Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 11:48:34 -0400
From: "J. B. Sclisizzi" <jbs-AT-toronto.cbc.ca>
Subject: a ruse by any other name ...?


in just gaming, lyotard discusses the ruse in relation to art.  the artist's
ruse opens up new possibilities wrt the use of materials, etc., and can
transform the boundaries of what is considered art.  the prototypical figure
here would be duchamp.  salient features of the ruse are will, creativity
and subversion ...

this application of the term by lyotard helps shape, i think, the way in
which the term should be considered and used.  and i suspect it draws upon
the connotations of the vernacular purposively -- this is a feature, not a
bug.

a term's connotations can enrich an understanding of its signified.  and
such understanding can certainly lead to "judgements."  words today are
routinely scrutinized for their sexism, racism, heterosexism, etc.  which
brings us, i think, back to the field of the political, and the subversion
of ruses ...

but one should be careful in judging a term on the basis of its
connotations.  my oxford, for instance, lists one meaning of "tack" as
"rubbish" ...

brent ...