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

At 70 Years Old, Marina Abramović Is Still Learning From Heartbreak

0
0

Marina Abramović, the godmother of performance art, recently celebrated her 70th birthday at New York’s Guggenheim Museum by asking party guests to remain silent for 70 minutes. This is not unusual coming from a woman famous for, among many, many other feats, silently staring at Museum of Modern Art patrons for a modest 700 hours total.


The party happened not long before Abramović released her recent documentary, “Marina Abramović in Brazil,” which follows the artist throughout the South American country in a dramatic search for spiritual enlightenment. As she encounters shamans and psychic surgeons, dabbling in ayahuasca trips and crystal treatments, she is ― as she admits early on in the film ― attempting to mend a broken heart.


“I was very much down and looking to heal,” she explained in a Skype interview with The Huffington Post just after turning 70.


Abramović has faced sharp criticism this year ― backlash erupted after she compared Aboriginal Australians to dinosaurs in her memoir; supporters of American President-elect Donald Trump came across her work and accused her of being a “spooky occult” leader. Some reviewers took issue with her latest film, too. “Frankly, she sometimes looks like a dilettante whose money and connections allow her to dabble in a dozen cults without giving herself fully to any of them,” John DeFore wrote for The Hollywood Reporter.


Ahead of her film’s December release ― it’s now available to stream via Vimeo ― Abramović insisted she, just like every one else, is just trying to figure out how to stay creative decades into her career. In a conversation with HuffPost, she explained how far she was willing to go to sustain her artistic drive:





In the film, you said that you like to work in the “space in between” ― a sentiment echoed in the title of the film. How do you define the “space in between”?


The space in between is the space when you leave your home and you leave the security of your home [...] before you arrive at some other place. The space in between is when you are open to destiny. Anything can happen. It’s really the space where things can happen. Most of the time we think in the box. We live in the box. We surround ourselves with the things that are known to us. But when you leave the security and you enter into someplace else, that space is the most creative space of all.


Do you associate this with a lack of control?


Mmmm, yes. In my manifesto, I said [...] it’s really important to not have any control over your life and to have total control over your work. This is really important because the moment you control your life, you experience the same problems, the same patterns over and over again. But the moment you actually lead your life fully, things can just happen and you recognize the opportunities and you live it intuitively and with heart. Then somehow the life takes you like a river to the right places and the right things. When it comes to work ― you control the work. But when it comes to life ― the space in between is key.


What drew you to Brazil in particular for this journey?


You know, I’ve been in the space in between all my life. I lived in the Australian desert, I’ve lived in the retreats with Tibetan monks, I’ve lived months in the jungle. But I’ve never actually recorded these experiences, except in my diaries. But not in a film recording. This time [...] it was interesting to study [Brazilian] shamanism. I didn’t know much about it; how shamans relate to nature, their spiritual energy. So I wanted to learn from them. And a way to learn from them is to actually go there myself and understand what they’re talking about.


I was also drawn by the very personal problems I had ― my broken heart. I was very much down and looking to heal. But not only in this journey did I find healing, I found a new way to make work. I wanted to share all this. Somebody asked me, “Why do you put everything private outside of yourself?” Because to me, I don’t do privacy. My work and my art and my life is all out there. That’s just how it is. I also want to be inspirational. If I can go through this hell, then you can too.


One of the questions that appears in text in the trailer for “The Space in Between” reads: “How far will she go to create a new work of art?” Which brings up two ideas. First, that this trip was, in itself, a sort of test of endurance, a common aspect of your work. And second, that there was almost a sense of desperation to your creativity ― you were not only willing to push your limits, but you needed to in order to push your creativity forward.


I was in a very different state. I really was broken-hearted. You know, a broken heart is almost a disease. It’s true ― I don’t know if you’ve been broken-hearted, but probably every woman has. You get sick. You are sick in your stomach and you can’t think about anything else. You’re tired of talking to your friends about the problems, you’re tired of talking to yourself. You wake up in the morning and you cry, you cry in your dreams. I wanted to see how I could heal. And I did, I really healed. And not only that, but I found new ways to do the work. The way out is really to look into yourself, deeply. 





During your travels there, did you acknowledge yourself as an outsider observing the practices of indigenous cultures, or did you take a different approach?


I take a different approach. When I went to live with aborigines in Australia for one entire year, it’s not tourism. One way to understand a culture is to go inside that culture. And not to be on the periphery. It was a funny story about John of God ― who you see in the beginning of the movie. He said to me, “I don’t know if we can film this. I don’t know if this spirits will say yes.” I said, “What do you mean?” He said, “I am just a man. I am a tool of the spirits.” So I had to wait there for 10 days until the spirits said yes, it was OK to film. And then I was able to watch this eye operation, and it was terrible, but it worked. These people were healed.


This is where the rational mind stops. You don’t understand. How is this possible? We are so interested in science and technology, because Western culture works differently. I was interested in putting myself in situations where I could see what works in other cultures. Not in a tourist way, but really take part in it. My ayahuasca experience was terrible. I lost my mind. It was such hell for me. But I went through the experience because it’s the only way to understand.


In past projects, you’ve definitely interacted with scientists and been on the more rigid scientific side of things. Do you ever grapple with these two approaches ― the scientific approach and the spiritual approach, that sort of lacks rationale?


