Quantcast
Channel: Culture & Arts
Viewing all 18485 articles
Browse latest View live

Take a Pee(k) At the World's Weirdest Urinals

0
0
Avant-garde artist Marcel Duchamp changed the art world forever in 1917, when he included a urinal in an art exhibition adorned only with his signature.

With that controversial act, he unleashed the potential for mundane, ordinary objects to be art -- in the right context.

Since Duchamp's time, creators all over the world have thought about ways to elevate the humble urinal into gorgeous, surreal, occasionally terrifying and sometimes astonishing works of art. Are these projects awesome or are they just taking the piss?

Take a look at the photos below and decide for yourself.





A version of this post appeared on HuffPost Brazil.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.


Artist's Illustrations Remind Us Love Is The Little Things

0
0
Love is cooking dinner on a Tuesday night; lazing on a Sunday afternoon; riding bikes through the park. Love is the little things.

Korean artist Puuung captures this in illustrations for the "Love is.." series showcased on Grafolio, an online forum featuring works from various artists, and updated every Tuesday and Friday. Puuung began creating these images last year and has since shared 100 on the Grafolio site to almost 19,000 followers.

On Puuung's Facebook page, the illustrator describes the message behind the sweet drawings. "'Love' is something that everybody can relate to. And 'Love' comes in ways that we can easily overlook in our daily lives. So, I try to find the meaning of love in our daily lives and make it into artworks."

Check out more from Puuung on Grafolio and Facebook.



H/T Bored Panda

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Beijing Is Building The World's Biggest Airport Terminal

0
0
If bigger really is better, then Beijing's new airport is going to be incredible. A hub designed for the still-under-construction Beijing Daxing International Airport is set to become the largest airport terminal in the world.

The 7.5-million square-foot building, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and airport planning firm ADP Ingeniérie, will initially accommodate an estimated 45 million people per year. The terminal will later expand to accommodate an annual flow of up to 72 million people. For reference, the world's current busiest airport, Dubai International, saw 70.5 million passengers last year.

zaha

In a press release, Zaha Hadid Architects says that the new terminal "will provide an exceptional passenger experience with minimal walking distances and increased connectivity." The 6-prong layout, designed with a traditional Chinese aesthetic in mind, will make it easier for passengers to get from ground transportation to their gate. Due to the unique shape of its "airport piers," the terminal will be able to accommodate more planes than most airports.

Beijing Daxing International Airport should finish construction in 2017, and the proposed terminal will be built by 2018. Once completed, the airport will accommodate "the world's fastest growing aviation sector," according to Zaha Hadid Architects. Until the airport is finished, all travelers to China's most populous city will continue to fly out of Beijing Capital International Airport.

zaha

zaha

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Birth Photographer Gives Real-Time Instagram Updates With #InstaBirthStory

0
0
Photographer Cate DePrisco's new Instagram movement might just revolutionize the world of birth photography.

Earlier this year, the Kansas-based artist launched a photography business, Instagram account and dedicated hashtag called #InstaBirthStory. Through these initiatives, DePrisco works to document "the whole birth story," beyond actual birth and the baby's first breath. "There's SO much more to that and it's NOT a quick process," the photographer told The Huffington Post.

DePrisco offers to post photos on her #InstaBirthStory Instagram account as the birth story unfolds, and if the parents agree, she shares real-time photo updates of the delivery day's events -- from the often long periods of anxious waiting to the tender moments between the parents to be to the first latch.










So far DePrisco has photographed five births and had permission to post live updates for four of them on Instagram. The photographer prides herself on the variety of birth experiences she's captured, including C-sections, hospital births with and without epidurals, a home-turned-hospital birth and a hospital birth for a friend who was giving her baby to another family for adoption.

The photographer said her mission with #InstaBirthStory is to show the more positive, moving moments in welcoming a new baby into the world. "I believe there is a lot of fear surrounding birth because people hear stories of pain and exhaustion, and of course, emergencies and loss," she said, adding, "It's true (from what I hear) -- it's painful, it's exhausting, and emergencies and loss are scary. But from my perspective, it's also a beautiful process watching the parents and a medical team work together and supporting each other to bring a new human to his/her first breath."

Keep scrolling and visit the #InstaBirthStory website and Instagram for more of DePrisco's birth photography.

"We did it" she said. #instabirthstory #birthstory

A photo posted by Cate DePrisco (@instabirthstory) on





"Honey, we're about to have a baby!" #instabirthstory #birthstory

A photo posted by Cate DePrisco (@instabirthstory) on





It's 2:30am... Is it too late for a midnight snack? #instabirthstory #birthstory

A photo posted by Cate DePrisco (@instabirthstory) on













Let's take a #selfie before things get rolling! #instabirthstory #birthstory

A photo posted by Cate DePrisco (@instabirthstory) on
























H/T PopSugar



Like Us On Facebook |
Follow Us On Twitter |
Contact HuffPost Parents

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Iraqi Cellist Peacefully Defies Violence By Playing At Site Of Car Bomb

0
0
A musician is spreading peace among chaos in the city of Baghdad.

After three car bombs went off in Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 19 people, Iraqi musician Karim Wasfi took out his cello and began playing at the site of one of the explosions. Just hours after the bomb tore through a commercial street in the city’s Mansour district, Wasfi’s music drew a crowd of people to stand around the rubble and listen.

