This is my intro to the group on Social Sculpture.
My name is David LaMorte and I’m an artist and art teacher living in New Jersey. I studied sculpture at Rutgers University and I recieved my graduate degree in Art Education at Lesley University. My artistic practice is mostly focused on teaching, but I still make art for my own enjoyment. Most of my art work is sculpture and mixed media.
Most of my educational practice is focused on younger students, but I have a great deal of interest on the effects of the Internet on the whole of learning. For the past three years I’ve been reporting and discussing my personal research through podcasting, but I’ve taken a break from that.
Usually when I need a picture of myself I like to just google myself and see what comes up. This was the first listing.
![From Wikipedia on January 9, 2010:
The first known mention of the word ABRACADABRA was in the 2nd century AD in a poem called De Medicina Praecepta by Serenus Sammonicus, physician to the Roman emperor Caracalla, who prescribed that the sufferer from the disease wear an amulet containing the word written in the form of a triangle:[1]
A - B - R - A - C - A - D - A - B - R - A A - B - R - A - C - A - D - A - B - R A - B - R - A - C - A - D - A - B A - B - R - A - C - A - D - A A - B - R - A - C - A - D A - B - R - A - C - A A - B - R - A - C A - B - R - A A - B - R A - B A
This, he explained, diminishes the hold over the patient of the spirit of the disease. Other Roman emperors, including Geta and Alexander Severus, were followers of the medical teachings of Serenus Sammonicus and are likely to have used the incantation as well.](http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvym2msd7C1qz7pzko1_500.jpg)
![From Wikipedia on January 9, 2010:
The late Amram Kehati in his recently posted article on the net [2][3]claims that the source is Hebrew and the ABRACADABRA has to be read from right to left as in Hebrew. ABRACADABRA, when phonetically pronounced from right to left, reads in Hebrew ארבע-דאח-ארבע. The Hebrew word דאח is the word אחד with rearrangement of the letters. This was done to confuse the daemon or for various witchery reasons. The evil, dark forces and the daemons kingdom in the Jewish Kabbalah are represented by the number 9 (the Hebrew word תשעה) or the Hebrew letter (“טית “ט). Since the ABRACADABRA word has to diminish a letter a day for nine (9) days it has to have enough letters. The Hebrew word תשעה is too short because it has only four letters. Therefore, the Hebrew word ארבע-אחד-ארבע was created. The Hebrew word ארבע is the Hebrew word for the number 4 (four) and the Hebrew word אחד is the Hebrew word for the number 1 (one). Therefore, ארבע+אחד+ארבע equal 4+1+4=9 and it represents the dark forces and daemons kingdom. This explanation for ABRACADABRA succeeds where all other previous known explanations and sources did not explain why the patient has to wear the amulet for nine (9) days. In Hebrew the “ABRACADABRA” should read as “ארבעאחדארבע” and the amulet should be as follows:
א-ר-ב-ע-א-ח-ד-א-ר-ב-ע ר-ב-ע-א-ח-ד-א-ר-ב-ע ב-ע-א-ח-ד-א-ר-ב-ע ע-א-ח-ד-א-ר-ב-ע א-ח-ד-א-ר-ב-ע ח-ד-א-ר-ב-ע ד-א-ר-ב-ע א-ר-ב-ע ר-ב-ע ב-ע ע](http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvymbdpicF1qz7pzko1_500.jpg)
