Iris Van Herpen Exhibition Utrecht

The New Craftsmanship Iris van Herpen? and her Inspiration â€Å"With my work I intend to show that fashion can certainly have an added value to the world† In the Centraal Museum of Utrecht, Netherlands, renowned fashion designer/artist Iris van Herpen (1984) exhibits a highly personal side of her work for the public from 29 June until 9 October 2011. By contrasting her designs with what worked as the inspiration behind them, van Herpen’s futuristic approach to fashion is displayed with art dating back to the sixteenth to the nineteenth century creating an unusual opposition in the general mood of the show.In addition to a contrast between old and new, one will also find work by other contemporary artists that have inspired van Herpen or collaborated with her. These include artists such as American-born sculptor Kris Kuksi; Dutch choreographer Nanine Linning; hat designers Stephen Jones and Irene Bussemaker; Dutch artist Bart Hess who shares van Herpen’s futurist ic approach in his work; and architect Daniel Widrig whose main influence in the show was with 3D printing. Upon entering the exhibition one enters a calm space with soft music playing in the background.Looking up towards the high raised ceiling you can see Nanine Linning’s opera inspired performance piece with van Herpen’s extravagant costumes and haute couture creations in larger than life projections on the bare white walls. Below these displays one would find the original costumes as seen in the performance. Referring back to the contrast between old and new, or rather ancient and innovative, it was interesting to note which of van Herpen’s designs were paired up with what ancient artefact and why.Leaving the theatricality of Linning behind, the show carries you away from the modernity of projectors through to a series of antique items including a bookshelf, chairs and tables as well as paintings by the popular Parisian painter Pierre Joseph Sauvage and an e xpensive silk wall panel from Lyon in France. These were shown next to one of van Herpen’s more ‘wearable’ garments, a dress, which could be assumed to be made of fabric containing metal threads, having been concentinaed to create a voluminous shape reminiscent of coral reefs. Similar to the layout of the exhibition, VanHerpen’s approach to fashion stems from the interaction between handmade, an old-fashioned method of construction, and innovation, through constant pursuit of new techniques and materials. One of van Herpen’s most recently discovered techniques is a form of rapid prototyping called 3D printing. This technology came into use in 2003 mainly for duplicating valuable artefacts for museums. Cleverly, through collaboration with architect Daniel Widrig, van Herpen uses this technology to create what looks like sculpted dresses or headgear, once again reminiscent of the shape of coral reefs or some sorts of skeletal forms.This side of van He rpen’s collection was shown alongside work of goldsmiths form the seventeenth-century. This juxtapose truly emphasized the origins of the inspiration for her designs. There was an apparent connection between the auricular styled crockery, plates, crowns etc. and her laser sintering technique. With further regard to the 3D printing technique, the designer herself believes, â€Å"it is a matter a time before we can print the clothing we wear today†.It is truly inspiring to see an artist of such a young age produce something that has the prospects of having a massive impact on the industry itself and, well, everything really. If we can produce our clothing with 3D printing technology, maybe we can also produce furniture through the same process, or even houses, maybe even bridges and buildings. Just imagine! As for the overall impression of the exhibition itself; the concept and story behind it was thoughtful and interesting, the layout was appealing, and the work itself was beautiful and innovative.

