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Dad Offers Brilliant Way To Read To Three Kids At A Time

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Father of three Hal Taylor believes of reading to your kids is one of the most important things a parent can do. After his third child was born, however, he encountered a problem: All three kids couldn't fit on his lap when he sat down on their rocking chair to read them a story.


"I had to come up with something," he told The Huffington Post, noting that his youngest child Rose absolutely "insisted on being part of the reading crowd very early." Taylor invented the "StoryTime Rocking Chair" -- a unique multi-seat chair that he built by hand (with some special help from his three kids). 



Though it's been 20 years since Taylor created his family's StoryTime Rocking Chair, the former electrical engineer and manufacturing consultant now makes and sells rocking chairs full time.


Though the $7,000-$7,500 price may seem high, the dad explains on his website that he follows a very complex process to build the design "perfectly" so that each rocking chair is durable and long-lasting. "This is one of the very few chairs you can purchase that your great grand children will be using to rock and read their grand children!"


Whether or not they choose to invest in a StoryTime Rocking Chair, Taylor told HuffPost he wants all parents to consider his most important piece of parenting advice. "Read read read read read to your children!" he said, adding, "And then .... read some more!"



 


H/T BoredPanda


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Why One Community Chooses Not To Tell Their Stories On The Internet

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"Circulation is down; apathy is up."


That's what John Marr had to say about his hobby in a 1999 essay called "Zines Are Dead," pointing out the contrasting ease of writing on the Internet. "The web has made a reality out of the fantasies of certain dewy-eyed zine theoreticians: everyone these days really can be their own publisher," he wrote. Which is true; they can. Tumblr counts over 220 million users. Last week, one in seven people on Earth logged onto Facebook.


But the Internet hasn't killed zines. 



The low-budget cousins of magazines, zines (pronounced but not spelled "zeens") are handmade collections of writings and illustrations reproduced typically by copy machines, stapled together, and sent through the mail. Their main virtue is acting as a non-commercial means of disseminating personal ideas. Some are political, while others are based on an obsessive love for a particular thing: Science-fiction zines were big in the '70s. Punks and riot grrrls made zines in the '90s.


"Newsweek's ink is no blacker than yours," Factsheet Five, a now-defunct zine-review zine, declared in a 1989 guide to self-publishing.


Still others are very, very personal -- nicknamed "perzines." Perzines dig into serious subjects. Many of the perzines I encountered in my research touch on depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, PTSD or a combination of various conditions. Making and distributing zines provides, for many, a community to connect with and discuss shared experiences, but that seems to ring true for perzine writers more so than any others.


"It creates this feeling that you're not alone," 28-year-old Eddie Jude told The Huffington Post. Jude has been involved with zines since the early 2000s, curious about ones that covered "reproductive justice stuff" when such information was limited online.


Preferring the use of a gender-neutral pronoun, Jude explained that they struggled with an eating disorder in high school. After reading hand-me-down zines from friends, Jude explored a library in Toronto and came across perzines. Eventually, they started making their own.


"Zines were one of the big things that helped me stop having an eating disorder," Jude said.



Brianne Burnell, who makes a zine called Anxiety, similarly started creating her beautifully illustrated comics as a way to examine what makes her so anxious. Burnell's anxiety disorder impacted her university attendance record, made her walk out of an exam with a panic attack, and cost her friends who didn't get why she couldn't go out to bars like any other girl. "[Zines] made me laugh at myself," she explained in an email. Sharing them with friends and family helped them see the humor in her illness, too.


"My dad suddenly understood me better. My friends felt more comfortable broaching the subject with me. We all laughed together about how incapable I am. It was cathartic, devastating, and inspiring all at once," she said.   


Comparing zine-making to clinical therapy, though, is a big leap. As New York-based art therapist Linda Turner reminded us, formal therapy is conducted in a controlled setting with a licensed professional. While "writing and doing" can have a positive effect, Turner pointed out that sharing deeply personal things with a broader audience can have unintended negative consequences -- possibly even causing more anxiety in retrospect. On the other hand, she acknowledged, sharing an experience after coming to terms with it can also be helpful.


"It just really depends on the person," Turner said. 



Most of the zine publishers I spoke with, however, mentioned the importance of writing first and foremost for themselves. Finding people to connect with, they explained, was more of an added benefit to zines than their raison d'être 


For example, after Earla Legault's sister died of cancer, the 55-year-old British Columbian turned to her long-term hobby to process her grief. "I know, for me, getting it out of my body really helped," Legault said. 


When she took her zine, I Need A Grief Buddy, to a local hospice and read some of her writing aloud, the response was so enthusiastic that she was asked to lead actual zine workshops there. Cultural taboos may stymie discussion of certain emotional subjects, Legault said, but "you can still put it down on paper." She recently put out a call for submissions from others who have lost a sibling, with the idea of crafting a zine from everyone's work.


"It’s just really immediate. That’s what I liked about it," Legault explained, adding that she doesn't see a similar "authentic-ness" on the Internet, a medium designed to connect people. Can even the most intimate blogs and message boards compare with the closeness of words on paper?


That's a question 27-year-old Jessica Lewis, who runs a blog on books, zines and crafts, contemplated when she and some friends -- "all bloggers and web people" -- decided to start publishing.


"We thought, 'We don't really want to make another blog. We want to make something that people can have and hold and pass around,'" Lewis explained. Her gang created Static, a twice-yearly Toronto-based zine on rotating themes. 



Barnard zine librarian Jenna Freedman pointed out another reason to keep personal stories off the Internet. Print media leaves authors less vulnerable "to the horrible comment wars [and] people threatening to rape you and other things that happen to women when you write about any topic, really," she said. 


In exchange for that relatively troll-free life, though, the offline world of zines typically requires more than a few clicks from your computer chair to gain access. You can go to a zine fest -- there are annual events in cities like Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City and Portland, among others. Independent bookstores like New York's Bluestockings also sometimes carry locally made zines. Etsy or independent publishers' sites offer online ordering, but you'll have to wait for them to show up in your IRL mailbox.  


Like trading cards, they can be swapped with friends, and the act of bartering can bring people together over great distances, mailing new work back and forth as a way to keep tabs on one another. In a way, it's like tearing out pages of a diary, copying them, and mailing them to pen pals disparately familiar with the author -- a bizarre practice by the standards of anyone who's recorded her dearest thoughts on paper with no intention of letting anyone else see them. Perhaps zines do go through a finer editing process than a private lock-and-key notebook, but their content is often just as confidential. 


On the value of notebook-keeping, the magazine writer Joan Didion stated, "I think we are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be." Zines, like scrapbooks for the psyche, may be similarly instructive for creators' future selves.


"We forget all too soon the things we thought we could never forget," Didion continued, emphasizing the value of writing and creating for yourself. "We forget the loves and the betrayals alike, forget what we whispered and what we screamed, forget who we were."


Now, the Internet serves as a time capsule. It's hard to forget things when they're still online -- buried under a pile of newer images and status updates, but still there. (It's a post-delete world, after all.) We can establish sites to chronicle our thoughts, house our art, and even invite outside comment to foster the same type of long-distance relationships that delight zine-makers. Internet users, then, may take comfort in feeling, as Jude described, "like you're not alone."


