This week in NYTimes Arts, 9/12 – 9/14
What have you found of interest in the NYTimes Arts section? Add your comments to this post. I encourage you to leave multiple comments, and to comment freely on other students’ ideas.
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27 comments
I would like to watch the Disco Pigs. The characters are our age so I think we would see similarities in behavior. Reading the article, I first thought that the characters did not speak English. But then I realized that their other language was making pig noises. Since it is Disco Pigs I hope there is some kind of dancing involved. When I first opened the link the picture was very interesting, which led me to read the article.
When I first read the title “At Clown Class, Reaching Deep Into the Psyche for Something Silly”, I really thought that people learned clowning with the big feet and red nose. I found it interesting that Yale, Julliard, and NYU, requires the clown class to be taught. I think this class is a really good idea. It helps people deal with the stresses in life and learning to laugh at yourself is very important. The workshops should be mandatory everywhere.
I want to go see what the Koolhaas building looks like when it is finished. I wonder how it can be upside down. The architecture of some buildings amazes me. How does something stand like that? In downtown Manhattan, there is a really big red cube standing on its corner. I have always wondered how it stands. I know there is a scientific explanation behind it but some architectural designs amaze me.
Nanabozho is unique because it has puppets in it. I think watching it would remind me of my childhood. The story seems funny also. I noticed that a lot of the performances are outside. I would definitely take my younger cousin to watch it. I do not know many places where we can watch puppet shows.
I was surprised to see an article of the elections in the Arts section so I decided to read it. “On the Web, a Nonpartisan Look at Those Partisan Campaign Ads” was interesting I did not know that negative campaign ads dated back to the 1950s. I thought they started earlier than that. Some of the campaign ads these days are really creative an I wonder how someone came up with the ideas. As the years go by it is probably harder to put false ads of the other candidate because with the internet and media, the people will discover the truth really fast.
One of my favorite articles this week is “Master of Many Styles, and many Mentors.” This is about how the Metropolitan will be displaying Chinese classical painting specifically by one Chinese painter, Wang Hui. He brings together the many different parts of Chinese painting that do not fit together into one central piece. I really love art especially anything that is ancient and dates back to thousands of years ago. It is really cool that the article mentioned that Chinese artists copy past ones in their paintings and build on the styles. I really enjoy looking at pieces of art and going to museums and studying them, with all the mysteries and interpretations behind each one. I so want to go and see this exhibition at the Metropolitan with two scrolls at the end of the show. With pieces of art, I really enjoy it if they are ancient. Every time I look at them I feel really compelled that wow, this is so amazing. Especially with this, it really helps me to better understand Chinese culture. I am all into Chinese culture and what the Chinese did thousands of years ago. It was back then that the fine arts in China developed from the many dynamic dynasties. I am definitely making a trip to the Metropolitan sooner or later!
Another article that I found compelling is “Finding Art in the Asphalt.” It is about a new show at the Bronx Museum of the Arts called the “Street Art Street Life: From the 1950s to Now.” The show consists of mainly photography of normal people living in the 1950’s in the city. The main idea is that history is art and not the excitement of the streets. The show’s main purpose is to record what kind of art took place in the streets back then. I never thought of art this way, and so now I have a new perspective after reading the article. I have enjoyed history all through high school, and I always wonder what you can do with history. History is not practical in the job market, but it is still a form of art. What went on back then cannot be revisited again, and it is absolutely essential that we preserve this. I think it is sad that we lost this aspect of New York City culture where artists back then crowded on street corners to make music from metal and concrete. When I think of art, I think of true as being produced from simple objects spontaneously. Now art is so much more artificial I think and it’s more structured. There is not as much room for spontaneous creativity. As you can tell, I really enjoy what happened back then. I am more concerned with art of the then and not now because modern art would not be what it is today without the ancient cultural foundations.
