Frieze week and the Louvre Abu Dhabi

With Frieze art week approaching, Colin Gleadell offers an update on what is going on across the art world. 'Jungle Scene with Plane Wreck’ by Jonathan Wateridge is estimated to sell for £100,000 to £150,000. 

Charles Saatchi is making his usual contribution to the Frieze week auctions by selling a handful of works at Christie’s by relatively untested artists in the market place. Estimated to fetch upwards of half a million pounds, some of the works are being placed in the prestigious evening sale.

For Zambian-born Jonathan Wateridge, it is his first outing at auction. His massive hyper-realist diorama, Jungle Scene with Plane Wreck, was created in his studio. When Saatchi visited, he was so impressed he paid £35,000 for the painting – a high price for the young artist. That was in 2007. Wateridge can now command £150,000 to £200,000 each. He recently sold seven paintings to Christie’s owner François Pinault, which were shown in Venice during the Biennale.

Next year, he has his first show in LA with the dealers L&M Arts. Christie’s has estimated the Jungle Scene will sell for £100,000 to £150,000 – a nice return for Saatchi. But some pundits are betting it will fetch more.

For many years, the market for the leading British modernist painter Ben Nicholson seemed to stand still. His auction record of £1.2 million in 1990 seemed set in stone when the so-called “Tate archives” fake scandal a decade ago rocked any remaining confidence in his market. Ever since, Nicholson has quietly been seen as underpriced, and a bargain buy compared with some of his contemporaries.

But things may be changing. Last year, two paintings – an abstract inspired by Mondrian and a Fifties carved relief landscape – rose over estimates to challenge that old record price.

Then, last week in Paris, an early Thirties painting of a fiddle and a Spanish guitar, influenced slightly by the paintings of Georges Braque, soared to a new £2.6 million record, 10 times the estimate. It was part of the sale of the estate of the Parisian fashion icon Hélène Rochas, and unexpectedly surpassed works by Andy Warhol, Kandinsky and Balthus in the same collection.


The Louvre Abu Dhabi museum continues to drip-feed the public with information on its latest acquisitions in preparation for the newly rescheduled opening in 2015. The information is avidly followed by the art world, curious to see what a deep-pocketed, virgin museum collection is buying and from where.

In its latest report, it lists the first vintage 19th-century photographs to enter the collection, and two 20th‑century paintings by Paul Klee and Paul Gauguin, neither of which have been bought at auction.
A little research reveals that the Klee, a late abstract suggesting a pyramid in a desert, was displayed by New York’s Acquavella Galleries at Art Basel in 2009, while the Gauguin, a Breton scene of two boys wrestling, belonged to Swiss collector Samuel Josefowitz, who exhibited it at the Royal Academy in 1988, since when it was passed down to his family.

The Jumma Hafta Bazar

Art should not be limited to a specific class of people, nor should it be restricted to being displayed at fancy galleries. It should be open to diverse interpretations by its viewers and although the message might appear vague, it still succeeds in reflecting the audience.

And a perfect example of this was the PeaceNiche Art Project, which in collaboration with various artists put together an event that transcended socio–economic barriers; bringing about an appreciation for artistic expression through various mediums and creating a sense of unity.

The event was held at The Second Floor (T2f) café from September 28, 2012 and went on until September 30, 2012.

It served as a platform for both established and aspiring artists to come together, share ideas, knowledge and present their works.

The art of wrecking reputations

Some people, with some help from a tabloid here in Bangladesh, have been busy trying to tarnish the image of Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar. There is a whole world out there and no one who lives in it has any idea of how this tabloid, Blitz by name, came by information on what is supposed to be a torrid love affair between Khar and the son of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari. No Pakistani or Indian media have reported on it. In the West, no one knew that the married, mother-of-two glamorous minister and the handsome presidential son were involved in matters of the heart. But Blitz told us it was basing its report on intelligence sources.

And what were those sources? London's Daily Telegraph has given us a pointer: it was the Pakistan army's notorious inter-services intelligence (ISI) which had been behind this bad business of dragging Ms. Khar's name in the mud. The Pakistan army has been quick to react. It has not had any hand in the manufacturing of the report which appeared in a tabloid in distant Dhaka.

That is how it sought to clear its name. The truth, though, is not that the army has come forth with a denial. It is more likely that Hina Rabbani Khar's willingness to have the United Nations inquire into the disappearance of Pakistani citizens (and thousands have vanished over the past few years in such areas as Baluchistan) aroused the ire of the army. The problem with third world armies has been their self-professed claim on patriotism. It is thus quite possible that Pakistan's military has been behind this entire nonsense. It needed to destroy Khar and with the same stone blacken the image of the Bhuttos.

This business of wrecking reputations or causing deep gashes in them is not new. It has been there for as long as memory has travelled back in time. In communist countries, good politicians have often been marked out for liquidation, politically if not physically, when they have dared to challenge the authority of those in power. China's Deng Xiao-ping was purged twice in Maoist times over his belief that it did not matter if a cat was white or black as long as it caught mice. Liu Shao-qi, in the 1950s and 1960s a ubiquitous presence beside Mao Zedong and Chou En-lai, died in prison, in disgrace, in 1969. In the former Soviet Union, reputations first began to be destroyed in the Stalinist purges, when good communists unable to see eye to eye with Lenin's successor were simply put through show trials and swiftly shot.

Destroying reputations through innuendos or downright public condemnation has regularly been the vehicle on which men with sinister, rightwing motives have operated. In 1950s' United States of America, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy decided that there were scores of communists or communist sympathisers working secretly at the highest levels of the government. He went to work, through falsely accusing some of the best of people in the country, of engaging in leftwing conspiracy to undermine the republic, in the end pushing them to misery. It was not until a senior military officer finally hit back at McCarthy that the whole farce drew to an end. McCarthy experienced his comeuppance when, in a twist of fortune, he died in disgrace.

In Bangladesh, many were the people who after November 1975 were vociferous in their denunciations of the murdered General Khaled Musharraf and his associates as Indian agents who had tried to foist a pro-Delhi government on the country. It was a ploy by the very men who had, only hours before the four Mujibnagar leaders were assassinated in prison, spread the ugly word that the Indians were almost on the verge of springing Tajuddin Ahmed and his colleagues from jail and installing a puppet government under their leadership in Dhaka. It was even given out that a letter to that effect had been intercepted by Bangladesh intelligence. Ironically, no one ever saw the letter nor was any reference to it ever made after November 1975.
Over the decades, aspersions have been cast on the lineage of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. His mother was a Hindu before she converted to Islam. Bhutto's enemies ignored the conversion and only harped on the Hindu factor in their attacks on him. And then there have been the people who, even to this day, go around insinuating that Bhutto was Indira Gandhi's half-sibling. And how do they draw that conclusion? Easy, they say. Observe closely the physical appearances of Nehru and Bhutto. Doesn't that demonstrate a huge likeness between the two men, of a father-son nature? Your answer comes in the form of disdain, a shrug. Which student of history wants to respond to nonsense?

All across the world, people have gone on vilifying the hapless Marie Antoinette. That she was an insensitive woman, say her detractors, is based on proof: as the hungry masses demanded bread, she asked her courtiers what the ruckus was all about. When they told her, she nonchalantly instructed them to give the protestors cake. The truth is that she never said that. There is no record of it and yet it was part of the "evidence" which was used to send her to the guillotine. By the way, much as Henry Kissinger might be a man of a dubious political character, he never said at any point in his career that Bangladesh was a bottomless basket. Someone else, on his staff, did.

It is thus that people who do well or are likely to do well or are simply foolish enough to lead quiet lives are waylaid by mischievous people. The stories of the fourteen year-old Rimsha Masih in Pakistan and twenty five year-old Uttam Kumar Barua in Bangladesh are two of the most recent instances of the innocent being put to shame, all in the name of God and faith. They have "blasphemed" and so their families and clans must have their homes burnt down by the "properly religious."

