“It’s a truly weird season when a new Michael Moore movie is one of the least topical.”
Tag: 12.31.15
The Art Billboards Trying To Keep L.A. Drivers Calm During Gridlock
“‘If people are passing by quickly, the graphics have to be quick, strong messages,’ said Kuhn. ‘If the audience is stopped, I wanted the work to be more poetic and sublime — able to transport them away from the traffic jam and the boredom of their daily commute.'”
Award-Winning Actress Leaves ‘Mother Courage’ And Makes A Very Public Statement About Race And Representation
“When Black bodies are on the stage, Black perspectives must be reflected. This is not simply a matter of ‘artistic interpretation’; race and sex play a pivotal role in determining who holds the power to shape representation. A Black female should have a say in the presentation of a Black female on stage.”
The Architecture That Wowed Us This Year
“Not long ago, employing advanced computer technology to deform a building into shards or blobs was enough to capture our imaginations. Today, it requires something more, be it formal sophistication, environmental innovation, intricate detailing, sophisticated materials, diverse programs, flexible layouts, or a connection to the surrounding landscape.”
Criticize Fox News All You want, But Its Audience Increased Again In 2015
“For the 14th consecutive year, Fox News led in total viewers and in the 25-to-54-year-old demographic crucial to advertisers. The network’s average of 1.8 million viewers in prime time placed it second among all cable channels, the highest finish for a cable news channel ever. (ESPN came in first.)”
The Old Penn Station That Got Torn Down Wasn’t Really So Great (Anymore)
“Its demolition is the stuff of New York legend, an act of architectural vandalism so unspeakable that it gave rise to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, saved Grand Central Terminal and upended the city’s development priorities. … [Yet] the Penn Station that was torn down between 1963 and 1966 was scarcely the building it had been a half-century earlier.”
The Secret History Of One Hundred Years Of Solitude
“The house, in a quiet part of Mexico City, had a study within, and in the study he found a solitude he had never known before and would never know again. Cigarettes (he smoked 60 a day) were on the worktable. LPs were on the record player: Debussy, Bartók, A Hard Day’s Night. Stuck up on the wall were charts of the history of a Caribbean town he called Macondo and the genealogy of the family he named the Buendías. Outside, it was the 1960s; inside, it was the deep time of the pre-modern Americas, and the author at his typewriter was all-powerful.”