Cinematic Views: ‘Dance Of Shadows In Japan’ (Video)

During a three month journey travelling and working on organic farms in Japan, filmmaker Steve Atkins often found himself distracted by the beauty around him. As sunlight filtered through the trees that towered over him, their silhouette gracing the surface beneath or ahead him, he felt repeatedly drawn and connected with the Natural world — an effect of Komorebi performing itself on the peripheries.

There is a magical quality to the animate expression of Nature; a mutual puppet-show hosted between trees, light and wind. “When I paused long enough to take it all in, to share in a humble celebration of Nature’s playfulness, I was gifted with a potent ease,” Atkins shares…

Continue reading: https://www.nowness.asia/story/komore…

Walking Tour: ‘Lucerne – Switzerland’ (4K Video)

Lucerne, a compact city in Switzerland known for its preserved medieval architecture, sits amid snowcapped mountains on Lake Lucerne. Its colorful Altstadt (Old Town) is bordered on the north by 870m Museggmauer (Musegg Wall), a 14-century rampart. The covered Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge), built in 1333, links the Aldstadt to the Reuss River’s right bank. 

Cocktails with a Curator: Whistler’s “Lady Meux”

In this week’s episode of “Cocktails with a Curator,” Curator Aimee Ng explores the turbulent life of the woman portrayed in James McNeill Whistler’s serene “Harmony in Pink and Gray: Portrait of Lady Meux,” currently on view on the fourth floor of Frick Madison. A former bartender and actress, Lady Meux was shunned by London polite society even after she married Sir Henry Bruce Meux, heir to a huge brewery fortune. This week’s complementary cocktail is a refreshing Mummy, a nod to her extensive collection of some 1,800 Egyptian and Assyrian objects, including an infamous mummy of Nesmin.

To view this painting in detail, please visit our website: https://www.frick.org/ladymeux

Political Analysis: ‘Brooks & Capehart’ On Climate Summit, Police In America

New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week in politics, including the president’s ambitious climate goals. policing in America, and investigations into the capitol riot.

Nature: ‘The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act’ – Benefits To Texas Habitats

The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act is a bipartisan bill that would provide $1.4 billion to state and tribal wildlife conservation initiatives to support at-risk wildlife populations and their habitats. The funding would come from existing revenues and would not require any new taxes.

Texas would receive more than $50 million per year for projects to conserve vulnerable wildlife like the much-loved Texas horned lizard, our state fish the Guadalupe bass, and many songbirds and coastal birds. This funding will also help recover species that are already endangered, such as sea turtles and the Whooping crane. The additional resources are urgently needed to aid fish and wildlife populations under increasing pressure from habitat loss, invasive species, emerging diseases, and extreme weather events in Texas and throughout the country.

Artist Profiles: French Painter Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721)

Director Colin B. Bailey takes a close look at three drawings by Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684–1721), considered some of the finest drawings in the Morgan’s collection: Seated Young Woman (ca. 1716), Young Woman Wearing a Chemise (ca. 1718), and Two Studies of the Head and Shoulders of a Little Girl.

Walks: ‘San Polo District – Venice, Italy’ (Video)

San Polo is a vibrant district centered around the much-photographed, shop-lined Rialto Bridge, and the Rialto Market, where stalls sell fish, fruit and vegetables. Nearby, in the canalside Erbaria area, locals meet for aperitifs and “cicchetti,” or small plates, before heading to dinner at trendy eateries. The Basilica dei Frari houses masterpieces by Titian and other Renaissance artists. 

Interviews: Writer George Saunders – A Swim In A Pond In The Rain (Podcast)

On a special LARB Book Club episode of the Radio Hour, Boris Dralyuk and Medaya Ocher are joined by George Saunders, author of four collections of virtuosic short stories and of the novel Lincoln in the Bardo, which won the 2017 Man Booker Prize. 

His latest work is A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life. Examining individual works by Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, Ivan Turgenev, and Nikolai Gogol from a variety of angles, Saunders teases out lessons for writers and readers alike. During the conversation, he discusses what fiction can teach us about ourselves and each other, shares his experiences teaching these stories over the past two decades, and reflects on the role of humor in his work.

News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious