“Belgrade-born Abramović and Ulay, real name Frank Uwe Laysiepen, were lovers and co-creators for more than a decade before their separation in 1988 … Ulay [has now] launched a lawsuit, to be heard in Amsterdam later this month, in which he claims Abramović has violated a contract they signed in 1999 covering works they had created together.”
Category: people
‘The Stradivari Of Sticks,’ Baton Maker Richard Horowitz, Dead At 91
“[He] was a renowned musician in his own right, a retired principal timpanist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. But in the rarefied artistic circles that were his orbit for more than half a century, he was also known as a maker of conductors’ batons, a fine trade plied by only a handful of people around the globe. … His art married the skills of a physician, a palm reader, a carpenter and a Savile Row tailor.”
Allen Toussaint, 77, New Orleans R&B Legend Who Churned Out Pop Hits For Other Artists
“He was a versatile, virtuoso pianist and a distinctive, mellow-voiced vocalist who rarely toured because he was so busy producing, writing and arranging music at his New Orleans studio. Meanwhile, his songs were performed by a who’s who of New Orleans singers (Lee Dorsey, Irma Thomas, Ernie K-Doe) and international rock artists (Jerry Garcia, The Doors, Yardbirds, Bo Diddley, Robert Palmer, Little Feat, Elvis Costello). In 1998, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”
Bernard-Henri Lévy Is Not As Ridiculous As He Sometimes Seems
For all that he can be a figure of fun in the U.S. and even in France, “Lévy ‘has made a positive impact on French policy and French thinking. Saying terrible things are terrible in a loud and convincing way is more than a lot of people do,’ says Steven Erlanger, who was The New York Times‘ Paris bureau chief from 2008 to 2013, ‘and he deserves a lot of credit for that.'”
The Many Lives Of Rasputin’s Daughter
Peasant child, St. Petersburg society girl, White Russian fugitive, itinerant exile, cabaret dancer, animal trainer, Rosie-the-Riveter-style machinist in California. “From the beginning of her life in rural Siberia to its end in sunny Los Angeles, nothing about Maria’s life would ever be simple or easy.”
This SNL Comedian Who Is Also Now An ACLU Ambassador
“‘Comedy is analysis,’ said Zamata. ‘All I do as a comedian is analyze society. So, while people are listening, I may as well highlight subjects they may not regularly analyze on their own.'”
TED Gives Big Money Prize To Archaeologist Who Uses Satellite Technology To Fight Looting
“The scientist … has also assisted the Department of Homeland Security in undercover investigations, including Operation Mummy’s Curse, which this year repatriated dozens of smuggled artifacts to Egypt.”
Ellsworth Kelly, At 92, Hasn’t Run Out Of Ideas Yet
“His mood, eager and confiding, comes as a rebuke to the wistful sighs of the oxygen tank to which he is now hooked up. ‘I want to live another 15 years,’ he says, sadly. ‘But I know I’m not going to.'”
The (Badass) Woman Who Revolutionized Food Writing
“Paddleford was the first American writer to approach food with as much respect and research as other journalists did with the established serious topics. She used it as a vehicle to talk about the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia and the New York World’s Fair. When Winston Churchill visited Missouri in 1946, most reporters parsed his Iron Curtain speech. Paddleford wrote about the buffet menu.”
Melissa Mathison, 65, Screenwriter Of ‘E.T.,’ ‘Black Stallion,’ ‘Kundun’
“[She] specialized in stories revolving around children. But, as she often said, she made a point of not condescending to them. ‘I go to movies with my children and see fat kids burping, parents portrayed as total morons, and kids being mean and materialistic, and I feel it’s really slim pickin’s out there,’ she [said] in 1995. ‘There’s a little dribble of a moral tacked on, but the story is not about that.'”