buy custom Alexander the Greats Empire essay

buy custom Alexander the Great's Empire essay Alexander III the Great still remains one of the greatest commanders who have ever lived. He was born in 21st July, 356 BC and died in 11th June, 323 BC. He was the King of Macedon whom, at only thirty years of age, had already conquered the biggest empire that any leader can ever imagine. He had conquered Europe and most of Asia. This conquest was however short-lived as he unexpectedly died at age thirty two with fever. His death marked the beginning of fall to his vast kingdom as divisions come up from his various generals. Fight for the control of power led to divisions of this empire. This was something he would have never agreed to if given a chance to do so. This paper seeks to explore reasons why Alexander III the Greats empire fell so fast after his death. He succeeded his father, King Philip II of Macedon, who was assassinated by one of his bodyguards at a wedding ceremony. His mother was Philips fourth wife Olympias who was the King of Epirus daughter. She was Philips principle wife for most of his kingship. Alexander the Great therefore grew in the royal family. In his early life, he had been tutored by Aristotle. He was taught much of arts, war, music, and philosophy. This greatly contributed to his zeal for success. The lessons molded him for the great task ahead. At only sixteen, his father had entrusted him with the army when he was away. Alexander defeated the Thracian neighbors going ahead to establish his first city. He named it Alexandropolis after himself. Alexander had also managed to tame a hostile horse that was to belong to his father Philip. This horse was afraid of the shadow from the sun. Alexander offered himself to tame this horse and superbly succeeded. This made his father to buy him the horse. These were clear signs of the potential Alexander possessed as this only happened at ten years of age. He was therefore destined to be the heir to the throne. Not only was he groomed for this but he was also aware of it and adequately prepared himself for it. He was well taught the act of war, something he well perfected during the battles. King Philip II, his father had entrusted him with commanding the army. He took this opportunity under the guidance of hid father to expand and strengthen the army. This helped the father to easily defeat his enemies. They could go to wars with Alexander controlling one group of soldiers while the father controlling the other. After the death of his father, Alexander took over the throne as an already established soldier. He took time during his previous years to build a very strong army. His father Philip had also been able to establish a very peaceful empire. He took time to diplomatically bring peace among the other parts of his kingdom that had rebelled. This may have a very good beginning for Alexanders as he had little internal battles to fight. He however ordered for the execution of those he thought were a threat to his kingship. He was later given the award of the Greece generalship. This gave him an opportunity to continue with his fathers plans. The late Philip had planned to systematically expand the kingdom. This assured him of his grip on power. Thebes also had refused to acknowledge his authority. He responded by invading it with his army killing all the 6,000 soldiers there. After successfully taking control of Greece, he decided to invade and capture Persia. He succeeded in the first attempt but king Darius of Persia and his army retreated controlled a section of their territory. Alexander and his army went ahead southwards against Egypt. He was welcomed here and was like a liberator for them as they had been under Persian rule for long. He went ahead to the lower Asian territories. After many conquests, he returned with his army to finish out Persia. This is a mission he successfully accomplished. King Darius died in this war. He therefore matched to Babylon and occupied king Nebuchadnezzar IIs palace. He had planned to establish Babylon as the capital of his entire kingdom. This was to be his base as he planned to attack Arabia and North Africa. This plan was however not successfu as he died after a short while. As noted by Depuydt in Die Welt des Orients, Alexander the Great died on 11th June 323 BC in Nebuchadnezzars palace. He had fever following a private drinking party that had been hosted by Medius of Larissa. His fever grew worse by each day bringing worry to the soldiers. By the time he was becoming speechless, his Macedonian soldiers were arranged to pass by him as an honor. The best he could do at this time was to speechlessly wave to them. He later succumbed to this ailment. This was the end to a king who had ambitiously conquered a considerably large empire for himself. As per his plans, he was to continue with this trend to maybe the entire world. The astonishment starts after the death of this great king. The news of his sudden death spread to the unbelief of Greece and other towns. This was to be the beginning of another twist to the Macedonian empire. He had set a different legacy in all the territories he had conquered. He believed in the maintenance of peace through intermarriages. This was seen as he encouraged his soldiers to marry with the natives. He also imported people from other towns to live with the rest. He believed that his empire would be a peaceful one through such coexistence. This was his legacy. By the time of his death, he had not picked an apparent heir to his throne. This was an important factor in his succession. The process of picking the heir was not an easy as their there was no automatic one. The one who could have been one was not yet born. This prompted his generals to fight for his position. Rivalry was evident as each one of them fought to control a section of the empire. Perdicas and Meleager were some of the commanders who were killed in Asia. Later, another general named Antigonas controlled the Macedonian empire. This however did not last long as rivalry still come into surface prompting other commanders to gang against him. He later died in battle. Consequently, the entire Macedonian kingdom was split into four main territories: Macedonia which included