Enjoying summer with Toronto Jazz, then road trip to Iowa and Chicago.
Toronto, Ontario; South Bend, Indiana; Salina, Iowa; Coralville, Iowa; Dixon, Illinois; Chicago, Illinois; Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; Mount Clemens, Michigan
Jennifer Kateryna Koval’s’kyj Park: View south towards Eastern Channel sees cyclists and pedestrians dangling legs dockside, alongside doormen checking entry into Rebel nightclub early on Saturday evening. Beyond, large ship docked for business next quay down at the Port of Toronto, while sailboat and jetski are recreational north of Ward’s Island. Enjoying weather of 28 degrees C, while many other places in the world are sweltering. (Jennifer Kateryna Koval’s’kyj Park, Polson Street, Port Lands, Toronto, Ontario) 20220702Victoria University Quad: Quintet @AmandaTosoff piano @torontojazzfest featuring @ecbarlow vocals, with @allisonaumusic sax, @Raj_maha bass, @Morjazzum drums. Working their way across Canadian jazz festivals, Amanda as leader, having spent 7 years backing Emilie-Claire. Album released in January 2021, this has been first opportunity to tour. (Victoria College Quadrangle, University of Toronto) 20220703Village of Yorkville Park: World jazz #Avataar @torontojazzfest @sundarmusic sax, @TedQuinlan guitar, , #EwenFarcombe keys, @justingraybass, #MaxSenitt drums, #FelicityWilliams vocals, #RaviNaimpally tablas. Juno 2022 awardee for jazz, music composed during pandemic. Sundar commented on long difficult piece for band, with Ted having played only a few times, and Ewen on his first time. (Village of Yorkville Park, Cumberland Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20220703Snite Museum of Art: Tensegrity theme with @KennethSnelson (1982) Maquette for Mozart I in foreground, background #JosefAlberts (1960) Study for Homage to the Square (Compliant), (1961) Study for Homage to the Square (Slate and Sky), (1961) Study for Homage to the Square (Gutentag IV, 1961). Smaller contemporary art collection on the second floor of the museum, some galleries already closed for move to a new building. Short detour to U. Notre Dame on the drive westward to Iowa. (Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana) 20220707Salina, Iowa: Inspecting crops in backyard garden, only a few cherries tomatoes ripe enough for a taste, today. Heavy metal fences are overkill in deterring predators, they happened to be on hand for corralling horses. It’s been 5 years since we last visited, a deck was since constructed fully around the house. (Salina, Iowa) 2022070Costco Coralville: This branch of the wholesale chain is unusual in offering covered parking alongside the building. Welcomed in the heat of summer, and in the snows of winter, the 142,000 sq. ft. store was opened in 2012, after conversion from a former distribution center for Amana Refrigeration. Volume purchases of grocery-store-like items at multi-week frequencies reflects the capability for growing your own food in a rural community, plus the inconvenience of driving far from home to shop for other merchandise. (Costco Wholesale, Heartland Drive, Coralville, Iowa) 20220709Salina, Iowa: Relaxed dinner and conversation in the formal diningroom, catching up on 5 years passed. Contrasting life in rural Iowa in the light of recent societal issues in the United States, as compared to orderly urban Toronto. Beef followed the traditional local style, while preparation of fish and green beans raised debates on techniques preferred in the kitchen. (Salina, Iowa) 20220709Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home: Momentary stop to view statue of Ronald Reagan, alongside the home where he lived from 9 years old for 3 years. Many signs in the small town pointed to this attraction, closed for the evening. Routing from Fairfield Iowa to Elmhurst Illinois, brief stop for dinner took us off the highway. (Reagan Boyhood Home, Hennepin Avenue, Dixon, Illinois) 20220711E Randolph Street at N. Columbus Drive: On @chiarchitecture walking tour, looking north to @studiogang skyscapers Aqua (2009) tower with irregularly shaped balconies, and Vista (2020) blue-green three towers with 83rd floor void space so that wind effects more safely blow through. Excellent docent Bill covered Must See Chicago route in 90 minutes, more walking than other focused tours. First in a series of guided excursions of the Windy City. (E. Randolph Street at N. Columbus Drive, Chicago, Illinois) 20220712
Millennium Park: Every 15 minutes, the subject of Jaume Plensa (2004) Crown Fountain purses his or her lips, and water sprouts out from the tower into the reflecting pool. Walked by, on tour by the Chicago Architectural Center. (Millennium Park, East Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois) 20220712
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago: Kinetic #NickCave (2020) Spinner Garden @mcachicago retrospective exhibition forOTHERmore made from metallic garden ornaments suspended from ceiling, some motorized to slowly rotate. Galleries include Soundsuits, that we had previously viewed at Anderson Collection at Stanford U. in 2017. Tuesday evening music program in courtyard outside the building was so crowded, we opted to focus on visual arts. (Museum of Contemporary Art, E. Chicago Street, Chicago, Illinois) 20220712