#لن_نموت_وستبقى_بغداد_اجمل_بقاع_الارضالمايسترو كريم وصفي يعزم في مكان انفجار البارحه في المنصور لا توجد كلمات كافيه لوصف ما تحمله من انسانيه دمت لنا فخرا

Posted by Karim Wasfi Center For Music & Createvty (Peace Through Art) on Tuesday, April 28, 2015




“I want to adopt beauty in the life of Iraq now,” Wasfi told BBC of his peaceful act of defiance against violence and terrorism. “And music is one of the most important aspects for that.”

Wasfi is the former chief conductor and director of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra. Currently he's the head of the Karim Wasfi Center For Music & Creativity, an organization with the mission “our music is bridge for peace.”

“My message as an artist, as a conductor, also as a cellist -- that when things are abnormal, we make things normal,” Wasfi said. “We make things worth living for.”

Watch the video of Wasfi playing above.

H/T BBC

Like Us On Facebook
Follow Us On Twitter

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

12 Things To Search For At The Brand New Whitney Museum

0
0
whitney
Installation view of Mary Heilmann: Sunset (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, May 1, 2015–). Photograph by Marco Anelli © 2015




"The Whitney has always believed in the importance of the present," Adam D. Weinberg, director of the Whitney Museum of American Art, explained to an audience of eager art admirers on Thursday. "The capacity for artists to act in and affect the life of our times, to alter perceptions in such ways that might enable one to change the course of history."

The lofty words were spoken in honor of the brand new Whitney's christening, marking the institution's move from the depths of Madison Avenue and 75th Street to the brighter, hipper shores of the Hudson River in downtown Manhattan. The new, Renzo Piano-designed building opened its doors to the public on Friday, soon after rave reviews rolled in from just about every corner of criticism. Art critic du jour Jerry Saltz dubbed the new digs a possible solution to "the impossible problem of contemporary art," while Michelle Obama sang populist praises too: "One mile from here, there are kids who don't feel like they belong here, and this place starts to change that."

whit
Photograph by Nic Lehoux


The structure surely stands out from New York's whirlpool of galleries and museums -- the staid Metropolitan Museum of Art, the lately overzealous Museum of Modern Art. The new Whitney is spacious, flanked by floor-to-ceiling windows that drench the bevy of American artworks on view in light from all angles. While the Met is a sprawling labyrinth, the Whitney takes a cue from the New Museum's stacking of floors; but improves it. The claustrophobia you might feel in a typical NYC building of any sort is remedied not just by floor space, but high ceilings that give the paintings and sculpture room to breath, and flowing halls that eliminate patron-on-patron jousts. There's roof space that envies the tourist-favorite High Line, decked out with outdoor installations and seating space for the contemplative passerby.

As many have pointed out, the new Whitney isn't just a living archive, it's a place to meet, relax and spend time with humans as much as canvases.

It's not difficult to argue that institutions like the Brooklyn Museum, the Queens Museum, El Museo del Barrio and the Studio Museum in Harlem do more to engage the masses, simply by virtue of their community-driven programming and placement in boroughs filled with locals who love art. Ben Davis at Artnet News is quietly hesitant, warning of the relocation's role in the art world's "relentless competition for attention." Only time will tell if the move pays off -- both in attendance and in quality of exhibitions. As a New Yorker though, there's hope that the bellwether will play less to the fleeting presence of tourists and more to the perpetual "dreamers" our First Lady referenced in her speech.

As the museum awaits the flood of visitors knocking down its doors this weekend, here's a guide to navigating New York's newest cultural addition. From works on view in the show "America is Hard to See," to the architectural additions that make the building unique, these are the facets you mustn't miss at the Whitney. It's a big place, so why not play treasure hunt?

1. Barbara Kruger

krug
Photo by Katherine Brooks


You can't miss this one. "We don't need another hero," reads the billboard, designed for the University Art Museum's MATRIX program in 1986. You'll know it when you find yourself staring into the eyes of Ronald Reagan. Bless you, Barbara Kruger.

2. A Rothko

four darks in red rothko
Photo by Katherine Brooks


"'Four Darks in Red' exemplifies Mark Rothko’s darker palette of the late 1950s, when he increasingly used red, maroon, and saturated black paints," the Whitney explains. If you're looking to gaze, and gaze and gaze into a pool of paint, make your way to this Rothko.

3. Alexander Calder's Circus

circus
Photo by Katherine Brooks


Made from wire, wood, metal, cloth, yarn, paper, cardboard, leather, string, rubber tubing, corks, buttons, rhinestones, pipe cleaners and bottle caps, this is a 1926–31-era Calder that's non-mobile, though it's easy to imagine the movement in his figurines. For the child in you, take a second to drink in this display.

4. Crack Vials (As Art!)

crack
Photo by Katherine Brooks


In 1986, Miami-born artist Candy Jernigan arranged a choice selection of specimens to make this visually calming piece. The not-so-tranquil part of the work is that the specimens on display are found crack vials. If you'd like to wax poetic on the beauty of decay, here's your spot.

5. Georgia O'Keeffe

gerogia
Georgia O’Keeffe, 1887 1986, "Music, Pink and Blue No. 2, 1918," oil on canvas, 35 × 29 15/16in. (88.9 × 76 cm), Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Emily Fisher Landau in honor of Tom Armstrong 91.90, ©2014 Georgia O’Keeffe Museum / Artists Rights Society ( ARS), New York


There's more than one Georgia on view. First one to the O'Keeffe gets the prize!

6. Raymond Pettibon

petti
Photo by Katherine Brooks


Fans of the Black Flag logo can find creator Raymond Pettibon's works on view. All at once, you can see "No Title" from 1987, "No Title (I began asking her...)" from 1988, "No Title" from 1991 and -- you guessed it -- "No Title" from 1996.

