Artisanal Practices Research Articles

The Sandwich Man: History, episodicity and serial conditioning in a Taiwanese omnibus film

Abstract As a foundational text in the history of the New Taiwanese Cinema, The Sandwich Man (1983) deserves consideration for the ways in which the inherently contradictory omnibus form is deployed for allegorical and meta-filmic purposes. Besides commenting on changes in contemporary Taiwanese society, this transauthorial feature combining the short films of three directors (Hou Hsiao-hsien, Tseng Chuang-hsiang, and Wan Ren) foregrounds a feature of the multi-director form—seriality—that is likewise persistent within the arenas of production, accumulation, and consumption. The author makes a case for The Sandwich Man’s significance within the context of cultural, social, and political changes occurring in Taiwan, a country where mass-production and artisanal practices have long coexisted both within and beyond the film industry. Furthermore, this and other omnibus films activate a mode of ruptured yet invested spectatorship in which audiences are conditioned to expect certain narrative outcomes due to a serial emplotment of similar themes and repeated events. Thus, ‘serial conditioning’ turns spectators into consumers who, confronted with a limited assortment of stories and characters in the span of a single feature-length omnibus film, are encouraged to engage in a selection process that privileges already-canonized auteurs and therefore has commercial implications even in the context of non-commercial art cinema.

Notes on Contributors

Notes on Contributors

From Pasteur to Probiotics: A Historical Overview of Cheese and Microbes.

Cheese is a food which has been produced for centuries. While cheese was originally developed as a product which extended the shelf life of milk, over time distinct cheese varieties arose, being shaped by geographic, climate, cultural, and economic factors. Global demand for artisan cheeses is creating new economic opportunities. Consumers seeking distinctive products with regional flavor, or terroir, are becoming connoisseurs of hand-crafted cheeses with distinctive tastes and character. These demands have spurred new inquiry into microorganisms used as starter cultures and adjunct cultures, as well as the microbiological consortia of finished cheeses. Such demands have also created new concerns for food safety and international trade. New bacterial pathogens such as Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium DT104 have emerged in the food supply, causing a reevaluation of the efficacy of traditional cheesemaking procedures to control these pathogens. Similarly, pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes pose problems to susceptible human populations, and cheese can be a vehicle of transmission for this deadly pathogen. With changes in sanitary requirements due to the globalization of the food industry, governments around the world are increasingly requiring assurances of cheese safety. While many governments recognize the safety of traditional artisan cheeses manufactured from raw milk, others are demanding pasteurization of all milk intended for cheesemaking to provide assurance of microbiological safety. In response, new technologies are being proposed to increase cheese safety, but these technologies fundamentally alter the traditional artisan practices and may not enhance microbiological safety. A reevaluation of the safety of traditional artisan practices, validation thereof, and communication of the scientific principles which promote safety will be necessary to enable the continued production of traditional artisan cheeses in global commerce. This also affords the opportunity to more fully explore the microbial diversity and microbial ecology of the great cheeses of the world.

Artisans and the New Science of Politics in Early Modern Europe

How did artisanal methods and practices inform the new science of politics attributed to Machiavelli and elaborated by others? Historians of science have noted how artisans’ direct observation of nature and knowledge acquired from hands-on experience informed their methods of training and habits of scientific work that became the basis for a new philosophy of science. Likewise, proponents and critics of the new political science ascribed to it characteristics similar to artisanal methods of scientific work: firsthand experience, often described as realism, derived from objective analysis stripped of illusions; and a practical aim, characterized by utilitarian action devoid of scruples. This article examines the relationship between the “art” of politics and the artisanal epistemology of science, the value of artisans’ skills and expertise in politics, and the implications of these issues for our understanding of the political ideas and actions of early modern artisans.

