Monday, December 24, 2012
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Ryan Gander
Yes -
Your life in three acts, 2005. Off-set printed pads and a cardboard box,
45cm x 30 cm x 60 cm. Photo: Ryan Gander. Courtesy of the artist and STORE, London and Annet Gelink Gallery, Amsterdam
A reconstruction of a map of Sheffield City Centre - usually made freely available by the tourist information office - reproduced here to include twenty-six streets existing pre 1911, most of which mark locations where town planners have replaced the city’s organic structure with a formulaic interpretation of ‘civic economy’.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
MONIAC
The flow of water between the tanks was determined by economic principles and the settings for various parameters. Different economic parameters, such as tax rates and investment rates, could be entered by setting the valves which controlled the flow of water about the computer. Users could experiment with different settings and note the effect on the model. The MONIAC’s ability to model the subtle interaction of a number of variables made it a powerful tool for its time.When a set of parameters resulted in a viable economy the model would stabilise and the results could be read from scales. The output from the computer could also be sent to a rudimentary plotter.
MONIAC had been designed to be used as a teaching aid but was discovered also to be an effective economic simulator. At the time that MONIAC was created, electronic digital computers that could run complex economic simulations were unavailable. In 1949 the few computers in existence were restricted to government and military use. Neither did they have adequate visual display facilities, so were unable to illustrate the operation of complex models. Observing the MONIAC in operation made it much easier for students to understand the interrelated processes of a national economy. The range of organisations that acquired a MONIAC showed that it was used in both capacities.
Monday, December 3, 2012
smile
Can you spot a fake smile? In the 1860s, Guillaume Duchenne, a French physiologist, used electrical pulses to tweak patients’ faces, creating a map relating muscles to expressions. He found that truly happy smiles not only used the muscles of the mouth but also those of the eyes.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)