7. William H. Johnson

paint
Photo by Katherine Brooks


William H. Johnson was an African-American painter born in Florence, South Carolina in 1901. Check out screen prints from his "Jitterbug" series at the new Whitney.

8. Baldessari Wisdom

john
Photo by Katherine Brooks


John Baldessari defines the artist in 1966-68.

9. Hidden Sol LeWitt

sol
Photo by Katherine Brooks


Before you slip outside to brighter skies, don't forget to look to your left. There might be a Sol LeWitt mural hiding in the hallway. The title of this 1976 piece: "4th wall: 24 lines from the center, 12 lines from the midpoint of each of the sides, 12 lines from each corner."

10. Giant Cigarettes

claes
Photo by Katherine Brooks


Good ol' Claes Oldenburg's "Giant Fagends" from 1967. If you can't spot this audacious 52 × 96 × 96 inch installation, you're in the wrong place.

11. Cindy Sherman

cindy
Cindy Sherman (b. 1954). Untitled Film Still #45, 1979. Gelatin silver print, Sheet: 8 × 10in. (20.3 × 25.4 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; promised gift of Thea Westreich Wagner and Ethan Wagner P.2011.357 © Cindy Sherman; courtesy artist and Metro Pictures, New York.


It wouldn't be a survey of American art without at least one Cindy Sherman visage to ogle.

12. Richard Artschwager

richard
Photo by Katherine Brooks


The Whitney's elevators, designed by artist Richard Artschwager shortly before his death in 2013, are one of the most whimsical parts of the otherwise pristine place. To navigate from one floor to the next, you can use the beautifully lit stairs, but to roam from the lower levels to the upper levels, you're probably going to have to hop on an elevator. And you should. "They are based on six motifs -- door, window, table, basket, mirror and rug -- that have recurred in the artist’s drawings and sculptures since the mid-1970s," The New York Times reported. "When visitors enter they will find themselves standing under a table, on a rug or in front of a mirror; they will also be opposite a door, next to a window or floating in a giant woven basket."

BONUS: The Hudson River View

mural
Photograph by Nic Lehoux


Find this mural, sit down, and stare.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

How Art Is A Way For Incarcerated Women To Give Back

0
0
Ashley Lucas and Dave Gussak join HuffPost Live to explain how art is helping incarcerated women give back.

Watch the video here.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

8 Poems That Perfectly Sum Up Your 20s

0
0
"This corporate job crushes my soul, with the weight of hopeless doom. I'll quit someday, til' then I'll raid, free bagels in the conference room."

Clever rhymes like the above are the signature prose of Quarter Life Poetry, a collection of illustrations and poems, posted both on Tumblr and Instagram, that sum up the trying-to-get-your-shit-together phase of 20-something life.

Quarter Life Poetry is the brainchild of Samantha Jayne, a 25-year-old actress, illustrator and art director based in Los Angeles. Jayne told The Huffington Post that she was inspired to create the collection when reflecting on her post-grad state of mind.

"I remember receiving Oh The Places You’ll Go and being incredibly inspired by its message. But when college graduation rolled around, things didn’t exactly pan out as Dr. Seuss had forecasted," she said. "Navigating adulthood is rife with frustrations, missed expectations and handling failures. It’s easy to want to crawl back into the comforts of childhood. I thought it would be fun to create poems and illustrations in a children’s book style, only the topics are relevant to us as we are now. It sort of melds how I feel at the moment: I have this intense desire to become a full-fledged 'adult,' but I’m nostalgic for my childhood."

Jayne hopes that her poetry poetic humor helps other 20-somethings feel a little less alone. "Recognizing that we’re all going through this together is validating and actually quite comforting," she said. "I wanted to make art that elicits a knowing chuckle to people my age. It’s important to find humor in these strange years and to laugh at the little things."









































To see more of Jayne's Quarter Life Poetry, head over to her website or follow her on Instagram.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.


These 20 Images From Nepal Capture The Hope Among Earthquake Survivors

0
0
A devastating magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck Nepal on April 25, leaving parts of the country in pieces and a rising death toll of over 6,000.

However, amid this tragedy, signs of compassion and hope are emerging as people search for, uncover and treat survivors of the disaster. These 20 photos illustrate the human kindness that is helping Nepal slowly recover and rebuild.






The button below indicates how much has been raised on Crowdrise's "Nepal Earthquake Relief" page. Click to visit the site and donate.







Like Us On Facebook
Follow Us On Twitter

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

BREAKING: May Day Occupation at Guggenheim Closes Museum #GuggOccupied

0
0
At noon today, a group of artists and activists including members of the Gulf Ultra Luxury Faction (known as G.U.L.F.) unfurled a large parachute in the atrium of the Guggenheim Museum, demanding to meet with a member of the institution’s board of trustees to discuss the labor conditions at its Abu Dhabi site. At the appointed time, members of the collective threw leaflets inspired by the current On Kawara exhibition from the museum’s upper levels and the protesters articulated their demands through a human microphone chant.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

5 Bits Of 'Harry Potter' Magic That Actually Exist Now

0
0
It's not over, aspiring wizards.

If you're still crying about the fact that no letter appeared on your 11th birthday to invite you to your true Hogwarts destiny, we can relate. But thanks to the magic of technology, us ostracized Muggles aren't as far away from glory as our ancestors may have been. Actually, some of the best wizarding world magic now exists in real life.

