okay. to be so completely honest. taylor swift shut the fuck up challenge

The Problem with the Horror Genre (Editorial)

Warning: There will be spoilers for many different things throughout this. I will be supplying as much as I can find to get my point across so if you don’t want to be spoiled then I’d steer clear.

Before we jump into things I want to state something about this and the future stuff to come regarding these pieces. Everything I’m writing, especially with this piece, is pretty much all opinion based. I’ll try to pull as much facts as I can to back up anything I feel needs clarification. Though, ultimately, this is just something I wish to talk about. My views may be extreme to some but, they are just that, they are my views. Agree or disagree, I just want to get the ideas out there.With that said let us begin.

When I look at genres and sub-genres there is always at least one that sticks out like a sore thumb. Thanks to studios like Disney and Marvel, Superheroes have risen in popularity. For video games, the platformer and first person shooter still holds a place in peoples hearts; and both anime and manga have the Shounen style story down to a fine line. Though for each of these mediums and more there is one genre that struggles year after year.

Horror is the elephant in the room; if each genre of visual and written media was a type of music genre, then Horror is coming close to being the Disco among them all. When I look at horror, all I see is an entity that is slowly dying; yet, it tries to stay relevant for as long as it possibly can. Though over the years, horror just doesn’t hit home. Now I’ve said before that I am not a fan of the horror genre, and there are many reasons for this. These reasons are why I think the genre ultimately fails in the end. Though I can’t clump together every piece of horror media. For every five failures, the genre does manage to provide some spine chilling content. However, the spread is too great. 

Lets look back to Marvel for a moment. Not everyone is going to like every hero film they provide, but even if you don’t care for the Marvel film there is a level of praise those movies deserve. They have the formula down and it shows. This is not the same for Horror; after years of making films or games under this genre, the formula just becomes more psychotic. It’s harder to follow and ultimately ends in something boring. However, this is different for each type of medium. In my opinion I think that Movies have the best chance of providing a horrifying experience. Past this though, it starts to get difficult. Video Games used to be one of the best mediums for conveying horror, but now it’s fallen far. Sitting at the bottom of the spectrum is Anime and Manga. Anime does horror a little better than manga, but each have their short comings. So why is it that Horror is such a hard concept to grasp? Lets start from the basics.

Horror: An intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust. Something that inspires feelings of dread or dismay.

This is one definition I pulled on what horror is. Though everyone has their own special interpretation. For me the best definition is something or someone that brings about a feeling of fear. When I go to the movies to see the newest Halloween, or re-play a game like Until Dawn; One of the main things I’m looking for is a series of good well placed and thought out scares. However, this is one definition among a society of many. Each person has their own take on horror, but should we really call it horror? Take anime and manga for example; a good amount of stuff, that falls within the realm of horror, latches on to two key words in the basic definition. Shock and disgust.

Take, for instance, Ajin. For those who don’t know, briefly speaking, Ajin is a horror manga series that was adapted into an anime a little later in it’s life. It’s about an entity of demi-humans, or Ajin, that have special abilities from normal human beings. Thes beings live among normal humans and believe they themselves are in fact normal humans.

There are many moments in the manga where the Ajin are experimented on by the Japanese government. While not showing everything, they show and elude to enough in an attempt to produce shock value. Yet, the rest of the manga just feels average. The monsters aren’t frightening and the events that take place feel out of place in terms of it’s genre. This is one of the biggest problems when it comes to horror for both Anime and Manga. While video games and movies have a level of disgusting or shocking scenes; there is still an attempt made to frighten the viewer.

One of the biggest growing contenders of this is any series involving Magical Girls. Japan has been fascinated with making more mature stories involving magical girls. One of the best example of this comes from the series Madoka Magica.

This series is one where you would never want to judge the book by it’s cover. It may seem like the cutesy little girls tale, but there is a lot the show is hiding. I myself have never watch Madoka, but I know it’s grown into quite the craze over the years. So much so that many mangaka and studio would want to try their hands at this. However, each one of these starts to lose the flair that Madoka presented. One of the things that made Madoka work was it’s art. The mature themes are never shown to the audience unless they watch the show or read the story. It works, much like how Gakkou Gurashi could make a Zombie story interesting with it’s first chapter.

The idea can work, but it should be done sparingly. Though Japan doesn’t follow that logic. There are more manga under this sub-genre than ever before, and each one goes to far in what it’s trying to do. They throw the horror in the viewers face from the beginning; as if they’re screaming “Hey, this is a horror story involving schoolgirls/magical girls! It’s a dark story that you don’t see every day!” Though at this point it’s become old news.

What happened? What did magical girls do to come to this? The cover alone already doesn’t make me want to read this and it’s among a massive amount of manga that follow this trend. Though if I said this I’d be judging this solely on one image. So I looked into things regarding some of these series and just like Ajin it’s filled with disgusting scenes. Though I wouldn’t call it disgusting to the point that it’s horrifying. Instead, for me, I was so disgusted at what was present that I lost all interest to ever read anything that involves horror and magical girls. The girl is bullied by pretty much everybody at school and then goes home to an abusive family member. There is needless rape, and violence that goes beyond the definition of bullying. Then the main character gets magic powers out of pity from a character that looks like it belongs in Mob Psycho (nothing against Mob Psycho).

What is that? It’s looks so disconnected from everything else I’ve seen in the series. I haven’t even seen the first episode and yet there is nothing that makes me want to start. Long story short, this “girl” gives the main character a magic gun that she can use to make people disappear; or actually teleport to a place where they will die outright. That was so much to take in and now I wish I never did. What is appealing about this? Why do series like this go silently, but then you have an anime about a man who kills goblins as one of the biggest controversies currently for anime.

Ranting aside, The point I’m trying to get across is that I don’t see how anime can show shocking or disgusting scenes and have it considered as horror. I look at these like I look at videos of surgical procedures. It’s not frightening or horrifying; it’s just gross. So why consider it horror, and this is a serious question for people who genuinely enjoy these stories. What makes Ajin, Magical Girl Site or Franken Fran horror?  At their core most of the attempts of horror comes from the disgusting and I just can’t understand what makes them fall under the genre. Enough about that however, there is still a lot to cover.

The Bleeding Line Between Horror and Thriller

Keeping in the trend of anime and manga, another big problem stems off of understanding just what is horror. When I see horror or thriller with anime I tend to see that there isn’t a clear divide among them. Take for instance the Hellsing series.

For me I’d say that Hellsing is a Thriller; it has dark themes, but that doesn’t make it an instant horror. Though, for those who don’t know what Hellsing is, the story is all about the Vampire Alucard and the Hellsing organization. They must take down monsters, and ultimately fight a a Nazi regime. There is a level of outlandish and over the top content that I wonder, how could anyone consider this Horror? The only truly dark scene is later in the series when it’s implied that Alucard was raped in his childhood; maybe even countless times. Past this it’s just a lot of over the top violence that would prove to much for a shounen series. Another series that falls victim to this is the Parasyte series.

You could probably make a better argument as to why Parasyte is horror, but from what I’ve seen of the series I would at the least also put this as a thriller. This view goes both ways and it sometimes effects anime more than manga. The manga for Parasyte and Tokyo Ghoul look like horror manga at face value, but the anime, to me, don’t share that feeling. There are moments in many anime that can truly be horrifying, but the big picture doesn’t convey this. Movies struggle from this sometimes but, again, I mainly see it in anime. Though, this isn’t a dig at the anime or manga industry. What does the other side have to answer for?

How much is too much? 

Video games and movies aren’t safe yet. One of the biggest problems with modern horror is how much and how varied it all is. What do I mean by this? Well the easiest examples I can use are the Saw movie series, and the Five Nights at Freddies game series.

Saw is one of the most well known horror movies among films like Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street. When the first film came out it was pretty different from other horror films. Instead of an ax murderer chasing someone through the woods, or a masked man hunting down people in a little town on Halloween night; Saw is a movie about a man who killed people he saw as “evil.” People who he believed deserved to be punished, no matter how psychotic that may have sounded. The first movie released back in 2004; since then there have been a total of seven more films. The catch being that each film is pretty much the same thing with a different cast. A man kidnaps people, he talks to them through a puppet and puts them through traps and trials as a sort of test.  Even horror films that are regarded as classics have way to many movies in their franchise. Hollywood is running out of ideas and instead they decide to use any semblance of life in the current existing ideas rather than look for new life. Friday the 13th went to Space, but ultimately it’s still a slasher film about Jason Voorhees 

Both movies and video games take the skeleton of what was previously established and just slightly alter it’s shape and design. Movies do it a lot more than video games; however, games have started this trend recently not just for horror, but for all genres. Though, that’s another story for another time. The biggest offender of this with Video games, in the horror genre, is the Five Nights at Freddy’s Series.

When the first Five Nights came out I wasn’t interested in playing the game myself, but I could sit here and say that the game has potential as a horror title. It had a nice atmosphere and ideas that aren’t normally explored. Out of all the things that can produce fear, animatronics at a knock off Chuckie Cheese was not something that really came to mind but that was an interesting aspect. After the first game however, the rest of the series started to take a terrible downward spiral. Each game is pretty much the exact same as the last, save for a few that tried to take a slightly different spin on things. Sit in a chair and watch cameras to make sure the animatronics don’t come to kill you. Your capabilities are limited and you need to survive for a certain amount of time. Second game is the same but there are new machines with new tricks, the third game is the same but only one machine really matters, the fourth game is the same ideas but instead you’re a child who needs to peek out doors and in the closet. This cycle goes on for a total of six games in the main line. The only game that changed the formula was a spin-off, turn based RPG. Though that game doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. The gameplay has minor alterations, the characters change appearance and new animatronics are introduced over the course of the games, and the story just starts to feel like background material. It’s all just jump scares that try to scare through appearance instead of gameplay and atmosphere.

Nothing about Five Nights is scary anymore. We’ve been through it six times and it’s common knowledge that these machines will jump at us when we fail. Not to mention that, when the player fails, in some cases there is a long pause between the failure and the jump scare. Don’t make me wait, I lost. Making the player wait destroys the atmosphere. Gameplay aside, it’s the visuals that really start to destroy this game. How do you top unsettling machines with a mind of their own? Add more teeth, add more heads randomly placed around the body, make them look broken and demonic. That will put the fear in the player; except it won’t, I don’t look at the picture of Freddy above and think this is the thing of nightmares. I see someones head canon fan art that I could find on Deviantart or Pixiv. It’s like the people who make gross creepy fan art for Sonic the Hedgehog found new anthropomorphic animals to do whatever they want with. The whole thing that made the idea of animatronics frightening was the movements and the lifelessness. Plus, the skin of the characters makes for a scarier experience. I don’t want to see the frame of the machine. Seeing this...

Isn’t frightening, it’s the equivalent of Freddie Kruger chasing you through the dreamscape if Freddie was an average man in a mo-cap suit. The reason Five Nights is the worst offender of the recycling idea is because the creator said countless times that “this one will be the last game,” “After this no more Five Nights at Freddy’s.” Each time a big fat lie. There’s a movie in the making for crying out loud. The Slender movie was a flop so how will this fair?

I get it; Hollywood and game designers alike are running out of ideas. Disney is remaking all their films and Capcom can’t seem to find a way to stop porting Resident Evil 4 on every platform. However, the saying is if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it; these things have been in pieces for years now. The warranty may be up, it’s time to “FIX THIS!” Now, I’ve said a lot on the subject and there is still a ton of things I could talk about on the horror genre, but not enough to dedicate a segment on them. So I have one more reason I believe horror has fallen over the years and it all stems from the atmosphere.

There’s a build up, but no pay off.

So for some mediums, getting a certain level of atmosphere is hard. Manga I believe has the hardest time. It’s always been simpler to build tension in the visual format than the written. Though even anime, movies, and video games have struggled to reach an understanding of the levels of atmosphere. How much is to much and when should the build up reach the cap. If I had to rank them, omitting manga, I’d say that video games are still at the top barely, while anime struggles with this idea the most. Now this is all opinion of course; fear effects everyone differently but, in my experience, not many anime can reach a good level of tension. There was one that managed to produce a very horrifying atmosphere for me, but we’ll get to that a little later. First, why is it that anime can’t grasp the aspect of tension building and atmosphere. I believe it’s because the horror genre, especially for anime, is too predictable. A long while back, when I was experimenting with what to watch when it came to anime; I tried my hand at the show Another.

I didn’t get far into Another; the build up wasn’t that great out the gate, but I wanted to give it a chance. My viewing of the show ended at the episode with the first death. Throughout the anime every person is telling the main character to steer clear of the girl with the eye-patch. She’s bad news and only misfortune will follow. However, the boy didn’t listen of course. Scene after scene past with nothing happening, until a girl from the boys school is leaving and her attitude changes after she catches a glimpse of the other girl. At this point I knew, I sat there tired and done. I watched as this girl ran down the hall and all I had to say was one sentence. “She’s gonna die,” I sat there repeating these words over and over; until she fell down the stair and was impaled on an umbrella.

I couldn’t continue the show after this; when nothing happens the camera tries to focus on things that seem unsettling, like dolls in a dark antique store. Then when things “pick up” the scene takes to long to get to the payoff. You’ve tried to build up the tension; don’t hold the final product in front of my face. Teasing the audience with the end product only proves to destroy all progress made to get to this point. It’s not that hard of a concept in my opinion; it should be just like building to the climax. Though, instead of reaching one huge climax, it’s more like carefully structured peaks that don’t keep the viewer waiting to long.

For me, the best example of this doesn’t even stem from a horror series. Around the same time as mentioned before I also tried to watch an anime named Kino’s Journey, or Kino no Tabi. In one episode the main character finds there self in a town with a few mysteries surrounding it. At the center of the town there is a huge tower that is being built by the civilians that live there. This tower has been worked on for over two hundred years. When the main character asks them why they build the tower they don’t know themselves. 

As the episode goes on, and more interactions are had between the cast, tension begins to grow and it feels like the people of the town aren’t as hospitable as they once seemed. There is so much unknown about the situation that is presented that the viewer feels that something could happen at any moment. Though, the episode reaches it’s end with the tower cracking and falling to the ground. The people of the town resolve to build the tower again and the journey continues. While the tension never truly reaches a huge climax, it still manages to feel unsettling. Kino’s Journey is not a horror series, but I’ve felt more tension in it’s atmosphere then I’ve every felt in a horror series I’ve watched or read.

Though, anime has always had a tricky experience with Horror, and I know that anime and manga isn’t always made with everyone in mind. It’s Japanese in origin and I can understand that something scary to me may not be scary to a Japanese viewer, or vice versa. However, games and movies don’t always have that cultural luxury. Movies also can be extremely predictable, especially the classics. Yet, movies don’t just suffer from being predictable; movies, surprisingly, struggle with realism.