What I found interesting in the Friday’s Art Section in NYT was this article called “At Clown Class, Reaching Deep Into the Psyche for Something Silly”. By looking at the article title, I seriously was imagining clowns teaching others how to be clowns and perform in circuses. But I know this is not the case since the pictures shown contain people interacting and having fun in groups. As I read the article, I realized that these “clown classes” teach people how to be funny and how to get people to be in the center of a comedy attention. As the article says, this class more or less teaches philosophy and other fields of the sort to the students. I view this class as getting to your inner self. To be a successful clown, you have to be true to yourself and not be afraid to show all sides of you to strangers. I think this is a very interesting way of knowing yourself and opening yourself up to the world to see. It is interesting how the article also identify clowning as a religion, especially similar to Buddhism, since the idea is to be the “holy one” and be conscious of everything better than anyone else. I am really interested in this class because it’s like reaching deep into your mind and finding out what is actually there that was not noticed before and also finding true happiness within yourself. I believe that that is the main theme of the class, to not only be happy and funny, but to spread the joy to other people by relaxing yourself and joke openly with others. I really like that idea. =]
In the Friday NYT 9/12/08 I found the article “Finding Art in the Asphalt,” interesting because it’s talking about a new exhibit that’s going to open in the Bronx Museum of Arts. Supposedly it’s mainly a lot of photographs from the 1950’s and it shows many pictures New York life during that time. They talked about a photographer who took a picture of the racial segregation on the trolley and how he provoked a teenager to point a gun at his camera where he ended up taking the photo. I absolutely love photography even though I know I’m terrible at taking pictures. I really enjoyed the creative work presentations because there were just so many pretty pictures that my classmates took. I would really like to see some of the photographs described in the article as well at other photographs showing the life of the 1950’s. There was also a documentary on an artist showing how he lived in the streets for one year. That is definitely a unique but bizarre thing to do.
“Splitting a Gallery in Half to Focus on Social Strife” was another interesting article talking about a two completely different showcases of artworks that are placed in the same gallery. The first gallery is basically pictures of clothing featuring young women in stockings and girdles. There is also pictures of men’s polos, high waisted and flared denim. Then the opposite of the gallery are realistic pictures from the effects of apartheid in the lives of black miners and white middle class workers. I can imagine being at the gallery and my reactions would changed so drastically because the subjects are completely different.
I found “Finding Art in the Asphalt” to be a very interesting article and I see that several of my classmates felt the same way. The article talks about a new exhibit at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. I live in the Bronx but I have never heard of this museum. I really like the idea of street photography which is what this new show mainly revolves around. The show consists of many pictures from the 1950s. It’s a way of learning history visually rather than reading it through a textbook. For example, one photograph vividly depicts segregation in the 50s. I also like the comparison that the writer makes of city streets as stages. Hopefully, I’ll be able to go on Sunday for the opening of this new exhibition.
Another article that I enjoyed reading was “Black in America, Painted Euphoric and Heroic.” During high school, American history was one of my favorite subjects. This article talks about the Harlem Renaissance and in particular, about one famous artist – Aaron Douglas. One of his works, “song of the Towers,” really caught my eye. It shows the silhouette of a man reaching out to the sun, in triumph. This seems to be the subject of many of his works. The article gives us a brief history of his life, such as his involvement in the NAACP. Although he isn’t widely known, he worked with Du Bois and Langston Hughes. He also graduated from college as an art major in the 20s, a big achievement at that time for many African Americans.
Li Tan (Lelia Tan)
I find the Times today very boring. I skimmed most of the articles, but nothing really caught my eye. I found the article about the new movie “The Women” to be pretty useful, but biased. The article just tells readers how bad the movie was. Though that’s just the writer’s opinion, I would have to say it worked for me and I will probably not watch it. Another review “The Gym Teacher” sounds like a good family film. I thought it was interesting how a previous Olympian is an actor in the play. I hope that if I do watch it, it won’t be a disappointment.
So, I just read the clown article mentioned in Hea Jung’s post. I take back what I said before of nothing being interesting. I found this article to be very interesting indeed. A clown class would be a very productive idea. I think it is true that people should learn to laugh at others, as well as themselves. It would make people relax more and even enjoy life more. I, myself, think that I would do terribly in this class because it’s not easy to intentionally embarrass yourself. In the article, the clown teacher told the class to do something, grabbing a balled up sock on the floor. While reading this, I was thinking, it shouldn’t be that hard. After reading his comment on who really wanted to get that sock, and saying “Now, isn’t that pathetic?” really made me think of things differently. Just because someone tells you to do something, doesn’t mean it’s actually smart to do. But knowing me, I would probably have tried hard to do it too. This class is a requirement in some colleges already, and offered in other places for a few hundred dollars. I agree with Hea Jung that this class should be taken by everyone. I think that to take adults back to childhood would be an amazing experience, especially for people who think too often and get stressed over all the problems they have. Once I get over being too shy, and when I have money probably, I would like to try this one day too.