Before the Internet democratized media, self-publishing was one of few ways for ordinary people to record and share with a wider audience. Zines on old taboos like sexual orientation could provide a staticky connection to a community of others with nonstandard identities in an age before chat rooms and message boards and -- perhaps most importantly -- simple ways to anonymize yourself.


And yet there's camaraderie in roaming freely among others who have similarly opened themselves for the sake of their zines -- a mutual understanding of process, at least, if not always themes. From sci-fi zines to Dada artists' tiny publications to even the American Revolutionaries' self-produced propaganda, the history of small-scale independent publishing is deep-rooted in nonconformity. At their core, zines are a medium for self-declared Others to assert themselves (within the modest confines of bound pages) for an audience of individuals likeminded and not -- or not yet.   


As Burnell explained, zines have brewed "a very DIY community, full of punks and poets and weirdos," still humming along in 2015 as it has for ages.


She added, "I fit in perfectly."


 


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Revisiting The Radically Avant-Garde Movement Art History Forgot

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Have you heard of Cobra, the 20th century, post-war art movement privileging all things folk, kitsch, lowbrow, populist and "primitive"? Don't feel bad, I hadn't either. For today's edition of revisiting the forgotten gems of art history, read on.


Cobra -- or CoBrA, if you prefer -- is an art movement merging figuration and abstraction, named after the cities of Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam. Despite the clean and tidy way the movement is framed in (or excluded from) history books -- as a North European movement existing from 1948 until 1951 -- the reality is much more complex. 



In the words of Alison M. Gingeras: "Cobra was wonderfully messy, cacophonous, and multi-tentacled." The multivalent movement, without a defining origin or aesthetic, revolved around a shared interest in improvisation, collaboration and freedom from Western cultural tradition. Instead of honoring the art historical classics, Cobra lauded what dwelled on the fringes: camp, folk art, children's art, and the art made in psychiatric hospitals. 



In part because of the radically expansive orbit of the movement -- its lack of clear beginning or end, its nonpartisan acceptance of media and materials, its seemingly endless bounty of inspiration culled from all times and places -- Cobra was never fully embraced by the marketplace or the history books. 


But gallery Blum & Poe is set to bring Cobra out of relative obscurity and into the art conversation, revisiting the figures who shaped the international art scene. Titled "The Avant-Garde Won’t Give Up: Cobra and Its Legacy," the group exhibition features multimedia works from the movement's key players. Some worked in sculpture, others paint; some idolized the naive scrawl of a child's hand, others the sophisticated curl of Chinese calligraphy. The only thing tying the following artists together is their mutual desire to create new and radical art, together, by any means necessary. 


Today, though the word Cobra remains largely unspoken, its influence is everywhere: from the widespread popularity of "outsider art" to the ever-growing appreciation of bad taste. In anticipation of the exhibition, we've compiled a brief primer on the artists on view. Read on to learn more about the creative minds behind your new favorite art movement. 



"The Avant-Garde Won’t Give Up: Cobra and Its Legacy" runs at Blum & Poe in New York from September 9 until October 17, 2015 and at Blum & Poe in Los Angeles from November 5 until December 23, 2015.


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Stunning Camouflage Artist Turns The Human Body Into A Canvas

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Our bodies are permeable shields, protecting our glorious, gushy insides from harm's way. They act as the barrier between our guts and veins and blood and the many wonders of the external world. Of course, get a little creative with your paint set, and this seemingly fixed blockade becomes far more muddled. 


Take performance artist and photographer Cecilia Paredes, for example. The Peruvian artist -- now based part time in Philadelphia -- weaves herself into the fabric of her surroundings using painstaking repetition and attention to detail. The chameleon artist becomes one with her surroundings, camouflaging herself against various mosaics, carpets and crumpled bunches of fabric. 



Paredes' hypnotic photo performances will soon be on view in Texas in an exhibition titled "Cecilia Paredes: The Wandering Flight." As the title implies, the show centers around the universal desire to fly -- and the ideas of freedom, rebellion and catharsis associated with such an act. Melding her body with unnatural representations of natural forms, Paredes toys with the common equations of nature and reality. "I think that in these works, aesthetics bind with the anthropologic in order to register fragments of personal and social memory," the artist explained in a statement.


Erasing the line between body and background, throwing what's real into question in both the artist and her backdrop, Paredes rips off the stable ground beneath her viewers' feet, in a way, inviting them to fly. 


"The Wandering Flight" is on view from Sept. 3 until Oct. 10, 2015 at Ruiz-Healy Art in San Antonio, Texas.



 


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28 Art Shows You Need To See This Fall

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As we approach Labor Day and the unofficial end to summer, the only thing motivating us to open our laptops and begin another day anew is the thought of a new season of art exhibitions. Well, maybe that and the promise of cooler temperatures. But the slate of fall art shows is considerably high on our list of autumnal things to look forward to.


In anticipation of fall, we scoured the calendars -- one editor on the East coast, one writer on the West -- and came up with 20 exhibitions (and eight honorable mentions) we're excited to ogle over the next few months. Whether you're in New York or Los Angeles, New Orleans or Detroit, St. Louis or Fort Worth, here's your guide to getting down with art in September and beyond.


1. "Spirit and Matter: Islamic Art" (Dallas, Texas)



What: "Spirit and Matter: Masterpieces from the Keir Collection of Islamic Art"
Where: Dallas Museum of Art in Dallas, Texas
When: Sept. 18, 2015 to July 31, 2016 
Why: Islamic art is still radically underrepresented in the museum world. This expansive show features 13 centuries' worth of work from three continents of Islamic artists. Expect artworks ranging from rock crystals to carpets to textiles, capturing the stunning diversity of the Islamic experience then and now.
Also on view: Jackson Pollock and Irving Penn


 


2. "The Big Hope Show" (Baltimore, Maryland)



What: "The Big Hope Show"
Where: American Museum of Visionary Art in Baltimore, Maryland
When: Oct. 3, 2015 to Sept. 4, 2016
Why: This uber-happy exhibit, marking the 20th anniversary of the AMVA, features the work of visionary and self-taught artists who have suffered from extreme trauma, and have used their powers of creative expression to overcome. The show features everyone from outsider artist and extreme dog lover Bobby Adams to The Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne, who apparently discovered his creative fire after surviving a robbery while working as a fry cook. Who knew?


3. Joyce Pensato (Fort Worth, Texas)



What: "FOCUS: Joyce Pensato"
Where: Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth in Forth Worth, Texas
When: Nov.21, 2015 to Jan. 31, 2016
Why: Pensato's subjects include Homer Simpson, Batman, and Kyle of "South Park." She transforms these iconic American cartoon figures into menacing and peculiar beasts, using sweeping black-and-white brush strokes reminiscent of Abstract Expressionism and street art. Her dark cartoon mania is sure to please any art lover and her creepy uncle. 
Also on view: Kehinde Wiley, Frank Stella and KAWS


4. "Rebel Rebel" (Seattle, Washington)



What: "Rebel Rebel"
Where: Seattle Art Museum in Seattle, Washington
When: Aug. 29, 2015 to Dec. 13, 2015
Why: Do you even have to ask? This feminist exhibition features artists who've fought gender stereotypes and cliches since the 1960s, especially as they apply to female artists. Giving a large F.U. to established ideas of the male genius and the woman as muse, artists including Victoria Haven, Ann Leda Shapiro and Dawn Cerny show that women artists don't take no crap from nobody.


