#it took me a week to get 5 pages on duality

[savage-rhi]

Magenta 😟

[semper-legens]

118. The Burning Chambers, by Kate Mosse

Owned: No, library Page count: 574 My summary: Huguenots and Catholics are at each other’s throats in 1500s France. But for Minou, such things are beyond her concern - her father has never recovered from a mysterious trip he took some months ago. When she bumps into a red-haired stranger on the street, she has no way of anticipating that she’ll be drawn into a conspiracy that reaches back to the day of her birth... My rating: 2.5/5 My commentary:

I picked this book up because the third book in this series came into work for a reservation, and seemed interesting. But it’s the third in the series, so I decided to go back to the source to see if the whole thing was worth checking out. And...was largely disappointed. God damn it, I love some historical fiction, particularly historical fiction that isn’t set in Tudor or Victorian England, but this was very much not it for me. It’s actually taken me the better part of a week to do this writeup, mostly because I just have so little to say about it. It just...didn’t live up to any of the expectations I had for it.

A large part of the problem with this book is that the narrative is rushed and spread far too thin. There are so many characters to keep track of here; the narrative shifts often between Minou and Piet and Minou’s sister and Blanche, and Minou’s father and random Huguenots and so many others. The result is that we don’t spend enough time with any of them to really get a good sense for them or start identifying with them. And what we do see is...not all that interesting, to my mind? The story isn’t too sure whether it wants to be a family drama about the conspiracy within Minou’s history or a wider narrative of the conflicts between the Catholics and Huguenots, so it goes for both, which is why this book is nearly 600 pages long. Unfortunately, I just didn’t care enough about it. There’s a whole star-crossed lovers thing going on with Piet and Minou, but their relationship is literally just ��we met once for five minutes so now we are DEEPLY IN LOVE’. Minou is never enough of a Catholic that her slide into the Huguenot faith matters - and the story isn’t interested in the theological differences between the two or the nature of faith anyway. There just isn’t enough focus on any one part of the story for me to be engaged at all.

Add to that the historicity of the books. There’s a way to show a historical era and balance reader interest and historicity, and this does not do it. The characters’ dialogue is often too stiffly formal or too self-consciously archaic, and the particular moments where the story wants to teach you about history focus on trivia that isn’t there enough to count. Yeah, sure, the duality of French and Occitan is interesting enough, but as someone who doesn’t speak French, when characters used Occitan I just assumed it was French. It wasn’t until the author’s note at the end that I realised there were two languages going on. Sure, the author will narrate that a character is speaking in French and Occitan, but the significance of it isn’t integrated enough. I just struggled through this book, and I don’t think I’m gonna bother with the rest. It’s just...not what I was looking for.

Next up, back to CHERUB, as James tries to figure out what a crooked car dealer is up to

[dumpsterhipster]

The Trash Dweller's Dumpster Dives: 4

Welcome back for fic rec #4--a fic I only just read which was so spectacular that it had to jump to the front of the queue.

[1] [2] [3] [5] [6]

The Parting Glass

- by StopTalkingAtMe

fandom || Oblivion rating || M (some sexual content, adult themes) categories || F/M, gen genre || autobiography, romance characters of note || Corvus Umbranox, Armande Christophe, Millona Umbranox, the Gray Fox status || 36/36, 303k

The best TES novel you'll ever read.

When you're a thief, sometimes life hands you a gift. I think of it as a glass of alcohol, because why not? Sometimes that glass is a filled with the sweetest nectar imaginable, a thousand times finer than even the best Cyrodilic brandy (if such a thing is possible), and sometimes it's filled with poison. And you have no way of knowing which it is until you've drunk it down. Sometimes, very occasionally, it's both.

I’ve been staring at a blank page for an embarrassingly long time trying to figure out where to start this review, because I for real could write (and based on the word count of one of my comments, have written) entire essays about this fic. Where to start? I guess by saying that for an entire week The Parting Glass completely took over my life and thoughts, and it still hasn’t left, and probably never will. This is the best fic I have ever read, hands down—which, as I’m sure you’ll realise if you’ve read any of my other reviews is unbelievably high praise. To quote myself:

Very rarely, I come across fics which trigger some weird undefinable switch in my brain where suddenly it feels like I'm reading a novel rather than fanfiction. It's not just a quality thing--I've been fortunate enough to read many truly excellent fics--rather some nebulous extra *something* which I usually can't place my finger on. With your writing, it's actually a lot easier to define why: aside from the plot itself, which is of a level of complexity and originality that is near unheard of in fic and which I'll gush about more in a bit, there's this incredibly vivid richness and tangibility to both your setting and characters that brings them to life and makes your writing incredibly immersive. In all honesty, this fic reads like a pre-publication adult fantasy novel, and a good one, too--to me like a cross between Locke Lamora and the Kingkiller Chronicle.

The Parting Glass truly is a standout work on the Archive. On the surface it’s a relatively simple conceit—the autobiographical retelling of the Count of Anvil’s life, the defining event of which you’ll be familiar with if you’re familiar with Oblivion (I wasn’t), and which I won’t spoil if you’re not—but the way it’s executed is above and beyond anything I could ever have expected. The plot is intricate and complex and draws you in and does not let you go; the characters are as real and vivid as I’ve ever seen; the worldbuilding is so rich and detailed that I haven’t been able to remove my head from the Cyrodiil they’ve lovingly crafted; and oh my god, their use of THEME. The further you get into the fic the more apparent it is how cleverly they’ve constructed everything about the story—even the very particular and unique style of narration—to build into the marvellously complex and nuanced delve into themes of identity and duality, truth and lies, the masks we wear and the stories we tell others and ourselves.

I seriously cannot emphasise enough how highly I recommend this fic. I tore through the entire back half in a day—I don’t think I’ve ever read a fic (and it’s been a while since I’ve read a novel) which grabbed me so thoroughly. It’s absolutely criminal that at time of writing this, the fic had less than 60 kudos, despite having been up since 2017. If you have even a passing interest in Oblivion, or Thieves’ Guilds, or a love of immersive, rich and complex down-to-earth fantasy storytelling, you owe it to yourself to check this out. It’s very long, but worth the time investment a thousand times over.

PLEASE NOTE that the fic does get very dark, with very intense descriptions of violence and some scenes of torture. There are mentions (and one brief on-screen description) of non-consensual sex (though the POV character is never involved), some (non-explicit) sexual content, and mentions of underage sex (between consenting teenagers, never on screen). Please be mindful of any relevant warning before diving in! (And if you do check it out, please drop into my DMs any time to discuss it, because I could rave about this story all day.)

[ithacamoma]

20 QUESTIONS FOR: TREVOR KIERNANDER

“There is a Ghost”

Oil, acrylic, and oil stick on linen

101.5cm x 76cm (40in x 30in) (image courtesy of the artist)

1.Name:

Trevor Kiernander

2.Occupation(s):

Artist/painter

3.Where are you from and what is your education?

I was born in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and grew up in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, from the age of 12. I lived in Montreal between 2002-2007, London, England from 2007-2014, and back in Montreal since 2014.

Took Art Fundamentals and my Interpretive Illustration Diploma at Sheridan College, Canada, a BFA in Painting & Drawing from Concordia University, Canada, and an MFA from Goldsmiths, University of London, UK.

4.Where do you live/work (neighbourhood/city/country)?

Currently living in the Rosemont/Petit Patrie area of Montreal, and my studio is located in Parc Ex.

5.Does your location affect your practice?  

Definitely, both affects and informs. I am about a 20-minute walk from my studio and I have more studio space than I have ever had. Both of these factors allow me to work a lot, and experiment with new ideas and materials on a regular basis. And only in the past few years (since being back in Montreal) have I come to realize that my work is about my relationship to space, and therefore obviously the spaces I work in.

6.What is your favourite tool in the studio?

I have made my own version of a “brush”, but it’s top secret…

7.Where do you look for your source material?

Anywhere and everywhere, really. I take lots of photos when I am out, but I also like snagging other people’s images from the internet. Also screen shots of things I’m watching on my computer. They mainly reappear in paintings and drawings as fragments, but it’s all there in my head somewhere.

8.What is your daily art world read?

Painting at the End of the World  It is not necessarily a daily read, but Ian Gonczarow also runs an Instagram page of the same name and posts some really great work. I am also on a few mailing lists, like Artsy, etc., but there are a few online ones like Painters Talking Painting on FB (the new FB algorithms are pretty shit, mind, and so once you click on a news story, you seem to only ever get news from those sources). Other than that, it’s mainly Instagram.

9.What is your daily non-art-world read?

The Onion or Daily Mash. The “real world” news is too depressing…

10.What role does writing play in your practice? 

Not as much as I would like it to.

11.What role does research play in your practice?

Depends on the definition of research. I read daily, and have a pretty decent library in my studio, so I am constantly referencing things, remembering essays I have read in the past, looking at artist monographs, but also getting out to see as much art as I can around town.

12.What role does collaboration play in your practice?  

Not much at all, but I am always up for new things.

13.How does success affect your practice?  

Again, I guess it depends on one’s definition of success? Like, I successfully left my job in London and moved back to Canada to work full-time in the studio. I think “success” follows the same plateaus you find in an art practice. You work hard at something and then finally reach a particular level, keep that up for a while until the next plateau, and so on. I definitely don’t jump on to something that is “commercially successful” and keep that going. I get bored too easily.

14.How does failure affect your practice?

I don’t believe in failure but see mistakes as something to build from. It works that way in each painting as well. I often try different things when painting, colours, mediums, techniques, directions, and if it doesn’t work out, I keep it, and work other elements into the composition to make everything relate.

15.What do you identify as the biggest challenge in your artistic process?

Being able to keep painting.

16.Who are some historical artists you are thinking about?  

Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Willem de Kooning, Peter Lanyon, for painting.

17.Who are some contemporary artists you are thinking about?  

Again, in painting, Amy Sillman (US), Charley Peters (UK), Delphine Hennelly (US), Leopold Plotek (CA)… there are quite a lot, actually, and many I am happy to call friends. I try to see as much painting as I can and try to keep an open mind to it all.

18.How do you describe what you are making now?  

Oof. I just made myself a drawing station in my studio. It’s made out of scrap wood and a new IKEA table top I found.

As for my painting, I am working off of ideas from my current show at the Galerie d’art d’Outremont in Montreal (up until April 28th,), developing compositions and installation ideas made up of numerous surfaces. My work is continuous, meaning I don’t just make a particular body of work for a particular show, but I constantly paint, and then make a selection of work that I feel makes sense in the space I will be exhibiting in. I kinda go through a slump after a show, which I am sure a lot of people do, but I need to keep at it, so I spend a good week or two after the show, stretching and priming up some linen and canvas. I am really looking forward to working on more linen/canvas diptychs, this sort of duality thing I have been making since a residency in Leipzig in 2017-18. That, and trying to understand deeper connections between painting and music, rhythm, etc.

19.Who is an artist that you think deserves more attention?

Too many to mention. I think more attention needs to be paid to Canadian artists as a whole.

20.How can we find out more about you (relevant links etc)?  

trevorkiernander.com www.instagram.com/ttothek9/

[garudabluffs]

1.] An Italian newspaper reporting on Donald Trump retweeting himself depicted as Pepe the Frog in September of 2016. 2.] 4chan’s first day out. The Scientology protests of 2008 off Broadway.          3.] Yiannopoulos is depicted as the last on the right in an Instagram image posted by Donald Trump in September of 2016.

4chan: The Skeleton Key to the Rise of Trump            “These days, 4chan appears in the news almost weekly. This past week, there were riots at Berkeley in the wake of the scheduled lecture by their most prominent supporter, Milo Yiannopoulos.” <> “How did we get here? What is 4chan exactly? And how did a website about anime become the avant garde of the far right? Mixed up with fascist movements, international intrigue, and Trump iconography? How do we interpret it all?” 4chan invented the meme as we use it today. “In fact, it codified its value system in a series of “rules”. Like everything it did, these were constructed piecemeal from pop culture. Rule #1 was taken from Fight Club’s Rule # 1, “Don’t talk about 4chan”. All the rules had a Lord of the Flies vibe to them, that is to say, they were very obviously created by a bullying and anarchic society of adolescent boys — or at least, men with the mindset of boys —  “ No matter what a user did or said, he could always say it was “for the lulz” (lols). “ “... “raids”. The board would flood particular chat rooms or online networks [bulletin boards]...”