Now I know that realism shouldn’t be a factor is horror movies, but that all depends on the movie. If we’re talking about a movie like the exorcist, then realism needs the be there to a point. It can be loose because we’re dealing with the supernatural, but facts still need to be present to some degree. Movies that don’t have anything supernatural to them, however, need a lot more if they want to succeed. The best example of this is the Purge series.

When this movie first came out I would have said that the idea of a president creating a day for everyone to do as they please without laws was overly far-fetched. Now I can’t really say much with the current society we live in; however, I will say that the idea that people would just go out and murder their neighbors for no good reason is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Why do all these people have the weapons to go around killing? How did this seem like a good idea? What are everyone’s motives in all of this? The story of this series is so shaky and full of holes that it's popularity baffles me. 

As far as predictable goes; there are many horror movies, from terrible to the classics, that have their predictable moments. There was one, and I’m sorry the name escapes me, where a girl is being haunted by someone in her family that died by unknown means at the moment in the film. Most of the movie is filled with terribly place jump scares, but the worst of them all was one where it was a bright day and the main female character was walking along until she comes to an opening in the woods. Instead of walking on, she is pulled into the woods for whatever reason. There is nothing really calling to her and she sees nothing from what I remember, but she’s drawn to one spot in the opening where she finds and unborn fetus in the ground. The fetus is perfectly in tact and the scene just kind of hangs in this back and forth until the fetus opens it’s still developing eye and a huge piano note rings in the background. I sat there knowing the jump scare was coming. I still jumped, because of the loud startling sound, but it was clear as day something was coming.

Where is the tension? I can’t feel frightened when the atmosphere either makes no sense, even in the context provided, or when the movie paints out every scare on a giant canvas for all to see. Horror is meant to make me scream, jump and even, for the most extreme, cry in fear. It’s no longer like that, horror has become one of the most sad and boring genres alive. When you find the one game, movie, etc, that breaks the mold and truly embodies what we know as horror; it deserves to be placed on a pedestal. I believe that video games has the best chance of doing this but even good horror games are scarce.

Predictability  and realism aren’t the big issue when it comes to games. Instead, it all bubbles down to the payoff. Games have an easier time of building tension and atmosphere than most mediums in my opinion. It’s the payoff that it fails to grasp. This has become more of an issue in recent years with indie horror games. Games like Agony, We Happy Few, Call of Cthulhu. Do they hit the mark? What is the payoff and how long did it take to reach that goal. Was the build up paced in such a fashion that the game didn’t drag on? This is what games struggle with the most in the horror genre and the best example of this is Layers of Fear.

The game has it’s moment where tension can build, but there is never any pay off. The game focuses to much on trying to build a compelling story about an artist who slowly, and I mean SLOWLY, spirals into a state where he pushes his loved ones away and hurts his family in an attempt to reach his goals. Most of the game is the player walking around the characters estate while they interact with the things around them. Every so often the player will find something that progresses the story and gives some insight into what exactly has happened or what is currently unfolding. That’s all this game is, it doesn’t even attempt to jump scare the player. It attempts to horrify the player through the atmosphere alone. The only problem being that it never delivers. This style of game has become a frequent trend, known as the walking simulator. The whole game is walking from point a, to point b, to point c, and so on. Never reaching any payoff that feels satisfying. The most tense scenes, if you can call them that, are scenes that play on where you are facing. Say for instance you look at a painting; the next moment you look away to an empty wall. Look back and the painting is now disgusting and decaying. So frightening, I need a moment to collect myself. This is boring, I didn’t buy a game to literally watch paint dry; but, with Layers of Fear, I can do just that. Plus, can someone tell me why every indie horror game feels the need to take assets from the public access art gallery?

Scooby-Doo had more realistic art pieces in their haunted houses. Why does every indie horror game need to have some form of “horrific” art hanging in every room five inches from the other. These are humans we’re talking about, not Hannibal Lecter. Sure maybe the main character in Layers of Fear painted the pictures but no one in their right mind would ever say “yea lets hang these demonic painting in our living room; that sounds very welcoming. Nothing says family like a father eating his child”.

If I wanted to experience a poorly delivered and paced story about a painter who is currently undergoing his mid-life crisis. To the point that he possibly abused and neglected his family and may or may not have killed the family dog in a drunken rage. Then sure I might play Layers of Fear, or I might just go on Garry’s Mod and download some hastily made horror map that does the same exact thing for free. I don’t want my horror games to be some attempt at an artistic and complex story on human flaws. I want to be scared. 

This shouldn’t be difficult and in fact, many games still can manage to bring fear into their games. Take for instance Friday the 13th and Dead by Daylight.

Now I’ve said my piece on both of these games a while back, but if there is one thing I need to give both of these games credit for is the ability to scare. In both games it’s one versus the group. One killer is controlled by a player and this adds a level of unknown danger. They are powerful and can appear when you least expect it. Over time when you’ve play the games enough the fear factor will probably die down, but the initial tension hits hard because it’s instant. Both games waste no time putting the player in a terrible situation. You’re placed in a random location and it’s as if the game is telling the player, “Alright, someone is hunting you; good luck, and try not to die.” Sure both games have their problems through bugs or other factors but, when you look at the games from a design stand point, they work really well.

Another two games that really know how to build tension and produce payoffs are Until Dawn and Dead Space 2.

One of the most memorable moments for me with Dead Space 2 was near the beginning of the game. You’re going down a dark corridor and you’ve already been presented with the enemies that are hunting you down. You may be armed, but there is no guarantee that you can survive even with your weapons. You keep moving and yet nothing jumps at you. At any moment a necromorph could come and try to kill you. You enter a room with the only light source being a flickering T.V. The music starts to ramp up and as it reaches the it’s height... a balloon pops. While the payoff may not seem amazing, the timing and pacing was done really well in my opinion that, even with your guard up, there is a level of unexpectedness that hangs in the air. You know there are enemies out there, but the space station is their oyster. You are almost always at a disadvantage, even with some of the more advanced weaponry. It’s a jump scare, sure, but even jump scares can pay off to provide breaks in tension without them being terrible immersion breaking game overs.

Until Dawn was a more recent example of how to build tension and deliver upon the atmosphere. The game was a play on the old classic horror films we all know. Though the player is the camper, or the unsuspecting victim. Though instead of presenting the player with a villain from the start, the game never truly reveals what the greater evil is. Also, the game plays heavily on player choice and the idea that each thing you do may end up being the death of a character really hits hard. You’re not just afraid of what may attack you, but also afraid of how your choices may spiral into terrible outcome after terrible outcome. Plus, even when the player succeeds or fails the payoff is still rewarding. The tension isn’t just tossed to the side if the problem was avoided. It’s used and then we start again. Tension rises and a new dilemma is presented. If you want a horror game that can truly capture the genre then Until Dawn is definitely one of the best contenders.

Disability Studies

MUSIC GOT ME HERE

Director: Susan Koch

Music Got Me Here follows the against-all-odds, true-life journey of Forrest Allen - a story of the power of music to heal and transform lives, often in miraculous ways. A snowboard accident leaves Forrest, age 18, trapped inside himself, unable to speak or walk for almost two years. Tom Sweitzer, an eccentric music therapist with a troubled childhood who credits music with saving his own life, is determined to help Forrest find his voice.

Ancient philosophers, including Plato, Aristotle and Socrates, recognized and wrote about the tremendous power of music. But it's only recently that neuroscientists, using advanced magnetic resonance imaging, have been able to go beyond the anecdotal - and actually document the powerful pathways that exist between music and the brain. Music therapy has the potential to improve the lives of those dealing with some of life's most serious challenges including traumatic brain injuries, Alzheimer's, autism, Parkinson's, cerebral palsy, mental health issues, PTSD, stroke recovery, pain management, and opioid addiction.

Filmed over five years by award-winning director Susan Koch, Music Got Me Here explores this fascinating therapy through the story of Forrest, featuring interviews with renowned soprano and music therapy advocate Renee Fleming and National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins.

DVD / 2020 / 90 minutes

R-WORD, THE

By Amanda Lukoff

THE R-WORD is an intimate look at the history of the word 'retard(ed),' cultural representation, and the challenges and triumphs of people living with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Filmmaker Amanda Lukoff grew up advocating for her sister Gabrielle, especially whenever she heard the word 'retard(ed),' which was far too often. The disparaging word is everywhere – in TV, movies, music, social media, and throughout our public and private communities -- perpetuating negative stereotypes and cultural bias.

THE R-WORD is a humanizing, purposeful, and deeply respectful look into the long-reaching history and lasting implications of derogatory language used to describe people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Through captivating animation sequences, the personal narrative of four sibling stories, and the first-person accounts of self-advocates, we get an intimate and nuanced perspective of the challenges and triumphs of people living with an intellectual disability.

THE R-WORD is an unflinching, heartwarming, humorous, and hopeful journey through our shared human experience.

DVD (Color, Closed Captioned) / 2020 / 65 minutes

TO BE OF SERVICE

Director: Josh Aronson

To Be Of Service is a feature-length documentary directed by Academy Award nominated Josh Aronson about veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) who are paired with a service dog to help them regain their lives. Returning home for these vets is often wrought with depression and a painful disconnect from the world they once knew. Family, old friends and jobs seem foreign, and newly returned warriors struggle to function and return to a normal civilian life. "To Be Of Service" follows these warriors after they get their dog to see how a deeply bonded friendship restores independence and love for the men and women who have been so traumatized by war. The film features an original song, "Unbroken," written and performed by Jon Bon Jovi.

DVD / 2019 / 88 minutes

THAT WAY MADNESS LIES

Director: Sandra Luckow

What do you do when your brother descends into a black hole of mental instability - starting with falling for a Nigerian email scam but eventually winding up involuntary committed into the hospital made famous by 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'?

Award-winning filmmaker Sandra Luckow unflinchingly turns her camera on her own family as they attempt to navigate the broken mental health system in an effort to save their brother, Duanne, whose iPhone video diary ultimately becomes an unfiltered look at the mind of a man with untreated schizophrenia as well as an indictment of how the system failed.

DVD / 2018 / 101 minutes

DEFIANT LIVES

By Sarah Barton

DEFIANT LIVES is a triumphant film that traces the origins of the world-wide disability rights movement. It tells the stories of the individuals who bravely put their lives on the line to create a better world where everyone is valued and can participate. Featuring interviews and rarely seen archival footage, the film reveals how these activists fought to live outside of institutions, challenged the stigmas and negative image of disability portrayed by the media, demanded access to public transportation, and battled to reframe disability rights as a social responsibility relevant to us all. DEFIANT LIVES is an excellent tool to encourage discussions about diversity and disability for students, audiences and community groups.

DVD (Color) / 2017 / 85 minutes

MADEMOISELLE PARADIS

Director: Barbara Albert

Set in 18th century Vienna, this is the true story of Maria Theresia von Paradis, a gifted piano player and close friend of Mozart, who lost her eye-sight as a child. Desperate to cure their talented daughter, the Paradis entrust Maria to Dr. Mesmer, a forward-thinking-physician who gives her the care and attention that she requires. With the doctor's innovative techniques of magnetism, Maria slowly recovers her sight. But this miracle comes at a price as the woman progressively starts to lose her gift for music. Faced with a heavy dilemma, Mademoiselle Paradis will have to choose: an ordinary life in the light or an extraordinary life in darkness, as a virtuoso.

DVD (German & French with English subtitles) / 2017 / 97 minutes

SHADOW GIRL

By Maria Teresa Larrain

SHADOW GIRL is the extraordinary story of a filmmaker struggling with the prospect of losing her vision. While editing her last film in Toronto, Chilean-born filmmaker Maria Teresa Larrain suddenly begins to go blind. After she's denied disability benefits by the Canadian government, she returns home to Chile. There, inspired by the resilience and wisdom of the blind street vendors she meets, Maria Teresa confronts her fears and steps courageously into her new life while reclaiming her dignity and her voice as an artist. This powerful and poetic film raises complex questions about art and "vision," able and dis-abled, and poverty and privilege.

DVD (Spanish, Color) / 2017 / 75 minutes

BEST AND MOST BEAUTIFUL THINGS

Director: Garrett Zevgetis

Off a dirt road in rural Maine, a precocious 20-year-old woman named Michelle Smith lives with her mother Julie. Michelle is quirky and charming, legally blind and diagnosed on the autism spectrum, with big dreams and varied passions. Searching for connection, Michelle explores love and empowerment outside the limits of "normal" through a provocative sex-positive community. Michelle's joyful story of self-discovery celebrates outcasts everywhere.

DVD / 2016 / 91 minutes

FAREWELL PARTY, THE

Director: Tal Granit & Sharon Maymon

The Farewell Party is a unique, compassionate and unlikely funny story of a group of friends at a Jerusalem retirement home who decide to help their terminally ill friend. When rumors of their assistance begin to spread, more and more people ask for their help, and the friends are faced with a life and death dilemma. Co-directors Sharon Maymon and Tal Granit have tackled an extremely sensitive issue in a vibrant and unique way.

DVD (Hebrew with English subtitles) / 2015 / 95 minutes

ON BEAUTY

By Joanna Rudnick

From Emmy-nominated IN THE FAMILY filmmaker Joanna Rudnick and Chicago's Kartemquin Films comes a story about challenging norms and redefining beauty. ON BEAUTY follows fashion photographer Rick Guidotti, who left the fashion world when he grew frustrated with having to work within the restrictive parameters of the industry's standard of beauty. After a chance encounter with a young woman who had the genetic condition albinism, Rick re-focused his lens on those too often relegated to the shadows to change the way we see and experience beauty.

At the center of ON BEAUTY are two of Rick's photo subjects: Sarah and Jayne. In eighth grade Sarah left public school because she was bullied so harshly for the birthmark on her face and brain. Jayne lives with albinism in Eastern Africa where society is blind to her unique health and safety needs and where witch doctors hunt people with her condition to sell their body parts. We follow Rick as he uses his lens to challenge convention and media's narrow scope of with the help of two extraordinary women.

DVD (Color) / 2015 / 31 minutes

DANCE GOODBYE, THE

Director: Ron Steinman

What is life like for a dancer when they can no longer dance? Inspired by Merrill Ashley's departure from the New York City Ballet as an acclaimed principal dancer, this documentary, created by Ron Steinman and Eileen Douglas, captures the poignancy of this life turning point. After a struggle to find her next step, today Merrill Ashley travels around the world teaching Balanchine to dance companies which perform his works as once she did. This is the story of any dancer - or, in truth any one of us - who needs to find their way into a new life.

