“The concept of cultural appropriation is nothing less than an intellectual fence: Keep out. If it had been adhered to, then Richard Fariña would not have written “Birmingham Sunday” after the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963 that took the lives of four girls. (The song was recorded by Joan Baez.) Bob Dylan could not have written about Hattie Carroll, the black barmaid who was killed by a drunk white patron in 1963. “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” speaks to both race and class. It is as much “An American Tragedy” as Theodore Dreiser’s classic novel.”
Tag: 01.06.13
Benin Opens West Africa’s First Contemporary Art Museum
The collection at the Villa Ajavon in the old port city of Ouidah “is the first museum devoted to African contemporary art to open in sub-Saharan Africa outside of South Africa.”
Does The Self-Help Industry Have Anything To Say To Us?
“Underneath what appears to be umptebajillion ideas about who we are and how we work, the self-help movement has a startling paucity of theories about the self. To be precise: It has one.”
Turkey Lifts Bans On Thousands Of Books
“In July, the parliament adopted a bill stipulating that any decision taken before 2012 to block the sale and distribution of published work would be voided if no court chose to confirm the ruling within six months. The deadline came and went Saturday and no such judicial decisions were recorded.”
The History Of Public Transit Art … In Los Angeles
“Weary commuters arising from the depths of the Civic Center Red Line station are greeted by Samm Kunce’s Under the Living Rock, a 160-foot curved wall depicting a classical hanging garden of Venetian glass and striated granite. An uplifting passage from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, etched into black granite ribbon, may well soothe the harried soul.”
Is Reality TV Too Dangerous (For Its Crews)?
“A combination of tight budgets, lack of trained safety personnel and pressure to capture dramatic footage has caused serious and in some cases fatal incidents.”
Marcel Duchamp’s Dinner That Changed The Arts World In New York
“In February 1968, the avant-garde legend Marcel Duchamp hosted an informal dinner in New York for a group of local artists. Among them were composer John Cage, choreographer Merce Cunningham and the painter Jasper Johns.”
Who Cares If The Spanish Flag Is Wrong In Men In Black 3?
This guy does. And oh, does he have movie inconsistency details down.
Graphic Novels Cross The High School Honors Class Barrier
“There’s no data on precisely how many schools nationwide use graphic novels. But no one disputes that in other markets the popularity of the comic-style books — adapted to classic literature, biographies, science, math and other subjects — is on the rise.”
A Little More On Damien Hirst And Larry Gagosian
Background, analyses, educated guesses and more on the split of the artist from the powerhouse gallery owner and dealer.