Axial Stones: An Art of Precarious Balance

Book Description

George Quasha’s extraordinary sculptures unite natural stones in a state of breathtakingly improbable balance. The stones are not altered physically or bonded in any way; rather, Quasha discovers an unknown axis that brings them into radical alignment. The stones "learn" this state of levity in contrast to their ordinary state of gravity, resulting in a new art form that feels alive with its own individual energy and personality. Here, 37 axial stones are displayed in dazzling full-page color photos. The accompanying text explains not only how the stones were found and eventually came together, but explores the aesthetic, philosophical, spiritual, and practical implications of an art of danger and impermanence. "Action pages" document the process—the repeated setting up, balancing, losing balance, and falling—until the full axial stone is born: a whole being greater and more real than the sum of its parts.

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Grande Brings Life and Nature to Today`s Art - Compass

Balance: Art and Nature
John K. Grande
Manufacturer: Black Rose Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1551642344

Book Description

Believing that artistic expression can and does play an important role in changing the way we perceive our relation to the world we live in, art critic John Grande takes an in-depth look at the work of some very unusual environmental artists in the United States, Canada, and -Europe.

Dealing with everything from materials to the politics of curatorship, from the permanence of art works to the artist's role as cultural critic, Balance Art and Nature takes theory into action as it critically examines the works of Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley, Armand Vaillancourt, Bill Reid, Carl Beam, Kevin Kelly, Ana Mendieta, James Carl, Patrick Dougherty, Keith Haring, and others. What emerges is a viable socio-environmental framework for evaluating contemporary art and insights into art's actual and potential roles.

"Grande's commentaries represent an important contribution to the theory of art."-Claude Lévi-Strauss

"A call to reawaken creativity in this time of alienation."-Antony Gormley

"Encourages us to rethink what it means to be an artist in a time of global eco-crisis."-Suzi Gablik, The Re-enchantment of Art

"Makes unexpected connections giving new insights into contemporary art."-Public Art Review

"Grande's book contains a lot of ideas, all of which are thought-provoking."-Globe and Mail

"Details makes this book convincing."-Books In Canada

"Grande's ideas and style are fresh, sincere, intuitive, lively and compelling."-Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics

"Offers interesting parallels between different aspects of public art."-Espace Sculptur

Writer and art critic John Grande's reviews and feature -articles have been published in art magazines and catalogues internationally. He is author of Intertwining: Landscape, Technology, Issues, Artists (Black Rose Books), Nils-Udo: Art with Nature (Wienand Verlag), and Art Nature Dialogues (SUNY Press).

Customer Reviews:

Grande Brings Life and Nature to Today`s Art - Compass.......2006-12-04

John K. Grande, Balance: Art and Nature. Montreal: Black Rose, 1994. 256 pages illustrated
Review by Dennis Patrick O'Hara

Not much is spared John K. Grande's sharp scrutiny as he critiques the state of western art in Balance: Art and Nature. Fortunately, the skill of his analysis is a match for the breadth of his critique.

Grande contends that the egocentricity of modern western society and its infatuation with technology and consumerism have increasingly separated us from the natural world. That separation has an impact on the way our art is conceived, formed, marketed and even displayed. Grande proposes that art return to being more "ecocentric," reminding us that we are derivative and essentially dependent on natural processes. "In developing a nature-specific dialogue that is interactive, rooted in actual experience in a given place and time, and giving these elements an equal voice in the creative process," he writes, "we are ultimately respecting our integral connectedness to the environment." Holding such a vision, we will come to see that "nature is the art of which we are a part."

To develop a dialogue more in touch with nature, Grande argues that artists should favour their specific culture and the diversity of the ecological communities in which they live rather than the homogenizing pressures of internationalism. He asserts that contemporary artists' preoccupation with international "market recognition," often reinforced by museums and funders, promotes a "product standardization" that takes precedence over any desire to represent one's own culture and bioregion. In such a horizontal milieu, artists and their works consequently become easily interchangeable. The attendant appropriation of Third World, tribal and extranational art styles not only mirrors acts of economic expropriation but also often ensures the commercial success of the collusive artists. Such appropriation barely pauses to appreciate the source culture's context and meaning.

As an alternative, Grande proposes that we celebrate the cultural diversity naturally intrinsic to each ecological community or bioregion. Such a preference would nourish the artistic expression of the cultural symbolism and spiritual values unique to that region. It would enhance an intuitive dialogue with nature in the creation of art, encouraging a healthier relationship with the local environment.

Grande vigorously argues and carefully develops his positions, drawing on a breadth of sources, ranging from Thomas Berry to Marilyn French, for support. Along the way, he censures many artists, institutions, art journals and both modern and postmodern ideologies, including Andy Warhol whose "art hides its terror of human communication behind commercial illustration" and such "bombastic promotional glossies" as Canadian Art magazine. Grande also describes the work of several artists who have already embraced the ecocentric art esthetics that he champions. Among these are Andy Goldsworthy, whose "site-specific works...allow the materials of a local ecology to speak for themselves," and Anish Kapoor. And this is where some frustration with the text begins.

Most of the examples of art that Grande uses to bolster his arguments are not illustrated in Balance: Art and Nature. Readers must rely on Grande's descriptions, coupled with their own imaginations or personal recollections of these many works, to follow the author's reasoning. I suspect that this makes it difficult for any but the most informed reader to evaluate fully Grande's propositions. Furthermore, because the text is a collection of essays and articles, there is some mildly annoying repetition of content.

These shortcomings notwithstanding, Balance: Art and Nature is engaging, provocative and thoughtful. John K. Grande cares passionately about art, the environment and the relationship between them. He seeks a future where art "goes beyond merely treating nature as raw material for an environmental project,...reaffirms the universal experience of being alive and conceives of nature as the end, not the means, of the creative process."

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Find Your Place in the Landscape with John Grande's Classic

Balance: Art and Nature
John K. Grande
Manufacturer: Black Rose Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 1551640074

Customer Reviews:

Find Your Place in the Landscape with John Grande's Classic.......2000-06-27

BALANCE: ART AND NATURE is a granddaddy of the Eco-art movement. Its text, full of richly ordered art-speak, articulates the need to tilt away from a market-driven art establishment, and seek the relocation of human culture within the context of nature. Eco-artists such as Anish Kapoor, Armand Vaillancourt, James Carl, Kevin Kelly and Antony Gormley rate stand-alone chapters. Grande, a Canadian by heritage, was born in Sri Lanka and developed his world view via postings in his diplomatic father's career to South Africa, Norway and Great Britain. The book marks the philosophical odyssey of an early ecological activist from the 1970's to the present and draws on a series of reviews and features that initially appeared in such publications as "Artforum International," "Canadian Forum," "Espace Sculpture," "International Sculpture" and "Vie des Arts." This Eco-art text contains 30 black and white illustrations, copious footnotes and a sturdy index.

An artist's legacy is of peerless value for the commercially encumbered artists. Andy Warhol, for example, has his very own museum in Pittsburgh. But for the environmental artist, near invisibility holds its own fascination. Grande recounts numerous examples to support his thesis. In a story about Andy Goldsworthy, animals run over, jump into, or actually nibble projects, thus forcing the artist to suspend his work. In another example, Austrian- and now New Zealand-based artist Hendrik Hundertwasser's organic petrol station in Vienna is cited. This colorfully painted station is located under roofs of grass and trees under which cars pull in and fill up. But perhaps First Nations artist Carl Beam's canvas says it best. Through "Burying the Ruler," Beam hopes to heal the wounds created by contemporary man's tendency to measure and quantify everybody and everything in today's society.

"Universal concerns with the environment, a resurgence of interest in mythology, and the need to replace outdated patriarchal models of society, are all coming into play as artists seek to nurture new forms of their art. Even art's own history is being rejected outright by feminist artists whose vision is not to fill their father's shoes, but to invent an entirely new kind of footwear." p. 23, BALANCE: ART AND NATURE

Book Description

Originally serialized in 1915 in The Forerunner, and never before published in book form, The Dress of Women presents Gilman's feminist sociological analysis of clothing in modern society. Gilman explores the social and functional basis for clothing, excavates the symbolic role of women's clothing in patriarchal societies, and, among other things, explicates the aesthetic and economic principles of socially responsible clothing design. The introduction, by Hill and Deegan, situates The Dress of Women within Gilman's intellectual work as a sociologist, and relates her sociological ideas to the themes she developed in some of her other works. Although written in 1915, Gilman's treatment of clothing and dress remains relevant. This pioneering effort adds substantially to Gilman's reputation as a sociological theorist and feminist. In addition, it represents one of the earliest full-length specifically sociological analyses of clothing and the fashion industry. Ultimately, the author concludes that harmful and degrading aspects of women's dress are amenable to reform if men and women will work together rationally to change the controlling institutional patterns of the society in which they live. This groundbreaking work will appeal to those interested in Gilman, feminist theory, sociological theory, social psychology, women's literature, and women's studies.

