways in which systems change may be approached, in a process ontology in contrast to the thing ontology underlying Western BioMedicine. Read more ›
In conversation, @zeynep with @ezraklein reveal authentic #SystemsThinking in (i) appreciating that “science” is constructed by human collectives, (ii) the west orients towards individual outcomes rather than population levels; and (iii) there’s an over-emphasis on problems of the moment, and…Read more ›
In the question-answer period after the lecture, #TimIngold proposes art as a discipline of inquiry, rather than ethnography. This refers to his thinking On Human Correspondence. — begin paste — [75m26s question] I am curious to know what art, or…Read more ›
How might our society show value for the long term, over the short term? Could we think about taxation over time, asks @carlotaprzperez in an interview: 92% for 1 day; 80% within 1 month; 50%-60% tax for 1 year; zero tax for 10 years.Read more ›
The appreciation of change is different in Western philosophy than in classical Chinese philosophy. JeeLoo Lin published a concise contrast on differences. Let me parse the Introduction to the journal article, that is so clearly written. The Chinese theory of time is built into a language that is tenseless. The Yijing (Book of Changes) there […]
In trying to place the World Hypotheses work of Stephen C. Pepper (with multiple root metaphors), Nicholas Rescher provides a helpful positioning. — begin paste — Philosophical perspectivism maintains that substantive philosophical positions can be maintained only from a “perspective” of some sort. But what sort? Clearly different sorts of perspectives can be conceived of, […]
Finding proper words to express system(s) change(s) can be a challenge. One alternative could be diachrony. The Oxford English dictionary provides two definitions for diachronic, the first one most generally related to time. (The second is linguistic method) diachronic ADJECTIVE Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “diachronic (adj.), sense 1,” July 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/3691792233. For completeness, prochronic relates “to […]
The selection of readings in the “Introduction” to Systems Thinking: Selected Readings, volume 2, Penguin (1981), edited by Fred E. Emery, reflects a turn from 1969 when a general systems theory was more fully entertained, towards an urgency towards changes in the world that were present in 1981. Systems thinking was again emphasized in contrast […]
In reviewing the original introduction for Systems Thinking: Selected Readings in the 1969 Penguin paperback, there’s a few threads that I only recognize, many years later. The tables of contents (disambiguating various editions) were previously listed as 1969, 1981 Emery, System Thinking: Selected Readings. — begin paste — Introduction In the selection of papers for this […]
