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Dick Cheney Busted

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WASHINGTON -- The cold, stony visage of Dick Cheney will now forever greet visitors to the U.S. Capitol. 


On Thursday, Cheney's family unveiled the official bust of the former vice president, an honor afforded to all holders of the office. 



"Every now and then, even in the distant future, someone will surely wander by the old Cheney bust, and even stop for a moment or two, trying to recollect something of the man and the era," Cheney said during the unveiling ceremony Thursday.


"And whatever else that name in front of them might evoke," he added, "I would want them to know this much, at least: Here was a believer in America, so fortunate in his life experiences, so blessed in his friends and so grateful all his days to have served as vice president of the United States of America."


Cheney was surrounded by family and friends, including former President George W. Bush, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former adviser Scooter Libby.


For good measure, there were even some anti-war protesters, just like in the old days.






Vice President Joe Biden also spoke at the event, putting aside partisan differences and praising Cheney the man.


"The way you have conducted yourself is a model for anyone in high public office," Biden said.


Biden also thanked Cheney and his family for their kindness after the death of his son Beau earlier this year, noting that the Cheneys contributed to a memorial for Beau.


Bush, meanwhile, got in several jabs at the reputation of his erstwhile no. 2, saying he was back in Washington to watch the former vice president "get busted" and that he'd been told the statue would be "prominently displayed in an undisclosed location." 


Cheney left office in 2009 with a 13 percent approval rating. According to Roll Call, the bust will cost approximately $50,000




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The Dancers Of Pilobolus Break All The Rules In 'Shadowland'

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The men and women of Pilobolus have no interest in playing by the dance world's rules.


In fact, it's nearly impossible to define the contemporary company, founded by a group of Dartmouth College students with no formal training in 1971. The current iteration of Pilobolus -- described by The New York Times as "athlete-illusionists" -- blends ballet, circus, shadow theater and storytelling in sensory-exploding performances across the globe. 


One such show is "Shadowland," a stunning theatrical project that tantalized the Internet in 2013. A video of the performance has been shared nearly 800,000 times on Facebook, showing the dancers contort their bodies into wild configurations that, when enacted behind a lit screen, produce shadows that resemble elephants, wild plants -- even the Empire State Building.



I was just sent this Video, WATCH IT, you will never see anything like it, UTTER BRILLIANT, from Germany ? its breathtaking. TRUST ME.... "This performance is from Shadowland by PILOBOLUS. See more and like them Pilobolus Dance Theater"

Posted by Carl De Rome on Tuesday, February 19, 2013


The company has toured the show throughout Europe and Asia, and this week, "Shadowland" premiered to North American audiences at New York University's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. Led by executive producer Itamar Kubovy, the work lands somewhere between the clever movements of Mummenschanz and the narrative of ballets like "The Nutcracker" and "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."


Punctuated by the athletic prowess of the lead, Heather Jeane Favretto, and her fellow dancers, the 75-minute event is certainly heavy on the visual spectacle. The younger members of the audience might find it difficult to latch on to the meandering storyline, which mimics a child's dream -- or, maybe, an adult's acid trip. Regardless of age, though, it's hard not to marvel at the collaborative discipline behind the mixed choreography. 


Above is a video captured by The Huffington Post's videographer, Jon Strauss, which gives viewers a taste of what Pilobolus can do in front of and behind the screen. Watch as Favretto -- in a pivotal scene from the show -- transforms her body into a headless creature and a hybrid "dog girl" with ease.


Pilobolus will be performing "Shadowland" at NYU's Skirball Center through Dec. 6.


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A Bunch Of Bob Ross Superfans Had A Happy Little Reunion

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What's better than watching "The Joy of Painting"? If I were to take a guess, I'd say watching footage of Bob Ross superfans eat a Bob Ross cake at a happy little reunion event. Life goal: figure out how I can attend the next one. 


Thanks New York Times.


For more on Bob Ross, check out our coverage here, here, here and here.


 


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37 Classic Songs Every Latino Needs This Holiday Season

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If you thought holiday classics were limited to "Jingle Bells," "The Dreidel Song" or "O Holy Night," you probably weren't raised in a Latino household. 


Latinos have countless of songs to celebrate this special time from a variety of different genres. With songs like Jenni Rivera's ranchera rendition of the classic "Amarga Navidad," El Gran Combo's Salsa staple "La Fiesta del Pilito," Christina Aguilera's pop tune "Christmas Time," and villancicos like "Mi Burrito Sabanero," there is no shortage of music for a Latino parranda (party)! 




Here are 37 songs (New Year's Eve classics included!) that will bring you plenty of cheer this holiday season:





Now all you have to do is brush up on your Salsa dancing:




 You're welcome!


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The Painted History Of Rose Quartz And Serenity, Your Pantone Colors Of The Year

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A photo posted by PANTONE (@pantone) on




Hear ye, hear ye. Pantone, the world's paramount color authority, has just announced the 2016 color of the year. And in an unprecedented move, there are two! It seems like no matter how many hours of deliberation the Pantone committee went through, they just could not choose between the two victorious hues, blue and pink. Sorry, Serenity and Rose Quartz. 


It looks like your upcoming year will be the color of a pale sunset, or a baby nursery for eager parents who chose not to determine the sex beforehand. In the words of Pantone: "Weightless and airy, like the expanse of the blue sky above us, Serenity comforts with a calming effect, bringing feelings of respite and relaxation even in turbulent times. Rose Quartz is a persuasive yet gentle tone that conveys compassion and a sense of composure." 


Although Serenity and Rose Quartz will surely be trending in the year to come, the art world has been hot on the pink and blue beat for centuries. (It helps, perhaps that the sky is blue and skin is pink.) From Monet's dreamy haystacks to Marlene Dumas' translucent watercolors, artists past and present have often employed the fine and feathery combination of Serenity and Rose Quartz for their pictorial visions. Take a tour of the painted history of pink and blue -- with a few sculptures and photos thrown in -- below. 



































A photo posted by Man One (@manoneart) on





A photo posted by Victor Quinonez (@marka_27) on





A photo posted by WERC (@w3rc) on




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33 Gifts For Anyone Who Loves Cheese More Than People

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Would you rather hang out with a wheel of brie than socialize with humanity? Is your best friend actually a block of sharp cheddar? Do you plan on naming your first-born Stilton? Same.


Add these cheesy goodies to your holiday wish list and take your love for all things cheese-related to a whole new, beautiful level.







 


Also on HuffPost:



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25 Photogenic Gifts For That Friend Who Will Instagram Them

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Instagram is all about pretty, pretty pictures and we all have a friend who is all about that life (if you don't have that friend, you probably are that friend). We've rounded up 25 gorgeous gifts for her, guaranteed to rack up Hearts.