The Dress of Women: A Critical Introduction to the Symbolism and Sociology of Clothing, Vol. 193

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The Dress of Women: A Critical Introduction to the Symbolism and Sociology of Clothing, Vol. 193
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

An above-average collection of dog cartoons for doggie lovers everywhere.

Customer Reviews:

Distinctive Doggies.......2000-06-27

Van Amerongen's dogs tend to fall into one of two general categories. Some are the long-suffering and patient companions of decidedly eccentric owners who dress them up, involve them in odd rituals, and generally make life difficult. Others are just as eccentric, if not more so, than their owners. Both types are definitely funny. Fans of van Amerongen's humor will welcome this collection, although some of the cartoons included here also appeared in his recent collection "Ballard Street." (There is, however, enough new material to warrant buying this book.) Dog lovers with a healthy sense of the absurd will also want to get this book. Lots of fun.

Book Description

In the end, this book makes a convincing case for the value of laughter in our lives. "Sometimes we laugh for sinister motives, and sometimes we use humor for noble reasons. But, thank God, we often laugh for the same reason fishermen-for the halibut. Life is serious, and in the back of our minds we recall we're eventually heading for the cemetery. Fortunately, the Christian faith says the graveyard is not the last stop. Thus, we are free to enjoy funny things that happen along the way."

Laughing Out Loud and Other Religious Experiences

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Laughing Out Loud and Other Religious Experiences
Tom Mullen
Manufacturer: Friends United Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000P6FNV0

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Laughing Out Loud and Other Religious Experiences

Manufacturer: W PUBLISHING GROUP
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 9993419699

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Laughing Out Loud and Other Religious Experiences
Tom Mullen
Manufacturer: Friends United Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 8449903297

Product Description

Arm-chair or on-site travel guide to the extensive use of San Francisco and the Bay Area as a movie location. Easy-to-use maps and black-and-white photographs identify locations of classic films like Vertigo, Bullitt, Dirty Harry, What's Up Doc and Towering Inferno. Locations of television series such as Nash Bridges, Tales of the City, The Doris Day Show, and Streets of San Francisco are also included. Locations extend from San Francisco north to Mendocino and south to Monterey.

Customer Reviews:

Arguably a bit too comprehensive.......2007-01-19

"Celluloid San Francisco" is a rather exhaustive guide to movie locations around San Francisco. In fact, for my purposes as a tourist visiting the Bay Area, it was a bit too overstuffed to be easy to use. It is quite crammed with sites used in obscure B-movies (and, I daresay, C-movies) and for random scenes in not especially memorable TV shows. A lot of the entries are also rather repetitive and have the feel of being simply padding.

As a "Vertigo" fan, I found "Footsteps In The Fog: Alfred Hitchcock's San Francisco" a lot more useful and much better written, though it was limited to Hitchcock movies, so I must admit that I had to turn to "Celluloid San Francisco" to find the sites of Bacall's art deco apartment from "Dark Passage" and Mel Brooks' glass elevator ride in "High Anxiety."

Error and Omissions.......2007-01-12

In "The Other Sister"...1998...Juliette Lewis, Jim says the church in the final wedding scene is St. Peter and Paul. Wrong! The church used is St. Francis of Assisi on Vallejo.
Omitted two movies with scenes of San Francisco:
...The Gathering of Eagles...1963...Rock Hudson
...The Killer Elite...1975...James Caan
While these items are not major, a guide should be complete and thoroughly researched. I feel that Mr. Van Buskirk gets a B- for this guide and a two star rating.

