For me, the summer seems infinite at the start, and inevitably screeches to an end after our annual family camping trip in the first week of August. For the past 15 years, this week tolls the last gasp of the season, making us scramble for a bit more sun, to cram in one more book, […]
This Summer I Am Going to Read… Read More »
“The criminalization of debt, then, was the criminalization of the very basis of human society.” I learned to be a cultural consumer as a teenager by following pop music. Each year, one of my favorite singers or bands would produce a new album. I would pore over the cover and dissect each track. I remember
This Winter I Am Re-reading… Read More »
Social activism and activist art are generally not known for having a “gentle touch”—unless one has a social media presence equal to the Dalai Lama’s, a quiet voice is rarely heard. At the same time, overt, heavy-handed messages addressing the failures of society are rarely experienced as “enjoyable.” Nick Cave’s Soundsuits operate on numerous levels.
“The real is produced from miniaturized units, from matrices, memory banks and command models—and with these it can be reproduced an indefinite number of times.” —Jean Baudrillard I assume most AJF readers are familiar with the film trilogy The Matrix, in which protagonist Neo (played by Keanu Reeves) leaves “reality” behind and leaps into the
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When Lucy led her three older siblings into the magical world of Narnia, through an old wardrobe in an empty room, she was the same age I was, when I first read this wonderful children’s book by C. S. Lewis. I was already an independent child, and I felt validated that the heroine was a
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Hi, my name is Vinny, and I am Margaret Hilda Thatcher’s pearl necklace. I hear you! Sounds like a bleedin’ self-help support group. Well, maybe it should be, my old cocker. It all started back in August ’53, the year of our Regina’s coronation. There I am, in Asprey, minding my own business, dreaming about
After the publication of this book, Berger described that he “has never written a book with a greater sense of urgency.” This comment resonates with me to this day, as I have never read a book with a comparable level of urgency. Before starting the book itself, I was particularly drawn to its striking cover
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I am currently writing a longish essay on new media, and two of the three themes of this year’s SNAG program[1]—“Social impact” and “innovation”—held a special appeal for me: There, in the same room, in the course of a mere three days, my education regarding crafters’ involvement with new media would be done. Yee-ha! I
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The poppy-as-emblem emerged simultaneously in North American, Australasian, and European cultures as a symbol of loss of life after two world wars. Nearly 100 years after it first appeared as a token of mourning, why has a small red poppy become so central to remembering countless global conflicts, for legions of men, women, and children
David Bielander, Wellpappe [Cardboard], 2015, bracelets, patinated silver, white gold, from left to right, 85 x 85 x 43 mm, 90 x 85 x 20 mm, 88 x 74 x 53 mm, 90 x 58 x 44 mm, photo: Dirk Eisel prototype In 1912, a full-scale wood and canvas model of the never-realized van der
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19th-century puntbellen from Cadzand, in Zeelandic Flanders, gold, 70 mm estimated height, courtesy Dekker Antiquairs, Amsterdam Queen Máxima attends a lesson on money management as honorary president of the platform Wiser in money matters (part of Money Week 2015), Amsterdam, the Netherlands, March 13, 2015, photo: Frank van Beek / Hollandse Hoogte
The body provides a site where various approaches to, and forms of, embellishment intersect in numerous interesting ways. The 21st century has now seen the perfect fusion of disposable jewelry and temporary tattoo. Steampunk science teachers are utilizing the Tesla coil to brand the skin. The Mint Museum’s Body Embellishment show is the first museum
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