There are two types of knowledge: scientific knowledge and spiritual knowledge. Spiritual knowledge is based on intuition, and scientific knowledge is based on proof. And both types of knowledge are important. Because spirituality already knows things exist. But science always needs time to prove it. We know certain things exist, but we don’t see them ― they’re invisible. Science finds the tools to say it’s true. But it needs time. Artists also work intuitively, while scientists deny intuition. So we need both. Now, there is more and more collaboration between the two. That’s why we’re going to be able to develop faster than ever before.


Do you personally elevate spiritual approaches over scientific approaches?


You know, I relate more to the spiritual approach, because I work more with the heart. The more you put your heart into your work, the more you rely on intuition, the closer to truth you are.


In the film, you also mention that you hope to “raise consciousness through art.” Do you ever worry that your art ― for whatever reason ― isn’t reaching the people who perhaps would benefit most from consciousness-raising? That maybe the art world has become so insular, that you’re already speaking to people whose consciousness has been, for lack of a better phrase, raised already?


I don’t think that way. I only think about how much I can contribute to the situation we’re living in right now. It’s still a disaster. We still have poverty, we still have wars, people killing each other. But it’s always been like this. Every century has been a mess. But it’s really important ― how you can contribute to society on your own. The only way I can contribute... I’m always talking about this 120 percent. One hundred percent is not enough. This extra 20 percent that you have to give makes a difference. My motto is very simple: I have to change myself. If I change myself, I can change thousands. You have to start with yourself. The answer doesn’t come from anybody else.


I have to say, in the early ‘70s, [my public] was 10, 20, 30 people. Now it is hundreds and hundreds of people. Just now, in Greece, my institute asked people to come to a square and 3,000 people came. It was an incredible experience. So that is some kind of connection. My work is very emotional; emotions are what I give to people. And it has nothing to do with celebrity, it has to do with the fact that I give them something to open their hearts. It’s never enough. But at least I’m trying.


Your work was recently misinterpreted by Trump supporters in the U.S. Do you feel as though you, as the artist, have a responsibility to correct or even just reach out to those people who see your work and take it as, for example, “occult magic” instead of what you intended it to be?


I have given several interviews about this ― on my own birthday, my 70th, which was several days ago. I was sitting here in the office and was answering questions for hours on Tumblr. Exactly to give some clarity. There is so much ignorance. People don’t know about the context around the work. For me, it’s very painful. I am receiving frightening responses. I’m really having a problem with it because it’s such a misinterpretation. It’s like, what? People ask me, “Are you killing children and sucking their blood and putting it as Botox in your face to look so young?” It’s incredible. I’m really shocked. It brings such negativity to my work. I really want this to disappear as soon as possible. It’s been hell.

-- 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.


Anne Rice: 'I Feel Like I'm Gay' And Forget 'I Have A Gender'

0
0

The Vampire Chronicles author Anne Rice recently revealed that she not only feels like she’s gay, but that she often finds herself forgetting she has a gender. 


Speaking with The Daily Beast, she discussed her relationship with the LGBTQ community, sexuality and gender.


“I’ve always been very much a champion of gay rights, and art produced by gay people,” Rice said in the interview. “People told me Interview with the Vampire was a gay allegory, and I was very honored by that. I think I have a gay sensibility and I feel like I’m gay, because I’ve always transcended gender, and I’ve always seen love as transcending gender”


Rice added, “I get teased a lot by my gay friends because we have a rapport on things we find exciting or interesting. It’s very hard for me to remember that I have a gender...”


Read the full interview with the Daily Beast here.


The best-selling author of gothic fiction rose to fame thanks to her wildly popular The Vampire Chronicles, which were adapted into the blockbuster films “Interview with a Vampire” and “Queen of the Damned.”


Rice’s latest project, Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis, centers around her same antihero, Lestat, from The Vampire Chronicles. She is also currently working to develop a television pilot alongside her openly gay son, Christopher Rice, based on The Vampire Chronicles, which is being touted as a “Game Of Thrones”-style series.


(H/T Towleroad)

-- 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.

Madison Square Garden Denies Rockettes Are Being Forced To Perform At Trump's Inauguration

0
0

Madison Square Garden is denying that the Rockettes are being forced to perform at Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration after an entertainment website reported that the dancers were told they could not opt out.


“For a Rockette to be considered for an event, they must voluntarily sign up and are never told they have to perform at a particular event, including the inaugural. It is always their choice,” the Madison Square Garden Company, which employs the famous dance troupe, said in a statement on Friday. “In fact, for the coming inauguration, we had more Rockettes request to participate than we have slots available. We eagerly await the inaugural celebrations.”


BroadwayWorld reported that the American Guild of Variety Artists, the union that represents the Rockettes, sent the dancers an email telling them they could not boycott the event after one woman objected to performing. The email reportedly referenced James Dolan, the executive chairman of the Madison Square Garden Company.


“We have received an email from a Rockette expressing concern about getting ‘involved in a dangerous political climate’ but I must remind you that you are all employees, and as a company, Mr. Dolan obviously wants the Rockettes to be represented at our country’s Presidential inauguration, as they were in 2001 & 2005. Any talk of boycotting this event is invalid, I’m afraid,” the email read, according to BroadwayWorld. “If you are not full time, you do not have to sign up to do this work. If you are full time, you are obligated. Doing the best performance to reflect an American Institution which has been here for over 90 years is your job. I hope this pulls into focus the bottom line on this work.”