I think the Iraq War is something that affects us all on many levels. I personally have 3 friends currently serving the military, two being members of the Marines and one being a member of the Air Force. As sad as it may seem, all three admitted to joining the U.S. Military because they felt their life had no focus- none were in college and none could hold down a job.
“It’ll change you,” I reasoned in vain. “You won’t come back the same.”
And it did. And they didn’t. Although he doesn’t much prefer to talk about it, one Marine has been on four tours in Iraq. He recalls sometimes the horror of his first kill with such bitter regret. When he has a little too much to drink, he becomes not the easy-going light hearted person he once was, but a cold, angry beast of a man. It had changed him. I was right…though I wouldn’t wear my premonition as a badge of merit, for I wish to God I had been wrong.
“Outside the Green Zone, The Human Dimension” was an article in Friday’s New York Times Arts section. Essentially, it is a review of the melodramatically titled novel, “The Forever War” by a Mr. Dexter Filkins. “[The author’s] prose is as blunt as it is powerful,” proclaims the review’s author. Needless to say, the book received outstandingly high praise from this particular reviewer.
I have never been to Iraq, and hopefully I will never end up there. As the author explains, “Mr. Filkins’s stories are those of a writer willing to endure hardship, danger and anguish to paint an accurate picture of war for the American public.” The reviewer focuses on Filkins’ willingness to venture outside the designated safe “green zone” in Baghdad to reach the heart of the “forever war,” the epicenter of human emotion sprouting from a gray land.
As mentioned, the book strays from the conventional “blockbuster” action of the war, and instead turns it into a dramatic narrative detailing human emotion. I for one feel that this aspect of the war, although heart-wrenching, has been played out already numerous times in books and movies.” But perhaps I’m generalizing…”Jarhead” was about the Gulf War as opposed to the Iraq War, and “Platoon,” was about the Vietnam War. Perhaps this generation needs its own landmark piece of literature about something it can relate to firsthand, as I can relate to it.
Filkins examines the transition of a soldier back into civilian life, measuring “what Iraq was doing to the Americans” as best he could, through interviews and firsthand accounts. This is indeed an interesting aspect of the war, a point the reviewer makes. I am somewhat drawn to this book. I’d like to read it to see just how normal my personal experiences actually are.
I think the reviewer does a very adequate job of analyzing “The Forever War.” I do not, however, see where he mentioned any faults with the book, and this is because he didn’t refer to any. I think his argument is somewhat weakened by this fact alone, as no piece of literature no matter how great, is without fault. I also feel that the reviewer delved much too deeply into plot summary, going against a fundamental rule of examining any piece of literature. In all though, the review was rich and provided a textual evidence to support the reviewer’s opinion.
I was about 11 when the first Harry Potter film came out. I was psyched- I had read the Sorcerer’s Stone and fallen in love with it. Everything about the movie seemed so magical. Again though, I was 11 at the time and knew absolutely nothing about cinematography, casting, or anything related to a film aside from its superficial themes and morals.
Harry was Harry. He had the scar and everything. What he didn’t have though, was a following. Nobody knew who this supposed “up and coming” child star was-and to my mom, he was still “The Harry Potter Kid.”
It turns out his name is Daniel Radcliffe, and he’s more than just Harry. Much more. In fact, according to a Sunday New York Times Arts section article entitled, “Onstage, Stripped of Wizardry,” he’s making his Broadway premiere in a revival of the 1970s play “Equus.”
The article analyzes Radcliffe’s progression from awkward tiny child star to full frontally nude stage performer in fascinating detail. The author reports that Mr. Radcliffe is widely respected by theater critics who have seen his premature performance in the aforementioned play.