Trump’s younger supporters know he’s an incompetent joke; in fact, that’s why they support him. “"4chan value system, like Trump’s ideology, is obsessed with masculine competition (and the subsequent humiliation when the competition is lost). Note the terms 4chan invented, now so popular among grade schoolers everywhere: “fail” and “win”, “alpha” males and “beta cucks”. This system is defined by its childlike innocence, that is to say, the inventor’s inexperience with any sort of “IRL” romantic interaction. And like Trump, since these men wear their insecurities on their sleeve, they fling these insults in wild rabid bursts at everyone else. Trump the loser, the outsider, the hot mess, the pathetic joke, embodies this duality. "            Dale Beran        Medium    Feb 2017        30min

  READ MORE + Responses    https://medium.com/@DaleBeran/4chan-the-skeleton-key-to-the-rise-of-trump-624e7cb798cb#.xrxy76xmz

An image saved off 4chan in February of 2011 by me, the lurking author. “By the end of 2011, 4chan had finally been outed. Subsequently, the group splintered in a sense; anyone could and did pick up the banner of Anonymous.”

5. Trump: the Loser who Won “IRL”, in real life

Trump, of course, has made his fortune in a similar manner, with casinos, correspondence courses, and pageants, swindling money out of aspiring-millionaire blue collar workers, selling them not a bill of goods, but the hope of a bill of goods, the glitz and glamour of success, to people who don’t win, or in Trump’s parlance, “don’t win anymore.” It is a culture of hopelessness, of knowing “the system is rigged”.

Feels Good Man Part of a series on Pepe the Frog

“Trump, in other words, is a way of owning and celebrating being taken advantage of."

In Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism, she notes that the inevitable result of a society built around the endless accumulation of middle class wealth is a man “degraded into a cog in the power-accumulating machine, free to console himself with sublime thoughts about the ultimate destiny of the machine, which itself is constructed in such a way that it can devour the globe simply by following its own inherent law.”

“As both Sanders and the philosopher Slavoj Zizek noted after Sanders lost the primaries, left and right are in some sense outdated ideas. The new division in politics is those who favor the current global hegemony and those who are against it.”

RESPONSES “you overly characterize the average anon as angry, this is false, they are mostly irreverent towards nearly all politics and social issues, either not caring or just wanting the funnier option to happen. Just as they tell people spouting liberal rhetoric to go back to tumblr they will also tell people spouting conservative rhetoric to go back to /pol/.Another huge myth that you’re pushing in this article is that 4chan is in any way organised, this couldn’t be further from the truth, think of it more like a seedy pub than a campaign HQ. It serves all types, whether they be liberals, conservatives or anarchists.”

“This article is like reading a treatise on Punk Rock written in the 1970’s by an old man who likes Folk Music. Liberal old people don’t get the internet. Stop bloody trying to because it’s obvious you all never will”

“ Your attempts to compare Anonymous to 4chan are absolutely ridiculous.”

“Did you know that A Clockwork Orange has 21 chapters? The first American edition left out Chapter 21. The reason was that in Chapter 21, Alex meets one of his old gang members, who has gotten married and a stable job. Of course at first he thinks this guy has become a total loser. Then he realises how empty his lifestyle of beating up and robbing people for fun (or in current slang “for the lulz”) actually is, and that he’s finally ready to leave it behind of his own accord (as he had gone back to a life of crime after the government’s rehabilitation-by-brainwashing wore off). The American publisher cut it because he couldn’t believe that the Alex character could grow up. Decades later, they finally published a complete US edition that included Chapter 21.”

“If you haven’t seen it before, please google the term “behavioral sink”.

Humans may not be a rodent species, but we are opportunistic, omnivorous scavengers with a pack structure. The parallels from that (unapologetically barbaric) experiment to many things modern, specifically what your article describes, are interesting.

See also Frank Herbert’s “The Dosadi Experiment” (1977).”

“Yea see 4chan is a website with internet subculture, and a different boards for different topics. Those boards have their own sub-subsulture, if you will. You’re really only talking about the subculture of /pol/ — the board for politics. And even then, there’s no uniform far right position, the far right is attacked on /pol/ all the same.Generalizing a whole website by the presence of some crappy users would be like calling youtube the avant garde of the cyber bullies.“

“wow you wrote a book. sorry man its just funny because you cared about this more then anyone on 4chan cares about anything. its all one big inside joke and you took it seriously. and then to make things worse you completely failed to accurately understand what 4chan is. your interpretation feels like what my dad might think from his brief interactions form fox news. frankly the “know your meme” page for 4chan is a better introduction. all 4chan is a platform for crazy people to pursue there interests completely uninhibited by censorship ego or conscience. its one of my favorite sites. finally young people on the whole voted for hillary and old people don't know how to Internet, so what are you even sayinghttp://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sites/4chanhttp://civicyouth.org/an-estimated-24-million-young-people-vote-in-2016-election/“

China Population clock

21-02-2017 at 23:00:59 1 383 536 543

Current population

708 969 726 Current male population (51.2%)

674 566 818 Current female population (48.8%)

http://www.countrymeters.info/en/China/

a virtual reality hallucination of Trump’s coronation?

[jessicakehoe]

Milan Fashion Week Fall 2019: The Top Trends, Themes & Fashion Moods.

Elegance, brutalism, belt purses, cinched waists, relaxed power suits, grunge and masks that conceal and reveal: these are just some of the trends, themes and fashion moods that inspired the Milan Fashion Week Fall 2019 collections. Let’s take a closer look…

Plus don’t miss what our editors spotted at New York Fashion Week and London Fashion Week for fall 2019.

 The New Age of Elegance:

As a counterpoint to the IDGAF street-style sensibility, designers explored an understated and fluid expression of elegance that felt fresh and liberating.

  Photography Courtesy of Imaxtree

Photography Courtesy of Imaxtree

Photography Courtesy of Imaxtree

Photography Courtesy of Imaxtree

Photography Courtesy of Imaxtree

Photography Courtesy of Imaxtree

Photography Courtesy of Imaxtree

Photography Courtesy of Imaxtree

Photography Courtesy of Imaxtree

Photography Courtesy of Imaxtree

Photography Courtesy of Imaxtree

1/11

The New Age Of Elegance

Anna Molinari’s sweeping chiffon dresses epitomize retro, ethereal elegance.

2/11

The New Age Of Elegance

Paul Surridge’s gorgeous billowing cocktail dress was refined and graceful.

3/11

The New Age Of Elegance

Dolce & Gabbana’s show was themed around a return to elegance. Backstage Steffano Gabbana told the Guardian that he would like to “turn the page” and teach the new generation about timeless elegance. “I don’t know if it’s wrong or good but this is our point of view … fashion is the mirror of the times [reflecting] what is outside – sometimes we get it right, sometimes not.”

4/11

The New Age Of Elegance

At Salvatore Ferragamo, Paul Andrew’s daywear pieces were elegantly understated with a stylish hint of sensuality.

