Transmissions: Art in Eastern Europe and Latin America, 1960–1980

Mangelos (Dimitrije Bašicevic). Manifest de la relation. 1976.
"Transmissions: Art in Eastern Europe and Latin America, 1960–1980 focuses on parallels and connections among artists active in Latin America and Eastern Europe in the 1960s and 1970s. During these decades, which flanked the widespread student protests of 1968, artists working in distinct political and economic contexts, from Prague to Buenos Aires, developed cross-cultural networks to circulate their artworks and ideas. Whether created out of a desire to transcend the borders established after World War II or in response to local forms of state and military repression, these networks functioned largely independently of traditional institutional and market forces. ..."
MoMA
NY Times - Review: ‘Transmissions’ at MoMA Explores an Era When Art Upended Tradition
WSJ
post

Kansas Joe McCoy (May 11, 1905 – January 28, 1950)

Wikipedia - "Kansas Joe McCoy (May 11, 1905 – January 28, 1950) was an American Delta blues musician and songwriter. McCoy played music under a variety of stage names but is best known as 'Kansas Joe McCoy'. Born in Raymond, Mississippi, he was the older brother of the blues accompanist Papa Charlie McCoy. As a young man, McCoy was drawn to the music scene in Memphis, Tennessee where he played guitar and sang vocals during the 1920s. He teamed up with future wife Lizzie Douglas, a guitarist better known as Memphis Minnie, and their 1930 recording of the song 'Bumble Bee' on the Columbia Records label was a hit. ..."
Wikipedia
allmusic
Spotify
YouTube: Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe McCoy-Pile Driver Blues, What's The Matter With You?, Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie When the Levee Breaks, Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe - What's A Matter With The Mill, Me And My Chauffeur Blues #1 - Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe McCoy, Well, Well, Look Who's Coming Down The Road, One More Greasing, Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe - Wild About My Stuff, Joliet Bound - Kansas Joe McCoy & Memphis Minnie, Evil Devil Woman Blues, Kansas Joe McCoy & Memphis Minnie - Preachers Blues, Weed Smoker's Dream -Harlem Hamfats

Public Enemy - Shut'em Down (1991)

"The passing of the torch in hip-hop is never a happy occasion. It's mostly filled with bitterness and shit talking. Chuck D clearly knew that PE's five-year reign was coming to a close. Once you realize and come to grips with this fact. you can either fight the power, or play diplomat and go out like a champ. If only every act in hip-hop thought like this. Thank God Chuck D chose the latter and let young upstart Pete Rock take over the boards to give PE's 'aight' song the decade' second best facelift. (The first goes to Black sheep's 'The Choice is Yours.') This song marks the renaissance period of New York hip-hop that was more jazz-centric over the usual Southern soul bed it was used to. A marvelous closing-credits soundtrack to a storied streak of revolutionary madness from the best group in hip-hop."
Rolling Stone
Wikipedia
YouTube: Shut'em Down, Shut Em Down (Pete Rock Remix)

2009 May: Public Enemy, 2011 July: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, 2012 February: Fear of a Black Planet, 2012 August: Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black, 2012 December: A Dozen Pivotal Moments in the 30 Year Career of Public Enemy, 2014 June: "Prophets of Rage" (2011), 2015 February: The Noise And How To Bring It: Hank Shocklee Interviewed, 2015 May: Give it up (1994).

Eleni Karaindrou - The Weeping Meadow (2004)

"Film and orchestral music composer Eleni Karaindrou has made a beautiful and moving statement with THE WEEPING MEADOW. A native of Greece, Karaindrou's influences are decidedly European, and within the music, one can hear the stamp of impressionistic composers like Erik Satie, avant garde innovators like Bartok, as well as Greek and Balkan folk forms. Karaindrou's music also traffics in 20th-century minimalism, creating tense, atmospheric spaces that feel empty and dense at once (one of the composer's frequently used motifs involves 'patterns' that recall the tingling, polyphonic gestures of Phillip Glass). Although several themes are reprised throughout the album, the combination of ambient textures, folk phrasing (accordions, guitars, and violins figure prominently into several pieces), and lush orchestral work keep the music consistently interesting. ..."
allmusic
amazon
Spotify
YouTube: The Weeping Meadow, Refugee's theme & The Weeping Meadow (Live)
YouTube: The Weeping Meadow Full Album 44:04

