Structures Project Document!

A body is a neat thing.

Eye Adaptation:

In ocular physiology, adaptation is the ability of the eye to adjust to various levels of darkness and light. The human eye can function from very dark to very bright levels of light — its sensing capabilities reach across nine orders of magnitude. This means that the brightest and the darkest light signal that the eye can sense are a factor of roughly one billion apart. However, in any given moment of time, the eye can only sense a contrast ratio of one thousand. What enables the wider reach is that the eye adapts its definition of what is black. The light level that is interpreted as "black" can be shifted across six orders of magnitude—a factor of one million.

The eye takes approximately 20-30 minutes to fully adapt from bright sunlight to complete darkness and become ten thousand to one million times more sensitive than at full daylight. In this process, the eye's perception of color changes as well. However, it takes approximately five minutes for the eye to adapt to bright sunlight from darkness. This is due to cones obtaining more sensitivity when first entering the dark for the first five minutes but the rods take over after five or more minutes.

Stages of Sleep (NREM):

Stages of sleep In mammals and birds, sleep is divided into two broad types: Rapid Eye Movement (REM) and Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM or non-REM) sleep. Each type has a distinct set of associated physiological, neurological, and psychological features. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) further divides NREM into three stages: N1, N2, and N3, the last of which is also called delta, or slow-wave, sleep (SWS).

NREM

Stage N1 refers to the transition of the brain from alpha waves having a frequency of 8 to 13 Hz (common in the awake state) to theta waves having a frequency of 4 to 7 Hz. This stage is sometimes referred to as somnolence or drowsy sleep. Sudden twitches and hypnic jerks, also known as positive myoclonus, may be associated with the onset of sleep during N1. Some people may also experience hypnagogic hallucinations during this stage, which can be troublesome to them. During N1, the subject loses some muscle tone and most conscious awareness of the external environment.

Stage N2 is characterized by sleep spindles ranging from 11 to 16 Hz (most commonly 12–14 Hz) and K-complexes. During this stage, muscular activity as measured by EMG decreases, and conscious awareness of the external environment disappears. This stage occupies 45% to 55% of total sleep in adults.If you sleep 7-8 hours a night, all but maybe an hour and a half is spent in dreamless NREM sleep.

Thanks wikipedia.

Circle the wagons...

"You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that this is because the Power of the World works in circles. The sun comes up and goes down in a circle. The moon does the same, and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle and always come back to where they were. The life of a man is from childhood to childhood."
Black Elke, of the Oglala Sioux, who was born in 1886.

"The golden spiral of healing energies... The artistic spiral circling inward... The double helix of DNA... The spiral of the water being channelled down from the bath... The spiral construction of the Milky Way galaxy... All around us is movement. Nothing is ever completely still. And within this continuous spiral dance, we are all connected, all part of the web of life. The Lakota have a saying - Mitakuye Oyasin. It means - All Our Relations. We are all related. The people. The animals. The trees. The air. The water. The stones. We are all ... linked. Connected.

The Sun Dance can be performed by both sexes in June or July when there is a full moon. The performance takes place in a large tipi with a carefully chosen cottonwood tree placed in the centre. This tree becomes a central feature within the rite of the Sun Dance. This is illustrated through the actions of the dancers. They make pledges of self-sacrifice on the first day, and then dance around the tree wearing a symbol made specifically for the ritual.

My porcelain inspiration, bringin in the metals and shit.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2N3GnA/acidcow.com/pics/6367-the-most-beautiful-smith-in-the-world-32-pics.html/r:f


Cal Lane is So Cool

P Pots

According to Sioux Lore, a long time ago, during a time of famine, a women appeared wearing a white buffalo skin, carrying a sacred pipe. She explained that the wooden stem symbolized the trees, and everything growing on the earth. She also carried a red bowl symbolizing flesh and blood of the people, and the smoke was the breath of their prayers going to Wakan Tanka., the creator. The people learned of the connection between the sky and the earth and the unity of all life.

I am creating a red pot everyday as a meditation, on this established symbol and on creating a ritual of my own. Though this idea is taken from a traditional myth, applying it to my modern world, where I make these pots in a clay studio is extremely different. Because I'm choosing to coil these pots with earthenware clay, without any tools, I feel a connection to this ancient myth. But because I'm creating these pots in a studio where porcelian is abundant and in a society where mass produced vessels are also abundant, these forms are not nearly as utilitarian. I've already found I'm in love with the form and roughness of material because of what it symbolizes. Upon looking at the finished pots with my modern disconnected eyes they look like beginner's pots that I would have been embarrassed by. I'm going to update periodically this growing relationship I have with the aesthetic and spiritual developments in each pot. I also read today about the belief that a circle is the basis of all creation. Good thing I'm coiling.

A pot a day keeps the Dr. away.