Wrapping AI in an impressive physical package can magnify the perceived impact of new technology. Doing so uses seductive optics.

The confusing of AI packaging with AI content was evident in media excitement about a Buddhist robot who delivers messages to the faithful. The worlds first sutra-chanting android deity, modeled after Kannon the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, was introduced to the public last week, the report reads. The robot can move its eyes, hands, and torso, make human-like gestures during its speech, and brings its hands together in prayer. A camera implanted in the left eye to focus on a subject gives the impression of eye contact.1

Technologically speaking, nothing special is happening here. The messages from the Buddhist robot are pre-recorded and not the product of AI. The mouth movements are synced to the recording. This technology dates back at least to the Disney Hall of Presidents, launched in 1971. All the US Presidents in Disneyland give presentations akin to the Buddhist robot. Their mouths move and they gesture. The technology, dubbed Audio-Animatronic, was trademarked by Disney in 1964.2

But the packaging and context made this robot seem special. Monks gathered at the robots opening ceremony and performed with chanting, bowing, drumming, and the ringing of bells. The robot, named Mindar, was designed to look like an androgynous human, with special features designed to evoke both feminine and masculine qualities. the plain facial features give room for visitors to use their own imagination in how theyd like the deity to appear.3

Sound familiar? Like seductive semantics, here we have seductive optics. The AI looks generally human, but also leaves space for people to impose their own preferences.

The media obsession with the Buddhist robot story is due to seductive optics.

Some of the panicky AI-will-take-over-the-world talk grows out of seductive optics that is, the AI packaging. Author and poet Diane Ackerman confesses, Artificial intelligence is growing up fast, as are robots whose facial expressions can elicit empathy and make your mirror neurons quiver.4

A factor contributing to fear of AI is the so-called Frankenstein Complex.5 The term, coined by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov6, originally described the fear of the mechanical man in science fiction of old. Frankenstein refers to Mary Shelleys 1818 novel Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. A young scientist, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, sews together dead body parts to create a monster. (In the book Frankenstein is the doctors last name, but today Frankensteins monster is often referred to as simply Frankenstein.)

Thomas Edison first put the story to film in a silent 1910 movie.

Some of us are familiar with Boris Karloffs depiction of the monster in the 1931 motion picture classic Frankenstein.7

Todays film monsters are typically a lot scarier than those depicted in 1930s movies with their clunky special effects. But even today, Karloffs Frankenstein monster makes ones skin crawl. The question is, why? After all, he moves clumsily in slow motion; even someone on crutches could avoid him. Hes tall, sure, but the smaller, fast-moving, hard-punching Mike Tyson could no doubt take him in the ring. The monster is less dangerous than a bobcat or alligator, yet we get chills just looking at Karloffs Frankenstein monster, and we dont when thinking about alligators or bobcats. Whats going on here?

The Frankenstein complex is explained by a related idea dubbed the uncanny valley.8 The hypothesis is named after a dip in a regression curve. For the most part, and all other things being equal, as an object comes to resemble a human more and more, our reaction to the object becomes increasingly positive. But if the likeness is a near miss, we experience the uncanny valley. Anything not human that appears very nearly human is scary.

The Frankenstein complex/uncanny valley contributes to fears of (and fascination with) AI. Consider the chatbot Sophia the Robot.9 Sophia has its own Facebook page10 and has been awarded citizenship in Saudi Arabia.11 Its speech is augmented by facial expressions using small feature changes akin to those used by cartoonists (which we will discuss in just a moment). Sophias human-like container, its seductive optics, has little to do with its chatbot AI. (If you want to brave the revenue-generating ads, there are many interesting videos of Sophia on YouTube.)

Sophia is bald and the back of its head is clear plastic that reveals electronics inside its head. The Frankenstein complex/uncanny valley reaction might diminish if Sophia wore a wig, or this might plunge the robot deeper into the uncanny valley, since it still wouldnt look fully human. I suspect AI optics will get better to the point of being visually indistinguishable from humans when not closely examined. Currently, though, seamless human form representation in robots is not well developed. Its close enough, however, that marketers of Sophia the Robot and other AI can grab our attention via the uncanny valley. Today more than ever the goal in promotion is to get the attention of the reader and the media. Making things look almost human and, therefore, a little creepy does this.

Here are all of the excerpts in order:

Why you are not and cannot be computable. A computer science prof explains in a new book that computer intelligence does not hold a candle to human intelligence. In this excerpt from his forthcoming book, Non-Computable You, Robert J. Marks shows why most human experience is not even computable.

The Software of the Gaps: An excerpt from Non-Computable You. In his just-published book, Robert J. Marks takes on claims that consciousness is emerging from AI and that we can upload our brains. He reminds us of the tale of the boy who dug through a pile of manure because he was sure that underneath all that poop, there MUST surely be a pony!

Marks: Artificial intelligence is no more creative than a pencil.You can use a pencil but the creativity comes from you. With AI, clever programmers can conceal that fact for a while. In this short excerpt from his new book, Non-Computable You, Robert J. Marks discusses the tricks that make you think chatbots are people.

Machines with minds? The Lovelace test vs. the Turing test. The answers computer programs give sometimes surprise me too but they always result from their programming. When it comes to assessing creativity (and therefore consciousness and humanness), the Lovelace test is much better than the Turing test.

Machines with minds? The Lovelace test vs. the Turing test The answers computer programs give sometimes surprise me too but they always result from their programming. When it comes to assessing creativity (and therefore consciousness and humanness), the Lovelace test is much better than the Turing test.

and

AI: The shadow of Frankenstein lurks in the Uncanny Valley. The fifth and final excerpt from Non-Computable You (2022), from Chapter 6, focuses on the scarier AI hype. Mary Shelleys Frankenstein monster (1808) wasnt strictly a robot. But she popularized the idea now AI hype of creating a human-like being in a lab.

Notes

1 Thisanka Siripala, An Ancient Japanese Shrine Debuts a Buddhist Robot, Diplomat, March 5, 2019.

2 Audio-Animatronics Trademark Details, Justia Trademarks.

3 Siripala, An Ancient Japanese Shrine.

4 Marr, Twenty-Eight Best Quotes.

5 Rushing, Janice Hocker, and Thomas S. Frentz,The Frankenstein Myth in Contemporary Cinema, Critical Studies in Media Communication 6, no. 1 (1989): 6180; Sam N. Lehman-Wilzig, Frankenstein Unbound: Towards a Legal Definition of Artificial Intelligence, Futures 13, no. 6 (1981): 442457.

6 Lee McCauley, The Frankenstein Complex and Asimovs Three Laws, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, 2007.

7 To see a 1935 Universal Pictures promotional photo, visit Frankensteins Monster, Wikimedia Foundation.

8 Maya B. Mathur and David B. Reichling, Navigating a Social World with Robot Partners: A Quantitative Cartography of the Uncanny Valley, Cognition 146 (2016): 2232.

9 Sophia (Robot), Wikimedia Foundation, last modified October 12, 2021.

10 Sophia the Robot, Facebook.

11 Chris Weller, Meet the First-Ever Robot CitizenA Humanoid Named Sophia That Once Said It Would Destroy Humans, Business Insider, October 28, 2017.

See more here:

AI: The Shadow of Frankenstein Lurks in the Uncanny Valley - Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence

By Barb Brouwer

Contributor

A warm breeze blows gently through a window of the Salmon Arm Meditation Centre.

There is peace and welcome in this place.

Several rows of chairs face a shrine, which is home to a large statue of Buddha. In front of the shrine is a photo of Geshe La Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche, a master practitioner.

Mike Boudreau, who teaches at the centre and leads weekly meditation sessions, became a practising Buddhist in 2010. The economy had stalled and Boudreau, who owns Technology Brewing, had to downsize his business and, in his words, felt sad for himself.

Nancy Whitticase, a local yoga instructor at the time, sent Boudreaus wife an email letting her know Kelsang Sanden, a teacher from Fraser Valley, was going to lead meditation sessions in Salmon Arm.