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago: Kinetic #NickCave (2020) Spinner Garden, part of retrospective exhibition forOTHERmore made from metallic garden ornaments suspended from ceiling, some motorized to slowly rotate. (Museum of Contemporary Art, E. Chicago Street, Chicago, Illinois) 20220712
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago: Time with futility by Gregory Bae (2017) 24-7, 365 #5, as the function of a treadmill isn’t achieved with a tire not getting exercise. (Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, Illinois) 20220712
Garfield Park Conservatory: In the Fern Room, babbling stream from the waterfall, flows into the pond with carp accustomed to human visitors (Garfield Park Conservatory, North Central Park Avenue, Chicago, Illinois) 20220713
S. R. Crown Hall: Building for the College of Architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology, designed by Mies van der Rohe,. A few student projects still on view over summer break, in the large open space, following the modernist style of roof and floors in invisibility supported by steel frames, rather than pillars. (S. R. Crown Hall, Illinois Institute of Technology, South State Street, Chicago, Illinois) 20200713
DePaul Art Museum: Along 2 walls, Amber Ginsburg and Aaron Hughes (2022) Tea Project, from the 780 porcelain Styrofoam teacups cast for each individual currently or previously imprisoned in Guantánamo camp. Detainees were allowed only Styrofoam cups, on which they inscribed Arabic poems and flowers. Serious topic comes with debriefing notes from the university, if the exhibition of Remaking the Exceptional, Tea, Torture, and Reparations becomes overwhelming. (DePaul Art Museum, West Fullerton Avenue, Chicago, Illinois) 20220713Amitabul: Catching up on family news, since the last visit to town 5 years ago. We first met as foster relatives for a foreign student starting graduate school in the USA 42 years ago. Vegan Korean dinner an unusual choice, with healthy dishes not normally found in our homes. (Amitabul, North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, Illinois) 20220713Carbide and Carbon Building: Vaulted ceiling and transom window facing east, on the @chiarchitecture Art Deco tour led by docent Jeff. Patterns of abstract and geometric forms characterize the building completed in 1925. Discovered that, in Chicago, the Art Deco movment in architecture only spanned 8 years, before the depression halted new skyscrapers for 21 years. (Carbide and Building, Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois) 20220714
Chicago Motor Club building: Landmark early Art Deco architecture, opened in 1928, from elevated rear window with classic car, to mural map of highways before they were formally named. (Hampton Inn Chicago Downtown North Loop, East Wacker Place, Chicago, Illinois) 20220914
Inland Steel Building: Access to lobby on @chiarchitecture Mid-Century Modern Skyscapers tour, with #RichardLippold (1956) Radiant I sculpture, wires stretched over a pool in foreground, and #AnishKapoor (2000) Blood Mirror concave reflector by the elevators in the background. Architects consider building to be the ultimate in modernist style, completed in 1958 as the first skyscraper after 21 years. Brushed aluminum exterior contrasts to black preferred by Mies van der Rohe. (Inland Steel Building, Munroe Street, Chicago, Illiinois) 20220714
Dimo’s Pizza Wicker Park: Vegan and cheese pizza available by the slice, in a spacious yet minimal diningroom with a Bohemian clientele and funky decor. (Dimo’s Pizza Wicker Park, North Damen Avenue, Chicago, Illinois) 20220714
Cranbrook Japanese Garden: Traditional vermillion bridge arch over small waterfall, at the east edge of Kingswood Lake. Placid stroll around the shoreline, with only a small family and dog walker, late on a cloudy afternoon. Arrived after the main house closed for the day, at the end of a journey from Chicago retarded nearly 2 hours by driving rain and road construction. (Cranbrook Japanese Garden, Cranbrook Road, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan) 20220715Mount Clemens: Relaxing over appetizers in back yard, before heading back inside for main course. Last time we visited, our eldest sons were still in preschool. A few hours of conversation only begin to catch up on reconnecting over 30 years. (Mount Clemens, Michigan) 20220715Cranbrook Art Museum: A Tiger’s Stripes exhibition @CranbrookArtMus @tyrrellwinston, two paintings and sculpture. On left, (2022) Hard to Kill a Spartan; on right (2022) Fab 5, both aluminum panels with auto paint. On floor, (2022) Chamberlain’s Dance a twisting of bleachers from the athletic field. (Cranbrook Art Museum, Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan) 20220716