And Hina Rabbani Khar? She is smart, she is young, she has an abundance of diplomatic courage. She now has the army riled. The truth is always offensive to armies which have once conquered their own countries. And so they hit back. Khar could yet be a casualty.

One last point: how does Blitz explain its position now?

Art on location River Valley Artisan Tour to introduce area’s creative life to locals

WESTMORELAND, N.H. -- At a time when a presidential election is coming up and football season is upon us, art can sometimes end up by the wayside.

But many people think time should be made for creative culture, as opposed to learning about Tom Brady’s quarterback rating or which politicians are endorsing Mitt Romney. And artisan tours are popping up in various locations to give people a chance to sample what local artists have to offer in fields like painting, photography, jewelry-making and woodworking.

The River Valley Artisan Tour started with that exact purpose and is the brainchild of five southwestern New Hampshire artists. Pastel painter Carol Corliss teamed up with oil painters Madeline Ullrich and Robin Stronk, acrylic painter Joanne Smith and photographer Medora Herbert and set it up as a way to demonstrate how artists and artisans create their work.

The cooperative event is scheduled to last from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 6, and Sunday, Oct. 7 (Columbus Day weekend).

Corliss, of Spofford, said artists tend to dabble in media such as painting and photography, whereas artisanry involves craftsmanship.

She said nine artists and artisans -- including photographers, woodworkers and painters -- will set up shop in Westmoreland Town Hall at 780 Route 63 to display their work and show how it is made. What makes the event a tour is what individuals do after visiting town hall.

Maps will be available to lead guests to the homes or studios of various other artists in the area to see how other art is made. The equipment at these locations would be too cumbersome to bring to the town hall. The tour also will include stops at Boggy Meadow Farms (where cheese is made), Brick Oven Farms (which bakes artisan bread) and Poocham Hill Winery (which will be holding its grand opening). 

Corliss and Smith said all those involved believe creating culinary masterpieces like cheese, bread and wine is a fine art in its own right.

"A lot of people don’t get to see where an artist works," Corliss said.

Smith said artists can be sort of secluded sometimes.

Maps also will be available at each home or studio and there will be signs leading anyone interested through the New England foliage to different locations. Smith said each artist or artisan will have a designated number and each of the 11 sponsors’ establishments will have a letter.

There also will be special raffles.

Corliss, who knows the other women by being a part of the local art scene, said the tour was started because there are several in the general area but Westmoreland and its surrounding towns always felt left out. Smith said tours like these can help spark up an interest in art.

"There are so many artists in the area and people just don’t realize it," she said.

JoAnn LaBarre, an administrative assistant at Westmoreland Town Hall, said the Board of Selectmen granted use of the building to the tour’s artists last year. Though this is the first year, LaBarre said there was a very small-scale display in 2011.

She said there is a lot of publicity for the event, as posters and fliers can be seen around town.

"My mom actually asked me if I would take her because she really wants to go," she said with a slight laugh.

"Deadhouse" art show unites paintings, headstones

Levitation 2005 by artist Paul Benney is seen in this undated handout photograph released in London October 2, 2012.  "Night Paintings"

Above ground Somerset House boasts one of London's most famous courtyards, a neo-classical gem used for film sets, fashion shows and a glamorous skating venue in the winter. Beneath the spectacular square are little-known underground passageways called the "Deadhouse", which this week open to the public for the first exhibition of paintings ever to be held there.

Somerset House's resident artist Paul Benney is exhibiting his paintings in a free show running from October 4 to December 9, and in the dingy subterranean chambers they hang alongside the headstones of French courtiers buried there in the 17th century.

"This was a space that I had come across by accident as I was wandering about finding my way around and getting used to the building," Benney told Reuters in a dark vault surrounded by his works.

Traditionally, he would have held the exhibition above ground in a naturally lit gallery running along one of the four sides of the courtyard.

"It gave me the idea that ... this might be a better place to try to see whether it would work for my work, and as it turns out I think it does."

Benney, who has had a studio at Somerset House for 2-1/2 years, has produced a series of eerie, elemental images including a Pan figure floating above a forest, a naked man "emerging" from thick fog and a face whose shaved head has burst into flames.

"I don't set out to make eerie or unsettling work," said the artist, also a well-known portrait painter. "It does eventually come across as that, I think, as a coincidence, as a result of me finding imagery that makes sense to me.

"My influences range from 20th century cinema like (Russian director Andrei) Tarkovsky right through to Rembrandt and Goya. Generally, of all those artists I am drawn to the subterranean subject matter."

That includes Goya's "Black Paintings", the Spanish artist's haunting canvases that include Saturn devouring his son and two ghoulish old men eating soup.

GRAVES DISTURBED
As well as the Deadhouse, a handful of Benney's works hang inside alcoves along the "lightwells", deep, paved alleyways that run along three sides of the court above.

Officials at Somerset House are hoping the combination of an innovative space unknown to most visitors and the art on display will make the "Night Paintings" show a major draw.

The Deadhouse has been used before as a party venue and for a sound installation, but damp conditions, and the fact that it is a service tunnel used by the venue, limit its potential as a permanent art space.

Somerset House Trust was set up in 1997 to conserve and develop the site and open it up to the public.
"We were only set up 15 years ago and opened to public in 2000, and we have been investigating how to show different parts of the building to the public," said trust director Gwyn Miles.

"We have used (the Deadhouse) for events - we've had some fabulous parties down there and we will use it probably more."

The headstones were set in the walls of the tunnel when Somerset House was rebuilt by William Chambers at the end of the 18th century.

When the old buildings were demolished to make way for the buildings that survive today, the graves of members of the queen's court were disturbed.

The headstones date back to 1637, when Henrietta Maria of France, who married Charles I, used what was then called Denmark House and had a Roman Catholic chapel built - a deeply unpopular move at the time.
Henrietta fled to France during the English Civil War in which her husband Charles I was executed, but returned to Denmark House as Dowager Queen after the restoration of Charles II in 1660, and launched a new phase of expansion.

Transcending barriers through art

A view of the empty plot next to the venue where all the live performances were held all three days of the art bazaar.

KARACHI: Art should not be limited to a specific class of people, nor should it be restricted to being displayed at fancy galleries. It should be open to diverse interpretations by its viewers and although the message might appear vague, it still succeeds in reflecting the audience.

And a perfect example of this was the PeaceNiche Art Project, which in collaboration with various artists put together an event that transcended socio–economic barriers; bringing about an appreciation for artistic expression through various mediums and creating a sense of unity.

The event was held at The Second Floor (T2f) café from September 28, 2012 and went on until September 30, 2012.

It served as a platform for both established and aspiring artists to come together, share ideas, knowledge and present their works.

This was the second effort made by the PeaceNiche team.

“Based upon the success of this initiative, we hope to see our vision of accessible and unifying art taken further by stepping out of the gallery space and into the public domain,” a PeaceNiche representative told us.

The event started out with a bang with people present to relish the work of various artists and engage in activities such as live paintings and discussions. Visitors admire the work of artist and musician Safwan Sabzwari at T2f, Jumma Hafta Art Bazaar. 

The venue was cozy and casually set up, reflecting a warm, friendly atmosphere. The admirable detail of the event was the participation of people from all walks of life and of different age groups, something that we Karachites rarely experience.

A variety of art pop-ups were on display throughout the exhibition and a range of other activities were divided among three days.

The work displayed varied from photography to paintings as well as handmade ceramics, t-shirts and wall lamps.

All prices were rather reasonable and each artist brought their own element to the event.

A Mandala Art workshop was organised for children. Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning “circle” and is an art form spanning centuries.