 


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How is your family celebrating the holidays? Share with us on WhatsApp! To send us images and stories:


1. Download WhatsApp on your phone. 


2. Save this number, +1 646 522 3114, in your phone’s contacts. 


3. Send us photos of your celebrations with a short description via WhatsApp.


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9-Year-Old Honors Late Father In Powerful Remembrance Photos

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Remembrance photography is an emotional way to honor loved ones after they've passed. One particularly poignant series of remembrance photos is striking a chord with social media users this week. 


Photographer April Reeves helped 9-year-old Ethan pay tribute to his late father, Louisiana State Trooper Steven Vincent, by taking pictures of him with some of his dad's belongings. While editing the photos, Reeves also incorporated the fallen officer's image. 



Senior Trooper Vincent died on the job in August after the suspect in a traffic investigation shot him. Colleagues described him as an honorable officer and all-around "good guy," KPLC reports


After his passing, Vincent's wife Katherine contacted Reeves about taking some remembrance photos of Ethan with his father's trooper hat and flag. "This was my first time doing a remembrance shoot, but I knew that I had to make it special for them," the photographer told The Huffington Post. 


With assistance from the Louisiana State Police Force, Reeves surprised the the family by incorporating additional imagery to represent Trooper Vincent. She said they loved the finished result. 



"In the end, I hope that I have given Ethan something tangible in this horrible tragedy to hold on to," Reeves said, adding, "Ethan is so proud to be his father's son, and that is beautiful."


The photographer said it was "an honor" to create these images for the family and spend time with them. During the photo shoot, Reeves and Ethan "laughed, shed a few tears and shared lots of stories," she said. 


"All I can say is the Trooper Vincent made a huge impact on his son and the love this family has is amazing to witness." 



H/T Yahoo


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Stephanie Mills Explains Why Its 'Surreal' To Star In 'The Wiz' Again 40 Years Later

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Stephanie Mills is set to return “Home” to her theater roots when she takes the stage for NBC’s “The Wiz Live!”


Mills’ history with the iconic production began 40 years ago when she starred as Dorothy in the original Broadway musical. In Thursday's live event, the singer-actress will play the role of Aunt Em.


In an interview with The Huffington Post earlier this week, Mills says the experience of starring in the Kenny Leon-directed production has been “phenomenal.”


“I’m so glad and so happy that the journey continues. Forty years ago, who knew that ‘The Wiz’ would be thought about, let alone be relevant in 2015,” she told HuffPost. “It’s almost surreal re-living it, because as I sit back and watch the rehearsals, in my mind I go back to when I first did the rehearsals back in 1975. And it’s like wow, this is really happening. “


Mills’ lead role in the 1975 production, which won 7 Tony Awards, nabbed the actress a Drama Desk Award nomination. The musical’s success later inspired a feature length motion picture in 1978 starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson and Richard Pryor.


According to Mills, Leon and award-winning playwright Harvey Fierstein decided to maintain elements of the original script instead of the film for NBC’s live broadcast. 


 “The whole idea of the movie was taken from 1975. So they had to go back to the origin of when ‘The Wiz’ was created, which was the Broadway show,” she said. “And Harvey Fierstein did an amazing job with updating the script. A lot of the script from 1975 is still there, but he did a beautiful job with tweaking it and making it 2015 without taking away the essence of what 'The Wiz' was. 'The Wiz' movie was totally different. She (Dorothy) was a school teacher and it went in a lot of different directions. It wasn’t taken from the play. ”


The production will mark Mills’ first live musical telecast, and as expected, she has a few jitters surrounding the syndicated event. Despite her anxiety, the Grammy Award winner has found some common ground to alleviate her nerves.


“I am so nervous, but what has helped it is that I’ve been rehearsing for two months, and we’ve been rehearsing it like a Broadway show,” she said. “I’m comfortable with Broadway and doing shows with theater. I can do that with my eyes closed. So as long as I think that in my head -- that it’s just another performance -- I’ll be fine. You get nervous when you start to think ‘Oh, why is there so many cameras,’ but if I think ‘This is a show at the theater’ I’m going to be fine.”


The singer, who recently released her latest single, “Afraid to Love" featuring Jodeci singer K-Ci Haley on Apple music on November 27, expressed her interest in reprising her role as Aunt Em for the 2016-2017 Broadway revival of “The Wiz.”


 “Kenny Leon has asked me about it. I hope that I’m asked to do the Broadway show. I would love to go back to Broadway with the Wiz as Aunt Em,” she said. “Kenny told me that I’m making history again. He said, ‘You made history playing Dorothy, now you’re going to be the only actress that has come back to a revival in a different role.’ So I’m pretty jazzed about that.”


“The Wiz Live!" airs on NBC on Dec. 3 at 8 p.m. EST.


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The Most Outrageous, NSFW Moments From Miley Cyrus' New Tour

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You might've noticed that Miley Cyrus has a flair for the eccentric, the outrageous and -- of course -- the NSFW.


The singer, who's currently traversing North America on her Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz Tour, continues to "out Miley" herself at nearly every performance. Just when you think the singer couldn't get more naked or more scandalous on stage, Cyrus does something like adding prosthetic genitals to her tour costume. 


"Dead Petz," which kicked off in Chicago a few weeks ago, features all the raunchiness, wild acts and crazy costumes you can imagine. Hell, Miley's even making her audience members get naked at a show.


If you can't make it to an upcoming concert, scroll through some of Miley's most outrageous (and did we mention NSFW?) tour moments below: 



And, of course, Cyrus has had many more outrageous moments on and off the stage. Take a look back at some of the craziest things she's worn over the years. 



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26 Snowy Wedding Photos That Capture The Romance Of Winter

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Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! 


What's a winter wedding without some romantic snowfall, anyway? Below, 26 cold-weather wedding photos with enough love to keep you warm all season long. 



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PSA: Don't Make These All-Too-Common Mistakes On Your Holiday Cards

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When signing your family's holiday cards this season, disabuse yourself of the notion that adding an apostrophe to your last name "looks right" or "makes sense." It's not right, and it doesn't. Here's why. 


You're not trying to make your last name possessive, which is what adding an apostrophe does (the Smith's). Instead, you're making your last name plural to indicate that the card is from all of your family members (the Smiths). 


So do as the holy grammar gods intended: simply add an "s" at the end to pluralize most last names. If your last name ends in "s," "x," "z," a soft "ch," or "sh," add an "es" to the end instead. 


While we're on the subject, let's discuss uppercase letters. If you're wishing your recipients a "happy and healthy new year," don't capitalize new year. Only use uppercase letters if you are referring to the actual holiday, as in, "We're looking forward to seeing you New Year's Eve!"


And unless they start a sentence, the "happy" in "happy Hanukkah" or "merry" in "merry Christmas" are lowercase.