2008 June: Eleni Karaindrou, 2012 October: Ulysses' Gaze

King Ottokar's Sceptre - The Adventures of Tintin (1938)

Wikipedia - "King Ottokar's Sceptre is the eighth volume of The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. Commissioned by the conservative Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle for its children's supplement Le Petit Vingtième, it was serialised weekly from August 1938 to August 1939. Hergé intended the story as a satirical criticism of the expansionist policies of Nazi Germany, in particular the annexation of Austria in March 1938 (the Anschluss). The story tells of young Belgian reporter Tintin and his dog Snowy, who travel to the fictional Balkan nation of Syldavia, where they combat a plot to overthrow the monarchy of King Muskar XII. ..."
Wikipedia
Tintin Wiki
amazon
YouTube: King Ottokar's Sceptre (Full Movie) 1:25:16

2008 May: Georges Remi, 1907-1983, 2010 July: The Adventures of Tintin: Breaking Free, 2011 December: Prisoners of the Sun, 2012 January: Tintin: the Complete Companion, 2012 December: Snowy, 2015 August: The Black Island (1937)

In praise of dirty, sexy cities: the urban world according to Walter Benjamin

Modern Marseille is being sandblasted, primped and cultureified.
"Marseille isn’t as wicked as it used to be. In 1929, the playwright and travel writer Basil Woon wrote From Deauville to Monte Carlo: a Guide to the Gay World of France, warning his respectable readers that, whatever they do, they should on no account visit France’s second city. 'Thieves, cut-throats and other undesirables throng the narrow alleys and sisters of scarlet sit in the doorways of their places of business, catching you by the sleeve as you pass by. The dregs of the world are here unsifted … Marseille is the world’s wickedest port.' Much has changed since 1929. Gay doesn’t mean what it used to mean. Marseille isn’t the world’s wickedest port, but subject to one of Europe’s biggest architectural makeover projects. ..."
Guardian
W - Walter Benjamin
The Walter Benjamin Research Syndicate

Fighting with All Our Might

Mabel Dwight (1876-1955), Merchants of Death, 1935
"Following the catastrophic stock market crash of October 29, 1929, many American artists committed themselves to using the expressive power of their art in the struggle for social change. By 1933, one quarter of the workforce was unemployed and signs of the Great Depression were everywhere: homeless men, women, and children; soup kitchens; shantytowns; protests, strikes, and lockouts. Artists worked to document these problems and also to ameliorate them. Some joined the government programs formed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, which aimed to revive the nation by creating jobs, aiding farms and small businesses, and regulating finance. ..."
Whitney

Up Is Up, But So Is Down: New York’s Downtown Literary Scene, 1974-1992

"When people talk about the explosion of art in New York in the 1970s and ’80s, they usually mean the Ramones and Television and punk rock, or Jean-Michel Basquiat and the downtown arts scene. But a lively literary movement was taking place, though it has received considerably less attention. Around the time Patti Smith was recording her debut album, 'Horses,' the cultural provocateur Kathy Acker was mailing acquaintances mimeographed stories that juxtaposed violence and vulnerability under the name 'the Black Tarantula.' The writer and performer Constance DeJong was creating multimedia works with Philip Glass. At the Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church, the monologuist Eric Bogosian was giving his first solo performance. Taken together, according to Brandon Stosuy, the editor of 'Up Is Up, But So Is Down: New York’s Downtown Literary Scene, 1974-1992,' this activity represents the birth of an underground literary movement that was just as vibrant as the musical revolution taking place. ..."
NY Times
amazon

David Van Tieghem - Ear to the Ground [1979]

"'Conceived & Performed by David Van Tieghem, Produced and Directed by John Sanborn & Kit Fitzgerald. Ear to the Ground,' wherein Van Tieghem literally 'plays' the streets of New York as if it were a musical instrument, have become internationally acclaimed favorites. These collaborations with video artists John Sanborn, Kit Fitzgerald, and Mary Perillo have been televised and presented in art venues and nightclubs throughout the world. In 1985, 'Ear to the Ground' opened the premiere season of the PBS TV series 'Alive from Off-Center.'"
UbuWeb (Video)
The Wire - Listen: David Van Tieghem composition (Video) 19:22
YouTube: David Van Tieghem x Georgia - Slippery Slope, Live at the Chelsea Hotel, Crystals/Estranho Encontro

