MAKING VISIBLE: Transcultural Dialogues Spring 2013

You're beating a dead horse: This idiom means to waste time doing something that has already been attempted or to bring up an issue that has already been concluded so you're seen as wasting your time. I have definitely heard this idiom a lot growing up. Most of the time I heard it used when people are in an argument and one person just couldn't get the other to see their point of view and they would refer to their altercation as beating a dead horse because it's redundant. If a horse is already dead their is no use to beat it. Just like when in an argument, if a person is not understanding your point of view then there is no point in trying to make them understand because repeating how you feel over and over won't make them change their mind.

Idom ironic- The early Bird catches the worm This idiom notes if you want to be successful you need to wake up early and get there immediately, or if you start something early you will have a better chance at success. This can reference going into work early to get things done, or being the first person somewhere e.g. an early bird clothing sale. It is supposed to have motivational qualities, to inspire. I feel this idiom is contrary to my life philosophy as I'm a night owl. I have never liked getting up early, and am most productive at night. My mother always told me this idiom on Saturday mornings when I would want nothing more than to sleep in till noon. But as I had 3 hours of chores to do on Saturdays before I could do anything fun this idiom was her Saturday mantra. Noting I would not be able to do anything until my chores were done and starting early would get me what I wanted (be it time with friends, money, lunch ) This represents my feelings of what would happen to me if I was an early bird.

Feels exactly the same! My dad is always complaining because, due to my schedule, we can never eat breakfast together at... nine in the morning! Personally I believe that to wake up early in the morning can make your day seem busier in a good sense. The more we manage to accomplish during the day, the more effective we feel at the end of the day. So we need to enjoy the sunlight but nevertheless, what about the moonlight? As regards the various tasks, during the day we are usually more productive, but then again night holds magical moments, as people expressed themselves more easily when it gets dark. At night everything seems easier, while in the morning appear all the problems. In this sense, sleeping until late in the morning can be to extend the night's atmosphere. :)

Hi everyone! My theme inside the theme Making Visible is music. I got the idea when I saw a picture in a book, a picture of this Sibelius monument. It has been made for the honor of our national composer Jean Sibelius who, by the way, apparently was a synaesthete. I've seen the monument many times here in Helsinki but this time I suddenly started to think: "What do I hear when I look at this picture?" Combining different art forms has always interested me. I play the piano and sometimes playing and painting give me a similar feeling, a special kind of flow. I'm now picking up songs and pieces of music I want to make visible and trying to figure out how to do it. Does anyone else get really strong visual thoughts while listening to certain pieces of music? :)

I see colors, shapes, visual stories when I listen closely to music. I can sometimes hear the rhythms, volume, and tempo of visual art more so through body sensing loud and soft rather than sounds.

Hi Karen! Nice to hear that others have similar experiences. :) I got to thinking about what you said about sensing the visual art more through your body. First it sounded odd, but then I realized that I feel it too sometimes. But it needs to be a very strong piece of art, something that really speaks to me. This always causes a strong need to touch and feel with hands. :)

Subjectivity - Imposing internal thoughts and emotions onto an independent matter or material.  In terms of subjectivity in contemporary art, could it be argued that "art" is not what we see, but how we respond to what we see?

What an interesting way to put it! It is often disgussed whether it's the wiever or the artist who defines the piece of art. Whose rendition is the most important? I think art is always subjective, so one cannot put one subjectivity over another. Everyone has an unique backround and so the art we experince is our own subjective respond to what we see.

Collaboration - Coming together to achieve a common goal, but allowing the end result to take shape based on the process of creating.  Clear intentions can become altered when the actual work is being done.  Belief in the co-creators ultimately drives the work and allows it to be fulfilled in some sort of result, whether that result was the initial intention or not.   

"φασούλι, το φασούλι γεμίζει το σακούλι" You can fill a bag by putting one bean each time. This idiom means that if you want to do something, you have to be patient and to try. Especially, in cases you want to save money, you have to save a little by a little every day and don't lose your courage, because even with small amounts of credits, you'll achieve your goal someday.  My grandma used to say that to me since i was a child and from then i still do it in my life. Also, i was born in the day of the warehouse in Greece (31st of October) so another one reason to follow it. Through this was i was saving money to buy me camera two years and i really felt relieved after that.

Great one! This one reminds me of the idiom "Rome wasn't built in a day", often referred to in the United States. It has a similar reference to patience. This idiom asks that one not only be patient but understanding of current circumstances, with the belief that things will be as they should be (better than expected) in the end.

Nafsika Theodoridou The camel was asked: "The updraft is better or the downhill?" and it replied: "Why not the straight road?" That means that there is also the easy way to achieve something but people usually think more complicating solutions.  I learned this idiom from my grandmother, since she was used to tell it frequently, as it was one of her favourites expressions. So, every time I was thinking too complicated options she was using this idiom to show me the short cut.  

This reminds me of "Don't reinvent the wheel", an idiom that we say in the United States. It projects the same sentiments. I think it also speaks to our arrogance as humans-- the fact that we do not think beyond our present lives.

Idiom- "The grass is always greener on the other side." This idiom is often used to compare that we always want what we can't have. We are always looking at other pastures and envying what they have rather than enjoying what we have infront of us. This image is a parody of the idiom becuase it is saying that really the grass is the same on both sides! There is nothing really separating the pastures except a few pieces of wire.