DVD / 2014 / 56 minutes

MAKING ROUNDS

Director: Muffie Meyer

We spend almost a trillion dollars a year on high-tech tests and yet almost one fifth of patients are misdiagnosed. In Making Rounds we are introduced to the power and superiority of methods of traditional diagnosis based on decades of experience, doctor-patient discussions, physical touch, and personal observation. We follow two prominent cardiologists getting it right, teaching future doctors the 'old-fashion' art and science of a thorough bedside physical exam. "A great many diseases may be diagnosed," they tell us, "just by looking at a patient's hand."

Filmed over one month in the cardiac care unit of a top New York hospital, we see the doctors in action, correcting previous misdiagnoses, predicting outcomes, saving lives, demonstrating - in dramatic real-world situations -that simply looking at and listening to patients remains medicine's most indispensable tool.

DVD / 2014 / 63 minutes

ALGORITHMS

Director: Ian McDonald

In India, a group of boys dream of becoming Chess Masters, driven by a man with a vision. But this is no ordinary chess and these are no ordinary players. Algorithms is a documentary on the thriving but little known world of Blind Chess in India.

Filmed over three years, Algorithms travels with three talented boys and a totally blind player turned pioneer as they compete in national and world championships, and visits them in their home milieu where they reveal their struggles, anxieties and hopes.

Charudatta Jadhav discovered chess soon after he went blind as a teen. Convinced of the game's power, he has dedicated his life to develop chess for the blind. Darpan Inani is the most talented and highest ranked totally blind player in India. This idiosyncratic and highly intelligent teenager possesses a wisdom that belies his young age. Sai Krishna is an ambitious rising star of blind chess in India. He is fun-loving, gregarious and makes friends easily, but there is a toughness to Sai's character. Anant Kumar Nayak, a promising new talent, is a gentle boy with an endearing if slightly eccentric personality. With a strong sense of moral duty and responsibility, the totally blind Anant struggles to balance chess and school. This observational documentary moves through the algorithms of the blind chess world, challenging the viewer with a tactile and thoughtful exploration of foresight, sight and vision.

DVD (English, Hindi, Tamil, Odiya with English subtitles) / 2012 / 96 minutes

SERVICE: WHEN WOMEN COME MARCHING HOME

By Marcia Rock and Patricia Lee Stotter

Women make up 15 percent of today's military. That number is expected to double in 10 years. SERVICE highlights the resourcefulness of seven amazing women who represent the first wave of mothers, daughters and sisters returning home from the frontless wars of Iraq and Afghanistan. Portraying the courage of women veterans as they transition from active duty to their civilian lives, this powerful film describes the horrific traumas they have faced, the inadequate care they often receive on return, and the large and small accomplishments they work mightily to achieve.

These are the stories we hear about from men returning from war, but rarely from women veterans. Through compelling portraits, we watch these women wrestle with prostheses, homelessness, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Military Sexual Trauma. The documentary takes the audience on a journey from the deserts of Afghanistan and Iraq to rural Tennessee and urban New York City, from coping with amputations, to flashbacks, triggers and depression to ways to support other vets. An eye-opening look at the specific challenges facing women veterans with a special focus on the disabled, SERVICE can be used for courses in military studies, women's studies, peace and conflict courses and veteran support groups.

DVD (Color) / 2012 / 55 minutes

YOU DON'T NEED FEET TO DANCE

Director: Alan Govenar

Alan Govenar's intimate new documentary reveals the extraordinary life of African immigrant Sidiki Conde, a man overcoming his disability one day at a time in New York City.

Sidiki was born in 1961, in Guinea, West Africa. At age fourteen, polio left him almost completely paralyzed. Sent to live with his grandfather in a village deep in the forest, Sidiki learned to manage his disability, building his upper-body strength so that he could walk on his hands. When faced with the dilemma of dancing in a coming of age ceremony, he reconstructed the traditional steps by dancing on his hands instead of his feet.

In time Sidiki ran away to Conakry, Guinea's capital city, where he and his friends organized an orchestra of artists with disabilities recruited from the city's streets. They toured the country, striving to change the perception of the disabled. In 1987, he became a member of the renowned dance company Merveilles D'Afrique, founded by Mohamed Komoko Sano. Sidiki became a soloist and served as rehearsal master, composing and directing the company's repertoire. He also worked as a musician and arranger with Youssou N'Dour, Salifa Keita, Baba Maal and other popular musicians.

In 1998, Conde's music brought him to the United States, and he founded the Tokounou All-Abilities Dance and Music Ensemble. In the United States, he has continued to perform and teach, instructing people of all abilities in schools, hospitals and universities, and served as artist in residence at a Bronx public school for children with multiple disabilities.

In You Don't Need Feet to Dance, Sidiki balances his career as a performing artist with the almost insurmountable obstacles of life in New York City, from his fifth-floor walk-up apartment in the East village, down the stairs with his hands and navigating in his wheelchair through Manhattan onto buses and into the subway. Despite the challenges, Sidiki teaches workshops for disabled kids, busks on the street, rehearses with his musical group, bicycles with his hands, and prepares for a baby naming ceremony, where he plays djembe drums, sings, and dances on his hands.

DVD / 2012 / 88 minutes

I CAN BE PRESIDENT

Directors: Diane Kolyer & Michael Sporn

What would it be like to grow up and become president of the United States?

In I Can Be President: A Kid's Eye View, a diverse group of children candidly share their thoughts on the subject, affirming the importance of having dreams at any age.

I Can Be President features interviews with elementary schoolers whose hopes and dreams - both hilarious and touching - come to life in animated sequences created by the award-winning animator Michael Sporn.

A young person's view of civics and ethics, I Can Be President offers simple yet profound observations on subjects like diversity, war, being a leader and becoming an adult. All in all, a promising vision of the nation's future.

DVD / 2011 / 22 minutes

SCARLET ROAD

By Catherine Scott

Impassioned about freedom of sexual expression, Australian sex worker Rachel Wotton has become highly specialized in working with clients with disabilities. Rachel's philosophy – that human tough and sexual intimacy can be some of the most therapeutic aspects to our existence – has made a dramatic impact on the lives of her clients, from improved mental health to actually regaining body movement. SCARLET ROAD follows Rachel as she strives to increase awareness and access to sexual expression for disabled people through her foundation, "Touching Base," which works to gain rights for sex workers and end the social stigma and discriminatory practices that surround their occupation. In addition, she obtains an MS in Sexual Health, all to further her mission to end the stigma placed on two marginalized groups.

DVD (Color) / 2011 / 70 minutes

IN THE GARDEN OF SOUNDS

Director: Nicole Bellucci

From the time he was a child Wolfgang Fasser knew he'd lose his eyesight to the genetic disease retinitus pigmentosa. But as darkness descended, a new world began to open up to him: the world of sound. He marveled at its richness and nuance, at how it moved him and made him connect with nature and with the people around him. Forced to abandon his childhood dream of being a veterinarian, Wolfgang instead became a musical therapist for disabled children.

Tucked away in the Swiss mountains he built a safe haven in which children can explore and create sound through instruments like cymbals, drums and piano, or feel sound vibrations resonate through their bodies on a therapeutic bed of chords. Tension dissipates as they open to the mysteries of sound and music; Wolfgang's empathy, compassion and patience add to an environment in which the children blossom. In his transcendent directorial debut, Nicola Bellucci focuses with quiet reverence on Wolfgang just as Wolfgang focuses on the children in his care.

DVD (Italian and Swiss German with English Subtitles) / 2010 / 90 minutes

MOTHER'S COURAGE, A: TALKING BACK TO AUTISM

Director: Fridrik Thor Fridriksson

Narrated by Kate Winslet, this inspiring film follows one woman's quest to unlock her autistic son's mind. Margret, whose ten-year-old son Keli is severely autistic, has tried a number of treatments to help her son.

Consumed by an unquenchable thirst for knowledge about this mysterious and complex condition, she travels from her home in Iceland to the United States and Europe, meeting with top autism experts and advocates. She also connects with several other families touched by autism, whose struggles echo her own: the endless doctor visits and experiments with different treatments, the complication of doing everyday tasks, and the inability to communicate - perhaps the most painful and frustrating aspect of autism.

But as she comes across innovative new therapies with the potential to break down the walls of autism, Margret finds hope that her son may be able to express himself on a level she never thought possible.

DVD / 2010 / 103 minutes

ABE NATHAN - AS THE SUN SETS

Director: Eytan Harris

The nostalgic and exciting story of Abe Nathan ("The Peace Pilot") - the man who became a myth in Israel and around the world for his courageous and endless fight for peace, who broadcasted rock music and messages of peace from his pirate radio station "The Voice of Peace", who organized missions, reaching forgotten corners of the world giving food to starving children, but at the same time could not be a real father to his own daughter.

DVD (Hebrew, English, With English Subtitles) / 2005 / 78 minutes

NITSAN AND SAGI

Directors: Hadassah Benherzel and Jacky Berman

Nitsan and Sagi married in Israel in August 2002. Their wedding was a magnificent and well-attended ceremony. However, unlike other couples, Nitsan and Sagi are young people with Down syndrome, and as such, their path to martial bliss became an ideal for a "normal" existence that many young people with Down syndrome pray and hope for. The film accompanies the couple on their wedding day and to their new home in an emotional, thought provoking and sometimes humorous fashion.

DVD (Hebrew, With English Translation) / 2004 / 58 minutes

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9 Outrageous Ideas For Your Cartoon Soccer Ball Step By Step | Cartoon Soccer Ball Step By Step

ETCHED IN: Those we’ve absent in 2019 (including John Witherspoon, Agnès Varda, Walter Mercado and Grumpy Cat) will be categorical in our memories for decades to come.ILLUSTRATION BY GREG HOUSTON

Free Cartoon Soccer Balls Pictures, Download Free Clip Art .. | cartoon soccer ball step by step Another year has passed, and we’ve had to ache the accident of figureheads in assorted industries including, music, film, sports, art, activism, and for artlessly actuality a photogenic cat. We’ve taken the time to epitomize the amazing lives of individuals who didn’t accomplish it into the new decade, but will be remembered for abounding added to come. Andre Williams(Nov. 1, 1936–March 17, 2019)Not abounding bodies get a big breach in the music business. Andre Williams got two.Born in Bessemer, Alabama, Zephire “Andre” Williams aboriginal hit it big as an R&B accompanist aback he confused to Detroit in the aboriginal 1950s and won an amateur-night competition. He anon alive to Fortune Records, acceptable advance diva in the Bristles Dollars, afresh rechristened Andre Williams and the Don Juans. A abounding writer, he additionally denticulate alone hits, including “Jail Bait,” “The Greasy Chicken” and “Bacon Fat,” which absurd the Top 10 on the Billboard R&B chart. He additionally wrote Bristles Du-Tones’ “Shake a Tail Feather,” afterwards performed by Ike & Tina Turner (and abundant later, featured in The Blues Brothers and Hairspray), and alike served a abrupt assignment as a songwriter for Motown, co-writing Stevie Wonder’s aboriginal song, “Thank You for Loving Me.” But by the 1980s, Williams hit bedrock bottom: Addiction begin him alone in Chicago. In the 1990s, however, Williams was rediscovered by the bedrock ‘n’ cycle awakening scene. That led to annal like Greasy, arise accordingly on indie labels Norton and St. George Annal in 1996, and Silky, arise on In the Red in 1998. Added indie bedrock collaborations followed, with Williams recording advance with Jack White, Mick Collins of the Dirtbombs, and the country bandage the Sadies. His proto-hip-hop sing-talking style, affection for abusive lyrics, and sartorial alternative for blatant apparel and analogous hats acceptable him the appellation by some of “the asperse of rap.”Williams connected to attempt with addiction, but he additionally connected to accomplish music, absolution I Wanna Go Aback to Detroit City in 2016. He died in Chicago at age 82 from cancer, but he never stopped: His manager, Kenn Goodman, told Billboard a ceremony afore his afterlife that the accompanist “was committed to aggravating to sing and almanac again.” — Lee DeVitoRuss Gibb(June 15, 1931–April 30, 2019)If Iggy Pop is the Asperse of Punk, afresh Russ Gibb is its uncle.After alive as a Detroit-area schoolteacher, radio DJ and promoter, “Uncle Russ,” as he was known, became a aloft booster of Motor City bedrock ‘n’ cycle aback he founded the Grande Ballroom in 1966, aggressive by a appointment to San Francisco’s Fillmore. The breadth became accepted for booking bounded acts like the Stooges, Alice Cooper, the Amboy Dukes and the MC5, who served as the venue’s abode bandage and recorded its admission Kick Out the Jams alive there. That’s all in accession to booking civic acts like Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead, Cream and the Who, amid others, abounding of whom played some of their aboriginal U.S. shows at the venue.Gibb was complex in added milestones in bedrock history as well. In 1969, while alive as a part-time DJ on WKNR-FM, Gibb took a alarm from a adviser who claimed the Beatles’ Paul McCartney died and was replaced with a look-alike, and that there were clues in the band’s lyrics and anthology artwork. The cabal approach anon went viral. (Perhaps it would arise as no abruptness that abundant afterwards in life, Gibb would advance Donald Trump’s cabal theories about Barack Obama’s bearing affidavit on his blog.)Gibb bankrupt the breadth in 1972. But in the 1980s, he was aback in the music business, accouterment banking abetment for the Graystone Hall, a Detroit jailbait venue. All the while, Gibb formed as a history and media abecedary at Dearborn High School; he died in April at 87 of accustomed causes. The Grande, however, continued alone and now antic an MC5 mural, could anon see a new life: It’s now endemic by Chapel Hill Missionary Baptist Church, who said they ability charter it out for contest — including accessible music concerts. — DeVitoJohn Witherspoon (Jan. 27, 1942–Oct. 29, 2019)“John Witherspoon is atramentous history,” Twitter’s Rembert Browne tweeted afterwards the banana amateur died of a affection advance at his Los Angeles home in October at age 77. It was a fair assessment: Witherspoon’s filmography spanned decades, including appearances on The Richard Pryor Show, the Friday franchise, Martin, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Wayans Bros. and The Boondocks, as able-bodied as Jay-Z and Goodie Mob music videos, amid others. Born in Detroit to a ancestors with 11 siblings, Witherspoon got his alpha demography amphitheater classes in the Motor City in the aboriginal ‘70s. He got into standup at the bidding of his acting instructor, who anticipation he’d be funny in a ceremony brawl show. Witherspoon anon relocated to Los Angeles, aperture for the allegorical Richard Pryor at the Brawl Store. Later, Pryor casting him as allotment of his brief NBC array appearance in 1977 afore it was canceled for actuality too risque. For many, though, Witherspoon will consistently aloof be “Pops” — the amusingly bad-tempered ancestor to Ice Cube’s Craig Jones in the 1995 stoner brawl Friday. Witherspoon would reprise the role in 2000’s Abutting Friday and 2002’s Friday Afterwards Next, and was casting in a agnate role as “Granddad” in the banana strip-turned-Adult Swim animation The Boondocks, which debuted in 2005. Afterwards years of development hell, a fourth Friday blur was assuredly accustomed the blooming ablaze in 2017, but was alone in pre-production at the time of Witherspoon’s death. He was additionally set to arise in a afresh appear Boondocks reboot, admitting that activity had not amorphous assembly yet either. In an odd way, Witherspoon got to adore a final goodbye. In 2012, aback a apocryphal address of his afterlife went viral, Witherspoon reacted to the account aloof as Pops might. “What the hell ya’ll talkin ‘bout on here?!?!?” he tweeted. “I ain’t dead, I’m in Ft. Lauderdale.” — DeVitoBernice Sandler(March 3, 1928–Jan. 5, 2019)In 1969, Bernice Sandler was a ablaze adolescent adviser at the University of Maryland, acquisitive to acreage a full-time atom on the faculty. She knew she was a acceptable teacher, and there were seven accessible positions. So aback she was almost considered, she asked a macho adroitness affiliate if he had any insight. He conceded she was calmly qualified, “but let’s be honest, you arise on too able for a woman.”Sandler, who died in January at age 90, apparently again that adduce bags of times in interviews and speeches in the bristles decades that followed. “Sometimes bodies ask me what aggressive me to get complex in women’s issues,” Sandler allegedly said in 2012 afterwards accepting a beastly rights award. “I accept to acquaint you, I wasn’t aggressive at all. I was mad.”She began researching sex bigotry and begin an controlling adjustment barring organizations that accustomed federal money from acute based on race, religion, civic agent or gender. Armed with that information, Sandler filed complaints adjoin 250 universities, aggressive the arrangement that commonly discriminated adjoin changeable agents and students. She partnered with crusading U.S. congresswoman Edith Blooming to canyon Title IX. The 37-word bill, alive in 1972 by President Richard Nixon, has aback become a able and able apparatus for angry sex discrimination. Best famously, it has been activated to bookish sports, guaranteeing changeable athletes opportunities ahead exceptional of. Sandler spent the blow of her activity advocating for according rights. She served as armchair of the Civic Advisory Council on Women’s Educational Programs beneath presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, was inducted into the Civic Women’s Hall of Fame and has been cited as a hero by some of this country’s top athletes. But she never forgot that bandage about advancing on “too able for a woman.” It turns out, she was too able to be stopped. — Doyle Murphy