If you already sent out your holiday cards with a grammatical error or two, don't worry -- most people won't notice nor care. And while you're at it, don't get too worried about sending your holiday cards early. It's entirely acceptable to send cards throughout the month of January, so long as you tweak the message to focus on the new year ahead instead of the holiday season that's passed.


Our tip: Always include a short hand-written note, if you can. And if you're still looking to purchase stamps, these adorable Charlie Brown Christmas ones are pretty perfect. 


Also on HuffPost: 


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49 Incredible Books From 49 Different Countries

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Ann Morgan considered herself well read — until she discovered the "massive blindspot" on her bookshelf. Amid a multitude of English and American authors, there were very few books from beyond the English-speaking world. So she set an ambitious goal: to read one book from every country in the world over the course of a year. Now she's urging other Anglophiles to read translated works so that publishers will work harder to bring foreign literary gems back to their shores.


Watch her full TED Talk:





See more at Ted.com, or explore interactive maps of Morgan's reading journey here. You can also pick up the book she wrote about literary challenge, "The World Between Two Covers: Reading the Globe."


Below are 49 of the most interesting titles that Morgan included in her list.


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Meet Audrey Wollen, The Feminist Art Star Staging A Revolution On Instagram

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During a moment when the facade of social media seems to be cracking, it’s easy to look to Instagram stars and wonder what’s real and what’s fake. Last month, Essena O’Neill, the Australian teenager who racked up more than half a million Instagram followers, quit Instagram after claiming that social media is “not real life.”


At first glance, you might scroll through artist Audrey Wollen’s Instagram and see another aspiring model-type. She’s tall, thin and beautiful, which could easily make for the beginnings of Insta-fame. Like O’Neill (and many young women on Instagram), her account is filled with selfies. If you take a closer look, though, you’ll see that she’s not your conventional Instagram “it” girl.


Wollen recently posted a painting of a nude young woman staring into a mirror, captioned with, “if u look at paintings of girls and replace each mirror w/ an iPhone in yr head, u will realize that nothing has ever been different.” Overnight, her historical take on selfies and girls’ narcissism got her seven dick pics, a slew of offensive messages, and a thousand new followers (her following is approximately 14,000 at last count). 




When I spoke with Wollen at her Chinatown apartment in Los Angeles earlier this week, she said she guesses that the picture was posted on a porn site, accounting for the overnight spike in her Instagram audience. If followers are the main currency of Instagram, this could be cause for celebration, especially considering that the photosharing platform is Wollen’s primary medium for her digital artwork. Or the experience could be a reason to go the way of O’Neill and disappear from social media in an attempt to distance herself from the dark, ugly corners of the Internet.


But Wollen’s reaction, much like her art, was more nuanced and complex than either of these positions. There was no knee-jerk “#Fuckthehaters” response. Why? Because Wollen accepts the experience of girlhood (online and off) as a sad one.


At the center of Wollen’s art practice, girlhood and sadness are inextricably tied in what she has christened “Sad Girl Theory.” It’s the proposal that the sadness of girls should be witnessed and reframed as an act of political protest rather than a personal failure.


According to Wollen, girls being sad has been seen as passive, and therefore, dismissed from the history of activism. When you think about it, history, pop culture and mythology are full of “Sad Girls.” Wollen has previously named some of them -- Judy Garland, Sylvia Plath, Lana Del Rey, Virginia Woolf, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Frida Kahlo, Brittany Murphy and Persephone.


The latter Sad Girl made a cameo of sorts in Wollen’s response to online slut-shamers, trolls and pervs. In a video on Instagram, she can be seen scooping out a pomegranate while talking about the number of seeds Persephone ate, an act that sealed her imprisonment in the underworld. The caption reads, “im interested but also not down. ann hirsch once said, ‘i believe that whenever you put your body online, in some way you are in conversation with porn’ and i would extend that to, whenever you exist, online or irl, as a girl. but if u followed this account just for that conversation im afraid yr in for a v bumpy ride ;)”


In my IRL conversation with Wollen, the artist discussed her Internet presence, shedding light on the murky performative space of social media we all inhabit.




On the “fakeness” of social media


While Instagram star O’Neill rejects the so-called “fakeness” of Instagram, Wollen doesn’t believe in such a strict binary of fake versus real. Clad in a custom black sweater adorned with white script reading “tragic queen,” the artist explained her perspective on the nature of truth on social media.


For her, performance isn’t necessarily negative and authenticity positive. As Wollen’s post of the 19th century painting pointed out, girls looking at themselves isn’t anything new and neither is the culture that places value based on a woman’s looks above anything else. When girls are expected to live up to the standards of their gender from birth, performance is inevitable and not something that should be punished.


“Everyone that exists online is part of a performance or is being performative,” she said. “I don’t think [a strict version] of authenticity exists -- we are mediated by technology and language.”


Earlier in her career, her friends suggested to Wollen that she create a clear alter ego for simplicity’s sake as well as a sense of self-preservation. “But I like the idea of Audrey Wollen performing Audrey Wollen without the space of a clearly artificial title or stage,” she explained.



On being a woman online


From the kitchen table where we were sharing a pot of green tea, I could see Wollen’s laptop sitting on her bed, an object that serves many purposes -- her studio, her mirror, her tool -- but most importantly her portal to the public.  


“A woman in public at all is an intense, brave thing to do -- not like public, left your house -- but public discourse, a space that is not individualized and not set within boundaries of the home. It can be dangerous to do on a basic level,” said Wollen.


She asserts these statements as someone with deep investment in the issues she’s addressing but rarely comes off as sad or downtrodden. In a no-nonsense tone, Wollen admitted that the block button is her best friend. Yet, she added that she never wants to be impenetrable.  


“I don’t want to have so much armor on that I don’t witness abuse and male entitlement -- most girls online have experienced that.” By letting down her guard, she wields her vulnerability as a weapon against the same oppressive system that categorizes that trait as a weakness.


“When people abuse a girl online, the moment when the patriarchy reveals itself at its most brutal, is generative and good. Now it’s witnessable -- it’s not just in the secret corners,” said Wollen.


This is Sad Girl Theory in action -- recognizing the moments when you feel the most powerless and imbuing them with power. The experience of doing so, however, is admittedly not an easy one.


“If your feminism isn’t painful, you’re not doing it right,” said Wollen as she stirred a spoonful of honey into her tea cup. “Because it’s a painful thing to witness how things are and your own participation.”




On where feminism lives


Throughout our conversation she apologized for rambling, joking that an accurate portrait of her daily life would involve Wollen sitting in her bedroom, speaking out loud to herself about these topics. I believe her, not because she strikes me as unstable or incoherent, but quite the opposite -- she speaks with the calm authority and articulation of someone who has spent hours upon hours ruminating on these ideas.