Exotic Edibles: Coffee, Tea, Chocolate, and the Early Modern French How-to

An artisanal practice with no domestic precedent in the seventeenth century, hot beverages had a dubious charm for Europeans. Unlike mirror-making and ceramics, the craft of the “coffee-man” resulted in something new that was edible and that proved physiologically surprising. Early French treatises about consuming coffee, chocolate, and tea reflect a desire to normalize them and their entrepreneurial practitioners, while at the same time extoling their exotic charm. This essay argues that these treatises — part chemistry book, part guide to preparation and serving, and part marketing scheme — pitched themselves first as how-to manuals and then as “why-to” guides that turned the enjoyment of hot beverages into a performance of sociability. Those published in France accomplished these tasks by inaugurating a new trend: they grouped coffee, chocolate, and tea together in a single volume and discourse on globalism. In the eighteenth century, that globalism underwrote the vogue of urban pleasures enjoyed on France’s tables.

The Natural Philosopher and the Microscope: Nicolas Hartsoeker Unravels Nature's “Admirable Œconomy”

In a 1 685 letter to his younger brother Christiaan, Constantijn Huygens wrote, can a garcon like him who hardly knows any mathematics and hasn't had a masterteacher [maistre] set himself up as first master of everybody?1 The 'boy' in question was twenty-nine-year-old Nicolas Hartsoeker2 (1656-1727). Constantijn seemed indignant at news that the same Hartsoecker who taught us how to make small bead lenses for microscopes had now mastered art of making very large telescope lenses.3 There was more to Constantijn's sarcastic tone, however. From letter exchange between Huygens brothers, we learn that young lens maker had been missing in action for a long time. Since September 1679, brothers had not heard anything from him directly. And this after Huygens played a crucial role in taking Hartsoeker with him to Paris and introducing his younger compatriot to French Academy of Sciences.4 Aware of his brother's help in launching Hartsoeker's career, Constantijn seemed indignant about Hartsoeker's silence. beg to write to Paris as soon as possible to find out all details. You could even write to Hartsoeker himself, provided that he doesn't disdain corresponding with poor people like us, harrumphed Constantijn. If his lenses are as perfect as they should be, he continued, you will see that this man will soon be sought after by some great patron. . .. But how could a garcon like Hartsoeker have become such a great [lens grinding] master on sly?5 This is a striking remark from Constantijn, who in a letter to his brother Christiaan once called Hartsoeker the inventor of our microscopes.6 This episode reveals yet another key element here. Both Christiaan and Constantijn Huygens were avid lens grinders, who much of time discussed techniques, instruments and new strategies in applied optics. Therefore, both were interested in lens-related novelties and gifted lens makers who were few and far between. Hartsoeker was one of these young and skilled lens makers.In this article, I explore Nicolas Hartsoeker's role as instrument maker and his use of materials and tools in launching his own natural philosophical programme. His lens grinding talents got attention of Christiaan Huygens (1629-95) and Giovanni Domenico Cassini (1625-1712) at Academie who invited him to work there. At Parisian Academy, Hartsoeker supervised production of glassware for all scientific instruments destined for Jesuit missionaries in Siam and India.7 His skills earned him a job at Academy's Observatory, for which he made telescopic lenses.8 He ground lenses, invented new lens-making machines, conducted chymical experiments with burning mirrors, magnetized needles and metal bars, dissected animal parts, and observed behaviour of spermatozoa. Gradually, he also tried to establish himself as a natural philosopher and author of a system of physics at Academy of Sciences in Paris. In 1699 he earned title of foreign associate of Academy9 Hartsoeker occupied a labile position as both instrument maker and philosophe; hence light he can shine on role of instruments in his natural philosophical works deserves attention. How did his natural philosophy inform his artisanal practice as a lens grinder and, vice versa, how did his artisanal occupations infiltrate his philosophical investigations? Moreover, how did his thinking about use and utility of instruments like microscope change over course of his life? What kind of certainty did he accord to microscope? Ultimately, what role did instruments play in how he gained knowledge about natural world? This examination is not meant to separate theoretical from empirical spheres artificially. Instead, it will reveal how closely two spheres were intertwined and how Hartsoeker used them.MICROSCOPY IN THE DUTCH REPUBLIC AND BEYONDThe Parisian and Dutch contexts colour background of Hartsoeker's story, in which he and his contemporaries were grappling with principles and research methods set forth in Descartes's mechanical philosophy. …