Greece was controlled by Cassander; Ptolemy became the king of Egypt; Celeusus become the king of Asia; and Thrace was controlled by Lysimachus. The chaos was experienced depicted that Alexanders mission across the whole his entire empire was not embraced by the rest. He may have not had other allies who embraced his vision. He continued with conquest believing that he brought unity amongst these towns. This was not the case as evidenced by what happens after his death. Civil war broke up in Macedonia as power struggles ensured between different entities. Greece had been occupied by the Macedonians. Greece later planned to free themselves from their rule. They rebelled against them, a decision that started another war known as Lamian War. The Macedonians were defeated and expelled out of Greece. They however went back after getting reinforcement from Craterus. The great Macedonian empire continued with is woes for the next almost fifty years. It was falling never to rise again to the former glory. Later the Romans attacked Macedonia terribly conquering it in 197 BC. It was later to be relegated to become one of the Roman provinces. This was the beginning of Roman Empire. They controlled Macedonia until the 19th century. Rome also conquered Greece at the same period. Egypt was later added to be part of the Roman Empire. As it is pointed out by Knight (2010), those that worked with him never embraced his vision. Alexanders death could have provided them an opportunity to continue with his works. It also comes out that Alexander the Great had written down an organized vision of how he wanted things to happen in the expanded Macedonian empire. All his commanders fail to implement these even after the written document is read to the soldiers. He was wanted the intermarriage between different cities in Europe and Asia. He believed this as the only way to enhance development in these regions. According to him, the family ties created would be an asset in peaceful coexistence. This is the reason he encourages his soldiers to marry andd to have children with the native women. After Alexanders death all these marriages broke proving that they did this out of insistence by the leader. It should also be pointed out that Alexander had his weakness that featured after his death to influence the fall of the Macedonian empire. He was so much authoritative and ambitious that nothing could stand between him and his mission. He was a high tempered and an over reactive person. He could not stand any opposition as those who stood out like him were all done away with. This led him to the execution of all those who may have been the ideal heirs to the throne. This may have also distanced his potential allies from him due to fear. For all those years, he could not have missed to groom someone to be so close to him to take the throne in his absence. His ambition went had limitations. There is on the absolute authority of a leader during this system of ruler ship. It was upon him to ensure that another leader was ready at anytime. His father did that to him but he failed to do the same. An effective government or kingdom must have structures. These structures are based on different levels of management with appointed leaders. Such is the only way to have absolute authority over the subjects. This is missing in Alexander the Greats empire. Unlike his father Philip who was well organized, he failed to organize his vast kingdom. There is no place we see an organized structure of management in all the areas he conquers. His kingdom remains vulnerable as himself and his army continues fighting ahead. This greatly contributed to the fast downfall of his kingdom as he was the only unifying factor. The mention of his name made towns, cities and monarchs surrender. After his death, the loopholes in his rule resurface as rebellion openly emerges. There were no structures put in place to manage the entire Macedonian empire. This led to the civil wars and the divisions of the empire. There had been some disquiet amongst some commanders in Alexanders army just before his death. There was a problem when they had come from the Persian invasion. Many of the soldiers had died on their way back through the desert due to hunger and exhaustion. Alexander held a big victory party after he dismissed 10,000 veteran soldiers to go back to Macedonia. This led to the mutiny by the army, something that enraged him. He then ordered the execution of the ring leader to his bodyguards. This incident created tension in the army and most of his close generals. This may have contributed to the fall out of the generals after his death. Alexander the Great may not have picked a successor like his father did due egoism. He was so much filled with himself and his achievements. He may never imagine anybody to be the king but him. In Persia, he trains the Persian youths in the Macedonian ways. He introduces his own culture in this territory. He recruits these almost 30,000 Persian youths in the army. It also seen that remains with all the children that were born by the Macedonian army men with the native women. He decides to live with them instead of giving them away to their mothers. He works on a plan of coming with a hybrid army that will only be attached to him. He has no thought of bringing other leaders into the picture. This may have distanced some of the leaders from him and the new breed of this army. In conclusion, Alexander III the Great of Macedon was a King who achieved a lot in terms of the military power. He was able to establish the biggest empire for that matter. The success of this empire however vanished with the death Alexander. Immediately after his death, this kingdom encountered upheavals that led to its collapse. It was clear that his death came by surprise as he had not put things in order. He failed to provide a good structure for the unity of the entire empire. As much as he had great vision for this kingdom, it seemed that all those who worked with him had not embraced this. This remains to be part of history that is a lesson to all the present leaders who are so ambitious with their achievements at the expense of the long term stability of their jurisdictions. Buy custom Alexander the Great's Empire essay

