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New Directions Poetry Pamphlets

The esteemed literary publisher New Directions has revived its series of poetry pamphlets, and the first four contributions look stellar: Eliot Weinberger, Lydia Davis, Susan Howe, and others are involved. A bit more on the series:

New Directions is happy to announce the publication of a new series of Poetry Pamphlets, a reincarnated version of the “Poet of the Month” and “Poets of the Year” series James Laughlin published in the 1940s, which brought out such eclectic hits as William Carlos Williams’s The Broken Span, Delmore Schwartz’s poetic play Shenandoah, John Donne’s Some Poems and a Devotion, and Yvor Winters’s Giant Weapon, among many others. The New Directions Poetry Pamphlets will highlight original work by writers from around the world, as well as forgotten treasures lost in the cracks of literary history.

To learn more, and to buy copies of the first four pamphlets, click here.

May 16, 2013 | Categories: Creative Culture, New York City | Comments Off on New Directions Poetry Pamphlets

The Relocation of Newtok Residents

Yesterday the Guardian published its first installment of a report on Newtok, Alaska, where an entire village is in the long process of relocating as their home becomes uninhabitable due to the affects of climate change. A report by the US Army Corps of Engineers predicted the highest point in the village will be underwater by 2017.


According to the article, more than 180 native communities in Alaska are experiencing serious flooding and erosion. As we strive to react responsibly and sensitively to those uprooted by incidents like Katrina and more recently Sandy, it is time to begin planning on how we may also accommodate entire groups of people as their land disappears. Follow the Guardian’s story here.

May 14, 2013 | Categories: Nature, Sustainability | Comments Off on The Relocation of Newtok Residents

WAVES FOR WATER: SIX MONTHS AFTER SANDY


 
Former pro-surfer Jon Rose and the team from Waves for Water (along with the many, many volunteers from New York) have managed to make some great progress over the past six months.  Fundraisers have been held.  Houses have been dug out.  Supplies and other materials have been handed out.  Here is a little video which speaks about the work they’ve been doing here. It’s serves as both inspiration and as a reminder that there is still work to be done.
 

May 13, 2013 | Categories: New York City | Comments Off on WAVES FOR WATER: SIX MONTHS AFTER SANDY

Myoung Ho Lee’s Treescapes

It’s always a thrill when a photographer develops a fresh approach to the classic landscape. The New York Times Style Magazine featured work from South Korean artist Myoung Ho Lee, whose collection of trees against white canvas are as gorgeous as they are understated. According to the article, Lee wanted to rid the final shots from any trace of his own hand. The result is a profound commentary on the power of framing. Find more of his work here.

May 10, 2013 | Categories: Random | Comments Off on Myoung Ho Lee’s Treescapes

Finding Vivian Maier

In recent years the photography world has fallen head-over-heels in love with a previously unknown street photographer named Vivian Maier. She lived her life as a nanny in Chicago, raising a family three children and taking photographs all the while. Thousands of negatives ended up in a storage-unit auction late in the last decade, and the man who bought them has, ever since, dedicated his life to learning more about her and publicizing her work. Now a documentary is in production. Here’s a description:

Vivian Maier’s photos were seemingly destined for obscurity, lost among the clutter of the countless objects she’d collected throughout her life. Instead these images have shook the world of street photography and irrevocably changed the life of the man who brought them to the public eye.

This film brings to life the interesting turns and travails of the improbable saga of John Maloof’s discovery of Vivian Maier, unraveling this mysterious tale through her documentary films, photographs, odd collections and personal accounts from the people that knew Vivian.

Click here to view the trailer.

May 09, 2013 | Categories: Creative Culture | Tags: , | Comments Off on Finding Vivian Maier

The World in the Curl

This summer Crown/Random House is publishing The World in the Curl a new book co-authored by Peter Westwick and Peter Neushul about the history of surfing.

According to the press release:

The thinking-person’s guide to surfing and the world it has created.

Among the most popular courses at the University of California at Santa Barbara is a team-taught lecture series on the history of surfing that immerses students in the cultural, political, economic, and environmental consequences of surfing’s evolution from a sport of Hawaiian kings and queens to a billion-dollar worldwide industry.  Peter Westwick and Peter Neushul bring more than sixty years of experience in the water to the class and are not surprised by the class’s popularity – UC Santa Barbara is, after all, a surfing school.  The real surprise is that their non-surfing students outnumber the surfers. There is something about surfing that people yearn to understand – and this is the book that examines the enduring worldwide appeal of the sport both in myth and reality.

 Drawing on the authors’ expertise as, respectively, a historian of science and technology and a historian of environmental history, The World in the Curl brings alive the colorful history of surfing by drawing readers into the forces that have fueled the sport’s expansion: colonialism, the military-industrial complex, globalization, capitalism, and race and gender roles.  In a highly readable and provocative narrative history of the sport’s signal moments – from the spread of surfing to the US, to the development of surf culture, to big-wave frontiers, to the reintroduction of women into the sport – Neushul and Westwick draw an indelible portrait of surfing and surfers as actors on the global stage.

May 08, 2013 | Categories: Surfing | Comments Off on The World in the Curl

Re-imagining the Donnell Library

A rendering of the bleacher seating in the 53rd Street branch of the New York Public Library.

Ever since the Donnell Library branch closed in 2008, the neighborhood surrounding West 53rd street has missed its beloved reading room. Today the New York Public Library will officially unveil the The Donnell Library Center’s replacement, a center redesigned to fit at the base of a high-rise hotel. Architect Enrique Norten and his firm TEN Arquitectos imagined a space that encourages free online pokie games visitors to read, write, and engage with one another. A wide set of bleachers steps lead to the library’s underground floors and also serve as a 144 seat amphitheater. A glass wall at street level will bring natural light to the lower floors while offering a view of the library to passers-by. The design received an award of merit from the American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter. Learn more about the Donnell Library branch in yesterday’s New York Times article here.

May 07, 2013 | Categories: Creative Culture, New York City, Random | Comments Off on Re-imagining the Donnell Library

MoMa PS1 RAIN ROOM: Opening This Saturday

The rain room is coming!  Apparently this interactive installation- a constantly raining room which reacts to viewers within the space by magically shielding them from wet drops –  was a hit in London.  I can’t wait to see it in New York.  Opens May 12th and runs through July  28th.  Read more below and here on MoMa’s site.

Random International’s immersive environment Rain Room (2012), a major component of the MoMA PS1 exhibition EXPO 1: New York, is presented in the lot directly adjacent to The Museum of Modern Art. A field of falling water that pauses wherever a human body is detected, Rain Room offers visitors the experience of controlling the rain. Known for their distinctive approach to contemporary digital practice, Random International’s experimental projects come alive through audience interaction—and Rain Room is their largest and most ambitious to date. The work invites visitors to explore the roles that science, technology, and human ingenuity can play in stabilizing our environment. Using digital technology, Rain Room creates a carefully choreographed downpour, simultaneously encouraging people to become performers on an unexpected stage and creating an intimate atmosphere of contemplation.

May 06, 2013 | Categories: Creative Culture, New York City | Comments Off on MoMa PS1 RAIN ROOM: Opening This Saturday