5. "Earth Machines" (San Francisco, California)



What: "Earth Machines"
Where: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, California
When: Aug. 14, 2015 to Dec. 6, 2015
Why: How are all the laptops, cell phones and other techno-gadgets we've become so obsessed with and dependent on changing the future of our planet? A variety of contemporary artists in disparate media consider the dark repercussions of our choices, exploring issues including rare earth mining, the disposal of e-waste and the long-term decomposition of tech products.
Also on view: Won Ju Lim and "Radical Presence"


6. Sheila Hicks (St. Louis, Missouri)



What: Sheila Hicks
Where: Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis in St. Louis, Missouri
When: Sept. 11 to Dec. 27, 2015
Why: For almost 60 years, Paris-based, American-born artist Sheila Hicks has been exploring the potential to play with traditional textile techniques including weaving, crocheting, dying and spinning. Over the years Hicks has created her own visual language, navigating the texture, color and unorthodox possibilities of her weaved abstractions. Using everything from natural fibers to rubber bands, Hicks transformed a traditional craft into an endless avant-garde experiment. 
Also on view: "Hurvin Anderson: Backdrop," "Wyatt Kahn: Object Paintings," "Street Views: Marilyn Minter"


7. Ishiuchi Miyako (Los Angeles, California)



What: "Ishiuchi Miyako: Postwar Shadows"
Where: The Getty Center in Los Angeles, California
When: Oct. 6, 2015 to Feb. 21, 2016
Why: Self-taught Japanese photographer Miyako is known for her stunning images documenting life in her hometown of Yokosuka, where the U.S. Navy had set up base. The grainy, black-and-white images present a haunting depiction of political realities mixed with childhood fears, hopes, shadows and memories. The exhibit will also include images from Miyako's most recent series, which revisits children's clothing and other artifacts from the time of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, 70 years ago.
Also on view: "The Younger Generation: Contemporary Japanese Photography," "Eat, Drink, and Be Merry: Food in the Middle Ages and Renaissance," "Art of the Fold: Drawings of Drapery and Costume"


8. Njideka Akunyili Crosby (Los Angeles, California)



What: Njideka Akunyili Crosby
Where: The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, California.
When: Oct. 3, 2015 to Nov. 21, 2015
Why: Crosby, a Nigerian-born artist, fuses African and American culture in her collage-painting-printing hybrids, referencing her life as an expatriate in the contemporary age. The works offer a crucial counterpoint to the often dismal depictions of Africa in the west.
Also on view: "UH OH: Frances Stark," "The Idea of North: The Paintings of Lawren Harris," "Hammer Projects: Avery Singer"


9. "Hippie Modernism" (Minneapolis, Minnesota)



What: "Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia"
Where: The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota
When: Oct. 24, 2015 to Feb. 28, 2016
Why: If the title isn't enough to intrigue you, the exhibition will chronicle the art, architecture and design of the counterculture of the 1960s and early 1970s, including everything from experimental furniture, alternative living structures, retro magazines and books, and archival films.
Also on view: "International Pop"


10. "Transmissions: Art in Eastern Europe and Latin America, 1960–1980" (New York, New York)



What: "Transmissions: Art in Eastern Europe and Latin America, 1960–1980"
Where: The Museum of Modern Art in New York 
When: Sept. 5, 2015 to Jan. 3, 2016
Why: "Transmissions" focuses on artists and art communities in Eastern Europe and Latin American during the 1960s and '70s who emphasized creation outside of a market context. If you're into radical, experimental and subversive post-WWII art, this is the MoMA show for you.
Also on view: "Picasso Sculpture"


11. Photographic Portraits from West Africa (New York, New York)



What: "In and Out of the Studio Photographic Portraits from West Africa"
Where: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, New York
When: Aug. 31, 2015 to Jan. 3, 2016
Why: Experience 100 years of portrait photography in West Africa through a series of 80 photographs taken between the 1870s and the 1970s by amateur and professional photographers active from Senegal to Cameroon and from Mali to Gabon.


12. Becky Suss (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)



What: Becky Suss
Where: The Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
When: Sept. 16, 2015 to Dec. 27, 2015
Why: Philly-born and Philly-raised, Suss reimagines the domestic spaces of her relatives, flattening the physical spaces of her memories and filling them up with skewed perspectives and historic kitsch. 
Also on view: Josephine Pryde and Christopher Knowles


 


13. "Class Distinctions: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer" (Boston, Massachusetts)



What: "Class Distinctions: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer"
Where: The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts
When: Oct. 11, 2015 to Jan. 18, 2016
Why: The exhibition will feature 75 Dutch paintings from the 17th century that depict not just princes and paupers, but all walks of Dutch societal life from over 400 years ago. Art history nerds, this show will cover the gorgeous colors and brushworks of Rembrandt and his ilk, as well as the class narratives embedded in each of their paintings.


 


14. "Shadows and Dreams: Pictorialist Photography in America" (Cleveland, Ohio)



What: "Shadows and Dreams: Pictorialist Photography in America"
Where: The Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio
When: Sept. 5, 2015 to Jan. 17, 2016
Why: The Pictorialists were known for their eagerness to strip photography of its constraints and infuse the medium with as much personal expression as abstract painting or sculpture, striving to be less reporters and documentarians and more photographic illustrators and visual pioneers. Here is a happy summary of the movement and its impact on American art.
Also on view: "Music Videos II" and "Silent Poetry: Masterworks of Chinese Painting"


 


15. Deana Lawson (Chicago, Illinois)



What: "Deana Lawson: Ruttenberg Contemporary Photography Series"
Where: The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois
When: Sept. 5, 2015 to Jan. 10, 2016
Why: New York-based photographer Deana Lawson has spent over 10 years exploring the ways in which black culture has been portrayed visually across the world, through staged images and found candids alike. She's captured photographs in her hometown of Brooklyn as well as places in Louisiana, Haiti, Jamaica, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Also on view: "Gates of the Lord: The Tradition of Krishna Paintings" and Charles Ray


 


16. "Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion" (Atlanta, Georgia)



What: Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion
Where: The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia
When: Nov. 7, 2015 to May 15, 2016
Why: This will be the first U.S. museum exhibition of work by the Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen. From haute couture to 3D printing, this is a show for any aspiring fashion devotees in and around Atlanta.


17. "30 Americans" (Detroit, Michigan)



What: "30 Americans"
Where: Detroit Institute of Arts in Detroit, Michigan
When: Oct. 18, 2015 to Jan. 18, 2016
Why: Where else can you see Kerry James Marshall, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kara Walker, Nick Cave, Kehinde Wiley, Carrie Mae Weems, Robert Colescott, Glen Ligon and Lorna Simpson all in one place? "30 Americans" is celebrating 30 years of art by African Americans, focusing on issues of racial, political, historical and gender identity.