5/11

The New Age Of Elegance

Karl Lagerfeld’s last collection for Fendi was modern, glamourous and refined.

6/11

The New Age Of Elegance

Elegance came with a seductive, tailored twist at Ermanno Scervino.

7/11

The New Age Of Elegance

Lucie and Luke Meier created thoughtful, sensual silhouettes that remain timelessly elegant.

8/11

The New Age Of Elegance

Agnona’s creative director Simon Holloway excels at discreet relaxed elegance.

9/11

The New Age Of Elegance

Daniele Calcaterra’s take on elegance was abstract and monastic.

10/11

The New Age Of Elegance

At Ujoh, designer Mitsuru Nishizaki mastered a stylized, kimono-like breezy elegance.

11/11

The New Age Of Elegance

Alberto Zambelli’s draped and genteel aesthetic was sensual and feminine.

  Fashion Politics

The political sentiments and aesthetics being expressed on the Milan Fall 2019 runways ranged from a brutalism-inspired response to today’s pressing political and environmental concerns, to OTT commentary on consumption, to an exploration of the sexiness in the #metoo era.

Photography courtesy of Imaxtree

Photography courtesy of Imaxtree

Photography courtesy of Imaxtree

Photography courtesy of Imaxtree

Photography courtesy of Imaxtree

Photography courtesy of Imaxtree

Photography courtesy of Imaxtree

Photography courtesy of Imaxtree

Photography courtesy of Imaxtree

Photography courtesy of Imaxtree

Photography courtesy of Imaxtree

1/11

Fashion Politics

This season it was about romance and fear for Miuccia Prada. “In the sense that the two forces I feel at the moment are fear and danger, but at the same time romance is the solution. So these are pieces of love stories, introducing good in a world that has a lot of bad,” she told reporters in a scrum after the show.

2/11

Fashion Politics

Romance with a punkish protective twist was also seen at Act N1.

3/11

Fashion Politics

Francesco Risso’s Marni woman was wrestling with giving into guilty pleasures. Risso called it a “neuroerotik” duality that came with an unexpected kinky twist.

4/11

Fashion Politics

There were plenty of sensual, softer offerings at Daniel Lee’s runway debut for Bottega Veneta, but this look tapped into a collective yearning for protective gear in dangerous times.

5/11

Fashion Politics

Protection was also at the heart of the collection Simone Rocha created for Moncler. She said she imagined these were clothes that Girl Guides might wear to protect themselves from nature.

6/11

Fashion Politics

The Gucci show, which took place in a mirrored dome lit by pulsating strobes of light, was inspired by views on totalitarianism expressed by philosopher Hannah Arendt. Alessandro Michele was also inspired by Arendt’s take on masks, which she felt people wore for protection and deception.

7/11

Fashion Politics

Marco de Vincenzo brought his own seductively twisted take on femininity in complicated times.

8/11

Fashion Politics

Alexandra Moura’s collection was quirky with a slightly menacing sensibility inspired by fantastical beasts and monsters.

9/11

Fashion Politics

Alessandro Dell’Acqua of N21 said he was inspired by Brian De Palma’s 1980 film Dressed to Kill. He created a noirish take on sexuality where the woman was in charge.

10/11

Fashion Politics

Donatella Versace’s 90s punk-like collection was meant to challenge our fascination with the perfection-obsessed Instagram worlds we create. In press interviews she made the cultural declaration that “imperfection was the new perfection.”

11/11

Fashion Politics

Jeremy Scott’s Moschino game show was seen by some as ironic commentary on society’s fixation with possessions and wealth.

Suit Up!

Call it the Pelosi-effect: designers offered women grownup suiting options that are timeless, inclusive and exquisitely crafted with a modern and relaxed silhouette. Other designers at Milan Fashion Week Fall 2019  added a touch of punk as well as oversized and exaggerated shapes to layer in a creative twist to biz-wear.

Image courtesy of Imaxtree

Image courtesy of Imaxtree

Image courtesy of Imaxtree

Image courtesy of Imaxtree

Image courtesy of Imaxtree

Image courtesy of Imaxtree

Image courtesy of Imaxtree

Image courtesy of Imaxtree

Image courtesy of Imaxtree

Image courtesy of Imaxtree

Image courtesy of Imaxtree

Image courtesy of Imaxtree

Image courtesy of Imaxtree

1/13

Well Suited

After Nancy Pelosi wore a Max Mara red jacket to meet with Donald Trump to discuss funding for the border wall, it reinforced the power and allure of power dressing. Max Mara’s offerings for fall are similarly understated and confidence-inducing.

2/13

Well Suited

The power suit at Salvatore Ferragamo was earthy, tailored and exquisitely made.

3/13

Well Suited

Giorgio Armani’s Rhapsody in Blue collection brought an unexpected twist to classic suiting with an elongated jodhpur leg.

4/13

Well Suited

Anteprima added a high-waisted feminine touch to a classic masculine silhouette.

5/13

Well Suited

Marni’s woman means business: classic tailoring yet edgy and modern.

6/13

Well Suited

Nothing says “don’t mess with me” more than this leather suit from Scervino.

7/13

Well Suited

Annakiki contrasted a classic shape with playfully bulbous sleeves that added a bold and witty touch.

8/13

Well Suited

At Jil Sander, suiting options were oversized and softer, but still powerfully chic.

9/13

Well Suited

Moura paired an innocent sensibility prairie girl skirt with a reserved and somber jacket.

10/13

Well Suited

With the exception of the spiked belting, this silver suit was an example of a sharper, more pared-back direction at Gucci.

11/13

Well Suited

Elisabetta Franchi brought a 60s-meets-streetstyle twist to her modern mini suiting.

12/13

Well Suited

At MSGM, the sensibility was an artsy boy-meets-girl suiting that was playful and confident.

13/13

Well Suited

At Dolce & Gabbana suiting was retro, stylish & chic.

History Lessons

Many designers were in the mood to look to the past to redefine their future. The results, which were inspired by archival references, historical muses or experiences in their private lives, are sentimental, sexy and inventive.

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

1/11

History Lessons

Donatella Versace entered the time machine and dialled it back to 1994 when Versace transformed the safety pin into a stylish fashion staple. It’s back and so too is Stephanie Seymour, the 90s supermodel who closed the grungy lux inspired show.

2/11

History Lessons

Canada’s own iconic Liisa Winkler returned to the runway to wear this stunning cashmere robe coat from Salvatore Ferragamo.

