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Many of you have doubtless heard the sad news by now: Howard Zinn (historian, activist, author, and all-around great human being) passed away yesterday at the age of 87. We will remember him as a truly remarkable man who encouraged us all to be critical of unequal relationships of power and their effects on the way our histories are told. And despite his acute awareness of the many problems of our society, we will also remember him as someone who never gave up hope for a better world:

"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places--and there are so many--where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."--Howard Zinn, from "The Optimism of Uncertainty" (2004)

For more on Zinn's life, see his obituary from the Boston Globe:
http://www.revolutionbythebook.akpress.org/howard-zinn-historian-who-challenged-status-quo-dies-at-87/

We've also posted a recent interview with Zinn on anarchism:
http://www.revolutionbythebook.akpress.org/an-interview-with-howard-zinn-on-anarchism-rebels-against-tyranny/

And much of his written work can be found here:
http://www.akpress.org/search?action=find_book&search_key=author&query=zinn&x=0&y=0

    

Dear friends,

Please join us in celebrating the opening of JustArts, the Brandeis faculty and staff art exhibition, on Thursday, January 22, from noon to 1:30 pm in the Dreitzer Gallery, Spingold Theater Center. Light refreshments will be served.

Attached is an invitation that you may forward to your friends, colleagues, and admirers. There is also a Facebook event: Just Arts.

We look forward to seeing you next week for this extraordinary event!

    

Ticket Prices ADVANCE TICKET PURCHASE STRONGLY RECOMMENDED General Admission $10 Seniors (65+) & Students $8 Brandeis Faculty, Staff & Students (w/ID) are eligible for a limited number of tickets free of charge. Tickets MUST BE reserved by Thursday, March 27 by calling 781.736.8600 or emailing jewishfilm@brandeis.edu J-FLIX PASS: A Reel Deal J-FLIX / Ten Screenings @ Brandeis $60 J-FLIX Senior/ Ten Screenings @ Brandeis $48 Please note: JFLIX passholders must exchange pass for a ticket to each show. To guarantee a seat, passholders must arrive at least 30 minutes before the show, at which time seats being held back from sale will be released to ticket buyers. How to Buy Tickets Mail Order form with check, Visa or MC payment to: NCJF, Brandeis University, Lown 102, MS 053, Waltham, MA 02454 Fax Order form with Visa or MC payment to: 781.736.2070 Web See Calendar Phone 781.736.8600 (Mon-Fri 9 am-5 pm) Day-of-show tickets available at door only, beginning one hour before show. Standby line begins one hour before show. No guarantee of admission without advance ticket. Credit Card Orders Visa or MC only ($1 per ticket service fee) Call to arrange for group sales No reserved seating • Seating limited • Programs subject to change FOR MORE ON ALL FILMS & UPDATED INFORMATION: VISIT WWW.JEWISHFILM.ORG FOR QUESTIONS OR TICKETS CALL 781.736.8600<< MORE >>

    

John Szarkowski died last Saturday. He was 81. As a photographer, his early influences were Walker Evans and Edward Weston. As a curator at the Museum of Modern Art (Edward Steicehn chose him as his own replacement), he introduced Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander and Garry Winogrand in his exhibition “New Documents” at the Museum of Modern Art in 1967. “Their aim has been not to reform life, but to know it,” he said at the time. In 1976, he introduced the work of William Eggleston. There’s so much more. But more than anyone of his generation, he played a key role in elevating photography to the level of art. A retrospective of his own work toured the country starting in 2005, ending a year later at the Modern. There’s an excellent interview with him here in LA Weekly. Lens Culture has a small collection of his photographs. (Cross-posted at APAD.)

as a Minnesota Native as well  the other name that pops is Warren Mckanzie  Mckanzie Now mosklikey in his 80"s now graduating from the University of Wisconsin (art history) in 1948, I reamber a story that was told to me in Jr high at a weekend camp at the Walker Art center  back in the 1980's. How this amazing Photographer decided to take photos of waht was then Ordinary potery. 

Minnesota Public Radio has audio from a call in show, and photos of some of his work, here.

I was not on of the lucky ones who got to study at Minneapolis Institute of Arts.  with so may great teachers how are no longer with us.Insted I chose Willmar Vo tech now Rigewater college and went down the path of a Studio Photographer.

    

The Effect of Disaster Photographed

The Exposure Project picks up a topic that I have been worried about for quite a while: "Catastrophes such as Hurricane Katrina certainly need to be documented, in order to bring awareness and understanding to issues that require resolution. However, when this documentation becomes too abundant it can act counterproductively. The real questions that need to be asked are, is there a point of saturation where this imagery become ineffective? And to what extent is this work created at the emotional expense of those truly impacted?" Note that this discussion is not necessarily about whether or not to show people!

    

The Photo Candy Store

Thinking about it, photography really is like candy, isn't it? You got the intensely sweet stuff that you tend to overindulge in and that's really not good for you (think cotton candy), the classic stuff that many people tend to forget about (think Necco Wafers) or the simple classic stuff that will never go out of fashion (think Peeps), you got hard candy and soft candy, etc. etc. etc. But that kind of photography would be what candy? Maybe, just to get the ball rolling, a lot of the Düsseldorf school stuff would be salty licorice, quite the acquired taste, yet ultimately really good for you.

    

Whene your in San Francisco near filbright Street you have to find this palce...
 fun slides in the middle of nowhere? Which supervisor authorized this pork barrel spending? They should have built the slides in Union Square where we can all enjoy them daily during our lunch breaks. It's heart breaking how isolated these concrete shoots are.

But alas I found them,  yeah I did.  Oh plus, it was 1am.  yes.

So yeah they are scarier than they look. I thought my pants were going to rip off if I fell off my little cardboard box. But I didn't fall off the box, so I'm really not sure if there is serious nudity risk. I'll give it a nudity probability rating of 10%

Anyways if you haven't already,  go find this place, it's crazy. Kinda like the twilight zone, or the nexus of the universe, or something. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll run up the hill and go again.
ho and try this link Check it out on youtube.com. Just type in Jeremy Reeves, Crime in the City (City skateboards rock!) and when the window pops up, you will recognize the spot immediately!

Tomorrow I'm going to find a contractor to build me a slide in the  office, or maybe a fireman's poll. We need more schoolyard modes of transport in our daily lives.

For the best ride possible:
-Wax paper UNDER cardboard. Wooh, supercharged!
-Don't go on damp (foggy/recently rainy) days/nights; the moisture adds to friction and slows the ride
-Keep arms in, wear long sleeves, and pants, and real shoes
-Use feet as brakes near the bottom. The sand pit is deceptively shallow.
-As hard as it is to not be loud, try to keep it down if you come here during the middle of the night, or the neighborhood residents might kick you out

    

For the current New Hampshire Art Association show, Linda has  returned to making unique photo-collage constructions she call's "centripetals".   Linda coments that "These dynamic, often whimsical (occasionally ironic) pieces are punctuated by colorful ball-headed map pins, and radiate outward from a central point and resemble quilt-like mandalas.  Each is highly textured and unique, requiring hours of lucid dreaming, envisioning, creating, printing and playing with images which work best when composed in this mode. Every aspect is done by me, with the exception of the custom-made plexi shadowboxes. "

Something to think About: 

2-person mixed-media exhibit (Davison & Hirsch)

environmental focus - mostly abstract and spiritual landscapes