David Himmel 1/17/23 David Himmel 1/17/23

The Critic's Choice

It is a fool’s game to attempt to interpret the work—any work— of an artist. Because there is no interpretation. Nothing to be interpreted. The intended meaning is just that—an absolute. The thing you see or hear before you is what the creator intended it to be. Even if that intention was to be ambiguous.

Contributing Writer 11/5/22 Contributing Writer 11/5/22

[From Back in the Day] All Art is Political

But where, might you ask, is Art in all this. Well, if the concept of Politics precedes everything, guess what, Art, informs everything that politics and language created because 70,000 years ago, Homo sapiens developed an ability no other animal possesses, the ability to imagine that what which can not be seen. In other words, Imagination. If there is a dividing line between art and imagination, I’m hard pressed to find it.

David Himmel 9/25/20 David Himmel 9/25/20

Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of September 20, 2020

Fall is always in such a rush to get here. Spring refuses to leave. Summer is a fair-weather friend, and winter is a drunken old bastard with an axe to grind.

Contributing Writer 12/4/19 Contributing Writer 12/4/19

All Art is Political

But where, might you ask, is Art in all this. Well, if the concept of Politics precedes everything, guess what, Art, informs everything that politics and language created because 70,000 years ago, Homo sapiens developed an ability no other animal possesses, the ability to imagine that what which can not be seen. In other words, Imagination. If there is a dividing line between art and imagination, I’m hard pressed to find it.

Contributing Writer 6/2/19 Contributing Writer 6/2/19

Burn Museums // Build Co-ops

An engorged pig sits in a stale pond, lapping at the stagnant water while the fish die. Its heavy, muffled breath does nothing to stir the sheet of algae growing on the surface.

Mike Vinopal 4/30/19 Mike Vinopal 4/30/19

Hey, Do You Watch "Robot Chicken"?

To do that kind of a joke could be considered totally appropriate to some or absolutely unforgivable, depending on the perspective.

Don Hall 1/6/19 Don Hall 1/6/19

Why Bird Box Is A Great Horror Flick

The list can go on forever but the essential point is that best of the horror genre refuse to define exactly what the monster terrorized the flawed humans is and allows the viewer to play the game.

Jenni Thurston 2/22/18 Jenni Thurston 2/22/18

Like Paint Thinner on Canvas: Painting the Fear Away

I share a collective sense of powerlessness with the general population when it comes to changing the world. Of course, I’m no genius and have no real answers for what ails our lives, but when true pioneers come along humanity has a long history of destroying their progress. These pioneers are artists that were trying to paint better futures for us.

Don Hall 6/15/17 Don Hall 6/15/17

Shut Up and Make Some Art

Artists get paid so little on the middle to the bottom of the pile because Any asshole can say he's an artist. A degree means dick unless you're going to go into Arts Administration and, even then, grad school isn't about what you learn but who you impress and befriend. If everyone who felt a need to help his fellow man could simply declare that he was a doctor could be, in fact, a doctor, then being a doctor would have very little employable value.

Don Hall 3/19/17 Don Hall 3/19/17

Desperately Seeking Audience at the Expense of Everything Else

Plainly put, we want money and security for doing what we do just like other people (like teachers or waiters or airline pilots...or maybe we want more than that?).

Guest User 12/1/16 Guest User 12/1/16

On Becoming An Unsuspecting Art Collector

I have never asked the painter though, if he experiences the curious emptiness that I sometimes feel in the aftermath of a sale. I have traded something beautiful for a number. For money. And now that the cycle of commerce is complete, what next?

Don Hall 10/7/16 Don Hall 10/7/16

Embracing the Vice That is the Artist's Path