3/11

History Lessons

Salvatore Ferragamo’s creative director Paul Andrew was inspired by a shoe designed in 1968 by Fiamma Ferragama.

4/11

History Lessons

Angela Missoni dove back into the mid 70s to ensure the collection had the same linear silhouette paired with new interpretations of the timeless knits associated with the house.

5/11

History Lessons

The shirt collars at Fendi were reminiscent of the style worn by Karl Lagerfeld, who passed away days before the show. He had been with the house since 1965.

6/11

History Lessons

The boho-artist has long inspired the aristocratic-posh look at Etro. She returned this season with a tighter silhouette but the same exotic vibe.

7/11

History Lessons

Of the 127 looks at Dolce & Gabbana, the ones inspired by avant-garde artists brought a fresh dimension to their work.

8/11

History Lessons

Chinese designer Angel Chen’s fall 2019 was inspired by ancient nomadic shepherds based in the Sichuan region called the Qiang people.

9/11

History Lessons

The clavicle-baring necklines at Bottega Veneta were inspired by 16th century portraiture.

10/11

History Lessons

Nicola Brognano was imagining a modern day Marie Antoinette when she designed this collection.

11/11

History Lessons

Paul Surridge took the Roberto Cavalli classic tiger print and transformed it into an abstract pattern that was modern and unexpected.

This Season’s It Bag

Designers delivered on form and function with this season’s bags that were either cinched to a belt, worn as a necklace or a scarf. #brilliant #musthave

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of ImaxtreePhoto courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

1/13

The Season’s It “Belt” Bag

Shalom Harlow sports the belt bag at Versace.

2/13

The Season’s It “Belt” Bag

Maryling’s take on this season’s functional and fashionable belt bag.

3/13

The Season’s It “Belt” Bag

Fanny pack fantasies at Iceberg.

4/13

The Season’s It “Belt” Bag

Etsy meets mountain climber-chic at Gilberto Calzolari.

5/13

The Season’s It “Belt” Bag

A fun, OTT street-style take on the fanny pack from GCDS.

6/13

The Season’s It “Belt” Bag

Perhaps the chicest take on the belt bag this season from Fendi.

7/13

The Season’s It “Belt” Bag

A two-toned classic take from Elisabetta Franchi.

8/13

The Season’s It “Belt” Bag

A dangling twist from Cividini.

9/13

The Season’s It “Belt” Bag

Don’t-mess-with-me perfection from Cavalli.

10/13

The Season’s It “Belt” Bag

Fashion mirage at Anteprima for those who want something a little more stealth.

11/13

The Season’s It “Belt” Bag

The first of three honourable mentions for free-floating bag options. This necklace bag from Beatrice is cute and chic.

12/13

The Season’s It “Belt” Bag

It’s not a belt bag… but this front-loading bag from Max Mara is envy-inducing.

13/13

The Season’s It “Belt” Bag

This duel scarf non-belt bag from Max Mara is stylish and oh so practical.

This Season’s Key Silhouette

At Milan Fashion Week Fall 2019 fluid layers and loose shapes were given a stylish and feminine touch with wide belts that hinted at and accentuated shapely curves.

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

Photo courtesy of Imaxtree

1/6

The Season’s Key Silhouette: Waist Management

Fluid lines are tweaked and tightened at Missoni.

2/6

The Season’s Key Silhouette: Waist Management

A street-style take on high-waisted pants at Marios.

3/6

The Season’s Key Silhouette: Waist Management

Corseted femininity at Kisada.

4/6

The Season’s Key Silhouette: Waist Management

Game of Thrones belt vibe at Etro.

5/6

The Season’s Key Silhouette: Waist Management

A campy take at Burani.

6/6

The Season’s Key Silhouette: Waist Management

A wide-belted artful wrap from Arbesser.

The post Milan Fashion Week Fall 2019: The Top Trends, Themes & Fashion Moods. appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

Milan Fashion Week Fall 2019: The Top Trends, Themes & Fashion Moods. published first on https://borboletabags.tumblr.com/

[zeroviraluniverse-blog]

The Simple Optical Illusion That Makes an Image Look Like It's Drawing Itself

Visit Now - http://zeroviral.com/the-simple-optical-illusion-that-makes-an-image-look-like-its-drawing-itself/

The Simple Optical Illusion That Makes an Image Look Like It's Drawing Itself

iStock

iStock

Artist James Nolan Gandy invents robot arms that sketch intricate mathematical shapes with pen and paper. When viewed in real time, the effect is impressive. But it becomes even more so when the videos are sped up in a timelapse. If you look closely in the video below, the illustration appears to materialize faster than the robot can put the design to paper. Gizmodo recently explained how the illusion works to make it look like parts of the sketch are forming before the machine has time to draw them.

The optical illusion isn’t an example of tricky image editing: It’s the result of something called the wagon wheel effect. You can observe this in a car wheel accelerating down the highway or in propeller blades lifting up a helicopter. If an object makes enough rotations per second, it can appear to slow down, move backwards, or even stand still.

This is especially apparent on film. Every “moving image” we see on a screen is an illusion caused by the brain filling in the gaps between a sequence of still images. In the case of the timelapse video below, the camera captured the right amount of images, in the right order, to depict the pen as moving more slowly than it did in real life. But unlike the pen, the drawing formed throughout the video isn’t subject to the wagon-wheel effect, so it still appears to move at full speed. This difference makes it look like the sketch is drawing itself, no pen required.

Gandy frequently shares behind-the-scenes videos of his mechanical art on his Instagram page. You can check out some of his non-timelapse clips like the one below to better understand how his machines work, then visit his website to browse and purchase the art made by his ‘bots.

And if you think his stuff is impressive, make sure to explore some of the incredible art robots have made in the past.

[h/t Gizmodo]

Tessa Angus

Surprising Sculptures Made From Fallen Feathers

Kate MccGwire, Orchis, 2012

Tessa Angus

Kate MccGwire is a British sculptor with an unusual medium: feathers. Her surreal, undulating works often take the form of installations—the feathers spilling out of a drain, a stove, a crypt wall—or stand-alone sculptures in which antique bell jars, cabinets, or trunks contain otherworldly shapes.

MccGwire developed her obsession with feathers after moving to a studio barge on the Thames in 2006, as she explains in a video from Crane.tv recently spotlighted by Boing Boing. The barge was near a large shed full of feral pigeons, whose feathers she would spot on her way to work. “I started picking them up and laying them out, collecting them,” she remembers. “And after about two weeks I had like 300 feathers.” At the time, concerns about bird flu were rife, which made the feathers seem “dangerous as well as beautiful.”