2009 May: David Van Tieghem

Gather the Rose of Love : YZ and LE CABARET DE SANCERRE

"Summer’s final roses are still ripe for the picking here in Brooklyn, with no threat of autumn’s frost in sight and late September sun to illuminate them as you scuffle by on concrete sidewalks. Street Artist YZ lives and works in Montreuil near Paris and has been bringing rooms of an old cabaret alive with roses this summer and shares with us today images of classical figures she painted with india ink on silk paper for these decaying walls. 'Each room has it’s own character and the natural light sometimes reveals a different aspect of the original painting,' she says of the nudes originally created by Bouguereau, Lehmann, Gerome, and Merle. ..."
Brooklyn Street Art

A Great Supercut of “The Lick”: The Musical Meme That Shows Up Everywhere From Coltrane, to Stravinsky, to Christina Aguilera

"A couple years ago, we brought you a post on the history of the 'Amen Break,' six seconds of sampled drums from a gospel instrumental that—since sampling began in the 80s—has became a ubiquitous rhythmic element in virtually every popular genre of rhythm-based music, from hip-hop, to drum and bass, to EDM. While the technology that enabled the 'Amen Break' may be unique to the digital era, the sample’s endless iterations show us something timeless about how music evolves. Picking up on Richard Dawkins’ 1976 coining of the term 'meme,' Susan Blackmore argued in The Meme Machine that 'what makes us different' from other animals 'is our ability to imitate…. When you imitate someone else, something is passed on. This ‘something’ can then be passed on again, and again, and so take on a life of its own.' ...”
Open Culture (Video)

Jill Freedman: Long Stories Short

Surf'n Turf, New York City, 1979
"Steven Kasher Gallery is proud to announce a major exhibition, Jill Freedman: Long Stories Short, the first exhibition of the artist’s work at the gallery. The exhibition features over 50 black and white vintage prints from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. This overview includes work from her famous projects on New York cops, New York firemen, Resurrection City protestors, circus workers, and dogs, as well as unpublished photographs. When Freedman holds a camera it is always to stand up for intimate causes. ... In 1975-81, executing what would become some of her most iconic work, Freedman followed the firemen of Harlem and the South Bronx with her camera in hand, after which she transitioned to photographing New York City policemen in the Lower East Side and Times Square. ..."
Steven Kasher
NY Times: For a Street Photographer, ‘The Weirder, the Better’
artnet

Washington Phillips - Washington Phillips (Death is Not the End)

Washington Phillips - Washington Phillips (Death is Not the End)
"Continuing their solid run of releasing stunningly beautiful vintage American gospel recordings on tape, UK-based label Death Is Not The End present 10 of the 18 known recordings by mysterious Texan gospel singer, Washington Phillips. Besides his at-times almost painfully beautiful singing, Phillips is noteworthy for the unique instrument with which he accompanies himself. These recordings were all made between late 1927 and 1929 in a makeshift studio in Dallas, so details remain muddy (beyond a handful of photographs), but the instruments appears to be some variant of a fretless zither or hammered dulcimer, plucked (rather than hammered) by Phillips. Far from sounding like the jaunty theme from The Third Man though, Phillips’ backing is a stunningly beautiful wash of aptly heavenly tones, raining from his instrument, and slowly decaying with occasionally Laraaji-like bliss. ..."
The Quietus (Video)
facebook, twitter, spotify
YouTube: Denomination Blues, Pt. 1, Lift him up, Mother's Last Word To Her Son, What Are They Doing In Heaven Today, Keys To The Kingdom, Wouldn't Mind Dying if Dying Was All, Take your burden to the Lord, I Had A Good Father And Mother, Paul and Silas in Jail, What Are They Doing in Heaven Today?

Get Ready for Upcoming Total Lunar Eclipse

The magnificent changing moon during a total eclipse.
"If your skies are clear after the Sun sets on Sunday, September 27th, be sure to head outside to see the total lunar eclipse that happens that night. This will mark the end of a 'tetrad' of four total lunar eclipses spaced a half year apart that began back in early 2014. But, perhaps more importantly, it's the last one visible anywhere until 2018. Observers in the eastern half of North America can watch every stage of the eclipse, from beginning to end of the partial phases (31⁄3 hours in all) during convenient hours of late twilight or darkness with the Moon mostly high in the sky. If you're in the Far West, the first partial stage of the eclipse is already in progress when the Moon rises (due east) around the time of sunset. Those in Europe and Africa see the eclipse on the local morning of the 28th. ..."
Sky and Telescope
NASA: LRO and the September 27-28, 2015 Lunar Eclipse: Telescopic View (Video)
September 27 / September 28, 2015 — Total Lunar Eclipse (Video)