 


18. "No Boundaries: Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting" (Miami, Florida)



What: "No Boundaries: Aboriginal Australian Contemporary Abstract Painting"
Where: Perez Art Museum in Miami, Florida
When: Sept. 17, 2015 to Jan. 3, 2016
Why: Here are the names of nine Aboriginal Australian artists you've probably never heard of: Paddy Bedford, Janangoo Butcher Cherel, Tommy Mitchell, Ngarra, Boxer Milner Tjampitjin, Warlimpirrnga Tjapaltjarri, Tjumpo Tjapanangvka, Billy Joongoorra Thomas, and Prince of Wales (Midpul). If you've ever wanted an introduction into the amazing world of Aboriginal abstraction, head to Miami.


19. "Orientalism: Taking and Making" (New Orleans, Louisiana)



What: "Orientalism: Taking and Making"
Where: The New Orleans Museum of Art in New Orleans, Louisiana
When: Through Dec. 31, 2015
Why: While the pop culture and fashion worlds at large grapple with what it means to appropriate traditions from historically oppressed cultures, NOMA is addressing "shades of oppression, racism, and superficial cultural understanding" found in 19th-century Orientalist paintings, photographs and decorative arts.


20. "Louise Bourgeois: No Exit" (Washington, D.C.)



What: "Louise Bourgeois: No Exit"
Where: The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
When: November 15, 2015 to May 15, 2016
Why: It's Louise Bourgeois, do you need another reason


 


8 Honorable mentions:



 


Also on HuffPost:


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Toddler's Impassioned Rendition Of 'Les Mis' Classic Goes Viral

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A toddler's viral rendition of "Do You Hear The People Sing?" is earning accolades from parents, "Les Misérables" fanatics and even Broadway stars. 


Mom Erin Frehner uploaded this brilliant video of her 3-year-old son Koen passionately belting out the famous anthem -- with his own adorable touches. Koen sings lines like "The blood of the martyrs will water the meadows of Fwwwwance!" with enough fervor to make anyone want to join the revolution. 


The video has over 260,000 views on YouTube, and even the famous Jean Valjean actor Alfie Boe has taken note. "This is amazing. A future Enjolras," he tweeted.


We're hoping Koen gets his chance on the Broadway stage a little bit sooner. Heck, he'd make a great Gavroche.


H/T Today


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2015 Fall Books Preview: 33 Can't-Miss New Reads

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 Setting aside Jonathan Franzen's ubiquitously discussed new novel Purity, fall 2015 is an embarrassment of literary riches. Intriguing fiction debuts, humorous essays from masters of the form and new offerings from some of the greatest novelists of our time number among the treats in store for avid readers starting Sept. 1. 


We've rounded up 33 of the enticing books we can't wait to see hit the shelves this fall: 




Sept. 1 



The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth


Not for the faint of heart, The Wake draws the reader into post-Norman Invasion England and its horrors through adapted Old English -- just adapted enough that we can understand it without special classes, not adapted enough that it isn’t a rigorous challenge.


First sentence: “the night was clere though i slept i seen it.



The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante


Ferrante's stunning series comes to a close, as Lila and Elena bicker and support one another through motherhood, neighborhood tumult and personal tragedies. The author's perfectly paced homage to female friendship is well worth picking up from the beginning.


First sentence:“From October 1976 until 1979, when I returned to Naples to live, I avoided resuming a steady relationship with Lila."



Paulina & Fran by Rachel B. Glaser


Art school kids Paulina and Fran take a magical school trip to Norway, but things between them sour upon return. The ebbs and flows of friendship are brought to life in quick, funny prose.


First sentence:“Paulina was dissatisfied with her lover.”



Wilberforce by H.S. Cross


For fans of Evelyn Waugh or Kingsley Amis, a wry take on priggish, midcentury boarding schools. It's a dark take on the coming-of-age stories that've populated the book world as of late.


First sentence:“Something was pressing the life out of him.”


 


Sept. 8



Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rushdie


Rushdie’s intoxicating brand of magical realism returns full force in this tale of the unwitting human descendants of an otherworldly jinn and a 1,001-night battle between the forces of light and darkness that throw the world into chaos.


First sentence:“Very little is known, though much has been written, about the true nature of the jinn, the creatures made of smokeless fire.”



Bream Gives Me Hiccups by Jesse Eisenberg


Yes, that Jesse Eisenberg. And if the hilarious short stories he published in McSweeney’s are any indicator, his fiction might live up to his charming acting abilities.


First sentence: “Last night, mom took me to Sushi Nozawa, near Matt’s house.”


 


Sept. 15 



The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli, translated by Christina MacSweeney


Luiselli’s second novel -- her first, Faces in the Crowd, published in English last year, won a National Book Foundation “5 Under 35” Award -- is hotly anticipated and promises to be playful, sharp, profound and utterly unusual.


First sentence:“I’m the best auctioneer in the world, but no one knows it because I’m a discreet sort of man.”



Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling


If, like most Americans, you’ve read Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? or her counterparts’ Bossypants (Tina Fey) and Yes Please (Amy Poehler), you will know there’s no reason to miss out on Kaling’s infectious humor.


First sentence: "In seventh grade, I started at a new school."



Undermajordomo Minor by Patrick DeWitt


The back cover of Patrick DeWitt's novel calls it "a fable without a moral." It's an appealing and believable tagline for a book by the author of The Sister Brothers, an adventurous, Coen Brothers-esque Western.


First sentence:“Lucien Minor’s mother had not wept, had not come close to weeping at their parting.”



The Double Life of Liliane by Lily Tuck


An almost autobiographical story of a life divided, Lily Tuck's novel blurs the lines between memoir and fiction. The imaginative heroine at its center splits her time between her mother's home in New York City and her filmmaker father's lavish Italian lifestyle.


First sentence:“Liliane’s double life begins at New York’s Idlewild Airport when she boards a Trans World Airlines L-749 Constellation.” 



The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr


Memoirs, sometimes, get a bad rap. No thanks to the particular breed of the form that spawns schmaltzy self-help, it can be easy to overlook nuanced approaches to personal writing. Mary Karr examines what can make the form work, and, naturally, examines herself in the process.


First sentence:"No oneelected me boss of memoir."



Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan, translated by Labodalih Sembiring


Man Tiger, which centers on a normal young man who also happens to be, in his alternate life, a supernatural, female white tiger, is one of two novels introducing this acclaimed Indonesian author to America this fall.


First sentence:“On the evening Margio killed Anwar Sadat, Kyai Jahro was blissfully busy with his fishpond.”



Scrapper by Matt Bell


The devastated city of Detroit comes to life in Bell's novel of transformation and redemption. Wading through abandoned buildings, protagonist Kelly encounters a wailing child, and fights to avenge those who've harmed him.


First sentence: “See the body of the plant, one hundred years of patriots’ history, fifty years an American wreck.”



Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff


In fierce, evocative prose, Groff weaves a suspense story out of a storybook marriage and the secrets troubling it beneath the surface.