Skeptical, Boudreau said he procrastinated for several weeks then attended his first session cautiously, looking for some form of manipulation.

Instead, he was introduced to what he says is a scientific method of finding happiness, which is in developing a happy mind.

Holy cow, this guy figured it out 2,500 years ago, he said of Siddhartha Gautama, a wealthy prince who lived in northern India. Moved by suffering in the world, Gautama left the family compound against his fathers wishes.

Determined to find the answer to happiness, Gautama meditated beneath a Bodhi tree for 49 days before attaining enlightenment. He then set about sharing his path to enlightenment with the world.

Boudreau has learned that most peoples reality is mistakenly based on attachment, when the source is actually ones own heart.

Read more: Salmon Arm innovators robotics win over Okanagan Angels investors

Read more: Salmon Arm firm receives funds to develop mushroom-picking robot

He believes in the universal law of karma and reincarnation, and said every action a person does creates the cause for them to experience that action in the future.

There are two universal wishes; to be happy and not suffer, he said. If we truly dont wish to suffer in the future, we can purge negative karma and reduce negative mental habits.

Finding happiness requires patience, something he described as the mind that joyfully accepts whatever is appearing in ones life and something that can never exist with the presence of anger.

We need to identify habits that make us want to do positive things and try to let go of the negative, he said, noting Buddhism is a non-judgmental practice and practitioners do not tell others how or what to do.

Boudreau follows the Mahayanist tradition of Buddhism, which seeks to benefit others.

To do that, we have to be on a path to attain enlightenment, he said. This is about training your mind to be peaceful, which leads to happiness, which, in turn, helps others to be happy.

Meditation classes will begin again in the second week of September. To find out more, go online to shuswap.kadampamediation.ca. To register, open the weekly classes tab.

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Excerpt from:

Focused on the positive: Salmon Arm entrepreneur pursuing path to enlightenment Salmon Arm Observer - Salmon Arm Observer

Tomioka Tessai and Japan art: Flow of Edo, Meiji, and Taisho

Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

Tomioka Tessai(1837-1924) was born in a mainly isolated period in Japan. This concerns the Edo Period that would succumb to the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Of course, Chinese culture and ideas remained potent in Japan throughout the Edo Period. However, before the ending of Edo, the gradual encroachment of America and other Western nations was occurring.

Spirituality, philosophy, and the world of high culture were all embedded within the soul of Tessai. Yet, the Meiji Restoration would alter the dynamics of Chinese culture and civilization that had benefitted Japan enormously. Hence, Japanese nationalism responded to Western colonialism and modernization by copying similar ideas. Therefore, the power dynamics of Northeast Asia were changing dramatically.

Tessai was a bridge in the Japanese art world. For example, he spanned the ending period of eminent bunjinga artists (literati art that looked to Chinese art and ideas). Equally, he was among the earliest artists to focus on nihonga art (Japanese style art that emerged during the Meiji Period).

Also, in the realm of religion, philosophy, and nationalism: Tessai is a bridge to the internal dynamics of the Meiji Period. Hence, during his informative years: he studied Buddhist scriptures, Confucianism, and Taoism. However, with anti-Buddhist edicts and the destruction of vast numbers of Buddhist temples and compounds, Tessai now began to support the restoration of Shinto shrines in tune with the changing power dynamics of Meiji.

The Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art says, Tomioka Tessai was born in Kyoto City, as the second son of a Buddhist vestment dealer. He studied Chinese-style painting in the combination style of both Northern and Southern schools, while being under the scholarly mentorship and support of the Buddhist poet Otagaki Rengetsu. After the Meiji Restoration, Tomioka served as a Shinto priest in present-day Nara, Osaka and Kyoto. Tomioka was an Imperial Household Artist. In his final years, he pursued the ideal of a free, unrestricted man of letters.

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Tomioka Tessai and Japan art: Flow of Edo, Meiji, and Taisho - Modern Tokyo Times

By PTI

AURANGABAD: Amid a row over the national emblem installed atop the new Parliament building in Delhi, its sculptor Sunil Deore said the sculpture should be seen from a distance and from the same angle as the original version at Sarnath is viewed.

The controversy over the national emblem atop the new Parliament building erupted on Tuesday with the opposition accusing the government of giving a "ferocious" look to the sculpture and insulting the symbol, while the BJP dismissed it as yet another "conspiracy" to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Modi had on Monday unveiled the cast of the national emblem on top of the new Parliament building.

The new statue is an adaptation of an ancient sculpture 'Lion Capital of Ashoka' at Sarnath in Uttar Pradesh, dating back to 250 BC.

Its sculptor Deore, who is based in Aurangabad, claimed that he has made the replica of the emblem based on its original version, and added that the new sculpture should be viewed from a distance.

"The original structure is 3.5 feet, while the height of the new one is seven meters. The photo (of the one atop Parliament) which has gone viral on social media is shot from the ground-level angle. But if it is clicked in the manner that shows it parallel to the ground, we can see that it was copied from the national emblem," he told a news channel.

"I am an artist. What sort of expressions people look for I cannot tell. I studied the original model, made a small replica of it initially and a bigger one later. I have made the sculpture only after a detailed study and by following the routine methodology. I had no purpose to show any expressions. I did what is authentic," Deore said.

People should see the emblem atop the new Parliament from the same angle as the original sculpture of Sarnath is viewed, he said.

The opposition parties have accused the Centre of replacing the "graceful and regally confident" Ashokan lions with those having menacing and aggressive posture, while the ruling BJP asserted that the lions atop the new parliament building are a "scaled up" version of the original emblem.

India's democracy has been deeply influenced by Buddhist ideals and symbols, President Ram Nath Kovind said on Wednesday and referred to the national emblem taken from the Ashoka Pillar at Sarnath with the 'Dharmachakra' engraved on it.

The mention of the national emblem by the president at a Buddhist event came amid a controversy over its newly-unveiled cast atop the new Parliament building with the opposition accusing the government of insulting the symbol by giving it a "ferocious" look.

The BJP has dismissed the criticism.

Addressing the Dhammacakka Day 2022 celebrations at Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh through a video message, Kovind said that Buddhism has been one of the greatest spiritual traditions of India.

"Many holy sites associated with the life and teachings of Lord Buddha are located in India. Among those many places, there are four main places,first Bodh Gaya, where he attained enlightenment; second Sarnath, where he gave his first sermon; third Shravasti where he spent most Chaturmases and gave most of the sermons; and the fourth Kushinagar, where he attained the Mahaparinirvana,"Kovind said.

He said that after the Mahaparinirvana of Lord Buddha, many monasteries, places of pilgrimage, universities associated with his teachings were established that have been centers of knowledge.

"Today all these places are part of the Buddha circuit which attracts pilgrims and religious tourists from across India and abroad,"Kovind said.

The president said that "our democracy has been deeply influenced by Buddhist ideals and symbols", according to a statement issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

"The national emblem is taken from the Ashoka Pillar at Sarnath, which also has the Dharmachakra engraved on it. Behind the chair of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the sutra 'Dharma Chakra Pravartanaya' is inscribed,"he said.

Kovind said, the chief architect of the Indian Constitution, Babasaheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar had said that many processes of ancient Buddhist associations have been adopted in the country's parliamentary democracy.

The president said that according to Lord Buddha there is no greater joy than peace.

In the teachings of Lord Buddha, emphasis has been given to inner peace, he said, adding that the purpose of remembering these teachings on this occasion is that all people should inculcate the right meaning of the teachings and remove all the evils and inequalities to make a world full of peace and compassion.

The Ministry of Culture in association with the International Buddhist Confederation is celebrating the Ashadha Purnima Divas, as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, it added.

Read more from the original source:

National emblem atop Parliament should be seen from same angle as original Sarnath version is viewed: Sculptor - The New Indian Express

Editors Note: John Branston has been thinking about Mississippi for a long while. What follows is his meditative exploration through what he calls, mostly fondly, the best worst state ever. You are encountering his musings in the form of a cover story, but these could just as easily fill a book. (The best stories defy categorization.) The moments that he shares here take place on the road, but you wouldnt call this a travel story. John allows the unprettier parts to take up space, but neither is this another think-piece about the ills of Mississippi. Its more like sitting in Johns passenger seat and listening as one of our best storytellers meanders through a state hes been in conversation with for more than half his life. This is part three of a four-part series. Enjoy the ride.

