Front Cover
Susie Phillips, Red Poppies, 2022, Oil on paper, 19 x 19 in. Photo: Carol Hensley. Courtesy of the artist and Conduit Gallery
Sciences and Arts
The Quiet Dr. Einstein and the Forgotten Moral Heroes of World War I
Contrasted with the daring actions of Adler and Nicolai, Einstein’s early pacifism seems very appealing because it is similar to the low-level pacifist behaviors that many of us exhibit.
Book of Earth
Ochre and earth pigment are situated at the nexus of huge elemental cycles, a gazillion years of outer space galaxy creation, a few billion years of geological and biological growth on (and of) Earth, and several hundred thousand recent years of human evolution.
A Brief History of Emergence
Spiral galaxies, hydrothermal systems, animals, ecosystems, oceanic currents and tides, hurricanes, civilizations, political systems, economies, and war are some of the many examples of emergent phenomena, in which low-level rules give rise to higher-level complexity.
Art Worlds
Picturing a Phenomenon
In terms of taste, Allan was the anti-Castelli. He loved what I call zaftig painting: lush, textured, juicy surfaces.
A Trans-Atlantic Migration
Bois and his colleagues at October changed, for a few decades, the way that art historians dealing with modernism in America worked.
Time-Traveling with Line
The question of line depth and how it changes the viewer’s perception play out especially in the exhibition’s white gesso and clay reliefs.
Literary Lives
Three Ballades by Christine de Pizan
Christine de Pizan (1364 – c. 1430) was the first woman in France, and possibly in Europe, known to have supported herself and her family by means of her writing.
Four Sour and Stringent Proposals for the Novel
Valuing novels for the social information they contribute, as many literary prizes do, is like judging dogs for fetching.
Folio
Works of art by William Atkinson, Rosalyn Bodycomb, Sean Cairns, Susie Phillips, Carroll Swenson-Roberts, and Keer Tanchak
Download a PDF copy of the folio.Musical Spheres
How the Musical Mind “Sees”
James Joyce held an interest for many composers during the middle to late 20th century, due to his frequent use of words for their musical or sonic nature rather than for their meaning.
Retelling the Story of American Music
Dvořák practiced what he preached, and the result was (in the view of many) the finest work of American classical music ever written.
Current Affairs
The Thin Crust of Civilization
The ability to see patterns is predictive of a strong belief in them, which can easily become a faith in the unseen workings of power.
In the Land of Dreams
Whereas Dave Chappelle, in the eyes of some, appeared to make light of the Holocaust and seemed to lack an understanding of the ways in which many American Jews are still scarred by what our families endured in Europe in the 20th century, Armageddon Time conveys some of the gravity of the Jewish situation in early 20th century.
Africa Rising
Although Sub-Saharan Africa holds 60% of the world’s not-yet-cultivated arable land, food scarcity is a top concern, particularly in view of the worsening climate crisis.