Various Artists - Randy’s 17 North Parade (1987)

"Randy's, run by the Chin family out of a storefront at 17 North Parade in Kingston, was one of the great reggae studios of the 1970s. It produced more than its share of great rhythms, among them some of the seminal examples of Augustus Pablo's 'Far East' sound and early vocal performances by Dennis Brown and Junior Byles. ... It features excellent performances by the likes of Alton Ellis (a fine early version of 'Too Late'), Black Uhuru (the rough and lovely 'Going to Zion'), and a single by an obscure vocal trio called the African Brothers, which included a young Sugar Minott. Granted, it also features the forgettable vocals of one Senya (who sounds eerily like a female Hugh Mundell), but her tracks only serve to accentuate the quality of everything else. Recommended."
allmusic
Discogs
amazon
dailymotion: 00:00 Broadway - Guns In The Ghetto. 03:24 Alton Ellis - Too Late. 06:27 Senya - Roots Man. 09:41 The Gladiators - The Race. 12:55 Errol Dunkley - Created By The Father.
YouTube: Dennis Brown - Cheater, Black Uhuru - Going To Zion, Senya - Children Of The Ghetto, Gregory Isaacs - Lonely Soldier, Donovan carless - be thankful, Delroy "Crutches" Jones - My Guiding Star, The Heptones - Daddy's Home, Sweeny & the Wailers Band - Won't Come Easy + Easy Come Dub

The Subtext Buried In Seven Great Movie Chess Scenes

“X-Men: First Class”
"The Tobey Maguire film 'Pawn Sacrifice,' about American chess legend Bobby Fischer, hit theaters this week. And that seemed like a good excuse to talk about chess in film. There are plenty of films about competitive chess — 'Computer Chess' is a personal favorite — but the game also plays a prominent role in all sorts of films as a narrative strategy. It’s used to say something about the characters or to foreshadow the plot. So let’s go one level deeper into some iconic movie scenes that involve a chess match. This exercise involved a lot of pausing and rewinding and probably wouldn’t have been possible without 1080p. To pick apart these cinematic chess clashes, we also spoke to chess grandmaster Robert Hess, a former U.S. national championship runner-up, and turned to the raw silicon-powered strength of the chess engine Stockfish. ..."
FiveThirtyEight (Video)

2008 October: World Chess Championship 1972, 2009 January: Sicilian Defence, 2009 February: Mikhail Tal, 2009 February: Garry Kasparov, 2009 April: Vasily Smyslov, 2009 August: Chess960, 2009 November: Bent Larsen,2011 November: The Lewis Chessmen, 2012 July: 40 Years Ago Today: Chess Rivals Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky Meet in the ‘Match of the Century’.

Thinking Plague - In This Life (25th anniversary remaster - 1989)

"Thinking Plague has been releasing impossible to categorize albums to a devoted fan-base for over 30 years. In This Life, originally released in 1989, was the group's 3rd album and their first CD release after two previous albums that flew under the radar of most listeners. Originally released by the ReR label, this was the first album to really bring this superb US band to a wider audience. It was their last to feature singer Susanne Lewis, who lends a convincing air to the menace of some of the lyrics. It is also their last album to feature Bob Drake as a full member of the band. ... It comes back into print now for the first time in years. The two 'bonus tracks', which were taken from their first two albums and can be found in superior form on Early Plague Years have been removed and this presents the album as the band originally planned it."
Wayside Music (Video)
W - Thinking Plague
Discogs
Thinking Plague
YouTube: Possessed, Moonsongs, Lycanthrope, Love, Malaise, The Guardian, Fountain Of All Tears, Organism

Edward Hopper life and works

Summertime
"... In 1933, Edward Hopper received further praises for the works he had done, and for a piece that was on exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. His highly identifiable style, and mature painting styles, were some things he had become known for during this period. The gorgeous landscapes, the quiet rooms and empty rooms he designed, and the transitory effect which many of his works posed, created a sense of contemporary life and a new style, which many in the art world recognized, and many praised him for this distinct style he had created in his art forms. ... Later in his career, during the 1940s, was a period in which he found the most commercial success. But, soon after, and even during this time period, he began losing critical favors. This was namely due to the new forms of art, and the fact that abstract pieces were beginning to enter the art world, which took over the work he did, as well as the work of many famous artists prior to him. ..."
Edward Hopper and his paintings
YouTube: Edward Hopper life and works