How to Write a Query Letter in 7 Steps

How to Write a Query Letter in 7 Steps How to Write a Query Letter in 7 Steps A starving writer stands in front of a mailbox, clutching a hefty brown envelope addressed to a publishing company. They say a prayer, push their manuscript in, and begin the long wait for a reply that could make or break their career. It's a romantic image, but most major publishers don't actually accept "unsolicited manuscripts" these days. If that writer were serious about being published, they’d first seek out an agent. And for that, they'd need a query letter. Ready to get an agent? Here's how to write a query letter in 7 steps With the help of our brand-new infographic, this post will show you how to write a query letter that gets results. Note: a lot of research needs to happen before you start querying agents. This article will focus on the query letter itself, and specifically, queries for fiction. You can learn about queries for non-fiction submissions in this post  and how to write a non-fiction book proposal right here. Writing an Effective Query Letter  A query letter is a note asking an agent if they’re interested in representing a book. Agents may receive a dozen or more queries a day - and might only sign four or five authors per year. So you can see how making a good first impression in your query is crucial. Now, there's no "standard" format that all authors use for their letters. However, a query is a business document and as such should look like a formal one-page business letter. Our one universal piece of advice about querying is to keep the letter short. Think 300 to 400 words at the very most. Many agents field queries using their phones, so think about how will your letter look on a small screen. Does it give the impression of being a huge wall of text, or a disjointed series of singles sentences? If so, revise to make it more concise, orderly, and organized. Without further ado, here’s how to write a query letter in 7 steps.Step 1: Capture the agent’s attention with your greetingâ€Å"Dear Ms. Tyler† That’s perfectly fine, assuming that the agent’s name is Tyler and she is, indeed, a woman. The following line should then make the agent prick up their ears. If you’ve published before, why not start with that? Also make sure to mention any critical recognition or awards you've received for your previous work.I’m seeking representation for my novel, The Bedlam Stacks.  This novel is the follow-up to The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, which was shortlisted for the Betty Trask Prize, and a finalist for the Locust First Novel Prize in 2016.If you haven’t published before, another great way to start is with a personal connection.We met at last year’s Writer’s Digest Annual Conference and chatted briefly about your work with up-and-coming romance authors.Or, better yet, get a referral from an established author or a publishing insider.Jane Doe at Del Rey Books suggested that I contact you regarding representation for my debut science fiction novel, Arbormancer.Networking is crucial in publishing. â€Å"You want something that will bring the submission directly to the agent rather than an assistant or an intern,† says editor and former agent Fran Lebowitz. â€Å"Showing that you are connected never hurts.† If you have no connections to speak of, don’t panic; just jump straight into your pitch.I’m writing to seek representation for my 92,500-word debut thriller, Operation Kill.The title, genre, and word count: three key pieces of information are right there in your first sentence. With that out of the way, let’s really grab their attention!Tip: Always mention your genre, word count and target audience in your query.Step 2: Craft an irresistible hook"Sell the book, don’t apologize for it, and know how to condense its true meaning to a couple of sentences.†Ã‚   - Jonny Geller, CEO of Curtis Brown (John le Carrà ©, David Mitchell, Susanna Clarke)Within the first few pages of a novel, you need to make it impossible for readers to put your book down. In a query letter, you have to make do with just a few lines. This part of the letter is known as the hook. Your hook should show agents how your book is different from the thousands of others in your genre. It could be an awesome concept that makes the reader wonder why someone hasn’t thought of it before. Just look at the hook for Jeff Lindsay’s Darkly Dreaming Dexter:Meet Dexter Morgan, a polite wolf in sheep’s clothing. He’s handsome and charming, but something in his past has made him abide by a different set of rules. He’s a serial killer whose one golden rule makes him immensely likable: he only kills bad people.Another great hook might involve an intriguing central conflict, like the one in Stepheni e Meyers’ Twilight:About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him - and I didn’t know how potent that part might be -   that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.Not only does this introduce the genre and tone (dark paranormal romance), it sets up the narrator’s dilemma: she knows she’s in love with a man who might kill her. What will happen next? Is she walking into a trap? Will her love conquer the vampire’s bloodlust? Perfecting your hook might take days - but it’s the most important part of your pitch, hands down.