In this workshop, children learnt how to create mandalas: concentric diagrams that have spiritual and ritual significance in both Buddhism and Hinduism.  

a four year old visitor all set to paint a mandala, at the mandala workshop, T2F, Jumma Hafta Art Bazaar, Karachi.

Live performances included paintings by chef and artist, Shamira Mahpara who succeeded in catching the attention of many street kids whom she involved in her work of art, distributing canvases and cracking jokes while at it.

One artist who gained much limelight at the event was, Sumaiyya Jilani, creator of ‘Desi Marilyn’.

Her story began when one day she decided to give Marilyn Monroe a ‘desi’ streak and so mimicked her photograph in keeping with her iconic Marilyn Monroe pose and gave her a make-over with a braid, a paranda and ethnic jewellery to go with the ethnic patterns on her clothes.

In addition to Sumaiya’s live Marilyn Monroe painting fresco, and t-shirt printing, there was also recitation of Urdu literature and conversations with truck artist, Haider Ali. These were all organised outdoors for the public to participate.

Artwork by Mishaal Rinch.

A rather fascinating photography display, titled ‘Shutter Down’ was also prearranged by Insiya Syed (a photographer herself) later in the evening, displaying works of Akhtar Soomro, Ali Reza Mumtaz, Amean J,Humayun Memon, Khaula Jamil,  Kohi Marri,  Nadir Toosy, Omar Kasmani,  Sitwat Rizvi and Yasir Nisar.

These photos were projected on shop shutters across the road to encourage streetwalkers to participate in the slideshow.

The main idea behind the public display was to engage people from the streets to partake in this delight.

The second day was a bit lighter in comparison to the first but soon the bare spaces filled up as the evening show neared with live performances by ‘Shikari’ featuring Safwan Subzwari & Anthony Galli.

Raania Durrani (Visual Art Coordinator PeaceNiche) blew the audience away with yet another remarkable talent, her sweet voice singing ‘Aaj bazaar mein’ a poem by renowned Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

‘Shikari’ a local band formed by Safwan Sabzwari and Anthony Galli (lead guitar) stirred the night by bringing a blend of folk and new age rock music with Faisal Gill on the rubab/violin, Rizwan on tabla, Salman on the harmonium and Ali Ashraf on rhythm guitars. The backing vocalist for Shikari was Kulsoom. Live performances by Shikari, Kulsoom and Raania Durrani.

The third and final day of the event was a little relaxed throughout the day though all the prices came down to negotiation.

Farhad Humayun brought a distinct flavor combined with star-power towards the end of the event. Farhad is a drummer/singer for Overload, initially a drum and dhol based band that has now started incorporating electronic music elements and sufi verses.

The performance left the crowd enchanted and hungry for more, but like all good things the event had to come to a close.

It was a great initiative which I am sure will inspire many to reach out with ideas of their own and organise events that would bring our people closer by encouraging unity, humility and patience.

Boost green power - Stop wasting brain power

CHRISTIANA Figueres, who heads UN efforts to prevent global warming, urged the United States to stop wasting its brain power and get on board with boosting manufacturing in the green technology sector.

The US has lost ground to Germany, China and other countries in producing solar panels, wind towers and alternative energy mechanisms in general, Figueres reminded reporters at a press conference in Washington.

"It's a lost opportunity (that could help) the US to move out of the fiscal cliff," she said. The US lag in the sector meant it has failed to use the high level of technical innovation that has traditionally powered US business, Figueres indicated.

Figueres was attending the Carbon Forum North America, a conference that this year focusses on emissions trading systems to be implemented in individual US states and Canadian provinces.

California in November will be the first US state to start selling emission credits.

Figueres heads the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and its efforts to reduce carbon emissions blamed for global warming.

Experts say that global temperatures must be kept from rising no more than 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times to avoid catastrophic effects. Current emissions put the world on track for a 4- to 6-degree rise by 2100, even with expected voluntary reductions.

While Washington has made a voluntary commitment to the UNFCC to reduce its carbon emissions by 17 per cent over the 2005-2020 period, the US refused to join the current Kyoto Protocol because developing countries like China, its main economic rival, were exempted.

But Figueres said she had "no reason to doubt" that both the United States and China — the world's two largest carbon emitters — would uphold their commitments made in Durban in 2011 to join negotiations on a new binding agreement to be adopted in 2015 and go into effect by 2020.

Also in Durban, all industrialised countries and 49 developing countries, including all emerging economies, officially committed to voluntary reductions by 2020, she said.

"China already has legally binding domestic regulations (and has) met and exceeded their current goals," Figueres said.

"When China says they're going to do something, they do it!" The United States is blamed for obstructing progress in reducing global emissions. It refused to join Kyoto, insisting that developing and emerging economies also commit to reducing greenhouse gasses.

The Kyoto Protocol expires in December, and Russia, Canada and Japan have refused to sign up for a second Kyoto deal. The European Union agreed in Durban to soldier on alone with a few other countries under an extension.

Another round of climate talks is slated for November 26 to December 7 in Doha, Qatar, where negotiators are to decide how long to extend Kyoto — five to eight years — as a bridge until a new, broader agreement can be implemented. As of January, Kyoto will only encompass 10-12 per cent of global emissions.

"Governments are walking down the right path," said Figueres. "So there's good progress, but not enough ... We need further ambition ... and higher speed."

"None of these pledges is enough!" she added. They are "not what is going to guarantee stabilisation of the atmosphere."

Efforts at the US federal level to adopt cap-and-trade emissions schemes have been blocked by conservative resistance, but Figueres declined to comment on the November 6 presidential elections that pit incumbent Democrat Barack Obama against Republican Mitt Romney.

"No matter how you all vote on November 6, there is one truth: Climate (change) is here and with us," she said.

But US attitudes were changing, she noted, "due to droughts and wildfires" over the summer.

This Is A Part Of Me! Now Katy Perry shows off her retro cartoon nail art at Tokyo premiere

Katy Perry showed her love for retro cartoons with some Daria-inspired nail art in Tokyo today for the premiere of her fly-on-the-wall film 'Part of Me'.

The design featured nine of the characters from the '90s animated series, but clearly Daria is the 27-year old singer's favourite as she appears twice, on both Katy's left thumb and right forefinger.


Her cartoon heroes: Katy Perry shows off her latest nail art creation with faces from MTV's Daria on each nail.
"It doesn't get better than hand painted Daria nails" tweets Katy Perry hours before her movie premiere

The pop singer matched her animated nails with a cloud print prom dress and some towering purple sandals.

Daria was a cult cartoon that ran from 1997 to 2001 which followed the day-to-day life of a cynical teenage girl

As a social outsider, Daria suffered in a world filled with idiotic classmates and patronising adult figures.

The animated series was one of MTV's highest rated shows during the 90s.<

It was a spin-off from Mike Judge's 'Beavis and Butthead' where Daria was a recurring character in the show.

Katy tweeted about her funky manicure earlier in the day after her visit to the Tokyo nail salon ES Nails:

'It doesn't get any better than hand painted DARIA nails by the girls at ES Nails TOKYO!'

And her excitement didn't end there as Katy later tweeted about how much she was looking forward to the evening's film screening:

'Excited to hang out with my Japanese fans tonight & FINALLY premiere my movie PART OF ME! Saved the best for last of course...'

From left to right: Brittany, Daria and Jane converse at school in one episode of the edgy cartoon series.

Her fans were just as happy to see her, especially when the 'Teenage Dreams' singer gave a select few some loving hugs.

Katy also posed happily for photos, brightening each snapshot with a winning smile that seemed to indicate the heartbreaking failed marriage is very much a distant memory.

Since her split from Russell Brand, Katy has been linked to a number of high profile bachelors, but rumours are rife that the 'I Kissed a Girl' singer is back with notorious lothario John Mayer.

