The term "neens," coined by Manetas in 2000 (itself the product of another art project called "Name for Art"), is a frame of mind "that offers you the metaphysical suspense of a painting," Manetas explains lyrically in the above mentioned essay.
Seeing it for a second time, in a frame of mind less overwhelmed by the raw, obsessive need for information during the months after 9/11, I was struck by how personal this movie is, and by the delicate symbiosis that develops between biographer and subject.
As the gap between the rich and the poor widens, it's too easy to develop a frame of mind for material successes and not for simple peace of mind.
But people like to be able to point to a book as the cause for a new frame of mind, possibly for the same reason that people prefer anecdotes to statistical evidence.
In one experiment, subjects in whom nostalgia had been induced were asked to set up a room for a meeting – those in a nostalgic frame of mind consistently set up the chairs closer than those in the control.
As a super-hunky (check out those forearms) Mr. Springsteen vogues down the ribbon of highway in his sister's photos, it is difficult for those of a Newmanian frame of mind to suppress a chuckle.
Some are also famous for a supposedly contrarian frame of mind.
And when a pregnancy begins on a traumatic note, stress could cause a woman to stay in a negative frame of mind for longer, making her feel harassed, irritable and moody and putting extra strain on her pregnancy.
The buzz among psychologists is a phenomenon known as a growth mindset, basically a winning frame of mind that defeat happens for you, not to you.
All of which must add to the confusion for many boys and young men, even for old fartonians of a nostalgic frame of mind like Davies, whom I remember passionately defending smokers' rights against the ban in public places.