The article also deals with the delicate balance of Radcliffe’s choosing a role that isn’t too “adult” for him, one that would discourage his audiences from taking him seriously. Personally, I don’t think seeing Radcliffe outside of a Harry Potter context would have much bearing on me; I do think I’d giggle at the site of him naked though. It would seem too much like pedophilia to me, even though he’s a year older than me. In my mind’s eye, he’s still that dorky twelve year old Harry Potter.
So the Times doesn’t release the Sunday Arts section until later apparently. Tomorrow then.
While reading Sunday’s New York Times, ” The Mining of Hip-Hop’s Golden Age” caught my eye. Growing up in the Bronx, hip hop was a cultural given. However, I never knew much about it until I read this article. According to the article, a group known as the “Cool Kids” have brought back an older version of hip-hop, one that originated in the 80s. As I listened to the musical excerpts, I noticed that the music is very different. Unlike today’s hip-hop, the drums play a larger role in this style of music. The Cool Kids are part of a growing group of musicians who are revisiting earlier musical styles. Although this is common in other musical genres, such as rock, hip-hop rarely ever looks into the past. The Cool Kids are being criticized for revisiting hip-hop’s golden age, a time that they did not experience themselves. The group’s history is also very unusual. The Cool Kids also went to Ivy League schools, unlike most rappers who “come from the streets.” I actually liked their music more than today’s hip-hop. I like the rhythm as well as the incorporation of the drums.
Another article that caught my eye was “Onstage, Stripped of that Wizardry.” The article is about Daniel Radcliffe’s or “Harry Potter”, transition from the blockbuster movies series to Broadway performances. He began his acting career at the age of 12 and is now performing in “Equus,” nearly 7 years later. He took acting lessons in order to learn how to project his voice. I found this interesting because I had always assumed that he was born as a perfect actor. His whole family is consumed by the arts, and his father manages his son’s career. The article upset me a bit because it took away the childlike innocence I had always associated with Harry Potter. Now I imagine him to be just like any other hollywood actor.
“When Prague Spring Gave Way to Winter” was a wonderful article that demonstrated the way art is utilized to capture major historical moments. Photographer Josef Koudelka lived in Czechoslovakia in the late 1960s, and was present during the Soviet invasion of 1968. He photographed the violence and the destruction of Prague, and later had to smuggle his photos out of the country. I believe that photojournalism is the most effective form of news-communication, as photographs provide actual footage of real things that actually once existed. You can read something in print and forget it within the hour, but photographs and images have the power leave lasting impressions.
Another interesting article was “From Tapestries to Top Job, Ready for Met’s Challenges”, about the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s newest director, Thomas Campbell. The article briefly describes his youth and career, portraying him as a lover of the visual arts who started out at the Met as a curator over a decade ago. Campbell had a few things to say about the museum. He claims that some people feel that the Met does not concentrate enough on “modern” art, and I agree with him when he says, “But seeing [modern art] here in a context of historic art gives it a very different kind of meaning than seeing it in places that are more exclusively focused on this area.” I love the Met because it is historical—I love walking around the darker exhibits that house old African masks, or dusty old portraits, and I would hate it if the museum decided to replace those with more modern exhibits. Campbell does, however, hope to make the Met more technologically up-to-date, and I think that would be a nice improvement.
Li Tan (Lelia Tan)
I’ve always loved Harry Potter, books and movies. After reading the article on Daniel Radcliffe, “Onstage, Stripped of that Wizardry,” I learned that he is not just the wizard, but actors for other forms of art as well. It feels weird to think that he isn’t only Harry Potter, but actually a real actor. Like the article says, it is wrong to just assume that he is Harry Potter and just deem him as childish, but I can’t help but feel that way. To learn that Daniel Radcliffe has performed nude on stage is just so awkward. I do agree with Corey that imagining him naked (AWKWARD.) seems kind of pedophilic, even if he is older than I am. I personally really like the character of Harry Potter and Daniel Radcliffe’s accent is pretty awesome. In his interviews, I learned that he isn’t really the type of guy I imagined him to be. He seems to be much more mature and shockingly so open about his personal life at just 19 years old. I do feel bad that people, like me, don’t see him as an actor of anything other than Harry, but I do understand their feelings. I have never seen any other film with him in it, which made me think that the Harry Potter series were the only one he was in. Surprisingly, Radcliffe has had many acting experiences, and his talent gave him many supporters and fans. I would say any other portrayal of him would feel weird, and that Harry Potter fits him best, but that’s just my opinion.
