Touch

When reading this article, it made me think of all the things that I've touched today. I've actually learned a lot from this article. When Diane Ackerman was talking about the experiments with rats and the massaging that babies in prenatal care it was interesting to learn how easily our bodies can fail without being touched. Out of all the readings that we've read so far this is my favorite. This article gave me an insite of how touch is the once sense that doesn't have one organ you can focus on. My favorite part of this article was went the neurologist and other scientists experiment with touch. For example when primates were in three situations. One touch was not possible but all other contact was, two for four house out of twenty-four the glass divider was removed so for interaction and three total isolation. Its sad to say that the monkeys who were totally isolated ended up having brain damage. I know that it must sound cruel for us human to test other animals but as a result of not being touch ends in brain damage is pretty depressing. As humans we rely on touch to express emotion, but its really our hands that are the messengers of emotion.

The tokens

This article was upsetting. It is unfortunate that mothers want to get rid of their children so easily. Yes, I understand that if you wanted to give your baby a better life then you would lend it up for adoption, but the London Foundling Hospital is not a place I would give my unwanted child to. Even though to most mothers who didn't want their child would think this would be a great place for their babies, I think otherwise. The admissions to the hospital "never exceeded two hundred." Even with the amount of babies being accepted, many were dying in the hospital. I think its interesting that the mothers would attach "tokens" to their babies to identify that it was once theirs. What I didn't like about the tokens was that the hospital was trying to attract donors by putting them on display. These tokens were the only objects that these children had from their biological mother. For the hospital to display them to get money, just makes me sick.

Masked Identity

Cindy Sherman seems to be an interesting lady. Wether or not its Cindy Sherman that Ira Glass and Etgar Keret ran into in the MOMA, I think that its interesting better off not to know. I think that its funny how easily people can be persuaded by people. This episode reminded me of the show Jackass, and how they would do prank on people. In Act one Keret's story is pretty funny. He probably had  many encounters with people but its funny how people are so easily fooled. This audio is completely fiction but the way that its said is believable. This makes me question whether to believe or not believe what strangers tell you or many even your friends. People are strange, but it seems like many people have multiple identities.

Its about time.

After watching "Its about time" with Janine Antoni, I realized her work is something I've never seen before. My favorite artwork that she has made was the rope called "Moor." In the description on the movie, it was described as a life-line, which is what I liked most about it. Since it included peoples clothes and personal objects (such as hair or an electrical cord), it was literally a piece of them from one moment in time. What Antoni created was a twist of all her friends and even her own belongings, so that they all make one giant rope. By twisting them together she intertwined everyones moments. If I made this, I would've called it memory. Since everyones items that made this whole creation is a memory of some material object that was once important in their lives. Another piece that I liked from the video was "touch." I liked how Antoni went through the process of how to walk a tight rope just so she could get the footage of her walking across the horizon. Thats dedication. Those two pieces were the only ones I liked in the video, that other pieces to me seem strange. If I were to look at these pieces in a museum without any explanation I would be confused.

Elements and Principles

The Metamorphosis

When reading  The Metamorphosis by Kafka I realized that this story was about alienation. Once Gregor becomes an insect, his whole family becomes disgusted with him and wants to keep him in his room, where no one can see what has happened to him. What I liked about this story was how Kafka wrote it. It was written as if it was his own diary, he wrote with much detail wanting the reader to understand exactly what he was trying to convey. Although I enjoyed how Kafka wrote this story, I didn't like how all the pressure was on Gregor to work. That we was the only one in his family that was "the provider." Since Gregor was the only one to work and has transformed into an insect his family became poor and had to figure out other options to make money. Since Gregor could not work and was alienated by his family, he died. In the end, this was the saddest part of the story but it made me realize that this happens everyday. In school, work or even at home people get alienated. This by far is the worst alienation from a family I could imagine.


Harem- The part of a Muslim household, meant for wives.
Amelioration- The act of relieving illness and changing for the better.
Diminutive- Extremely small
Monotonous- Dull, repetitive, tedious, lacking interest.
Justification- Something that shows the action of being reasonable.