There's a there there.......2006-09-13

Anyone who loves anything in the SF Bay Area and in the movies will have a feast with Celluloid San Francisco. I was instantly charmed by the slick title, the elegant cover, the generous amount of photos, movie posters and other evocative details of illustration. Then I checked the index and found my favorite SF movie, Vertigo, represented 17 times. The authors are obviously serious about their passion. The research alone is impressive (an understatement), but there is much more. There is good writing, delivered in small, appetizing bites, there is a sharp eye for detail, mixed with playful irony. The love for SF as a place of culture and adventure jumps off the pages like bubbles of champaign. If you think I am making this up, go to page 94-95, entry no 50: The Fairmont Hotel, and learn that this is where Hitchcock stayed while shooting Vertigo, where "Orson Welles unexpectantly encountered William Randolph Hearst, the model for Citizen Kane's megalomaniacal character" in the elevator, where Tony Bennett first sang "I Left My Heart in San Francisco", where Marlene Dietrich......
But don't believe me -- see for yourself.
Renate Stendhal, author of "Gertrude Stein in Words and Pictures"

A Beautiful Book about a Beautiful City.......2006-09-07

San Francisco has a timeless beauty that shines through in this beautiful book. It's no wonder so many great films have chosen this city as their backdrop, with it's amazing architecture, history and natural beauty. Van Buskirk's book celebrates this beauty and offers some fascinating inside information on the films that were shot there. Reading through the book gives a chance to revisit some of these classic films. Highly recommended.

Great Book.......2006-04-27

I read this book with great interest as a SF resident. Mr. Van Buskirk and Mr. Shank certainly did their homework. Their knowledge of Bay Area movies is fantastic, and their delivery by geography is right on.

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Notes, published by Music Library Association, Inc. on June 1, 1996. The length of the article is 840 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Szekely and Bartok: The Story of a Friendship.
Author: Abram Loft
Publication: Notes (Refereed)
Date: June 1, 1996
Publisher: Music Library Association, Inc.
Volume: v52 Issue: n4 Page: p1181(2)

Article Type: Book Review

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Szekely and Bartok The Story of a Friendship

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Szekely and Bartok The Story of a Friendship
Claude Kenneson
Manufacturer: Amadeus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PRWQ3C

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The best story I have ever read.

Szekely and Bartok: The Story of a Friendship
Claude Kenneson
Manufacturer: Amadeus Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0931340705

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The best story I have ever read........1999-03-29

Rarely does a book capture the true essence of a period in the history of our world through the life of a great man.

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Lucid directions on how to rule

Disappointing

The Fundamental Text on Empowerment

Required reading for any person in a leadership position

This is a "must-have" for anyone in a leadership role.

The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work
Peter Block
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self Interest

The Answer to How Is Yes: Acting on What Matters

Essentials of Management

Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used

Freedom and Accountability at Work: Applying Philosophic Insight to the Real World

ASIN: 1555422659

Book Description

This is one of the most useful and clearly written books on the leading edge of management that I have read.
--Warren Bennis

Peter Block, the author of the classic Flawless Consulting, is a true visionary. And here he turns his sights on management. Managers and other employees who feel powerless to control their own destinies, who feel stifled by bureaucracy, who feel sapped of creativity--will feel invigorated by Block's legAndary insight. Offers practical advice to help your managers:

Empower themselves to help shape the organization
Develop positive political skills in their dealings with all levels of employees
Take responsibility for their own actions
Negotiate with their allies and adversaries
Face failure courageously...and much more!

Block presents ways to treat all members of the organization as entrepreneurs so that employees feel that their units are their own businesses and that they, and they alone, are in the process of creating an organization of their own choosing. Managers and other employees who pick up The Empowered Manager won't just be reading about management. They'll be harvesting timeless tips from a master of business thinking. And they'll be uncovering a road map that leads to enhanced effectiveness and job satisfaction.

This is a liberating book that cuts through our rationalizations and self-deceptions to help us think about both work and life from a new perspective.
--Geoff Bellman, author of The Consultant's Calling

Help your managers become more confident, contributing members of your organization with guidance from a famed consultant. This guide is a perfect addition to your management and leadership development programs.