In a Thursday Instagram post that has since been deleted, Rockette Phoebe Pearl wrote that she was “embarrassed and disappointed” to perform for Trump. “The women I work with are intelligent and are full of love and the decision of performing for a man that stands for everything we’re against is appalling,” the post read. 


Pearl did not respond to The Huffington Post’s request for comment.


The American Guild of Variety Artists said in a press release later Friday afternoon that it had “never ‘demanded’ that the Rockettes perform at the inauguration.”


“A message was sent to the Rockettes last evening that stated the terms of their contract,” the union said. “There is a small group of year round Rockettes who are contractually obligated to perform at scheduled events throughout the year.  We are pleased that Radio City has agreed that for those Rockettes with year-round employment, participation in this event will be voluntary as well.”


This story has been updated to include Phoebe Pearl’s statement on Instagram and a statement from the American Guild of Variety Artists.

-- 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.

Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe Shine On Essence's February Cover

0
0

The stars of “Hidden Figures” grace the February cover of Essence magazine with style, beauty and pride.


The cover features Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe, all of whom portray the untold story of three black women’s groundbreaking efforts to send the first Americans into space in the 1960s. The women, also known as NASA’s “colored computers,” broke down racial and gender barriers while making American history.




A photo posted by ESSENCE (@essence) on





Henson, who plays lead mathematician Katherine Johnson, told the magazine what it meant to her to portray her character.


“When I was growing up, people told me out of their mouths math and science are for boys. I was told that over and over,” she told Essence. “Like, no one showed me how to fall in love with numbers. If I had a teacher like Mrs. Johnson, who knows, I might be on the moon.”


Spencer, who has various nominations (and is on some people’s lists for an Oscar nod) for her role as NASA’s first black supervisor Dorothy Vaughan, called her character “the genesis of Black Girls Code.”


Monáe, who plays NASA’s first black aerospace engineer Mary Jackson, shared how passionate she was to show the three women’s sisterhood as a part of their successful mission.


Hidden Figures” premieres nationally on January 6. Essence magazine’s February issue will be available January 13.


-- 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.

Kris Jenner's Christmas Decorations Sure Are Krazy

0
0



When it comes to Christmas decorations, as with anything else, Kris Jenner does not do subtle. 


The famously festive homemaker has one-upped herself again this year, decking her halls with garlands, baubles and gingerbread men galore in a holiday theme called “Kandyland Chic.”




Jenner loves to decorate her home for the holidays. This year, she enlisted the help of florist Jeff Leatham to get it all done. While some elements are over the top, like the giant, shiny red bear in the entryway, others are decidedly demure, like the all-white mantel in one of Jenner’s many sitting rooms.


Watch Kris’s Instagram tour below, and head to Architectural Digest for more photos of the krazyness. Merry Krismas! 



-- 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.

29 Of The Most Incredible Birth Photos From 2016

0
0

Every year, birth photographers around the world capture exquisite images. In some ways, the moments are so small ― a woman roaring through a contraction or the first time a mother locks eyes with her new baby. But in other ways, they are monumental. A few seconds or minutes pass and suddenly, families are forever changed.


Here, via Birth Becomes Her and Canadian Birth Photographers, are 29 of the most moving birth images from the past year. 


-- 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.

She Went To Alaska To Photograph Polar Bears In Snow, But Found No Snow

0
0

Photographer Patty Waymire traveled to Alaska’s Barter Island from late September to early October with an express purpose: To take pictures of polar bears in their natural environment, surrounded by picturesque snow.


But there was no snow to be found.



“I was surprised when I arrived, to find there was no snow nor was the sea ice forming yet,” Waymire told The Huffington Post. “The locals told me that it was an unusually warm winter and that the snow would be late in arriving. It is one of the warmest winters on record.”


So instead, she photographed the bears on patches of sand and dirt, or swimming in the Beaufort Sea. One photo — “No Snow, No Ice,” above — which shows a solitary bear looking down into the water, won an honorable mention in a National Geographic photo competition and has been hailed as a poignant depiction of the effects of climate change.



Waymire said she understands why people say the bear looks “sad” or “lonely,” but clarified that there was no reason to believe the animal was actually in any immediate distress.


“The shot struck me immediately as he seemed so contemplative, sitting there on the shore of one of the Barter Islands,” she said. “The lack of snow and ice was so evident that it told a story without requiring any words.”


Arctic sea ice — which one scientist called a “platform of life” for polar bears — has been disappearing as global temperatures have risen for years. Sea ice begins forming in the Arctic in the fall, then breaks up and recedes in the summer.



A study published this year, based on satellite data, found that between 1979 and 2014, the time span between the spring break-up and the fall freeze has increased from between three to nine weeks. That means less time on the ice for the bears to hunt seals, a crucial part of their diets, and build up their fat reserves for the times of the year when the ice isn’t as plentiful.


In the region of Beaufort Sea, where Waymire took her photos, loss of sea ice has been correlated with lower survival rates for polar bears. Lack of sufficient ice has, in recent years, also propelled many bears to spend more time in land, hanging around the Alaskan village of Kaktovik.