While Sad Girl Theory has been pegged to pop cultural icons such as Lana Del Rey, it speaks volumes that one of Wollen’s major influences is Valerie Solanas. The feminist author wrote the SCUM Manifesto, which proposes to "overthrow the government, eliminate the money system, institute complete automation and eliminate the male sex." Like Solanas, Wollen has created an experimental gesture to shift our paradigm rather than provide the key an egalitarian utopia. Historically, she explains, the latter has not worked out well.


“I’m not invested in the practicalities of fixing things but the playful possibilities,” she said.


Even with its roots in radical feminism, some of Wollen’s harshest critics are other women who claim that Sad Girl Theory does not help feminism. They, perhaps along with some of mainstream media, claim that we need an archetype of a woman who is brave and strong, who can take over the world, explains Wollen.


“But I don’t feel like that goddess figure,” Wollen said. In fact, she admits that she doesn’t necessarily even feel like a woman. “I’m interested in undoing that kind of linearity,” says Wollen. “When does womanhood happen? When do I stop being a girl?”


Her choice of using the term “girl” rather than “woman” is a conscious one, stemming from that ambiguity. She added,”If patriarchy is constantly infantilizing me, I don’t want to reject my situation. If you’re going to be a girl forever, how can you use that to your advantage -- what parts of that can we weave into our politics?”




Those parts are mainly things that, according to Wollen, are considered distinctly feminine, such as motherhood, makeup, fashion, intimacy, crying, gossip, self-harm, and of course, sadness.


“Even if you can have that moment of coming to consciousness, you’re still mediated by experiences before that. We all have to negotiate desires that on the surface aren’t in line with our politics,” said Wollen. “Feminism doesn’t live in the set of beliefs in contrast to dark desires but in their negotiation and their conversation. Politics should be coming from the paradoxical space.”


So for Wollen, in the lived experience of women, the moment of “pure” feminism never happens --  and that’s okay.


Wollen counts Shulamith Firestone, the author of “The Dialectic of Sex,” as a major influence in the development of Sad Girl Theory. The writer coined the term “a revolutionary in every bedroom,” reflecting the second-wave feminism slogan of “the personal is political.” The dissolution of the line between the political and apolitical is essential to Sad Girl Theory.The idea of self-destruction as a political gesture is simple, but it has huge historical implications, according to Wollen.


“What if we could reframe any girl that killed herself, starved herself, was unhappy -- as an activist?” she asked. “By placing them as activists, we now have a story of a war that wasn’t being considered as such.”


To be clear, Wollen says she is not encouraging girls to harm themselves -- she doesn’t have to. She cites a statistic from a 2014 report by the World Health Organization stating that suicide is the number one cause of death for adolescent girls ages 15 to 19. Sad Girl Theory is an invitation to girls to look at an action they’re already taking, from crying in public to feeling horrible about their bodies, and restage it as a political situation, not a personal failure or problem.


On the other end of the spectrum of self-destruction is the notion of self-care, another form of feminine behavior that is often dismissed or belittled. As radical feminist writer Audre Lorde said, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”


“Asking girls to think of themselves as activists is such a subtle, interior thing -- it can’t be measured,” said Wollen. She says this without a hint of defeat in her voice.


The tragic queen says she is glad that Sad Girl Theory is not a sticker or a distinct movement you can join. She’s fine with it taking hold and happening solely in girls’ heads -- well, there and on Instagram.




On being a so-called “Internet artist”


If you read a few more articles on Wollen, you’ll likely see her called an “Instagram artist” or an “Internet artist,” but she views Instagram more as a tool than a self-identifier.


“I’m much more likely to reach the 12-year-old girl who hates herself on Instagram than in a white cube gallery space,” Wollen said.


While it may sound like she has a contentious relationship with traditional art venues, the choice of presenting her work online is born out of her goals as an artist as well as her financial reality.


“I can’t really wait around to be invited to have a gallery show. When you make [art], you have to put it somewhere, and that somewhere is usually the Internet,” she explained. “Internet artists are sometimes artists who don’t have any money, because they can’t invest a lot of money into making a massive sculpture.”


The potential downside of posting her work on Instagram is twofold -- her lack of ownership of her Instagram photos and the uncertain nature of social media platforms. But neither of these facts seem to faze her at all. Instead, she embraces them.


"Everyone says that it’s a horrible evil [that social media companies own our content], but in Marxist terms, people didn't even own the chairs they were making in factories,” says Wollen. “The Internet didn't invent this kind of exploitation."


Unlike others who have achieved some degree of social media fame, she doesn’t have any delusions about her permanence as an Internet presence.


“I’m aware of my own obsolescence -- Instagram is temporary like all technologies,” Wollen added. “I like the idea of Instagram falling away and being aware that [my work is] going to be degraded or totally inaccessible like my old Xanga… My identity and work aren’t precious in any way. Explicitness is valuable -- to face the reality of the situation -- instead of living in a fantasy.”


She speaks with a surprising calm about the harsh realities that most people might try to avoid. The issues that Wollen faces as a woman, as an artist online, and as a woman artist, could be enough to make a girl set her hair on fire out of frustration.  


A day before our interview, Wollen did literally set her fire-red hair on fire. No, she wasn’t trying to recreate Sad Girl Joan of Arc’s demise. It was an accident, she explained, while boiling some water for our tea over the same stove that did the damage. As a result, she had to chop off a good length of her long locks.


The next day, she posted a picture of her new ‘do on Instagram, a perfect embodiment of the Sad Girl. On the surface, she looks like a young woman who underwent a mere cosmetic transformation, but underneath, she’s just another girl posing in a memento of self-destruction.


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32 Holiday Cards So Gorgeous You'll Want To Keep Them For Yourself

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If your favorite part of the holiday season is collecting greeting cards and stationery shopping, the Pretty Paper Obsessors welcome you to the club. Happy browsing!



 


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'The Wiz Live!' Brings The Best Of Black Excellence To TV

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NEW YORK (AP) -- The third time's the charm for NBC.


An exuberant, inventive "The Wiz Live!" on Thursday night breathed new life into the notion of full-scale musicals on live TV with a happy serving of 70s soul and R&B, updated with a 2015 vibe.


Starring a nice mix of pop music heavyweights, Hollywood stars and Broadway veterans, the show had a heart and playfulness that was missing from "The Sound of Music Live!" with Carrie Underwood and "Peter Pan Live!" It even came in under three hours.



 This time 12 cameras on Long Island captured even higher stakes with complicated costumes, fire bursts, LED screens, a live dog, smoke and Cirque Du Soleil acrobats in bouncy prosthetic stilts that looked sort of like curved snowshoes. And, in a nice touch, Stephanie Mills, the original Broadway Dorothy, played Auntie Em.