First sentence: “A thick drizzle from the sky, like a curtain’s sudden sweeping.”


 


Sept. 29



Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins


Few debuts have been more hotly anticipated than this one from the author of the short story collection Battleborn. Gold Fame Citrus seems both fascinating and topical, taking a drought-ravaged, dystopian California as the setting.


First sentence: “Punting the prairie dog into the library was a mistake.”



The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood


Atwood is primarily a speculative fiction writer. In recent years, she’s focused on environmentally-themed stories of climate change-induced turmoil. So, her latest book is a reminder of her ability to analyze intimate human relationships. A down-and-out couple enrolls in a society that allows them to live in a pristine house half of the year, but must commit to a prison the other half.


First sentence:“Sleeping in the car was cramped.”


 


Oct. 6 



The Clasp by Sloane Crosley


The witty essayist breaks into fiction with this novel, which combines a Guy de Maupassant-inspired mystery with a funny, thoughtful examination of modern friendship.


First sentence:“At first they watched the rain from inside the tent and then they watched it come inside the tent.”



The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory by John Seabrook


You know that hit song that you can’t get out of your head? Maybe it’s on the radio every other hour; maybe it’s blaring at the grocery store. What makes some songs so catchy? In its exploration, Seabrook’s book is a little bit brain science, a little bit celebrity analysis.


First sentence:“It started when the Boy got big enough to claim shotgun.”



The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson


The eminent writer takes on Shakespeare’s "The Winter’s Tale" for a bold modern retelling of a particularly tricky classic.


First sentence:“I saw the strangest sight tonight.”



The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra


Anthony Marra's debut novel, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, proved his fleet-footed elegance as a prose writer. Again, with this story collection, he returns to Eastern Europe to examine themes of censorship, art and war.


First sentence:“I am an artist first, a censor second.”



Death by Water by Kenzaburo Oe, translated by Deborah Boliver Boehm


Oe, the 1994 Nobel laureate in Literature, still hasn’t won the acclaim in the U.S. that he deserves, but his latest novel -- a semi-autobiographical, folklore-infused, experimental narrative of a famous author trying to process his father’s drowning death by writing a novel about it -- should intrigue fans of English-language writers like Chang-Rae Lee, David Mitchell, or even Jonathan Safran Foer.


First sentence:“The year I went off to university in Tokyo, something fateful happened when I returned home to Shikoku for one in the last in a series of traditional Buddhist services for my father.”


 


Oct. 13



Eyes by William H. Gass


Gass, who is 91, has been earning the esteem of the literati for decades with his mindbending, finely crafted fiction; in his new collection, short story lovers will find both mesmerizing prose and absurd, compelling premises, such as an interview with the piano used on set in the filming of “Casablanca.”


First sentence:“Mr. Gab didn’t have that gift, though his assistant, who was supposed to be stupid but only looked so, would mutter beneath his breath, when annoyed by his tasks, ‘he had the gift, he did, did Gab.’”



Thirteen Ways of Looking by Colum McCann


In just three short stories and one novella, McCann weaves the magic that made Let the Great World Spin so acclaimed -- especially in one brilliant short piece of metafiction in which the process of writing a story becomes interwoven with the story created.


First sentence:“The first is hidden high in a mahogany bookcase.”



City of Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg


An ambitious debut epic, perfect for readers who love the many-layered, engrossing novels of Donna Tartt, City of Fire revolves around the famous New York City blackout of 1977, and how it sets the lives of its cast of characters spinning into new paths.


First sentence:“In New York, you can get anything delivered.”


 


Oct. 20



You Don’t Have to Like Me by Alida Nugent


You don’t have to like Nugent, but critics adored her first book, Don’t Worry, It Gets Worse, and the follow-up book of essays looks to be just as laugh-out-loud funny.


First sentence: “When someone announces she is pregnant, a number of questions are thrown her way: What is a soft cheese and why can’t you eat it? Do you miss alcohol? Have you heard of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Can I somehow avoid giving you my seat on the subway while still maintaining that I am a good person? (NO.) Are you worried it’s going to pop out of you like an alien? Do you miss sushi? And, of course, the classic, Do you want a boy or girl?



 A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk


Pamuk's latest promises to be as heart-wrenching and dream-filled as his earlier works. An Istanbul street vendor observes and reflects on his city while pining after a mysterious object of infatuation.


First sentence:“This is the story of the life and daydreams of Mevlut Karatas, a seller of boza and yogurt.



Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell


For those who shy away from doorstop-sized tomes of dry historical documentation, Vowell’s rollicking, sly humor is the perfect spoonful of sugar to down with her intensive research and historical insight.


First sentence:“How did the Marquis de Lafayette win over the stingiest, crankiest tax protesters in the history of the world?”


 


Oct. 27 



Slade House by David Mitchell


The author of such “episodic, polyphonic head-mangler[s]” as Cloud Atlas and The Bone Clocks takes a slight breath this fall with a much slimmer novel that arose from a Twitter story called “The Right Sort." But don’t worry, his trademark uncanny elements and world-building will be on display.


First sentence:“Whatever Mum’s saying’s drowned out by the grimy roar of the bus pulling away, revealing a pub called The Fox and Hounds.”



The Givenness of Things: Essays by Marilynne Robinson


Essay collections are having a bit of a moment these days, and Robinson is a master of the form, turning her keen mind to such sweeping and profound subjects as what it means to be human, the nature of grace, and Christian theology.


First sentence:“Humanism was the particular glory of the Renaissance.” 



After Alice by Gregory Maguire


If the name “Gregory Maguire” sounds familiar to you, it’s probably because he wrote the seminal retelling of The Wizard of Oz known as Wicked -- and now he’s turned his formidable attentions to Alice in Wonderland.


First sentence:“Were there a god in charge of story -- I mean one cut to Old Testament specifics, some hybrid of Zeus and Father Christmas -- such a creature, such a deity, might be looking down upon a day opening in Oxford, England, a bit past the half-way mark of the nineteenth century.”



Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein


First the Pacific Northwest, then the world. Sleater-Kinney guitarist and “Portlandia” co-creator Carrie Brownstein’s reflections on performance and community will move and shake you.


First sentence: "I only wanted one thing on tour: to slam my hand in a door and break my fingers. Then I would go home."


 


Nov. 3 



The Mare by Mary Gaitskill


The plot of Gaitskill’s latest sounds uncomfortably similar to cheesy films like “The Blind Side,” but in this brilliant author’s hands, the tale of overcoming racial divides, “making a difference,” and new chances will be worth a read.


First sentence:“That day I woke up from a dream the way I always woke up: pressed against my mom’s back, my face against her and her turned away.”



Twain & Stanley Enter Paradise by Oscar Hijuelos


The final masterpiece by the Pulitzer-Prize-winning writer, which is now being published two years after his death, fictionalizes the little-known friendship between Mark Twain and explorer St. Henry Morton Stanley -- Twain fans, get ready.


First sentence:“In an 1889 engraving for the frontispiece of London Street Arabs, Dorothy Tennant is posed in profile, her jewelry-laden left hand just grazing her plumpish chin.” 