2008 July: Edward Hopper, 2010 October: Finding Nighthawks, 2010 December: Modern Life: Edward Hopper and His Time, 2012 Wednesday: Through Edward Hopper's eyes: in search of an artist's seaside inspiration, 2013 July: Hopper Drawing, 2014 May: INTERVIEW: “An Interview with Edward Hopper, June 17, 1959″., 2014 September: How Edward Hopper “Storyboarded” His Iconic Painting Nighthawks, 2015 February: Edward Hopper's New York: A Walking Tour.

Townes Van Zandt & Nanci Griffith - "Tecumseh Valley," 1993

"Song by folksinger Townes Van Zandt (1944-1997), telling the story of a girl named Caroline, who went to look for work in a valley named after Shawnee leader Tecumseh. She wants to earn money for her but also for her father, a miner. When she has earned enough to return home she receives the message that her father has died. Having lost all hope she becomes a prostitute and finally dies of unknown cause (broken heart?). All in all a very strong and melancholic song by one of the great songwriters in American folk music."
Urban Dictionary
Listen Up: The Whores of my Youth
W - For the Sake of the Song, 1968
YouTube: "Tecumseh Valley," 1993, "Tecumseh Valley"

2014 March: Heartworn Highways - James Szalapski (1975), 2014 September: The 10 Best Townes Van Zandt Songs, 2015 January: Solo Sessions (Jan 17, 1995).

The Literary Caribbean, From BOCAS to Brooklyn

"After ten days in Port of Spain, Trinidad at the BOCAS Lit Fest and Alice Yard this May, I needed a lot of sleep. Trinidadians like to fête, and many have the rare gift of being able to lime (hang out) hard at night, and go to work the next morning with little effect from the previous evening’s revelry. No surprise then that BOCAS Lit Fest was unlike any literary festival I ever attended, a refreshing mix of panels, readings, film screenings, and parties alongside informal debates on the state of Caribbean writing and publishing. ..."
Literary Hub

Folk City: New York and the Folk Music Revival

"In the 1950s and 1960s, folk music blossomed in New York City, especially in Greenwich Village, where clubs and coffee houses showcased singers like Pete Seeger and Odetta and nurtured a generation of newcomers, including Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Dave Van Ronk, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, and Peter, Paul and Mary. The multi-media exhibtition Folk City: New York and the Folk Music Revival, featuring original instruments, handwritten lyrics, and video and film footage, traces the roots of the revival, its growth in New York, its major players, and its impact on American politics and culture during the tumultuous 1960s. ..."
Museum of the City of New York
NY Times: Review: ‘Folk City’ at the Museum of the City of New York
The folk rebellion that preserved free speech in Washington Square Park
amazon

FOTR: DJ Craze

"So it’s officially Rub week again for our new event at Verboten and we’ve got a massively stacked lineup for this Friday. Our headliner and a longtime FOTR (Friend of The Rub) is DJ Craze, who in all honesty should need no introduction. Straight up, he’s one of the best DJ’s on the planet. End of story. He and fellow FOTR Fourcolorzack released a new mix last week going at the DJ Mag Top 100 DJ list and all that it represents. It’s featured below and definitely worth the listen. It’s a great conversation piece in response to all the 'press play' DJs out there. And definitely do not miss Craze shutting down Verboten along with Sammy Bananas and DJ Wonder this Friday."
The Rub (Video)

NUART 2015 Roundup : A Laboratory on the Street

Ella & Pitr. Nuart 2015. Stavanger, Norway.
"A roundup today for the Nuart street art/ mural festival in Norway with images of the final walls by this years artists. Now celebrating its 15th year, the mid-sized fjord-facing city of Stavanger has played host to a selection of international and local artists directly or indirectly related to the evolving scene we know as Street Art. Again this year the selection of invited participants is varied, potent, and occasionally a smack upside the head – with punk rock graphic designer Jamie Reid leading the way in spirit and on walls. Reid’s inspiration dates to the radical hippie politics and Situationist practices of the 1950s and 60s but he is best known for formation of the Sex Pistols anti-monarchial slash and burn visual identity and for penning their pivotal recording 'Anarchy in the UK' – a history discussed in Carlo McCormick’s presentation during the Nuart Plus program. ..."
Brooklyn Street Art

Hot Dog!

