The Viewer admires to Fernand Braudel

If you don´t know, the first career of the Viewer was History, at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and there she knew the "New History", a french line to understand that discipline with the ideas of  Annales. Economies, sociétés, civilisations.

It was created in 1929 for Lucien Fevre and Marc Bloch, and many other historians, who said that every historical fact happens in a place and it is build according with social undertandings. In that way they got together history, sociology, antropology, psicology and geografy, for that in 1994 the name was changed for Annales. Histoire, Sciences sociales.

One of its more important historian was Fernand Braudel. He was born in France in 1902 and died in the same country in 1985. In a family of mathematicians, at the age of 20 he chose History, and then he became History teacher when he started his first job in Algeria as high school teacher. In that time, he was fascinated for the Mediterranean see the social relations who was possible throw it. For that his first works as a historian was La Méditerranée et le Monde Méditerranéen à l'époque de Philippe II (The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II).

When he wrote his second work, Civilization and Capitalism (1955–79), he also was one of the most important leaders of the Annales in its second generation. His last work was  the unfinished Identity of France (1970–85).

The Viewer admire him so much because he knew how to get together an integral look of human history about in a new term mentalités, about “what women and me do”, the manners to face the world, the most difficult to change in history. He called that the long dureé.

Braudel's history structures, both mental and environmental, determine the long-term course of events by constraining actions on, and by, humans over a duration long enough that they are beyond the consciousness of the actors involved.

The Viewer and the art

For the viewer, Art is a distant thing for her, or more precisely visual art. But the Viewer think that Art is important, because Art is a form of expression, also Art is a part of History, like representation of the human evolution, so the evolution of Art is connected with time. 

The Viewer enjoys many forms of Art like music or cinema... but she don't really know so much about painting. When she was a kid, the viewer prefered to read, she loves books, anyway She goes sometimes in museum but not often, she likes the museum of precolombian art, more in an historic way.

The viewer has hobbies of course, she paints mandalas and makes kaleidoscopes. She has habilities to create things with hands, she really like this. But can she tell is that Art ? She doesn't think... For the Viewer, it's not important. The viewer never participate in any art competition, for her the idea of art competition is a little weird, Art is a form of expression, and it's very personnal, how could you decide if a work of art is better than another? for that, the Viewer could be impressed by an artist, his skills, but not jalous. 

The Viewer doesn't really like modern art, if an art creation is made of human flesh, blood and bones, literally, she thinks that's a little weird and disgusting. But in a poetic way, Art is made of human flesh, blood and bones. It's passionate, an artist is physically involved in his creation. 

The Viewer's favorites visual art expressions are stained-glass window, for the game between light and colors, is like when you look in a kaleidoscope. She also likes photography, but she thinks that now everyones have a camera and take photos. But the photography as Art isn't just take photos, it's a work with light, emotions, movement sometimes, the most important is not the moment but what the photographer wants to show. About graffities, the viewer hasn't a closed position, some are a real form of art but like photos, not all, some graffities are just ugly and made for insulting. 

The Viewer doesn't have a favorite artist or a favorite work of art. She likes to feel emotions, that´s all

A favorite Viewer´s view: The Atacama desert

For the long weekend in the beginning of the month of november in 2011, the Viewer was in a little trip in the north of Chile. In the the afternoon of the second day of her journey, a chinese tourist was very pleased to take the photo for her in that beautiful sunset in the Atacama desert near to San Pedro. The colors were wonderful, many tipes of yellows, ochers, oranges, reds and browns in a landscape with endless horizons and skies....ahhh, and a soft breeze was refreshing the air. That moment was just perfect.
What a lovely photograph. That's what the Viewer thinks everytime when she sees the picture, because in it she was doing one of her favorite action, just looking and enjoying one of her favorite places on earth. She really loves that desert.
She thinks that in the same time the desert is"nothing" also is "richness", because it invites to see in you, nobody disturb you, is just you and the immeasurable.

Of course, the Viewer enjoys to see films

The Viewer never goes to the cinema or rent dvd´s, but she really loves to see movies on line from internet and also improve her english skills, but sometimes is a trouble to find exactly what she wants, many time she have to see bad movies, but the worst of all in this year was "Balada triste de Trompeta", an Alex  de la Iglesia film... anyway, her favorites kinds of movies are many, drama, comedy, action, adventures and Sci fi, in the same way, she likes many film directors, Oliver Stone, Stanley Kubrick, Juan José Campanella, Lars Von Trier, The Coen Brothers, David Lynch, and others, it is a long list. In the last time, she wanted to see old movies, the classic ones, for that the last mive that she saw was "Dr. Zhivago"... she was so impressed!!!