Drawing a cartoon soccer ball - cartoon soccer ball step by step | cartoon soccer ball step by step Dan Robbins(May 26, 1925–April 1, 2019)Dan Robbins was a abstruse bartering artisan at a Michigan acrylic aggregation in the backward 1940s aback his bang-up asked him for an abstraction to advice advertise acrylic sets to adults.Robbins eventually acclimatized on a arrangement that accustomed alike the best unskilled, amateur chump to actualize paintings that looked professional, if not absolutely absorbed with an artist’s originality. His paint-by-numbers kits were a bona fide awareness by the aboriginal 1950s.The aboriginal offerings were aside bandage drawings, created by Robbins himself, intricately disconnected into sections that corresponded to pre-mixed acrylic colors. Soon, an army of artists, alive beneath the Ability Master casting for Detroit-based Palmer Acrylic Co., were churning out kits based on Robbins’ model. Using the byword “Every man a Rembrandt,” 20 amateur kits were awash in 1955.Artists and critics were afraid that painting had been angry into a step-by-step apprenticeship adviser and accumulation marketed, but Robbins didn’t assume to mind. “I remembered audition that Leonardo acclimated numbered accomplishments patterns for his acceptance and apprentices, and I absitively to try commodity like that,” he already told the Associated Press.The paint-by-numbers chic comatose aural a decade, and Robbins’ bang-up awash the business. But he fabricated a mark, alike biting an art apple that derided his efforts. Andy Warhol riffed on the model, and the Smithsonian Institution’s Civic Museum of American History alike displayed an exhibition of paint-by-numbers pieces in 2001 and 2002. Robbins died at 93 alive he had afflicted legions of bodies who ability accept never best up a besom if not for him.“We like to anticipate dad was one of the most-exhibited artists in the world,” his son Larry Robbins told AP. “He enjoyed audition from accustomed people. He had a able box of fan letters.” — MurphyNorma Miller(Dec. 2, 1919–May 5, 2019)People were done with the flit and annoyed of the tango as the ‘20s came to a close. The chic that came abutting was swing, a vivacious, freewheeling brawl built-in in Harlem. Swing advance aloft brawl floors the apple over with the advice of the brawl accumulation Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers, alleged for the Lindy Hop, an abnormally able-bodied affiliate of the exhausted brawl family. It was a specialty of Norma Miller, a ballerina who acceptable her atom in a accumulation that counted Dorothy Dandridge and Sammy Davis Jr. amid its members, and whose accomplishment and acclamation acceptable her the moniker “Queen of Swing.”Miller was a woman of abounding specialties. A Harlem native, she formed as a choreographer, actor, columnist and a Redd Foxx-backed comedian. But actuality a atramentous babe in aboriginal 20th-century America was a accident with bound paths adjoin success. Her mother bankrupt houses, and Miller acceptable faced a agnate activity of adamantine labor, but she was acutely an all-powerful talent. By 5, Miller was wowing locals at aptitude shows. She and her aberrant bound were apparent alfresco the acclaimed Savoy Ballroom and, by 14, she was in Paris assuming with Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers. Through the ‘30s and ‘40s, the accumulation set the accepted for exhausted on all-embracing tours and in movies like the 1941 aloft motion account Hellzapoppin’. Miller, who anesthetized abroad this year of congestive affection abortion at 99 in her Fort Myers home, was not aloof the youngest affiliate of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers but additionally the aftermost actual member. Into her 90s, she was teaching exhausted courses, speaking at engagements, choreographing dances and basic music. In the documentary about her, Queen of Swing, Miller summed up the abstruse to her continued and alive life: “Keep on swingin’.” —Solomon GustavoBarbara Hillary (June 12, 1931–Nov. 3, 2019)Barbara Hillary was not an explorer. Because she was the aboriginal atramentous woman to ability the North Pole, and the aboriginal to acme the South Pole, she is generally declared as one, agreement her in the aggregation of audacious trekkers like Robert Peary and Matthew Henson.She able those firsts almost recently, extensive the North Pole in 2007 and the South Pole in 2011, a aeon afterwards men aboriginal set basal on either spot. Hillary was commodity more: a cultural adventurer, charting paths advanced by atramentous women like her — but additionally paths that few cartel traverse. The Harlem native, built-in in 1931, fabricated her pole expeditions in her 70s (North, age 75; South, 79). She consistently capital to biking and, afterwards backward afterwards added than 50 years as a nurse, began authoritative affairs to appointment non-touristy locations. How abounding atramentous women afore her, how abounding bodies in general, accept apparent Paris? Now, how abounding accept been to the actual tippy-top and actual basal of the globe? She went to Manitoba to photograph arctic bears, and went dog-sledding in Quebec, and afresh she abstruse no atramentous woman had been to either pole afore and absitively to be the one. Those treks are arduous, with stretches of acute hiking and skiing acute immense backbone adjoin acrid acclimate altitude that would bassinet an amateur of any age. She assassin a trainer and started bistro added vegetables.It was the affectionate of claiming that appealed to Hillary, who commonly stared bottomward aerial obstacles throughout her life. She exhausted breast blight in her 20s and lung blight at 67. In Queens, New York, she founded and was the editor-in-chief of The Peninsula Magazine, a nonprofit multi-racial advertisement that was the aboriginal of its affectionate in the area. She said she abhorred accent and maintained beatitude and a youthful, pole-summiting spirit, by allotment to break unmarried. In 2017, she batten at the admission of the New School, her alma mater, and brash the grads, “At every appearance in your life, attending at your options. Please, do not baddest arid ones.”   That was Hillary’s style. She created her own desires, destinations that she accomplished by afterward a ambit of her own making. — GustavoScott Walker(Jan. 9, 1943–March 22, 2019)

How to Draw a Soccer Ball Step by Step Drawing Tutorial with .. | cartoon soccer ball step by step How could one ability an adapted epigraph to sum up the atypical agreeable activity of Scott Walker? Can you brainstorm Frank Sinatra in his afterwards years accommodating with a doom metal band? Or Justin Timberlake auctioning abroad distinction for cigarettes, sunglasses, Bertolt Brecht and slabs of raw meat as bang instruments? Walker did it his way, and afresh some. Fresh from a assignment as a boyish affair artisan in L.A., Walker (born Noel Scott Engel) became one-third of the Walker Brothers in the mid-1960s; they became actual sensations in the U.K., bond beat-combo moves with symphonic grandeur, acquiescent hits like “Make It Easy on Yourself” and the abiding “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore.” Anon enough, Walker begin that the agreeable admirers and the pop activity weren’t for him, at one point apocryphally exhausted to a abbey to get his arch calm afore actuality ejected by the monks as admirers besieged the gates. Walker addled out on his own, and from 1967 to 1969 crafted four of the best admirable and affecting albums of all time, the eponymous Scotts 1 through 4. This was Walker at his best iconic: sunglasses, abandoned crew and a soaring, awfully attractive articulation alms no achievement whatsoever. Latterly hailed as the actuality by artists from David Bowie to Thom Yorke, these albums had the net aftereffect of antibacterial his career, eventually banishment him aback into the accoutrements of the Walker Brothers for a alliance in 1975, but Scott couldn’t alike do a contemptuous cash-grab right, penning the adverse “Nite Flights” and “The Electrician,” two aflame hits of dystopian electro-pop that still complete accompaniment of the art, pointing the way to accessible sonic futures alike now. From there, Walker began his bit-by-bit dematerialization act, exhausted to a activity based about the simple pleasures of bicycling, seeing movies, and activity to the pub and watching audience comedy darts. He’d appear every few years with ever-more aggressive and affective alone assignment — Climate of Hunter, Tilt and The Drift — but by the time Walker was accustomed the hagiography analysis in the 2006 documentary 30 Aeon Man, it was bright he wasn’t activity to accord admirers a boastful acknowledgment to the stage. Instead of the homesickness circuit, he gave them aberrant and admirable assignment like the active allotment for brawl “And Who Shall Go to the Ball? And What Shall Go to the Ball?,” collaborations with Sunn O))) and Bat for Lashes, a final alone album, Bish Bosch and two blur array for Brady Corbet.Walker anesthetized agilely this year due to complications from cancer, bewilderment absolutely intact. — Matthew Moyer Ken Nordine(April 13, 1920–Feb. 16, 2019)You may not apperceive Ken Nordine’s name, but affairs are you’ve heard his voice. Over the advance of a 60-year-plus career, Nordine put the “art” into the abstraction of a annotation artist. His cottony baritone graced the airwaves of Chicago radio stations, address The World’s Great Novels and added programs. He was additionally the articulation abaft several educational films, so if your abecedary anytime acclimated a woefully age-old filmstrip in class, you ability admit his timbre. His best constant creations, though, were his Word Applesauce albums, on which, over abetment advance of air-conditioned jazz, Nordine tells belief or acts out scenarios with a accurate focus on exhausted and sound.Nordine’s success with the Word Applesauce alternation acceptable him a account affairs of the aforementioned name on flagship NPR abject WBEZ in Chicago, and the appearance concluded up active for added than 40 years. His 1967 Colors album, in which Nordine expounds aloft the personalities of assorted hues, charcoal a admired of those absorbed in offbeat curiosities from yesteryear. (It grew out of his radio commercials for the Fuller Acrylic Company.)Lines from his recordings accept been sampled in songs by Aesop Rock, Pizzicato Bristles and the Orb, and in 2007, David Bowie himself asked Nordine to accomplish at the High Bandage Festival in New York.Nordine anesthetized abroad on Feb. 16, 2019, at the age of 98, preceded three years beforehand by Beryl Vaughn, his wife of 71 years. — Thaddeus McCollumSahar Khodayari(birthdate unknown, 1990–Sept. 9, 2019)Football — not the American affectionate — is the world’s sport, in allotment because of its low barriers to entry. You don’t charge any big-ticket accessories to alpha a soccer game, aloof a ball. But in Iran, bisected the citizenry is barred from entering sports stadiums. Women accept not been accustomed to watch their admired teams in actuality aback the 1979 Islamic Revolution. This has led some women to beard themselves as men in adjustment to appear games, alike admitting actuality bent acceptable agency imprisonment and accessible torture.One woman, 29-year-old Sahar Khodayari, absitively to booty the accident to see a bout at Tehran’s Azadi Amphitheater amid Esteghlal FC — her admired aggregation — and Al-Ain FC. She dressed as a man, but didn’t accomplish it to her bench afore actuality noticed and arrested by aegis guards for “openly committing a amiss act.” After actuality arise on bail, Khodayari was told that she was attractive at a six-month bastille sentence. In protest, she larboard the courthouse, caked gasoline on herself and lit herself on fire.She died in hospital a ceremony later.Since her death, FIFA, the all-embracing administering anatomy of football, abreast Iran that women charge be accustomed to appear appointed Apple Cup condoning matches demography abode in Iran. On Oct. 11, the Iranian civic aggregation exhausted Cambodia 14-0, animated on by 3,500 women sitting in a absolute area of the stadium. — McCollumLil Bub(April 2011–Dec. 1, 2019)It’s been a bad year for viral cats. Not alone did Grumpy Cat, conceivably the best bartering of all the internet beastly celebs, die in May, but aloof as we accomplished putting this commodity together, the consummate Lil Bub anesthetized abroad in her sleep, victim of a assiduous cartilage infection.Lil Bub’s “dude,” Mike Bridavsky, begin her in an Indiana barn in 2011, the runt of a clutter accepted to die bound due to her dwarfism and added abiogenetic anomalies. Enchanted by her billowing eyes and chubby legs, Bridavsky took in the toothless, droopy-tongued “permakitten” and gave her a activity aloft artful imagining, abounding of hand-fed ambiguous yogurt and specialized medical absorption — and she alternate his alert affliction tenfold in grit, spunk, and ambrosial cheeps, snorks and chirrs. (Truly, Bub seemed to allege a accent all her own, accompanying to but not the aforementioned as approved housecats’ meows.) Not alone did Bridavsky’s abounding Bub-centric $.25 of merch — socks, T-shirts, costly toys, fridge magnets — prove catnip to her internet fans, the monies aloft were donated to assorted beastly shelters and rescues for special-needs cats. And not alone did Bub’s camp mug affection on customer goods, she starred in a Vice documentary (Lil Bub & Friendz), hosted 14 episodes of a allocution appearance (Lil Bub’s Big Show, with guests including Michelle Obama and Steve Albini), recorded her own anthology (Science and Magic, with a awning analogy by Orlando artisan Johannah O’Donnell) and guested on Run the Jewels’ artful remix album, Meow the Jewels. Bridavsky consistently claimed Lil Bub was a “magical amplitude being,” and whether she came from alien amplitude or not, she absolutely seems to be magic: She aloft $700,000 for beastly charities in her abbreviate life, and brought immeasurable joy to millions. Good job, Bub. — Jessica YoungAgnès Varda