So if you want to engage in some cool parts of the "Harry Potter" universe without the threat of Dark Lord unspeakable cursing you, check out the following:

1. Moving Images

"The clipping had clearly come out of the wizarding newspaper, The Daily Prophet, because the people in the black-and-white picture were moving. Harry picked up the clipping, smoothed it out, and read." -Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

gringottsgif

In the wizarding world, photographs aren't just still-captures of animated life -- they move in their own right. The "Harry Potter" characters probably encounter this most in the animated photographs of newspaper The Daily Prophet. While in real life we don't yet have moving pictures in hard copy or physical newspapers, we do have ever-present GIFs, which online media platforms utilize with frequency. (For example, above this block of text is a moving image in a newspaper ... of a moving image in a newspaper.)

And GIFs are just the tip of the magical photo iceberg!

"There was a big photograph on the front of a very good-looking wizard with wavy blond hair and bright blue eyes. As always in the wizarding world, the photograph was moving." -Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

The "Harry Potter" characters also encounter moving photographs outside of newspapers, which Muggles can now make part of daily life. With magical-seeming picture frame Canviz, humans can decorate their homes with moving images. In their review of Canviz, Digital Trends told their readers they will "finally be able to outfit your walls with those weird, subtly-moving, 'Harry Potter'-style moving pictures you’ve always wanted."

2. Invisibility Cloak

"Harry looked down at his feet, but they were gone. He dashed to the mirror. Sure enough, his reflection looked back at him, just his head suspended in midair, his body completely invisible. He pulled the cloak over his head and his reflection vanished completely." -Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

harrypotterinvisible

Harry Potter's invisibility cloak lets him vanish from sight in many a moment of need. In real life, there's not exactly a piece of cloth we can drape over ourselves to low-key break into banks (which is probably good in terms of, like, upholding society). But, disappearing from sight isn't quite impossible. Scientists at the University of Rochester have developed a device which uses a series of lenses to hide objects from view.

“This is the first device that we know of that can do three-dimensional, continuously multidirectional cloaking, which works for transmitting rays in the visible spectrum,” PHD student Joseph Choi told Rochester Newscenter about the device.

FYI, trouble makers.

3. Self-Stirring Cauldron

"The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons -- All Sizes -- Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver -- Self-Stirring -- Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them." -Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

cauldrongif

Stirring your own concoctions is unnecessary in the "Harry Potter" universe, where self-stirring cauldrons are readily available. Constant stirring vigilance can also be quite the nuisance in human life, when, for example, a sauce demands your attention, but you also need to chop some garlic on a cutting board across the kitchen. Cue the Kurukurunabe. While technically a pot and not a "cauldron," the device, developed in Japan, self-stirs itself in a circular motion that looks like a whirlpool.

One step away from some potion mixing before dinner.

4. Marauder's Map

"It was a map showing every detail of the Hogwarts castle and grounds. But the truly remarkable thing were the tiny ink dots moving around it, each labeled with a name in minuscule writing. Astounded, Harry bent over it. A labeled dot in the top left corner showed that Professor Dumbledore was pacing his study; the caretaker’s cat, Mrs. Norris, was prowling the second floor; and Peeves the Poltergeist was currently bouncing around the trophy room." -Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

maraudersmap

Standard maps for car glove compartments can be useful if say, you get lost after GPS fritzes out and your cell phone is also out of battery. But far cooler is Harry's Marauder's map, which shows the location of everyone in Hogwarts. Now, certain human tracking applications come pretty close to magical capabilities.

In the Life 360 Family Locator app (for Android, iOS and Windows Phone) for example, members can join "Circles" and look to private maps that show the GPS location of each circle member. Participation is voluntary, so it's not quite the Marauder's map, but in our book, that's a good thing. (Privacy!)

Everyone keep an eye out for secret mischief.

5. The Weasley Family Clock

"Mrs. Weasley glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner. Harry liked this clock. It was completely useless if you wanted to know the time, but otherwise very informative. It had nine golden hands, and each of them was engraved with one of the Weasley family’s names. There were no numerals around the face, but descriptions of where each family member might be. 'Home,' 'school,' and 'work' were there, but there was also 'traveling,' 'lost,' 'hospital,' 'prison,' and, in the position where the number twelve would be on a normal clock, 'mortal peril.'" -Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

weasleyfamilyclock

The Weasley house clock, showing the location of each family member, is a lot more useful than a standard time-telling device. Even in the Muggle world, typical clocks are pretty passé in the smartphone era. According to Hackaday, students at the University of Munich made clocks interesting again with their creation of a Weasley family-style device. Android and iOS apps send clock members' locations to a server, which communicates with a circuit inside the clock that drives the hands.

Magic is real.

harrypottergif

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

This Medieval Prayer Wheel Is More Than 1,000 Years Old And No One Knows How To Use It

0
0
NEW YORK (RNS) The directions, if a little stilted, look familiar: “The Order Of The Diagram Written Here Teaches The Return Home.”

Think Parcheesi or Sorry.

But then think again. The board is not cardboard or plastic; it’s 1,035-year-old vellum. And there are no dice — just prayers.

Care to play?

In April, Manhattan’s Les Enluminures Gallery, a dealer in medieval manuscripts, put a book on sale with a first page so rare that only five of its kind are known to exist. In fact, the book itself is rare, with a massive ancient carved-oak cover and sturdy clasps of worked copper. Dating back to the year 980, it contains just the Gospels, the four accounts of Jesus’ life.

The volume’s commissioning was unusual. It appears to have been ordered up by a woman for women: An abbess in Liesborn, Germany, named Berthildis, had it made for the highborn ladies who had traded the medieval court for her convent.

But its true mystery dates more than a century later, when someone opened the Gospels, which would have been used primarily for display and oath-taking, to its blank first page, set a compass needle in the center and began drawing concentric circles.