Katy Perry's outfit is more understated than her nails in a simple cloudprint promdress and skyscraper sandals

Centre Stage: Katy Perry looks out to the Tokyo audience with happiness and affection after tweeting how excited she is to hang out with her Japanese fans

Katy was said to be ‘devastated’ when John dumped her this summer so understandably her friends and family are reportedly concerned over the relationship.

Especially as Katy has appeared to have fallen madly in love with John.

Steady as she goes: Holding on to her fan and minder for support as the former Smurfette leans in for a photo.

Pen ready: Katy Perry has her pen ready to sign autographs for her supportive fans.

A source close to the singer said: ‘She’s been telling everybody who cares to listen how great John is and it’s clear that she is totally in love with him.

Whether she loves the 'Your Body is a Wonderland' singer or not, her adoration for quirky outfits is clearly as strong as ever.

Along with a 'South Park' onesie, Minnie Mouse ears and a Smurfette halter dress, now Katy can add 'Daria' nails to her long list of cartoon-inspired ensembles.

Hugs all round for Katy Perry as she embraces a young fan whilst wearing a goofy grin. She quickly switches to a much more winning smile in a snapshot.

Art program helps Alzheimer's patients focus

Many museums have created programs to make their exhibitions accessible to people in wheelchairs or the blind. The Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College, in Collegeville, Pa., is reaching out to people with mental disabilities.

When curators set about to select paintings from their collection for their new exhibition called "Access-Ability," they sought the advice of elderly people at Parkhouse, a nearby nursing facility.

"Who would paint something like that, that has nothing to with anything in the whole world, and then put a tulip in there?" said resident Sarah Stercula, looking at a laminated print of a bluish abstract painting of flowers.

"But the tulip, honey, is sitting with other flowers," said fellow resident Fran Dubon, a retired high school art teacher.

"Yeah, but they don't look like flowers to me," Stercula retorted. "If I saw that, I'd say it's just a bunch of junk."

Both Stercula and Dubon suffer from dementia, and require close nursing supervision. But during this argument, their opinions seem perfectly lucid, even if Dubon believes Francoise Gilot's "Tulips" (1991) was painted in the early 1970s.

"That's definitely from that period," said Dubon, pounding the table. "All her friends thought it was beautiful."
"Her friends thought it was beautiful?" asked Stercula in disbelief.

"When it was painted, oh sure. Because it's the period she's used to seeing," said Dubon, looking askance at Stercula. "You're not fond of this style, I think."

And then they all laughed. Laughing is an unusual reaction for many Alzheimer's patients and people suffering with dementia.

"In a normal setting, they are more anxious, tearful, not knowing what's going on," said Sally Hawk-Jones, activity director at Parkhouse. "You don't perceive your environment in a way that's going to keep you calm. It's easy to get afraid and upset."

But in this quite room, four elderly women in different stages of dementia have been looking at art and talking about it for more than an hour. "That's unheard of," said Hawk-Jones.

People suffering from Alzheimer's have degenerating brains, but certain parts of the brain could be functioning perfectly well. The curators and directors of the Berman Museum are using art to stimulate those normal parts of the brain. Berman is the only museum in this region associated with ARTZ: Artists for Alzheimer's, an organization that trains museums on how to engage with people suffering from dementia.
Parkhouse has a long history of busing its residents to the Berman for outings, and now it's partnering with the museum to develop programs that engage residents whose minds are slipping. Several times this year, Berman staff arrived at the Parkhouse with an armload of laminated prints of images in the collection. In small groups, in quiet rooms (a calm setting is crucial), staff and residents go through each image and talk about feelings and memories they conjure.

The Berman's director of education, art historian Susan Shifrin, has to reign in her academic training in these situations.

"If we get into a conversation about whether residents like sandwiches as a result of looking at a "Sandwich and Soda," by [Roy] Lichtenstein, then our goal is met," said Shifrin. "We talk about the art, but we're focused on having an exchange, having their voices heard and validated, and they are interrelated."

Regardless of an artist's intention or historical context, here the art is used to trigger dormant memories and emotional reactions, brain functions which Alzheimer's can leave intact.

"That's another way of tapping into who these people are, in their real lives," said Shifrin, whose own mother suffers from Alzheime'rs. "I'm not sure every art historian is cut out to do this, but for me it's the most meaningful thing I've done."

It doesn't matter if Fran Dubon believes "Tulips" was painted in the 1970s or that Sarah Stercula hates images of abstract flowers — on this particular morning, they were focused and articulate.

"I like to go places where I can sit and hear people talk," said Stercula "I can't say I take it all home with me, 'cause I don't. My brain isn't..." Stercula chuckles and gestures to her head.

"But I love just knowing that I might hear somethng that I can put in my book when I get home. I know what I'm doing, and maybe someday I'll be able to do a lot more of it."

In October, Sarah, Fran and the other residents will take a day trip to the Breman, to see the real paintings up close. "Access-Ability" will be on display until Dec. 2.

Design bridges science and art

Building helps showcase the Synchrotron, writes Stephen Crafti.

The National Centre for Synchrotron Research Design by architects Bates Smart.

THE Australian Synchrotron in Blackburn Road, Clayton, was not designed for the general public. The circular building was purpose built as a research complex for scientists, both local and international. But the latest building, by Bates Smart, the National Centre for Synchrotron Science, bridges the gap between science and the wider community.

"This building was designed to showcase the research that's being done at the Synchrotron. It's part gallery/museum. It also includes a lecture theatre and administrative facilities that aren't available in the Australian Synchrotron," says Architect Kristen Whittle, a director of Bates Smart.

"Our brief was to create a gateway building to the Synchrotron, a strong signal for those driving along Blackburn Road."

'This building was designed to showcase the research that's being done at the Synchotron': Kristen Whittle. 

In contrast to the Australian Synchrotron, which is curvaceous and clad in steel, the Bates Smart design is rectangular and luminous. Completely clad in polycarbonate panels (each 500 millimetres wide by 10.5 metres in height), the National Centre for Synchrotron Science conceals a concrete shell.

Between the concrete and polycarbonate panels is a gap of approximately 600 millimetres, which allows purple fluorescent light to emit a range of purple hues at night.

During the day, the panels have a pink/green hue, as they were finished in a special paint.

 "The choice of purple was driven by this colour in the sky, at both dawn and dusk, when there's a change from day to night and vice versa," says Whittle. "The building is about light and how the properties, as well as the colour, can be magical."

The lecture theatre is illuminated by customised circular neon lighting on the ceiling. 

While the Bates Smart design appears windowless from the street, the blurred outlines of windows become clearer as one approaches the entrance. Large picture windows within the concrete walls are discretely positioned in conference rooms and meeting areas, while still creating that veil of mystery.

"We wanted the design to be quite ethereal, something that draws you in, that makes you slightly curious," says Whittle.

Past the entrance, there's a 50-metre long corridor with a ceiling height of three metres.

Bates Smart compressed this gallery-like space, with white walls and concrete floors. Including reception area and a pre-function space, this gallery acts as breathing space before a double height space is revealed.
"The interior is deliberately restrained. We wanted to explore the essential qualities of light," says Whittle.

The quality of light in the building is brilliantly demonstrated by feature walls that encase the 350-seat lecture theatre. The laminated acrylic panels which make up these walls are covered in a unique film that provides a translucent glow. Dubbed the ''light wall'', it's as much an art piece as a functional device.

One of the most impressive spaces in the building is the lecture theatre. Featuring felt covered walls and ceiling, the raked seating is illuminated by customised circular neon lighting on the ceiling.

"This building is about light, how it moves, as well as how it reacts with the felt," says Whittle.

