#56 - Notes on Gunpowder Art, Board Games and Science Research
Education Coffee is 2xWeekly Newsletter on People, Ideas and Culture.
In each edition of this newsletter, I will share some inspiring web resources that I have curated after hours of research to ensure that you have the best education coffee in your inbox. In upcoming editions, I will focus on sharing insights, notes and realizations that I gather from people, ideas, books, films and podcasts. Please subscribe to this newsletter if you enjoyed reading this edition. We are now 92 subscribers strong!
1. Learning from People
Cai Guo-Qiang is a Chinese artist. Here are some notes on his background from his website
He was born in Quanzhou, Fujian in December 1957. In the early 1980s, he was trained in stage design at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. He studied at Tsukuba University from 1989 to 1991, furthering his education in the Plastic Art and Mixed Media research lab. His famed gunpowder paintings, explosion events, and installations are imbued with a force that transcends the two-dimensional plane to oscillate freely between society and nature. As of August 2023, Cai has realized 563 exhibitions and projects on five continents, including seventeen curated projects; twelve projects are currently ongoing.
In this talk he talks about how he creates art using gunpowder. The talk is translated from Chinese to English.
2. Learning from Ideas and Questions
Where did board games like chess, monopoly and catan emerge from? Why do humans play board games and what do they tell us about ourselves? Learn about this and more in this fascinating video from Curioverse.
3. Learning from Books, Websites and Blogs
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2010) is a non-fiction book by American author Rebecca Skloot. Science can benefit mankind but can also leave behind scars. This book shows you how the ambition of scientific research can ignore human subjects and their privacy. Also delves into important discoveries and the scientists involved in them. Here is a short summary from the book jacket followed by a video review.
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her enslaved ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons—as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions.
Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.
4. Learning from Films, Videos and Shows
A 4 part documentary telling the story behind the formidable writer duo Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar. They wrote 24 films between 1971 to 1987, of which 22 were super hits. Their most popular films were Zanier (1973), Sholay (1975), Don (1978), Dostana (1980) and Mr. India (1987). I wanted to watch this series to understand how the mind of a writer works. I must commend the makers for some excellent archival footage of old films and interviews with professionals that made those films. The magic of this series is how the film footage and interviews are seamlessly integrated to tell a powerful narrative. You also get to see the writers in their personal lives and there are extended scenes where they discuss their creative influences.
5. Learning from Podcasts and Music
Rajkummar Rao is an Indian Actor who has played challenging roles in films like Shahid (lawyer), Trapped (call centre employee), Newton (government official), Omertà (criminal), Mr and Mrs Mahi (sports shop owner) and Srikanth (blind entrepreneur). In this interview he shares insights on losing his parents, prepping for new roles, finding work as a struggling actor, the evolution of films in India and how acting can affect your personal life.
Thank you for reading this edition of #EducationCoffee. I look forward to writing weekly editions of this newsletter this year. I hope to continue to share resources that will add value to your life. You can also review the archive of Education Coffee for free at this link (55 past newsletters). You can subscribe to this newsletter for more such recommendations on people, ideas and culture.
Please do send me your thoughts and resources on any edition of this newsletter through email at abhishekashokshetty@gmail.com, Linkedin or on twitter @AbhishekShetty_. You can find my work online at https://abhishekshetty.carrd.co/. If you would like to read pieces in the future please do consider subscribing to this newsletter by clicking the button below. I love taking these discussions forward on those platforms and look forward to hearing your feedback.
Abhishek Shetty