The TV musical starred 19-year-old newcomer Shanice Williams as Dorothy, who got stronger as the night went on and who crushed the song's finale, "Home;" a strong Queen Latifah as the Wiz with real stage presence; Amber Riley, a very blue good witch of the North who destroyed "He's the Wizard;" and a perfectly evil Mary J. Blige as the Wicked Witch of the West.



 But it was the guys on Thursday who really shined: Ne-Yo, as a winning Tin Man, moving fluidly despite a rusty suit, who beautifully delivered "To Be Able to Feel;" Elijah Kelley as an athletic, loose-limbed Scarecrow, who gave us a funky "You Can't Win" while hoisted on a pole; and a dreadlocked, extremely furry David Alan Grier as the Cowardly Lion, one who gets seriously frisky with some poppies.


After a slowish, understated start in the Kansas countryside and an underwhelming tornado scene, the show got into a groove once the four pals eased on down the road. The four had real chemistry and each served the piece respectfully.



 The show was adapted from "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum, with a book by William F. Brown, and music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls. The production opened on Broadway in 1975 and won seven Tonys, including best musical.


A 1978 movie version of "The Wiz" starred Diana Ross, Lena Horne and Richard Pryor. Michael Jackson co-starred as the Scarecrow, with Nipsey Russell as the Tin Man and Ted Ross as the Lion. "The Wiz Live!" honored its rich history and yet also added to it.


The live event was directed with good cheer and genuine spirit by Tony Award-winner Kenny Leon, and mixed songs from the stage and film. If anything, the high level of the performances exposed some weaknesses in the original songs and story.


New material was written by Harvey Fierstein, who included iPad and cholesterol jokes and a bad Spice Girls reference. A dynamite new song that served as the Act One closer, "We Got It," was partly written by Ne-Yo and Kelley, a cool development that meant the Tin Man and Scarecrow got writing credits this time.



Choreographer Fatima Robinson's dancing was modern and light, as when she created a joyful, smiling "Everybody Rejoice," and a fantastic visual introduction to Emerald City complete with voguing, like a party at Lady Gaga's.


Costumer Paul Tazewell's geometric and colorful designs in Munchkinland gave way to scary crows, nasty flying monkeys and steampunk workers. His Lion, Tin Man and Scarecrow were inspired genius, while set designer Derek McLane was strongest after the tiny model houses in Kansas.


This version of "The Wiz" is being planned for an extended life - on Broadway - and this telecast will surely boost that effort. It will join "Wicked," which ran a commercial during the telecast, as if in welcome. There's room for both these Oz tales, and for "The Wiz," it will mean that Dorothy has once again returned "home."


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Here's How The Beautiful Costumes For 'The Wiz Live!' Came Together

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NEW YORK (AP) -- Peek behind the curtain at "The Wiz Live!" and you'll find there is indeed a wizard - or three.


They are costumer Paul Tazewell and makeup artists Dave and Lou Elsey, who are turning actors into munchkins and flying monkeys, and, of course, a lion, a scarecrow and a tin man.


The three-hour NBC event Thursday (8 p.m. EST) has forced the trio to come up with looks that are intriguing but engineered to withstand sweat, dancing and quick changes. And no stopping.



"With most television shows, you have the opportunity to cut and to go back and re-film and perfect as you go along," said Tazewell, a Tony Award nominee. "With this, there's no opportunity to do that. It does need to play as if we're on a Broadway stage. We hit the 'Go' button and there's no turning back."


On the makeup end, Dave Elsey, who won an Oscar in 2011 for co-creating the look for "The Wolfman," has teamed up with his wife, Lou, to update the Oz creatures for 2015, but without having the slower pace of a movie shoot.


"The biggest challenge is to get everything on in such a small amount of time and making sure that everything is locked down and perfect," said Lou Elsey, who worked with her husband on the effects for the final "Star Wars" prequel.


The TV musical stars 19-year-old newcomer Shanice Williams as Dorothy, Queen Latifah as the Wiz, Mary J. Blige as the Wicked Witch of the West, Ne-Yo as the Tin Man, Elijah Kelley as the Scarecrow, David Alan Grier as the Cowardly Lion, as well as Common, Uzo Aduba, Amber Riley and Stephanie Mills, the original Broadway Dorothy.



 Tazewell and the Elseys have created looks that are both concrete and evocative, using a mix of foam latex and acrylic paint. Hundreds of costumes - relax, there are spares on hand - have been made, not to mention dozens of noses, wings, wigs and tails.


Quick changes - some can take as long as a commercial break and others only a minute - are required to switch actors into items like padded bodysuits and masks. Teams will be standing by for touch-ups.


"If there's a second where we can get to the actor when the camera's not on them, we'll be in there," said Dave Elsey. "Half the job is maintaining. You stick the makeup on, and that's one thing. But making it last for a performance is a whole other kettle of fish."



In this production, the Tin Man has rust stains, as if left out in the rain, and soft foam latex covers his whole head. The lion takes the longest amount of work since Grier's body shape had to be altered and real animal hair added.


Kelley, as the twitchy Scarecrow, posed a special problem for the makeup artists: "He's like an athlete so keeping it on him has become a real problem," Dave Elsey said. "Normal glues just weren't going to work on him."


The creators insisted that the actors not get lost in the getups and makeup. They wanted the performer's personality to still emerge. Or as Lou Elsey said: "Let the humanity shine through."


The Elseys, who made their Broadway debut last year alongside Tazewell designing the revival of "Side Show," had to adapt to new timetables. On a movie set, what they do takes up to three hours. On Thursday, they'll have 20 minutes.


Each major character will get two dedicated assistants assigned to help make the human-to-creature transformation offscreen. Why two? "What we've found is that if you have any more than that, it slows it down rather than speeds it up," said Dave Elsey.



 Tazewell, for his part, is an experienced pro at live productions - he's designed the costumes for such Broadway shows as "Hamilton," ''Doctor Zhivago" and "Memphis" - but had to adjust to working with LED lights and creatures whose eyes light up digitally. There was also figuring out what level of lighting works best on TV.


"You need much less power in order to get a really big impact," he said. "All of that is adding to an amazing experience and broadening what I'm able to do."


On the night of the show, the design teams will be drilled in how to get the maximum pop from a minimum of energy, a kind of makeup-and-costume ballet.


"While the actors are practicing their dance steps, we have to practice our dance steps. So that when one person is sticking makeup on, the other person is rushing around with some glue in a pot there's not a huge collision," said Dave Elsey.


It's a stressful job that, hopefully, no one will notice. After an anxious telecast of worrying about possible lost noses and excessive sweat, the Elseys plan to relax a bit before easing on down the road.


"When this is finished - and I think I can speak for Lou here - I'm going to lay in a darkened room with a damp towel over my head for about two weeks," said Dave Elsey.


