Busy May with art university graduate exhibition, travel to UK seeing Edinburgh, Hull, Manchester, London, returning home for wedding in Lefroy, annual cemetery visits with family, and spending time with extended family in from Chicago.
OCAD University:: Sound installation #methaOz (2024) Body & Authority with swooshing sounds of the everyday and industrial objects suspended from nails. A reflection of diverse ways in which authority figures exert power and influence over bodies and behaviours. Cached in an alcove amongst the multitude of #GradEx works. (OCADU, McCaul Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20240503
Modern One:: Walkthrough of #DoHoSuh (2016) Corridor-4 Wielandstr 18 + Hub 3rd Floor Union Whart + Corridor-3 Wielandstr 18, made of polyester fabric and stainless steel. Gallery was relatively quiet on a Thursday morning. Part of the Tracing Time exhibition, most of the other works were framed wall hangings of threads embedded in cotton paper. (National Galleries of Scotland: Modern One, Belford Road, Edinburgh, Scotland) 20240509
Bell’s Brae Bridge, Dean Village:: A placid view of the Waters of Leith, towards Dean Village, down a steep hill the big hill from New Town. Some fellow visitors out enjoying the sunshine, the neighbourhood is really residential and doesn’t offer tourist features. In town for only two days, not enough time for a walk to follow the path downstream. (Bell’s Brae Bridge, Dean Village, Edinburgh, Scotland) 20240509
Waverley Railway Station:: The monument honouring author Sir Walter Scott is directly north of the railway trench into Waverley Station, the second largest rail depot in Britain. Replacing a series of stations from the 1846s, the current structure was built on Princes Street in New Town, and the Old Town uphill, between 1892 and 1902. The tracks are less obvious from Princes Street, since citizens of the late 19th century wanted the trains concealed, and smoke practically out of sight. (Waverley Railway Station, Edinburgh, Scotland) 20240510
Northumberland on LNER: Comfortable ride at table seats on train from Edinburgh to York transferring to Selby, and finally bus to Hull. We enjoyed meal deals from a station convenience store, including Plant Kitchen Hoisin No Duck, and Tanpopo Chicken Katsu, a major step up from sandwiches still at a modest price. Lots of green pastures for the entire journey, with brief glimpses of the North Sea. (Northumberland, London North Eastern Railway, UK) 20250511
Queen Victoria Square: View spinning around Queen Victoria Square, starting from the west with Hull City Hall, the back of the Queen Victoria statue facing east, Ferens Art Gallery to the south, and then the Punch Hotel to the southwest. The ornate Punch Hotel, first opened in 1846, has a history of a series of landlords, a mysterious death, a murder, and the apprehension of multiple criminals. (Queen Victoria Square, Carr Road, Hull, UK) 20240512
Hebden Bridge Railway Station: Transfer time of 18 minutes off a train from York bound for Blackpool, onto another bound for Manchester Victoria. The last leg has been a route served since 1841. Cone-shaped flooring at the end of the platform warns pedestrians not to descend to track level, a style different than putting up a fence. (Hebden Bridge Railway Station, West Yorkshire, UK) 20240514
Manchester Victoria Station: Arrival at northern (and less popular) railway station in Manchester, a 10-minute walk from the hotel we have reserved. The air rights over the tracks were acquired for construction of Manchester Arena in 1995, the largest venue in the UK at that time. Outside the station, the neighbourhood is showing a lot of modern construction in progress, and sections appear to be going under gentrification. (Manchester Victoria Station, UK) 20240514
Stafford Railway Station: Transfer point for split fare from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston, with lifts to overhead footbridge, and covered platforms sheltering this rainy day. Large bicycle parking area suggests that locals might be commuting to other places regularly. Heard that an earlier train on a similar route was cancelled due to person on the tracks, maybe unfortunately not sufficiently newsworthy for tv broadcast. (Stafford Railway Station, Staffordshire, UK) 20240516
Farrington Street southbound, approaching Blackfriars Bridge: Riding on the upper floor of a double decker bus in London gives a privileged view of the city. Much preferred over the underground, as crowds contained in metal boxes, riding escalators down and up. Bright spring day, carrying umbrellas for anticipated evening rain. (Farrington Street, London, UK) 20240517
Blackfriars Bridge and South Bank of the Thames River: Descending from the South Blackfriars bus stop, the Thames flows eastward downriver. A little further east, St. Pauls Cathedral is a landmark. Our destination of the Tate Modern was a short walk away. (Blackfriars Bridge, London, UK) 20240517