 


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Scientists Share Weirdly Wondrous Animals In Twitter #CuteOff

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Major props to these scientists for introducing us to a whole new world of wonderfully wacky animals. 


People in the science community took to Twitter, this week to participate in the most adorable social media battle known to mankind -- the #CuteOff. Scientists -- being scientists -- went off the beaten path and shared photos of some uniquely awesome animals that may not necessarily come to mind when you think of "cute."





They posted pictures of cool critters like a baby cuttlefish,  and a Lowland streaked tenrec (trust us, it's adorbz.)  


Lucky for us, the #CuteOff got pretty heated and now we have so many more animals to gush over. 





Check out some awesome animals from the #CuteOff below.



































H/T BuzzFeed


 


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Check Out Google's New Logo

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If any company can capture the world's attention with the removal of a few serifs, it's Google.


The search engine giant on Tuesday received an updated logo, featuring a sans-serif font and brighter colors. The company announced a couple other new designs, too: Four animated "Google dots" will appear in certain Google services when new information is loading or processing; and a new "G" icon will be used in small spaces like app logos.


The company, which has undergone several logo changes since launching in 1998, revealed the changes in an animation on Google.com (below) and a video that takes viewers on a journey through Google's history (above).



The company explained that the new design elements are intended to improve the look of the brand for users experiencing Google on different devices and platforms.


"Once upon a time, Google was one destination that you reached from one device: a desktop PC. These days, people interact with Google products across many different platforms, apps and devices—sometimes all in a single day," the company wrote in a press release.


"Users now engage with Google using a constellation of devices, and our brand should express the same simplicity and delight they expect from our homepage, while fully embracing the opportunities offered by each new device and surface," the company explained in a blog detailing the design process. 


The design change comes just weeks after Google announced it would be folded into a new parent company, Alphabet. 


What do you think of the logo change? Tell us in the poll, below:



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'Bachelor In Paradise' Season 2, Episodes 9 & 10: Beauty Is A Deep, Dark Spell, Y'all

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It's not "Almost Paradise" anymore -- "Bachelor in Paradise" has arrived, and in abundance. This season has offered us all the laughter, tears, making out and backstabbing we could possibly hope for.


In this week's "Here To Make Friends" podcast, hosts Claire Fallon, Culture Writer, and Emma Gray, Senior Women's Editor, recap episodes 9 and 10 of "Bachelor in Paradise" Season 2. We'll discuss the end of the Joe-Samantha drama, the show's deep insensitivity to Mexican culture and whether Ashley I. will actually lose her v-card. (We predict ... no.)




Plus, we check in with "Bachelor in Paradise" hero JJ Lane and we're joined by People Now's Bachelor Dudes, Sam Usher, Sammy Smith and Darren Bleckner, for their Male Insights (TM).




 


Do people love "The Bachelor," "The Bachelorette" and "Bachelor in Paradise," or do they love to hate it? It's unclear. But here at "Here To Make Friends," we both love and love to hate them -- and we love to snarkily dissect each episode in vivid detail.


This week's best "Bachelor in Paradise" tweets ...



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These Glamorous Older Women Prove Aging Has Rarely Looked Better

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Worried about aging gracefully? A new photo series by photographer Tirzah Brott reveals just how glamorous old age can be. 


Brott's collection, titled "Pentimento," is composed of photos she took of stylish women of a certain age who she spotted on the streets of New York City. Brott, a 20-something herself, says as a child she developed a fascination with the glamour of Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, set in the 1950s. The style of that era, she says, has been lost on the younger generations.



 "These women grew up in an era where 'dressing up' didn’t mean quite the same thing that it does now," Brott said in an email to The Huffington Post. "This was just the way you dressed on a daily basis. It’s part of their identity -- the way they grew up. An engrained attitude of: 'Show your best face to the world, and you’ll begin to absorb that confidence you project.'"


The women are thought to be in their 60s and up, though Brott made it a point not to ask them their age or to find out their entire life story. She wanted to leave a little to the imagination. 


She says these women are like "a time capsule," showing the younger generations how to age gracefully one day. "I see that determination, to hold on to a level of classical grace, beauty, style, that you just don’t see anymore," she said. "I’m not sure how many of these women even realize how incredible they are, walking through a crowd of American Apparel-clad 20-somethings who are wearing the exact same outfit but in different colors. They are like a very rare breed of bird. And we best start taking notes before it’s too late."


Check out the beautiful photos below and on Brott's site.



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Amandla Stenberg’s New Project Is A Tribute To All Badass Black Women

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Amandla Stenberg says we need more badass girls -- and she’s helping to make that happen. 


The 16-year-old actress, who is widely-recognized for her activism around social and cultural issues -- is, yet again, speaking up and speaking out for women of color who often go under- and misrepresented. This time, Stenberg is using her talent to create an exciting new comic centered around the experiences of a young black warrior woman named Niobe Ayutami.


The comic, titled "NIOBE: She is Life," follows the protagonist on her adventures to help save the world. Along the way, Niobe, who is half elf and half human warrior, is also on a journey of self-discovery to find out exactly who she is and all the powerful things she can do. 


In fact, Stenberg says Niobe's journey is very similar to her own.  


"I was drawn to give voice to Niobe and co-write her story because her journey is my journey. I connect to her mixed racial background and quest to discover her innate powers and strengths, to learn who she truly is," Stenberg said in a statement obtained by The Huffington Post. 


The similarities don't stop there -- Niobe is busy breaking barriers just as Stenberg is doing in reality. Together, the two are a powerful duo who proudly represent women of color through all dimensions. 


“She is on a path to a destiny that will test her faith and her will, something we can all relate to.  But there's never been a character quite like her -- one who shatters the traditional ideal of what a hero is. We need more badass girls!" Stenberg said. 



Comics often have few characters of color and even fewer creators of color, which is partly why Stenberg -- as well as countless others in the comic book world  -- is working to bridge that gap and bring these stories to life.


The actress teamed up with Stranger Comics, a multi-platform publishing company, to do just that with Niobe. Sebastian A. Jones, CEO of Stranger Comics, said his partnership with Stenberg seemed like a natural fit from the moment they met.


“I first met Amandla with her awesome mother Karen at Mixed Remixed -- an event that celebrates all cultures. It did not take long for me to know she was the person I needed to develop the most beloved character in a franchise I have been brewing for more than two decades -- a hero that has the weight of the world on her winged shoulders, a woman who will bind nations,” Jones said.


For him, Niobie's qualities were similar to those he said he sees in Stenberg: “I am talking about Niobe Ayutami. I am talking about Amandla Stenberg."



Niobe Ayutami is our hope... Niobe is Amandla."
Ashley A. Woods


 In the past, Jones has made it a point to create projects that target underserved audiences. He has previously worked with actresses Garcelle Beauvais and Halle Berry on children’s books including “I Am Mixed” and the “I Am" book series.


We are everywhere. But there are few companies willing to let us tell our tales,” Jones said, explaining his motivation to work with artists and creators like Stenberg. 


