Nicholas Wade, one of the better scientific contrarian journalists, has written about why Jared Diamond’s blockbuster Guns, Germs and Steel is misleading as well as why cats are, without question, utterly useless. (That last topic garnered thousands of emails in passionate protest. Many cat lovers, myself included, are convinced that felines are angelic energies embodied […]
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Go for Interesting
Howard Zinn Some of my favorite advice for living came through Howard Zinn by way of The Impossible Will Take a Little While, a collection of essays about and by people who did not give up even though the deck was stacked against them. To paraphrase the outspoken, truth-wielding Zinn, he says you have to […]
Kirkeby: Beyond Classifcation
(Photo: Tate © The artist) Robert Storr, dean of the School of Art at Yale and commissioner of the 2007 Venice Biennale, has written about the Per Kirkeby exhibit at the Tate Modern. The first paragraph of Storr’s commentary is actually one of the most succinct and accurate descriptions I’ve read of the current “exercises […]
Harrison’s Four Elements
The Four Elements I. Pasiphaë Wife: word and vow. Invisible. Bound— as heat is to flame. No god did this, no pretty, facile cow. A kingdom of men, blinded. And me—burning to be seen. Burning for him. I chose, did not haggle over price. At last, in the ashes, after, you see me. I made […]
Lasse Antonsen: The Layers of Meaning
(Photo courtesy of Lasse Antonsen) Painter extraordinaire and friend Marcia Cannistraro (to whom I will always be indebted for giving me her studio when she moved out of Boston) stopped by this weekend and introduced me to Lasse Antonsen. Lasse’s exhibit, The Continuous Translation, was completing its run at the Artist’s Foundation Gallery at the […]
Spaciality and Language
Aboriginal rock painting, Kakadu, Aust. Credit: Thomas Schoch As a follow on to my earlier post on human spaciality, Stanford assistant professor of psychology, neuroscience, and symbolic systems Lera Boroditsky has written a piece on Edge that explores how individual languages shape the way speakers think about space, time, colors and objects. She demonstrates that […]
Crossovers
Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail and now Free: The Future of a Radical Price is out promoting his book. (I know, I know, the irony is too tempting isn’t it? No the book is not free, and neither are his speaking engagements. But I digress…) Now with a review in the Times Book […]
Shelter My Daydreams
If I were asked to name the chief benefit of the home, I should say: the house shelters daydreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows one to dream in peace. –Gaston Bachelard Whether a home or a studio, the calling to shelter daydreaming is a subtle and delicate vocation. A window in my […]
Spaciality and Other Human Failings
Two favorite themes are intertwined in Jonah Lerner’s review of Collin Ellard’s You Are Here: Why We Can Find Our Way to the Moon But Get Lost in the Mall in today’s Times Book Review. One theme is the wide variations in human navigational skills. I know brilliant people who have no “map sense”—they get […]
Leaning with Comfort on the Mysteries
As is often the case, random walks through Webspace can put you face to face with surprises and unexpected treasures. I happened upon an ad for Eakins Press, and it piqued my interest. In a blurb for one of Eakins Press’ books, The Bitch-Goddess Success, edited by Leslie George Katz, three memorable quotes appeared: …the […]