The National Centre for Synchrotron Science does make an impact on busy Blackburn Road. But in contrast to the exterior, the interior is highly restrained, allowing the qualities of light to create a series of wonderful experiences, for school groups, the general public or those using the building on a daily basis. "The design is also about bridging science and art," says Whittle.

Endless Canvas delivers unique art experience to Berkeley

Juxtaposition of artworks at “Special Delivery Bay Area,” a street art extravaganza in west Berkeley. 

Take an abandoned 36,000 sq ft former ink factory with giant circular holes punched in the ceilings and views through rusty metal-framed windows of a steel plant, a freeway and San Francisco Bay. Add the building’s owner, who has a penchant for art and an openness to big ideas. Mix in a collection of one-word names like Swampy, GATS, and Yoder, that belong to artists, many of whom are local and several of whom are highly regarded in the street-art world. What do you get? One of the most exciting shows the Bay Area has seen for a long while.

“Special Delivery Bay Area 2012,” the third graffiti mural exhibition organized by Bay Area street art blog and zine Endless Canvas, made its grassroots debut on Sept. 8 when, despite the fact that the exact location of the show was not revealed until the eleventh hour, an estimated 5,000 people showed up to west Berkeley’s Carbon Warehouse in the old Flint Ink building at 1350 Fourth Street to soak up the wall-to-wall art. Many did so again on the afternoon of Sunday Sept. 23 — young and old, families with young kids, photographers, and the merely intrigued.

Every inch of the old Flint Ink building on Fourth Street has been used as a canvas for murals.

The vacant building, long a haunt for graffiti artists, belongs to Alan Varela, President of construction company ProVen Management, who sits on the board of the Oakland Museum of California, and who intends to convert the space into offices. But, before he does, he has helped to bring a unique experience to Berkeley.

The good news is “Special Delivery” will not be forgotten once the contractors begin their work. According to Endless Canvas, after the building has been refurbished, a selection of artists will be invited back to install permanent murals on its interior walls. And the current art has been documented by a photographer, a short film has been made of the exhibition, and a book is in the works.

There are three stories worth of art in a variety of styles at the show, orchestrated by Bay Area’s Endless Canvas.

The show is scheduled to be open to the public again on Sunday Sept. 30, from noon to 6pm. Details can be found on the Special Delivery website.

Art of the state: fascist Italy's paintings go on show

An exhibition in Florence strives to present 1930s Italy as a cauldron of experimentation. Instead, it's a bleak journey into the aesthetic lifelessness of a totalitarian society

Flat white … Antonio Donghi's Woman at the Cafe (1932), featured in Palazzo Strozzi's exhibition The 30s: The Arts in Italy Beyond Fascism

In 1938 Adolf Hitler arrived at Santa Maria Novella railway station in Florence to be greeted by red, white and black swastika banners, Italian fascist symbols, fake statues and choreographed crowds. He was taken by Benito Mussolini through this beautiful city of the Italian Renaissance to admire its masterpieces. Hitler saw himself as an artist. He had been to art school. Now he communed with Michelangelo while the masses cheered his every step.

Six years later, in 1944, German troops retreating through Florence blew up all of its historic bridges except the fabled Ponte Vecchio and mined the medieval centre. Hitler's embrace was deadly.

It is deadly still. Susan Sontag once published an essay called Fascinating Fascism. I don't know about fascination, but the death-force of fascism, its murder of the human heart, grips a major exhibition in Florence that sets out to reveal the richness of the arts in 1930s Italy. This show slides inexorably into the poisonous cesspit of Europe's history.

Anni Trenta ("the 30s") at the Palazzo Strozzi explores the culture of Italy under the rule of Mussolini when he and Hitler seemed to many observers around the world to be the coming men of a new Europe. Democracy was discredited. The Depression seemed to have revealed basic flaws in free markets and elected governments, as the historian Mark Mazower shows in his profound book Dark Continent. It was the corporate states of fascism with their massive public projects that appeared to offer a way forward – unless you were on the left and looked to Stalin's Russia.

The most terrifying and best part of Anni Trenta is its side-exhibit about Hitler's visit to Florence. This captures the true monstrosity of the era. History is well told here. But does the art of the fascist era deserve to be reclaimed and enjoyed apolitically?

This is where the exhibition gets in trouble.

Its subtitle is "The Arts in Italy Beyond Fascism". It strives to present fascist Italy as a cauldron of creativity where rich experiments were taking place. It totally fails to make that case. In reality, this is a depressing, bleak journey through the art of a totalitarian state. The new Europe of fascism was a dead end. It bred heartless mediocrity. Paintings of strident men in front of mighty locomotives and chic women looking icily glamorous do not in the least challenge my assumptions – in fact they seem to be typical of what you might think fascists would hang in their galleries.

This show cannot make decadent futurists – their early brilliance long gone – or conservative neo-classicists any more vital than they were. What it does reveal, however, is how fascism used art to shape society in subtle ways. It appreciated the value of a busy, well-funded official art world. Italian fascism worked through what the communist thinker Antonio Gramsci – who died in 1937 after years in fascist prisons – called "hegemony": by spreading tentacles of involvement through civil society.

Where this exhibition succeeds is in revealing the fascist institutionalisation of art. We see paintings that won fascist Italy's Bergamo prize, and designs for public art. Art was a component of fascist society.
The result was a strange, lifeless aesthetic bubble where prizes were given and artists were promoted for works that were at best muted by fear, at worst glorying in mad delusion. "Fascism says, 'Long live art, let the world die,'" said the German communist Walter Benjamin at the time.

The art of Italy in the 1930s is an art of the dead. When Hitler was taken up San Miniato al Monte on his 1938 visit, he said he could finally understand his favourite painting, Arnold Böcklin's Isle of the Dead (which does in fact depict a cemetery on this hill overlooking Florence).
In a city of beauty, all he responded to was the allure of the grave.

Is Kate Middleton a princess? Details on her complicated royal title

She married Prince William and she's the future Queen of England, but is Kate Middleton a princess? It's a question that's been asked repeatedly since the 30-year-old married into the royal family in April 2011. While the one-time commoner has often been referred to as 'Princess' Kate or 'Princess' Catherine she is technically not a princess.

Just hours before Kate Middleton and Prince William exchanged vows at their Royal wedding, Queen Elizabeth granted Prince William the titles of Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, and Baron Carrickfergus. By marrying William, his new bride went from Kate Middleton to officially: Her Royal Highness Princess William Arthur Phillip Louis, Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn, Baroness Carrickfergus. Kate's title and style is quite the tongue twister which is why she's often referred to as simply the Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Kate, or mostly commonly Kate Middleton.

Prince William was reportedly upset he was given a dukedom. Instead, it was suggested he wanted to remain known as Prince William and his bride Princess Catherine. But according to reports this created a predicament for the Queen as 'Princess' is typically reserved as a title given through birth not marriage. 

William's mother, Princess Diana as she was commonly referred to, was actually Diana, Princess of Wales and was not actually a princess either. She was given the title of Princess of Wales when she married Charles because he was (and still is) the heir to the throne. That title is typically given to next in line to the British monarch.

Actress to sue anti-Islam filmmaker in federal court – lawyer

 

Actor Cindy Lee sues YouTube, its owner Google for releasing excerpts of amateurish film ‘Innocence of Muslims’.

 

An actress suing the producer of an anti-Islam movie that has spawned violent protests across the Muslim world plans to drop her suit and file a new case in federal court over copyright claims, her lawyer said on Monday.

Cindy Lee Garcia, who appeared in the "Innocence of Muslims," filed a lawsuit last week in a state court in Los Angeles against Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the California man thought to be behind the movie, claiming she was duped into playing a role and her life has been put at risk as a result.