Arctic sea ice reached a record low this October, when the extent of the ice was as low as it had ever been measured for that time of year. Meanwhile, sea surface and air temperatures in the Arctic were at record highs, with air temperatures higher than normal by up to 20 degrees Celsius.


Waymire, who is drawn to the beauty of the Arctic, says she fears for the future that humans are leaving their children. Encouraged by recent efforts by President Barack Obama to protect the region for future generations, she said she hopes President-elect Donald Trump will go to the Arctic himself and see “why this incredibly special place must be protected.”


-- 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.

Kodak's Short Film About 'Understanding' Will Take Your Breath Away

0
0



This week Kodak quietly released a short film (seemingly to promote its Kodak Vision3 500T 5219 film) that is nothing short of stunning. 


In the film, which is titled “Understanding” and runs just under three minutes, a teen is caught by his little sister kissing his high school baseball teammate. What happens next involves the terror of coming out, the strength of family and the beauty of love. 


Just try and watch “Understanding,” directed by Terry Rayment with cinematography by Kate Arizmendi, without breaking down into a puddle of tears and emotions. We dare you.

-- 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.


'It Just Dawned On Me To Make A Cross Out Of Them'

0
0

Ronald Freeman simply wants someone to see what he had done.


For a year, Freeman had pondered how best to memorialize the nine black parishioners killed at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. He was working a lot with wood and he knew that he wanted to draw their images on wood. But how should he portray all them together in one piece of art?


“It just dawned on me to make a cross out of them,” he told The Huffington Post.


The materials sat in his studio for a while as Freeman battled with his own emotions. “There is a bit of sadness involved when I get to drawing people who have lost their lives in a violent way,” the artist said, adding that he also worried that their families might feel disrespected by it.


He finished building the wooden cross this past July. He drew the faces using charcoal pencils. A Bible at the center of the 6 feet high by 5 feet wide cross symbolizes the Bible Study service at which the victims lost their lives.


Six women and three men died in the shooting at Mother Emanuel: Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, Cynthia Hurd, Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Myra Thompson, Ethel Lance, Rev. Daniel Simmons, Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor and Susie Jackson. 


Their killer, a white supremacist named Dylann Roof, was convicted earlier this month.


Freeman, who lives in New Jersey, has only been creating art seriously for five years after being laid off from a corporate job at Verizon Wireless. When he completed the cross, he wanted people to see it. A video detailing his artwork has appeared in a New Jersey art gallery, but Freeman hopes the work can be shown more widely, including to the victims’ families.


“Even though I don’t know them, I was thinking about them and their families,” Freeman said.


He tried to contact the church itself but wasn’t able to get any substantial leads. Regardless, he thinks his artwork can help people heal while serving as a constant reminder of what happened on June 17, 2015.


The families of those killed surprised many by quickly forgiving Roof. Forgiveness is a hallmark of black Christianity and often a way for black people to battle through racial trauma.


“I don’t know if I could forgive this guy like that. But ... this is so rooted deep in religion and faith,” Freeman said. “They’re taught to forgive.”


He noted that the parishioners were also demonstrating their Christian faith when they graciously welcomed Roof, a stranger, into their Bible study service. “They had no suspicion in the world,” he said.  


Roof laughed as he confessed shortly after his arrest. He’d fired at least 74 shots and used seven magazines, according to evidence found at the crime scene. “Somebody had to do it,” he told police officers, adding that “black people are killing white people every day. .... What I did is so minuscule compared to what they do to white people every day.”


One final aspect of the horrific story that really stands out for Freeman is how Roof was arrested.


“The fact that he didn’t get shot, a bullet that also rings out because they shoot so many unarmed black males,” Freeman said. “So you got this guy with a gun, he’s a suspect, they pull him over in the car and they didn’t so much as pull out their guns.”


In fact, some officers did pull out their weapons, but it is shocking to see how quickly they re-holstered them ― well before Roof was under their control.


“It speaks to race, inequality and where we’re at right now as far as the inequality of African-Americans,” Freeman said. “We got black men being killed for just holding up their hands and they’re getting shot to death, running away and they’re getting shot to death.”



powered by TinyLetter


-- 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.

J.K. Rowling's Heartfelt Christmas Tweets Are What We All Need Right Now

0
0

J.K. Rowling delivered a heartfelt Christmas message of hope via Twitter on Saturday.


The Harry Potter series author posted 12 tweets offering encouragement to people who are “going through tough times” over the holiday season that may be worsened by “images of perfect lives, which bear as little relation to reality as tinsel does to gold.”


Rowling promised “extraordinary transformations are possible” and “nothing is forever,” before urging people to remember Christmas Day itself was “in the end, just a day.” “It isn’t a test or a scorecard of you or your life, so be kind to yourself,” she added.


Read her inspiring tweets in full below:


















































type=type=RelatedArticlesblockTitle=Related Coverage + articlesList=585e2a9be4b0de3a08f5734f,5846b4a6e4b055b313992340,585e6a2ae4b0eb58648682bc,585529c2e4b0b3ddfd8d19b5

-- 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.

James Corden Remembers George Michael, The First-Ever 'Carpool Karaoke' Star

0
0



James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke” is a runaway success with fans and celebrities alike.  


What many don’t know is that pop star George Michael, who died on Sunday at the age of 53, was Corden’s first-ever partner in the schtick ― way before it was even on “The Late Late Show” from when Corden took over as host in 2015.


The debut of the winning partnerships that would later feature star turns from A-listers including AdeleMariah Carey, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Elton John and Michelle Obama, began in 2011 as a charity skit.


In the sketch for the British anti-poverty charity Comic Relief, Corden, in character as Smithy from his BBC sitcom “Gavin & Stacey,” cheers up Michael as they belt out Wham! songs.


“There was something very joyful about it,” Corden later told Stephen Colbert about that first car-ride singalong. “We wondered if it was an idea ... Los Angeles, traffic, car pool lanes, Karaoke, traffic, driving people in the car, singing.”


On Sunday, Corden joined many celebrities in mourning the passing of the musician, calling him an “absolute inspiration.”






type=type=RelatedArticlesblockTitle=Related Coverage + articlesList=58607d41e4b0d9a59458b81c,58605288e4b0de3a08f5b533,58605a18e4b0de3a08f5b55c

-- 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.

Remembering George Michael With 21 Of His Greatest Hits

0
0



British singer-songwriter George Michael died Sunday of suspected heart failure at the age of 53.


As one half of 1980s group Wham! with Andrew Ridgeley and then as a successful solo artist, Michael was behind some of the biggest pop hits of the past 35 years — selling more than 100 million records in the process.


The Huffington Post celebrates his contribution to music with 21 of his most iconic tracks.



type=type=RelatedArticlesblockTitle=Related Coverage + articlesList=5860bd08e4b0d9a59458c17c,58605288e4b0de3a08f5b533,58605a18e4b0de3a08f5b55c,58607d41e4b0d9a59458b81c,58601e3ee4b068764965bd1c

-- 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.

17 Albums Turning 10 In 2017

0
0

Ah, 2017. Another rotation around the sun, another year where we can marvel at just how far off the mid-aughts feel. The era where we donned low-waisted jeans, ironic graphic tees and Livestrong bracelets seems to be more and more of a distant memory.


As all living creatures age, so does the music we listened to. Here are 17 hit albums turning a decade old in the coming year.


 


Rihanna, “Good Girl Gone Bad”


She kindly requests that you shut up and drive.



LCD Soundsystem, “Sound of Silver”


How we all learned to say, “New York, I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down.” 



Radiohead, “In Rainbows”


One of the first albums to be digitally released for free (or, rather, “pay what you wish”).



Kanye West, “Graduation”


That’s how long he’s been on ya.



Fall Out Boy, “Infinity on High”


All we can say is thnks fr th mmrs, Fall Out Boy.



Avril Lavigne, “The Best Damn Thing”


Hey, hey! You, you! She don’t like your girlfriend!



T-Pain, “Epiphany”


He’d like to buy you a drink.



Arcade Fire, “Neon Bible”


Un, deux, trois, le mirroir noir!



50 Cent, “Curtis”


Can you imagine being tired of technology in 2007?! What’s he doing now?



M.I.A., “Kala”


Confusing fans of The Clash’s “Straight to Hell” since 2007. 



Miranda Lambert, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”


She owned the title long before the CW show.



Mika, “Life in Cartoon Motion”


You know, that French guy



Jay Z, “American Gangster”


Hello, Brooklyn.



The White Stripes, “Icky Thump”


A title that was all too relevant in 2016.



Tegan and Sara, “The Con”


If you didn’t have an emotional revelation while listening to “Nineteen” then did you even live in the aughts?!?!



Foo Fighters, “Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace”


The sixth of the band’s eight studio albums. 



Soulja Boy, “souljaboytellem.com”


An American icon.





Hit Backspace for a regular dose of pop culture nostalgia.


-- 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.

George Michael Was Working On A Documentary Prior To His Death

0
0



George Michael had been working on a documentary in the weeks leading up to his death, according to his official website and social accounts.


An Instagram post from November revealed that Michael was “busy putting the finishing touches to his special documentary film” called “Freedom.” The caption noted: “He has discovered some incredible, unseen archive footage and is shooting additional interviews for the project so the film will now air in March 2017. It promises to be a real treat for fans! To coincide with the film’s broadcast, George and Sony Music have decided to move the reissue of the ‘Listen Without Prejudice’ album to the same time.”


“Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1” was the singer’s second studio album, which came out in 1990.




According to an earlier website post, Michael was expected to narrate the film, which would feature appearances by Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Mark Ronson, Mary J. Blige, Tony Bennett, Liam Gallagher, James Corden, Ricky Gervais, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford and others.



Nile Rodgers apparently had been working with Michael’s team on a project as well. The acclaimed producer tweeted Sunday that he had been at Michael’s home just two days before his death.  










Michael died Sunday at his home in England after suffering from heart failure. He was 53. He left behind decades of music ― both as a solo artist and with the ‘80s group Wham! 


By the sound of it, we may see more where that came from. There’s no word yet on the status of the documentary, but here’s hoping Michael left fans at least one last musical parting gift. 

-- 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.

The Radical, Feminist Comic Book We Need To Survive A Trump Presidency

0
0

For women around the country ― and around the world ― the election of Donald Trump wasn’t just disappointing. It was gutting. Most were expecting to welcome America’s first woman president, and instead they got a candidate with over a dozen allegations of sexual assault to his name. There was shock, disbelief, mourning ― and then, women got to work. As for women artists, they got to making work. 