You would think Highway 61 is the only road in Mississippi, the way people write and sing and carry on about it. Highway 49 dont get no respect. Mile for mile, 49 can hold its own against any road in the South for famous people and places: from Helena (Mark Twains Life on the Mississippi) to Clarksdale (Morgan Freeman) to Drew (Archie Manning) to Parchman Prison (O Brother Where Art Thou?) to Indianola (B.B. King) to Yazoo City (man of letters Willie Morris, man of clean jokes Jerry Clower, alliterative man of motivation Zig Ziglar) to Jackson (Eudora Welty) to Hattiesburg (University of Southern Mississippi) to Wiggins (pitcher Dizzy Dean) to Gulfport.

En route to Memphis from a news assignment in the Delta, my photographer partner and I passed a sign for Alligator, and I insisted we turn off to have a look. There was a general store, a vacant building with a giant alligator painted on its side, and a vast expanse of flat nothingness behind it. As we slowed down, a little girl crossed in front of us and stopped, right in the mouth of the gator. In only a little more time than it takes to say Ghost Town, we turned and headed back to Memphis.

Cleveland is the Oxford of the Delta. College town (Delta State), arts and crafts, coffee shops, gift shops, tea shops, no casinos. A hearty serving of comfort food with a scented candle and a spiced muffin on the side. In a word, cute. An easy and mildly adventurous day trip from Memphis, Jackson, Oxford, or Greenville (its unfortunate neighbor 36 miles southwest). It is just far enough from Interstate 55 to be in the Delta and not be overrun by chain restaurants and fuel plazas, but not so far as to be too far for the day tourist. And nearby McCartys Pottery and Peters Pottery make it the peer of Shearwater Pottery in Ocean Springs, which is also catnip for magazines such as Southern Living in search of perky feature stories about secret getaways.

Unsurprisingly, the notorious Parchman Prison, aka the Mississippi State Penitentiary, is generally not visitor-friendly, which makes it even more fascinating to curious folk. This is how the WPA Guide cheerfully described Parchman in 1937:

The farm is a typical Delta plantation consisting of 15,497 acres planted in cotton, corn, and truck, with cotton the leading crop. The prisoners, separated into small groups, live in camps. The present number of prisoners is 1,989. The prison is self-supporting and operates at a profit when the price of cotton is good.

High cotton and free labor (convict leasing) by campers in stripes and chains made the profits very good indeed, as I learned from Delta lawmakers when I covered the Mississippi legislature for UPI in 1980-82. On a tour for state legislators and media, we were as closely guarded as inmates. I do not recall seeing a single prisoner but do remember Delta lawmaker Ed Jackson casually bench-pressing 300 pounds in the gym, so I stayed near him just in case.

Visitors day was the fifth Sunday of months with more than four Sundays, and kin came to Parchman on a train called the Midnight Special (Let the Midnight Special shine its light on me), made famous by blues singer Huddie Ledbetter (Lead Belly) who was imprisoned at Angola prison in Louisiana.

Angola is about ten miles south of the Mississippi line and worth a trip. The annual prison rodeo in April and October is a first-rate show, combining real cowboys and cowgirls and prisoners playing convict poker and gutsy games of chicken with angry bulls and bucking broncos. Years before Jackass, Johnny Knoxville, and YouTube, Angola warden Burl Cain realized the entertainment value of a maximum-security prison, and the 10,000-seat rodeo arena is often packed. By no means is it a slice of actual prison life. The arena is set apart from the lock-ups and has the atmosphere of a state fair. Cain is now Mississippi Department of Corrections commissioner and is trying to reform Parchman.

A one-way ticket from Memphis to Jackson on the southbound City of New Orleans costs $43. There are no security checkpoints, no pat-downs, no take-off-your-shoes. You can bring booze and food on board plus all the baggage you want, hole up in a comfy seat, and get pleasantly buzzed. Granted, the trip takes five or six hours. The Amtrak marketing team does the best it can to highlight Southern specialties along the way, but truthfully there is not much to look at besides green trees, brown fields where cotton and soybeans sprout, and muddy streams. In Greenwood, a sign on one of the many abandoned buildings maybe a warning, maybe advice reads, Dont Bother. Yazoo City and Flora are not much better.

My wife is from Mississippi. In the museum memorabilia, I had the uneasy feeling we might come across the name of some old family acquaintance. We lived in Jackson from 1979 to 1982 while she was a nurse and I was working for UPI. Some of the old heroes and villains were still around then, and I had a cup of coffee with James Merediths nemesis, former Governor Ross Barnett, and watched Ronald Reagan speak at the Neshoba County Fair in 1980 with the notorious deputy Cecil Price. The years, I wrote then, had softened them. They werent so bad. How little I knew.

The Civil Rights Museum is next to the Museum of Mississippi History. There is a notable lack of signs, iconic symbols, or banners outside. The most iconic thing is the word Mississippi. One building is black, the other white. Together they are billed simply as Two Mississippi Museums which connotes segregation and separate-but-equal, rather than assimilation and progress. (If you count the nearby Old Capitol Museum, which preceded the other two, there are actually three museums.)

The museum opened in 2017. The enshrinement and monetizing of civil rights history in Mississippi took off some 40 years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. Montgomery, Alabama, has five civil rights shrines. Selma has two. Memphis has the National Civil Rights Museum. Atlanta has the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and The King Center, founded in 1968.

Civil rights history sells. Mississippi violence, which is a subset of Bad Old Days in the South violence, sells. Authors, reporters, pundits, documentarians, and movie producers know this and churn out fresh takes on the Fifties, Sixties, lynching, and segregation every year if not every month. Some of it rehashes old work or marks an anniversary so much easier than diving into the complexities of resegregation, school choice, and violence going on today. Some of it adds details, characters, and dialogue based on actual events in other words, made up.

Well, it draws an audience, draws clicks and views, and maybe even draws readers and it serves the first mandate of column writing: Fill the space. One of the main journalistic practitioners is the estimable New York Times. Some years ago, I had breakfast with one of my heroes, David Halberstam. He praised some local work I had done and suggested I write a book about how Southern newspapers covered civil rights back in the day. The moral compass, he suggested, would be the Nashville Tennessean. The bad kid, stuck in the proverbial corner, was my employer from 1982 to 1990, The Commercial Appeal of Memphis, which treated me fairly and well. I declined. Someone else wrote the book and won a prize.

The best friends are different from you unless you buy into the line that people are more alike than different and they like you even though they are not like you. Betty Jane Long, a state representative from Meridian for nearly three decades, was like that. She was a trailblazing legislator and lawyer, an opponent of the Equal Rights Amendment who earned equal rights, and the working owner of Longs Bake Shop in Meridian.

In 1981 I was a newcomer to Mississippi and covering the state legislature for UPI. The legislature was meeting in the auditorium of Central High School that year because the Capitol was undergoing renovation, so there was a lot of newness in every sense of the word. The Meridian Star was a UPI client. The Lady from Lauderdale County took pity on the earnest but naive Yankee in press row. We became friends, and I would stop at her bakery for slices of apple pie and caramel cake that she would not let me pay for whenever I passed through town.

Like other Southern capitals, Jackson has tried to make its history more inclusive by renaming some roads and landmarks while leaving others alone. Medgar Evers Boulevard, for instance, was formerly Delta Drive. In the heart of the city, it intersects Woodrow Wilson Ave., named for the Southern president who segregated the federal government and enabled the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. A statue of the notorious race-baiting white supremacist governor Theodore Bilbo was moved from the Capitol rotunda to a less conspicuous conference room.

