July 9th, 2010 | General, Popular Culture, visual arts
I predict that Miles will take home the prize. I thought this might be the case as early as the first challenge and was moderately certain by the second. I will be genuinely surprised at this point if he loses. Miles will win, not because of Simon de Pury’s...
July 2nd, 2010 | General, Popular Culture, visual arts
Shock takes center stage in this episode of Work of Art—or at least it was supposed to. The celebrity du moment was Andres Serrano whose Piss Christ, a large-scale photograph of a crucifix immersed in urine, sent various members of the religious right and United...
June 25th, 2010 | General, Popular Culture, visual arts
“I am a fine artist” said Judith. The idea of designing a book cover, even one for a classic novel, seemed to her to be a task beneath contempt. Mark, a contestant who makes a reasonably steady living as a commercial artist, was insulted by Judith’s comments. Did I...
June 18th, 2010 | General, Popular Culture, visual arts
So far I have successfully resisted the bait dangled by all the reality shows. Tribal hostilities, The Donald’s flunky-wannabees, housewives, litters of children, none of these strikes me as entertainment. BRAVO got me, though, with “The Next Great Artist.” I might...
September 11th, 2009 | General, Popular Culture, Shopping
Physical decay is inevitable. Poor hearing is diminished by the constant whine of tinnitus. Myopia gets more myopic. Bulges expand and gravity pulls them downward. I’ve been test-driving my new “desk specs” and they improve my posture—I no longer hunch...
August 28th, 2009 | Cooking, Kitchen and Table, General, Popular Culture
We just got back from seeing “Julie and Julia.” I howled much of the way through. At moments I made sure my Dear One did not see me crying. It was a wonderful film, not perfect perhaps in structure, but pitch-perfect in tone. I see that Mastering the Art of French...