“That is one of the reasons I started Stranger Comics and why I actively pursue a diverse range of creators," he added. "I may be mixed, but I am not a young, black, teenaged woman, so it would have been idiotic and morally insensitive of me to not team up with someone who could really engage with Niobe’s soul and state of being.” 


Together, Stenberg and Jones -- along with illustrator Ashley A. Woods -- are working to elevate Niobe’s story and add to the short but growing roster of comic book characters of color.


For Woods, a black woman, Niobe’s story marks her first professional comic series. 


“Niobe Ayutami is our hope. Both in the real world and the world of dreams. She is courageous, beautiful, flawed, brave, and has the tenacity to follow through with her convictions,” Woods said.


Working on cultivating Niobe's narrative and the illustrations that accompany them is something Woods said she is incredibly proud of.


“Niobe is Amandla… and I am honored to see them grow together into someone quite special," she said. "Someone I can follow. A hero for our time.”


 The comic is expected to be released on November 4. 


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Here's Banksy's Dismaland In GIFs, So You Don't Have To Make The Trip

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This year's hottest theme park features dead princesses, intentionally rude staff members, bleak black balloons, a defunct online ticketing system, funeral games, seemingly endless rain, a "selfie hole" surrounded by emptiness, not-so-subtle reminders of economic inequality and a grim reaper riding the bumper cars -- most of which is purposeful, some, not so much.


We're talking about Banksy's "Dismaland," and, no, it's not really meant for children. 



The street artist's recently opened prank installation, dubbed a "bemusement park," is located in the seaside UK town of Weston-super-Mare. Banksy described the satirical exhibition as a "theme park whose big theme is -- theme parks should have bigger themes." The wildly buzzy temporary exhibition runs until late September, but if you don't feel like flying around the world only to deal with incompetent ticket machines and grumpy security guards, we humbly present you with a tempting alternative ... GIFs! 


Because nothing says "theme parks suck" like not going to a theme park, especially when you can virtually peruse the premises. Check out one of the year's most miserable exhibitions -- and I mean that in the best possible way -- below, courtesy of the GIF makers of Giphy, and let us know whether you're praising its genius or calling BS on the wildly hyped ordeal.


On that note, "Welcome to Dismaland!" (Imagine this being said in a monotone voice by a super crotchety security guard.) 





















You can watch the entire trailer for the theme park below.




 


 


 


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27 Fierce Feminist Prints You’ll Want To Hang On Your Wall

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Every feminist needs a little pick-me-up once in awhile. After all, fighting for gender equality isn't an easy battle. And what's a better pick-me-up than a bit of textual inspiration? 


To brighten every feminist's day (and their homes), we've rounded up some badass pro-gender equality prints. From Audre Lorde quotes, to the notorious RBG and Pussy Riot, there's something for every equality-friendly person.


Sometimes you just need a reminder to keep fighting the good fight -- conveniently placed above your bed or kitchen table.  


Scroll below to see 27 awesome feminist prints.



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16 Captivating Photos Of Black Women Reclaiming Their Bodies

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One student didn’t like the way society portrayed black women and chose to do something about it.


“All the images that we see of women of color... we over-sexualize, fetishize and [eroticize] them,” Jo'Nella Queen Ellerbe, 22, said. “[We] don’t really have control of those images.” So Ellerbe decided to produce a photo project at Brown University with other students, Jacinta Lomba, 20, and Taylor Michael, 20, that aimed to show the beauty in black women’s bodies for a Women’s History Month exhibit.


The photo project, titled "Eminence," included images of words and phrases written on the backs of 18 women, including herself, from across the African diaspora. Ellerbe, who is Afro-Latina, said the goal of putting the words on each woman's back was to replace society's negative perceptions of black women with messages of empowerment and control.


“I just thought a lot about women’s backs and how I feel like women of color, especially black women, their backs hold both a burden and a lightness,” the Harlem native told The Huffington Post. "I think [it's] a release and a breath of air when we get to show ourselves the way we want to be seen.”



Ellerbe and her team encouraged the participants to choose the words they wanted to display and asked them to select the photo they wanted to include in the exhibit. 


“I wanted to allow and provide the space for some of these black women to just exist publicly,” Ellerbe told HuffPost. She said it was liberating to "have this photo taken of just your body and what your body is. Just knowing that you’re in control of that one image of yourself.”


The women, photographed by Michael, were all Brown students and had statements like “I’m angry and that’s okay” and “I am enough” written on their backs with paint. A few even wanted to have the phrases written in a different language as a nod to their heritage, like Ellerbe who had the phrase “Soy la Reina y nadir me puede guitar eso” sprawled across her back. The photo series ran in March and April of this year as a part of Brown's multicultural heritage program. 


"As a result of creating this gallery it made even more concrete for me the power, strength and beauty of black women,” Ellerbe said. "And reminded me why fighting oppression and healing is so important through art."


Check out more photos from the exhibit below:



















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These Are The Most Captivating Military Photos From August 2015

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August was quite a month for the U.S. military. Servicemembers helped stop a terrorist attack on a train in France and the Army Ranger school graduated women for the first time ever. Through it all, military photographers captured moments and angles we don't get to see every day.


The following images were compiled from the Flickr feeds of all branches of the military and the Defense Video and Imagery Distribution System. See the best military photos from August 2015 below:











CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the servicemembers who helped stop the terrorist attack as Marines. 


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Bill Cosby 'Rapeseed' Portrait Removed From State Fair

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A Minnesota artist says he’s glad he sparked conversation after his portrait of Bill Cosby made out of rapeseeds, more commonly called canola seeds, was removed from the Minnesota State Fair.


“I was trying to find a topic that was relevant to 2015,” Nick Rindo, a Minneapolis-based software designer and freelance illustrator, told The Huffington Post.


He was following the mounting sexual assault allegations against Cosby and got inspired. "I thought, ‘God, I should do a Bill Cosby.’ Then I realized the wordplay thing,” he said.


Rindo affixed rapeseeds, some of which were painted, to a hard-backed canvas to create the comedian's likeness. The small card that accompanied the portrait explained that it was made from canola seeds and had the word “rapeseed” in parentheses, in reference to the allegations dozens of women have made against Cosby.



The artwork, which is around 12-by-12 inches, was on display at the fair last week, but a fair staffer taped over the word rapeseed, Rindo said. He said that with the word covered, he was worried people would think he was a Cosby supporter.


“I didn’t want it to look like I was glorifying Bill Cosby,” he said.


The staffer who covered up the word, Ron Kelsey, the fair's crop art superintendent, told Rindo he did so because people in the United States don't typically use the term "rapeseed." But Rindo suspects he was just trying to avoid controversy. Either way, Kelsey had pulled down the portrait by Friday, citing numerous complaints.


The artist noted he doesn't want to see Kelsey get in trouble. "I don't want the art censorship comments to come down too hard on him," Rindo said. "He's a nice guy who geeks out about crops."


Rindo, who has been contributing "crop art"-- which utilizes agricultural products or land -- to the fair for three years, said he's amused that his Cosby portrait got so much attention. His other submission, of the late actor Leonard Nimoy, who played Mr. Spock on Star Trek, is much more intricate and took longer to make. Rindo noted that he created the image of Cosby at the last minute, and it’s a lot less elaborate than most of his work with seeds.


