MetaFilter posts tagged with arts

Contemporary Dance Video Database

Joe Beese — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:10:15 -0800

10 Magnificently Modern Musical Instruments

Joe Beese — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:58:14 -0800

10 Magnificently Modern Musical Instruments

Brilliant folding power plug

five fresh fish — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:45:09 -0800

A brilliant industrial design (IMO) for a slimline UK power plug. The UK plug is an exceptionally chunky and large lump; a real pain in the computer satchel. This video shows what appears to be a manufacturable design that turns it into an elegant device. SLYT. The UK uses a "ring" wiring system (a habit developed during the post-war copper shortages). This means that for outlets in series, the single line carries all the amperage for the loop: there is no individual return circuit for each plug. Essentially, every damn plug in the house is like your kitchen stove 240V monster gonna-kill-you plug, so the plug is designed to help you not get killed. Built-in fuse. Monster blades. Safety plastic. Maybe a switch? Anyhoo, here's a SLYT where the designer demonstrates CAD and 3D-Printed prototypes. At first glance, I see no reason why this can not be a successful design. Pretty slick solution, at any rate. previously

the new museum of modern arts

SamsFoster — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 15:25:59 -0800

Stunning Conceptual Alternative Design for the New Museum of Contemporary Art Tower

You know . . . for adults!

fiercecupcake — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:28:21 -0800

Hooping. The hoops adults use to dance and perform tricks are larger and heavier than the children's toy called the Hula Hoop. As hooping becomes more popular, people across the States and across the world are pushing the boundaries of dance and sport with a simple, easily made tool. Hooping for pleasure, exercise, and meditation is becoming a phenomenon. There's even a documentary. You can make a basic hoop, make a collapsible one or one that comes apart for travel. If all the sparkly, shiny, glow, and gaffer's tapes aren't enough for you, you can put glowsticks inside, make your own LED hoop, or buy one for a little or a lot. (If you get brave, you can try fire.) You can find a group or a teacher to hoop with near you, join the growing tribe of online hoopers, or even take lessons online. There is always something new to learn, someone new to meet; skills can always be improved or improvised upon. Hooping has changed my world, and it can change yours. And we'll just get this one out of the way now.)

Djuna Barnes

Joe Beese — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:43:02 -0800

Djuna Barnes (12 June, 1892 – 18 June, 1982) was an American writer who played an important part in the development of 20th century English language modernist writing and was one of the key figures in 1920s and 30s bohemian Paris after filling a similar role in the Greenwich Village of the teens. Her novel Nightwood became a cult work of modern fiction, helped by an introduction by T. S. Eliot. It stands out today for its portrayal of lesbian themes and its distinctive writing style. - Wikipedia Her early works include The Book of Repulsive Women and Ladies Almanack. She spent the last 40 years of her life in seclusion in Greenwich Village's Patchin Place.

2081

Joe Beese — Wed, 13 May 2009 09:25:43 -0800

Kurt Vonnegut's perennial 1961 story "Harrison Bergeron" has been given a new film adaptation. (via)

Arts & Crafts Videos from Etsy

Kattullus — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:01:14 -0800

Etsy has a YouTube channel where they have all kinds of profiles of their users and how-to guides. My two favorite series are the Process series (e.g. New Books with Old Materials & Tin Toys) and Handmade Portraits (e.g. Armor Guitars & Wood Mosaics). In the description of each video there is a link to the corresponding entry on Etsy's blog, The Storque. The blogposts have more information on the users and sometimes further links and videos. [via Work in Progress]

Renewing the economics of theatre

divabat — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 17:11:28 -0800

The recession has hit the theatre world (and the arts scene in general) very hard - but some argue that theatre practitioners aren't doing themselves any favours when seeking funding. The main question insufficiently addressed is "who is the funding for?" - hint: it's not about you. Approaching theatre as a product isn't working, not when MFA acting programs don't often allow its graduates to earn enough to earn back their debt. So now the question is: how can the economics of theatre be changed?

Portraits of luminaries of the arts - 1930s-'60s

madamjujujive — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 08:08:36 -0800

Extravagant Crowd - Carl Van Vechten’s Portraits of Women and Photos of African Americans. Previous post by ND¢: Creative Americans: Portraits by Carl Van Vechten 1932-1964. Also, public domain works from Wikimedia Commons. Van Vechten was an influential critic, novelist, photographer, and promoter of the arts. He was an early patron of the Harlem Renaissance - but sparked a huge controversy with his unfortunately titled novel, Nigger Heaven. Despite this controversy, his interest in and high regard for African American arts was not in dispute. The Index and Introduction to the Portraits of Women collection is quite good, but for those who may not want to wade through all 96 pages of his African American collection, here is a selection I particularly liked: Eartha Kitt, 1954 Billy Dee Williams, 1963 James Earl Jones, 1961 Dizzie Gillespie, 1955, 2 James Baldwin, 1955 Ralph Bunche, 1951 Harry Belafonte, 1954 Billie Holiday, 1949, another, and with Mister Pearl Bailey, 1946 Leontyne Price, 1951, and as Bess Ossie Davis, 1951 Joyce Bryant, 1953 Diahann Carroll, 1955

Wiring the Castle

Miko — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:09:16 -0800

Circuits are flipping on in the nation's attic. A couple of weeks ago, 31 "digerati" -- like Clay Shirky, Chris Anderson, and George Oates -- dropped in to the Smithsonian Institution for the invitation-only conference "Smithsonian 2.0: A Gathering to Re-imagine the Smithsonian in the Digital Age". Dan Cohen of the Center for History and New Media provides a great summary (and continues to pose provocative questions) on his own blog. Those whose invitations were somehow lost in the mail can play fly-on-the-wall by watching the keynotes, paging through the Flickr pool of envymaking glimpses of their behind-the-scenes lab and collections tours, reading the blog (where Bruce Wyman of the Denver Art Museum lays out a succinct road map for museums using social media), and poking around in the SI's website gallery. Want to cheer on the USA's favorite 163-year-old "Establishment for the increase & diffusion of knowledge" without taking the trip to DC? Thanks to their recent efforts, you can now follow the SI on Twitter, listen to its podcasts, watch its YouTube channel, visit the Latino Virtual Museum in Second Life, or use the FaceBook gifts page to send your best friends their very own pair of Dorothy's ruby slippers, Hope diamond, Negro Leagues baseball, or coelocanth.

