The Touro Communication Club Notes - #107 –March 3, 2010 Tourocommunicationclub.blogspot.com

Five Communication Quotes of the Week
“Of all lies, art is the least untrue.”
Gustave Flaubert. 19th century French author
“A man paints with his brains and not with his hands.”
Michelangelo, 15th century, Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet
“A picture is worth a thousand words.”
Napoleon Bonaparte, 18th century French military dictator
“A writer should write with his eyes and a painter paint with his ears.”
Gertrude Stein, 20th century American writer
“Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.”
T.S. Eliot. 20th century American/English poet

The Touro Communication Club
2 pm - Wednesday, March 3, 2010– Room 223
“A Conversation with James Baldwin”
Gary Sheinfeld, a long-time Touro English professor, was a friend of James Baldwin. In this reading Timothy Taylor, Associate Dean of Students, will portray Mr. Baldwin, and Gary Sheinfeld will play himself.

Shortly before Baldwin’s death in 1987, Sheinfeld recorded a conversation with the famous American author, probably his last recorded words. Among Baldwin’s works are “Go Tell It on the Mountain”(1953), “ Giovanni’s Room” (1956), “Another Country”(1962), “The Fire Next Time” (1963) and a play “Blues for Mr. Charlie” (1964).

A Note to Communicators:

“Art” and Communication

For this week’s Club session, we are privileged to have Touro English professor Gary Sheinfeld bring to life his conversation with famed African-American author, James Baldwin. Dean Timothy Taylor plays Baldwin’s part in what Professor Sheinfeld says is Baldwin’s last interview.

As with the session we did on student poetry, the Baldwin program raises particular issues about “Art and Communication” that are worth exploring.

For our purposes, I am using the term “art” in its broadest definition. “Art” extends from ancient Greek sculpture to rap music, from the Egyptian pyramids to Broadway musicals, from Michelangelo’s famed sculpture, Pietá to graffiti on a subway train.

We normally associate communication with words. We use words when we write stories and poetry, as does James Baldwin. Words are the primary delivery tool of the author’s thoughts

We also use words in songs, films, plays, musicals and operas. Here, the words are one of several tools which convey the author’s thinking.

But what about the non-verbal forms of “art”? Dance, music, painting, sculpture, architecture, environmental and site specific art also communicate what the choreographer, painter, composer, sculptor and architect had in mind. We have to work harder to figure out the “message” of the artist because we don’t have words to help us. We have to rely on line, color, shape, texture, among other elements to convey the intention of the artist.

Semiotics, the study of signs and symbols, is a further aspect of communication. Street signs as well as advertising in magazines, newspapers and buses all send messages to those who view them.

The element which ties all “art” together is the author’s intention. What does he/she want to communicate? Is it to convey information? persuade? entertain? satirize? honor? celebrate? memorialize? Or a dozen other intentions.

Then we can look at the content of the communication.
· Is the musical content pure – as in pure sound vs. a sound that has a programmatic intent?
· Is its pictorial nature focused on pure line or color or abstract shape or something that has a specific time, place or person that is important?
· Is the movement a pure exploration of space, light and human form or does it serve a particular purpose?

Pure art is not interested in communicating any specific message. It is an exploration of the elements of the art form without regard to a specific message. For those interested in “art for art’s sake,” anything that smacks of a “message” is not considered art. Quickly, we are off and running into an endless argument. Ultimately, the “art” exists in the eyes of the beholder. As Henry Kissinger once said, “Perception is all.”

Finally, we have to examine the attitude the author of the work of art take toward the subject matter. Does it attempt to be neutral – as in “pure art”? Is it support or hostile? Is it biased in one way or another?

Once we’ve done our mental homework as observers, then we can be alert to the thoughts themselves that the author is communicating. Are they superficial illustrations? Are they different and unusual?

So often we are swept along by the power of the technique of the art work – surprise, terror, suspense, heart-warming, stark – that we are distracted from its intention and attitude. In adventure movies, it’s the explosions. In blockbuster musical spectacles, we come out whistling the scenery. We need to know why we’ve come to observe the art work.
As one of my teachers, Harold Clurman, the noted critic, stage director and co-founder of the Group Theatre, commented, “I go to the theatre like I go to dinner. I want some salad, some steak, a few vegetables and a sweet dessert. But I don’t want too much of cotton candy because it spoils my digestion.”

Where’s the “enjoyment” in observing the art work? Does an overly analytical habit destroy the experience of luxuriating in the moment? I would hope not. Just as the trained communicator has a wide range of tools to use, so does the arts observer. I would hope the experience would be richer for the analysis both in the moment and thereafter.

But then, what’s art? As the connoisseur of “art” might say over a beer, “I know what I like.”

UPCOMING CONVERSATIONS:

March 10, 2010 - “The Power of No” The word “No” is a powerful word. Negatives always are. “No” is the favorite word of a two-year-old child. “No” blocks forward movement. “No” stops the thinking of some people. “No” provokes negative emotions. “No” can be a powerful position. What do you feel when you say “No”? What do you do? Swear at the person who says “No.” We have lots to talk about. And then there’s passive resistance…..

March 17, 2010 – “Science and Art – Is there a Conflict?” – A discussion led by Touro poet Charles Borkhuis. More to come.

March 24, 2010 - Dean Donne Kampel on “Women & Leadership”- Women are breaking through the glass ceiling more frequently these days. However, the challenges that female leaders face in traditional hierarchy remain daunting. Dean Kampel will share some of her experiences and secrets as part of our discussion. Her study of these issues is part of her forthcoming book on the topic.

