For William Kentridge history accrues, falls dead, is born, washes up, piles up, and may be artfully arranged, but the most powerful place that this accretion might happen is in the artist’s studio, which is a metonym for the human mind.
Commentary
Fuse Dispatches: Lessons Drawn — William Kentridge’s “Six Drawing Lessons”
After hearing just the first of William Kentridge’s six Norton Lectures, I have no doubt that this series of “Drawing Lessons” will be one of the most entertaining and enlightening artistic events of 2012.
Theater Interview: Viva August Strindberg — The Great Swedish Modernist
August Strindberg’s work unquestionably has not received the degree of popular acclaim in America that it deserves. It’s a bit mysterious, given that major U.S. playwrights — Eugene O’Neill, Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams — have openly acknowledged their debts to Strindberg.
Book Review: Unearthing the Lost Culture of Mathematics
Elegantly written, cogently argued, and filled with trenchant artistic analyses, Alexander Marr’s book exemplifies interdisciplinary studies at their best.
Fun Days in the PARC: Remembering Jacob Goldman
How did it come about that a manufacturer of office equipment developed–and then largely abandoned–the first personal computer?
Arts Interview: Cutting Across Mathematics and the Arts — Talking With The Man Who Knows Galileo’s Muse
We need the humanities because we need imagination that works outside the narrow channels where the sciences succeed.
Book Review: A Brave New Perspective on the Arts and Sciences — “Galileo’s Muse”
“Galileo’s Muse” is a gem of a book: shedding new light on a figure as well-examined as Galileo is no simple task. Author Mark Peterson does so with aplomb, while also telling a fascinating story of the evolution of mathematics and the arts.
Arts Feature: Artisan’s Asylum — A Unique Organizational Mashup
Part of the great experiment that is Artisan’s Asylum: meeting your neighbors, realizing you need someone to help you solder/weld/create a 3d prototype, and then wandering amongst the open workspaces until you meet a co-collaborator.
Visual Arts Review: Wendy Artin — Translating Marble Onto Paper
Wendy Artin is not just about representation. Her paintings bring up all sorts of questions about the complexities of beauty. How do we build up beauty from matter? What happens to beauty over time? Does an object lose its beauty when time wears away at it?
Goodbyes and Hellos: Remembering Dennis Ritchie
If you’re reading this on an iMac, MacBook, iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad, you can thank the late Steve Jobs. But your gratitude should also be extended to another technology giant who passed away last Saturday.