“What suspicion as an interpretive approach implies is that literary texts are always hiding something. The meaning of a work is buried, a brilliant jewel whose rays can only be glimpsed once the layers of obfuscating sediment have been flensed from the text. So, like a patient in analysis, whatever it seems on the surface to say, it must really mean something else. Under this cool, post-Freudian gaze the motives of authors, narrators and readers themselves are revealed as equally obscure and unreliable.”
Month: July 2016
No, It’s Not Your Imagination – Pop Music Is Getting More Narcissistic (We’ve Got The Data)
“Compared with earlier years, songs in 2010 were more likely to include the singer referring to the self by name, general self-promotion, and bragging about wealth, partner’s appearance, or sexual prowess,” the researchers report. “A similar, albeit nonsignificant increase, was also seen for bragging about musical prowess and demands for respect. Overall, the most popular music from 2010 contained more self-promotion than music from 1990 or 2000.”
‘Being John Malkovich,’ ‘Adaptation,’ ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ – And Charlie Kaufman Thinks He Blew His Career
“I don’t feel like I’ve got that cachet that I had at a certain point [after those three films]. I see people seizing the moment when they have the same kind of explosion that I had, and I just didn’t do it. I didn’t know how to do it – I didn’t want to do it. I just thought ‘Oh, this is good! I’ll be able to just keep working.'”
A History Of Being Exhausted
“Those who imagine that life in the past was simpler, slower and better are wrong. The experience of exhaustion, and anxieties about exhaustion epidemics in the wider population, are not bound to a particular time and place. On the contrary: exhaustion and its effects have preoccupied thinkers since classical antiquity.”
How Much Ear Did Van Gogh Really Cut Off? There’s Some New Evidence
“A [recently discovered] note written by Félix Rey, a doctor who treated van Gogh at the Arles hospital, contains a drawing of the mangled ear.” Problem is, the note contradicts some key eyewitness testimony.
When An Artist Burns His Work, It’s A Violent Act, Meaning What, Exactly?
“There are numerous examples of governments and institutions putting books into bonfires, but they are still actions of external protest and censure. When writers burn their own manuscripts, they are destroying their own words. Cathartic, but also a bit sadistic. Burning is a slow, ritualistic death. Why not simply throw away a manuscript?”
Lunch With Audra McDonald And Zachary Quinto
“Over fruit salad and cool drinks, the pair discussed the childhood difficulties that drew them to acting; their shared commitment to young people at risk and L.G.B.T. issues; and the emotional dividends of that work, as well as becoming role models to younger women of color and gay men.”
Pokemon Go! Changes The Way We Want To Interact With The World
“This weekend I went to the recently opened San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and wanted to know everything about the art and various installations, beyond what was posted on the walls. I felt as if I should be able to lift my phone and get more details on the process of the creation of the art work, rather than having to type a search term into my browser. Pokémon Go had changed my expectations on how to access information. That shift in expectation, perhaps, is the game’s true importance.”
It’s The Worst Audience Behavior I’ve Ever Seen, Says Producer
Richard Jordan: “Attending the final Friday evening performance of Doctor Faustus starring Kit Harington at the Duke of York’s Theatre, my heart sank.” There was talking, eating, taking pictures – and complaining after being asked to stop. There was popcorn, chips crisps, and even Chicken McNuggets.
We’ve Got To Stop This Audience-Shaming, Says Indie Theatre Exec
Amber Massie-Blomfield, executive director of Camden People’s Theatre: “Not only does this line of discourse do little to change behaviour, it might well serve to alienate the new audiences that are so crucial to the continuing vitality of the art form. … The fear of not knowing how to behave at the theatre is a genuine barrier to entry.”