With so many films in life is difficult to choose one, but she thinks is "El secreto de sus ojos" her favorite film ever, the stars in it are well known in Argentina, they are Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil and Guillermo Franchela. It is about a love in years betwen a murderer that the protagonist have to resolve in Argentina since 70´s to 90´s... The charming to this movie is a complex well done mixt of mistery, friendship, pasion,  in a history time. The Viewer likes it so much because, it is a great movie, and also it has places, a way to see life, and urban scenery from the Argentina that she grown up, for that she saw it about 4 times. For that and many other things, she recomends it, the link to see it is: http://vimeo.com/15004372

About others films, the one that she longs to see again is "Pride and Prejudice" from Jane Austen Book. Strong, powerfull women story about the way to see, to love, to be, and sometimes, many the Viwer thinks,  in contradiction with feelings, in a watchfull 18 century english society... but the love is the winner, like in the real life the Jane Austen couldn´t do.

My favorite piece of tecnology: ἀλφάβετον

I want to talk about the alphabet. A greek name to letters, if you mix them with sense, you can make words.
The greek took it from the fenician in a place who was known like Biblos, and they transformed it, they change the direction of write of some letters, others became in vowels, and they also generalized the writting from the left to the right.
About the latin alpabeth... the etruscans took it from the greek, but in many years they appropiated it, they changed many letters and in the first century of our era, with the Roman Empire expantion and then the christianism, 23 letters conquered the mediterranean lands, every Europe, and finally, all the occidental world.
The spanish alphabet is build with 27 letters. The visigods took it from the latin alphabet, and with Alfonso X, the wise, King of Castilla in medieval times, use the spanish romance language to speak and write and the castillan law, and also for the translation of many books from antiques times.
It came to the life of the life to the Viewer at the age of 5, when she was a little girl, and she used it every day, and right now. She learnt about the importance of it only when was 18, in a History class, then she realized about her life as she know it, with out the alphabet, it could be almost impossible. That's why she thought write about it as a simple tribute.
Finally, is necessary to say, that this invention who was born in Mesopotamia about 1500 years before Christ, for the need to count things who exist, it was a revolution to handle information, the communication and to make visible things in an abstract sense and easy way. and also let it for the Human History.

I am finishing... at last!

This term "The Viewer" has big expectations. The most important one is that, in a few weeks, she is going to finish her thesis... She is taking this time only to enjoy her final period in the university and write her investigation about inmigrants with family local business in Yungay neighborhood... is a very peaceful time... for that, she has not got any subject, only an extracurricular course, English, with professor Juan Luzzi. To get more interesting experience in the academic life, she is also a "postgraduate helper" for undergraduate sociology students, in "Contemporary History" with the professors Silvia Lamadrid and Emmanuelle Barozet.

She only wants to end this last student period with a happy face...

The Viewer of Objects in the Mirror

She was born a hot summer day in Barros Luco Hospital in the city of Santiago, the only child of Marta and Miguel. When she was four years old, in 1987, the parents decided emigrate to Argentina, the original country of the father, for that, when she was a little child, she went to Maestros Argentinos School, in Anahí Mapu neighbourhood, Cipolletti, Argentina... but for only a few years, because when she was eight, the parents decided to choose an other school for her, this time Instituto Nuestra Señora de Fátima School, where she knew wonderful friends. In the adolescence she was living again in Chile, she went to Laura Vicuña High School, in that time she liked a lot of study things, but she never forgot her argentinian History teacher, Mabel, for that, and, in spite of  Architecture was her first choice, when she saw the universities´ answers for her second choise, History, she was also happy. Then she became historian and History teacher in Universidad Católica de Chile, now she is ending a Social Sciences Master in University of Chile.
She has only two hobbies who likes the most,paint mandalas and make kaleidoscopes. When she is with other people, she likes to talk about the life and any other things or also comment flims, but all of it must be with a wonderful hot tea with ginger, no matter the season.
One of her dreams is to travel to all the deserts in the world and fill herself with the orange sunset sun.