I EXPLAIN CYBERPUNK TO THE MASSES by writer/film critic Anne Billson "Believe it or not, there was a time when people didn't know what "cyberpunk" was, and indeed had probably never even heard the word before this three-minute clip, in which I explain it to them. Sort of. Don't blame me if I got it wrong - you're looking at this with the benefit of hindsight, while I was making it up as I went along..."
[Via: Multiglom - The Anne Billson Blog]
posted by Fizz
on Oct 5, 2012 -
29 comments
Celeste doodles grown-up versions of characters from Hey Arnold, Rugrats, and Recess - most of them going into the arts, alt lifestyles, or hipsterdom.
posted by divabat
on Sep 25, 2012 -
24 comments
Why does some cave art feature animals with multiple limbs and heads?
French and
Finnish researchers claim that prehistoric man was deliberately creating animated art, with the animals appearing to move in flickering torch or fire light.
posted by Wordshore
on Sep 25, 2012 -
29 comments
Mr. A debuted in 1967, in the third issue of Witzend, a collection of more artistically fulfilling side projects by mainstream comics professionals led by Wally Wood. In his very first panel, the Objectivist hero addresses his readers directly, stating his case that in moral life, there are no shades of gray, only evil or good, black or white. The hero stares at us, blank, emotionless. There’s a montage around him showing that his calm face is actually a metal mask, and that evil is truly disgusting. At the story’s end, Mr. A. beats up a nasty juvenile delinquent, ironically named Angel, and then allows the kid to fall to his death from a city rooftop. -
Pat Barrett [more inside]
posted by Egg Shen
on Sep 22, 2012 -
46 comments
The Great Wave off Kanagawa is
probably the most iconic Japanese artwork in history, often used to illustrate tsunamis, and
scientists have attempted to analyze what kind of wave it depicts. The woodprint is part of the
36 Views of Mount Fuji series, which depicts the famous mountain from
different spots in Japan. The artist who made the Great Wave, Katsushika Hokusai, created thousands of images, many of which can be viewed online, such as in the internet galleries of the
Museum of Fine Art and
Visipix (Visipix'
Hokusai page). Besides woodprints, Hokusai produced sketchbooks he called manga, one of which, number twelve, can be flipped through on the Swedish
Touch and Turn website.
posted by Kattullus
on Sep 22, 2012 -
36 comments
A
colorful mural adorns Chao Tsung-song / Tibet House in
Corvallis, Oregon. Commissioned by Corvallis businessman, David Lin, the 100 foot long mural depicts at one end, a cheerful Taiwanese countryside scene, and at the other,
police beating Tibetan protesters and a
Tibetan monk in the process of self-immolation. The Chinese government has requested that the mural be destroyed. Mr. Lin and Corvallis city mayor, Julie Manning, say, "
no."
posted by Phyllis Harmonic
on Sep 20, 2012 -
44 comments
The Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History uses the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection as the starting point for a deeply informative, chronologically arranged exploration of world art history, with maps, timelines, art images, thematic essays, and more.
posted by Miko
on Sep 19, 2012 -
7 comments
Art history students at Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD University) are required to purchase a $180 textbook with no pictures. In place of images, the book has
empty boxes with instructions to look up the images online.
[more inside]
posted by oulipian
on Sep 19, 2012 -
87 comments
A new exhibit on the sometimes maligned, but often adored, Pre-Raphaelite painters is at the Tate Britain.
"You get the impression, in
this exhibition, that the Pre-Raphaelites had a good time because they were the only Victorian men who recognised women as sexual beings"
previously
posted by Isadorady
on Sep 11, 2012 -
41 comments
[all links may contain SPOILERS] Antonioni's unique style works beautifully in The Passenger
. The dream-like long takes, especially the final seven minute one where the dusty town square is seen through the barred window of Locke's hotel room—evokes a world that he is barred from. There is nothing romantic or sentimental about the space that we see, but it conveys a sense of an ongoing life that Locke has chosen to retreat from. There is also Antonioni's eye for aesthetic detail-for whitewashed walls of buildings, and vividly colored backgrounds like yellow doors and red car seats. He is a director of great formal rigor and beauty, whose style effortlessly suits his vision. The slow rhythm of the film may put off some viewers, but it forces them to be more observant, and understand there is nothing accidental in the images that Antonioni constructs. -
Leonard Quart [more inside]
posted by Egg Shen
on Sep 9, 2012 -
8 comments
There are some TV shows that last for years and years, and when they finally go away, they're barely missed. And then there is the phenomenon of the TV show that dies quickly but leaves an indelible mark. Ten years ago, ABC fielded such a show: My So-Called Life, produced by the thirtysomething
team of Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, premiered on Thursday, August 25, 1994 -- and was quickly reduced to ratings rubble by another new 8 p.m. series, NBC's Friends
. But in 19 sublime episodes, Life left a lasting pop-culture legacy. Not only did it launch the careers of Claire Danes and Jared Leto, it defined the modern family drama -- and has influenced an entire generation of television writers. Says Greg Berlanti, the creator of The WB's Everwood and Jack & Bobby, ''It's the most painfully honest portrayal of adolescence ever on television.''
posted by Egg Shen
on Sep 3, 2012 -
53 comments
By general consent, Jean-Siméon Chardin was one of the supreme artists of the eighteenth century and probably the greatest master of still life in the history of painting. - Robert Hughes
[more inside]
posted by Egg Shen
on Sep 1, 2012 -
7 comments