Soccer ball icon icon cartoon – cartoon images of soccer balls - cartoon soccer ball step by step | cartoon soccer ball step by step (May 30, 1928–March 29, 2019)She’s sometimes alleged the mother — or grandmother — of the French New Wave of cinema, but Agnès Varda was added of an Auntie Mame type: whimsical, generous, but nobody’s chump or den mom. Her assignment was apparent by a academic accuracy that afflicted her adolescent Nouvelle Vague filmmakers, but her angry humanism — a abysmal affair for women and workers — buoyed her aloft the style-obsessed pack. Her contempo accord with French muralist JR, Faces Places, acquired her added absorption in 2018 than she’d apparent aback the ‘80s. With her two-toned basin cut, sneakers and apart tracksuits and pajamas — although, we note, they were by Gucci — Varda was a acceptable haimish attendance on the awards season’s red carpets, attractive like a comfortable little kitchen witch amid the gazelle-like starlets.She inhabited the blur apple in the aforementioned way — assuming up aback and area and absolutely how she chose, afterward no rules but her own. Rather than stick with the anecdotal films that won her acclamation (Cléo From 5 to 7; One Sings the Added Doesn’t) she followed her brood to documentaries (Mur Murs; Jacquot de Nantes). She fabricated agilely dramatized biopics of her admired ones’ lives, casting ancestors associates as actors, and amid herself into her documentaries; she fabricated dramas, comedies, a sci-fi apologue and a feminist musical.More aphorism breaking: Afterwards accident backbone with the acceptable brawl of flat backing, she founded her own assembly aggregation to handle her films and those of her husband, Jacques Démy; but she ran the appointment (located aloft the artery from her home) like a shop, generally hand-selling DVDs to visitors or acceptance them to watch her editing. “I adulation actuality able to accept the absolute acquaintance with bodies who are consumers. It’s like a peasant, you know, who grows tomatoes and you can arise and buy the tomatoes at the farm,” she bubbled to Sight Complete annual in 2011.Her final film, Varda by Agnès, was arise posthumously in November. It’s a self-directed attendant of her 60-year career, a alive and antic flash to an bulk absent consistently with beastly behavior in the face of mortality. — YoungWalter Mercado(March 9, 1932–Nov. 2, 2019)Walter Mercado was abundant added than a TV astrologer built-in in Ponce, Puerto Rico. By the time he died at age 87 on Nov. 2, he had created a cultural bequest far aloft the televised predictions beheld by millions of abuelitas aloft Latin America: Mercado had become an figure and afflatus for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual bodies active in Latinx society.“This is a ability that’s been bedeviled by adulthood and homophobia for a actual continued time,” blur ambassador Alex Fumero told Fox Account aloft his passing. “He was absolutely brave.” It didn’t booty acumen to apperceive Mercado’s on-screen persona, a stylistic cantankerous amid Carolina Herrera and Liberace, was an act of courage. He endemic added than 2,000 capes and acicular to admirers through the camera lens with fingers adorned in bright rings. He never about discussed his sexuality, but he absolutely let audiences apperceive which aggregation he played for.In his decades of appearances on Telemundo Puerto Rico, Mercado became a accepted point of affiliation amid awesome oldsters and advanced adolescence — conceivably alike added so afterwards he confused to Florida to advertisement on Univision. In college, he had advised pharmacology, attitude and pedagogy, afore acceptable a acclaimed ballet ballerina and amphitheater star, and afterwards actualization in telenovelas. His admirers will conceivably bethink him best by his catchphrase, somehow alike added allusive afterwards his death: “Pero sobre todo, mucho, mucho, abounding amor,” or “Above all, much, much, abundant love.” — Dave PlotkinBill Buckner(Dec. 14, 1949–May 27, 2019)When he afraid up his cleats afterwards a arena career that continued aloft an absurd four decades, one of alone 29 ballplayers to do so in baseball’s absolute history, Bill Buckner laid affirmation to an absurd account of achievements. And those numbers and stats attending alike added absorbing now, 29 years afterwards his retirement. He ranks amid the top 200 men to anytime comedy the bold in hits (2,715, baronial 66th), RBIs (1,208, baronial 150th) and extra-base hits (721, baronial 174th). He was an All Star, a batting best and an advocate for the bold continued afterwards he stepped off the field, until his afterlife this year from Lewy anatomy dementia at the age of 69.After 22 seasons with stints spanning the Red Sox, Dodgers, Cubs, Angels and Royals, Buckner confused to Boise, Idaho, with his wife and three children, area he backward complex with the game, abutting the Boise Accompaniment baseball aggregation as a hitting adviser in 2012. For all his blatant stats and contributions that helped the Red Sox accomplish the 1986 Apple Series, his bequest was abundant more. As Gary Van Tol, who was the Boise Accompaniment drillmaster while Buckner was with the team, said, “He accomplished me humility, dignity, adroitness and patience.”And yet, he’s remembered in accepted ability for one error, an abominable absurdity during Bold 6 of the 1986 Apple Series, aback he was at aboriginal abject for the Red Sox. The Red Sox absent the abutting bold and with that the series; and Boston fans, rarely acclaimed for the advantage of forgiveness, focused their ire on Buckner, aqueous taunts, boos and alike afterlife threats on him. The heckling was best up by opposing teams and their fans, and followed him for years.   Seventy-eight players, abounding of whom played far beneath amateur than Buckner during his career, accept fabricated added errors at aboriginal abject than the allegorical stalwart. None of them were affected to move to Idaho to additional themselves and their ancestors the taunts and abhorrence of sports admirers and reporters who affliction far added about the after-effects of amateur than the altruism of the players that comedy them. — Vince GrzegorekDonald “Nick” Clifford (July 5, 1921–Nov. 23, 2019)We body things, ample and small, acting and permanent, and afresh years afterwards we curiosity at them. The names attached, through the names of these things themselves — congenital by, alleged for or committed to — are monumental, notable ones. But we additionally marvel, conceivably afterwards alive or absolutely recognizing, at the bodies who congenital these things, the men and women who toiled in means big and small, through account or labor, to accomplish them reality. So for all the names associated with Mount Rushmore — the four presidents, to alpha with; followed by Gutzon and Lincoln Borglum, the father-son sculptor and artisan aggregation who advised the monument; followed still by Doane Robinson, the South Dakota accompaniment historian who aboriginal conjured up the abstraction of a across-the-board mountainside carve to drive day-tripper cartage to a alone allotment of the accompaniment — let us additionally admire Nick Clifford, who died this year at the age of 98. Clifford was the aftermost active artisan who helped body Mount Rushmore, a job he fell into afterwards actuality recruited by the Borglums to South Dakota to comedy for a baseball aggregation they’d put together. Assignment began in 1927 and lasted 14 years, and aback Clifford angry 17 in 1938 and could authorize to assignment the site, he jumped at the adventitious to accompany the added 400 men. Bisected a aeon later, Clifford was anytime appreciative of his addition and was generally present at the Mount Rushmore allowance boutique to assurance copies of his book about the work, which paid accolade to the added workers who created the monument. Recognition for them was adamantine to arise by above-mentioned to Rushmore’s 50th anniversary, but with the anniversary came interviews and a adventitious for Clifford to aggrandize on his and their histories, while advantageous account to its designers.“None of us were sculptors,” Clifford, who was additionally a Apple War II veteran, said in one interview. “We had alone one sculptor — that was Mr. Gutzon Borglum.”A few years afore his death, Clifford said: “I feel like Mount Rushmore was the greatest affair with which I was anytime involved. It tells a adventure that will never go abroad — the adventure of how America was fabricated and the men who helped accomplish it what it is today.”Clifford was one of them, and let us bethink his adventure too. — Grzegorek 

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Soraya Roberts | Longreads | March 2020 |  9 minutes (2,261 words)

The image that struck me most was the empty piazza. That Italian square — I believe it was in Venice — with no one in it. Maybe a bird or two. It looked inviting but also wholly unnatural. A city square is made for people, lots of people, people from everywhere. If people aren’t there, does it cease to be a square? I wondered the same thing about the Louvre and its tens of thousands of objects with no one to look at them — is it still a museum, or is it just a warehouse? I wondered about all those Berlin concert halls with no one to hear their music, all those Indian cinemas with no one to watch their films, all those crumbling ruins everywhere, standing there with no tourists to behold them or to record that beholding for everyone else. At this particular point in history, does art exist if we aren’t sharing it? 

By sharing I mean not only sharing a moment with the art itself, but also sharing the space with other people, and more literally, sharing all of that online — posting updates on Facebook, photos on Twitter, videos on TikTok, stories on Instagram. This kind of “sharing” is constriction rather than expansion, regressing back to the word’s etymological root of “cutting apart.” This contortion of a selfless act into a selfish one is symptomatic of a society that expects everyone to fend for themselves: Sharing online is not so much about enlightening others as it is about spotlighting yourself. It’s impossible to disconnect the images of those now-empty spots from the continuous splash of reports about the coronavirus pandemic gouging the global economy. In America, the economy is the culture is the people. Americans are not citizens; they are, as the president recently put it, “consumers.” And on the web, consuming means sharing that consumption with everyone else. That the images suddenly being shared are empty exposes the big con — that in reality, no one has really been sharing anything. That social distancing is nothing new.

* * *

Even before Hollywood started postponing all of its blockbusters and talk shows started filming without audiences and festivals started to dismantle and bands canceled their tours and sports seasons suspended indefinitely, the public was turning on cultural institutions run by a subset of morally dubious elites. In December 2018, protesters at the Whitney Museum of American Art burned sage (“smoke that chokes the powerful but smells sweet to us”) and forced the departure of the board’s vice chairman, Warren Kanders, the CEO of the company that manufactures tear gas that has reportedly been used at the border. Two months later, artist Nan Goldin, who had a three-year opioid addiction, led a “die-in” at the Guggenheim over the museum’s financial ties to the Sackler family, the Purdue Pharma founders who many hold responsible for the opioid crisis. In the U.K., the Tate Modern and Tate Britain also dropped the Sacklers, while climate activists pulled a Trojan Horse into the courtyard of the British Museum to protest the sponsorship of an exhibition by oil and gas company BP. As performance artist Andrea Fraser, known for her institutional critiques, wrote in 2012, “It is clear that the contemporary art world has been a direct beneficiary of the inequality of which the outsized rewards of Wall Street are only the most visible example.” 

If that recent exhibition of impressionist paintings seemed oddly familiar, or that ballet you just saw appears to keep coming back around, or that one classical musician looks like he’s hired nonstop, it’s not your imagination. It’s a function of that exclusive control, of the same artists, the same works, the same ideas being circulated (“shared”?) by the same gatekeepers over and over and over again. “Far from becoming less elitist, ever-more-popular museums have become vehicles for the mass-marketing of elite tastes and practices,” wrote Fraser in Artforum in 2005. Which is why certain names you wouldn’t think would cross over — from contemporary artist Jeff Koons to art-house filmmaker Terrence Malick — are more widely known than others. According to The New York Times in 2018, only two of the top 10 all-white art museum chairs in the country are women. And almost half of the 500-plus people on the boards of the 10 most popular American museums have become rich off the finance industry, while many others owe their wealth to oil and gas; the small group that is responsible for exploiting the world is the same group that is responsible for its enlightenment. They determine which pieces of art are bought, how they are curated, and how they are disseminated — theirs are the tastes and practices we are sharing.

With this “increasingly monopolized market and increasing parochialism,” German artist Hito Steyerl explained last year, “a sense of international perspective gets lost, which is a wider sign of rampant isolationism.” And this doesn’t just apply to high arts, but “low” arts as well; movies, music, television, theater, books have all been corporatized to the extreme, with huge amounts of money going to a few while the majority lose out. This is how you get a never-ending Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Leslie Harris — the first African American woman to win a Dramatic Feature Competition special jury prize at Sundance for writing, directing, and producing her 1993 film Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. — still can’t get a second feature off the ground. 

While public funding for the arts has plummeted since the ’80s, however, the web has increasingly encouraged public sharing of its consumption on social media. Online, we look more traveled, more cultured, more inclusive than ever before. And it’s difficult to argue that wider access to art, that our increasing proximity to foreign cultures, could be wrong. But if you look closer, you notice that all this connectivity is largely superficial — it is heavily prescribed and strongly overlaps. The latter-day bourgeoisie all travel to Portugal at the same time, all visit the same Marina Abramovic exhibit, all watch the same Agnes Varda films, attend the same Phoenix tour. They clamor less to immerse themselves than to record and reproduce everything they have experienced, their distraction expressed by the ever-growing collection of imagery memorializing all the different experiences they’ve had — the same kind of different as everyone else’s.

“An idea of progressive internationalism,” Steyerl told Ocula magazine, “is progressively abandoned or gets snowed under constant waves of affect and outrage manipulated by monopolist platforms, and solidarity is swapped for identity.” In other words, all of this supposed sharing is really a tech-sanctioned performance of capitalism to showcase one’s value in a toxic din of competing consumers. The more photogenic the better, which means the less nuance, the better; think the Museum of Ice Cream, which costs almost 40 bucks for access to photo-friendly adult playgrounds — “environments that foster IRL interaction and URL connections” — like a “Sprinkle Pool” of multi-colored biodegradable bits you can’t actually eat. And the more recognizable the look (see: the retro aesthetic of any teen Netflix show), the more heady words like “nostalgia” become a proxy for depth that isn’t actually there. As we speed online through Steyerl’s distracted fragmentary so-called “junktime,” we quickly compound what she dubs “circulationism,” propagating images with the most power, giving them even more power. Standing next to the Mona Lisa, for instance, offers greater token currency among a wider set than standing next to anything by Kara Walker, who speaks to a more immersed but smaller audience. Either way, online, currency is king.

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Culture has, above all, become a mark of personal wealth. When Americans share their experiences on social media, they are sharing their cultural capital with a neoliberal society that defines them by it. This is a result of the culture war Fraser recognized several years ago, which “has effectively identified class privilege and hierarchy with cultural and educational rather than economic capital.” But, again, economics ultimately rules. While the poor may be allowed to briefly occupy the space of cultural capital, it is the rich who own it, who offer it up for limited consumption.

