A collection of 69 posts
Dehumanization can lead to the worst of human atrocities. It is also precisely the type of complaint Trump’s critics make of the president’s own behavior.
The foundations of the avant-garde were built upon the opposition of true and fake art.
Whether on-screen or off, humans are interesting only when they assert moral autonomy over their own lives.
Do we really think our era is so fraught and divisive that we must abandon our principles in order to achieve something that we absolutely will not achieve if we abandon our principles?
A society that respects neither religion nor art cannot be called a civilization.
Art isn’t free to produce. Especially the kind of art Sabin makes.
Now that they are channeling the self-censoring spirit of our times, the soul is being sucked out of the business, and the art, that I love. This essay is my attempt to explain how we got here.
There are too many artists, too many people who want to be artists, most of them aren’t very good, and schools should focus on inculcating self-discipline rather than dopey ‘all must have prizes’ creativity.
Quebec briefly played host this summer to a theatrical production described by one prominent artist as “reminiscent of blackface minstrel shows.”
Unfabling the East is a brilliant new book by Jürgen Osterhammel that goes back to the original sources, and carefully reconstructs the evolution of European views of Asia.
The rising popularity of a genre known for its politically subversive content and heavy use of profanity clearly unnerved some of the more staid.
Activists wanted museums to pivot away from historic collections and towards their audiences, focusing more on excluded groups.
Among these is a preference for what have come to be called ‘traditionally marginalized narratives.
Abdou responded to the advice she got by writing a different kind of book altogether. “These were big edits,” she says. “I now had a ghost story without a ghost.”
Quebec is very much part of that great cultural mash-up we call Western culture.