Sabrette Frankfurters and Rolls, 1937
"The origin of the hot dog has long been contested and has even been a source of tension in American history. In 1913, for example, Mayor Reginald S. Bennett called an emergency meeting of his cabinet when he learned two men were selling hot dogs in Asbury Park, New Jersey. That day, the council banned the sale of frankfurters on Sundays, citing that such commerce 'would not add to the dignity of the beach.' Hot dogs drew even further scrutiny in 1922 when detectives arrested two men in Atlantic City for secretly peddling drugs by inserting small packages of narcotics inside the slit of hot dog buns. Indeed, despite hot dogs’ popularity, newspaper articles of the early 1900s cast a negative image of the classic American finger food. Likewise, Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel The Jungle, which described unsanitary sausage making practices in a Chicago meat packing house, also influenced the public’s perception. Nevertheless, the millions of hot dogs bought in the United States every year testifies to the food’s popularity beginning in late nineteenth century America. ..."
MCNY

2013 May: Hot Dog

Suckin’ and Blowin’ – Harmonica Blues (1952-1960)

"If you dug the recent Little Walter post then you’re sure to love this collection of stompers and wailers by a selection of both well known and obscure blues harp men. This Dutch LP is probably a bootleg, date unknown. I bought it in 'Southside Records' a shop about which I blogged a couple of years back. Sadly the shop is no more, having closed down last winter. There are good sleeve notes on the back cover and I have added more notes at the end of this post. Download, wail and stomp, blues lovers. And if anyone has the lowdown on the identity of 'Ole Sonny Boy' please share this valuable knowledge with the rest of us!"
Be Bop Wino
YouTube: Suckin’ and Blowin’ – Harmonica Blues (1952-1960)

SLAM Magazine

Wikipedia - "SLAM Magazine is an American basketball magazine in circulation since 1994, published by Source Interlink. SLAM was launched in 1994 as a basketball magazine that combined the sport with hip hop culture at a time when the genre was becoming increasingly popular. ... Many of the magazine's lasting features, such as In Your Face, Slam-a-da-month, and Last Shot all began with that first issue. ... The magazine carries advertising for basketball related products, street-wear clothing and hip hop music, and has been credited with helping to market hip hop culture and basketball as one. ..."
Wikipedia
SLAM Magazine
facebook, twitter
YouTube: SLAM Magazine

2011 June: American Basketball Association, 2012 July: Doin’ It In The Park: Pick-Up Basketball, NYC, 2012 November: Your Guide to the Brooklyn Nets, 2013 March: March Madness 2013, 2013 October: Rucker Park, 2013 November: Free Spirits', 2014 January: History of the high five, 2015 February: Dean Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015), 2015 June: Basketball’s Obtuse Triangle.

Cléo from 5 to 7 - Agnès Varda (1962)

Wikipedia - "Cléo from 5 to 7 is a 1962 Left Bank film by Agnès Varda. The story starts with a young singer, Florence "Cléo" Victoire, at 5pm on June 21, as she waits until 6:30pm to hear the results of a medical test that will possibly confirm a diagnosis of cancer. The film is noted for its handling of several of the themes of existentialism, including discussions of mortality, the idea of despair, and leading a meaningful life. The film also has a strong feminine viewpoint belonging to French feminism and raises questions about how women are perceived, especially in French society. The role of mirrors are prevalent to symbolize self-obsession, which Cléo embodies. ... Before the two World Wars in France, gender roles were enforced thoroughly throughout Western Europe. In France specifically, the woman of the family was meant to be the 'femme au foyer,' or 'woman of the home' in English making them responsible for the wellbeing of their family. ..."
Wikipedia
Female Inhibition and Empowerment in 1960s Paris
Slant
YouTube: Nouvelle Vague Française - Cléo de 5 à 7

August 2010: Agnès Varda, May 2011: The Beaches of Agnès, 2011 December: Interview - Agnès Varda, 2013 February: The Gleaners and I (2000), 2013 September: Cinévardaphoto (2004), 2014 July: Black Panthers (1968 doc.), 2014 October: Art on Screen: A Conversation with Agnès Varda.

