The Second Coming, a series that was to be released next month under DC’s Vertigo imprint, depicted Jesus Christ’s not-entirely-triumphant return to earth. “Shocked to discover what has become of his gospel,” Jesus undertakes “a most holy mission from God,” learning from a super-hero called Sun-Man “what it takes to be the true messiah of mankind.” The comic was withdrawn following a petition, by conservative group CitizenGo, which calls The Second Coming “outrageous and blasphemous.” – The Guardian
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Being Lost Can Be Terrifying And Disorienting. Or It Can Open Your Mind
Lostness has always been an enigmatic and many-sided state, always riven with unexpected potencies. Across history, all varieties of artists, philosophers, and scientists have celebrated disorientation as an engine of discovery and creativity, both in the sense of straying from a physical path, but also in swerving away from the familiar, turning in to the unknown. – The Atlantic
Lucas Hnath’s Play About Hillary Clinton’s 2008 Campaign Is Suddenly Seeming Relevant Again
“Set in an alternate universe during the 2008 primaries, as she fights for survival against a charismatic upstart … [and] unfolding around a pivotal moment in the contest, it examined how the strictures of her gender and the baggage of her marriage affected her ability to navigate the men’s world of politics. … Hillary and Clinton arrives [on Broadway] in March amid a raucous cultural debate about gender politics and the double standard that women face.” – The New York Times
Sofia Coppola Is An Auteur, And It’s Time We Give Her An Auteur’s Respect
J. Hoberman: “Coppola is a true auteur — a filmmaker with a distinct worldview and sensibility and a personal set of quasi-autobiographical interests. … [And] it should be noted that on the basis of six features she’s directed since 1999, she’s also the most celebrated American filmmaker under 50.” – The New York Times
A Bilingual ‘Romeo And Juliet’ — In English And American Sign Language
In a new production at ACT in Seattle, Juliet will speak English while Romeo will sign. (Interpreters will translate other roles’ lines into ASL.) In a process involving several steps, Shakespeare’s text has been converted into ASL poetry, “a distinct, dramatic form of sign-language storytelling … [that] uses gestures and facial expressions to evoke such poetic conventions as repetition, rhyme, alliteration, rhythm and meter.” – The Seattle Times
Obama Presidential ‘Library’ Will Have No Library In It
“The four-building, 19-acre ‘working center for citizenship,’ set to be built in a public park on the South Side of Chicago, will include a 235-foot-high ‘museum tower,’ a two-story event space, an athletic center, a recording studio, a winter garden, even a sledding hill. … In a break with precedent, there will be no research library on site, and none of Mr. Obama’s official presidential records,” which are to be digitized and posted online. – The New York Times
Jerry Saltz: Having An Art Fair In L.A. Has Never Really Worked — Until Now
“I often say about art fairs that they are a spectacle of art having sex with money in public. At Frieze, they went at it like a gaggle of pent-up bonobo monkeys. And the sex was good. Or so I’m told. I only watch — amazed, jealous, contemptuous, self-hating, you know the drill.” – Vulture
The Gender Gap At The Top Of US Ballet Companies
“The Dance Data Project … has published a report on leadership pay among the 50 biggest ballet companies in the U.S, broken down by gender. Here are some of the most interesting findings.” – Dance Magazine
‘Voice Of The Minnesota Orchestra’, Mary Ann Feldman, Dead At 85
“She was perhaps the best known and most prolific advocate for classical music the Twin Cities has ever known. … She wrote erudite and witty program notes for the Minnesota Orchestra for 33 years while serving as the orchestra’s principal speaker, which meant giving 60 speeches a year, some of them on radio and television but most of them in the form of pre-concert talks at Orchestra Hall, a format she pioneered.” – MinnPost (Minneapolis)
Jonathan Lethem To Edit New Series Of Literary Reprints
“Bill Henderson, founder of the Pushcart Press and the Pushcart Prize, has teamed up with novelist Jonathan Lethem to start Lethem’s Legends, a series that will reprint selected out-of-print works. The first title in the series, which Lethem will edit, is Bad Guy by Rosalyn Drexler, the visual artist, playwright, and novelist.” – Publishers Weekly