The lessons of talking to strangers on their own turf stuck, and I also got to know shrewd politicians and orators. William Winter, of course, was the most famous. As a humble scribe in Jackson in 1980-1982, I thought he got great publicity for a governor who had no Black people and no women in prominent positions in his inner circle. It was as if the Sixties and affirmative action had not happened.

He was nothing if not forthright. Yes, he told me in an interview, he had made $85,000 a year off the bootleg whiskey tax when he was state tax collector in the Fifties (Mickey Mantle made $60,000 in 1957, the year after he won the triple crown) before he abolished it. Yes, he did run for governor as a segregationist in 1967. Yes, he ran as a sharp-shooting, tough-talking Army veteran and defeated a woman named Evelyn for the Democratic nomination in 1979 and, yes, he followed the clownish Cliff Finch as governor in 1980. I included all this background in a profile for UPI and my editor snorted that it was old news. It was time to leave UPI.

Winters practical liberalism was not the youthful idealism of Ann Arbor or Madison. It was more complicated, more dangerous, and he was a leader, not a follower. The adoring writers in the Mississippi and national press could not get enough of him. The passage of a statewide kindergarten bill during his tenure helped the Jackson Clarion Ledger win a Pulitzer. But a generation later Mississippi still ranked last in Education Weeks state rankings.

Like other Southern capitals, Jackson has tried to make its history more inclusive by renaming some roads and landmarks while leaving others alone. Medgar Evers Boulevard, for instance, was formerly Delta Drive. In the heart of the city, it intersects Woodrow Wilson Ave., named for the Southern president who segregated the federal government and enabled the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. A statue of the notorious race-baiting white supremacist governor Theodore Bilbo was moved from the Capitol rotunda to a less conspicuous conference room.

In Madison County, north of Jackson, the Ross Barnett Reservoir honors another segregationist governor who kicked off the riots at Ole Miss in 1962. The Rez as it is often called was built mainly for the benefit of Jackson in the event its population reaches 500,000 (the population in 2020 was 166,000). It was approved by referendum. The honorary name was added at a time when Roll with Ross was a segregationist war cry and Black people in Mississippi were struggling for the right to vote.

In some official documents the name has been shortened to the Barnett Reservoir. So be it. Jackson and Mississippi have bigger things to worry about.

On an oddball freelance job, I was assigned to visit folk artists in Mississippi. At her home in Kosciusko, L.V. Hull dug into the clutter and came up with a colorful dinner plate inscribed, Do Not Try To Understand Me in broken letters to show her visitor from Memphis. It cost me $10 and was almost thrown away but I held on to it instead. I got a bargain. Many years later I was in the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson and saw the L.V. Hull painted television set at the center of the display room for the permanent collection.

In a passage that reveals more about the writer than the subject, this is how the WPA Guide of 1937 described Negro Folkways: The Mississippi folk Negro neither lays up monetary treasure nor invests in things of tangible value. He spends money for medical and legal advice, a virtue that undoubtedly would bring him praise but for the fact that he has never been known to take anyones advice about anything.

Comin in over the barn! My father-in-law, Bubba Huntington, hollered to alert me and my 11-year-old son Jack on the opening day of dove season in 1995. There were plenty of doves back then and we got a limit in a couple of hours. Bubbas rainbow barn on the east side of Interstate 55 near Hazlehurst was a landmark until it was destroyed by storms in 2009, the year he died. A piece of everyone in our family, pictured here on the day we buried him, died with him.

He had a tennis court gouged out of the red clay with a bulldozer and rolled with a Buick Electra. At the end of the day, tired from tennis and drinking beer, we would sit on the rocking chairs on the porch underneath the whirling ceiling fans and the metal signs and old plow parts mounted on the wall and replay it. The sun would go down behind the pond and the rainbow barn west of the court, and a cooling breeze would come up from the south and blow through the pecan trees before dinnertime. Life was pretty damn good. Bubba knew most all there was to know about trees, and he could build you a house, a gazebo, a church, or a courthouse. His work is all over Copiah County. We buried him down there, under a tree.

Jesse Brown, a sharecroppers son from Lux (now nothing but a sign off Highway 49) was the first Black naval aviator. He and other Mississippi airmen are honored at delightful out-of-the-way museums in Hattiesburg and the Stennis Airport in Kiln. Brown died a hero during the Korean War trying to save Marines trapped at Chosin Reservoir. Author Adam Makos tells his story in the book Devotion, which is being made into a movie scheduled for release this year. One of the producers told me it will attempt to change the narrative by focusing on his achievements and heroism.

People look at you funny when you take pictures in a truck-stop bathroom. It doesnt help if you tell them you are working on a book. Public bathrooms are a vital but rarely written about part of road trips a serious omission considering a good one can make your day and a bad one, without going into great detail, can ruin it. The best option is one of the state welcome stations, among the most palatial in the country although Mississippi is the nations poorest state. Super-sized truck stops like Pilot and Loves dont always have the cheapest gas like they used to. They seem to have followed Jeff Bezos strategy of rounding up customers first, then raising prices. But they have reliably clean bathrooms that are well worth a few extra bucks. Having seen the filthy, fetid, slippery floor, out-of-order competition during hundreds of drives from Memphis to south Mississippi, I would say they are worth several extra bucks. The $2 coffee is better, too. Pilots supremacy is being challenged by even bigger Buc-ees, coming to Mississippi in 2022.

Bears are part of Mississippi legend and lore, but its a little complicated. William Faulkner wrote the famous story The Bear about a bear hunt. Teddy Roosevelt came to the Delta for a bear hunt but supposedly declined to shoot one on account of its being tethered, hence the Teddy bear. The University of Mississippi banished its football mascot, Colonel Rebel, in 2003 and replaced him with an anthropomorphic bear in snappy garb fit for The Grove. The image was so goofy it was ditched after seven years and replaced by the perfectly logical Mississippi landshark. (For more about Ole Miss also a controversial antebellum name and local sensitivity to history and monuments, read Jim Dees book The Statue and the Fury.) The Louisiana black bear is found in south Mississippi, but the chainsaw-carved wooden bears at the entrance to Paul B. Johnson State Park near Hattiesburg are there because they look cute and outdoorsy and are not freighted with any controversial politics. Well, Johnson did beat a newspaper editor in a hotel lobby with his walking cane. You wouldnt think an editor would get out of line like that.

Editors Note: Part four, The Coast, will be published tomorrow.

Read more:
The Best Worst State Ever Part Three - Memphis Magazine

Smoothie lovers, rejoice! Daily Harvest offers up an abundance of absolutely delectable smoothie recipes that are packed with fresh fruits and veggies, so you can check off your micronutrient intake for the day. Of course, smoothies aren't the only items on the lineup. The brand also offer delicious harvest bowls, harvest bakes, flatbreads, soups, and even ice creams.

Each box can contain 9, 14, or 24 items with tiered discounts based on the size of your box. (The more items you purchase, the bigger the discount.) We love that the vegetarian servings are substantial, filling, and convenient to prepcheck out our full review.

Example meals:

-Lentil and tomato bolognese harvest bowl

-Chickpea and coconut curry harvest bake

Sustainability & Quality: Not only is the food meticulously sourced, but the brand prioritizes farmers and aims to build a regenerative food system. All of the food is also grown from crops that don't use synthetic chemicals or pesticides. Plus, the brand also works with farmers to help them transition their land to organic so they can increase the biodiversity of crops.

Originally posted here:

The 9 Best Prepared Meal Delivery Services Of 2022 | mindbodygreen - mindbodygreen.com

by Tiffany Goldstein 11h ago

Country music fans are destined to have a barbecue stain on their white tee shirt, as Tim McGraw recently released his secret ribs recipe. Just days before the patriotic holiday, the Something Like That singer took to Instagram to share how he grills his mouthwatering meat.

My girls asked for ribs, the icon said while whipping up their go-to meal. I spend a lot of time over the grill with ribs, because they love them.

The multi-platinum artist continued to walk his followers through how to make the perfect rack and the ingredients they need to perfect the dish. McGraws dry rub ribs include dark brown sugar, espresso beans [finely ground], chipotle powder, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, and ButcherBox pork or beef.