Call it the Liesborn Prayer Wheel.

The wheel’s outermost circle consists of the instructions we’ve read, but in medieval Latin. The next is labeled “Seven Petitions” and contains seven quotations from the Lord’s Prayer (“Daily Bread,” “Will Be Done,” “Kingdom Come.”) In the third circle, seven “Gifts Of The Holy Spirit” (“Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel … ”) run clockwise in red, interspersed with seven events in Christ’s life (Incarnation, Baptism, Passion Day of Judgment) in black. The fourth segment contains seven groups blessed in Jesus’ Beatitudes (“Meek, Poor in Spirit, Mourn”) and — opposite each — their rewards (“Inherit the Earth,” “Kingdom of Heaven,” “Be Comforted”). Finally, at the center, surrounding the pinhole of the compass, is the word “DEUS,” or God.

If much of life in the High Middle Ages seems foreign to us, the detailed workings of the wheel — along with four others like it that have survived to the present — are a real riddle.

Schematic prayer guides were more common in later centuries, said Lauren Mancia, a medievalist at Brooklyn College who has examined the Liesborn Wheel.

“Monks and nuns in the Central Middle Ages often get a bad rap for unsystematic thinking — doing all this prayer by rote, mumbling and not caring about the sense,” said Mancia. “This diagram suggests that they’re not just mumbling, they’re using a mnemonic device to remember and internalize, or even to make an inner journey.”

However, the path of that journey is not obvious.

Clearly the nun was supposed to find her way from the Lord’s Prayer to God; but how? Did she read her way around one wheel and move in to the next? Or did she drill downward along each of the wheel’s “spokes,” and then start again on the next spoke? Or were the seven events in Christ’s life the key to the diagram, connecting its prayers to the Gospels that make up the rest of the book?

Was it more of an instruction, or a meditative aid? Was it a one-shot exercise or meant to be repeated again and again? And what to make of the black and red stipples that show up seemingly randomly on the diagram, making it look a bit like the Marauder’s Map in the Harry Potter books?

Perhaps some directions got lost. The Gospels is missing its flyleaf, the protective page before the first page. Maybe the full instructions for prayer were inked there. Or maybe they were intentionally omitted. Medieval labyrinths included dead ends to make the experience less boring and more memorable, and to stimulate further creative entry into the meditation.

That would mean the nuns reading that book would be almost as clueless and curious as we are.

Les Enluminures’ asking price on the Gospels is a hefty $6.5 million, but speculation on how to use the prayer wheel is free.

How do you think the prayer wheel is meant to be used?

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

With 'Welcome To Me,' Kristen Wiig Dons Her Newfound Indie Crown

0
0
"Saturday Night Live" alumni tend to form predictable career paths: They star in broad comedies that double as extensions of their work on the series, then attempt to wow us with an off-kilter dramatic performance that confirms they're worth more than sketch-show idiosyncrasies. Some forge their own paths in television (see: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jimmy Fallon), but most linger in the admittedly fruitful shadow of the famous words "live from New York."

Kristen Wiig, on the other hand, has been quietly breaking with her "SNL" heritage since exiting the show in 2012, and this year offers a trifecta of films in which the she not only masters dramatic roles -- she is a marvel in them.

First up is "Welcome to Me," which opened in select theaters this weekend and expands nationwide on May 8. Wiig's best role since "Bridesmaids," the film casts her as Alice Klieg, an Oprah-obsessed hermit with borderline personality disorder who uses her $86 million lottery winnings to fund her own daytime talk show. Its topics, all of which revolve around Alice, are very un-Oprah-like. Instead of finding "aha moments," Alice devours an entire piece of homemade meatloaf cake (after discussing its "carbohydrant" quantity), reenacts melodramatic moments from her adolescence and neuters dogs on live television. That description sounds like one long "SNL" sketch, and parts of "Welcome to Me" very well could have been. But that's what makes the movie a perfect interlude in Wiig's career: The accessories of her broad-comedy background are intact, but what resounds is a heartfelt character study that never reduces Alice's mental condition to a punch line.

kristen wiig
Clockwise: "Welcome to Me," "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" and "Nasty Baby"


Wiig, whose participation in movies like Paul Feig's female-centered "Ghostbusters" reboot indicate she hasn't abandoned big-budget comedies, does not think of her indie-film trajectory as strategic. In fact, while discussing "Welcome to Me" earlier this week, Wiig told The Huffington Post that she receives fewer "SNL"-esque scripts than one might imagine. There's a misperception, then, that her dramatic parts -- which have recently included "Hateship, Loveship" and "The Skeleton Twins" -- mean she is drifting away from the comedic realm. "It's just the timing of it," she promised.

Still, by the end of 2015, audiences will have a fuller interpretation of Wiig's range. In August, the '70s-set "Diary of a Teenage Girl," based on Phoebe Gloeckner's graphic novel of the same name, will arrive with almost no "SNL" trappings whatsoever. One of this year's Sundance Film Festival standouts, the dramedy finds Wiig playing Charlotte Worthington, a self-absorbed Patty Heast obsessive glued to the halcyon hippie days that have just passed her by. Meanwhile, Charlotte's boyfriend (Alexander Skarsgård) is having an affair with her dumpy teenage daughter (Bel Powley). Powley is at the film's center, but Wiig's performance is her most dynamic work yet. In Charlotte, she captures both the anger and idealism that boiled beneath 1974 San Francisco as it reeled from Watergate and the Vietnam War.

