Cogito Ergo Sum

René Descartes (1596-1650)

 

Cogito Ergo Sum

Je pense donc je suis

I think, therefore I am

René Descartes was born on March 31st, 1596 in the town of La Haye in the south of France, the son of Joachim Descartes, a Councilor in Parliament and and intellectual who made certain to provide a good learning environment for his son.  In 1606, at the age of 8, René attended  the Jesuit college of Henri IV in La Flèche, where he studied literature, grammar, science, and mathematics.  In 1614, he left La Flèche to study civil and cannon Law at Poitiers.  In  1616, he received his baccalaureate and licentiate degrees in Law.  Aside from his Law degrees, Descartes also spent time studying philosophy, theology, and medicine.

 

After a short stay in the military, Descartes went on to lead a quiet life, continuing his intellectual pursuits, writing philosophical essays, and exploring the world of science and mathematics.  In 1637, he published "geometry", in which his combination of algebra and geometry gave birth to analytical geometry, better known as Cartesian geometry.

But the most important contribution Descartes made were his philosophical writings; Descartes, who was convinced that science and mathematics could be used to explain everything in nature, was the first to describe the physical universe in terms of matter and motion, seeing the universe a as giant mathematically designed engine.  Descartes wrote three important texts:   Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason and Seeking Truth in the Sciences, Meditations on First Philosophy, and Principles of  Philosophy.

René Descartes had always been a frail individual, and he would usually spend most of his mornings in bed, where he did most of his thinking, fresh from dreams in which he often had his revelations.  In his latter years, Descartes had to relocate to Sweden to tutor Queen Christina in philosophy.  Unfortunately, the Queen was an early riser who wanted her lessons at 5:00 o'clock in the morning.  This new schedule did not help Descartes fragile health, and he contracted pneumonia, from which he died on February 11, 1650 at the age of 54.

http://renedescartes.com/

ARTIVIST : creative by any means necessary! paste up & stencils of Descartes - I th'ink therefore, I AM! hits coming soon!!!

Nowhereisland - Alex Hartley

https://vimeo.com/23107392

Nowhereisland is a public art project conceived by artist Alex Hartley. It is one of 12 arts projects across the UK, funded by the Arts Council of England, which will form part of the Cultural Olympiad in summer 2012.

Imagine an Arctic island travelling south - a landscape on the move. After leaving the Kingdom of Norway, the island enters international waters and is declared a new island nation - Nowhereisland. This new nation continues its journey to the south west coast of England, where it opens its embassy and participates in the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

This is the idea of Alex Hartley, an artist known for his photographic and sculptural depictions of remote landscapes. Alex’s proposal, made for the Cultural Olympiad, is on an epic scale and reflects the ambition and endeavor of the Olympic spirit.

Furzy Cliff in Weymouth is the site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic sailing events. On the 25th July 2012  Nowhereisland will be floating off-shore, accompanied by its land based Embassy and where it will begin a six-week journey around the south west coast of England, finishing in Bristol on the 9th September 2012.

This idea began back in 2004, when, Alex visited the High Arctic with the climate change organization, Cape Farewell. The artist explored the northernmost polar landmass - a landscape shaped by the rapidly receding ice cap and marked by a human history of prospecting and exploration. Here explorers have attempted extraordinary feats of endurance and many have failed. This is a place over which nations have fiercely debated their territorial and mining rights and an area to which migrants have flocked in search of a place to belong. And it is here that Alex Hartley discovered a new island.

In the autumn of 2011, he returned to the Arctic and with the permission of the Norwegian government, sailed a portion of this island territory north beyond the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Norway.

Just above the 80th parallel, the territory reached international waters, where it was declared a new island nation – Nowhereisland. Joining Alex on the expedition were a team of young people and specialists in international law, environmental and political campaigning, human migration, anthropology and psychology, who worked together to produce a programme of ideas and resources to be used in the year-long schools and education programme

Nowhereisland has already come to represent the possibilities for thinking about our values and beliefs as citizens. 52 Resident Thinkers from around the world are contributing to a year-long programme of Letters to Nowhereisland. Over 4000 people have already signed up to become citizens of Nowhereisland and will begin collectively writing the island’s constitution from January 2012.

This is a real place on the move. But it belongs to nowhere. It is an island nation that has come from a place that is deeply implicated by global decisions. It offers us the chance to reflect on where we belong and what nationhood means, and, in a time of global crisis, it opens up an opportunity to debate and consider important global questions that affect us all.

Above all, it allows us to reflect on Alex Hartley’s original question - if we were to create a new nation, how might we begin?

 

The Nowhereisland programme is already in full swing. We are working with 20 community organisations in seven towns and cities across south west England to shape the host programme of events and activities set to reach 250,000 people. Schools are using Nowhereisland as a catalyst for teaching on citizenship, geography and politics over the next 12 months and 52 thinkers across the globe are sitting down to compose their Letters to Nowhereisland.

The Nowhereisland Embassy will exist in two forms – online and as a mobile museum accompanying Nowhereisland's sea journey on land. The Embassy will be packed full of information and activities about the many different ideas inspired by the project from the origins of the island in the Arctic, to nationhood, citizenship, land grab, cllimate change and hospitality. The mobile museum will be staffed and parked up at a vantage point for Nowhereisland so that anyone can find out more, ask questions and get involved in activities. It will also be the site for events such as welcome ceremonies, expert talks and workshops.

 

For more information, on the project, check out the FAQs.

Star Wars Episode IV, V & VI Retold in Iconoscope

... from the creative blogfolio of six foot-three slightly overweight ginger-bearded four-eyed socially awkward London senior digital designer & illustrator Wayne Dorrington. Creator of the Star Wars Iconoscopes.

http://waynedorrington.blogspot.co.nz/p/about-me.html

education/socialisation/authority

KRS1 on the education/socialisation/authority

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