Resist! is a comic anthology comprised of work by women artists, LGBTQ artists and artists of color ― the communities most directly endangered by the President-elect ― that directly addresses the thoughts, feelings, fears, and actions of those who don’t quite fit inside Trump’s America, and don’t intend to stay quiet. The publication is edited by The New Yorker’s art director, Françoise Mouly, and her daughter, Nadja Spiegelman.


Originally, Gabe Fowler, the publisher of the comic newspaper Smoke Signalreached out to Mouly, imploring her to create a special edition of the paper that addressed the issues pressing to those triggered and threatened by the election. “There was a need to be making something rather than sitting around feeling helpless,” Spiegelman told New York Magazine. “And this felt like a way of giving voice to something that needed to exist.”


Spiegelman and Mouly created a website for Resist!, complete with a call for submissions of half-page comics by artists of diverse and marginalized backgrounds. Only a few days later, they were flooded with images from artists all around the world. By their deadline, they had received over 1,000 images 


Some illustrate the personal struggle of waking up in the morning post-election, and the feelings of fear and inadequacy that bubble up after months of listening to Trump speak. Others depict the hypocrisy thrust upon women from birth, refusing to stay silent regarding the discrimination that continues to shape our nation’s culture.



Some days I like to send some extra love into the world.... #thinkingofberlin

A photo posted by Nelleke Verhoeff (@redcheeksfactory) on




Although the publication never directly solicited money for funding, Resist! received $4,000 in donations through the website, enough to finance the distribution of 30,000 free copies of the printed publication on inauguration weekend, beginning January 20, 2017. Further distribution will occur at the Women’s March the following day, and after that as well. 


Submissions are closed for the printed book, but artists are still welcome to submit their work to be included on the Resist! blog or potential future projects. Anyone is welcome to submit, though women are especially encouraged. The suggested theme for images is “not my president.” 


As Moury and Spiegelman explained to New York Magazine, although Trump is the motivation behind the project, he is not the focus of it. While some images refer directly to Trump’s aggressively sexist quotes and beliefs, many discuss the ability of women to transcend hatred and fear, as well as their ability to organize together. Rather than simply bashing Trump, the artists focus on the immense strength and potential of women who stand together, speak up, and fight back. 


While art is not the only way to fight back against a Trump presidency, for those blessed with the talent to communicate sharply through images, it’s a start. “I think that pictures have a way of searing themselves into your brain and cutting through the hypocrisy,” Spiegelman said. “And constant and immediate reaction through pictures is a necessary form of political resistance.”



Here is my #comix best to the #resistance -DD I'd like to call upon you to contribute to a special issue of Gabe Fowler's Smoke Signals that I will be guest-editing with my daughter, writer Nadja Spiegelman. The issue will be called RESIST! and it will be in the format of a tabloid newspaper.  30,000 copies will be distributed for free on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2017, in Washington D.C. Further distribution will occur at the Women's March on January 21st and throughout the United States. We're aiming to make the issue all women, though we'll be open-minded to all submissions we receive.  I assume that you, like us, have been struggling these past few weeks to comprehend and combat this rising wave of fascism in America and abroad. PLEASE send us your sketches, comics and drawings. Now is the time to RESIST! in any way we can. We need to make women's voices heard. We must be loud and unapologetic in denouncing the misogyny, xenophobia, and hate that is quickly being normalized.  We need your submissions NOW. We are working under a very tight deadline. To be considered for the print issue, we must receive the work by December 10th at the very latest.  You can see the first draft of our website here: http://www.resistsubmission.com/ Technical specifications:  Please submit in either of the following formats: half page: 10" w x 7 3/4" h, landscape orientation full page: 10" w x 16" h, portrait orientation  Our publication will be on newsprint so do not design images that bleed, and think about flat areas of color--not intricate color detail. All images should be sent to us RGB at 72 dpi at the sizes above (jpeg preferred.) While artists retain copyright to their images, we cannot offer monetary compensation. We will give preference to unpublished work, but we do not require exclusive use of the images.  Please do not hesitate to spread the link to the website to your friends. We are taking the two-pronged approach of an open call for work, and a directed call to the working artists we already know and admire (such as yourself). If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. Nadja, Gabe and I will be reachable at resistsubmission@gmail.com

A photo posted by Dame Darcy (@damedarcy) on









For the post-it show!

A photo posted by Julie Wilson (@juliewilsonillustration) on





to Dame Darcy, I'd like to call upon you to contribute to a special issue of Gabe Fowler's Smoke Signals that I will be guest-editing with my daughter, writer Nadja Spiegelman. The issue will be called RESIST! and it will be in the format of a tabloid newspaper. 30,000 copies will be distributed for free on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2017, in Washington D.C. Further distribution will occur at the Women's March on January 21st and throughout the United States. We're aiming to make the issue all women, though we'll be open-minded to all submissions we receive. I assume that you, like us, have been struggling these past few weeks to comprehend and combat this rising wave of fascism in America and abroad. PLEASE send us your sketches, comics and drawings. Now is the time to RESIST! in any way we can. We need to make women's voices heard. We must be loud and unapologetic in denouncing the misogyny, xenophobia, and hate that is quickly being normalized. We need your submissions NOW. We are working under a very tight deadline. To be considered for the print issue, we must receive the work by December 10th at the very latest. You can see the first draft of our website here: http://www.resistsubmission.com/ Technical specifications:  Please submit in either of the following formats: half page: 10" w x 7 3/4" h, landscape orientation full page: 10" w x 16" h, portrait orientation Our publication will be on newsprint so do not design images that bleed, and think about flat areas of color--not intricate color detail. All images should be sent to us RGB at 72 dpi at the sizes above (jpeg preferred.) While artists retain copyright to their images, we cannot offer monetary compensation. We will give preference to unpublished work, but we do not require exclusive use of the images. Please do not hesitate to spread the link to the website to your friends. We are taking the two-pronged approach of an open call for work, and a directed call to the working artists we already know and admire (such as yourself). If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. Nadja, Gabe and I will be reachable at resistsubmission@gmail.com Love and kisses