McGraw said the key to success is having the meat marinate overnight.

Get them good and brown to start with, he explained. Then sit them on the top rack [of the barbeque] to get the heat up. Then keep basting them they are just as tender, as if I was cooking them for four or five hours, he added.

The country crooner shares three daughters with hitmaker Faith Hill Audrey Caroline McGraw, Maggie Elizabeth McGraw, and Gracie Katherine McGraw. Although the happy couple is now empty nesters, they tend to have a full house during the holidays. While McGraw places his grill master hat on for the Fourth of July, he leaves the Thanksgiving menu to his wife and 1883 co-star.

For Thanksgiving, I dont cook, McGraw said to Big Machine Label Group. Faith does all the cooking for Thanksgiving. We have to have turkey, we have to have our stuffing, and we have to have cornbread and peas, of course, he pointed out.

When it is not a holiday, McGraw makes it a priority to eat clean and keep his washboard abs in tip-top shape. After his big-screen debut in The Four Christmases, McGraw altered his diet and cut out fast food.

I utilize my entire body to sing: my legs and my back. Being more in control of these things enhances my voice, he told Mens Health Magazine.

McGraw revealed to the publication that his everyday rgime includes meat, vegetables, oatmeal, and fruits. Before consuming a wide variety of organic foods, he starts his day with Cayenne pepper, lemon juice, Manuka honey, and hot water a detox blend that benefits gut health.

As he keeps his refrigerator full of nourishing snacks and meals, McGraw also puts in the work at the gym. Martial arts trainer, Roger Yuan has created a rigorous and personalized training program for McGraw.

The fitness routine includes Hindu pushups [three sets of 25 reps], Hindu squats [three sets of 25 reps], bicycle crunches [3 sets with 25 reps], and sprinter split squats [10-15 reps per leg], and more. When the chart-topping artist is out on the road, he maintains his bootcamp-like routine with his gym on wheels. The heavy gear is all stored away in a trailer sponsored by ButcherBox.

The 55-year-old legend relatively recently released his parking lot workouts with breakout stars Russell Dickerson and Brandon Davis out on his 2022 nationwide trek.

The sing-songwriter just wrapped his successful run and will be hitting notable festivals until mid-October. For upcoming appearances, visit timmcgraw.com.

More here:

Tim McGraw Reveals His Secret Ribs Recipe For The Summer: "Here's A Little Pro Tip" - CMT.com

Nuts and dried fruit items at a grocery store. Martha Bebinger/WBUR hide caption

Nuts and dried fruit items at a grocery store.

Updated July 5, 11:05 a.m. ET

I didn't see the thin plastic thread running between one leaf on my pineapple and its tag when I put the pineapple in my shopping cart, when I checked out or when I unpacked groceries at home. It wasn't until I chopped off the top and tug on the tag that it hit me.

I'd broken the rules again.

That damn plastic tag tie joins the long list of mistakes I made in just one week of trying to eat plastic-free.

I had challenged myself to purchase a week's worth of food without bringing home any plastic in my grocery bag. That meant no jugs of juice, yogurt containers, plastic chip bags, plastic packages or even stickers on some produce.

Why did I do this? Because very few of the plastic packages and containers we use once get recycled. Because there's growing concern about the harmful health effects. Some research suggests that ingesting microplastics could disrupt hormone production or be associated with problems like asthma and learning disorders.

Though scientists have not confirmed the link, I just don't love the idea that I may consume a credit card's worth of plastic in a week.

I chose a budget of $115.00 (roughly half-way between the average weekly grocery bill for a family of two in Massachusetts and the food stamp allotment for that same household). On a Saturday afternoon, I pulled into the parking lot of my local chain grocery store feeling reasonably plastic-aware, not ready for the butt-kicking I was about to get.

I started in the produce section, where I typically grab a plastic bag of organic baby carrots. They're off limits, as is pretty much every vegetable in the organic section. I found some beautifully bunched carrots among the non-organic produce. Then I saw the plastic tags hanging off their rubber bands. I spotted a dozen loose ones down by the produce shelf drain and scooped them up, sans bag.

I rolled my cart past the cauliflower, green beans, asparagus, lettuces and grapes, all glinting inside their plastic. I weighed loose beets, apples, onions and sweet potatoes. My anxiety kicked in that feeling that I wouldn't have enough. So, I bought a head of cabbage.

Miami, Florida, Winn-Dixie grocery store, fresh cut fruit for sale in refrigerated case. Jeff Greenberg/Getty Images hide caption

Miami, Florida, Winn-Dixie grocery store, fresh cut fruit for sale in refrigerated case.

I tapped prices into the calculator on my phone. Leaving the produce section, I was in good shape, at $31.30. It was time to search for protein.

I don't eat meat. But I headed to the meat counter to shop for one of my sons. Everything prepackaged was in plastic, but the man behind the glass kindly agreed to wrap two hamburger patties and some chicken, separately, in butcher paper. Together they were $21.62.

Tofu, cheese, yogurt and pretty much everything in the dairy section was out. Even the bottled milk had a plastic cap. There were lots of eggs in those paper pulp cartons. Whew.

To avoid eating eggs every meal, I got some cans of beans and rice in a box. I wanted pasta, but the box had a cellophane window. (While cellophane is not technically plastic, as it's not derived from petroleum, I was still trying to avoid it because it's non-recyclable.) I chose a brand of spaghetti with the smallest window (1"x1"), telling myself that eating a lot of cabbage would earn me the right to this violation.

If I was going to consume a lot of cabbage, I'd need some oil or salad dressing. The search for plastic-free oil and vinegar took me into the "house of mirrors" stage of my plastic-free odyssey.

There were lots of options in glass bottles. After careful tapping, I found some with metal lids. But the bottles with metal lids all had a plastic seal, except for one brand of sesame oil and another of red wine vinegar. The vinegar label was peeling away at one corner. And that made me wonder: what are jar labels made of? You probably guessed: many are plastic. The sesame oil and rice wine vinegar went back on the shelf, as did jars of marinara, salsa and juice.

I can live without salsa and juice for a week. But I certainly did not volunteer to go a week without chocolate. I spent a lot of time in the candy aisle before finding some bars wrapped in foil, packaged in a box.

At checkout, I added the labels on paper-wrapped beef and chicken to my list of shame (I realized they are plastic). Then when the cashier scanned the barcode on bell peppers, I chalked up another defeat. They each had little plastic stickers with barcodes. I bought them anyway. I was hungry, discouraged and ready to move on.

I still had $21.96. Maybe I could find a bulk store with bins of nuts or vats of oil that I can pour into non-plastic containers to replace some of the items I had to put back.

Refilling bottles with goods like olive oil is one way to cut down on packaging. Martha Bebinger/WBUR hide caption

Refilling bottles with goods like olive oil is one way to cut down on packaging.

At home, I scanned some zero-waste sites and made a few calls. Several stores had bulk oil and vinegar, but I'd have to buy their bottle with a plastic lid and label, use up the contents and bring it back in for a refill. Pemberton Farms, in Cambridge, said I could bring in my own mason jars. They had bread wrapped in paper and bulk items like cereal and nuts in bins, the latter of which put me $1.23 over budget but was worth every almond.

While I'm out of money, I might want to do this again, so I had some questions for general manager Greg Saidnawey. Pemberton Farms is known as a zero-waste shopping destination, but there are still many things I couldn't buy here plastic-free. There was no dairy, juice, peanut butter or tahini options without plastic.

Saidnawey says he used to have more than 300 foods and spices in bulk. That shrank to about 100 items during the pandemic. And Saidnawey says he doesn't expect to add more bulk shopping options anytime soon.

"There was so much forward momentum in zero waste, especially in the Boston area, before COVID," Saidnawey says. But during the pandemic, "customers just wanted peace of mind. They didn't want a broken seal; they didn't want anything that had already been touched by anybody else, and I think we've just gone in reverse in a lot of ways."