Winner of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Book Award

Customer Reviews:

Lucid directions on how to rule.......2006-07-24

This book offers the middle-aged middle manager a strategy for surging ahead instead of sinking in an ocean of uncontrollable organizational forces. Author Peter Block provides strategies for countering the negative effects of being enmeshed in hierarchy and bureaucracy. Reactions to that experience, especially fear, lead to bureaucratic management styles that leave everyone in the company - sometimes even the CEO - feeling trapped and frustrated. The book wanders around and bogs down here and there, but we find that its advice - which strongly pushes self-awareness, vision and autonomy in the service of others - could muster middle management's entrepreneurial spirit.

Disappointing.......2003-06-21

Unfortunately, Block lives in a "what if" fantasy. Politics is a "real world" subject.

The Fundamental Text on Empowerment.......2000-07-21

Fourteen years have passed since the original publication of this book, and we are now in what is called the post-empowerment era. Nevertheless Block's text remains its fundamental status, and its relevance and value have in no way diminished.

"The Empowered Manager" would be on any short list of the most important management books ever written if only on account of its classical exposition of one of perhaps the most significant idea in late twentieth century management practice. In addition, every page contains sage practical advice of benefit to anyone who wants to be more than a slave or a drone at work.

Check out Bergmann et al's "Everyone a Leader" and Hirschhorn's "Reworking Authority" for some more recent developments in this area. But do not fail to read this book: its wisdom is inspirational, and Block's fine style makes it a treat to read.

Required reading for any person in a leadership position.......1999-09-01

Block gets to the bottom of what leadership is all about -- Love and Trust. Love for one another, the love to serve, the love to help others rise. The courage to do what would cause traditional, stoic managers to turn their noses up and jeer. His words, however taboo by traditional management standards, are priceless. I always felt this way, but was so glad to see Block put it in print. I realized I was not crazy after all! My ideas were not so weird or unconventional :-) There is so much more. READ THIS BOOK!

This is a "must-have" for anyone in a leadership role........1998-06-20

The Empowered Manager is a "classic" in the full sense of the word. It belongs in the book collection of anyone who hopes to lead effectively in an organizational setting.

Personally, reading this book was a transforming experience in my career. It helped me to understand the nuances of effective leadership -- that the work environment we create through our words and behavior is something we have the power to change in very positive and profound ways.

A great book!

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The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work. (book reviews): An article from: Journal of Small Business Management
Diane J. Garsombke
Manufacturer: International Council of Small Business
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: B0008JHR1S
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Small Business Management, published by International Council of Small Business on April 1, 1988. The length of the article is 825 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills at Work. (book reviews)
Author: Diane J. Garsombke
Publication: Journal of Small Business Management (Refereed)
Date: April 1, 1988
Publisher: International Council of Small Business
Volume: v26 Issue: n2 Page: p72(3)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

The Empowered Manager : Positive Political Skills at Work

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The Empowered Manager : Positive Political Skills at Work
Peter Block
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000TNVJRG

The Empowered Manager : Positive Political Skills at Work (Jossey-Bass Management Ser.)

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The Empowered Manager : Positive Political Skills at Work (Jossey-Bass Management Ser.)
Peter Block
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass, Incorporated Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HLU5JS

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The Empowered Manager : Positive Political Skills at Work (Jossey-Bass Management Ser.)

Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HNTMS6

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The Empowered Manager Positive Political Skills At Work

Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000H5CJ5W

The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills At Work (Seek Meaning in Your Work and Life)

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The Empowered Manager: Positive Political Skills At Work (Seek Meaning in Your Work and Life)
Peter Block
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Workplace | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000P9PYA2

Product Description

This is one of the most useful and clearly written books on the leading edge of management that I have read. Offers practical advice to help your managers: Empower themselves to help shape the organization* Develop positive political skills in their dealings with all levels of employees* Take responsibility for their own actions* Negotiate with their allies and adversaries* Face failure courageously...and much more! Managers and other employees who feel powerless to control their own destinies, who feel stifled by bureaucracy, who feel sapped of creativity--will feel invigorated by Block's legendary insight.Block presents ways to treat all members of the organization as entrepreneurs so that employees feel that their units are their own businesses and that they, and they alone, are in the process of creating an organization of their own choosing. Managers and other employees who pick up The Empowered Manager won't just be reading about management. They'll be harvesting timeless tips from a master of business thinking. And they'll be uncovering a road map that leads to enhanced effectiveness and job satisfaction. This is a liberating book that cuts through our rationalizations and self-deceptions to help us think about both work and life from a new perspective.

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