What about one of these topics?
“Rodney King: ‘Why Can’t We Get Along?”
“Repetition”
“Meaning”
“The Seven Heavenly Virtues”
“Why Does History Repeat Itself?”
“Heroism”
“Concentration”
“Coping with Adversity”
“Distraction”
Student Poetry showcase
“Empathy”
“Connecting the Dots”
Role play of cynical people
“Cold Calling in Sales”
“He’s Just Not That into You”
“Freedom of Speech”
And dozens of others!

What happened on Wednesday,
February 3, 2010?
Compare the notice of the session with what really happened!
“How Do You Fire Someone?”
In our work or love life, we may have been fired or told to get lost. Why does this happen? Can you tell if you are going to be fired? What do you say to someone who you want to get rid of? Lots of emotion surrounds these situations. We’ll talk about some ways to prepare to fire someone as well as your options if you suddenly learn you’ve been fired.

Joining in this week’s discussion was newcomer Ruti Abramovitz. Among the familiar faces were Damian Forbes, Jean Missial, Brittany Robles, David Nussbaum, Richard Green, Erica Bell, Carlisle Yearwood, Lorinda Moore, Charles Mason and Hal Wicke.

Hal opened the discussion with a proverbial question, “When do you fire someone? The termination of a job is the most obvious response.
· “Downsized” is a way of firing someone without commenting on his/her performance.
· You get “sweet b.s.” when you get fired.
· Everything changed after Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice” famous phrase, “You’re fired.”
· It used to be a disgraceful thing to be fired.
· It’s a blow to your ego.
· Japanese companies used to pride themselves on “cradle to grave” employment situations, but no longer because of the economy. [That’s happening to Toyota’s culture with all those car recalls.]
· How do you avoid being fired?
· We no longer have the paternalistic culture of the “golden handcuffs”

Richard commented on his experience many years ago of working at Sports Illustrated where everyone was treated to fancy lunches, upstate NY retreats. “We were family,” he said. Then came the shock when he was downsized and suddenly no longer a member of the family. He became disillusioned with the concept of corporate family. “You’re only ‘family’ until they don’t need you,” he said.

When Richard was downsized, Sports Illustrated (of Time, Inc.) provided an Executive training program to teach employees about to leave how to interview write a resume and how to network to get another job. “It was to make the firing experience more palatable,” he observed.

Damian commented that on his job he was “just passing through.” This indicated he was there to do the work, but not invested emotionally with his work or the company.

What about promoting someone in order to fire them? Give them a job a person cannot do and then fire them for not doing the job. [Pretty Machiavellian!)

How do you prepare to fire someone?
· Start a paper trail. Collect a diary of specifics of things the employee hasn’t done. Build a case against the employee.
· This anticipates the employee suing the company for lack of a warning or being accused on bias or other whimsical charges.
· You sense something is in the air.
· “I was fired because I was disliked by the manager.”
· Observe the non-verbals.
· Look for “stop signs” – lateness, lack of preparation

How do you prepare yourself for being fired?
· Look at the market. Read about it in the newspaper.
· Constantly develop your network of contacts. An actor starts looking for his next job as soon as he is cast in his present job.
· Just be yourself 100% of the time.
· Tiger Wood – feeling entitled and deserving causes problems
· It’s a rare thing to learn from others – Unfortunately, we have to learn the same lessons ourselves.
· Expect the unexpected

This was an interesting and very practical discussion. Everyone present seemed to understand the nature of firing someone. The topic has other implications: Do you “fire” your family? Do you “fire” a loved one? Do you “fire” your doctor, lawyer? Can you “fire” a teacher? [I have observed students planning to fire a teacher.]

Politicians get “fired” by the voters for a variety of misdeeds. Corruption and sex scandals seem to be the major reasons. In 1974, President Richard Nixon resigned over what he called “a third-rate burglary.” The pressure that NY Governor David Patterson is now enduring for a variety of nefarious misdeeds may induce a resignation. Similar pressure is now on Congressman Charles Rangel of Harlem – twice a Touro graduation speaker – for his sloppy management of gifts he received.

On the sex scene, President Clinton was almost impeached for his behavior with Monica Lewinsky. NJ Governor James McGreevey resigned over his homosexual affair. Within 48 hours after NY Governor Eliot Spitzer was caught patronizing a Washington prostitute, he resigned.

Perhaps the most unusual twist of a recent political firing was that of NY State Senator Hiram Monserate of the Bronx who was ousted by his colleagues in Albany for his brutish behavior toward his female companion, but now is running again for the open seat.
The list is endless – and boring in its repetition. [A side observation – there are no women in these lists. Why?]

The media scrutiny and the public outcry to these political situations often is so loud and distracting that the politicians cannot do their jobs effectively – assuming they could be effective in the first place.

On the personal level, being fired affects a small number of people. On a public level, a political “firing” affects a large number of people on a variety of levels, both immediate and long term. Confidence in ones’ self can be affected in individual situations. Confidence and trust in public figures in general affect their ability to govern and deliver services.

“Firing” is a volatile crucible which can serve as a metaphor for many aspects of human existence. For each “firing,’ if we are alert to the communication signals – verbal and non-verbal – we can prepare ourselves for both sides of such a situation.

---
We always have a great time exploring these issues. So often our daily life never focuses on these Communication issues. If you have something you want us to discuss please let us know and we’ll add it to the list.

Next time bring a friend. The Communication Club is always an open discussion, limited only by time. Everyone gets a chance to speak. All opinions are welcome. Here is an opportunity for students to challenge professors’ views outside the class without any homework or assignments. You just have to show up and listen and talk if you want.

Hal Wicke