The CDC says the risk of getting COVID-19 after touching a contaminated surface is low, but Saidnawey says his plastic suppliers report they've never been busier. There's another factor that may be ramping up use of plastic in food packaging. Plastics are made with fossil fuels. That industry is looking for new outlets in the shift to electric vehicles.

Saidnawey says he's interested in using more compostable containers, but they are 30-40% more expensive. It's hard to add that cost to the rising price of food. And compostable boxes for nuts, beans or snacks (a lot of what Pemberton Farms offers in bulk) aren't as attractive on shelves as plastic.

"I want to find a package that isn't going to wind up in the oceans or a landfill forever," Saidnawey says, but "customers shop with their eyes."

My week of plastic-free eating produced some pretty boring meals. I wasn't prepared. I didn't realize how many things would be off limits. There are some zero-waste cookbooks, but I didn't look at them before I went shopping. And I didn't budget for herbs or spices, things that might have made life a little more exciting.

To reduce my plastic use moving forward, I'm going to have to make more things from scratch, like hummus, marinara, salsa, maybe even yogurt. I'm switching brands of juice so I can buy OJ and lemonade in reusable glass bottles. I'll have to drive around a bit to explore more bulk food options, and I may need to spend a little more on things like cheese wrapped in paper. I've got to beef up my supply of refillable jars and maybe invest in some of those reusable food container bags and that beeswax cling wrap alternative.

I asked Star Market, where I shopped this week, what they're doing to reduce plastic food packaging. Star is owned by Albertsons, one of the largest food retailers in the U.S. They pointed me to a web page about the company's plans to reduce plastic waste, which might mean using less plastic packaging. And Costco, where I shop a few times a year, says it's currently reviewing packaging of all products to reduce plastic use.

Maybe we can slow some of the projected growth in plastic we use once and throw away, and major oil, gas and petrochemical corporations that make most of our plastic will shift to more renewable products. In the meantime, I aim to up my game. I avoided using 27 plastic containers and packages in one week; I can do better.

Need some tips on where to start? NPR's Life Kit pulled together some helpful tips for starting to audit the plastic in your life, even beyond your grocery list.

This story was produced by WBUR as part of their newsletter, "Cooked: the search for sustainable eats."

Originally posted here:

Zero-waste groceries: Can you buy enough to eat without plastic packaging? : Shots - Health News - NPR

Food certification labels do not indicate or guarantee better human nutrition, health, or product safety; they are marketing devices using a set of standards based on social, moral or environmental issues. You can read more about faith-based labels such as kosher and halal and the major food safety, organic, and non-GMO certification labels here.

Gluten and Free-From Labels

Many consumers want to eat healthier and avoid certain foods or ingredients. The food industry supplies this information as free-from labeling. The most popular by far is gluten-free.

Certain individuals are genetically predisposed to an autoimmune inflammation of the gut, celiac disease. [1] Gluten found in wheat, barley, rye, and their hybrids is actually two proteins, glutenin and gliadin, providing functional properties such as texture and elasticity to bread and baked goods. The FDA considers wheat, not gluten, an allergen. To assist celiac sufferers, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established a standard in 2014. Gluten-free is defined as less than 20 parts per million (ppm), the lowest level that can be accurately detected in foods. The gluten-free label regulations give consumers a tool for avoiding or managing their dietary intake of gluten.

While manufacturers of bread, baked goods, and pasta must use alternative grains or ingredients to produce gluten-free products, many foods are inherently gluten-free (fruits, vegetables, and eggs). But whether devoid of gluten by nature or manufacture, food can have a gluten-free label if it meets FDA requirements. This claim is not required and may not appear as a label even if the food is gluten-free. One can double-check by searching the FDA-mandated ingredients label on the back of the package to see if gluten-containing grains are used.

Most manufacturers will cite gluten-free loud and proud, separate from ingredient labels. There are gluten-free certification programs available for food manufacturers and producers, but the FDA does not endorse these third-party accreditations. FDA oversight for gluten-free is reliant on customer complaints of adverse events and reports of label misuse.

In the US, other free-from claims are voluntary; however a food producer may wish to include these claims to help consumers avoid an ingredient due to allergies or intolerance, religious or dietary practices such as veganism, or other non-nutritional reasons. According to the Code of Federal Regulations, these free from claims must be truthful and not misleading to the shopper.

[When you] label something as free from some substance, you create a presumption that the product without is superior to the product with. [2]

There is a not-so-subtle bias that free-from labels plant in the minds of the consumer. Free from labels are lightly regulated by the US government and many producers and manufacturers self-certify. Why pay a certifier when you can proclaim it for yourself on the front of the package? Common self-certifications which limit ingredients include vegan, paleo, meat-free or meat-less, dairy-free, lactose-free anything other than gluten-free. These labels serve as quick references for shoppers who want to avoid these ingredients for medical or other reasons.

Environmental, Animal Welfare, and Fair Trade Labels

Since the 1960s, the environmental movement has championed better practices, not just in agriculture, but in all walks of life. Food manufacturers have felt this pressure and have responded by updating their operating procedures and labeling foods to indicate their environmental stewardship. For example, Salmon Safe, certifies that its products are made with methods to protect native salmon, minimizing pollution in rivers and wetlands, limiting the use of pesticides, employing better irrigation practices, and planting trees by rivers. Other certified environmental labels include Sustainably Grown Certified, Demeter Certified Biodynamic, and Rainforest Alliance Certified/UTZ. (Here is an expansive listing of these certifications)

Many environmental certifications overlap with social and economic ones, like animal welfare labels; possibly the largest category of non-nutritive food labels, both certified and non-certified. I found at least 17 food labels promoting animal welfare. Some are certified by consumer advocacy or trade associations like Certified Humane Raised and Handled, American Grassfed Approved, and Global Animal Partnership. Some have governmental oversight like Raised Without Antibiotics, where the USDA grants these labels.

Antibiotic Free label has a similar name to Raised Without Antibiotics but is not certified by the USDA; and is just one example of clip art labels which are readily available and used by unscrupulous sellers. Other popular animal welfare labels that have no outside verification include free-range, hormone-free, local farm fresh, and superfood. Cage-free labels for poultry do not require third-party certification and are self-certified. Let the buyer beware - Animal welfare labels are a minefield of greenwashing and false hopes of alternative husbandry practices.

Fair Trade labels promote social justice in the form of decent working conditions, fair wages and prices for their products. Notable, fair trade labels, inspected and certified by third-parties include:

Premiums for these products are funneled back into the community to help sustain and develop new markets.

Do We Define Natural and Clean?

Since 2016, the FDA has been trying to decide what is meant by the term natural. It has been taking comments on the use of the term in food labeling since that time. While there is no formal governmental definition that can protect food manufacturers from opportunistic attorneys and litigation, the FDAs longstanding policy for natural in shortened form is this: nothing artificial or synthetic.

Like natural, the term clean is consumer driven with no official definition, regulations, or guidelines from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the U.S. Department of Agriculture. We are left to our own devices and opinions as to what constitutes clean food. Foods with natural or clean labels have been the subject of many lawsuits since their meaning is unclear. When asked, most consumers would respond that clean means a short ingredient list with no artificial colors or preservatives. Chemical names, however innocuous, are a no-no. Clean also means minimal processing to most shoppers. The food industry has responded by finding alternative ingredients with common names. Vinegar now is listed instead of acetic acid. If a functional ingredient is listed, explanations for their use helps consumers understand their inclusion: guar gum for texture.

Learn More About Food Labels

Some food labels accurately describe their purpose with claim verifications by disinterested third parties. But deceptive marketing practices and self-certifications abound. Every day, new labels with righteous names proliferate on your grocers shelves. Are these labels solid proof or merely greenwashing? Its hard to tell at a glance; non-certified labels with no third-party oversight are only ink. If you see a label, be curious, go to the website to determine if they are certified and by whom, and what standards are they uphold.

[1] Wheat as a causative agent for celiac disease was not discovered until the Dutch Famine of 1944. During the final years of World War II, children did not have access to bread. Dr. Willem Dicke, a pediatrician, noted that his young celiac patients conditions improved with the rationing of wheat flour but relapsed when bread was added back to their diets.