Also due out in the near future is "Nasty Baby," an even smaller-scale indie about a gay couple in Brooklyn (Sebastián Silva and Tunde Adebimpe) attempting to have a baby with their close friend. A down-to-earth Wiig portrays said friend in the movie, which begins mostly as a comedy before its third act takes a swift dive into thriller territory.

After premiering at Sundance, "Nasty Baby" was acquired without a set release date. If it opens in 2015, the movie could be sandwiched between Wiig's part in this summer's bombastic heist comedy "Masterminds" -- the latest offering from "Napoleon Dynamite" director Jared Hess -- and a supporting role in Ridley Scott's much-anticipated "The Martian," which could factor into next year's Oscar race.

For "Welcome to Me" director Shira Piven, there was never any doubt that the same actress who gave us Target Lady and Gilly would fit firmly into Eliot Laurence's script, which Piven helped to develop. She told HuffPost she was targeting an actress who existed in a "comic space" and could stretch into dramatic characterizations, rather than the other way around -- Bill Murray in "Lost in Translation," for example. (Were she to recruit a dramatic actress who can pull off comedy, Piven said Kate Winslet would have been her first choice, citing "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" as evidence.)

"We batted around a lot of lists of actresses, but in my mind she was really the one," Piven said of Wiig. "I love those performances from comic actors who are asked to do something really heartbreaking."

Wiig was the first to sign on, and a slew of others followed: Linda Cardellini as Alice's patient best friend; Tim Robbins as her patient therapist; James Marsden, Wes Bentley, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Joan Cusack as the patient network executives who supervise Alice's show.

Wiig acknowledges that Alice is hard to like, but because the character occupies some of the same fictional space that her "SNL" roles did, Alice's idiosyncrasies -- often tied to the demonstrative facial expressions that highlight Wiig's humor -- accentuate the character's oddities without dehumanizing her.



"Eliot wrote such a detailed description of this character that I kind of just pictured it in my head as I was reading it," she said. "It was so great just having him on set, even for little things like saying, 'I feel like when I walk maybe I should be a little stiff up top.' He was like, 'Oh yeah, show me. Yeah, that feels like her.' Because she has a mental illness, I wanted to be respectful of it and not comment on it and not make fun of her in any way, and if comedy came out of it, it was because of her just doing something funny, not because she’s sick."

There's something similar happening in "The Diary of a Teenage Girl," where Wiig is in full bad-mother mode. Unlikeable for entirely different reasons, the character still manages to ignite sympathy because Wiig's performance is full-bodied in both appearance and actions.

In keeping, this transition to deeper storytelling seems natural for someone whose more memorable "Saturday Night Live" moments seemed to inhabit her entire body, à la Dooneese and impressions of Suze Orman and Liza Minnelli. In the same way that Wiig's Oscar-nominated screenplay for "Bridesmaids" (written with Annie Mumolo) was heralded as a watershed for women in comedy, the future of Wiig's career seems destined to become one of the "SNL" roster's big-screen triumphs.

That's the mark of a prosperous "Saturday Night Live" departure: a career that draws from and dismisses its sketch-comedy roots in the same breath. Meet Kristen Wiig, burgeoning indie queen.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

'Duck Dynasty' Musical To Close In Las Vegas

0
0
A musical based on the family featured in the "Duck Dynasty" reality TV series is closing in Las Vegas, a little more than a month after it opened.

"The Duck Commander Musical," based on the book “Duck Commander Family” by Willie and Korie Robertson, will shut down on May 17 after typically selling less than 100 tickets per performance despite heavy discounting, the Las Vegas Sun reports.

The show had opened April 15 at the 680-seat Crown Theater at the Rio hotel and casino. The Rio is also home to the Penn & Teller magic show and a Chippendales male revue.

The musical, which was produced by the team behind Broadway hits such as "Jersey Boys" and "Matilda," told the story of the Robertson family's rise, first with the success of the "Duck Commander" line of products and then with the reality TV show.

The Robertson family has come under fire over controversial comments from patriarch Phil Robertson, who compared homosexuality to bestiality and claimed African-Americans were happier before the Civil Rights movement. The show does touch on the uproar, according to a review on the Las Vegas Review-Journal, but without getting into the specifics.

The team behind the show said in statement to Playbill that "The Duck Commander Musical" may still find a life on the stage. Just not in Vegas:

"The production is thrilled to have had the opportunity to develop the Duck Commander Musical at the Rio. Much has been learned from this limited engagement, and from the great support from everyone who has come to see this first staging of this completely new musical. Duck Commander will now consider several possible opportunities for the next stage in the life of the show, including extended sit-down engagements in interested cities, as well as a national tour."


“Like most new musicals out of town, what we learned will be invaluable as the producers evaluate the many possibilities for our next incarnation,” director Jeff Calhoun told The New York Times.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

15 Green, Gluttonous And Gorgeous Food Instagrams You Should Follow This Spring

0
0
Warmer weather puts a spring in your step and a lot of ice cream on your Instagram feed. Burgers, crisp produce and downright dirty donut photos take over, influencing what you plan to gorge on next. The seasonal pics pose the age-old question: If you don't post it to Instagram, did you really ever eat it? Follow the hunger-inducing accounts below to make sure no meal goes unfiltered.

