On culture wars as a symbol of democracy: "It’s not only democracy, it’s about art as symbols of our existence. You know, whenever we talk about democracy, we’re never talking about a perfect state, but rather continuous questioning and argument. are about us, about those questions, not about any authority." - The Observer (UK)
Turn him to face the wall in shame. That way, those who demand the statue stay get their demand met, but the implication is obvious. - The Guardian (UK)
Can a producers' union ever work in the biz? They need it. "More than 100 feature film producers ... recently ratified the constitution for a new union they hope will provide the kind of basic healthcare, pay and protections afforded by most other unionized Hollywood workers." - Los Angeles Times
That is, welcoming to all, free, and more a central part of public life? There's a little problem with this idea, which former Queens Museum president and executive director Laura Raicovich pitches in a new book about politics and museums. "Museums lack 'public spirit' because museums are capitalist institutions," unlike public libraries. - The Nation
Zimbabwe-based photographer Tamary Kudita has her contemporary subjects pose in Victorian outfits - often made with contemporary fabric, by designers - to show links between present and past, to combine the two strands of her family's history, and to immense visual effect. She says, "There are collective identities and there are also individual and incredibly diverse stories. All these together...
Eataly is not actually Italy, despite the advertising tagline. "Eataly celebrates agricultural life, but its urban stores feel miles away from a rural idyll. It champions hyper-local produce, while being wedded, not least through its name, to the idea of a national cuisine. Eataly presents itself as the whole nation in microcosm; the best of Italian cuisine, all conveniently collected under...
This is an entirely new concept for many researchers. "For more than a century, researchers who study sleep have looked for its purpose and structure in the brain. They have explored sleep’s connections to memory and learning. They have numbered the neural circuits that push us down into oblivious slumber and pull us back out of it. They have recorded...
Well, A Quiet Place II's boffo box office seems to indicate that people are sick of their living rooms and, one hopes, fully vaccinated and ready to go to the movies. - Variety
"In the early and mid-1990s, working primarily for The Source magazine, at the time the definitive digest of hip-hop’s commercial and creative ascendance, Mr. Modu was the go-to photographer. An empathetic documentarian with a talent for capturing easeful moments in often extraordinary circumstances, he helped set the visual template for dozens of hip-hop stars. The Source was minting a new generation...
A top-secret project made the Medici Chapel gleam anew: "In the months leading up to Italy’s Covid-19 epidemic and then in some of the darkest days of its second wave as the virus raged outside, restorers and scientists quietly unleashed microbes with good taste and an enormous appetite on the marbles, intentionally turning the chapel into a bacterial smorgasbord."...
How'd the dry run for the YOLA concert hall go? "It would be hard to imagine a less proper acoustic assessment, or a better real world one. The ensemble of student string players spent the pandemic practicing at home and taking instruction via Zoom. Yet their assignment, on only their third time back together, was the tricky first movement...
It's not a simple no, however: "The port authority, which owns the site of the proposed museum, gave the green light but the council has objected on the grounds of location and fears the scheme will provide little value to local residents." - The Guardian (UK)
Honestly, among fans, the food is famous. "HBO is aware of the series' reputation, and continues to tweet things like 'The Mare of Easttown food pyramid: fries, peanut butter, spray cheese, vitamins, and beer' while legions of fans have taken to kicking back on Sunday nights with Rolling Rock and cheesesteaks." - Salon