[2] Labeling Food Processes: The Good, the Bad and the UglyApplied Economic Policy and Perspective DOI: 10.1093/aepp/ppx028

Sources:

Gluten and Food Labeling FDA

The Changing Face of Clean Label Institute of Food Technologists

Food Labels Explained Farm Aid

When, and Why, Did Everyone Stop Eating Gluten? Scientific American

Retaining Ingredient Functionality in Clean Label ProductInstitute of Food Technologists

See the original post:

More On Interpreting Food Certification Labels | American Council on Science and Health - American Council on Science and Health

Art

Eliza Levinson

documenta fifteen, ruangrupa, back row f.l.t.r.: Iswanto Hartono, Reza Afisina, farid rakun, Ade Darmawan, Mirwan Andan; front row f.l.t.r.: Ajeng Nurul Aini, Indra Ameng, Daniella Fitria Praptono, Julia Sarisetiati at the installation Vietnamese Immigrating Garden by Tuan Mami (Nha San Collective), 2022, Photo: Nicolas Wefers.

For Documenta 15, organizers wanted something different. Breaking the prestigious quinquennials 67-year-long legacy of featuring major international artistssuch as Hans Haacke, On Kawara, Adrian Piper, and Alfredo Jaar, to name a fewthis years event is shoving the art world out of its comfort zone, with mixed results.

Spread across 32 venues in the city of Kassel in western Germany for 100 days, Documenta 15 is curated not by an individual art-world luminary as is tradition, but rather the dynamic Indonesian arts organization ruangrupa. In a radical departure from a festival that once featured the likes of Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, this years exhibition replaces blue-chip, or even well-known, international artists with several relatively obscure, invited collectives, who were then allowed to invite any collaborating collectives they wanted to work withculminating in a staggering total of 1,500 featured artists.

documenta fifteen: Baan Noorg Collaborative Arts and Culture, The Rituals of Things, 2022, installation view, Fridericianum, Kassel, June 13, 2022, Photo: Nicolas Wefers.

From the jump, ruangrupa approached a quintessentially elite European art festival from a decentralized, anti-capitalist, communitarian stance: what they term lumbunga reference to an Indonesian word for a shared supply of rice, which the community divides with a spirit of mutual trust. In a repeated gesture of institutional critique, numerous rooms across this years Documenta are active artists workshops, positioned directly in the middle of otherwise-used gallery space and challenging the (arguably, fair) expectation to see any art at all.

This is far from ruangrupas only move away from curatorial norms. Across Documenta, traditional explanatory wall texts are nowhere to be found: at most, installed works are paired with sheets of A4 paper stuck to the wall with a magnet. Throughout official festival materials, participating artists are enthusiastic about the disintegration of traditional art world rigidity in favor of a flourishing community: included collaborators Cinema Caravan and Takashi Kuribayashi, for example, self-describe as being driven by the motto make friends not arta phrase rarely heard in the art world.

documenta fifiteen: Cinema Caravan + Takashi Kuribayashi, screening in Outside of Mosquito Net (Out of the Loop), 2022, Karlswiese, Kassel, June 19, 2022, photo: Nils Klinger.

Ruangrupas governing artistic statement is simultaneously simple and complicated: simple in that what they really wanted, it appears, is to financially uplift arts and community collectives from countries largely in the Global South; complicated in that the politics of doing so mandated elaborate, even convoluted, internal politics and terminologies that are difficult for an outside viewer to understandto the extent that some festival materials come equipped with a multi-page glossary of relevant terms.

In keeping with the curators approach, event organizers have made such traditionally bureaucratic concerns as the allocation of institutional funding central. The redistribution of European wealth to art groups and communities in poorer countries is a fascinating cornerstone of ruangrupas philosophy, but it is rendered surprisingly, and unfortunately, often confusing to understand.

documenta fifteen: Taring Padi, 2022, Bara Solidaritas: Sekarang Mereka, Besok Kita / The Flame of Solidarity: First they came for them, then they came for us, installation view, Hallenbad Ost, Kassel, June 14, 2022, photo: Frank Sperling.

Of course, as you may have heard, these philosophical provocations about the art world and funding are hardly the most controversial story at this years Documenta. Shortly after the opening, visitors criticized a 60-foot mural by the art collective Taring Padi for including what was considered anti-Semitic imagery; the mural, which was featured in the center of the festival, has since been removed.

The long-standing repercussions of that decision remain to be seen: Citing the fracas, Germanys culture minister announced last week that the government plans to be more involved in future editions of Documenta. Additionally, the allocation of the art events 40 million budget will be conditional on approval from organizations including the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

Disputes aside, Documenta 15 offers a bold challenge to the viewer schooled in the expectations of the traditional art world. This years event is a fascinating, three-dimensional exploration of putting ones money where their mouth is as Western Europe continues to grapple with the legacy of colonialism. At its best, Documenta 15 is rich, vibrant, exciting, and educational, opening up an unpretentious world to its viewership that is vast, international, and poignantly ephemeral. Whether or not you make the trip, here are some of the artists and collectives whose works are particularly noteworthy.

Britto Arts TrustVenue: Documenta Halle

documenta fifteen: PAKGHOR - the social kitchen, Britto Arts Trust, 2022, documenta Halle, Kassel, June 18, 2022, photo: Nils Klinger.

The artist-run nonprofit Britto Arts Trust grew out of Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2002. At Documenta, theyre presenting work exploring the relationship between food, community, postcolonialism, and the global supply chain. Outside of the Documenta Halle, the artists of Britto Arts Trust have constructed a living organic garden and communal kitchen space out of a cluster of woven bamboo structures, where they plan to serve the local cuisines of 100 nationalities in 100 days.

Inside the Documenta Halle, take a tour through Britto Arts Trusts rasad (2022), an elaborate twist on an epicurean bazaar. A playful series of fake food objectseggs, milk, vegetables, potatoesis installed across a number of different shelves and inside a constructed pantry. These faux foods, made from surprising materialsincluding ceramic, plaster, plastic, cotton, and corrugated metalinclude painted ceramic papaya juice cartons and squishy, embroidered cushions shaped like Campbells soup cans. Some, like painted cartons that remind viewers that organic food is a lie, are overtly political, drawing a thought-provoking connection between the international food trade, the legacy of colonialism, the slave trade, and ongoing economics of extraction and exploitation.

Fondation Festival Sur le NigerVenue: Hbner areal

documenta fifteen: Fondation Festival sur le Niger, Yaya Coulibaly, The Wall of Puppets, 2022, installation view, Hubner areal, Kassel, June 13, 2022, photo: Maja Wirkus.

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The artists comprising Fondation Festival Sur le Niger (FFSN) came together in the summer of 2009 as an outgrowth of Malis annual Festival Sur le Niger. FFSN works across an array of disciplines, from colorful multimedia puppets to whimsical portraits and tapestries woven from recycled materials. Throughout the Fondation Festival Sur le Nigers featured works is a lively sense of play. Looking at their series of staged portraits of grinning people playing oversized prop instruments, its no surprise that the groups core principlesinformed by Maaya traditional spiritual practicesinclude sinakunya (humorous cousinhood) and humor.

Among FFSNs strongest featured works at Documenta is a series of woven recycled cardboarddozens of beige and brown squares that have been wrapped tightly with string or twine and are then stitched together. In one instance, these tightly wound parcels are sewn into a flat tapestry, and hang on the wall with a few gaps of open space, evoking chipped paint or webs of rusted corrugated metal. The effect here is to merge the old and the new: an act of alchemy that renders discarded objects delicate.

A similar transfiguration occurs with two larger, but similar, quilts that are installed in hanging half-circles, expanding the seriess language of intentional negative space. Viewers can walk through the work and gaze up at the careful craft of embroidery that brought these blocks together, imagining the hands that threaded twine through square-shaped cardboard, stitch by stitch.