Sen Pell is gone

brandz — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 19:00:12 -0800

Former US Senator Claiborne Pell (D-RI) dead at 90. You may be familiar with Pell grants.

A Museum of Living History

netbros — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 07:59:41 -0800

The Academy of Achievement brings students face-to-face with the extraordinary leaders, thinkers and pioneers who have shaped our world. Through profiles, biographies, and interviews Achievers in The Arts, Business, Public Service, Science, and Sports teach us how the Academy's core values of passion, vision, preparation, courage, perseverance, and integrity can, and will, lead to success. Includes a library of podcasts that are excerpts from symposium presentations from the Academy's international summits. Biographies from the Academy of Achievement have been linked on MetaFilter previously (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), but the full site has not been featured.

Another one bites the dust...

ThePinkSuperhero — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:27:49 -0800

No Bailout for the Arts? Many organizations could use the help.

flacid

plexi — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:14:42 -0800

"There is powerful literature in all big cultures, but you can't get away from the fact that Europe still is the centre of the literary world... not the United States," he said. "The US is too isolated, too insular. They don't translate enough and don't really participate in the big dialogue of literature... That ignorance is restraining."

Nobel literature prize judge Horace Engdahl comes down hard against Don DeLillo, David Foster Wallace, and other crazy American shit that just can't cross the waters.

Y'a un «fuck» qui s'ennuie en maudit..

zenzizi — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 08:12:57 -0800

Culture en péril - In these Canadian election times and in response to the recent Culture cuts from Conservatives - three of the best Quebec talents in music, theater and humor join forces and hit back hard (lol) with a highly satirical imagining of the replacement program (captioned).

Nun of the Above

Xurando — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:29:44 -0800

Are nuns keeping up with the times and are they having fun? From blogs to running, to the arts and union disputes, nuns are busy. Even a beauty contest is being planned. But, the old ways persist. I've always been both afraid and in awe of nuns. Their dedication was something I still can't conceive or remotely master. And then there is that whole"brides of Jesus" thing which totally screws up my head. There was also nun sexual abuse. Go figure.

Concentration for music fans

KevinSkomsvold — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:23:20 -0800

Lets play the Album Cover Game! [Flash]

The "Humans of Hokkaidō" formally recognized.

dawson — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:15:58 -0800

Until 400 years ago, the Ainu controlled Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's four main islands. Today they are a small minority group of Japan. They are a hunting and fishing people whose origins remain in dispute. Long before the people who would come to be known as "the Japanese" completed their migrations from the Asia mainland, the islands of Japan were already inhabited by a race of people known as the Ainu ("human"). On this northernmost island, (Hokkaido), in the "snow country," there still may be found remnants of this once proud and vigorous people who roamed the Japan islands long before the Japanese themselves arrived.

Blue Stockings

caddis — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 20:25:39 -0800

Brilliant Women: The Blue Stocking Circle was a group of intellectuals with a strong desire to discuss, analyze, and examine the social, political, and educational problems of the day Mostly female intellectuals, but they included many prominent men as well. They assembled in the London homes of literary hostesses such as Elizabeth Montagu, Frances Boscawen and Elizabeth Vesey in the 1750s form the nucleus of the exhibition. .... At first, all the party-goers were nicknamed blues, but from the 1770s, the "bluestocking" tag was applied to the women members in particular. By the time of Montagu's death in 1800, any female intellectual might be labelled a bluestocking, whether or not she could claim a link to the original circle.

R.I.P. Gus Giordano

nax — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:45:06 -0800

Gus Giordano, founder of the renowned dance company and school, died on Sunday.

Tiny treasures - classic and contemporary netsuke

madamjujujive — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 09:10:10 -0800

Netsuke of the Meiji Period is an online exhibit from the Los Angeles County Museum, noted for the depth of its collection. (more). The György Ráth Museum and the Ferenc Hopp Museum also house a fine classic collection. (more). Today, netsuke carving is alive and well - see the Kiho Collection for one young master. If you would like to explore more sculpture for the hand, the International Netsuke Society has a good link list to many excellent contemporary netsuke artists.

The Bible According to Google Earth

alexanderj — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 05:12:06 -0800

The Bible According to Google Earth A new artwork imagines four scenes from the Bible as if captured by Google Earth

Buy Handmade

divabat — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 15:53:46 -0800

I pledge to buy handmade this holiday season, and request that others do the same for me. Why? Better gifting experience, better ethics, better for the environment.

The South Bank Show

ClanvidHorse — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 12:09:21 -0800

The South Bank Show is the longest running arts show on television. Melvyn Bragg has presented an eclectic mix of televisual joy since 1978. SBS has presented in-depth portraits of many different types of artists during this time, covering a huge range of topics. From high art to low art, classical music to pop music, canonical literature to airport blockbusters it has offered some of the most insightful and enjoyable arts programming around. Much youtubery awaits inside Here's are some great episodes for your delectation. Iggy and the Stooges (1,2,3,4,5). J.G. Ballard (1,2,3). Woody Allen (1,2,3,4,5,6). Steve Reich (1,2,3,4,5,6). Sonic Youth (1,2,3). Enjoy!