Inventing chemistry: Herman Boerhaave and the reform of the chemical arts

In Inventing Chemistry, historian John C. Powers turns his attention to Herman Boerhaave (1668-1738), a Dutch medical and chemical professor whose work reached a wide, educated audience and became the template for chemical knowledge in the eighteenth century. The primary focus of this study is Boerhaave's educational philosophy, and Powers traces its development from Boerhaave's early days as a student in Leiden through his publication of the Elementa chemiae in 1732. Powers reveals how Boerhaave restructured and reinterpreted various practices from diverse chemical traditions - including craft chemistry, Paracelsian medical chemistry, and alchemy - shaping them into a chemical course that conformed to the pedagogical and philosophical norms of Leiden's medical faculty. In doing so, Boerhaave gave his chemistry a coherent organizational structure and philosophical foundation and thus transformed an artisanal practice into an academic discipline. Inventing Chemistry will be essential reading for historians of chemistry, medicine, and academic life.

Microbiological profile of maize and rye flours, and sourdough used for the manufacture of traditional Portuguese bread

A thorough microbiological study of maize and rye flours, and sourdoughs obtained therefrom for eventual manufacture of broa – a dark sour bread typical in Northern Portugal, following artisanal practices, was carried out. Towards this purpose, samples were supplied by 14 artisanal producers, selected from 4 sub-regions, during two periods of the year. Total viable counts, as well as viable mesophilic and thermophilic microorganisms, yeasts and molds, Gram− rods, endospore-forming and nonsporing Gram+ rods, and catalase+ and catalase− Gram+ cocci were assayed for. The comprehensive experimental dataset unfolded a unique and rather complex wild microflora in flours and sourdoughs throughout the whole region, which did not discriminate among sub-regions or seasons, or flour source for that matter. However, fermentation played a major role upon the numbers of the various microbial groups: the viable counts of yeasts, lactobacilli, streptococci, lactococci, enterococci and leuconostocs increased, whereas those of molds, Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonadaceae, staphylococci and micrococci decreased.

The Instrument That Never Was: Inventing, Manufacturing, and Branding Réaumur's Thermometer During the Enlightenment

Summary At the beginning of the 1730s René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur published two long memoirs on a new type of thermometer equipped with a specially calibrated scale — known ever since as the Réaumur scale. It became one of the most common ‘standardized’ thermometers in Europe until the late nineteenth century. What made this thermometer so successful? What was it specifically? I will first argue that the real Réaumur thermometer as an instrument was a fiction, a ghost — an idealized instrument. On paper, it was theoretically flawless. In reality, the standardized Réaumur thermometer was most likely never achieved. This article shows that its success was essentially due to a recontextualisation from theoretical natural philosophy — Réaumur's principle of uniformity — to: 1) the context of artisanal knowledge and practices and 2) the context of making and reporting in the Mémoires de l'Académie royale des sciences actual measurements done in the field (in Paris at the Observatory, in Provincial France, in the Colonies, and in the rest of Europe). Réaumur's thermometer was essentially a theoretical method to which was associated a particular scale. It was the instrument's reification for market consumption and fieldwork that gave this specific type of thermometer materiality and authority. Although most Réaumur thermometers ever made were strikingly different from one another, over time the thermomètre de Réaumur designation became a brand, a seal of approval born from customary artisanal practices and cultural habitudes.