Before I read today’s articles, I took a look at the reviews and saw that there was an article about Daniel Radcliffe. I was excited about the article so it was the first one I read. Like everyone I have grown up reading Harry Potter books and seeing Harry Potter films. It is my favorite of all time. I agree with Diane that his family must be a great support system. His father is so dedicated and it must be great to have your family’s support. I’m really glad that Daniel Radcliffe is getting positive reviews and that people are saying he is transitioning well into an adult actor. Since he is one of the most famous child actors of all time, people will probably see Harry Potter in him for the rest of his life. But it seems that Daniel Radcliffe is trying hard to try new roles and this will help him a lot. I admire that he is very professional and he did not struggle and do drugs. I am really excited he is doing a Broadway show and I definitely want to see it when it opens, although I agree with Lelia and Corey that it will be awkward seeing him naked. He is a terrific actor and I am really excited for the show. The pictures in the article really show how much he has changed.
In the article “The Poetry of Scissors and Glue”, the art pieces being mentioned are really unique. It is my first time hearing about a gallery of collages. The artworks shown have a lot of color and are really interesting to look at. I think I would enjoy the gallery and the artworks. Collages bring a lot of ideas together and looking at one is fun because you can see lots of different things.
“A Thousand Years” and “The Princess of Nebraska” look interesting because as it says in the article they have subtle updates from other immigration stories. Immigration stories in general interest me and the other elements such as parent-child relationships make it more intriguing. I will be sure to go see the movies when they come out.
When I first saw the picture of Daniel Radcliffe in the arts section, I was shocked by how much he had aged. I think personally he looks better back then when he was the young Harry Potter but now I just think he’s obsessed like any other actor. His appearance has changed dramatically. Ever since watching the first Harry Potter movie, I have always associated him with this young, innocent amateur actor who cannot play any other role besides Harry Potter. It is really exciting and challenging for him to take on a new role in a Broadway show and how change his fans’ perceptions of him. I agree with my other classmates of how awkward it would be to see him naked. I still have this preconception in my mind of the innocent actor he is, and this is far from what I see him as now. However, I still support the new image he is trying to give himself. He will never be able to be called a professional actor if he has not experience every possible role in the acting industry and expand his horizons. This is a deviation from his usual Harry Potter roles. I hope he continues to keep a clean image for himself and not get involved in scandals. Like Heajung, I am so happy for him that he has not turned to drugs. In today’s world that is hard with all the negative influences out there.
Another article that caught my attention is “The Poetry of Scissors and Glue.” It is about an 81-year old poet who will take on the role of an artist and display two dozen small collages. I never thought before that a poet could become an artist also. Now that I think of it, it actually launches the artist on a more successful career because as poets can describe things in such vivid detail originally, it would be so much easier to translate the words into pictures. I will definitely go and see this gallery one day!
I read the article “When Prague Spring Gave Way to Winter”, which is about a photographer, Josef Koudelka, who took pictures of Czechoslovakia in 1968. This was the time when Alexander Dubcek came into power and created more democratic ideals. The government would abolish press censorship causing pictures like the ones that Koudelka took to be released.
During that year, the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia and Koudelka decided to capture the emotions of the civilians on his camera. All of his pictures are in black and white which gives them a sense of the time when they were taken. The picture that I liked the most shows a Soviet tank rolling along the streets and a person standing on the tank waving a flag.
These pictures are displayed in galleries located at Aperture and Pace/MacGill in Manhattan. They are a prime example of photo journalism. Koudelka did not take credit for the pictures at first because the wanted to protect his parents who still lived in Czechoslovakia. However, fifteen years later, after his father died, he took credit for them in 1984. I looked at all of the pictures and I could feel the emotion coming out from them.
I looked at the clown article after reading Haejung’s and Leli’s posts and the article, as well as the class struck me as very interesting. One of my best friends is currently a senior in high school and has had his mind set on going to Juilliard for all of high school. He knows how difficult it is to get in, and knows the odds of getting in for him are quite slim, but nothing would make him happier. As I was reading the article I could picture my friend performing very well in the clown class. I couldn’t even picture the class as much of challenge for him because he is already so skilled in showing his emotions and acting, well, like a clown. I don’t know where it originated, but his nickname is “Glozo the Clown”.