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The 18 Best Fiction Books Of 2015

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In 2015, we were overwhelmed by the thoroughly kickass roster of new books on offer. We tore through some, and others we savored slowly. A few disappointed us, while many more thrilled us unexpectedly. Sci-fi, memoir, magical realism, short fiction, very (very) long novels, and genre-bending masterpieces have taken us on a constant adventure through ever-changing literary scenery. 


Now that the year is drawing to a close, we're already eager to see what next year has in store for us readers. But first, we're taking a moment to look back on a year in reading. Every critic has her favorites, and these were ours:



Welcome to Braggsville by T. Geronimo Johnson


Johnson’s latest novel hit an odd note in the year of Black Lives Matter; it’s almost too timely of a satire on America’s fatal race problem in the South and beyond. D’aron Davenport, a doughy white boy raised in the titular small Georgia town, can’t wait to escape to college at Berkeley. Once there, he befriends three kids who couldn’t be more unlike him -- Louis, an in-your-face Malaysian-American comedian; Candice, a liberal do-gooder from the Midwest; and Charlie, a black inner-city kid with a serious drive to succeed. Then D’aron unwisely reveals to them that his hometown stages a yearly Civil War reenactment, and they’re off to spend the break conspiring to disrupt the reenactment with a protest. Though D’aron refuses to believe his home harbors anything but good at its heart, the naive actions of the gang of friends will have consequences devastating beyond comprehension. By turns darkly hilarious and bone-achingly tragic, Welcome to Braggsville rips open the thin camouflage Northerners and Southerners, liberals and conservatives alike throw over our race problems to reveal the ugly truth beneath. - Claire Fallon


Read our review. 



Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff


It’s been called the literary Gone Girl, but it’s so much more than that. Lauren Groff’s novel tells the story of a successful marriage from the vantage point of both parties -- bubbly, vivacious Lotto and private, hard-working Mathilde. From Lotto’s perspective, the couple’s happy marriage is the result of some rare magic -- but then again, he’s always been a bit dramatic. For Mathilde, taking care of the inconveniences of daily life behind the scenes has mostly been a happy chore, and yet she still feels unworthy of her husband’s affections. Through their intertwining perspectives on their short courtship and the years that follow, Groff suggests it’s the secrets we keep, as much as the intimate moments we share, that form the bedrock of our lasting relationships. - Maddie Crum


Read our review.



You Too Can Have A Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman


The title of You Too Can Have A Body Like Mine reads like a dare to Kleeman’s target audience not to pick up her book. It’s not a diet book, obviously, or a magical thinking manual; think less The Secret and more DeLillo and Pynchon. The protagonist, A, lives in an unnamed city with her roommate, B. She occupies herself watching TV with her boyfriend, C, or eating popsicles with B, who seems to be growing more and more obsessed with her. C, meanwhile, begins to pressure A to appear on a dystopian couples game show with him, while she’s zoning out on the increasingly weird Kandy Kakes commercials that hold her attention more than the programs themselves. Touching on body image, mass media, consumerist religiosity, and the tortured relationships between ourselves, our bodies, our food, and each other, Kleeman’s haunting, dazzlingly-written novel pulls you inexorably into another world, where the rules are different yet painfully familiar. - Claire


Read our interview with the author.



The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra


The subgenre of “Russian literature” calls to mind bearded men (OK, two particular bearded men) and distraught women stifled by the social strictures of their time. These are beautiful, important books, but as beautiful and as important is Anthony Marra’s recent addition to the chorus. Following an emotionally wrought novel set smack in the middle of the Chechen Wars is his collection of connected stories, all centering on post-Cold War tumult and isolation. A restoration artist commits a revolutionary act unforgivable by the state, a man reflects on fond memories of frolicking through man-made Lake Mercury, and a captured soldier clings to a gift from his brother: a mix tape he keeps in his pocket, fueling his dwindling hope for survival. - Maddie


Read our review.



The Book of Aron by Jim Shepard


Shepard has long been better known for his short story collections, which flaunt his unparalleled research skills and curiosity about every nook and cranny of history. But his latest book is a novel, focused on an unusual figure, Janusz Korczak, who ran an orphanage in the Warsaw ghetto under the Nazis. Aron, the book’s narrator, is a young orphaned boy living in Warsaw who takes shelter in Korczak’s orphanage. Still a child, bereft of everything comforting and familiar, Aron is overwhelmed in the midst of events far beyond his understanding, as the once-powerful Korczak attempts to stave off Nazi attention from his orphanage for as long as possible. Heartbreaking, spare, deeply human, and somehow even funny, The Book of Aron is the rare new Holocaust novel that feels truly felt, not painstakingly historical. - Claire


Read our interview with the author.



The Sellout by Paul Beatty


Paul Beatty is a poet, and you’d know it by his winding, lyrical sentences. His novel, The Sellout, is a hilarious, artful riff on race in America today. Overeducated and underemployed, the narrator recalls his life as the subject of his father’s controversial, borderline abusive social experiments, which shaped how he thought about the way humans interact. When his home in Dickens, California -- an “agrarian ghetto,” he calls it -- is literally taken off the map, the narrator fights to save it, running into warring opinions on equality along the way. To capture the attention of those in charge, he radically suggests resegregating the local high school -- an act that lands him in the middle of a Supreme Court case. Come for the funny scenes, stay for the nuanced look at race in America. - Maddie


Read our review.



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


This slim novel is a story about stories on every level: Why we create them, who we create them for, how much value they have, whether they can define and change who we are. The narrator, Gustavo Sánchez Sánchez, aka Highway, sees the story as his dental autobiography. Growing up without significant resources, stumbling into a bad marriage and then a divorce that separated him from his only child, Highway dreams of being able to afford dental implants. He turns his life around by becoming an auctioneer, claiming to be the greatest one in the world. With the money he amasses, he purchases the purported teeth of Marilyn Monroe herself, which he has implanted into his own mouth. But as the story twists and turns, we see how Highway’s fabulism both creates a captivating autobiography and makes it impossible to separate his reality from his fantasy. Luiselli, who worked closely with MacSweeney on the translation, has a deft comic touch and imbues her prose with a seemingly effortless lyricality. This unassuming gem works its way into your mind, where it will linger long after you’ve turned the last page.  - Claire


 Read our review.



The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante


The final book in a series for readers who aren’t so keen on book series, The Story of the Lost Child concludes the decades-long friendship between narrator Lena and her brilliant, troubled confidant and partner in crime, Lina. Though the two grew up in the same neighborhood, their paths diverged when Lena followed a traditional path toward education and Lina chose the path that more closely followed their hometown’s idea of success by getting married and working in her family’s shoe shop. Through the lens of her friendship with Lina, Lena recalls the tragedies and small triumphs of Naples, from burgeoning equality for women to petty, violent crimes. The result is as much a Dickensian social commentary as it is an intimate examination of the power of personal relationships. - Maddie


Read our thoughts on Ferrante fever.