‘By Merit Raised to That Bad Eminence’: Christopher Merrett, Artisanal Knowledge, and Professional Reform in Restoration London

This article examines the career and reform agenda of Christopher Merrett as a means of evaluating the changing conditions of medical knowledge production in late seventeenth-century London. This period was characterised by increasing competition between medical practitioners, resulting from the growing consumer demand for medical commodities and services, the reduced ability of elite physicians to control medical practice, and the appearance of alternative methods of producing medical knowledge – particularly experimental methods. This competition resulted in heated exchanges between physicians, apothecaries, and virtuosi, in which Merrett played an active part. As a prominent member of both the Royal Society and the Royal College of Physicians, Merrett sought to mediate between the two institutions by introducing professional reforms designed to alleviate competition and improve medical knowledge.These reforms entailed sweeping changes to medical regulation and education that integrated the traditional reliance on Galenic principles with knowledge derived from experiment and artisanal practices. The emphasis Merrett placed on the trades suggests the important role artisanal knowledge played in his efforts to reorganise medicine and improve knowledge of bodily processes.

Global goods and local usages: the small world of the Indian sewing machine, 1875–1952

AbstractSewing machines, one of the first mechanical consumer goods to be mass produced and sold worldwide, provide an important case study for the understanding of global history in terms of the global diffusion of goods. However, as the case of colonial India demonstrates, it is what happens to such goods on their arrival in the recipient society – their emergent social history and growing indigeneity – that then demands analytical consideration. By tracing the changing nature of India’s sewing culture and sewing-machine use, linking it to occupational shifts, racial identities, and gender roles, to changing marketing techniques and advertising strategies, this article shows how closely the relative success of the sewing machine was bound up with local artisanal practices, commercial agency, and the transformative forces present in Indian society. It further indicates how Indian production of sewing machines by the 1950s built on several decades of acculturation and local experience of their sale and use.

From training to artisanal practice: rethinking choreographic relationships in modern dance

In the first part of the twentieth century early modern dancers created both a new art form and the forms of group social organisation that were its condition of possibility. This paper critically examines the balletic and disciplinary ‘training’ model of dancer formation and proposes that the assumption of training in dance can obscure other ways of understanding dance-making relationships and other values in early modern dance. An ‘artisanal’ mode of production and knowledge transmission based on a non-binary relationship between ‘master’ and apprentice and occurring in a quasi-domestic and personalised space of some intimacy is proposed as a more pertinent way to think the enabling conditions of modern dance creation.

Intangible Cultural Heritage in a Modernizing Bhutan: The Question of Remaining Viable and Dynamic

AbstractThis article considers the measures being taken in Bhutan to support the cultural practices and traditions of weaving as Bhutan rapidly moves to modernize. Woven cloth is one of a number of artisan practices in Bhutan that contribute to a unique body of intangible cultural heritage, and a distinctive and instantly recognizable Bhutanese identity. Cloth and cloth production have come to have significant influence on the cultural, socioeconomic and political, as well as the ceremonial and religious life of the people of Bhutan. However with modernization and an increasingly global outlook, many socioeconomic transformations are taking place, challenging traditional cultural practices to remain relevant and viable to younger generations. Bhutan offers a unique case study as a country engaging only relatively recently with globalization after a long history of cultural isolation. Bhutan also offers up a unique policy response to modernization, its Gross National Happiness (GNH) measure, which attempts to embody a strong social, cultural, and environmental imperative within the development process. This article will analyze the various measures taking place to maintain cultural identity and cultural practices within the context of development policy and practice, and will link this discussion to measures and approaches taking place at an international level by agencies such as UNESCO.

Bacterial dynamics in model cheese systems, aiming at safety and quality of Portuguese-style traditional ewe's cheeses.

An experiment using model ewe's milk cheeses was designed to characterize microbial interactions that arise in actual raw milk cheese environments. These model cheeses were manufactured according to Portuguese artisanal practices, except that the microbial load and biodiversity were fully controlled: single potential pathogens and spoilage bacteria, or a combination thereof, were combined at various initial inoculum levels in sterilized raw ewe's milk with several lactic acid bacteria (LAB) normally found in traditional cheeses. Viable microbial counts were monitored throughout a 60-day ripening period. Two alternative mathematical approaches were used to fit the experimental data generated in terms of population dynamics: percent of inhibition and D-values. These were able to explain the complex competitive interactions between the contaminant microorganisms and the LAB adventitious populations. In general, the tested LAB were less able to inhibit contaminants present in combination and in higher concentrations. Lactococcus lactis, with its strong acidifying potential, was the most effective factor in controlling the unwanted bacterial population, especially single Staphylococcus aureus. The two lactobacilli studied, especially Lactobacillus brevis, were shown to be less effective; Escherichia coli and Listeria innocua were the contaminants least inhibited by the LAB.