French Past Imperative - Impératif passé

French Past Imperative - Impà ©ratif passà © The French past imperative is very rare  because its usage is restricted to a single situation: it gives a command for something that must be done before a certain time.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aie à ©crit ce rapport demain.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Have this report written by tomorrow.If you obey the instructions in the above example, when tomorrow comes the report will already be written, so the writing of it will be in the past, ergo, the past imperative. If you use the regular imperative, Écris ce rapport demain, the report wont yet be written when tomorrow rolls around: in accordance with the command, you will be writing it tomorrow. On the other hand, the careful use of a preposition can make all the difference - you could just say Écris ce rapport avant demain and avoid the past imperative altogether - probably another reason that it is so rare.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Soyez partis midi.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Leave / Be gone by noon.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ayons fini les devoirs 7h00.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lets have our homework done by 7:00.The past imperative is kind of similar in nuance to the past infinitive, except that it indicates a command rather than a statement of fact. Because the past imperative is so rare, theres really no need to learn how to use it, but you should be able to recognize it. How to Conjugate the Past Imperative The past imperative is a  compound conjugation, which means it has two parts: imperative  of the  auxiliary verb  (either  avoir  or  Ãƒ ªtre)past participle  of the main verb Note:  Like all French compound conjugations, the past imperative may be subject to  grammatical  agreement: When the auxiliary verb is  Ãƒ ªtre, the past participle must agree with the subjectWhen the auxiliary verb is  avoir, the past participle may have to agree with its direct object As with the present imperative, the past imperative has conjugations for only three grammatical persons:  tu,  nous, and  vous. Pronoun parler choisir avoir tre (tu) aie parl aie choisi aie eu aie t (nous) ayons parl ayons choisi ayons eu ayons t (vous) ayez parl ayez choisi ayez eu ayez t Pronoun sortir descendre aller venir (tu) sois sorti(e) sois descendu(e) sois all(e) sois venu(e) (nous) soyons sorti(e)s soyons descendu(e)s soyons all(e)s soyons venu(e)s (vous) soyez sorti(e)(s) soyez descendu(e)(s) soyez all(e)(s) soyez venu(e)(s)

Child Protection is part of a continuum of good child-care practice Essay

Child Protection is part of a continuum of good child-care practice that supports children's early development and learning. Discuss - Essay Example Some questions are often posted when experts and professionals discuss the issue of child protection: are children truly abused or molested by their parents and guardians? What are the actions that constitute these abnormal behaviours in people that are naturally expected to provide cares and love for these little ones? According to National Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Children NSPCC, children in the United Kingdom are abused in the following ways: physically, sexually, and mentally or psychologically (Cawson et al. 45). The manifestations of these abuses include: physical neglect of children that make them look dirty, uncared-for, forlorn and underfed; emotional and psychological maltreatment that make them appear disconnected from the society and their peers; physical abuse that comes from violent and irate parents and guardians who indiscriminately treat their children without respect for their rights; discrimination and constant bullying from parents that abused alcohol and other dangerous drugs; and the worst of all, sexual abuse of children and minors. In practice, professionals have worked so hard to unearth the reasons why the problem of child abuse is on the rise. Some theories about children abuse have been propounded; however, it is eye-opening to notice that parents or guardians that abuse the children in their custodies do so out of negligence, ignorance, drug or substance-motivated and self-reflection, if they had been victims of child abuse themselves (Cawson et al 58). This circumstance creates a serious social problem when those who should protect the children are the ones preying on or abusing them. Schaffer reckons that a child that is subjected to incessant abuse for a lengthened period of time would have what is referred to as â€Å"stunted growth and poor learning ability† (185). Experts have cleverly discovered that unprotected children from continuous abuse