Yet the desperation to share, to express one’s value in a world that is so intent on devaluing us all, is deeply human. Which is why you get people Photoshopping themselves onto famous backdrops, which, from a cultural capital perspective, is no different from being there — on social media a photograph is a photograph, and the real Sistine Chapel looks the same as the Etsy wallpaper reproduction. People have always consumed art partly for the cultural capital rather than just the personal enrichment, but now the goal is to broadcast the enrichment itself to the public: sharing one’s consumption of the aura has priority over one’s actual consumption of the aura. Though a hierarchy persists even here. The authentic art consumer, the one who actually experiences the work in person, looks down upon the forger. As Walter Benjamin wrote, the aura of a piece of art is tied to its presence, which can’t be replicated. Which is to say the essence of art can only be experienced through the art itself — a picture can’t recreate it, but it does make its shared image more valuable. 

It’s apt that right now, in the midst of a pandemic, the popularity of a cultural site can kill and that virtual tours are being encouraged over actual ones. What better way to illustrate that our increasingly insular art world has not in fact connected us at all, but has done the opposite? As Steyerl noted in e-flux magazine in 2015, the Louvre, that model of national culture, was a “feudal collection of spoils” before revolutionaries turned it into a public museum, “the cultural flagship of a colonial empire that tried to authoritatively seed that culture elsewhere, before more recently going into the business of trying to create franchises in feudal states, dictatorships, and combinations thereof.” Those with the means flock to symbols of elitism like this, not to widen their perspective in solidarity with the world, not to connect with a community of strangers, but to bolster their own value locally by sharing the encounter online. This is not globalism; this is the neoliberal stand-in for it.

All of that foot traffic, all of that online diffusion, is an expression of how we have commodified the individual consumption of art to the point that it looks like we are sharing it with others. We aren’t. We are instead dutifully promoting ourselves as valuable consumers in the capitalist community we are complicit in perpetuating. “It’s not a question of inside or outside, or the number and scale of various organized sites for the production, presentation, and distribution of art,” wrote Fraser in Artforum. “It’s not a question of being against the institution: We are the institution.”

* * *

One of the last movies I saw in the cinema before they started closing down was The Invisible Man. It was a perfect example of how a public screening can tell you what streaming cannot — in real time, you can gauge by the reactions around you whether or not it will be a hit. As with certain art installations, you are experiencing not only the art, but also simultaneously others’ experience with it. In that theater, we screamed and laughed and sat agog together. It was a spark of community that extinguished the moment the lights lifted. A few weeks later, these same strangers who shared that moment of emotion together, headed to supermarkets to empty out toilet roll aisles, buy up all the disinfectant, and clear out the fresh meat despite a collective need for it. These same strangers who in concert cheered on an oppressed heroine, went on to unashamedly side-eye the Asians in their community. Individuals in North American society can occasionally partake in a cultural experience with their neighbors, but in the end it’s to exhibit their own counterfeit edification. It’s telling that the big tech these individuals ultimately share their consumption on — Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Tumblr, Instagram — rarely funds the arts.

Which brings us back to those empty images from the start of this essay. Proliferating photographs of abandoned culture, of objects ignored, confront the hollowness of online sharing. Social media implies connection, but the context of its shares is as important as the context of art’s production and neither can be divorced from the hierarchies in which they reside. No wonder our meagre individual expressions of value dictated by capitalist enterprise fit perfectly within a capitalist enterprise that profits off our inability to ever sate ourselves. The only way to really share — with art, with each other — is to remove sharing from this construct. The only way to really connect — to support a collective of artists, to support a collective of human beings — is to distance ourselves from the misguided values we have internalized.

“At its most utopian, the digital revolution opens up a new dematerialized, deauthored, and unmarketable reality of collective culture,” writes Claire Bishop in Artforum. Under a worldwide pandemic, we see a move toward this — individuals freely leaking their cultural subscriptions, artists offering performances for nothing, even institutions waiving fees for access to their virtual collections. While the vulnerability spreading across America right now is ordinarily framed as weakness in the landscape of capitalist bravado, it is central to real sharing and offers a rare chance to dismantle the virulent elitism that has landed us here. It’s unfortunate that it takes a dystopia, a global interruption of the systems in place, to see what a utopia can be — one in which sharing is about the creation and cultivation of community, a reality that only exists outside the one we have built.

* * *

Soraya Roberts is a culture columnist at Longreads.

INTERVIEW Q&A: Julie Byrne On Vulnerability, Fighting The Pull To Start Over, & Her New Album Not Even Happiness Gabriela Tully Claymore @gabrielajunetc | December 14, 2016 - 10:00 am

Julie Byrne is one of the chosen few who can genuinely say she’s from “all over.” Byrne has led a nomadic existence since leaving her hometown of Buffalo at 18, and is part of a network of artists known nationally for existing neither here nor there, setting up “home” wherever it feels right for a few weeks or a few years. She counts Pittsburgh, Northampton, Chicago, Lawrence, Seattle, and New Orleans as transient homes, and New York City has only recently become a more permanent one.

Byrne’s music carries the weight of a suitcase packed with memories and trinkets, and her songs are most always born of long journeys, both physical and spiritual. Her last album, Rooms With Walls And Windows, compiled the self-titled and You Would Love It Here cassettes, which were recorded live in 2012 and 2013 while Byrne was living at a show space in Chicago. Rooms With Walls And Windows is a lonely, humbly rendered folk album rooted in the specifics of Byrne’s experience. It’s littered with thumbnail portraits of domesticity, songs about falling in and out of love with people and places, and the inspiring inertia brought on by a life on the road.

Rooms With Walls And Windows was released by the small independent label Orindal in 2014, around the time that Byrne took a train from New Orleans to New York, resettling her chaotic life in one of the more chaotic cities she could’ve chosen. Byrne has been slowly working on the follow-up to her debut ever since. Last year, she trekked back to Buffalo for a brief period to record in her childhood home, bringing along producer Eric Littmann and violinist Jake Falby. It was there that Byrne created her sophomore effort, Not Even Happiness, which is due out early next year. It’s a cleaner, more carefully produced album that finds Byrne in a different emotional space than the one she was in so many years ago when she wrote the songs included on her debut. Not Even Happinessquestions what it means to settle down and whether or not it is objectively “good” to finally find yourself home, even if that home isn’t the place you anticipated. It’s still an album written for the open road, but one that promises some kind of love and companionship at the end of a long journey.

Byrne is one of the finest contemporary examples of an artist who can do so much for the soul by lending you some of hers. She speaks the way she sings — slowly, with an enviable, peaceful precision — and she invited me to her home in Queens to talk about the themes that inspired Not Even Happiness. Byrne takes her time answering questions, sometimes pausing for a near-minute to collect her thoughts before responding, and she doesn’t hesitate to delve into the philosophical. Over tea, we discussed her songwriting process and her new-ish life in New York, where she works odd jobs, including one as a seasonal park ranger. Mostly, we talked about the difficulties that come with staying in place, and in turn, the art that’s born of a good challenge. Read our Q&A and listen to Byrne’s new single, “Follow My Voice,” below.

STEREOGUM: When I listen to Not Even Happiness knowing you’ve been somewhat settled in New York, I focus so closely on how much of your lyricism is derived from nature. I think of New York as such a grey, industrial place.

JULIE BYRNE: That’s why I was grateful for the opportunity to work as a park ranger. I was starved for that sense of well-being we feel when we’re in green spaces. And I didn’t even realize the extent to which living without that was affecting me until I returned to Buffalo last fall. When we were living there, working on this album, we’d spend our days recording and to clear our heads we’d hike the trails in a nearby county park called Hunter’s Creek. By the time I returned to New York, it was with a greater sense of my own needs. I was studying environmental science and I hoped to find a job where I could commune with nature and work outside so I applied to the city parks department. I worked in Central Park most days this past summer and came to view it as a sanctuary, not only for New Yorkers to experience their connection to nature but also for the wildlife that take refuge there. And while the surrounding neighborhoods don’t reflect the same ethos, the parks really do belong to the people of New York and the parks department upholds that mission. I liked working in that form of service to the public.

STEREOGUM: It’s hard to look up and actually take stuff in outside of the daily routine. In that sense, I hear a kind of spiritualism on this album, too. I got Not Even Happiness the week after the election, and it felt appropriate because one of the first things I thought when I saw the result was: “I just wish I believed in god or something right now.” And then, to hear you point to little examples of the sublime on songs like “Natural Blue” feels so powerful at this point in time. What’s the story behind that song?

BYRNE: [When I wrote that song], I had been on tour for 40 days and I had maybe 30 left to go. We didn’t build in any period of rest between shows, so I really felt that I was at the mercy of any given day. I had no grounding and no real privacy, and it was difficult to live like that. We were staying outside of Boulder, CO — my friend’s cousin was going to school out there and she was living in an old mountain house with a five friends. A few of them had grown up in that town, lived there all their lives. It was a world separate from the one that I was used to and also entirely disconnected from the national DIY music community that I’m a part of.

They ended up having a party at the house that night, and the past few months had been a difficult time for everyone ‘cause there’d been a series of landslides in the town before that. It seemed like the first time that people had been able to come together and see each other, it was a very spirited gathering. I didn’t know anyone there, except my best friend David, who I was traveling with, and a boy we’d met in Denver, who we always thought was a wild star. We immersed ourselves in that night and hardly got any sleep. Not long after dawn, we had to pack up and get ready to leave on a 10-hour drive to Lawrence, KS. It felt like there was no real break between what we had experienced that night and the day that followed. “Natural Blue” came from feeling so at the mercy of the experience of touring and somehow breaking through to fully live in those moments of mysterious peace, wherever they may be. You can’t expect more than that, living that life.

STEREOGUM: That’s such a beautiful way of putting it. You talk a lot about privacy, or finding ways to be alone even when you’re surrounded by other people. How has your life changed between when the last album came out and now, in terms of how you’ve been living, what you’ve been doing, how you fill your days?

BYRNE: Well, I guess the most honest way I could answer that question is that regardless of the material differences in how I’ve lived between then and now, it’s my hope that I’m gradually aligning myself with aspirations of the spirit and in doing so, becoming more intentional in my daily life. I’m not free of selfishness, investment in my own side of a story, insecurities that manifest in ways I couldn’t anticipate, impatience… making a habit out of returning to short-lived forms of stimulation or escape. All the markings of a brutal heart. But it seems that being honest about these things is part of our movement away from them. My life’s been more structured, way more routine, but beyond that, the greatest change has been the realization that internally, much of what I turned to for a sense of self could actually never supply it.

STEREOGUM: You can hear that intention in this record because it’s bookended by two songs that are very much about the question of: “Should I still be moving or should I stay in place?” Maybe we can talk about the ideas behind “Follow My Voice.” One of my favorite lyrics on the album is that line, “I know you call this home/ But for me, this city’s hell.”

BYRNE: That line is in homage to a Caethua song that I listened to religiously in the past. At that point in my life, it’s very much how I felt about living in New York. But I had fallen in love. I had fallen so deeply, so sincerely in love and the person that I was with was rooted here. It seemed like whatever credentials I did have at that time had no merit in such an unrelenting place. I hadn’t graduated from college, and I wasn’t in school. I had a scattered work history. I pursued music with such devotion, but that doesn’t afford stability here. At one time in my life, it felt that living on the fringes and living without a home was very liberating, even in its most difficult moments. After being in New York and working in the service industry and feeling no sense of conviction for what I was doing to survive, I found myself at the end of that journey. I had no real reason to be here, but I wasn’t sure where else I could go. I don’t feel that way anymore.

It feels good to finally release “Follow My Voice,” it’s very dear to me. More than anything, the song is a plea for those in pain not to be overtaken by fear. For so much of my adult life, in great secrecy, I’ve felt a deep concern that part of me would always feel alone, misinterpreted, or unreachable. That feeling of aloneness was more familiar and constant to me than any romance had ever been, so much that I drew strength from it. The fear we experience, when despite all we try to give in love, we still emerge feeling that we may never truly be seen — this can have a bewildering effect that causes us to act in ways that aren’t true to who we are. In this case, to remain territorial even after the relationship ran its course, to assert our positions and entitlements, to find fault, the refusal to wish someone well when they no longer meet your personal needs. The song is an expression of faith in complete, unmotivated responsiveness in love and that our own capacity to love extends so far beyond the boundaries of what we’ve been told and lead to believe.

STEREOGUM: It’s hard to be honest and to abandon your ego.

BYRNE: It is! Well said. But part of the reason why it’s so hard to be honest is we don’t really live in a society that encourages that degree of vulnerability. There’s an Adrienne Rich quote that I really love… I think it’s something like:

An honorable human relationship — that is, one in which two people have the right to use the word “love” — is a process, delicate, violent, often terrifying to both persons involved, a process of refining the truths they can tell each other… It is important to do this because in doing so we do justice to our own complexity. We can count on so few people to go this hard way with us.

And I think that’s really true. Living and loving is never going to be easy, and the beautiful part of a relationship is being committed toward really wanting to see and understand someone else and really challenging yourself to listen to who they are instead of asserting who you are and what you need. And obviously, I’m not free of that, I’ve certainly done just that very thing. But I think it’s really important to kind of move away from that.

STEREOGUM: There are so many references on this album to being alone and wondering if being alone is what you’re meant to be. Whether or not you can be the same person, loving and living with someone in harmony, or if that requires resigning bits and pieces of yourself.

BYRNE: That’s certainly been… a conflict for sure. I was talking to one of my friends recently who works as a chaplain, and he’s been an important guide to me. He explained a teaching that the aspiration of love should be triangular, where two people stand on common ground with space and individuality between them, seeking their highest good together. In that sense, the relationship is no longer being driven by unexamined need.

STEREOGUM: In the album’s press release you mention that “Follow My Voice” and the last song, “I Live Now As A Singer,” are closest to your heart in some ways. Do you feel like they connect in a cyclical way? Or am I reading too far into it?

BYRNE: No, I’d say that’s true. There’s greater resolve at the end of Not Even Happiness. “I Live Now As A Singer” is a revelation about the nature of travel. The reason I’ve felt so called to move and to tour is because I was never in a place for that long before I wanted a clean slate. But, you know, whatever burdens you carry go with you wherever you go. You could cross an ocean and they’d still be with you. I traveled the country extensively before I even came close to accepting that. And maybe that goes back to what I was trying to articulate before about how, yes, the structure of my life has changed but also the nature of my life has changed. It’s been a period of time where I’m trying to address what kept compelling me to leave again and again and again.