Her case also named YouTube and its parent company, Google Inc., as defendants for their role in distributing the short, crudely made film on the Internet. A California state court judge on Thursday rejected her motion for an order for YouTube to pull the film off its site.

"Today we will dismiss the state court lawsuit, but we're going to file again today in federal court," Garcia's lawyer, Cris Armenta, said on NBC's "Today" show.

"My client has a copyright claim," she said. "We intend to enforce it."

Garcia's is the first-known civil lawsuit connected to the video that depicts the Prophet Mohammad as a womanizer and a fool.

Armenta asserted that third-party content distributors hold some responsibility for the content on their platforms.

"I think we should be very clear that Google and YouTube are doing the wrong thing, that they say in their own terms and guidelines that hate speech is not allowed," Armenta said. "How can this not be hate speech? How can this not be wrong, morally intellectually, legally?"

Google previously rejected a request by the White House to reconsider its decision to keep the clips on YouTube, but the company has blocked the trailer in certain Muslim countries such as Egypt and Libya. The White House had asked Google to evaluate whether the video violated YouTube's terms of service.

In her lawsuit, Garcia, of Bakersfield, California, accused a producer of the movie, whom she identified as Nakoula using the alias Sam Bacile, of duping her into appearing in a "hateful" film that she had been led to believe was a simple desert adventure movie.

The film helped generate a torrent of violence across the Muslim world during the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and in the following days.

The violence included an attack on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi in which the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed. U.S. and other foreign embassies were also stormed by furious Muslims in cities in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

On Friday, 15 people were killed during protests in Pakistan, and over the weekend a Pakistan minister offered $100,000 to anyone who kills the movie's maker.

For many Muslims, any depiction of the prophet is blasphemous. Caricatures deemed insulting have provoked protests and drawn condemnation from officials, preachers, ordinary Muslims and many Christians.

Afghanistan bans Pakistan newspapers over ‘Taliban propaganda’

Afghanistan on Saturday banned all Pakistani newspapers, accusing the publications of supporting the Taliban and seeking to undermine the government, an official said.
The papers will be blocked at their entry points in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar, Kunar and Nuristan which border Pakistan.

“The Afghan government decided to ban all Pakistani newspapers in Afghanistan,” government spokesman Sayed Ihsanuddin Taheri told AFP.

“In recent months Pakistani newspapers have started an anti-Afghan government campaign, especially in the eastern provinces.”

“The papers print Taliban propaganda, question the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan and run an anti-government campaign,” he added.

An interior ministry statement said the papers also “target Afghan forces” in their articles. Afghanistan border police have already started collecting all Pakistani newspapers from shops and newspaper stands in Nangarhar province, the spokesman said.

Relations have soured between Afghanistan and Pakistan over attacks carried out across their porous and often unmarked border in the past several months that have left a number of Afghan civilians dead and wounded.

Islamabad says Pakistani Taliban are using havens in Afghanistan to resume attacks in north-western Pakistan. Kabul, in turn, has complained about cross-border artillery shells and rockets being fired from Pakistan. Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul said Thursday that attacks from Pakistan into his country were “a matter of deep and serious concern” and had caused “unprecedented anger and frustration among Afghans”.

Pakistan minister places bounty on anti-Islam filmmaker

A Pakistani official placed a $100,000 bounty on the head of the maker of an anti-Islam film that has sparked a wave of violence and anger, as Muslims mounted fresh protests worldwide.

Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour also called on the Taliban and Al-Qaeda to join the hunt and help accomplish the "noble deed".

Bilour spoke to reporters Saturday in the northwestern city of Peshawar, a day after violent nationwide demonstrations against the "Innocence of Muslims" film left 21 people dead and more than 200 injured.

"I announce today that this blasphemer who has abused the holy prophet, if somebody will kill him, I will give that person a prize of $100,000," Bilour said, urging others to shower the killer with cash and gold.

"I also invite Taliban and Al-Qaeda brothers to be partners in this noble deed," he added. "I also announce that if the government hands this person over to me, my heart says I will finish him with my own hands and then they can hang me."

Protests against the low-budget film, which mocks Islam, have erupted across the Muslim world, leading to more than 50 deaths since the first demonstrations on September 11.

A French satirical magazine's publication this week of cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammed has further stoked anger.

 

The producer of the film, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, is reportedly a Los Angeles-based 55-year-old Egyptian Copt and convicted fraudster, currently out on parole.

US media reports say Nakoula wrote and produced the film, using the pseudonym Sam Bacile before being identified. Police questioned him before he went into hiding with his family.

Thousands of Islamist activists in Pakistan staged demonstrations again Saturday but there was no repeat of the previous day's widespread violence.

More than 5,000 protesters, including hundreds of women, marched towards the parliament in Islamabad chanting "We love our Holy Prophet" and "Punishment for those who humiliated our Prophet".

Some 1,500 people from the hardline Islamist Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Sunni religious groups rallied in front of the US consulate in the eastern city of Lahore, chanting "The US deserves only one remedy -- jihad, jihad".
Smaller protests took place in the southwestern city of Quetta, as well as in Peshawar, where six people died in Friday's protests, and in the southern port city of Karachi, where 15 people were killed Friday.

Witnesses estimated that more than 45,000 people joined Friday's nationwide rallies, mainly members of right-wing religious parties and supporters of banned terror groups.

Those numbers, however, were still considered small in a country of 180 million.

Four more people died overnight from wounds they received during the protests, taking toll of those killed across Pakistan on Friday to 21, health officials said.

The combined total of wounded in Karachi, Peshawar and the capital Islamabad was 229.

In Nigeria, meanwhile, tens of thousands of people protested in the second city of Kano, burning images of US President Barack Obama and stomping on the American flag.

The procession of men, veiled women and children stretched for several kilometres (miles) through the city, the largest in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north.

They shouted "death to America, death to Israel and death to the enemies of Islam". There were no reports of violence.

The demonstration was organised by the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, a pro-Iranian group that adheres to the Shiite branch of Islam.

In Lebanon, thousands of supporters of the Shiite Hezbollah movement took to the streets in the southern town of Bint Jbeil.

Women in black chadors carried colourful Islamist flags alongside young children holding the Koran, the Muslim holy book.

Hezbollah parliamentary representative Nawaf al-Moussawi told the crowd the film was "... not merely a trivial creation carried out by a group, but American politics intended to be disseminated to the Western world."

He also warned against reprisal attacks on the Christian community.

In east Jerusalem about 500 Palestinians, accompanied by a marching band, protested against both the film and the cartoons in the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.

In Germany, 1,500 people staged a peaceful protest in the western city of Dortmund, a day after similar demonstrations in other German cities.

A German far-right group's threat to screen the video has prompted heated debate over whether or not the authorities should ban the film on security grounds.

In neighbouring Austria, about 500 people protested outside the US embassy in the capital Vienna.
In France, riot police were out in force in several parts of Paris to enforce a ban on protests, a week after an unauthorised demonstration against the film led to 150 arrests.

Social networks had been awash with appeals for French Muslims to defy the ban and hold fresh protests.

French police have arrested a man in the western city of La Rochelle for having allegedly called on a jihadi website for Stephane Charbonnier, chief of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, to be decapitated.

Your Brain On Music, As Explained by Mickey Hart

UCSF professor of neurology Adam Gazzaley, left, explains how the EEG headset worn by Mickey Hart, right, transmits images of the rhythms of Hart’s brain to the screen on the far left.

He was caring for his grandmother, which was just fine with Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart. Except she wasn’t speaking.

She had been officially diagnosed with Alzheimer’s some time before, and she hadn’t spoken in a year. Not one word.

Finally, Mickey pulled out his drum, and played a simple rhythm. One she knew.

She spoke. “Mickey?” She knew his name!

Mickey Hart was fascinated. What was it about the rhythms that had such a power over a deteriorating brain?

