Let’s get this out of the way: I’m voting for Biden come hell or high water, and no attempt to dissuade me will succeed. But that’s not my subject today. The Democratic Party released its draft platform, the compilation of ideas and legislation intended to be adopted at August’s convention and to guide the next …
On Friday, my virtual residency in arts ethics with Francois Matarasso ended with a Zoom conversations with 70 or so participants. I really enjoyed it (and a gratifying number of participants said they did too). If you would like to view the video of that conversation or listen to the audio, you can find links …
I’m excited to be engaged this week in a “virtual residency.” My friend and colleague Francois Matarasso is using his blog “A Restless Art” (where you can also download the excellent book with the same name) to publish daily excerpts from my workshop handout on the “Values and Ethics of Participatory Arts Practice,” then to …
According to this morning’s COVID wrapup in the New York Times, despite warnings from top health officials, Americans are leaving their homes in ever-larger numbers, urged on by #IMPOTUS and the entire kakistocracy (I looked it up: government by the worst). Meanwhile Jared Kushner is right on time suggesting that the November election may be …
A few days ago I wrote about the utter neglect of equity and wider awareness in arguments for their own funding being issued by “mainstream” arts advocates. “So what should they be saying and doing?” some readers asked. This is my answer. I’d be interested to know yours. First, a little context. There’s a persistent …
Today, May Day (traditionally a worker’s celebration), could be a hinge moment in U.S. history, when a critical mass of voters and others said “Enough!” to the fat cats attempting to use the pandemic to profit further at public expense. An excellent account of the principles that should guide a compassionate and effective body of …
When I try to express how I feel these days, the image that comes to me is a knot. A big one. A Gordian knot, the kind I can slice through with a single blow from the right sword. I’m someone who usually knows what to do—right or wrong, there it almost always is. But …
Remember the TV series “Monk?” Tony Shaloub plays a brilliant and observant detective who is traumatized, reclusive yet lonely, and often ostracized on account of his extreme obsessive-compulsive disorder. He’s learned to sometimes suppress his forthrightness for others’ comfort, but he doesn’t always succeed. One recurrent trope has him laying out a crime-solving hypothesis that …
I’ve seen it a few times now, an incipient meme. “If this were a movie,” people write, “no one would believe it.” “This” of course refers to the epidemic of surreality more than the virus itself (the latter being all-too believable). Yesterday’s news, for example, #IMPOTUS tweeting “LIBERATE!” in support of right-wing protesters against public …
Full disclosure: This essay is about something that most people I know would dismiss as a pipe-dream. But there’s a difference between (a) the likelihood of an idea being adopted and fulfilled—the usual definition of success—and (b) having an influence. Even if (a) is impossible, (b) is worth pursuing. I would love you to read …