The Book No One Read

"I remember well the first time my certainty of a bright future evaporated, when my confidence in the panacea of technological progress was shaken. It was in 2007, on a warm September evening in San Francisco, where I was relaxing in a cheap motel room after two days covering The Singularity Summit, an annual gathering of scientists, technologists, and entrepreneurs discussing the future obsolescence of human beings. ... Returning to my motel room exhausted each night, I unwound by reading excerpts from an old book, Summa Technologiae. The late Polish author Stanislaw Lem had written it in the early 1960s, setting himself the lofty goal of forging a secular counterpart to the 13th-century Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas’s landmark compendium exploring the foundations and limits of Christian theology. Where Aquinas argued for the certainty of a Creator, an immortal soul, and eternal salvation as based on scripture, Lem concerned himself with the uncertain future of intelligence and technology throughout the universe, guided by the tenets of modern science. ..."
Nautilus

2011 June: Stanisław Lem, 2012 May: Solaris - Andrei Tarkovsky (1972)

Ellen Gallagher: AxME

DeLuxe (2004)
"Ellen Gallagher is one of the most acclaimed contemporary artists to have emerged from North America since the mid-1990s. Her gorgeously intricate and highly imaginative works are realised with a wealth of virtuoso detail and wit. This is her first major solo exhibition in the UK, providing the first ever opportunity to explore an overview of her twenty-year career. Gallagher brings together imagery from myth, nature, art and social history to create complex works in a wide variety of media including painting, drawing, relief, collage, print, sculpture, film and animation. The exhibition explores the themes which have emerged and recurred in her practice, from her seminal early canvases through to recent film installations and new bodies of work. ..."
Tate
W - Ellen Gallagher
Guardian
amazon
YouTube: Exhibition — Ellen Gallagher: AxME, Cutting | "Exclusive" | Art21, Ellen Gallagher

John Coltrane: Impressions of Coltrane

"The great Jazzman John Coltrane in nine rare, live television performances, shot in the late 1950's and the early 1960's. In dazzling extended solos, showcasing his trademark 'sheets of sound,' Coltrane demonstrates his mastery of tenor, alto, and soprano saxes and the unique artistry he brought to innovations in Jazz - and in music as a whole. This collection has both breadth and depth. Four of these performances are led by Miles Davis, who features Coltrane on the worldchanging 'So What,' as well as on Dave Brubeck's 'The Duke'; and Miles also works out his huge, orchestral ensemble under the direction of Gil Evans. The rest of the program is given over to the John Coltrane Quartet - joined for two numbers, including Coltrane's signature 'My Favorite Things,' by the great flautist and sax player Eric Dolphy. Here we find Coltrane utterly in his element, in the years in which he was changing jazz forever. Classic Coltrane collaborators pianist McCoy Tyner, drummer Elvin Jones, and bassist Jimmy Garrison are given their own chances to shine as well. Rare footage - and beautiful music from one of the greatest icons of Jazz. Immortal."
amazon - John Coltrane: Impressions of Coltrane
ARTISTdirect
vk: The John Coltrane Quartet (featuring Eric Dolphy) performing "Impressions" at Sudwestfunk TV Studio, Baden-Baden, West Germany on November 24, 1961.

2011 November: John Coltrane Quartet, Live at Jazz Casual, 1963, 2012 March: John Coltrane 1960 - 1965, 2012 September: "Naima" (1959), 2012 October: Blue Train (1957), 2013 April: The World According to John Coltrane, 2013 November: A Love Supreme (1965), 2014 July: New Photos of John Coltrane Rediscovered 50 Years After They Were Shot, 2014 November: Coltrane’s Free Jazz Wasn’t Just “A Lot of Noise”, 2015 February: Lush Life (1958), 2015 May: An Animated John Coltrane Explains His True Reason for Being: “I Want to Be a Force for Real Good”, 2015 July: Afro Blue Impressions (2013). 