Influence of bacterial dynamics upon the final characteristics of model Portuguese traditional cheeses

The microbiological profile in raw milk cheeses is typically characterized by a multitude of microbial groups, with interactions among them throughout ripening that are not fully understood to date. Incidence of undesired microorganisms in raw cheesemaking milk, as is the case of either spoilage or even pathogenic ones, is a common trait in Portuguese traditional cheeses. Hence, they will likely contribute to the physicochemical changes occurring therein and, consequently, to the characteristics of the final product. In order to gain insight into their role, model cheese systems, manufactured as far as possible according to artisanal practices (except that the initial microbial load and biodiversity were controlled), were experimentally tested. Single contaminants, or a consortium thereof, were inoculated at two levels in sterilized raw ewe's milk, and duly combined with inocula containing one or two lactic acid bacteria normally found in those traditional cheeses. The physicochemical composition, organic acid profile, and evolution of both protein breakdown and rheology were monitored throughout a 60 d-ripening period. Modifications brought about within the cheese matrix as a result of microbial metabolism, especially those arising from the interaction between lactic acid bacteria and unwanted microorganisms, included the enhanced release of peptides and free amino acids, which in turn led to higher viscoelastic moduli. The final model cheeses could be well discriminated, based on the impact of the various inocula considered upon the levels of organic acids. Conversely, proteolysis and viscoelastic properties appeared to be essentially independent of the initial microflora.

FATE OF LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES IN CARRA CHEESE DURING MANUFACTURE AND RIPENING

ABSTRACT Carra cheese produced from raw milk is a traditional cheese that contains mostly black cumin (Nigella sativa) and is produced in the Southeastern provinces of Turkey. This study was carried out to evaluate the growth and survival of Listeria monocytogenes during manufacture and ripening of Carra cheese. For this purpose, Carra cheese was produced with raw cow's milk inoculated to contain 2.97 log cfu/mL of L. monocytogenes (serovar 4b). Cheese was ripened through storing in an earthenware jug underground for 90 days. Enumeration of L. monocytogenes was made by surface‐plating on Oxford agar. The number of L. monocytogenes increased during manufacture and reached 4.89 log cfu/g at the first day of ripening, while it decreased to 4.19 log cfu/g during the first 15 days of ripening and remained constant throughout the rest of the ripening period. The results indicated that L. monocytogenes in Carra cheese manufactured with raw milk was able to survive for 90 days of ripening despite low pH and the presence of a high number of lactic acid bacteria. Thus, Listeria‐contaminated Carra cheese could cause serious illness if consumed by susceptible individuals.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSBehaviour of L. monocytogenes during manufacture and ripening of different types of cheese in several countries should be studied in order to determine the exact risk that this food represents to food safety. Considering the processing method (it was prepared with raw milk) of Carra cheese and that artisan practices may still be applied under potentially poor hygienic conditions in small dairies, there is a potential for L. monocytogenes in the cheese at the time of consumption. Therefore, this study was undertaken to describe what might be expected if Carra cheese is manufactured from contaminated raw milk. In Carra cheese, the pathogen might survive after ripening for 90 days. Therefore, we think that individuals should be consuming Carra cheese with caution. Otherwise, Listeria‐contaminated Carra cheese may cause serious and mortal illnesses, even outbreaks, in humans.

