Say what you think, not what you think… Listen generously…. We interpret - or misinterpret - what others say, often without realizing it. This “rumbling in your own head,” as Isaacs calls it….. Listen respectfully. Assume that speakers know what they mean to say, even if they’re not clear about saying it. This behavior is antithetical to Western business culture, which rewards us for capitalizing on others’ mistakes, but it’s key to having productive conversations. Instead of looking for reasons to discredit a speaker, try looking for coherence and meaning - and try to bring those qualities out of the speaker. “People think that this means wimping out,” says Isaacs…..
The Art of Dialogue
How to improve your conversation skills by becoming a better speaker and listener.
by Paul Roberts from FC issue 28, page 166
The Conversation: Project for Luna Flow: Media City, Seoul: Sean Kerr 2002
Kerr presents animated blockpic° portraits of artists who painted the sublime New Zealand landscape from the last century. The artists are depicted as having a conversation together, talking about their inflated self-importance, the sublime, current politics, and culture.
Goggling eyes are attached to the portraits so that they can clearly look at each other as their mouths open and close while they speak with a computer voice accent. Each portrait is presented in its own frame, a flat screen computer monitor in portrait format, and once both artists’ windows are up and running, communication between them begins. The conversation between the two is generated from a random conversation script, so as one finishes their ramblings the other starts, generating a rhapsodical rant of misinterpreted dialogue without much coherency or meaning. The dialogue is sourced from various current affairs, historical references, art theory, and the made up.
°The blockpic is a reference to Ed Manning’s blockpic computer portraits of the 1970s.