And what’s going to become of the Cosby portrait now?


“I assume they haven’t thrown it away or burned it,” Rindo said, adding that he believes he’ll get it back when the fair is over. He said he’s already had multiple offers to purchase it.


Contact the author of this article at Hilary.Hanson@huffingtonpost.com 


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David Bowie Loves Spongebob So Much He's Writing Music For His Broadway Show

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For all you simpletons who said Spongebob Squarepants was lame, let me tell you, revenge is oh. so. sweet.


The Bob himself is headed to Broadway where he'll star as the subject of his very own musical, aptly titled, "Spongebob Squarepants! The Musical." And that's not all. Glam rocker (and potentially the coolest person alive) David Bowie will be writing some of the music


Bowie. Spongebob. Music. Magic. Picture it. Just picture it. 



The musical, directed and co-created by Tina Landau with a book by Kyle Jarrow and music supervision by Tom Kitt, is slated to show at Chicago’s Oriental Theatre from June 7 to July 3, 2016, before heading to Broadway for the 2016-2017 season. 


And that's still not all! Bowie is not the only first rate musical force signed on to tell the age old tale of a sponge living in a pineapple under the sea. The Dirty Projectors, the Flaming Lips, John Legend, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper, Panic! At the Disco, Plain White T’s and They Might Be Giants are some of the other big deals on board. 


Who's laughing now, Spongebob haters? Who is laughing now???


 


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This Is What Modern Life Really Looks Like, According To An Illustrator

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Illustrator Steve Cutts has a rather morbid fascination with "the more broken aspects of life." His artworks, brightly colored and meticulously detailed, tend to revolve around poverty, corruption, greed, social media, consumerism, dependence and drugs ... just to name a few.


He pairs his heavy subject matter with bubblegum backdrops and figures seemingly stripped from an episode of "The Ren & Stimpy Show." The resulting images amount to Cutts' take on modern society -- "to be taken with a pinch of salt, sure," but "based on truth in one way or another."



From a trio of humanoid robots operated by cats, to a crowd of zombies too preoccupied with their cell phones to look for brains, to an overweight man in a shiny car being hoisted by a group of skeletal laborers -- the graphic works are just as captivating as they are hard to look at. Gluttony, sloth, greed; all the sins of contemporary culture are on display, wrapped up in expressive drawings that prompt viewers to chuckle, scratch their heads and pray for the future of humanity all at the same time.


In an email interview with The Huffington Post, London-based Cutts explained that the main focus of his illustration work is the "unquestionable insanity" that infiltrates the systems governing our daily lives. "We live in a world where it's extremely hard to compete in our market ethically, and producing something without exploitation of people or environment seems impossible," he noted. "So people compromise on values and rationalize it somehow, because otherwise you have to break with society."


And this kind of compromising can look pretty bleak.



Yet, while Cutts uses his illustrations to reflect on the way we as a society collectively live our lives, the images are not necessarily meant to represent one uniformly negative view of human existence. They may be grotesque, but they're also cut with absurdity and comic relief that hardly dooms us all to dystopia.


"I've made a few pieces about mobile phones and social media, but this isn't to say those things are necessarily bad in their entirety," Cutts confessed. "They have their benefits obviously, but it's a comment on our unhealthy dependence on them, their power over us or their unsustainable manufacturing process that I'm focusing on in those pieces."



At the end of the day, many of Cutts' illustrations differ in style, with some leaning toward two-dimensional cartoonish scenes and others favoring realism and an eye for perspective. Some pieces take months to complete, lingering in Cutts' rotation until a fresh idea seals their fate, while others take just a couple of days to complete.


But, despite the intense aesthetic variation, one theme rings true: Cutts draws things that affect us all, directly or indirectly. And to prove he's not all fire and brimstone, he left us with a few words of wisdom for illustrators who, like him, want to move from the world of large creative agencies to the realm of independent freelance:


"I'd say follow jailbreak rules," he advised. "Prepare for a few months before making the move, develop a strong portfolio of varied skills, get a few contacts before you leave, have at least a few K in the bank in case of hard times ... and have patience ... it's the norm to take on some less than ideal jobs at the start."


"Obviously there's a lot of illustrators/content creators out there," he added, "so any way you can stand out from the crowd go for it."










 


 


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Artist Snaps A Nude Self-Portrait Everyday, Challenging Our Concepts Of 'Maleness'

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Warning: This article contains many a full frontal nude photo and is most likely not appropriate for work environments. 


As recently elucidated by Big Sean, Kanye West and John Legend in the hit song "One Man Can Change the World," one man can change the world. Varian Viciss just may be that man.  



Viciss, like you and I, was born nude. Underneath his clothes every day, he's also nude. And alas, at least one moment every day throughout the year of 2015, for however long it takes him to star as the subject of his own photographic self-portraits -- Viciss is, you guessed it, nude again. 


"It is all radically me," Viciss explained of his work in an email to The Huffington Post. "But at the same time the essence of all of my experiences is very deeply human -- just like nudity." Are you beginning to catch a theme?


Varian Viciss is the force behind "The Daily Nude Self-Portrait," an ongoing series chronicling the many shades of Varian. Some are in nature, others in the mirror, some in black-and-white, others in a strange sepia tone. In one he crouches in the fetal position on a train track, in another he hugs a garbage can. In all, he wears no clothes.



"I started experimenting with nude self-portraiture initially during a very dark and unhappy period of my life a few years ago," Viciss said. "It was a way for me to get in touch with myself, to look at myself from the outside and to question my identity."


And thus, a photography series was born. "I think that the nude is still the most powerful metaphor for any honest look at the human condition," the artist expressed. "The nude implies defenselessness, openness and vulnerability but also confidence, integrity and self-respect."


Each of Viciss' images is coupled with what he dubs a "written thought." Some examples of written thoughts are: "The self that is seen is not the Self that is seeing … and yet: The selves and the Self are one" and "How you appear to yourself is a matter of perspective: Who of your yous is looking at you?"



Though the series may have started out as a journey of self-discovery, it wasn't long before Viciss' project became something much bigger. It all started when Viciss took notice of the history of the male nude in art.


"One thing I noticed in the depiction of nude men today is that it tends to focus on hunky, muscular guys with and a very stereotypical version of masculinity -- which leaves out a lot of different ways of 'maleness,' so I want to challenge those stereotypes with my self-portraits and present my own version of masculinity, which includes having the courage to be vulnerable, to appear androgynous or feminine at times, and that doesn't conform with expectations of what a man is supposed to be."



It is rather refreshing to see a nude self-portrait series made by a man. Viciss phrases it well: "Many men are insecure these days about what it means to be a man, and my self-portraiture also in an inquiry into that question -- and on top of [that] I try to go beyond gender fixation, examining more fluid concepts of sexual identity, sexual orientation and I-ness."


Thank you, Varian, for doing your part to even the art history score. May others take note and follow suit. And on that note, enjoy a bunch of Viciss' nude discoveries below.



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