Is the Golden Gate Bridge an enormous undetectable harp, playing at frequencies we humans can’t hear? As Mickey mused about this possibility on stage, Adam Gazzaley, professor of neuroscience at University of California at San Francisco, began explaining the science behind the rhythms in our brains.

“There are five simultaneous rhythms in the brain,” Gazzaley explained. “If they accelerate too much, that’s what a seizure is. The rhythms of your brain are a factor in perception, decision making, memory, attention and language. They tend to try to synchronize, like kids on a swing. They’re connected to many diagnoses,the most obvious being Parkinson’s or tinnitus, where you hear a ringing in your ear. But you probably wouldn’t think of depression or dyslexia, both of which are affected by the brain’s rhythms.”

Could you prove that music directly improves the brain? Gazzaley thinks he’s proven so. His Neuromancer musical video games tracked participants’ abilities to multitask – a skill that drops more than 30% between age 20 and age 70 – and improved both their abilities to multitask and their memory.

Gazzaley and Hart took show and tell to the next level today by strapping an EEG on Hart as he paced, clutching a drum, and images of the rhythms coursing through his brain were displayed on the giant screens throughout the hall. After the appropriate number of oohs and aahs, Gazzaley explained what was happening, adjusting to show more or fewer rhythms coursing through Mickey’s brain. “This is scary,” Mickey joked. “I’m trying not to think of my first wife.”

Visualized: the EEG scan of Mickey Hart’s brain.

No more time for looking at Mickey’s brain, though. It was time to dance. “Follow me!” Mickey said, or something along those lines, and the crowd did, coalescing in the back of the room as an endless parade of various musical instruments and quasi-musical instruments (a cowbell?) came out of nowhere. Suddenly, there was a foot-stomping beat that reverberated louder and louder through the convention hall, as more and more AARP members joined the drum circle. Mickey led, sometimes from a drum set on a platform in the middle, sometimes

“Vibrations are all around us,” Mickey had said earlier, and on Saturday afternoon in Hall D,a few hundred AARP members made it so. What a way to close another great Life@50+ event! See you all next year in Vegas and Atlanta.

An AARP member dances and drums with Mickey Hart on Saturday in New Orleans while participating in the annual Life@50+ Conference and Expo.

How to Preserve a Liberal Heart

There's a lot of talk this election season about the underlying philosophies of liberals and conservatives. Maybe that's true of all election seasons, but this one seems especially pronounced. I imagine it's because of how polarized our nation has become. Tuning into the news for half an hour will prompt any thinking person to wonder, how exactly did we get to this point? 

For me, it brings to mind the famous saying (often attributed to Winston Churchill): "If you're not liberal at 20 you have no heart; if you're not conservative at 40 you have no brain." 

This quote has always fascinated me, and lately I’ve been thinking about it more. My fascination stems from the fact that, frankly, it’s hard to fathom ever identifying with the conservative people I’m exposed to these days, let alone becoming one of them in 20 years.  But according to Churchill, I am par for the course. 

If there’s truth to the quote (and there must be some, or else people wouldn’t quote it), does that mean some middle-aged conservatives I meet were more liberal in their youth? And if so, what changed them?

I decided to suspend disbelief for a moment and look ahead into my hypothetical future. Putting myself into Churchillian shoes, I dreamed up what events might take place in my life to slowly chip away at my liberal heart, and mold it into a conservative brain.

I started by thinking about where I’m at now: five years out of college and a working professional ever since. That’s enough time to know what the “real world” is like (paying rent, starting a 401k, paying taxes) but not long enough to forget all the opportunities I was given to succeed along the way (a safe neighborhood to grow up in, plenty of food, a quality education, parents who supported my hobbies and helped me through college). It’s also easy to remember that not all my peers were lucky enough to have those same opportunities. 

On top of that, there’s my friend circle. I have friends who work at corporations, at schools, at banks, at publications and non-profits, and a sibling who works 90-hour weeks in a hospital.  I’m constantly reminded that important work is not always lucrative—and vice versa. So all in all, my 20-something life seems perfectly conducive to having a liberal heart.

Now let’s look into the future.

Sometime over the next five years, perhaps I’ll get a fancy promotion. And that promotion will be the result of all my hard work. Now a decade out of college, all those opportunities I was given to get to where I am are a more distant memory. I’m busy— and all I remember is that I busted my hump, did a great job, and finally gained some hard-earned recognition. Go me! 

Now fast forward five more years. Maybe I’m married and have a bun in the oven. So my husband and I take the nice lump sum from my promotion and raise (and perhaps his, too), and start looking for a place to buy a home. That place will have to have good schools, so my kids can enjoy opportunities like I had. If I can’t find good enough schools (which is possible, since state budgets have been chipped away for many years), then I might have to spend that money on a private school. Whether public or private, this high-achieving school will surely be filled with high-achieving people. As my kid spends more time there, and starts to achieve, I may start thinking: “Hmm, why can’t all those other kids in other schools just work harder like my kid, and achieve all these great things?”

Around this time, perhaps I’ll get another promotion at work. By now, I’ve worked so long and hard, I’ll start thinking similar thoughts about the people I interview for jobs. I’ll want impressive candidates with impressive backgrounds. And if they’re not so impressive, I may start to think, “Well, they must not have worked hard enough. I did it. Why can’t they?”

And so my hypothetical transition from liberal heart to conservative brain begins. I’m sure there are a million more ways it could happen. But the good news is, from where I sit now, it seems like there’s an obvious way to prevent this rightward shift: constant reminders of all the outside factors that had a hand in my success.

I look at my parents, who are well over 40, and see two bleeding heart liberals. And I think about the most important values they’ve instilled in me, and the one that readily comes to mind is the importance of always saying “thank you.”

Michelle Obama said it best in her dazzling DNC speech: “When you’ve worked hard and done well and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. No. You reach back, and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.”

Beautiful art can also be born within confinements, says artist Naiza Khan

Artist and curator Naiza Khan in Tehran (above). Khan speaking to the audience at T2F about the pictures she took and the people she met during her stay.

KARACHI: Sometimes, it takes only two weeks to make one realise that home is where the art is. Artist Naiza Khan discovered that Tehran is not short of thriving artists, but there is no free space for them to unleash their creativity.

During her two-week art residency in the capital of Iran, Khan had to conceal her camera and pose as an idle passerby to be able to document her stay through photographs.

With a hijab covering her hair according to the country’s laws, Khan observed that there was certain anxiety among people due to the restrictions imposed by the government.

A visual artist and curator, Khan spoke to the audience at The Second Floor on Thursday about her pictures and experiences in Tehran. She shared a picture of a board at a pizza joint which said ‘you cannot take off your hijab here’ – a concept which is perhaps alien to most in Karachi since there is no law which makes the practice compulsory for women.

While observing the stark contrasts between Pakistan and Iran, one of the main aspects she noticed was the freedom artists enjoy in the former. Not only does the government have sanctions on the dressing and lifestyle of people, says Khan, it has stringent restrictions for the artist community since the green revolution in 2009.
The ministry of culture and Islamic guidance keeps a tight rein on artists who often cannot teach or produce material that contains nudity, political remarks or is of ‘revolutionary’ nature.

The government’s policy towards arts and culture is quite indomitable, says Khan, so much so that the artists boycott the government.

There are, however, brilliant publications on contemporary photography, along with multiple websites and online journals, says Khan in appreciation of the Persian artists. Such work within confinements has produced “exotic” calligraphy and photography.

“Most of the people, however, have come to terms with these laws and restrictions,” says Khan, adding that she didn’t necessarily agree with what they have to go through.