The RandomroutinesVenue: Bootsverleih Ahoi

The Randomroutinesthe collaborative project of artists Tams Kaszs and Krisztin Kristfare two invited participants by collective OFF-Biennale Budapest, a group of artist-activists based in Hungary who have made it their mission not to accept funding from the Hungarian government. OFF-Biennale Budapest has taken over Kassels Bootsverleih Ahoi, turning it into a lively, colorful set of installations that engage in themes of play, imagination, and daydreaming.

Tucked into a repurposed room at the Bootsverleih Ahoi, The Randomroutiness A Dream on Lucids (2016/2022) is a poetically choreographed multi-channel video art and sound piece exploring lucid dreaming. This hour-long film plays on a loop and urges viewers not to enter in medias res. Press your hand to the white palmprint on a closed door between screenings and youll find your way to one of about eight armchairs staggered throughout the room. When the performance begins, a surround-sound audio recording about lucid dreaming narrates while five screens positioned around the room play animations, archival footage, and stills at different times, synchronized with the ambient narration. These are not random images: one has the sense that they have been meticulously arranged to align with the audio. The effect is mesmerizing, hypnotic, and entirely engaging.

Its worth going to the Bootsverleih Ahoi for the location alone, especially with kids. The repurposed shed is surrounded by a usable playground made for Documenta by OFF-Biennale Budapest, and several other artworks. There is also a caf where you can partake in numerous options of refreshments and admire a view of Kassel from the Fulda River.

Nguyn Trinh ThiVenue: Rondell

documenta fifteen: Nguyn Trinh Thi, And They Die a Natural Death, installation view, 2022, Rondell, Kassel, June 14, 2022, Photo: Frank Sperling.

One of the more meditative site-specific experiments at this years Documenta is Nguyn Trinh This new installation. Located in the historic Rondell buildinga medieval tower from the 16th century located near the Fulda Riverthe work is reached by entering through a narrow, dimly lit hallway, then parting two dark curtains and ducking under a low-hanging door frame. There, after crossing a small bridge, youll find your way to a circular seating area. There, you can sit and soak in an immersive sound and light installation inspired by Bi Ngc Tns 2000 autofiction novel Tale Told in the Year 2000a book so controversial that, upon its publication in Vietnam, the text was, according to the Documenta fifteen handbook, immediately banned and destroyed.

Despite the works dark reference point, the installation is a quiet, peaceful, and even relaxing experience: If you are visiting Kassel on a hot summer day, a few contemplative moments within the cool walls of the Rondell will come as a balm. The installation pairs a slowly rotating lighting system to several real chili plants in order to cast large, leaf-shaped silhouettes around the walls of the building. Your experience is accompanied by the thoughtful sounds of an Indigenous so i flute.

Saodat IsmailovaVenue: Fridericianum

documenta fifiteen: Saodat Ismailova, Chillpiq, 2018, installation view, Fridericianum Kassel, June 11, 2022, Photo: Nicolas Wefers.

While the Fridericianum is one of the first buildings youre likely to visit on your trip to Kassel, you may not catch the signs for Saodat Ismailovas dreamlike Chilltan (2022), a multi-room immersive work in the buildings basement. After pushing open a heavy wooden door, find your way to a seat on any of the soft, comfortable Uzbek cushions in lime green, navy, bottle green, and mustard that have been arranged on the floor to watch one of two experimental film works exploring Central Asian folk tales on theater-sized film screens nestled into the regal, curved stone archways of the building.

Between the screening spaces is a liminal, low-ceilinged room, where a cluster of soft, velveteen cushions surround a dimly lit circular table. Based on the works just upstairs, which encourage viewers to come together in unconventional ways, this portion of the exhibition is presumably for quiet conversation and communion. After passing through a gauzy curtain, in the final room, a series of texts are projected in an endless, magenta-colored loop onto the same soft cushions in multiple languages.

Subversive Film Venues: Gloria-Kino, Hbner areal

documenta fifiteen: Subversive Film, Tokyo Reels Film Festival / TRFF, Opening Night, screening and Q&A, on stage: Mohanad Yaqubi and Fadi AbuNemeh, in the audience: Kassem Hawal, Gloria Kino, Kassel, June 16, 2022, Foto: Nils Klinger.

Among the more aesthetically satisfying works from Documenta 15 is Subversive Films Tokyo Reels (2018present). Mohaad Yaqubi and Reem Shilleh are the artists behind the collective Subversive Film; their practice moves between Brussels, Belgium, and Ramallah, Palestine. In a projection of numerous reels playing on loop in a large room, take a seat on pillows piled on wooden bleachers to watch a documentary of archival footage, some smuggled out of Palestine, which depict international solidarity between Japan and Palestine in the 1970s and 80s.

In addition to the obscure political history explored in these films, the project is beautiful to watch: The rich saturation of the fading archival film is presented complete with pinkish sprocket holes, purple-tinted audio tracks, and the imperfect frames of the original archival films. These material reminders of the original objects physical materialitystores of secretly compiled historic and political artifacts, and the act of risky concealment necessary to preserve them.

Taring Padi Venues: C&A Faade, Friedrichsplatz, Hallenbad Ost, Rondell

documenta fifteen: Taring Padi, Sekarang Mereka, Besok Kita (Today theyve come for them, tomorrow they come for us) , 2021, installation view, Hallenbad Ost, Kassel, June 12, 2022, photo: Frank Sperling.

Get some context on the conflict: While Taring Padis controversial mural no longer hangs in Kassel, you can get a sense of the collectives style and artwork elsewhere in the city through numerous smaller-scale paintings, including banners and their signature wayang kardus (cardboard figures). These figures, which number close to a thousand, are staggered throughout Kassel and are artifacts of politically oriented community workshops held by Taring Padi both in and outside of Indonesia. When not at Kassel, the wayang kardus are deployed in protests, live performances, and carnivals. Keep an eye out for Taring Padis signatureand envelope-pushing tendency towards what the Documenta fifteen handbook calls satirical iconography.

In a recent statement about the controversial mural published on Documentas website, Taring Padi explained that their caricatures are never intended as hatred directed at a particular ethnic or religious group, but as a critique of militarism and state violence.

Taring Padi (which translates to fangs of rice) has been working in Indonesia since 1998, and was originally created by students and activists in Yogyakarta. In an interesting element of the backlash against their now-removed mural Peoples Justice (2002), their stated mission in Documenta 15 is to communicate, as they write, Flame of Solidarity: First they came for them, then they came for usa quote that, clanging against a brouhaha about anti-Semitism, evokes Martin Niemllers oft-referenced poem about the Holocaust: First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak outBecause I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak outBecause I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak outBecause I was not a Jew. Then they came for meand there was no one left to speak for me.

Taring Padis murals and painted works are colorful, using an array of vibrantsometimes intentionally garish or, evidently, unintentionally offensivesymbols and figures. When text is interwoven in the murals, it takes a number of forms, incorporating numerous languages. Within their works at Documenta 15, Taring Padi deploys the motif of a large gathered crowd, though in some works (like Today theyve come for them, tomorrow they will come for us), the masses generally appear to be peaceful, even utopian, while Peoples Justice depicted an ominous war scene.

Wajukuu Art ProjectVenue: Documenta Halle

documenta fifteen: Wajukuu Art Project, Ngugi Waweru, Kahiu kogi gatemaga mwene, 2022, Installationsansicht, documenta Halle, Kassel, June 13, 2022, photo: Nicolas Wefers.

At the entrance of the Documenta Halle are beautiful sculptural works by Wajukuu Art Project, an art collective that grew out of the Lunga-Lunga neighborhood in Nairobi. Here, the traditional white walls of the art institution have been swapped out for partially rusted, corrugated metal, dotted with colorful paintings.

The standouts here are Wajukuus four sculptures, which repurpose found materials in kinetic, complex works that pair artifacts of violence with a surprising elegance. These works bring together materials like bricks, knives, bicycle gears, nails, and metal with smooth wood, sand, elegantly dangling string, and multiple objects made in the shape of humans. The collectives works create a compelling interplay between soft and sharp, fragility and the body.

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8 Standout Artists and Collectives at Documenta 15 - Artsy