-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Tagged
Art Art history art theft Banksy books climate change cthulhu cultural differences cultural issues culture cultured deconstruct deconstructed deconstructing deconstructive deconstructs definition of culture film Fourth of July hemingway history I culture you Labor Day leonardo da vinci literature Memorial Day mind.net music Picasso poetry politics PSA publishing RIP RIP 2016 sub culture superbowl The Plug and Play Life Trump video Vincent Van Gogh Voracious What is art? what is culture? writingArchives
Subscribers
Author Archives: editor, facilitator, decider
Midterms 2018 – the closing arguments
As I write this we’re just a little over a week away from what’s shaping up to be the most momentous mid-term election in generations. And in writing this I’m knowingly contributing to what I think of as the election home-stretch … Continue reading
More buoyant the second time around: Titanic II to set sail
Some ideas just feel bad from the get-go. “Titanic II” has to top that list. Nonetheless, some fate-tempting souls say they’re going to do it. Australia’s Blue Star Line (whimsically named after the owners of the original Titanic, White Star … Continue reading
Banksy’s latest: The hype is strong with this one
Oh, come on. This is just too much. If you haven’t yet heard, you soon will. An event went down yesterday at Sotheby’s in London that will surely be part of art-world lore forevermore. “Girl With Balloon,” one of the … Continue reading
Posted in New Post
Tagged Art, Banksy, bullshit, Girl With Balloon, Sotheby's, street art
Leave a comment
Clock-Work
. So you think there’s no art to telling time? You think that whether it’s analog or digital, it’s purely utilitarian? Check out, then, the Schiphol Airport clock in the Netherlands, created in 2016 by artist Maarten Baas. It features … Continue reading
Posted in New Post
Tagged Art, Maarten Baas, Mondrian, Schiphol Airport Clock, What Time Is It?
Leave a comment
Cosby’s great fall
Bill Cosby has spent his first 24 hours behind bars. You can’t help but wonder what that must have been like. When did it become real for him? Was it when he heard the sentence, or shortly thereafter, when he … Continue reading
Putin on the Potomac (a painting, a prank)
New York City artist Brian Whiteley is laying claim to an epic prank executed last month at Donald Trump’s very own D.C. profit center, the Trump International Hotel. The hotel, located near the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue, on the … Continue reading
Posted in New Post
Tagged Art, Brian Whiteley, pranks, Trump, Trump International Hotel
Leave a comment
Labor Day ’18 – a movement on the cusp
If you’re a worker, today’s your day. Labor Day is more than just the unofficial end of summer—it’s the annual recognition of the irreplaceable role that callused hands and dripping sweat and unyielding grit have played in building our civilization. … Continue reading
A 15-storey tribute to Johnny Cash’s Folsom Blues
Half a century ago Johnny Cash gave two performances at Folsom Prison near Sacramento, California, and thereby shone a rare light–for that time–on prisoner rights and the need for prison reform. Contemporary graphic artist Shepard Fairey is also a champion … Continue reading
Posted in New Post
Tagged Art, Folsom Prison, Johnny Cash, mural, Sacramento, Shepard Fairey
Leave a comment
H.P. Lovecraft’s not-so-private horror
Howard Phillips Lovecraft would have turned 128 this week. As it was, he died in 1937, aged just 46, but if he’d enjoyed such startling longevity we likely wouldn’t be discussing today what infernal bargain was keeping him alive, but … Continue reading
Posted in New Post
Tagged cthulhu, Ernest Hemingway, H.P. Lovecraft, literature, prejudice, writing
Leave a comment
RIP Aretha Franklin (March 25, 1942 – Aug. 16, 2016)
She was one of a kind with pipes of gold. Her privacy was preserved, for the most part, throughout a long and heart-breaking illness. She died today at home in Detroit. May the Queen of Soul rest in peace.
They stole the crown jewels! (This is not a metaphor)
Here’s an obligatory disclaimer: thievery is bad, mmkay? And we endeavor not to encourage or glorify roguish behavior in any form. Even if it’s in really, really badass form. On July 30th a pair of pilferers pulled off a daring … Continue reading
Posted in New Post
Tagged art theft, Strängnäs Cathedral, Sweden, Swedish crown jewels
Leave a comment
A symphony for the people
I’ve boasted more than once about the state of the arts in my beloved hometown. We’re at the resilient epicenter of a rust-belt renaissance, and we take our public arts very seriously. Not to put too fine a point on … Continue reading
A pox on all our houses
I won’t go so far as to say this country has become ungovernable, but it surely isn’t being governed. That’s become evident as we wrap up a jaw-dropping couple of weeks. The madness coincided with Trump’s foray off-shore; he started … Continue reading
On this date…he threw away his shot
On July 11 1804, founding wunderkind Alexander Hamilton committed history’s most misguided act of chivalry by deliberately firing over Aaron Burr’s head during America’s most famous duel. Burr, who was only the first U.S. vice president to shoot someone will … Continue reading
The art of the Fourth
Happy birthday, America. Enjoy this retrospective of Independence Day in the arts…