Khan’s work showcased her journey from the tandoor to all the breads she found in five bakeries on her street, tilted ‘Bread of the People’. “My hosts told me that they boycott bread and milk every Tuesday to protest against the high rates of these two dairy items,” explained Khan. “It exuded a sense of unity and solidarity, not like the divided protests we carry out.”

Safest place in France? The new Islamic art exhibit at the Louvre

Gonzalo Fuentes Saudi billionaire Prince Waleed bin Talal, his wife Princess Amira al-Taweel, left, and Azerbaijan's first lady Mehriban Aliyeva visit the new Department of Islamic Arts galleries at the Louvre museum in Paris, 

 

Is this the safest place in France right now? 

No, not the offices of Charlie Hebdo, which are probably the unsafest. But if you want to avoid getting caught in an outpouring of anti-Western rage, try the Louvre, which has just opened a new $130 million wing devoted to Islamic art. Says the BBC:

 

This is the most significant and innovative architectural extension to the Louvre since IM Pei shook the venerable institution with his glass pyramid in 1989.

At the time, there were many who argued that his structure would destroy the classical beauty of this palace of art. Now, of course, it is among the most popular attractions in Paris.

Opening this weekend in the neo-classical, 19th Century Visconti courtyard of the Louvre, the new Department of Islamic Art has a undulating glass and metal roof, resembling a floating carpet, under which will be displayed the largest and most significant collection of Islamic art in Europe.

There’s always the danger that something in the display will offend a mullah somewhere, but the odds are improved by the fact the biggest single donor to the exhibit was Prince Waleed Bin Talal,of Saudi Arabia, who gave about $20 million. “Since 9/11, it is the duty of all Muslims to explain to the West what real Islam is like and how peaceful the religion is,” he told the BBC. Let’s hope there isn’t a video display.

Pop art pioneer Lichtenstein in Tate Modern retrospective

The first major retrospective show of American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein's work is to go on show for the first time in 20 years at a gallery in London next year.

The Tate Modern is to host the most comprehensive collection of the artist's work aiming to demonstrate the importance of Lichtenstein's influence, his engagement with art history and his enduring legacy as an artist.
Famed for his use of Ben-Day dots, bold lines and anguished heroines portrayed in his earlier works, Lichtenstein, whose first exhibition in 1968 was panned by art critics, pioneered a new style of painting inspired by industrial print processes but executed by hand.

Curator Sheena Wagstaff, who spent four years working on the exhibition, said she looked at 5,000 pieces of Lichtenstein's work before whittling it down to the key 125 pieces that will go on show.

"He is a quintessential pop artist but there's a whole lot of other work that you don't know about that is just as important," Wagstaff told reporters.

The show will feature influential paintings such as "Drowning Girl" from the Museum of Modern Art in New York and "Look Mickey", on loan from the National Gallery of Art in Washington as well as the Tate's own "Wham!" piece.

"The highlights of the show, I think will be for many people, revisiting old friends like the romance and war series with these sort of great anguished heroines and this virile air force pilots," Wagstaff told Reuters.
There are 125 works from private and public collections from around the world, comprising paintings, sculptures and drawings.

There will be other highlights of the show that will surprise visitors, Wagstaff added, such as a series of large nudes or the sublime Chinese landscapes Lichtenstein painted in the final years of his life.

The exhibition which is a collaboration between the Art Institute in Chicago, where it is currently being shown before moving to The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, and London's Tate Modern.
The show, entitled "Lichtenstein: A Retrospective", runs from February 21 to May 27.

"He is this creature of really absorbing ambiguity and it's been a wonderful journey, for us curators to readdress the significance of Lichtenstein," Wagstaff added.

"You recognize a Lichtenstein, whatever style he is emulating."

Sotheby's to Sell Art in China

Auction house Sotheby's BID +0.93% notched a gain against rival Christie's in the world's largest art market, becoming the first foreign company allowed to sell art and other collectibles in China.

China has emerged as the leading market for art only recently. In 2011, the country was responsible for 41% of the world's art sales, making it the biggest market for art for the second year running, according to market tracker Artprice.

But international auction firms like Sotheby's and Christie's until now have been restricted from holding sales within China. Since 2005, Christie's has licensed its name to a domestic Chinese auction firm but doesn't own a stake in the venture.

The new Sotheby's project would hold sales at the planned free port project that partner GeHua is developing at Beijing's Capital International Airport. China restricts the trade of art and other prized historical items, banning the export of what the government labels as "cultural relics," and places heavy import taxes on collectors who bring art to the country. The free port, projected to take up almost 900,000 square feet, is a tax-exempt storage facility that its planners hope will become a trading hub for art and other collectibles.

While the Chinese government has barred foreign auction firms in the country, domestic companies have flourished, with Beijing Poly International Auction Co. and China Guardian Auctions Co. becoming the world's third- and fourth-largest houses, ranking after Sotheby's and Christie's.

The Art Of Preserving A High School 'Wallflower'

Charlie (Logan Lerman), Patrick (Ezra Miller) and Sam (Emma Watson) navigate the joys and pains of high school in The Perks of Being a Wallflower. 

The hero of both the novel and the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a high school freshman loner named Charlie whose best friend committed suicide the previous spring. He's on psychiatric meds, lots of them, and still has blackouts and mysterious visions of a doting aunt who died when he was 7.

At school, he's shoved by bullies and jeered at by girls, and he's literally counting the days until he graduates. The story is set in the early '90s, before widespread Internet usage, when misfits had little access to others of their ilk, and Charlie won't talk to his parents or teachers. But he's so desperate to convey the turbulence of his inner world that he decides to write letters — anonymously — to a person he once heard about who did a nice thing for someone at a party. Those letters frame both the book and the film.

The novel's author, Stephen Chbosky, adapted and directed the movie himself, and, novice though he is, he's done a beautiful job. I actually like the film better than the book, which is written in a faux-naive voice I found irritating, as when Charlie ruminates on a dream about a girl he likes named Sam:

"And we were both naked. And her legs were spread over the sides of the couch. And I woke up. And I had never felt so good in my life. But I also felt bad because I saw her naked without permission. I think I should tell Sam about this. ... "

No, don't tell Sam. Please. The film is less pathetic, and funnier. At a football game, doleful Charlie (Logan Lerman) musters the courage to sit beside a fast-talking prankster from shop class named Patrick, played by pale, stringy-haired scene-stealer Ezra Miller. Patrick's stepsister, a senior, is the aforementioned Sam, played by Emma Watson, and the three bond so fast that Charlie's head spins — and keeps spinning.

But this wouldn't be much of a movie if the drama stopped with Charlie's acceptance on "the island of misfit toys." The Perks of Being a Wallflower turns out to be as much about the fear of loss as about the joy of being accepted. Charlie's in love with Sam, who'll go away to college at the end of the year and, besides, is involved with another guy. And Charlie is so traumatized about his dead friend and his dead aunt — who's seen in flashbacks and looms large in his psyche — that he can't feel the bliss of togetherness without simultaneously seeing it all slip away. He longs, he says, to believe in something infinite.

Lerman has thick, dark hair and puppy eyes, and strikes me as too handsome to be an entirely credible wallflower. But he knows how to convey not just reticence but a kind of excruciatingly active paralysis. And the rest of the cast could hardly be better — especially Ezra Miller, whose Patrick is a screwball dynamo as well as one of the best depictions I've ever seen of a gay kid who simply can't stay in the closet.

As Sam, Emma Watson is a bit like visiting royalty trying hard to show she's a fun person. But she pulls it off, and her movie-star glamour adds to Charlie's — and our — vision of Sam as delightfully accessible yet somehow out of reach.

Near the end, Charlie writes to that nameless recipient that he knows he'll never feel things with the same rawness and momentousness he does at age 16 — not even at age 17. But by capturing this wallflower at the instant of its bloom and preserving it for all time, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is both painful and elating.