When not supplied by her own next-door menagerie, the feathers for her artwork come from a network of racing pigeon societies all over the UK, who send her envelopes full every time the birds molt. Farmers and gamekeepers also send her fallen feathers from birds such as magpies, pheasants, and roosters.

The cultural associations around birds are a big part of what inspires MccGwire. “The dove is the symbol of peace, purity, and fertility,” she told ArtNews in 2013, “but it’s exactly the same species as a pigeon—which everyone regards as being dirty, foul, a pest.”

The same duality is present in her own work, which she frequently shares on her Instagram account. “I want to seduce by what I do—but revolt in equal measure. It’s really important to me that you’ve got that rejection of things you think you know for sure.”

You can see some pictures of MccGwire’s work, and watch the video from Crane.tv, below.

Amazon

13 Stunningly Beautiful Coloring Books for All Ages

BY Alvin Ward

February 7, 2018

Amazon

The rise of adult coloring books comes with a similar, exciting trend: extremely ornate and beautiful coloring books. These tomes make aesthetics the first priority by utilizing the work of extremely talented illustrators. Check out some coloring books with unusual and stunning artwork, perfect for when you’re looking for something a little different.

Mental Floss has affiliate relationships with certain retailers and may receive a small percentage of any sale. But we only get commission on items you buy and don’t return, so we’re only happy if you’re happy. Thanks for helping us pay the bills!

1. DOODLERS ANONYMOUS EPIC COLORING BOOK; $13.21

Doodlers Anonymous is a collective of artists that works as a home for eccentric and unconventional illustration art. For this unique coloring book, 90 contemporary artists from all over the world came together to lend their illustrations. Each page features a different artist and a different style.

Find it: Amazon

2. OUTSIDE THE LINES; $14.70

If you’re unimpressed by 90 different artists, how about 100? All sorts of creative minds—like animators, cartoonists, fine artists, graphic artists, illustrators, musicians—offered their talents to make this incredible coloring book a reality.

Find it: Amazon

3. ANIMORPHIA; $11.93

You may know artist Kerby Rosanes from his Sketchy Stories blog. Rosanes creates mind-bending scenes of objects and animals bursting into tinier objects and animals. The wildly detailed illustrations promise hours of coloring enjoyment. For added fun, certain pages are intentionally unfinished and encourage the colorer to draw their own designs.

Find it: Amazon

4. MID-CENTURY MODERN ANIMALS; $5.17

Illustrator Jenn Ski has a flair for mid-20th century art and design. She created a series of coloring books in this style that ranges from folk art to botanicals. This animal-themed coloring book features simplistic but beautiful designs that are perfect for animal and design lovers alike.

Find it: Amazon

5. NATURAL WONDERS; $5.77

Patrick Hruby’s artwork is striking for its solid blocks of contrasting colors that pop right off the page. Now you can pick your own color scheme for his blocky, minimalist style. The 32 illustrations feature natural scenes of animals, flora, and landscapes. There’s even a guide in the back of the book that shows what each picture looks like with color.

Find it: Amazon

6. CHARLEY HARPER COLORING BOOK; FROM $6

American illustrator Charley Harper is also an artist known for his blocky and colorful artwork. These pieces are perfect to translate into black and white linework to put in a coloring book. The horizontal coloring book features Harper’s iconic drawings of birds and illustrations he did for Ford Times. When you’re done, you can peel the work right out of the book and stick on a wall or fridge.

Find it: Amazon

7. MANDALAS; $8.67

This book of 92 intricate, beautiful mandalas makes for a meditative coloring session. Pair with yoga to achieve maximum zen.

Find it: Amazon

8. SECRET NEW YORK; $10.87

Created by Paris-based artist Zoe de Las Cases, this coloring book focuses on the little things in New York City. Color your way through Manhattan to Brooklyn, one tote bag or sneaker at a time.

Find it: Amazon

9. WILD SAVANNAH; $9.48

Illustrator Millie Marotta creates extremely intricate coloring books that are so beautifully detailed, they almost don’t need to be colored. Her patterns of the savannah’s flora and fauna offer a great way to relieve stress and be creative.

Find it: Amazon

10. TATTOOS; $7.29

This book features classic images like anchors, skulls, and roses. Once you’re done coloring, you might be tempted to get the completed work tattooed on your arm.

Find it: Amazon

11. MAGICAL CITY; FROM $7.52

Illustrator Lizzie Mary Cullen takes cityscapes and deconstructs them into swirly abstract designs perfect for the creative colorer. Cullen took inspiration from cities like London, Rome, and Luxor when creating this unusual coloring book.

Find it: Amazon

12. THE ART OF NATURE; $8.35

For the budding scientist in your life: A coloring book filled with scientific drawings from the 18th and 19th centuries. There are 60 pages of vintage illustrations of animals and flora to fill in.

Find it: Amazon

13. ALEXANDER GIRARD COLORING BOOK; $9.93

Bring home the illustrative magic of Alexander Girard with this coloring book that transforms some of his work into simple line art to color. Girard, also known as Sandro, was an interior and textile designer who made some extremely charming and retro artwork.

Find it: Amazon

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[soundofawesomeblog]

This Fall, we are counting down the 100 best tracks of the 2000s with a new article every Monday. To learn more about the project and why the 2000s were amazing for music, click here.

After what felt like forever, we finally made it to the end: this week, we present the top 10 positions of the countdown. To listen to every single track listed in our top 100, you can head to the Spotify playlist we created at the bottom of the page.

Navigation

Intro   100-91   90-81   80-71   70-61   60-51   50-41   40-31   30-21   20-11   10-1

10. The Strokes - Hard to Explain

True, it is a little easy and inaccurate to say that The Strokes single-handily saved rock music in 2001. But during the summer of that year, the new band felt like a breath of fresh air, no matter how much they smelled like cigarette. Hard to Explain sounds easier than it is with a metronome-like drum beat and an endless stream of downstrokes. The track keeps moving forwards and forwards until it reaches its climax two minutes in and, just like that, disappears completely. The band then reels it right back and goes for the ride a second time, as exciting as the first. It is the track that rightfully set the expectations rocket high for the band’s first album Is This It and it’s a miracle they managed to reach them.