@wrightkitchen


Food is art on this photographer's Insta. Follow for vibrant colors and beautifully organized produce that'll send you straight to the kitchen. @wrightkitchen



@voguefarmer


You're probably going to want to eat everything you see on this account. Particularly this minty chip banana ice cream. @voguefarmer



@wiz_kale_ifa

A photo posted by M.A.L (@wiz_kale_ifa) on



Get your fix of eggs and avocado and some other perfectly plated eats. @wiz_kale_ifa



@indudlgenteats


Stuff your face eyes on this New Yorker's admirable mix of absolute gluttony and greenery. @indudlgenteats



@jonsplate

A photo posted by Jon's Plates (@jonsplates) on



You probably don't know who Jon is, but you're going to want to know what's on his plate. @jonsplates



@mjromano

A photo posted by mjromano (@mjromano) on



Lobster roll + city scape = immediate follow. @mjromano



@paulusnguyen


Something true: There's no such thing as too many burger photos. @paulusnguyen



@julesfood

A photo posted by Jules (@julesfood) on



Find a desirable mix of healthy, hearty and over the top. @julesfood



@jdonutscookiesandcream


The handle pretty much says it, no? @donutscookiesandicecream



@kosherkaufman


You won't notice that there's no bacon on this feed. @kosherkaufman



@dennistheprescott

A photo posted by @dennistheprescott on



Everything is so dang beautiful here. @dennistheprescott



@tymbussanich


Self-identified "man with a pan" is going to break your heart with his deep-fried masterpieces. @tymbussanich



@arjieljosephfg


Follow with caution; you may attempt to lick your phone. @arjieljosephfg



@nycdining

A photo posted by NYC Dining (@nycdining) on



Perhaps it's the city that never sleeps because there's eating to be done! @nycdining



@loveandlemons


A ton of gorgeous recipes featuring a cute dog cameo every now and then. @loveandlemons

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.


Photography Series Spotlighting Iconic Women Over 70 Proves The Best Is Yet To Come

0
0
ladies




"When I was younger, I always admired and was fascinated by older women," photographer Lola Flash explained to The Huffington Post. "Now, I am both curious about what kind of seasoned woman I will become, as well as outraged that women, in general, do not receive the respect they deserve. In particular, older women."

Flash is an artist of African and Native American descent, born in Montclair, New Jersey. She's been taking photographs since she can remember. Inspired by artists including Carrie Mae Weems, Gordon Parks, Diane Arbus, Romare Bearden and Hank Willis Thomas, she's always hoped to use her camera to open up new ways of seeing, especially with regard to stereotypes of race and gender.

So, for her series "Salt," Flash photographed iconic women over 70 years old, still active in their fields of work, using a 4x5 large format camera. The resulting images are classical portraits with unconventional subjects, giving older women the well-deserved visibility they are often denied.

photo
Norma, who lived in San Juan, was a passionate singer.


"Some of the women are friends, or friends of friends and some are women that I have admired from afar -- like Ruth Pointer of the Pointer Sisters, who I will photograph in June. The common strand that they share is their passion for life and continued conviction to make the world a better place." Included are Toni Parks, photographer and daughter of Gordon Parks, and Koho Yamamoto, a master sumi-e painter. All subjects are captured where they feel most at home, giving the traditional portraits an intimate feel, providing viewers a glimpse into their personal lives.

Salt's photos not only capture the physical features of her subjects, but their strength, passion and energy. "I want to show their beauty. I want to challenge stereotypes and offer new ways of seeing that transcend and interrogate gender, sexual and racial norms. My work welcomes audiences who are willing to not only look, but see."

See more artists who explore the beauty of aging here.




-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Beyond Helvetica: 9 More Résumé Fonts That Stand Out, According To Designers

0
0
fonts




Times New Roman -- the font found in 12-point size on term papers everywhere -- has officially been snubbed. According to an article on Bloomberg Business, the typeface is a big no-no for résumé, along with the flowery Zaphino and the comically wonky Comic Sans. Instead, the author urges readers to opt for Helvetica, the font praised by hipsters and businessmen alike.

But, according to Art Director and Letterer Kevin Cardell, Times New Roman isn't an inherently off-putting choice -- it's just become a hackneyed option because it's used so frequently. "The poor application of the font is to blame," he told The Huffington Post. "So in a sea of résumés, it definitely suffocates." To avoid a similar fate, we suggest picking a less common font. Sure, Helvetica is stalwart, but similar options may give your CV a boost. Here are 9 fonts designers recommend using on a résumé:

1. Source Sans Pro
by Google Fonts

Designer Jack Harvatt says the narrow structure of Google's Source Sans Pro makes it perfect "for large bodies of text."

font 5



2. Gotham

Harvatt says Gotham Light is "a personal favorite," calling it "a clean and simple typeface which gives a smart and considered look to any work."

font 4



3. Tiempos
by Klim Type Foundry

Art Director and Letterer Kevin Cardell selected a few more ornate options, including Tiempos, which is actually a unique riff on Times New Roman.

font 1



4. Harriet
by Okay Type Foundry

Cardell says Harriet, which was inspired by the popular Baskerville font, is a great choice because it's available in Opentype, which is compatible with both Mac and PC.

font 2



5. Caponi
by Commercial Type

For a more conventional option, Cardell suggests this "contemporary and utilitarian" typeface.

font 3



6. Proxima Nova
by Mark Simonson

Designer Jillian Adel says Proxima Nova is "a friendlier font, that lives in between Gotham and Helvetica." The only potential drawback, she says, is that it is somewhat widely used.

font 6



7. Roboto
by Christian Robertson

Roboto is another font that's both clean, friendly and easy to read in large swaths. Adel says, "It isn't so wide as Proxima, so you'll naturally be able to fit more copy on a page."

roboto



8. Lora
by Google Fonts

For something less modern-looking, Adel suggests Lora, which is "really easy to read and way airier than Times New Roman."