I actually saw him over the weekend and showed him the article. I think it got his hopes up for Juilliard even more. He’s quite a character and I would love to see him take the class and see its effect on his acting and performing.
9/12/08
On September 12, 2008 I decided to read a review about the movie that I wanted to see ever since I saw its preview: The women. After watching that movie with my boyfriend, who fell asleep numerous times and could not stop yawning when he was not sleeping, I could not help but to feel disappointed (and yes, I felt sorry for dragging him to watch this movie.) I explained to my friends, “That movie was like a subtle version of the Sex and the City.” And that was exactly how the critic viewed it. A movie in which you sit around for two hours waiting for that memorable scene (which decided to never appear.) Sadly, as the critic calls this movie humiliating, the best scene that viewers can squeeze out is Meg Ryan eating a stick of butter with cocoa and milk or Debra Messing giving a birth. I expected so much more out of this movie. A remake of a famous play, the story about- well, women! The dialogues were witty but not crisp or clever enough and the directing was messy.
Despite all the negatives, I still liked the general ideas of the movie: daughter struggling with her parent’s complications, friendships breaking and reconnecting, and women finding herself and succeeding in doing so. I just feel terrible knowing that this movie is already on the road of becoming yet another failure: a movie that will be forgotten.
I also read “The Mental Gymnastics of a Phys Ed Teacher”, which was a review of the new movie, “Gym Teacher: The Movie”. I was actually walking through my living room this afternoon, and my sister was sitting on the couch watching nickelodeon. I was grabbing a sandwich and brought it over to watch the TV and eat with her, and to my surprise, “Gym Teacher” was on!
I missed the first few minutes of the showing, but I read the article beforehand, so I knew enough of the story line to figure out what was going on. The review made the movie sound really good, as if it should be in theaters, so I was expecting a lot. I wouldn’t say that I didn’t enjoy the movie, but I definitely think that the author made it sound better than it was. A lot of the storyline was predictable for me, but I guess it was geared for a younger audience than myself, so I can’t really complain too much about it.
I don’t want to give any more away than Mike Hale did about the movie, but if you come across it while you’re flipping through the channels, I’d stop and see it because it really was pretty good.
Well Mi Ji, if its as bad as you say, it kind of worked out for me. I was thinking about going to watch “The Women” today with my friend, but she wanted to go bowling instead. Not to get off topic, but it was kind of funny because I ran into one of my friends from high school (Philip) when I went bowling. He’s going to City Honors, so one of you guys might have met him at one of the orientations.
In the Sunday NYT, I found the article “Exuberant Riffs on a Land Run Amok” to be about a famous writer that unfortunately passed away on Friday. David Foster Wallace apparently was a very talented writer in writing both fiction and nonfiction. The topics he wrote about covers almost everything, from sports to food to politics and etc. The way he wrote can also range from funny to sad to serious. He can vividly describe his characters and explain the perspectives he wants to convey to his readers. The article described some of his famous work, showing examples of how he relates to the modern time period and the contemporary American lifestyle. I find it very interesting to see the many different areas Wallace can write about. What is so special about this is that for whatever he writes about, the reader can either always relate to it or understand it through his perspective. It is a tragedy to see such a successful writer died, especially when it is found that he had committed suicide. This is actually what I’ve been questioning about since I started to read the article because throughout the article, it didn’t mention anything about what might have lead to Wallace’s death. I assume that people think Wallace died because of the stress or pressure that was building on upon him for years. I also think that maybe it is because of all the things he wrote about, all the reality of the world that he describes in his book that might have lead him to depression. Nevertheless, I came to appreciate this amazing writer and through this article, I feel like I should at least pick up one of his books and experience his writing myself.
One article that seized really my attention was “Postmodern Writer Is Found Dead at Home.” I simply couldn’t comprehend why would he would commit suicide, but I guess artists either have to die young or fade away… Although I’m not a big reader, Foster’s work definitely stands out among the few authors I do enjoy. As raved by the author in this article, his sense of humor forced the reader to turn page after page, willingly or not. His short stories and essays encompass what every writer should want to be able to do. Not particularly for its brevity, but for the fact he was able to reveal so much, yet still keep the reader on his toes.
