Portrait, Tiger, Introvert, Magic, Age



How Portraits Lie

Jamie Windsor | YouTube | 28th March 2020

Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother," among the most famous American portraits, was arguably based in deceit: Lange left out one daughter, as "having too many children may impact negatively on people's sympathy for the mother," and even had a darkroom assistant remove the woman's left hand, which she saw as a distraction. Portraiture is more "creating something than representing it" (9m 40s)


Why Japanese Tigers Have Flat Heads

The British Museum | YouTube | 5th January 2020

Diving into beautiful Japanese prints. (The oddly flat heads probably arose from the fact that Japanese artists were working from flattened tiger skins; there were no live tigers in Japan.) "You have a black wash forming the shape of the stripe," covered in "very painstaking layering of black hairs, white hairs, orange hairs," and even "some gold mixed in amongst the fur to add to the sense of luxury" (7m 45s)


Can You Be An Introvert Director?

David F. Sandberg | Vimeo | 2nd January 2020

Answer: Yes, but it's hard. David F. Sandberg, big-budget filmmaker, chronicles his experiences as an introvert in the movie business: "The last day of shooting Shazam, we wrapped and I was asked to say a few words in front of the crew, and I just could not do it...So I didn't say anything. I went home and felt like an asshole." Ultimately, repetition is the key to adaptation (8m 48s)


No One's Disciple

Theramin Trees | YouTube | 6th January 2020

Psychological exploration of "magical heroes," an insidious brand of tyrant. "The problem starts when we view heroes as something bigger, when we elevate them above us" as something "abstract, symbolic, pseudo-parental." This can manifest in many different ways: blind religious dogmatism, cult radicalization, self-help courses, and even social media (39m 58s)


Eerie Video Of The Week

Scorsese's Age of Innocence, with all the people cut out


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