lora



9. Helvetica

Okay, okay. A list of ideal clean-looking fonts wouldn't be complete without Helvetica -- even if it can be spotted on ads, logos, and everywhere in between. Harvatt calls it "the true foundry of modern type," and, in spite of its omnipresence, the top choice for a résumé.

helvetica



For more on typography, check out our roundups of unique fonts here, here, and here.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

'Improbable Libraries' Beautifully Depicts The Fun Side Of Libraries

0
0
library
Library in Muyinga, Burundi





There’s just something about a library -- its well-thumbed, plastic-sheathed bestsellers and dusty shelves of obscure treasures, all just waiting to be picked up and enjoyed you. And then someone else, someone you may never meet. A library brings readers together into one space to share, exchange, and unlock the secrets of books. Oh, and it’s absolutely free to use.

university of aberdeen
The Sir Duncan Rice Library at the University of Aberdeen


Alex Johnson, a journalist for the U.K.’s Independent and the author of Improbable Libraries, agrees. But he’s also noticed that libraries don’t just operate out of drab brick municipal buildings or aged edifices with Gothic arches.

“There have always been entrepreneurial librarians,” he noted in an email to The Huffington Post, “such as those who ran circulating libraries in small crates for lighthouses in the 19th century or who used pack horses to carry books in the early 20th century -- but more recently the idea that the library can come to the reader ... seems to have become more pronounced.”

hakewill
William Hakewill's traveling library


Improbable Libraries, which documents unusual and visually striking libraries from across the globe, was Johnson’s shot at bringing “the fun and entertaining side” of libraries back into a conversation that’s become dominated by doom and gloom about their finances. “Both my parents are librarians,” he explained, “so it’s always been at the back of my mind.” And despite the rise of eBooks, he believes that "in a world which is becoming gradually more virtual, physicality will become increasingly valued.”

Libraries also featured in another aspect of his family life. He met his wife while at Oxford. "We often worked together in the Radcliffe Camera,” he remembered. “It has very fond memories for me.” That and: “Before they give you a card there as a student, you have to promise not to kindle flame inside it, which is also rather endearing.” A practical measure, perhaps, but also the sort of charming institutional quirk that belongs to the world of libraries, rather than e-readers.

Improbable Libraries documents libraries carried on camelback, dangling from trees and in good old-fashioned buildings; Little Free Libraries and libraries built for one. There are libraries designed to overcome a lack of infrastructure and governmental support, and libraries designed to capture readers easily distracted by their smartphones and Kindles. Whether it's a bicycle delivering books or a serene literary retreat, these institutions remind us of the ineffable power of holding a book in your hands and seeing the signs left by previous attentive readers -- a power digital texts can never replicate.

The photos in Improbable Libraries give a glimpse at a present, and hopefully a future, in which libraries remain at the heart of our shared literary culture.




dome library
Soneva Kiri resort children's library, Thailand


dome library
The inner dome of the Soneva Kiri library, constructed from bamboo


bike library
The Bookbike of Tucson, Arizona


little free library
A Little Free Library in New York City


hanging library
Dangling book homes at the Librairie Urbaine in Lyon, France


beach library
A popup library on Bondi Beach in Australia, courtesy of IKEA


camel library
The Children's Mobile Library of Mongolia, operated by author Jambyn Dashdondog


one room library
Marta Wengorovius' One, Two, Many library/art project fits just one reader


tank library
Raul Lemesoff's Weapon of Mass Instruction looks like a tank, but only delivers free books in Buenos Aires, Argentina


kansas city library
The Kansas City Public Library, Central Branch, in Kansas City, Missouri


occupy library
The People's Library of the Occupy Wall Street protests, New York City


Follow Huffington Post's board Books on Pinterest.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Ashes Of Ballerina Maya Plisetskaya To Be Spread Over Russia

0
0
MOSCOW (AP) — The ashes of Maya Plisetskaya, the renowned Bolshoi Theater ballerina who died this weekend, will be spread over Russia in accordance with her wishes.

Bolshoi director Vladimir Urin said Plisetskaya left instructions for her to be cremated and, after the death of her husband, the composer Rodion Shchedrin, for the ashes to be joined together and spread over Russia. In a statement carried by Russian news agencies, Urin cited a section of Plisetskaya's will that he said had been given to him by Shchedrin.

Plisetskaya, whose career at the Bolshoi spanned more than 35 years, was regarded as one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century. She died Saturday in Germany of a heart attack at age 89.

Urin said a private memorial service would be held in Germany.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Maya Plisetskaya, One Of The 20th Century's Best Ballet Dancers, Dies At 89

0
0
MOSCOW (AP) — Maya Plisetskaya, regarded as one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century and whose career at the Bolshoi Theater spanned more than 35 years, has died at age 89.

Bolshoi director Vladimir Urin told the state news agency Tass that Plisetskaya died in Germany of a heart attack on Saturday. President Vladimir Putin issued a message of condolence and tributes came from across the dance world. Mikhail Baryshnikov said on Facebook that she was "one of the greatest dancers of our time ... beautiful and graceful."

Plisetskaya was renowned for intense performances that contrasted with the ethereal style of many other dancers, especially in Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake."

Baryshnikov pointed to another role. "Always remember her amazing Dying Swan from 1959 and 1986," he wrote, noting that in the latter she was already 61 years old.

Plisetskaya joined the Bolshoi troupe in 1943 at the age of 18 and stayed until 1990 when she left amid disputes with its director.

However, she returned to its stage for gala appearances, including a 75th birthday performance in 2000.

She is survived by her husband, composer Rodion Shchedrin. Funeral plans were not immediately determined.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Viewing all 18485 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images