Here is part of a piece he did, ”
This, like many clichés, so lame and unexciting on the surface, actually expresses a great and terrible truth. It is not the least bit coincidental that adults who commit suicide with firearms almost always shoot themselves in: the head. They shoot the terrible master. And the truth is that most of these suicides are actually dead long before they pull the trigger.” If he was truly dead before his suicide, his writing sure as hell did a great job hiding it. RIP Foster.
The other article which I really enjoyed was “On the ground,” a book review. As I read this, I was reminded of South Pacific and how the very details mentioned in this article parallel scenes in the show. A interesting line from this article was “The cultural perspective of a war is changed in perception by the passage of time and generations.” One of the great things about South Pacific’s revival was that the script was unchanged and really showed how the war was. This review is about a book, The Forever War, by Filkins, a NYT reporter who has covered the Middle East since 1998 sheds his insights on what he has seen in the past decade to remind us of our vulnerable times. The book is written like a report, and Filkins does not write about what he did not see. Maybe I lied about not being the big reader, I intend on picking up a copy of this book…
9/14/08
As a fan of the movie Harry Potter, I quickly clicked an article “Onstage, Stripped of that wizardry.” This article is about the transition of world famous child star Harry Potter to an actor Daniel Radcliffe. He chose Equus to solidify his graduation from Hollywood blockbuster because the character is very different from Harry Potter: the character is violent and mentally unstable. What made this article much more interesting were my early thoughts of Daniel Radcliffe as an actor. When I saw Harry Potter the movie, I thought he was a yet another lucky child whose acting career will be hindered by an image of Harry Potter following him everywhere. If he were to do another fantasy film, I would have believed that he was not trying. That was exactly how Daniel thought. He knew that certain characters will make people disappointed of his abilities. I am glad that Daniel Radcliffe is stepping out of his comfort zone. It would have been tragic to lose another actor to the slump of child stars. Hopefully Radcliffe will never stop expanding. I would love to see “an actor Daniel Radcliffe” receiving an award one day.
The first article that caught my eyes was The Mining of Hip-Hop’s Golden Age. Thinking that the “golden age” of hip hop was right now, I wasn’t expecting to read about hip hop from the 80’s and the 90’s. This article is about the recent underground hip hop artists who are going back the old school hip hop for the base of their music. The style from the hip hop from the 80’s and 90’s are eccentric and are making their way back as a trend. Whereas to some people it’s more of a way of dressing back then. The underground hip hoppers, also known as meta-rappers, are not popular in this generation, because the type of music they sing/rap aren’t what DJs would play on the radio or at the club. Nobody buys their albums yet they’re popular on the internet. I find this article interesting, because you hear now a days, that the old is being the new trend. But I haven’t heard people going back to the old hip-hop. So this article sort of opened my “eyes” to expect lots of unexpected trends to come back. And it also opened my eyes to the a whole new genre of music that I have never heard before.
The second article I found interesting was the article about John Ashbery. Ashbery is an American poet who is 81 and is now debuting his first art gallery in New York. His gallery consists of 24 small collages. They say that some of his collages are from when he was in college back in the 1940s. Some are cartoon characters placed in a setting such as the city, a green house or a desert storm. I was attracted to this article, because I found it amazing that a man at the age of 81 would open a gallery. My grandparents are around 81 and I don’t think opening a gallery is on their mind. I took a look at the few examples of his collages, and they were okay. I wasn’t wowed by them or anything, but there are probably people out there thinking that they are amazing art. Then I remember, the beginning of class and what is art? Maybe when I’m 81, I’ll open a gallery up somewhere in Chelsea.
