Tag: 04.04.20

Big Thinking For The Post-Pan

There are valid reasons to look at historic crises as moments for dramatic urban change. Nineteenth-century pandemics helped usher in developments in water and sewage systems. And there can be no doubt that, in the immediate future, the economic and demographic health of major cities will suffer enormously. But if we are to look forward optimistically, we must start by grappling with a difficult pattern: Urban history may be more about continuity through crises than about transformation. – CityLab

Photographer Victor Skrebneski, 90

He first attracted notice for shooting supermodels in famous ad campaigns for the likes of Estée Lauder; his fame grew with a photo series of famous actors, each in an enormous black turtleneck first worn by Orson Welles. His cool factor skyrocketed with the series of elegantly provocative semi- and nude portraits he did as posters for the Chicago International Film Festival. – Chicago Sun-Times

This Indie Movie About Abortion Access Opened Three Days Before Theatres Shut Down

How can a film like Never Rarely Sometimes Always get an audience in the age of social distancing and sheltering in place? Well, contemporary events might actually help. “Given that multiple states have moved to further restrict access to abortions during the pandemic, the timeliness of Never Rarely Sometimes Always is indisputable. … Its rent-on-demand release is a milestone of sorts, providing instant national access to an indie movie that might never have received such attention through a traditional release.” – The Atlantic

The Woman Who Wrote A Fantastic Pandemic Novel A Few Years Ago Returns To Take On A Different Issue

Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven was much recommended in the coronavirus’ early days – but even she thought people shouldn’t be reading it right now. Her new novel is about the 2008 crash and a Bernie Madoff-like character. Why? “It’s a period in recent history that I remember so vividly. It was such an unsettling, chaotic time.” – The Guardian (UK)

Wilhelm Burmann, Teacher Of Ballet’s Best And Brightest, Has Died At 80

Burmann, who died of renal failure after testing positive for COVID-19, was “a revered ballet master and teacher who trained generations of dancers, including Alessandra Ferri, Julio Bocca, Maria Kowroski and Wendy Whelan.” His advanced class drew students from all over the dance world, and he “was a part of ‘so many of our histories — across the world and across disciplines,’ recalled Ms. Whelan, the former New York City Ballet principal who is now the company’s associate artistic director.” – The New York Times

Beloved British Children’s Author Jacqueline Wilson Talks About Her Own Plot Twist

The author is on her 111th novel – she long ago stopped buying her signature chunky silver rings for each book – and this one might be her most personal. “Wilson is the fairy goth-mother of children’s fiction credited with daring to introduce such non-cheery subjects as depression and divorce into her children’s bedrooms.” – The Guardian (UK)

Michael McKinnell, Bold Architect Of Boston’s Democratic City Hall, Has Died At 84

McKinnell was a 26-year-old graduate student and a teaching assistant for architect Gerhard Kallmann when the city hall competition arose. Their “heroically sculptural and democratically open design for Boston City Hall catalyzed the city’s urban revival in the late 1960s and embodied the era’s idealism and civic activism.” – The New York Times