Imperium: A Fiction of the South Seas by Christian Kracht, translated by Daniel Bowles


Published in Germany in 2012, Imperium made a splash in its home country and finally arrived on American shores this year. The novel fictionalizes the life of August Engelhardt, a German man who traveled to German New Guinea in 1902 in hopes of founding a sun-worshiping, fruitarian community in the tropics. Swiss author Kracht’s Engelhardt, a devout believer that humans should eat only coconuts, tries and fails to sustain a like-minded community there, and to maintain his diet in the face of severe malnutrition. Imperium delves into the extremist psychology behind such a rejection of society and traditional foods, satirizing the white, Western tendency to seek purity by relocating to a different, exoticized society, as well as the “genteel” racism endemic to such colonizing. In wry prose, Kracht replicates the absurd, overly intellectualized logic of such unhinged idealism, as in one brilliant passage justifying the choice of the coconut as the sole godly food. Morbid yet funny, outlandish yet profound, Imperium is the satirical South Seas horror story you never knew you needed. Claire


Read our review.



The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro


Ishiguro has a penchant for writing spare, fable-like stories that exist somewhere between the realms of fantasy and social commentary. Fans of the ethereal Never Let Me Go will find plenty to love in The Buried Giant, the story of an elderly married couple traveling across a misty medieval landscape. As they work to clarify hazy memories of their son, a bigger picture of a forgotten war, and the devices used to repress memories of those lost, resurfaces. Suitably, Ishiguro uses the language of lore to tell Axel and Beatrice’s story, in a pleasant examination of the stories we tell ourselves to get by. Plus, there are dragons. - Maddie


Read our interview with Kazuo Ishiguro.



A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara


Yanagihara’s sophomore novel, a sprawling misery opus, has received accolades and critical pans in near-equal measure. One thing’s for sure: this book is tough to ignore. The four friends at its heart -- Jude, a shy and tormented lawyer; Willem, a handsome actor; J.B., an ambitious but occasionally cruel artist; and Malcolm, a talented architect -- are barely out of college when we first meet them, living in crummy New York apartments and scrapping for their big breaks. The novel follows them as they seek success and happiness, while Jude begins to succumb to the trauma of a past he refuses to talk about. If you’re looking for realism, you won’t find it here; A Little Life turns a modern tragedy into a classical Greek one, with the heights and depths of human experience exaggerated to the extreme. Buried within are truths about grief most can relate to, if few can understand the actual horrors within Jude’s past. Immersive and often overwhelming, A Little Life asks the reader to imagine how painful and how far past recovery a single person’s life might be. Claire


Read our review.



The Visiting Privilege by Joy Williams


Nobody writes spare, funny domestic scenes quite like Joy Williams, whose tender short stories always seem to both uphold and critique human wants. The Visiting Privilege is a survey of both new and collected stories, the latter being knotty, comical thoughts from disenchanted female narrators, the former being pithy, journalistic musings. Each of her stories concerns itself with the strange and fluid subconscious; she expresses the joy of spending time with animals and children, and misanthropically mocks the literal language of quarreling adults. A much-needed anecdote to our hard facts-driven media habits, Williams does her best to say what can’t be said, to bring to life what can’t be analyzed. - Maddie



Among the Ten Thousand Things by Julia Pierpont


Not a word is wasted in Pierpont’s efficiently engineered debut, which follows a family hovering on the brink of possible dissolution in the wake of the husband’s infidelity. The book opens with the two children -- just old enough to more or less understand what they’re reading -- discovering a box of correspondence between their father and his mistress, intended for the eyes of their mother. As their mother tries, brittle and uncertain, to navigate the following weeks in the least damaging way possible for her children and the most survivable way for herself, their father, an artist, wallows in the disappointment of a failed gallery show and drifts further into his own narcissistic spiral. Brimming with human insight and told in clear, sure-footed prose, Among the Ten Thousand Things draws the reader into a granular examination of the profound power each choice made in a family can have over the unit as a whole. - Claire


Read our review.



A Cure for Suicide by Jesse Ball


What starts out as a playful thought experiment evolves into a meditation on grief, trauma and recovery in Jesse Ball’s stylishly wrought novel. The author of Silence Once Begun began his writing career as a poet, and plays close attention to the rhythm of words, and the power in what goes left unsaid. The same holds true in his dystopian novel, which begins with a dialogue between two characters, an examiner and a claimant. The claimant is relearning how to speak, and how to socialize, for reasons slowly revealed over the course of Ball’s strange, always engaging story. - Maddie


Read our review.



In the Country by Mia Alvar


Mia Alvar’s debut short story collection follows the everyday stories of Filipinos, whether Manila dwellers or immigrants in Saudi Arabia or New York City. As is often the risk with short story collections, some stories are stronger than others, and one, the title story, feels primed for a longer treatment, but they’re held together by Alvar’s incisive sensibility and fluid prose. In story after story, she calmly but firmly excavates the deep ties that bind us together, without shying away from the brutal flip side, the sometimes anguished obligation many of her characters bear throughout life. With certain sparkling, unmissable stories and a consistent talent shown throughout, Alvar’s first book marks her as a writer to watch. Claire


Read our review.



The Small Backs of Children by Lidia Yuknavitch


Yuknavitch’s novel is a wild ride spinning through the personal and the political in such quick, equal measure that they begin to blur into one cohesive experience. In The Chronology of Water, she imbued memoir with elements of imagination; in The Small Backs of Children, she embellishes her fictional story with scenes from her own personal life. The novel centers on the subject of a prize-winning photo, a feat of photojournalism acknowledged in the same Western world that pays little mind to the girl’s violent everyday life in Eastern Europe. The image unites a cast of characters --most of them artists -- who resolve to do something about the girl’s tragic situation, rather than merely meditating on it. - Maddie


Read our review.



Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum


Although Hausfrau is a debut novel, it possesses the assurance of an established writer, perhaps because Essbaum is a poet. Her interest in the power of language suffuses a trite tale of ennui and infidelity with original beauty. American-born Anna Benz, the protagonist, lives in an affluent suburb of Zurich with her Swiss husband, Bruno, and their small children. After years, she’s still unfamiliar with the local language, and only able to escape her domestic life by taking lessons. Bored and self-destructive, she falls into a series of affairs, growing more and more detached from her family. In her own musings, and interstitial discussions with her therapist, she uses the inherent slippage of language to excuse and qualify her sins. As the novel draws to an unsettling close, it’s clear she’ll have to pay for this selfish bargaining, but how, exactly, will be shocking. - Claire 


Read our review. 



Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins


In a recent interview, Claire Vaye Watkins discussed her first novel, a dystopia written for readers who find the word “dystopia” a little hackneyed. “I wanted to write about characters who were themselves bored with that narrative,” she said, adding that apocalyptic stories are mostly about our own egotism. So, Luz Dunn, the central character of Gold Fame Citrus, is not a hero who saves humanity or a particularly empowered individual who wards off imposing forces of nature. She’s one of the most human characters to appear in fiction this year, and is as susceptible to flattery, selfishness and insecurity as the next person. Following her as she stumbles into motherhood, and, eventually, into a dangerous cult, makes what could’ve been a Hollywood-worthy thriller a powerful look at society’s pressure on the individual. - Maddie


Read our review.


 


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This Robot Of Leonardo Da Vinci Is Disturbingly Realistic

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The International Robot Exhibition 2015 (iREX) opened its doors to the public on Wednesday, December 2 at the Tokyo Big Sight center for five days of displays and seminars on the latest robot technology.


Marking its 21st anniversary, this year's exhibition is the largest to date, hosting 446 Japanese and overseas companies and organizations.


Attracting much attention were disaster response robots created by Japan's NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization).


Developed in response to the Tohoku Earthquake in 2011, three humanoid models - JAXON, HRP-2 and Hydra - displayed tasks such as navigating uneven ground, crawling and even opening doors.


"Most of our jobs, of course, are for human beings, and so we think humanoids can handle these kinds of things," explained Satoshi Kochiyama, Project Manager in the Machine Systems Department.


"When it comes to opening doors and going up the stairs, for example, humanoids are the most useful for these tasks," he added.


Impressed by the ability of the HRP-2, Dao Zhou, a 22-year-old student from the University of Cambridge said, "It's really amazing. Walking is really difficult and he can walk very narrowly along that beam and still maintain his balance, and that's really incredible."


But life-saving cyborgs were not the only attractions at the expo.



Channeling the aesthetic of Japanese pop idols, a dancing desktop robot called PremaidAI was also on display, finishing its performances with a bow and blowing a kiss to the audience.


Developed by DMM, the robot can be controlled through smartphone software and comes with a range of accessories.


Masayuki Okamoto, head of Robot Yuench, which collaborated with DMM to produce it, said: "It's a dream for those who create robots that every family should have a robot, and I hope that PremaidAI will be a good opportunity for realizing that."


Not all robots were futuristic. Some even took us back several centuries with a hyper-realistic android of Leonardo da Vinci himself, who struck up conversations with visitors in Japanese.


The remote-controlled android was developed by Minoru Asada, of the University of Osaka, with the aim of informing children throughout the world about the potential of robot technology.


"One of the biggest things is that there are two types of androids: the ones imitating existing people and the others that reproduce fictitious figures. This Leonardo da Vinci, however, is the first android, which imitates a famous historical figure known by everyone all over the world," said Yakata Masakazu, public relations officer for the Leonardo Da Vinci Network.


Held every two years, iREX is one of the largest robotics shows in the world.


The majority of exhibitors represent robotics in industry, although the number of organizations focused on sectors such as robotics in medical care and disaster relief, are increasing.


 


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Erotic Paintings Show The Male Gaze Through A Funhouse Mirror

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Warning: This article contains erotic imagery that may not be suitable for work.



Throughout the 1960s, '70s and '80s, self-taught artist Hans Schärer painted over 100 women -- he dubbed them Madonnas -- following a single, strict formula. He'd create an egg-shaped head and plop it atop an ovalesque body with no neck in between, forming the silhouette of a Russian doll cropped at the bust. The facial features he painted hover somewhere between a Byzantine portrait and a voodoo doll. His women look more like the Babadook than the typical mother of god.


Each of Schärer's Madonnas is unique in its particulars -- one grins, one grimaces, one rests agape, all equally unsettling. Some are the colors of ghosts, others are draped in rainbows. Most don cloaks and boast long, clumpy hair. The Madonnas are made from oil paints layered on thick, with occasional stones, hairs and keys tangled up in the layers of pigment. 



Schärer was born in Switzerland and moved to Paris in his 20s to become an artist. Art Brut was in vogue at the time, which made his lack of training all the more appealing. He achieved moderate success in his time -- he died in 1997 -- though his legacy never extended far outside Switzerland. The Swiss Institute is currently hosting his first solo exhibition in the United States, titled "Madonnas" and "Erotic Watercolors."


The Madonnas are stark, static representations of female totems, utterly fearsome and slightly erotic -- notice the repetition of vulva-like shapes on their bodies and faces. The watercolors, then, are almost the opposite, a cacophonous jamboree of erotic and powerful femininity played out in nasty and fabulous scenarios. They've garnered the attention of people like artist Cindy Sherman, who included the army of feminine idols in her exhibition at the 2013 Venice Biennale. It makes sense; the Madonnas physically resemble masks, uniform yet distinct, while Sherman's photography plays off the various masks women wear. All self-portraits, they too are variations on a single motif. 



In Schärer's image above, five nude women -- actually, one is wearing black stockings -- ride down a snowy mountain slope on a penis-shaped, checkered toboggan. The nearly identical riders laugh in unison, their tongues dangling in the breeze like generously sized fruit roll-ups, nipples pointy from the cold. 


The women, contrary to the bone-chilling Madonnas above, are sexual without being sexualized. Dominant, playful, lewd, hungry and potentially dangerous, they are subordinate to none, free to frolic in their own garden of otherworldly delights. Somewhere between the work of 19th-century outsider artist Aloise Corbaz, where sensuous women tower over the occasional puny male, and Tomi Ungerer's ecstatically sex-positive illustrations, Schärer's watercolors conjure erotic playgrounds full of big boobs, big butts, big teeth and big appetites. 



 Schärer's work, at least as evidenced by these two major series, breaks down binaries of all shapes and sizes. His oeuvre's obsessive repetition and naive style would point to an "outsider" distinction, as would his status as a self-taught artist. However, the fact that this style was likely due at least in part to an insider knowledge of contemporary art world's latest trends, places his somewhere in between. 


Likewise, his visual representations toy with the Freudian characterizations of the Madonna and the whore while chewing away at them from the inside. The Madonnas, despite their rigid exteriors and haunting expressions, still emit a certain sexuality, even if it's a fear-inducing breed. His erotic watercolors, too, while sexual and crass and lots of fun, radiate a sort of spirituality. Think Dorothy Iannone's concept of ecstatic unity, a transcendent state reached through sexual rapture. 


Whether a spiritual matriarch or  a Dionysian Amazon, the women of Schärer's painted world offer a glimpse into a particularly and wonderfully tangled male perception of femininity. It's a hell of a lot more intriguing than the typical male gaze. 


"Madonnas" and "Erotic Watercolors" will be on view until Feb. 7, 2015 at the Swiss Institute of Contemporary Art in New York.


 



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