“Two years before Marcel Duchamp’s death in 1968, the Belgian director, Jean Antoine, filmed an interview with the artist in his Neuilly studio in the summer of 1966. … Here is [a transcript] the interview with the artist from our March 1993 issue, until then unpublished.”
Tag: 03.29.13
Star Chinese Architect’s Mission To Save (Build On) The Past
“The wholesale rebuilding of China in the past couple of decades has been a phenomenon. It is building more – and faster – than anywhere else in the world ever has. Wang Shu’s considered, thoughtful architecture is both response to and critique of China’s construction hyperinflation.”
Archaeologists Locate The Gates Of Hell
“Known as Pluto’s Gate – Ploutonion in Greek, Plutonium in Latin – the cave was celebrated as the portal to the underworld in Greco-Roman mythology and tradition. Historic sources located the site in the ancient Phrygian city of Hierapolis, now called Pamukkale, and described the opening as filled with lethal mephitic vapors.”
Are Readers Getting Fed Up With Authors’ Postmodern Tricks?
Laura Miller: “To begin your novel with a feint – a novel-within-the-novel that only announces itself as such after the fact – is a legitimate way to do this, but for [many] readers … it can register as a violation.”
Actor Richard Griffiths, 65
“He was the kind of actor whom everyone remembers with affection, whether as the flawed but inspirational Hector in Alan Bennett’s The History Boys (first staged in 2004, then filmed in 2006) or as the eccentrically gay Uncle Monty in Bruce Robinson’s Withnail and I (1987) … [or] in the Harry Potter films as Uncle Vernon Dursley.”
Her Gig Canceled After Anti-Gay Tirade, Michelle Shocked Plays Outside In Protest
Following her now-notorious remarks from the stage at a San Francisco in March, “clubs around the country responded by canceling bookings they had made with her. But that hasn’t stopped her: Thursday night she turned up outside one such club with her face covered and her mouth taped shut to protest the way she is being treated.”
My David Mamet Problem
“I don’t subscribe to Mamet’s ideologies, but the problem for me has less to do with the nature of his reactionary positions than with the way he has allowed the polemicist to overshadow the dramatic poet.”
Taking A Run At The Corcoran
Wayne “Reynolds, the bold and polarizing philanthropist vying for the chairmanship of the Corcoran Gallery of Art board — which isn’t technically up for grabs — held a gathering on Friday for himself and 300 guests to discuss his vision for the gallery and the related Corcoran College of Art and Design.”
How Did People Die Back In The 20th Century?
“Road traffic has killed more people than homicide, but then again, this was the century of the car. Less difficult to believe? The fact that the cigarettes (often distributed to soldiers over a century of conflict, ironically) have killed nearly as many people as the wars themselves.”
Music Advocacy Starts (Where Else?) At Home
“The canon of Western culture exists because of the advocacy of those who take it upon themselves to define and promote it. Impresarios, record companies, scholars, teachers, musicians, and fans all advocate for the artists and works that represent their musical ideals.”