9. Amy Winehouse - Rehab

If America wasn’t already sold to Amy Winehouse yet by the time Rehab was released, it took only about 30 seconds to get it all hooked. On the biggest single of her cruelly short career, Amy wastes no time belting out the chorus in the opening seconds, backed by soul band the Dap-Kings and immaculate production from Mark Ronson. Don’t get it twisted though; it truly is Amy’s presence at the center stage that infuses the song its magnetism, with her defiant and relentless personality, giving it enough character to live long after she’s gone. With Rehab, Amy Winehouse kicked the door wide open for women to sing their imperfections with sass and break from the picture perfect plastic mold.

8. Radiohead - Idioteque

Radiohead truly became immortals in the 2000s, thanks in no small part to key tracks like Idioteque. After all, only a rock band in full grace mode could ditch its guitars for 1970’s computer music samples and end up with such a compelling piece of music. Thom Yorke’s falsetto, which ranges from delicate to plain manic as the song progresses, clashes with the robotic and cold background provided by a highly compressed drum machine and a Paul Lansky chord progression. The result sounds both like a virtual nightmare Yorke tries to wake up from, and a real dream to IDM-trained ears.

7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps

As punk as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were on their début album, no track they would ever release would reach the height of the tender ballad of Maps. Propelled by Nick Zinner’s rapid strum and secret weapon drummer Brian Chase’s thoughtful performance, the Fever To Tell highlight remains a love song for the ages. Meanwhile, Karen O’s feelings can’t help but burst out the iconic track, helped by its iconic “Wait, they don’t love you like I love you” line.

6. Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks

By the end of the decade, indie pop was still interested in bedroom aspirations, making delicate, intimate pieces of music. Grizzly Bear, however, was ready to make the most grandiose track they could with Two Weeks, and it sure feels like they reached both the moon and the stars. Starting with a bouncy piano motif and cartoonish whoa-ohs, Two Weeks builds upon a drum loop that would make Vampire Weekend jealous before crashing into a confetti convention in the chorus. The dizzying layers of synths and celestial backing vocals elevate the track to outer space for the band’s finest hour.

5. The Knife - Heartbeats

In the 2000s, few choruses felt as vital as the one The Knife cranked out on their synthpop masterpiece Heartbeats: “To call for hands from above to lean on/Wouldn’t be good enough/For Me, oh”. What is magical about the track, however, is the way Karin Dreijer Andersson sings. Channelling her inner Björk, she injects a duality of emotions in her delivery as she tiptoes between pure joy and pure nostalgia. Instead of “hands up above” though, she leans on a colourful yet robotic wall of synths and steel drums, one that is trying to rationalize her confused feelings. Heartbeats might not have been exactly a hit when it first came out, but such an ageless track can only win in notoriety through the years.

4. Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)

With its first album Funerals, Arcade Fire launched nothing less than an indie revolution in the mid-2000s. This rings especially true with Rebellion (Lies). The cathartic single is a deep journey to the grandiose. The real tour-de-force here is how natural it sounds; how Win Butler and his friends manage to create such a resonating piece, such an emotionally heavy track without ever sounding fake, forced or cheesy. Instead, the band wears its feelings right on its sleeve with an attitude that would inspire thousands of alternative rock bands for generations to come. Sung from the point of view of a child, Rebellion (Lies) pleas for the listener to stop hiding underneath the covers and to be who they want to be and to dream outside of their bed, an advice that isn’t as naive as it sounds.

3. M.I.A. - Paper Planes

The Clash started as a punk band but quickly incorporated elements of funk, reggae, hip-hop and world music to its core. It is therefore fitting that an artist like rapper M.I.A., one who was born from DIY and punk ethos, would end up sampling a song of them. On Paper Planes, the Londonian celebrates globalization one cash register noise at a time. Migrants, refugees or stoners, there was something for everyone on this global track, even if the visa trouble that inspired the song come from M.I.A.’s very own personal experience. In a decade with so many male rappers using girls as props in their videos while literally calling themselves P.I.M.P. in the process, it is telling that the most essential rap single of the 2000s came from a woman.

2. The Rapture - House Of Jealous Lovers

If you can scream the title of this track and count to 8, you can already sing 90% of House Of Jealous Lovers. The Rapture forms here the tightest rock unit making the nastiest, sweatiest, slickest disco song possible, one that could make CBGB and Studio 54 burn simultaneously. The quintessential dance-punk number gets its power from a groovy bass for the ages, funky drumming, an incisive guitar sound, epileptic vibratos and a stupid amount of cowbell. In the 2000s, there was simply no other song that managed to channel such frenzy as effectively as House Of Jealous Lovers.

1. LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends

Growing old is scary as fuck, which is why our culture is so obsessed with staying young. Pop stars rarely survive long after they reach 30 years old, either because newer stars replace them, either because they literally die before they get old. James Murphy was, therefore, a bit of an oddity when he first came out of the New York scene with his début single Losing My Edge at 32 years old. Sure, his indie dance tales are a little too weird for him to truly become a star; he only got a number one album in the USA on his comeback album in 2017 on an especially slow chart week. But for a generation of well-informed music fans, he was the best-kept secret of the 2000s.

It also helped that, with LCD Soundsystem, Murphy wasn’t especially singing about being young. He preferred to sing about inviting an A-list electronic band to play in his basement, about death or about being the fat guy in a t-shirt doing all the singing. Losing my Edge, in fact, addressed this very situation, exposing a narrator who was starting to lag behind the cool kids, but who wanted to show he was still cooler because he “was there” when it started.

This all leads to All My Friends, without a doubt the greatest single track of the 2000s. Starting with a shivering piano riff, the song builds on as Murphy adds years to his odometer. All My Friends isn’t exactly a party track as much as it’s a song about trying to live the life of the party, about doing everything to get as much from our younger years, surviving the tomorrows and ruining our bodies just trying to fit in and live. Soon, the piano riff becomes drilling, it feels more and more urgent. The rapid-fire hi-hats open more and more often. The guitars and the synths are more and more present, leading to a mid-thirties James Murphy pleading to “see all my friends tonight”. As LCD Soundsystem reformed itself in 2016 after a five-year hiatus, Murphy’s words bear more and more weight, with the idea that each stupid decision, each thrill could be the last. All My Friends is more than a song about the midlife crisis: it touches themes of nostalgia, friendship, growing old and trying to make it work out in the end. And just like a lifestyle of partying, the song never puts the breaks on, drifting at 140 beats per minute before crashing seven minutes and a half later. 