Understand the role of personal selling with marketing strategy Essay

Understand the role of personal selling with marketing strategy - Essay Example The face-to-face interactions experienced in this type of selling allow the sales people to observe the specific reactions of consumers to specific products. Sales people act as product introducers, brilliant communicators and demand pushers as they add exclusive utility to the commodities and services they are selling. These people play a very important role in determining the success of the marketing strategy of the company that they work for (Marks, 2008, p.5). Personal selling can be considered to be a form of product or service promotion (The Times 100, 2012). As they meet with the clients/consumers, sales people are expected to carry out a product promotion exercise through the employment of the right attitude, proper appearance and above all share some specialist knowledge about the product with the customer. They can tell the customer about the importance of using the product and how to use it. Personal selling is happens every day and everywhere, for instance, things that ar e sold through the counter like cosmetics or on the departmental stores. According to Balsley and Birsner (2007, p. 88), products which are highly priced and with technical features such as photocopiers, fridges and cars, require personal selling where a customer can get a chance to ask questions on the usage of the product. Promotion mix strategies do not aim at satisfying only the prospective or regular customers, but also aim at other customers who are ignorant of the product as well as those who are aware of the product and have the ability to buy it (Kotler, 2006, p.248). Let us consider a person who is unaware of computer operations but wants to buy a computer. Such a person will go out in search of computer information; he/she will pay attention to computer adverts, will attend computer exhibitions, computer company reputations or even contact sales people from different computer companies. Consequently, the aim of promotions is to reach out for new customers, retain the curr ent customers, reward loyal customers and even induce the buying action (Marketing Knowledge Center, 2009). Personal selling may be the most appropriate in achieving this since it involves direct contact between the sales people and the consumers. For any marketing strategy to succeed, a thorough understanding of consumer buying behavior has to be done (Balsley and Birsner, 2007, p. 91). Without such type of understanding a company may not know what exactly their customers want or even how much they supply to the market. Buying can take two forms: the common consumer buying and also the organizational buying such as retail outlets. Consumers buy their products specifically for personal use thus most companies are usually concerned about consumers’ reactions to their marketing efforts. For instance a company needs to know how pricing their products may affect their consumers (The Times 100, 2012). In cases where the consumer market is very price sensitive which means a small a lteration on price will have a very high impact on sales, a company will need to adopt appropriate pricing strategies. A lot of theories have been put forward in order to explain consumer buying behaviors. The buying behavior model which studies the buyer’s black box (Zandl and Leonard, 2002, p. 106). The black box contains external stimuli which influence his/her buying decisions as well as buying characteristics. Moreover, it contains buyers’ responses that are determinants of his/her attitude, product choice and amount to purchase and when. The model presents some of the key factors that influence a buyer’s buying decision. To start with, are the sociological factors which include

Reality TV Influence on the Audience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Reality TV Influence on the Audience - Essay Example As the discussion stresses  during the initial years of the twenty first century, viewers watched reality TV to observe people’s lives, watch them argue, fight, eat bizarre things and reveal personal details of their lives. These reality shows were humored and harmless. But with time, the essence of reality TV has changed. People now participate in reality shows to contest against each other in order to win some prize or gain popularity. This reflects increased competitiveness and materialism prevailing in the society.  This research declares that  as television drama became more violent and sexually explicit, reality TV evolved as a more meaningful genre of TV shows that present viewers with more competitive and bitter versions closer to reality. Psychologists present interesting explanation as to why reality shows are very popular. One of the primary reasons is that viewers can identify themselves with the participants who are initially ordinary people and then become famous. Secondly, they enjoy the competitive nature of such shows since there are always winners and losers.  Reality TV is taking over regular TV and is polluting people’s mind. Violence, distorted pictures of reality, language and stunts are marking a lot of reality TV. These shows are very entertaining but many professionals are expressing concerns over the harmful implications. They point out that negative impacts of reality TV are higher for children and teenagers than adults.