9/14/08
Growing up, we’ve seen too many brilliant child stars take the wrong turn in their careers with bad reputations, drugs or bad role choices. However, Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe seems to be one of the lucky ones. Searching the NY times site, I came across an interesting article about Daniel Radcliffe’s role in the revival of the 1970s drama “Equus”. Everyones always associated Daniel Radcliffe with his famous role as the boy wizard Harry Potter so when he finally came out as the lead of a dark, psycho play, it was a bit weird to see him in that light. His decision to step out from the shadow of his Hollywood blockbuster role as Harry Potter and into the spotlight as an adult actor proved to be a success. Reading the article “Onstage, Stripped of That Wizardry”, it was interesting to find out that Radcliffe decided to remove himself from the fantasy genres and out of his comfort zone knowing that people would only judge him for his choice. Following the Harry Potter films, the whole world has watched Daniel progress from a little boy into a “bona fide actor”. Its amazing that Daniel hasn’t fallen into the same ends as many child actors but rather made a strong transition into the real world of acting. I hope to see him experiment with even more roles and make it big outside of his Harry Potter fame.
In the 9/12 New York Times, the article “The Poetry of Scissors and Glue” really caught my eye. At first glance, I wondered what these seemingly average collages had to do with anything. Usually, the new and the unusual (or the old and famous) are the pieces that get featured in newspapers and magazines. But upon reading the article, I realized that these weren’t just anybody’s collages – they were John Ashbery’s! To say I was confused would be an understatement – I had to read on.
In high school, one of my English teacher’s absolutely loved poetry. She adored it. She even gave the class poet projects – student-led presentations and discussions about an assigned poet. Among them was John Ashbery – and so, thanks to my enthusiastic English teacher, I recognized the name immediately. The second thought that came to mind was, “Why in the world is John Ashbery making collages??” Maybe being a famous poet wasn’t enough??
At age 81 – and, being a famous poet – it seems highly unusual for someone like Ashbery to be making a debut as a professional artist. The work featured in his upcoming New York show is made up of collages from his college days in the 1940s to recently rediscovered pieces from the ‘70s. I had no idea that Ashbery, in his youth, wanted to be a Surrealist painter! Yet, at the same time, it almost makes perfect sense – visual artist turned poet. It’s really just expressing your art in a different form. Didn’t ancient Chinese painters do the same, adding poems alongside their images? The same might be true even for myself – although nowadays drawing might be my favorite artistic hobby, when I was younger I loved to write stories. Even my former English teacher who loves poetry took painting classes in her spare time. Perhaps most art is, in many ways, simply storytelling – whether that’s through words or through pictures.
An article that I found interesting in the Sunday NYT was “Smithsonian Chief Hopes to Institute Big Reforms”. This article mainly talks about the having a new chief executive for the Smithsonian Museum. The new chief executive Dr. Clough hopes to clean up the institution and have new reforms to make the place better. Supposedly the old executive Mr. Small used the museum’s funding for his own personal uses and that’s just terrible. They already get paid enough and they are still greedy. I hope that the many changes that Dr. Clough hopes to establish is successful. I’ve been the Smithsonian Museum once when I went to Washington DC and the place is absolutely awesome. I love how many they had separate museums for different topics like science, history, and art.
An article that I found interesting is the one on the artist, John Ashbery. The title is, “The Poetry of Scissor and Glue”. He has made two dozen pictures worth of collages and is 81 years old. Although I have nothing against old people, it is truly amazing to see someone who is able to express his feelings through art and paintings even at such an old age. He seems like he still finds a reason to draw and make collages.
The painting that is shown in the article is “Poisson d’Avril”. This picture is very interesting because the painting is just so spontaneous and random. There is a fish in the painting where nature is portrayed. When you look at the art, it seems as if it is just a simple form of nature, but when looking more in depth, you start to see smaller things, such as a very clear reflection of the water that the kid is standing on, and something that seems to be a handkerchief on both his knees. This was his first one-man gallery show, and it was good to see that he was able to have a success.
It doesnt seem to surprise me to see David Foster Wallace dead from hanging himself. David Wallace’s wife came into the house to find himself hanging. He had committed suicide. He was known as not only a great writer, but also as a teacher. He even wrote a book called “Infinite Jest” and influenced many people.
I have no idea why he would kill himself. It seems as if the stereotype of all poets and authors killing themselves doesn’t seem to disappear. From the way people wrote about him in the ny times, it seems as if he was someone who was loved and also someone who played as a role model for young children. Although it is very saddening to many that he has died, I don’t think he will gain as much fame as other authors who have committed suicide in the past.
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