In the end, All My Friends is scary. It’s frenetic, it’s wise, but it’s also so brutally honest in its statement and subject matter that it ends up intimidating. In a decade that saw the increase of the influence of the internet, of social media, of phones and of everything else that would make our parents cringe, All My Friends arcs back to the universal idea that you are probably missing out, that you are missing your friends more than you think, that your life is getting empty and that your youth is slipping away. Goddammit, do something with it before it’s too late. Check the charts, figure it out and go out there. 

(Note that Jay-Z’s 99 Problems and Primal Scream’s Kill All Hippies are not available on Spotify)

Navigation

Intro   100-91   90-81   80-71   70-61   60-51   50-41   40-31   30-21   20-11   10-1 

[cloakedmonk]

What has Theater taught me? Ego indulgence and humility. Confidence and neurosis. Teamwork and competition. Empathy and retreat. Deception and honesty. The story of humanity in a microcosm. My story.

When I was a little kid, I learned that I could entertain and amuse my parents and my older sisters and get positive attention. As the youngest of four daughters, I was eager to exercise this talent to my advantage whenever my ego felt bereft. This helped me compensate for having fewer general skills and powers than my seniors. I couldn’t win at games or read or figure or run better than the rest, but I could sing and mime and look cute. I also was the only blonde, which helped.

When I was in second grade, I was very good at reading aloud “with expression”. I remember (and still have a written report about) my behavior when the class did a Reader’s Theater story about a snake. I told the teacher that I had a toy snake the class could use…provided that I got to read the lead role. Mrs. Richie declined my offer.

When I was in third grade, Miss White selected me to play Captain Hook in the musical Peter Pan. I was stunned. “I’m not a boy!” I protested. She told me privately that she thought I’d do a better job than any of the boys in the class. She could tell that I was a ham and would take risks to win attention and applause. And I did. In the final week of rehearsal, she gave me a monologue, a poem in rhyme that she would put into a particular scene if I could memorize it. I worked on it very hard. In the final performance, though, I skipped it altogether because I forgot where it was supposed to be inserted. To this day, I can rattle it off by heart. “Methinks I hear a spark, a gleam, a glimmer of a plan….”

The pirate theme lives on in my legacy.

When I was in seventh grade, I was double-cast as the lead in our pre-Bicentennial musical. I was the Spirit of ’75 for two performances (why the Music teacher and the Home Ec teacher chose this theme a year early is anyone’s guess). So was Kevin Bry. Yes, I played a man. Again. I vividly remember being in performance and feeling sort of bored with the dialogue the teachers had written to link together the songs the school chorus had rehearsed. So I decided to overact. “The sun still rises in the East….doesn’t it????!!” The audience roared. I think they were pretty bored, too.

When I was in High School, I took real Drama classes. I learned to dance, and I gained some confidence singing solos in the Concert Choir and the Jazz Choir. I became a lot more aware of my own vulnerability, too. I will never forget the Talent Show in my Junior year. I was in a leotard and character shoes, posed and ready to dance when the curtain went up. I was listening for our taped music to begin. And I heard nothing…until the audience started to howl and whistle. Suddenly, I felt naked and taunted. Then the music started, and I couldn’t concentrate on it. I was humiliated. My father and mother and boyfriend (who became my husband) were in the audience, hearing those students jeering at me. We all went out for ice cream afterward, and they tried to convince me that the performance wasn’t bad and the audience wasn’t being critical, but I just wanted to block the whole thing out of my memory forever. Obviously, I haven’t.

When I was in college, I was a Music major with Voice Performance as my Senior thesis. I auditioned for a part in a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta as a Junior. I hate auditions. I tend to choke when I know that someone is out there in those dark seats judging me. I am awesome in rehearsal – prepared, alert, willing and tireless. I was working hard, getting better at performance in my Master Classes and feeling more and more that my teachers and colleagues were actually rooting for me. But not at an audition. I was nervous, my mouth was dry, and my voice wavered. I could see my choir teacher in the house, talking with the casting director. I am sure that Prof. Lamkin was telling him that I was a very good soprano despite my weak scale runs in Mabel’s aria. I managed to land a part in the chorus.

That’s me, third lady on the left.

After graduating Phi Beta Kappa with my B.A. in Music, I auditioned for the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Worst audition EVER! Oh well. I found out that I was already pregnant. Got the role of Mother at age 22…and 24…and 26…and 28, and stayed off the stage for years. Meanwhile, my husband performed all over the country with a competitive Barbershop quartet and once at Carnegie Hall with the Robert Shaw Chorale Workshop. My children were on stage quite a bit, too. I was their coach. They were in all the school concerts and plays, took dance and music classes, and I watched and cheered and videotaped my heart out.

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Then some neighbors invited me to help them start a Community Theater. I was tired of being in the background. I stepped up, and brought my oldest daughter with me. The next summer, I brought three of my children, my husband, and my mother-in-law as rehearsal accompanist. The next summer, it was just me, and my husband told me that he wouldn’t be able to solo parent while I was at rehearsal after this. Meanwhile, he was performing with the Chicago Master Singers and rehearsing every week. A few years later, my youngest daughter started taking theater classes with a group called CYT. The next summer, they did a community theater production, and I auditioned again and got cast. My oldest daughter played in the pit band. One of the performances was on my birthday, and the director brought me out on stage for the audience to sing for me during intermission. * shucks, folks! *

Joseph CCT

Joseph CCT

Joseph CCT

Joseph CCT

Carousel Cary CT

Hello Dolly Cary CT

Godspell Cary CT

Beauty & the Beast CCT

I ended up working for CYT and becoming their Operations Supervisor full time. In addition, I taught Voice classes and Musical Theater classes and Show Choir classes to kids aged 8-18 after work. All of my children and my husband participated at some point in the seven years I was employed there. I watched kids grow up in the theater, auditioning three times a year, growing in confidence and artistry, and questioning their identity every time.

“Who am I, anyway? Am I my résumé? That is a picture of a person I don’t know.” A Chorus Line 

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Accessing emotions, improvising with another person’s energy – initiation, response, vulnerability, defense. Mime, mimicry, mannerisms, artifice and accents. Playing in the muck of human behavior. This is Theater. It can be devastating and edifying. You can lose yourself and find yourself or never know the difference.

I wonder if I should regret raising up a bunch of performers and encouraging them in this charade or if I should be proud to have modeled survival in the arena. I don’t know. It’s complex. We’re complex. And maybe that’s the entire lesson.

© 2017, words and photographs, Priscilla Galasso

Theater Lessons What has Theater taught me? Ego indulgence and humility. Confidence and neurosis. Teamwork and competition. Empathy and retreat.