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  3. Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting

juegos de cavilación

English translation: brain teasers / riddles / conundrums

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:juegos de cavilación
English translation:brain teasers / riddles / conundrums
Entered by: Charles Davis

22:22 Mar 30, 2016
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting
Spanish term or phrase: juegos de cavilación
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
Wendy Gosselin
Argentina
Local time: 10:25
brain teasers / riddles
Explanation:
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
Selected response from:

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 15:25
Grading comment
thanks
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2brain teasers / riddles
Charles Davis
4conundrums
Lisa Jane
3deep thinking games
perezeddo219
3musing games
Sergio Kot
2 +1masters of the surreal
Wendy Streitparth
2parlor games
Robert Forstag


  

Answers


11 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
deep thinking games


Explanation:
that's my answer

perezeddo219
United States
Local time: 09:25
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
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13 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
parlor games


Explanation:
Just a thought.

Robert Forstag
United States
Local time: 09:25
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 134
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7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
musing games


Explanation:
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

Sergio Kot
Israel
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in HebrewHebrew, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 12
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
brain teasers / riddles


Explanation:
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.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2016-03-31 07:28:56 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_teaser

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 15:25
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 246
Grading comment
thanks

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
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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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5 peer agreement (net): +1
masters of the surreal


Explanation:
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...

Wendy Streitparth
Germany
Local time: 15:25
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
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   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
conundrums


Explanation:
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...


    Reference: http://the-easel.com/link/fischli-and-weisss-serious-fun/
Lisa Jane
Italy
Local time: 15:25
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in ItalianItalian
PRO pts in category: 8

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
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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