Arnold Ness Klagstad: Archer Daniels Midland Elevator, 1934

Archer Daniels Midland Elevator, 1934
"Cars and trains, industry and agriculture, trees and smokestacks meet in this busy image of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Local painter Arnold Klagstad gently guided the viewer’s eye into the painting along a curving stretch of road with a car and two pedestrians to lead the way past a brick house, trees, and green lawns. Two white railroad crossing signs signal an abrupt transition to the confusing complex of commercial structures crowded along the railroad tracks. Among the many buildings is the Harris Machinery Company at the far right, announced by a bold black and white sign, while a towering Archer Daniels Midland grain elevator dominates the view. The density of businesses may suggest a thriving economy, but in fact drought and low farm prices made for hard times in 1930s Minnesota. The juxtapositions of greenery with steel, and agricultural structures with manufacturing signal the tensions among farmers, business owners, and unions that led to violent confrontations in the streets of Minneapolis in 1934."
Smithsonian American Art Museum
WorthPoint

Desire - Bob Dylan (1976)

"If Blood on the Tracks was an unapologetically intimate affair, Desire is unwieldy and messy, the deliberate work of a collective. And while Bob Dylan directly addresses his crumbling relationship with his wife, Sara, on the final track, Desire is hardly as personal as its predecessor, finding Dylan returning to topical songwriting and folk tales for the core of the record. It's all over the map, as far as songwriting goes, and so is it musically, capturing Dylan at the beginning of the Rolling Thunder Revue era, which was more notable for its chaos than its music. And, so it's only fitting that Desire fits that description as well, as it careens between surging folk-rock, Mideastern dirges, skipping pop, and epic narratives. It's little surprise that Desire doesn't quite gel, yet it retains its own character -- really, there's no other place where Dylan tried as many different styles, as many weird detours, as he does here. ..."
allmusic
W - Desire
Bob Dylan - Desire
Spotify
YouTube: Hurricane, Sara, One More Cup of Coffee, Black Diamond Bay, Isis, Joey, Romance in Durango, Oh, Sister, Mozambique

Passport

Germany
Wikipedia - "A passport is a travel document, usually issued by a country's government, that certifies the identity and nationality of its holder for the purpose of international travel. Standard passports contain the holder's name, place and date of birth, photograph, signature, and other identifying information. Passports are moving towards including biometric information embedded in a microchip embedded in the document, making them machine-readable and difficult to counterfeit. A passport specifies nationality, but not necessarily citizenship or the place of residence of the passport holder. A passport holder is normally entitled to enter the country that issued the passport, though some people entitled to a passport may not be full citizens with right of abode. A passport is a document certifying identity and nationality; having the document does not of itself grant any rights, such as protection by the consulate of the issuing country, although it may indicate that the holder has such rights. ..."
Wikipedia
W - Passport stamp
W - Category:Images of passports
W - List of passports

Michael Nyman - An Eye for Optical Theory (Live at Studio Halle, 2010)

"... These testimonials—set to 'An Eye for Optical Theory', a mainstay of the band’s set that baritone saxophonist Andy Findon says is difficult to even imagine playing live—could make Nyman seem like a joyless taskmaster. Though he does appear to want maximum control over performances of his compositions, he is good natured and complimentary of the band and their skills. His music also provides them with the unique opportunity to really 'play out'. Barr comments that the Michael Nyman Band is the only place a brass player can play so loud and not be told to quiet down. The picture of Nyman that emerges in these interviews is that of a man who has figured out the precise sound he wants to hear and assembled the right people for the job. On his own, however, he’s more adventurous. ... -Thomas Britt, PopMatters, December 2010"
Naxos
YouTube: An Eye for Optical Theory (Live at Studio Halle, 2010)

2008 April: Michael Nyman, 2010 August: Decay Music, 2010 December: After Extra Time, 2011 March: Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond, 2011 August: Michael Nyman Band, 2011 December: The Draughtsman's Contract - Peter Greenaway, 2012 March: Time Lapse, 2013 July: Composer in Progress, In Concert (2010).

Ciguë: Materialised Instincts

"Playing the architect and the builder: this dynamic duality best describes the work of French design studio Ciguë. A DIY practice sought after by luxury brands including Isabelle Marant and Kris van Assche, Ciguë was born out of a collaboration between four aspiring craftsmen – then students at Paris’s La Villette School of Architecture. Now the practice encompasses a growing team of 19 members, straddling architecture, interior design and shape-shifting installations. While intuitive collaboration remains at the forefront of Ciguë's vision, it is their experimental use of materials, namely wood and steel, that has made them design-world stars. For the concluding part of The Cultural, director Matt Black catches up with the designers in and around their workshop in the Paris suburb of Montreuil – where you won't find a computer-generated design in sight. ..."
NOWESS (Video)