STEREOGUM: That must be really difficult.

BYRNE: [Laughs] I’m not claiming that I’ve made any progress!

STEREOGUM: What’s 2017 looking like for you?

BYRNE: I don’t know. I’m trying to figure that out myself. I’d like to work as a ranger again in the summer, but I’d also like to tour. It really just depends. I’m playing it by ear right now. More than anything, I’d like to be stable enough to maintain the home I return to even when I do travel. I’m not willing to live the way that I did before when I was just like, “All right! I’m leaving everything behind and going on tour!” [Laughs]  I think that having a home base will make me a stronger performer in that I’ll have a dedicated space from which to do the work that I need to in order to offer myself more fully to other people. At least that’s the hope.

It seems in modern music, creating for the sake of happiness and enjoyment has become a lost art; becoming Increasingly impossible in our disconnected society to create an environment of dance and groove that binds hearts and souls across the dancefloor. To write songs that produce a euphoria in the mind that only builds in strength as the night progresses has vanished in the present-day. Though, New York based musician Greg Aram is doing just that, working tirelessly to create a culture of music for the sake of bliss and escapism, all in the name of human connection.

Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, Greg grew up in a childhood filled with multiculturalism, music, theatre and waiting for the endless summers that shaped who he is today. Summer is evidently Greg’s favourite season and is beautifully articulated in his music through the upbeat rhythms and themes he presents, such as: hangovers, summer love and late night drives of reflection. But in Greg’s new song, ‘Acting Famous’, he has started to use his platform to criticise some of the faults modern society continues to hold in its idolization of celebrity culture as well as our never ending lust for fame, keeping the dance centric sound his fans have come to love. Greg has proven himself as a unique and fresh face in the music industry, hoping only to bring pleasure and escape to all who need it in our seemingly bleak world.

Paramind got the chance to ask Greg Aram 13 questions on himself, his music and the paths he sees himself going down artistically throughout his future; hoping to get an insight into the man making true melodic elation:

Paramind: First question, as always, How is your day going?

Greg Aram: My day got off to a late start. I woke up at 1pm because I stayed up all night binging the new season of Stranger Things. I just made a fire smoothie though, so it’s off to a good start.

PM: How would you describe yourself to someone wanting to get to know you?

GA: I try to stay as real as possible, sometimes that comes off as a little too blunt. I really care about people and making them happy though. In the end, other people’s happiness makes me happy. I’d rather show someone a good time than have a good time myself because even if I’m not having fun and that person is, I’m happy.

PM:  How did growing up in New Jersey shape who you are? Has New York changed you in anyway since moving there?

GA: I grew up right outside of NYC in Hoboken, NJ so it’s definitely a little different than what people expect when they hear “New Jersey”. Im super thankful for where I grew up, mostly because how diverse it was, and not only in race and beliefs, but all aspects of life. Even the geographic culture is diverse in the fact that NJ has city culture, beach culture, suburban culture, that was always really cool to me.

I think since I grew up so close to NYC and would come here all the time growing up, I was pretty jaded when I first moved here. It was so brand new for everyone I was with, so I was like “damn, I’ve already done all this” like the clubs and clothing stores or whatever. Eventually, experiencing those things with new people made it all worth it and became a new experience in itself. Also, it wasn’t really until I started traveling more when I started realizing how much I love NYC and how dumb I was being super jaded.

PM: How did you first decide to get into music/who got you into music?

GA: It honestly happened pretty naturally, it was never a plan. Both my parents are into music and exposed me to all kinds of stuff since I was only a baby. One of my first memories pertaining to music was in 2005 when my parents bought me Late Registration and NYSNC Greatest Hits for Christmas. That was the first time I remember sitting down and actually listening to music rather than just hearing, it and was like “oh shit, Greenday isn’t the only artist making dope music”.

Also, my mom was an actor when she was younger so she inspired me to do musical theater stuff when I was a kid. I was never like a stereotypical “theater kid” or anything, and I definitely got shit for it from all my jocky friends, but I always knew I liked performing after doing that.

PM: Where do you believe you’d be right now if not making music? Would you still be following an artistic career?

GA: Honestly, I tell everyone if I didn’t do music, I would try a run at pro wrestling. There are so many parallels between the two, and both are rockstars in their own right. That would be so ill. I still might pursue that anyway to be honest. Pull up with the Wrestlemania cameo when I’m like 35. Imagine…

PM: Your music itself is quite upbeat in nature, is this a conscious effort or something that materializes due to who you are?

GA: I think it’s a combination of both. Like I said before, I really like making people happy and I’m usually happy for the most part, so making music that is upbeat and can bring people up is definitely what I want to do. Even if I’m making a sad song, there is a way to express that and still have it be upbeat. Also, I have a bunch of energy, especially when I perform and I don’t think I want to play sad songs live. I rather see people rage, dance and make-out instead of cry.

PM: What is the perfect time of day/place/event to play your music at?

GA: Play my music when you’re in the car and your mom picks you up from school.

Play my music when you go to a pool party or the beach with your friends.

Play my music when you hate the world and feel like dancing in your room.

PM: How do you believe your music is going to evolve in the future?

GA: Naturally, as I mature, so does my writing and my sound pallet. There are a lot of things I want to try to do in my music, but I feel like I have to build up to that point. Also, what I make will constantly change based off what is happening in the world and how that will effect me and the people I care about.

PM: On top of your new single ‘Acting Famous’, do you have any new music to tell your fans of?

GA: I have a bunch of music ready that I want people to hear, so expect more consistency for the future of my releases. I truly want to keep putting records out for everyone to hear because they all mean something to me and I feel they’ll mean something to my fans as well. In general, a lot more content from me (videos, interviews, etc). I used to be scared of over saturation, but at this point I don’t want to waste things by not putting them out, so I’m just going to release it all and give people the option to pick what they like the most.

PM: When performing live, what is the feeling you’d like your audience to go home with?

GA: No matter where I’m at, I’m trying to make it feel like it’s summer for ever. That feeling you feel when the bell rings on the last day of school and it’s the beginning of summer break. I want that anticipation and anxiousness from the crowd every time before I go on stage.

PM: What is the best show you’ve ever played? Why?

GA: This is super cliche, but I try to make every show the best show. At least for everyone watching. In terms of self fulfillment, I don’t think I have played the best show yet. I know where I want to be and I’m not there yet, but I’m working on it.

PM: Are there locations still on your bucket list to play a show in? if so, where?

GA: Yeah, I want to perform at MSG, on a boat, and like if Mark Zuckerberg threw a party/BQQ at his house I’d love to perform at that.

Aside from those, I really want to go on tour. That my next big goal.

PM: To wrap up, is there anyone you’d like to shout out?

GA: Shout out Millie Bobby Brown. Congrats on Stranger Things Season 2. I saw you rap, hit me up if you ever want to make a song together

Paramind would like to thank Greg for his time and for the music he’s creating; Greg is without a doubt a face and name to remember in music as he continues to grow and impress with his optimistic and euphoric sound.

Greg’s new song, ‘Acting Famous’ is available now on Itunes and spotify:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0WjnE5ZibazRh27XRKzTSH

Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/acting-famous-single/id1289682563

Social Media:

Instagram and Twitter: @Greg_Aram

Words by Guy Mizrahi

Photos by @superdupermaxx

Naz Mohseni | Assignment 3: Responses

Critical Making:

I actually heard about this Critical Making zine through my friend Jamie who runs the Make Shit Club at school. I was drawn to the article because of this connection and for the excitement of learning more about it.  

Critical Making Is fascinating on many levels. Being able to share tangible and intangible thoughts in one collective media is pretty extreme. Cross pollination of art, design, science and politics does not happen often enough.  I often feel boxed in at school. I’m not always sure If I am making products or concepts... Does it matter?  I frequently supplement my own education with scientific, art theory, and music publications in hopes of a gaining a variety of information. A part of me  can’t tell if I am just curious by nature or If I am lacking something in my education.

The rebellious nature of Critical Making induces excitement and creates a buzz and intrigue. Slowly distributing the publication is genius, it feels exclusive yet inclusive at the same time. I fight myself on wondering if this publication would do better if it was available to more people through a larger more widespread publication.

Giving the DIY movement a facelift and an alternative means of expression is contemporary. A different kind of maker and creator exists today and needs to be represented. Exploration and the idea of Do it Yourself has far surpassed the needs of knitting sweaters and building vegetable gardens. 

I have thought about having a rogue publication before. I would love to create a community where information is shared and collected. I have interested in experimentation and frequently think about melding transdisciplinary fields in my work. A class I’m taking this term called, Detention Hall: Philosophy Lab feels like we are living this Critical Making publication in real life. Each week we explore a different field of interest. Last week for example we went to the Olfactory Institute and learned about scent. His intention is to broaden our educational experiences, at least that's what I think he is doing...

Walter Gropius, “Bauhaus Manifesto and Program” (1919):

I have many books on Bauhaus and the German modernist movement. It is almost required if you want to be an industrial designer. Subsequently  I was drawn to this manifesto, and decided to write about it although I have read it once before.  When I was younger I would have argued that Art and Design were vastly different where as now my thoughts are more aligned with Gropius’. 

I align myself with the idea that there should be one great creative effort. The artist is the craftsman and the craftsman is the artist. This blending of Science and design is absolutely necessary to make qualified designers. There needs to be a solid foundation in our surrounding world to make logical and thoughtful products, art, architecture etc. 

Much of the Bauhaus manifesto is based off of  medieval practices however and I’m not sure about the rigidity of the system. My rebellious nature refutes this aspect and sees many issues regarding ranking and judging of this ranking. Is it is only left up to the masters? Does this halt variety? Is there also room for transdisciplinary crafting? Can you only be a master in one subject?

 The Bauhaus movement also did not judge on age or gender  and was a haven for many female designers. These women however were mainly placed in the weaving studios and it was very rare for a woman to become a master. The Bauhaus also did not value technology and sought adamantly to preserve old techniques but not introduce new ones. 

For a long time I romanticized the Bauhaus movement, so many of my favorite designers and creators emerged from this school. I viewed it as untouchable in design history because of their creations. I now have the ability to look at it from the perspective of a design student, I see cracks in the institution and don’t place it on a pedestal like I previously did.  

Hey Higher Ed, Why Not Focus On Teaching?

The Lecture was a topic of discussion between my sisters and I the last time they came to visit. My siblings who are now doctors went to larger schools and had classes with sometimes over a hundred people. One of them is now gearing up to give a lecture at her alma mater in front of a large audience. The attention span of students was brought up during this conversation. She was joking that she was going to be wasting her time and laughed it off as if she had no control. I found this rather disturbing and it made me think about my learning experiences.

When I was still in High School I visited my sisters in university and sat in a lecture with them. I distinctly remember sitting all the way in the back and chatting with friends. The lecture hall was so packed that no one even noticed. My sisters had no interaction with their professor and really had no idea what was being taught. This affected them profoundly and it affected their decision on where to go for grad school later on.

When I left High School one of the reasons I picked Chapman University was because of its small size. I really wanted a connection with my teachers and I needed to really understand the subject so I would get excited and stay motivated. To my dismay most of my lectures were still pretty big and I felt completely disconnected from what I was learning. I felt myself spending a lot of time making appointments and chasing down professors to ask questions. 

What I like about Art Center is the size of the classes and the intimate experience of learning. I feel that by increasing class sizes the experience is completely affected. Unfortunately I already feel that this is happening and in some cases teachers and students have to adjust to this. Unfortunately the lecture can be used as a tool for educating many and I fear it being used as a default educating method.

Looking at education as an area of improvement is as the article says a new idea. There has been no change in the methods of teaching and the lecturing style had been adopted by too many for too long. How can we change such an widely adapted habit?

