The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foliate ornament, used in the Islamic world using leaves, derived from stylised half-palmettes, which were combined with spiralling stems", it consists of a single design which can be'tiled' or seamlessly repeated as many times as desired. Within the wide range of Eurasian decorative art that includes motifs matching this basic definition, the term "arabesque" is used as a technical term by art historians to describe only elements of the decoration found in two phases: Islamic art from about the 9th century onwards, European decorative art from the Renaissance onwards. Interlace and scroll decoration are terms used for most other types of similar patterns. Arabesques are a fundamental element of Islamic art but they develop what was a long tradition by the coming of Islam.

The past and current usage of the term in respect of European art can only be described as confused and inconsistent. Some Western arabesques derive from Islamic art, but others are based on ancient Roman decorations. In the West they are found in the decorative arts, but because of the non-figurative nature of Islamic art, arabesque decoration is there a prominent element in the most significant works, plays a large part in the decoration of architecture. Claims are made regarding the theological significance of the arabesque, its origin in a Islamic view of the world. At the popular level such theories appear uninformed as to the wider context of the arabesque. In similar fashion, proposed connections between the arabesque and Arabic knowledge of geometry remains a subject of debate; the case for a connection with Islamic mathematics is much stronger for the development of the geometric patterns with which arabesques are combined in art. Geometric decoration uses patterns that are made up of straight lines and regular angles that somewhat resemble curvilinear arabesque patterns.

The arabesque developed out of the long-established traditions of plant-based scroll ornament in the cultures taken over by the early Islamic conquests. Early Islamic art, for example in the famous 8th century mosaics of the Great Mosque of Damascus contained plant-scroll patterns, in that case by Byzantine artists in their usual style; the plants most used are stylized versions of the acanthus, with its emphasis on leafy forms, the vine, with an equal emphasis on twining stems. The evolution of these forms into a distinctive Islamic type was complete by the 11th century, having begun in the 8th or 9th century in works like the Mshatta Facade. In the process of development the plant forms became simplified and stylized; the abundant survivals of stucco reliefs from the walls of palaces in Abbasid Samarra, the Islamic capital between 836 and 892, provide examples of three styles, Styles A, B, C, though more than one of these may appear on the same wall, their chronological sequence is not certain.

Though the broad outline of the process is agreed, there is a considerable diversity of views held by specialist scholars on detailed issues concerning the development and meaning of the arabesque. The detailed study of Islamic arabesque forms was begun by Alois Riegl in his formalist study Stilfragen: Grundlegungen zu einer Geschichte der Ornamentik of 1893, who in the process developed his influential concept of the Kunstwollen. Riegl traced formalistic continuity and development in decorative plant forms from ancient Egyptian art and other ancient Near Eastern civilizations through the classical world to the Islamic arabesque. While the Kunstwollen has few followers today, his basic analysis of the development of forms has been confirmed and refined by the wider corpus of examples known today. Jessica Rawson has extended the analysis to cover Chinese art, which Riegl did not cover, tracing many elements of Chinese decoration back to the same tradition. Many arabesque patterns disappear at a framing edge without ending, thus can be regarded as infinitely extendable outside the space they occupy.

Most but not all foliage decoration in the preceding cultures terminated at the edge of the occupied space, although infinitely repeatable patterns in foliage are common in the modern world in wallpaper and textiles. In earlier forms there is no attempt at realism. "Leaf" forms spring sideways from the stem, in what is called a "half-palmette" form, named after its distant and different looking ancestor in ancient Egyptian and Greek ornament. New stems spring from leaf-tips, a type called

Seances is a 2016 interactive project by filmmaker and installation artist Guy Maddin, co-creators Evan and Galen Johnson, the National Film Board of Canada, combining Maddin's recreations of lost films with an algorithmic film generator that allows for multiple storytelling permutations. Maddin began the project in 2012 in Paris, shooting footage for 18 films at the Centre Georges Pompidou and continued shooting footage for an additional 12 films at the Phi Centre in Montreal, Canada; the Paris and Montreal shoots each took three weeks, with Maddin completing one short film of 15–20 minutes each day. The shoots were presented as art installation projects, during which Maddin, along with the cast and crew, held a “séance” during which Maddin "invite the spirit of a lost photoplay to possess them." Seances grew out of Maddin’s Hauntings project. Noah Cowan, a former director of the Toronto International Film Festival, told Maddin "he didn’t think it was possible to make art on the Internet", which "reminded of what people said about cinema when it was starting out, when the moviolas and kinetoscopes were considered artless novelties."Maddin began with the idea of “shooting adaptations of lost films” and conceived the project as making “title-for-title remakes of specific lost films” but altered this plan in favour of producing original material as the project developed.

