Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

juegos de cavilación

English translation:

brain teasers / riddles / conundrums

Added to glossary by Charles Davis
Mar 30, 2016 22:22
8 yrs ago
Spanish term

juegos de cavilación

Spanish to English Art/Literary Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting
This is from a reflection by a contemporary Argentine artist. I am seeing "musing" or "reflection" for "cavilació", but thought there might be something more specific

Desde que los hermanos Grimm a través de “El flautista de Hamelín” convirtieran un problema vinculado a las poblaciones más o menos urbanas en una hazaña poética, las ratas protagonizan todo tipo de dichos populares. De allí que Fischli & Weiss, esos expertos en los juegos de cavilación, tengan todo una serie de piezas y películas protagonizadas por una rata.


Thanks
Change log

Apr 6, 2016 00:57: Charles Davis Created KOG entry

Proposed translations

+2
9 hrs
Selected

brain teasers / riddles

I don't think a literal version works. The context suggests to me that this expression means games that involve having to puzzle something out, having to think about clues (here the rat) and guess what they mean.

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Note added at 9 hrs (2016-03-31 07:28:56 GMT)
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_teaser
Peer comment(s):

agree neilmac : Having googled the works of Fischli & Weiss, I think this is the best option so far :)
9 mins
Thanks a lot, Neil :)
agree Denis Zabelin
23 mins
Thanks!
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "thanks"
11 mins

deep thinking games

that's my answer
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13 mins

parlor games

Just a thought.
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7 hrs

musing games

Quite straight forward: "...experts on musing games". I believe "parlor games" does not fit the context.

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Note added at 7 hrs (2016-03-31 05:45:38 GMT)
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http://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/musing
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+1
9 hrs

masters of the surreal

Maybe this would work:

The film is a surreal little twist on a Disney cartoon, celebrating the magical absurdity of life.
PETER FISCHLI and DAVID WEISS. PARTS OF A FILM WITH RAT AND BEAR
http://www.fondazionenicolatrussardi.com/incursions/parts_of...
Peer comment(s):

agree neilmac : Yes, to me their work recalls Jan Švankmajer, who describes himself as a surrealist...
3 hrs
Many thanks, Neil
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17 hrs

conundrums

would be my choice as it is close to the idea of something that puzzles and involves deep thought (often a paradox) see def.2 of Collins and the Spanish term means deep puzzling thought

Conundrum...
A paradoxical, insoluble, or difficult problem; a dilemma:
conundrum (kəˈnʌndrəm)
n
1. a riddle, esp one whose answer makes a play on words
2. a puzzling question or problem
[C16: of unknown origin]
Collins English Dictionary

here is a reference to their work as being full of conundrums

The Swiss duo Peter Fischli and David Weiss pursued in their art what they called “the pleasure of misuse.” Everyday objects, freed from their intended use, could suddenly acquire an eccentric beauty or a new meaning. A major retrospective of their influential work is full of humorous conundrums, such as: “Is it true that traces of aliens have been found in yogurt?”



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Note added at 17 hrs (2016-03-31 15:46:27 GMT)
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Throughout the course of their partnership, Fischli and Weiss probed the idea of dualistic thinking. Perhaps because they were a team of two involved in constant dialogue and debate, they consistently interrogated Western culture's reliance on contraries. In one way or another, everything they produced together playfully unravels what the artists understood to be 'popular opposites'-labor versus leisure, fiction versus reality, kitsch versus beauty, and the banal versus the sublime. Through their sustained investigation into the everyday, Fischli and Weiss undid false dichotomies with the conviction that bewilderment might be a desirable state. The artists embodied this approach in their alter egos, Rat and Bear - See more at: http://www.noodls.com/view/4F775F998B31C229BD190F92E8DB852D2...
Peer comment(s):

neutral Charles Davis : Glad to see you share my interpretation :) // I see your point, though this particular juego with the rat is really more like a riddle; you have to think it out but it's quite "soluble". And I think F&W are generally more playful than philosophical.
2 hrs
ok-I get your drift:) I think riddles however often have a solution whilst conundrums usually don't, are more similar to philosophical musings and may just leave you puzzled which was the aim of these artists- playfulness intended to be thought provoking
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