Artisanal and small scale mining in India: selected studies and an overview of the issues

In India, mining is one of the main economic activities since time immemorial, giving rise to a long historical tradition of artisanal mining. As modern mining rose during the colonial occupation, artisanal mining activities began to be overlooked and this great tradition became obscure. This invisibility, added with confusion with regard to legally accepted definitions has enhanced the negligence of the artisanal mining sector in India. This study draws attention to the contemporary artisanal mining practices in India – both traditional and non-traditional ones – with regard to four commodities, gold, tin, coal and lignite, and gemstones. It briefly discusses the occurrences of such mining, their salient features and concludes with four specific recommendations. Our recommendations primarily deal with the need for creation of a broader information base, delineating a responsible body to deal with this kind of mining, legal reforms leading to definitional changes and finally, the recognition of the poverty alleviation potential of this sector in view of the Millennium Development Goals.

Contribution of Specific Adventitious Microorganisms toward Evolution of Sugar and Organic Acid Profiles throughout Ripening of Model Portuguese Cheeses

Model cheeses, designed to mimic Portuguese traditional cheeses, were manufactured aseptically following a method that attempted to resemble artisanal manufacture practices: they were coagulated with either animal or plant rennet, and inoculated with defined strains of lactic acid bacteria, that had initially been recovered as major constituents of the native microflora of Serra da Estrela cheese, viz. Lactococcus and Lactobacillus genera, either independently or as a mixture. The gross composition, the microbial viability, and the organic compound profile in those model cheeses were monitored, throughout a 60 day-ripening period. Microbial viability, pH, and levels of acetic and lactic acids were the physicochemical and biological parameters that experienced the most significant changes in such matrices — which were, in turn, dependent on the type of inoculum used. No synergisms emerged upon combination of the two strains, in terms of sugar uptake and organic acid release. The contribution of each adventitious bacterium — either independently or in the presence of each other, to the development of expected biochemical characteristics of model cheeses (even though to a lower extent than in actual ones) was confirmed, whereas the type of rennet used proved to be not relevant.

Women in Colour: Perceptions of Professionalism in Natural Dyeing during the Arts And Crafts Period

This article investigates women's dye practice at a time when natural dyes were deemed obsolete, or when created by men working from an artisanal studio, transformed into idealized labour more consistent with the ideals of the Arts and Crafts Movement. The objective of this article is to assess the extent to which gender plays a role in the historical and contemporary determination of the aesthetic, cultural, and social value of natural dyeing. Another goal is to move away from the term 'craft work' with its acquired pejorative context and locate dyeing within 'artisanal practice' as an occupational choice. Current studies on women's participation in the Arts and Crafts Movement raise questions as to the distinction between amateur and professional status among practitioners in many media. The only dyer deemed to be 'professional' was William Morris; yet in north-west Ireland, the Scottish Highlands, and England's Lake District, female dyers contemporary with Morris also made important contributions. That their production of colour originated from the separate sphere of home need not mitigate against professional status nor historical value, but there is a lingering perception that men such as Morris possessed inherently superior abilities. The focus of this article is also to analyze the mythology of natural dyeing which has limited the opportunity to recognize female dyers whose practice aligned with the utopian ideals of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Three examples are discussed here against a brief summary of centuries of women's involvement in the business and trade of dyeing. The Arts and Crafts dyers discussed in this paper are also compared to Morris. Women's abilities as colourists were as worthy of professional designation as were those same skills when they emanated from men who comprised the Movement's elite.

Fishy Business: Richard Wright's The Fishery (1764), Marine Painting, and the Limits of Refinement in Eighteenth-Century London

Ordinarily marginalized for their commercially-driven subject-matter and artisanal practices, British marine painters were presented with a new opportunity in the 1760s: a public competition encouraging them to produce aesthetically-refined "works of art" commensurate with Britain's new identity as maritime and cultural world power. Through a close analysis of the first prize-winning painting (Richard Wright's The Fishery ), its problematic subject-matter (the Society of Arts' "Land-Carriage Fish Scheme"), and the competition's scandalous disintegration, this article describes the anxieties, failures, and conflicts generated by such attempts to forge a culture of refinement within a society increasingly set against itself by commercialism and competitiveness.