Maddin completed 11 films to show as installation loops for Noah Cowan and the Toronto International Film Festival’s Bell Lightbox theatre for this 2010 Hauntings project. At the SXSW 2012 festival, Maddin announced that he had begun production on the Seances project, for which he would shoot one hundred short films within a hundred-day span, at locations in Canada and the United States. However, Maddin abandoned this approach to the project to focus more on original script creation, partnering with writers Evan Johnson and Robert Kotyk, with additional writing by Maddin’s wife Kim Morgan and American poet John Ashbery. Maddin and Johnson co-directed and shot, concurrently, a feature film titled The Forbidden Room, with the same writers. Although misreported as the same project, The Forbidden Room “is a feature film with its own separate story and stars” while “Seances will be an interactive Internet project.” Many of the actors in Seances appear in The Forbidden Room. Each viewer sees a unique film.

Software designed by Halifax-based Nickel Media utilizes an algorithm to create the narrative from scenes shot by Maddin, to form a 10- to 13-minute film, each with a unique title. The number of films ensures "hundreds of billions of unique permutations." Seances was launched as part of Tribeca Film Festival's Storyscapes program. In addition to reimagining lost films, Maddin is "resurrecting" projects that were planned but never filmed. Maddin has stated that he will not be parodying or otherwise mimicking the approach of the directors whose films he is reenvisioning, but rather tried to capture the imagined "spirits of the films, rather than of their directors." Films will not be shown in their entirety, but rather, offered as fragments in order to be recombined online. The following films were filmed at Centre Pompidou, February 22 - March 12, 2012. Dream Woman Thérèse Raquin Gardener Boy Sought Poto-Poto Rausch The Strength of a Moustache Lines of the Hand Over Barbed Wire Fist of a Cripple Blue Mountains Mystery Idle Wives Resurrection of Love Tararira Bits of Life Ladies of the Mob Hello Pop!

Sperduto nel buio The Blind Man An additional film, How to Take a Bath was scripted by American poet John Ashbery and completed in 2010." Footage from this film appears in The Forbidden Room. In addition, Ashbery has given a copy of his collage-play The Inn of the Guardian Angel, produced from New York Times obituaries and 1930 Hollywood fanzines, to "strip-mine for dialogue for the lost films." The following works were refilmed at Centre PHI, July 7–20, 2013. Saint and Woman Tokyo’s Ginza District Gabriele, the Lamplighter of the Harbour Der Janus-kopf Women Skeletons Scout Day The Scorching Flame The Red Wolves Trumpet Island The Forbidden Room Drakula Halala Dalagang Bukid In April 2017, Seances received a Webby Award nomination in the Art & Experimental/Film & Video category. Official website PHI Centre webpage for Seances NFB blog item on Seances Seances on IMDb

Stefano Torrisi is an Italian former footballer who played as a defender. Born in Ravenna, Torrisi played for Italian clubs Modena, Ravenna Calcio, Torino, Bologna and Parma throughout his career, had spells in Spain and France with Atlético Madrid and Marseille respectively. During his time with Reggiana he was sold to Milan in the summer of 1994, but only featured in friendly matches for the club before being sold to Torino in June. Along with two other debutants, Giampiero Maini and Eusebio Di Francesco, Torrisi was named in Italy's squad for 1997 Tournoi de France under manager Cesare Maldini. At the tournament he made his first and only appearance for the national team in a 2–2 draw with France. Torrisi was a versatile and reliable defender, capable of playing both as a sweeper and as a centre-back, due to his good technique and ability in the air. Following his retirement, Torrisi worked as a pundit and also played amateur football with Loops Ribelle in the Prima Categoria, winning the division title.

He subsequently took part in an over-40 Senior Tour tennis tournament in Turkey. ModenaSerie C1: 1989–90RavennaSerie C2: 1991–92 Serie C1: 1992–93BolognaSerie B: 1995–96ParmaSupercoppa Italiana: 1999 Stefano Torrisi at WorldFootball.net Stefano Torrisi at Weltfussball.de Stefano Torrisi – French league stats at LFP