“There’s a lot of talk right now about values-driven design and what it can do to make the world a better place. Most of those conversations center on the green building trend; architects are leading the eco-revolution, creating smart homes and advanced public spaces that are energy-efficient and Earth-friendly. But conscientious design doesn’t have to be high-tech like that. In fact, many of the most worthy projects are positively pre-tech, recycling old materials and ideas into something fresh. They can take us higher as well.”
Author: ArtsJournal2
This Is Samuel Jackson’s World, And How It Got That Way
“Samuel L. Jackson works. It’s all but impossible to turn on a TV set any night of the week without happening on one of his movies (and sometimes two or three). Hence his anointment by Guinness World Records as ‘the highest-grossing film actor’ of all time.”
The Best New Yorker Covers You’ve Never Seen
The (possibly better; surely more outrageous) covers that didn’t make it through the process, culled by the magazine’s art editor.
What Do Choreographers Sacrifice To Be Part Of Academia?
“Academia is providing a valuable lifeline for these artists, allowing them to continue putting their work on in the world in a way that works despite the obvious obstacles. It’s almost painful to wonder how many mid-career artists might have stopped creating work all together without university support. As almost all mentioned the two-job conundrum, it’s not an easy situation. Surely, the security is a huge benefit as artists move toward mid-career, yet the choice comes with continual negotiation, artistic sacrifices, and compromise.” (Part 2 of a 2-part series.)
William Klein, Photography Outsider, Finally Has “A Moment”
“Klein burst on to the photography scene in the early 60s with a series of books about cities – New York, Rome, Moscow and Tokyo – filled with raw, grainy, black-and-white photographs that caught the energy and movement of modern urban life with scant regard for traditional composition. The first, Life Is Good & Good For You in New York (1956), once it got published, earned him the opprobrium of both critics and other photographers alike. ‘They just didn’t get it,’ he says. ‘They thought it should not have been published, that it was vulgar and somehow sinned against the great sacred tradition of the photography book. They were annoyed for sure.'”
Building The Perfect City (Utopias Always Work Out So Well)
“Slated for completion in 2015, PlanIT Valley won’t be a mere ‘smart city’ — it will be a sentient city, with 100 million sensors embedded throughout, running on the same technology that’s in the Formula One cars, each sensor sending a stream of data through the city’s trademarked Urban Operating System (UOS), which will run the city with minimal human intervention.”
Kitsch: Still A Topic Of Bemusement?
London’s filled with kitschy fashion and design this season. “But what exactly is kitsch? Why is it making a comeback? And why does it provoke such knee-jerk disapproval?”
Risking Death To Write Poetry In Afghanistan
“Meena’s father pulled her out of school four years ago after gunmen kidnapped one of her classmates. Now she stays home, cooks, cleans and teaches herself to write poetry in secret. Poems are the only form of education to which she has access. She doesn’t meet outsiders face to face.”
Art (And The Rest Of Culture) In L.A. After The Riots
“The civil unrest that devastated Los Angeles in spring 1992 and lighted a fire under the city’s police department and political establishment also sounded an alarm to L.A.’s major cultural institutions: They needed to diversify their programming, expand their audiences, and step up their outreach efforts toward a population undergoing rapid demographic change.”
Cuban Actors Reappear To Ask For Asylum
Two young Cuban actors who star in an award-winning film about young Cubans defecting to Miami have now come out of hiding – in Miami – to say they’re defecting to the U.S.