A photo posted by Dame Darcy (@damedarcy) on





#dumptrump #notmypresident #fucktrump #resist #dearivanka #donthecon

A photo posted by Julie Wilson (@juliewilsonillustration) on



-- 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.


Weird That Thomas Edison Kind Of Invented The Tattoo Gun, No?

0
0

Thomas Edison is often billed as America’s greatest inventor. While the title is normally discussed in reference to things like the electric light bulb and motion picture camera, we’d like to humbly add the tattoo gun to the list.


You see, it was Thomas Edison’s 1876 discovery of the electric pen, the terrifying-looking device above, that was the inspiration for the original electric tattoo machine.


Originally, Edison’s device was meant to create multiple copies of a single image or text by passing over a stencil with an inked roller, which moved at 50 punctures per second, transferring the stencil’s contents to a sheet of paper below. 


As a writing implement, the electric pen was a flop. But it caught the eye of a New York tattoo artist named Samuel F. O’Reilly, who, in 1891, created the first electric tattoo needle based on Edison’s prototype. The device increased the speed and accuracy of a process that had long been done by hand. 



So, basically, brilliant inventor Thomas Edison is the reason your ink looks so damn fly. Maybe that fun fact will come in handy when convincing your parents that your dream tattoo is in fact the product of a genius, historic American invention. You are simply doing your part to pay tribute to an American hero, is that so wrong? 


An original model of Edison’s electric pen is coming to the New York Historical Society in February, as part of an exhibition on the history of tattoo culture in New York City. The exhibit also includes painfully cool photos collected from the 300 year history of permanent body art, definitely disproving your family’s theory that tattoos are just a trend. 


Tattooed New York” will be on view from February 3, 2017 until April 30, 2017 at the New York Historical Society.

-- 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.

Refugees Take Us Inside Their Fight For Survival In This Harrowing Film

0
0



One summer morning, yet another flimsy boat overflowing with people glides precariously across the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey. Men, women and children are clinging to one another when water suddenly seeps into the raft. People sitting on the edges tumble into the sea, while those still in the dinghy use water bottles to try and pour out the seawater. A man named Hassan Akkad, once an English teacher from the Syrian capital Damascus, filmed the entire event.


It’s one of many harrowing scenes that refugees and migrants themselves have filmed and it features in “Exodus,” a two-hour documentary film produced by Keo Films that airs on PBS’ “Frontline” Tuesday.


“Anyone can be a refugee,” said Akkad in the film. “It’s not something which you choose, it’s something that happens to you.”


Akkad’s ordeal was far from over once he finally reached the shoreline. He told The WorldPost after arriving on the Greek island of Lesbos from Turkey on July 12, 2015, how masked men aggressively tried to push the refugees back to Turkish waters. He survived the terrifying event, and after many months of traipsing across Europe made it safely to the United Kingdom. 


Many others have not survived the oddessy across hundreds of miles of land and sea, a voyage that hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants have attempted in the past few years.





It’s become the largest mass displacement catastrophe since World War Two ― 65 million people around the world have been forced to flee from their homes. About 21 million of them are refugees, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency. 


The horrific scenes in “Exodus” may have been shot in 2015, but the crisis has showed no signs of abating.


Some of the routes we see in the film have become mass graveyards in 2016, in particular the area between Libya and Italy. More migrants and refugees died this year in transit than ever before, particularly in the central Mediterranean, even though the total number of people making crossings decreased compared to 2015.


And while people once could travel relatively freely across the Europe Union’s open-border territory, known as the Schengen Area, several countries took extreme measures to build border walls this year. This has made it nearly impossible for migrants and refugees to travel further west toward their end intended destination.



“Exodus” director James Bluemel and his team visited refugee and migrant “hotspots” in 26 countries around the world. They needed to find people who were not only willing to open themselves up to a camera crew but also agree to shoot their own footage on a camera or smartphone “when our presence would impede this footage,” Bluemel told The WorldPost.


The show focuses on five main characters, including Akkad, as it launches into the stories at various points along the journey. The others are Syrians Isra’a and Ahmad, Alaigie from Gambia and Sadiq from Afghanistan. (PBS did not disclose their surnames.)


The viewer meets Isra’a while she’s selling cigarettes on the street with her father, Tarek, in the Turkish coastal city of Izmir, which has a high concentration of smuggling activity. She and her family spent four months there before they earned enough money to pay smugglers for spots on a rubber dinghy that would take them to Greece.