Cranbrook Art Museum: Scenography recreated in gallery for @TundeOlaniran (2022) Made a Universe, from bedroom to multidimensional car, to bedroom, 30-minute video production shows in theatre at the end of the hall. (Cranbrook Art Museum, Woodward Avenue, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan) 20220716
Grange Park: At the end of curved wall stream, water sculpture #WilliamPye (2017) Aquaverde has seven stainless steel cups catching flow. To the northeast, @agotoronto curved staircase in the four-story south wing of tinted titanium-and-glass redesigned by Frank Gehry, above The Grange that was the original 1871 gallery. More action on the east side of the park with the playground and picnic tables. (Grange Park, Beverley Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20220729
The book Ecological Limits to Development: Living with the Sustainable Development Goals, published in 2002 by Routledge, was released as open access in 2023 by Taylor-Francis for readers who don’t have access to a university library. For the March edition of Systems Thinking Ontario, we were honoured to celebrate the release with editor-coauthors Kaitlin Kish […]
A special issue on “Sustainable, Smart and Systemic Design Post-Anthropocene: Through a Transdisciplinary Lens” in the Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics edited by Marie Davidová, Susu Nousala, and Thomas J. Marlowe has been released. In that issue, the journey of the Systems Changes Learning Circle from 2019 through 2022 is reviewed. The editorial team, […]
In the ISSS 2022 Plenary talk, the first 25 minutes were a blast through (a) the rising interest in system(s) change(s); (b) appreciative systems (Vickers); (c1) the philosophy of architectural design; (c2) the philosophy of ecological anthropology; (c3) the philosophy of Classical Chinese Medicine; (c4) the philosophy of rhythms; and (d) methods of multiparadigm inquiry, […]
The theme for the February online meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario was sparked from the discussion from the January session on Root Metaphor and World Hypotheses. What does it mean to have a theory? How does sensemaking contribute to this? Gary Metcalf volunteered to guide a conversation on these topics. Two prereadings were to serve […]
Philosophy underlies the distinction in the three volumes of the Tavistock Anthology: founded on the World Hypotheses of Stephen C. Pepper, the Socio-Psychological Systems Perspective and the Socio-Technical Systems Perspectives are based on Organicism, while the Socio-Ecological Systems Perspective is based on Contextualism. This thread on contextualism can be traced from the association between E.C. […]
Researching the philosophical foundations of systems theory to understand the meanings of “causal texture, contextualism, contextural” from the Tavistock legacy led to philosopher Stephen C. Pepper. The philosophical lineage and contributions of Pepper were the focus for the January online meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario. A deep reading of Pepper’s work (over a month!) was […]
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 ›
For the @ArchFoundation, #TimIngold distinguishes outcome-oriented making from process-oriented growing, revisiting #MartinHeidegger “Building Dwelling Thinking”. Organisms are made; artefacts grow. The distinction seems obvious, until you stop to ask what assumptions it contains, about the inside and outside of things…Read more ›
In web conference, #HermanDaly says #EcologicalEconomics used to get attacked from the right, now it's from the left. Panel @revkin @jon_d_erickson @ktkish @sophiesanniti #TimCrowshaw #KatieHorner livestreamed #sustainwhat .Read more ›
Complementing the idea of a @longnow , @nfergus provokes the challenge of a #shortthen as the online social media platforms distract the larger perspectives on history.Read more ›
In a recording of the debate between Michael Quinn Patton and Michael C. Jackson on “Systems Concepts in Evaluation”, Patton referenced four concepts published in the “Principles for effective use of systems thinking in evaluation” (2018) by the Systems in Evaluation Topical Interest Group (SETIG) of the American Evaluation Society. The four concepts are: (i) […]
How might the quality of an action research initiative be evaluated? — begin paste — We have linked our five validity criteria (outcome, process, democratic, catalytic, and dialogic) to the goals of action research. Most traditions of action research agree on the following goals: (a) the generation of new knowledge, (b) the achievement of action-oriented […]
After 90 minutes on phone and online chat with WesternUnion, the existence of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland is denied, so I can’t send money from Canada. TicinoTurismo should be unhappy. The IT developers at Western Union should be dissatisfied that customer support agents aren’t sending them legitimate bug reports I initially tried the […]
An online version of a special issue of Paunch (1980) on "Root Metaphor: The Live Thought of Stephen C. Pepper" has been preserved on the internet Archive