Northwestfest; Edmonton’s annual documentary and media arts festival. From May 5-14th, movie goers previewed ground breaking and entertaining documentaries from around the world.[1] This year presented the theme of Resistance is the Only Option, showcasing documentaries focusing on some form of resistance, whether it’s hockey star Theo Fluery lobbying for stricter laws against child molesters (Victor Walk) or Jane Jacobs’ battle for the soul of New York City (Citizen Jane). This festival even has a trilogy of documentaries centering around a Scottish homeowner’s battle against Donald Trump (You’ve Been Trumped, You’ve Been Trumped Too and A Dangerous Game). While not all the films follow this theme, it does serve a common theme. After watching these films, I’ve decided to write a countdown of the 5 films I’d recommend the most. [1][1] Among them the Academy Award Nominated Life, Animated. 5) TOKYO IDOLS Examining the teen pop idol phenomenon in Japan, Tokyo Idols strips the glamour to reveal the unsettling side of the fanbase. With ages ranging from 12-19, A select few girls don Lolita attire and sing pop songs. Many gain a major cult following, with some performing on stadiums. It seems like no different than your other teen pop stars. At least in North America, the fan base are around the same age as the singer. In Japan, however, the fanbase consists of grown ass men ranging from aged twenty to middle aged. Their obsession puts Bieber’s fans to shame. Many follow their favourite idols across the country, worshiping their idol like she was Venus. Then they wait in line for autographs and photo ops. Hell, they even pay just for a handshake. You don’t know whether to regard this as sad or horrifying, especially when you see a middle aged man cover his walls with photos of Idols. But we begin to see their humanity through Koji, a 43 year old fan who leads the “Brothers”, a fanbase of idol RiRi. With a large fanbase at his domain, he leads a campaign to elevate Riri from an Idol to a serious artist. Through his one on one interviews, Koji becomes the modern tragic figure, an awkward, depressed man for whom this fanbase is his sole place of belonging and where a paid handshake is his only means of communicating with women. Admitting to having no personal life, Koji would have been heartbreaking if his life wasn’t so creepy. What makes this complicated is that RiRi is actually a brilliant young entrepreneur who knows how to manage her career. Now turning 19, Riri now wants to be taken seriously as a singer, throwing off the Idol label. Director Kyoko Miyake uses the Idol phenomenon to condemn Japan’s sexualization of young girls. As one analyst states, Japan seems to be determined to protect male sexual fantasies, which would explain how you see middle aged men gazing at a 12-year-old Idol. It also depicts people’s disconnection with each other, most notable the disconnection between men and women. It should be noted that some people will find this film too creepy to watch and I don’t blame you. 4) OUT OF THIN AIR Aka Iceland’s Making a Murderer. Let me present the scenario; In December 1975, 2 men mysteriously disappeared, sparking a national crisis in a small country not used to disappearances. After a tough search, six young people confessed to the murder of the two missing folks, bringing the investigation to an end. That is, until you take a second look at the evidence. The case doesn’t seem so cut and dry when the confessions start to contradict each other, further emphasized by re-enactments. Soon, it becomes clear the suspects were subjected to questionable interrogations and extended periods of solitary confinement. What we get is an unflinching depiction of the consequences of a justice system that cares more about making arrests than serving justice. It also brings up some uncomfortable questions about memories. Not understanding their rights, the suspects were placed under such severe pressure that they start internalizing the accusations. Soon they start distorting their own memories until they believe themselves guilty. In a heartbreaking interview, one suspect finds herself with no faith in her own memories. Add the fact that she may have lost decades of her life for a crime she didn’t commit. 3) 78/52 When it comes to entertainment documentaries, it’s always a challenge to prove the best one. This year includes a showcase of movie scores (Score: A Film Music Documentary), a look at Robbie Knievel (Chasing Evel: The Robbie Knievel Story) and celebration of a literary LBGT icon (The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin). I decided to go with 78/52, an examination of the immortal shower scene from Psycho. Well, it’s more accurate to say the film’s both an analysis of the whole movie and an examination of the legacy. With detailed journey and interviews from the likes of Eli Roth, Guillermo del Toro and Peter Bogdanovich, behind the scenes of the film, this is a must see for fans. But when it gets to the shower scene, we are given a glimpse to the minutia of intention that goes into every shot. And we do go into a lot of details from finding the right fruit to create a stabbing sound effect to how to hide Mrs. Bates’ face during the shower scene. You’ll come to understand why it took seven days for a one minute scene. What makes this film unique is the delivery. The interviews were show in black and white, shot in a Bates Motel room. Surprisingly, this adds to the mood of the documentary. 2) SHADOW WORLD “The thing about politicians is that they’re very much like prostitutes. But only more expensive.” From the mouth of an arms dealer, these words summarize the theme of this vicious takedown of the Global Arms Trade. Based on the book by Andrew Feinstein, Shadow World examines the history of arms lobbyists and its roles in wars and conflicts. The film goes into too much detail to go into. At its core, the film focuses on the Western Governments arms deals with Saudi Arabia. From there, we see world leaders from both ends of the spectrum being in the pockets of the Arabic prince and various arms industries including BAE Systems and Red Diamond. We see how this has lead to the manufacturing of war, undermining diplomacy. Not to mention the United States having a higher arms budget most 1st world countries put together. I’d recommend watching also watching Do Not Resist, where you see how the arms budget led to the over militarization of police. 1) DISTURBING THE PEACE Sometimes the bravest thing a soldier can do is lay down his/her arms, as the ex soldiers of Israel and ex-freedom fighters of Palestine prove in this captivating and hopeful documentary. Born in a land of conflict, these people witnessed tragedy at the hands of the other side. They joined forces on their sides to defeat their enemy. But somewhere along the way, they were reminded of the “others” humanity. Thus, begins a series of events that lead them to come together to form an activist group determined to break the cycle of atrocities and begin the first step to peace. Directors Stephen Apkon and Andrew Young presents their lives with sincere empathy. Each activist brings us into his/her childhood tragedies, one Israeli ex-solder recalling having to take refuge in a bomb shelter and a Palestinian ex-freedom fighter watching his little brother gunned down by Israeli soldiers. From these moments, they are seduced into different ideologies. Then comes the epiphany moments for all of them, when they start seeing the humanity of the other side. This leads to them meeting each other, truly seeing each other as human beings, and eventually friends. They eventually stand hand in hand in a series of sit ins, demanding peace between their nations. But as this film proves this is not an easy feat. First, they had to get past their own prejudices, with the Israeli thinking the Palestinians were setting them up for a trap. But then they face the very ideologies they once followed. Israeli activists constantly face their screaming, extremist neighbours accusing them of treason for quitting the army. In a film’s best moment, one Palestinian activist debates his non-violent methods to his wife, who remembers the atrocities the Israeli solders committed against her neighbours. Still, they stand around the walls, calling for the soldiers to lay down their arms and join their brothers. [1][1] Among them the Academy Award Nominated Life, Animated.

Performance Art: On Sharing Culture

Soraya Roberts | Longreads | March 2020 |  9 minutes (2,261 words)

The image that struck me most was the empty piazza. That Italian square — I believe it was in Venice — with no one in it. Maybe a bird or two. It looked inviting but also wholly unnatural. A city square is made for people, lots of people, people from everywhere. If people aren’t there, does it cease to be a square? I wondered the same thing about the Louvre and its tens of thousands of objects with no one to look at them — is it still a museum, or is it just a warehouse? I wondered about all those Berlin concert halls with no one to hear their music, all those Indian cinemas with no one to watch their films, all those crumbling ruins everywhere, standing there with no tourists to behold them or to record that beholding for everyone else. At this particular point in history, does art exist if we aren’t sharing it? 

By sharing I mean not only sharing a moment with the art itself, but also sharing the space with other people, and more literally, sharing all of that online — posting updates on Facebook, photos on Twitter, videos on TikTok, stories on Instagram. This kind of “sharing” is constriction rather than expansion, regressing back to the word’s etymological root of “cutting apart.” This contortion of a selfless act into a selfish one is symptomatic of a society that expects everyone to fend for themselves: Sharing online is not so much about enlightening others as it is about spotlighting yourself. It’s impossible to disconnect the images of those now-empty spots from the continuous splash of reports about the coronavirus pandemic gouging the global economy. In America, the economy is the culture is the people. Americans are not citizens; they are, as the president recently put it, “consumers.” And on the web, consuming means sharing that consumption with everyone else. That the images suddenly being shared are empty exposes the big con — that in reality, no one has really been sharing anything. That social distancing is nothing new.

* * *

Even before Hollywood started postponing all of its blockbusters and talk shows started filming without audiences and festivals started to dismantle and bands canceled their tours and sports seasons suspended indefinitely, the public was turning on cultural institutions run by a subset of morally dubious elites. In December 2018, protesters at the Whitney Museum of American Art burned sage (“smoke that chokes the powerful but smells sweet to us”) and forced the departure of the board’s vice chairman, Warren Kanders, the CEO of the company that manufactures tear gas that has reportedly been used at the border. Two months later, artist Nan Goldin, who had a three-year opioid addiction, led a “die-in” at the Guggenheim over the museum’s financial ties to the Sackler family, the Purdue Pharma founders who many hold responsible for the opioid crisis. In the U.K., the Tate Modern and Tate Britain also dropped the Sacklers, while climate activists pulled a Trojan Horse into the courtyard of the British Museum to protest the sponsorship of an exhibition by oil and gas company BP. As performance artist Andrea Fraser, known for her institutional critiques, wrote in 2012, “It is clear that the contemporary art world has been a direct beneficiary of the inequality of which the outsized rewards of Wall Street are only the most visible example.” 

If that recent exhibition of impressionist paintings seemed oddly familiar, or that ballet you just saw appears to keep coming back around, or that one classical musician looks like he’s hired nonstop, it’s not your imagination. It’s a function of that exclusive control, of the same artists, the same works, the same ideas being circulated (“shared”?) by the same gatekeepers over and over and over again. “Far from becoming less elitist, ever-more-popular museums have become vehicles for the mass-marketing of elite tastes and practices,” wrote Fraser in Artforum in 2005. Which is why certain names you wouldn’t think would cross over — from contemporary artist Jeff Koons to art-house filmmaker Terrence Malick — are more widely known than others. According to The New York Times in 2018, only two of the top 10 all-white art museum chairs in the country are women. And almost half of the 500-plus people on the boards of the 10 most popular American museums have become rich off the finance industry, while many others owe their wealth to oil and gas; the small group that is responsible for exploiting the world is the same group that is responsible for its enlightenment. They determine which pieces of art are bought, how they are curated, and how they are disseminated — theirs are the tastes and practices we are sharing.

With this “increasingly monopolized market and increasing parochialism,” German artist Hito Steyerl explained last year, “a sense of international perspective gets lost, which is a wider sign of rampant isolationism.” And this doesn’t just apply to high arts, but “low” arts as well; movies, music, television, theater, books have all been corporatized to the extreme, with huge amounts of money going to a few while the majority lose out. This is how you get a never-ending Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Leslie Harris — the first African American woman to win a Dramatic Feature Competition special jury prize at Sundance for writing, directing, and producing her 1993 film Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. — still can’t get a second feature off the ground. 

While public funding for the arts has plummeted since the ’80s, however, the web has increasingly encouraged public sharing of its consumption on social media. Online, we look more traveled, more cultured, more inclusive than ever before. And it’s difficult to argue that wider access to art, that our increasing proximity to foreign cultures, could be wrong. But if you look closer, you notice that all this connectivity is largely superficial — it is heavily prescribed and strongly overlaps. The latter-day bourgeoisie all travel to Portugal at the same time, all visit the same Marina Abramovic exhibit, all watch the same Agnes Varda films, attend the same Phoenix tour. They clamor less to immerse themselves than to record and reproduce everything they have experienced, their distraction expressed by the ever-growing collection of imagery memorializing all the different experiences they’ve had — the same kind of different as everyone else’s.

“An idea of progressive internationalism,” Steyerl told Ocula magazine, “is progressively abandoned or gets snowed under constant waves of affect and outrage manipulated by monopolist platforms, and solidarity is swapped for identity.” In other words, all of this supposed sharing is really a tech-sanctioned performance of capitalism to showcase one’s value in a toxic din of competing consumers. The more photogenic the better, which means the less nuance, the better; think the Museum of Ice Cream, which costs almost 40 bucks for access to photo-friendly adult playgrounds — “environments that foster IRL interaction and URL connections” — like a “Sprinkle Pool” of multi-colored biodegradable bits you can’t actually eat. And the more recognizable the look (see: the retro aesthetic of any teen Netflix show), the more heady words like “nostalgia” become a proxy for depth that isn’t actually there. As we speed online through Steyerl’s distracted fragmentary so-called “junktime,” we quickly compound what she dubs “circulationism,” propagating images with the most power, giving them even more power. Standing next to the Mona Lisa, for instance, offers greater token currency among a wider set than standing next to anything by Kara Walker, who speaks to a more immersed but smaller audience. Either way, online, currency is king.

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Culture has, above all, become a mark of personal wealth. When Americans share their experiences on social media, they are sharing their cultural capital with a neoliberal society that defines them by it. This is a result of the culture war Fraser recognized several years ago, which “has effectively identified class privilege and hierarchy with cultural and educational rather than economic capital.” But, again, economics ultimately rules. While the poor may be allowed to briefly occupy the space of cultural capital, it is the rich who own it, who offer it up for limited consumption.

Yet the desperation to share, to express one’s value in a world that is so intent on devaluing us all, is deeply human. Which is why you get people Photoshopping themselves onto famous backdrops, which, from a cultural capital perspective, is no different from being there — on social media a photograph is a photograph, and the real Sistine Chapel looks the same as the Etsy wallpaper reproduction. People have always consumed art partly for the cultural capital rather than just the personal enrichment, but now the goal is to broadcast the enrichment itself to the public: sharing one’s consumption of the aura has priority over one’s actual consumption of the aura. Though a hierarchy persists even here. The authentic art consumer, the one who actually experiences the work in person, looks down upon the forger. As Walter Benjamin wrote, the aura of a piece of art is tied to its presence, which can’t be replicated. Which is to say the essence of art can only be experienced through the art itself — a picture can’t recreate it, but it does make its shared image more valuable. 

It’s apt that right now, in the midst of a pandemic, the popularity of a cultural site can kill and that virtual tours are being encouraged over actual ones. What better way to illustrate that our increasingly insular art world has not in fact connected us at all, but has done the opposite? As Steyerl noted in e-flux magazine in 2015, the Louvre, that model of national culture, was a “feudal collection of spoils” before revolutionaries turned it into a public museum, “the cultural flagship of a colonial empire that tried to authoritatively seed that culture elsewhere, before more recently going into the business of trying to create franchises in feudal states, dictatorships, and combinations thereof.” Those with the means flock to symbols of elitism like this, not to widen their perspective in solidarity with the world, not to connect with a community of strangers, but to bolster their own value locally by sharing the encounter online. This is not globalism; this is the neoliberal stand-in for it.

All of that foot traffic, all of that online diffusion, is an expression of how we have commodified the individual consumption of art to the point that it looks like we are sharing it with others. We aren’t. We are instead dutifully promoting ourselves as valuable consumers in the capitalist community we are complicit in perpetuating. “It’s not a question of inside or outside, or the number and scale of various organized sites for the production, presentation, and distribution of art,” wrote Fraser in Artforum. “It’s not a question of being against the institution: We are the institution.”

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One of the last movies I saw in the cinema before they started closing down was The Invisible Man. It was a perfect example of how a public screening can tell you what streaming cannot — in real time, you can gauge by the reactions around you whether or not it will be a hit. As with certain art installations, you are experiencing not only the art, but also simultaneously others’ experience with it. In that theater, we screamed and laughed and sat agog together. It was a spark of community that extinguished the moment the lights lifted. A few weeks later, these same strangers who shared that moment of emotion together, headed to supermarkets to empty out toilet roll aisles, buy up all the disinfectant, and clear out the fresh meat despite a collective need for it. These same strangers who in concert cheered on an oppressed heroine, went on to unashamedly side-eye the Asians in their community. Individuals in North American society can occasionally partake in a cultural experience with their neighbors, but in the end it’s to exhibit their own counterfeit edification. It’s telling that the big tech these individuals ultimately share their consumption on — Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Tumblr, Instagram — rarely funds the arts.

Which brings us back to those empty images from the start of this essay. Proliferating photographs of abandoned culture, of objects ignored, confront the hollowness of online sharing. Social media implies connection, but the context of its shares is as important as the context of art’s production and neither can be divorced from the hierarchies in which they reside. No wonder our meagre individual expressions of value dictated by capitalist enterprise fit perfectly within a capitalist enterprise that profits off our inability to ever sate ourselves. The only way to really share — with art, with each other — is to remove sharing from this construct. The only way to really connect — to support a collective of artists, to support a collective of human beings — is to distance ourselves from the misguided values we have internalized.

“At its most utopian, the digital revolution opens up a new dematerialized, deauthored, and unmarketable reality of collective culture,” writes Claire Bishop in Artforum. Under a worldwide pandemic, we see a move toward this — individuals freely leaking their cultural subscriptions, artists offering performances for nothing, even institutions waiving fees for access to their virtual collections. While the vulnerability spreading across America right now is ordinarily framed as weakness in the landscape of capitalist bravado, it is central to real sharing and offers a rare chance to dismantle the virulent elitism that has landed us here. It’s unfortunate that it takes a dystopia, a global interruption of the systems in place, to see what a utopia can be — one in which sharing is about the creation and cultivation of community, a reality that only exists outside the one we have built.

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Soraya Roberts is a culture columnist at Longreads.

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