Alaigie’s story begins in his home country of Gambia, as he prepares to leave for Italy. It’s an eight-month trip that will take him through several Sub-Saharan African countries before he’s imprisoned in Tripoli, Libya.



“The idea came from seeing images in the news daily of mainly Africans dying in huge numbers in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya,” Bluemel said.


He chose to anchor the film around footage coming from the people actually making the trip. It’s “incredible, unique access that was shot only if you’re a migrant shooting that thing yourself,” the filmmaker said.


Bluemel conducted a “sort of casting process” to find subjects who would work best with an audience and accept that what is being asked of them is potentially dangerous, he said. Each one took a different approach to filming.


Akkad, for example, “found filming incredibly useful, almost like a crutch or a way to distance himself from reality,” Bluemel said. “He filmed absolutely everything and still carries on filming, he found it very useful.”



The film ends at the beginning of a new journey for all of the characters ― we don’t learn what happens to them once they’ve reached their final destination.


So the BBC commissioned another three-hour update to “Exodus” because “the situation in Europe is radically different now than when we made that film,” Bluemel said.


Greece, for example, became a holding pen for around 50,000 refugees and migrants this year after neighboring countries like Macedonia closed off their borders.


Many have become disenchanted by their lives in their European destination of choice, either because of rising anti-immigrant sentiment or difficult asylum processes. Sadiq, for example, gets his asylum application rejected in Finland as the film ends.


“The sympathy we’ve had for refugees is quickly disappearing,” Bluemel said.


The next episode is more focused on the various places ― like the French border town of Calais or the shores of Libya ― that have been completely transformed as a result of this crisis, one of the film’s producers Daisy Squires said.


“It’s really more about places and characters within a place,” she said.


Going into 2017, the causes that compel people to flee continue to worsen in many countries like Syria or Yemen, making the work of informing and raising awareness all the more important, she added.

-- 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.

A Poignant 'Sgt. Pepper'-Style Tribute To The Stars We've Lost in 2016

0
0

The Beatles’ iconic “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album cover has inspired a tribute to all of the celebrities who died in 2016.


George Michael, Prince, David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Gene Wilder, Robert Vaughan, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Leonard Cohen were among the dozens of famous faces featured in Chris Barker’s poignant creation. There are also references to major world events, such as Donald Trump’s presidential election win and Britain’s Brexit vote to leave the European Union:






Inspired by the tumultuous year, the British artist wrote on his Tumblr that “lot of people speculate that Bowie was actually the glue that was holding the universe together. It’s certainly been a bit different since he tragically passed away.”


Barker posted the first version of the image online in November. But he felt compelled to update it every time a new star died, which turned his labor of love into something akin to “a full-time job,” he said. Barker even outsourced the task to a friend when he was without his laptop over the holidays.






“This year really has got a wicked sense of humor,” Barker told The Huffington Post on Tuesday. “Just when you think it can’t shock you any more it manages to pull something else out of the bag. I dread to think what’s next frankly but for those who are asking what I have planned for next year? I don’t know. Not this, that’s for sure.”


Despite hundreds of thousands of people sharing Barker’s images, which he admitted erroneously featured Motorhead frontman Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister (who died near the end of 2015), he hasn’t actually made a dime from his work. 


“As a photographer pointed out to me, it would kind of be unethical to profit from something that makes use of so many peoples’ intellectual property so that’s why I am asking people to donate to charity,” Barker told HuffPost.


He suggested the memorial fund for Jo Cox, the British member of parliament who was assassinated by a man with white-supremacist ties before the Brexit vote. But “any charity will do,” Barker added, “apart from the Trump Foundation. That’s not even a charity in my opinion.”


type=type=RelatedArticlesblockTitle=Related Coverage + articlesList=5860e18ce4b0d9a59458c594,5694e550e4b086bc1cd5189a,57ce807ae4b0e60d31dfdd5e

-- 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.

If The Holidays Are Driving You Mad, Baby Bjork Reading The Nativity Story Will Help

0
0

You might have stopped believing in holiday magic once you graduated elementary school, and that’s chill. But if perchance you have yet to see this video of a young Bjork reading the nativity story aloud on Icelandic television ― you might just have to reconsider. 





 The video was originally shot in 1977 and uploaded to Reddit in 2014, where it has remained on the minds of grumpy internet users desperate for a break from Christmas family fun ever since. In it, an 11-year-old Bjork looking unbelievably adorable and predictably cool tells the story of Jesus’ birth while a kids’ orchestra from the Reykjavík Children’s Music School plays in the background. 


I mean, just look at this face. 





Just five years later, Bjork would be fronting a punk band wearing face paint and a bow in her hair. And a mere 35 years after that, Bjork would be using her role as one of music’s most influential living legends to call out sexism in the industry.


Once a renegade visionary, always a renegade visionary. Happy holidays to everyone ― but especially to Bjork. 




-- 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.

Behold, 41 Dad Jokes In 4 Minutes

0
0



Nothing compares to the unadulterated corniness of a good old-fashioned dad joke.


If you’re a fan of this special brand of humor, you’re in for a treat. Vlogger and new dad Hank Green (brother of author John Green) released a new video titled “41 Dad Jokes in 4 Minutes!”


Watch the video above for some lovable, eye roll-inducing comedy.


H/T Tastefully Offensive

-- 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