Tate Modern: In a small end room, Jannis Kounelis (1999) Coal Sculpture with Wall of Coloured Glass invokes the Industrial Revolution. At the left, lumps of naturally occuring glass-like materials are strung together. To the right, the paraffin lamp alludes to the ore mined. (Tate Modern, Bankside, London, UK) 20240517
Paddington Station: Making connection from Hammersmith-Circle line to Elizabeth line takes path through main hall with regional train platforms. Initially going east for destination to the west would have routed via Farringdon station, but our entry at Euston Square with big suitcases was challenged by only a lift to the westbound platform. Usual pattern of taking Piccadilly line to Heathrow has had this new option since opening in 2022, slower but cheaper than Heathrow Express. (Paddington Station, London, UK) 20240518
Three Feathers Terrace: Wedding party, after the formal nuptials and photographs have been done, ready to enter the banquet. Our family was honoured to be invited, we’re continuing relationships that were made before the children were born and grew up. After dinner, the DJ selected music that had both young and old on the dance floor, the event seemed practically flawless. (Three Feathers Terrace, Lefroy, Ontario) 20240519
Mount Pleasant Cemetery: Annual cemetery visit saw more intensive gardening this year, as grandfather requested the overgrown perennial day lilies be cut back. In addition, the shrub was overgrown, and needed to be cut back. Flowers not yet in bloom were pulled out, to be relocated for a residential home. (Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario) 20240520
Pine Hills Cemetery: At second cemetery of the day, removing more overgrown perennial day lilies, to be replanted at home residence. Ground in front of gravestone is a shallow, with a hard surface. Shade from trees to the south provided some relief from sun in the late afternoon. (Pine Hills Cemetery, Birchmount Road, Toronto, Ontario) 2040520
Ricardas: Opportunity to share family wedding photos, at the Farewell Sequin and Sneaker Ball of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry annual meeting. Shook hands with many luminaries of the profession, later seen on stage accepting awards. Fortunate coincidence to have extended family come in from Chicago, while we’re locals to this city. (Ricarda’s Event Venue, Peter Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20240526
Distillery District : Snippet of @RobertLeeMusic bass, @AllisonAu sax, @jayyooguitar192 guitar, @andrewmccarthy8195 drums, from first public performance of Daffodil. Afternoon performance on the Trinity Stage as part of the Bourbon Street North Festival. Arrived to the performance as the rain stopped, with an attendant squeegeeing the benches. (Distillery District, Mill Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20240527
Power Plant Gallery: Embassy exhibition inspired by features of historical American consular offices by Terence Gower. To the left, (2024) Facade (Transparent) is suspended stainless steel and aircraft cable, following an unrealized 1958 Cold War design directive for the ample use of glass and transparency,. To the right, (2012) Baghdad Screen of pleated cedar veneer plywood based on the roof form the 1960 ambassador’s residence. (Power Plant Gallery, Queens Quay West, Toronto, Ontario) 20240530
Power Plant Gallery: Witness exhibition by June Clark, room with (1997) Harlem Quilt of 300 photographs of street life, transferred onto scraps from a thrift store, each individually lit by a single light bulb. Community portraits are a tribute to the people who called the neighbourhood home, forming memories of that time. Toronto-based artist who immigrated from New York, returning temporarily after 28 years for an artists residency. (Power Plant Gallery, Queens Quay West, Toronto, Ontario) 20240530
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 […]
I’ve been checking on the breadth of some personal research on systems thinkers. (The list is incomplete, and may orient more towards systems scientists). Searching on Scopus gives an h-Index that counts scholarly references (with a boost, for the first person on the list who received a Nobel prize in chemistry). The list below is […]
Reading a theorist who espouses the dao (tao) in their systems work? Here’s a challenge: is the writer referring to daojia, or daojiao? Daojiao 道教 is religious daoism, gaining legitimacy only with the Tang dynasty (712-758 CE), after many centuries with the religion of Confucianism as dominant. Classical Chinese philosophy is hard to interpret even […]
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 ›
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 […]
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) […]