(Musee d’Orsay, 12 July 2019)
Focus on the future. Do not waste the time rewriting the past (and, perhaps, the future generations will be less ruthless in overwriting you).
The blacks used to be exotic to the Western eye. Soon it will be Europeans' turn to look quaint and exotic in the eyes of the newly rising civilisations. Perhaps, they already do, at Lapin Agile; not yet in London.
Catastrophes, such as wars, take people outside their comfort zone, shake up social hierarchies, spur creativity, bolster solidarity, which helps cooperate. A kinder, more humane catastrophe is capitalism with a healthy measure of democratic folly every now and then.
17 July 2019
The Tree of Codes by Wayne McGregor
(Opéra Bastille, 13 July 2019)
One never sees the full picture. Any literal interpretation is a misrepresentation. One sees the symptoms, while the phenomenon is hiding in between the broad brushstrokes. And yet one must have a model.
To maximise freedom, one may choose to curtail property rights and cultivate public spaces. The critical feature of property rights is not their absolute nature but their clarity and enforcement. (Historically, clarity and enforcement have been the easiest to achieve when property rights are absolute.) Noncritical features of property rights can be redesigned to suit the circumstances (as is routinely done—not necessarily well—in the case of intellectual property rights). Public space is property rights management on behalf of the unborn, underinsured, and those suffering from the collective action problem.
A conflict, international or domestic, can be akin to an autoimmune disease. There is no moral imperative to the democratic process, less so to the autocratic one.
To feel like an octopus is to experience agency in a group project. To feel like an octopus is to choreograph. To feel like an octopus is to play, converse, dance.
Art is never about capturing a moment. It is about capturing an idea, which is never at rest. Dance is a sculpture in motion, a Rodin sculpture.
One never sees the full picture. Any literal interpretation is a misrepresentation. One sees the symptoms, while the phenomenon is hiding in between the broad brushstrokes. And yet one must have a model.
To maximise freedom, one may choose to curtail property rights and cultivate public spaces. The critical feature of property rights is not their absolute nature but their clarity and enforcement. (Historically, clarity and enforcement have been the easiest to achieve when property rights are absolute.) Noncritical features of property rights can be redesigned to suit the circumstances (as is routinely done—not necessarily well—in the case of intellectual property rights). Public space is property rights management on behalf of the unborn, underinsured, and those suffering from the collective action problem.
A conflict, international or domestic, can be akin to an autoimmune disease. There is no moral imperative to the democratic process, less so to the autocratic one.
To feel like an octopus is to experience agency in a group project. To feel like an octopus is to choreograph. To feel like an octopus is to play, converse, dance.
Art is never about capturing a moment. It is about capturing an idea, which is never at rest. Dance is a sculpture in motion, a Rodin sculpture.
15 July 2019
Le Crazy Horse
(12 Avenue George-V, 14 July 2019)
When done right, dance is architecture. One gets only one go at it. One cannot erase, paint over, or reshape. One must engineer to perfection and then build, just once, night after night, a living thing.
Each number is an impressionist painting. The light guides the thought, is animated by the thought, is emitted by the flesh, contracts the flesh, echoes the music, writes the score. Each number is as long as its guiding idea requires it to be. The pace is honed down to its primal, universal essence.
Less is more to the extent that the shadow keeps the multitude of possibilities alive while just enough light articulates the general idea. Once reality is exposed, the alternatives die. Perhaps, one's favourite alternative dies. There is less life overall.
When done right, dance is architecture. One gets only one go at it. One cannot erase, paint over, or reshape. One must engineer to perfection and then build, just once, night after night, a living thing.
Each number is an impressionist painting. The light guides the thought, is animated by the thought, is emitted by the flesh, contracts the flesh, echoes the music, writes the score. Each number is as long as its guiding idea requires it to be. The pace is honed down to its primal, universal essence.
Less is more to the extent that the shadow keeps the multitude of possibilities alive while just enough light articulates the general idea. Once reality is exposed, the alternatives die. Perhaps, one's favourite alternative dies. There is less life overall.
5 July 2019
Cronofobia (2018)
(Ischia Film Festival, 29 June 2019)
One gleans only partial insight into the lives of others and yet must guess quickly and enough (but not too much) in order to help others and to help oneself. The narrative flows better if one dares to trust and is conscious of the progress of time.
The movie begins and progresses in a quiet, Mr. Klein kind of way, courtesy of Vinicio Marchioni and Sabine Timoteo in equal measure, the occasional shouting by the barrier notwithstanding.
One gleans only partial insight into the lives of others and yet must guess quickly and enough (but not too much) in order to help others and to help oneself. The narrative flows better if one dares to trust and is conscious of the progress of time.
The movie begins and progresses in a quiet, Mr. Klein kind of way, courtesy of Vinicio Marchioni and Sabine Timoteo in equal measure, the occasional shouting by the barrier notwithstanding.
9 June 2019
Admissions
(Cambridge Arts Theatre, 8 June 2019)
Attempting to correct one injustice with the converse injustice does not automatically add up to justice.
The diversity in individual choices of how to compartmentalise the society (if at all) the way one finds most interesting (e.g., intelligence, looks, the country of origin) helps the society not to overlook each other's valuable characteristics. The pursuit of such diversity in attitudes is also consistent with the belief that the democratic process is liable to uncover socially valuable truths.
It is beneficial for one's long-term wellbeing to adhere to logically coherent beliefs, whether such beliefs are fashionable or not. One learns faster if one thinks and acts consistently; the social feedback is then clearer.
Diversity has immediate value that does not merely amount to the warm glow that the historically dominant group experiences by acknowledging underrepresented groups. It promotes social cohesion to recognise such benefits and to speak about them openly.
The entire cast shines.
Attempting to correct one injustice with the converse injustice does not automatically add up to justice.
The diversity in individual choices of how to compartmentalise the society (if at all) the way one finds most interesting (e.g., intelligence, looks, the country of origin) helps the society not to overlook each other's valuable characteristics. The pursuit of such diversity in attitudes is also consistent with the belief that the democratic process is liable to uncover socially valuable truths.
It is beneficial for one's long-term wellbeing to adhere to logically coherent beliefs, whether such beliefs are fashionable or not. One learns faster if one thinks and acts consistently; the social feedback is then clearer.
Diversity has immediate value that does not merely amount to the warm glow that the historically dominant group experiences by acknowledging underrepresented groups. It promotes social cohesion to recognise such benefits and to speak about them openly.
The entire cast shines.
7 April 2019
Motley Hue
(NYC, 29–31 March 2019)
Humans speak a multitude of languages but are rarely fluent in any one of them. As a result, one may have to invoke multiple languages to get the intended message across. By contrast, committing to but one language helps live a story with just enough ambiguity to engage its narrators, as long as for each narrator the story remains interesting. One should then refrain from rewriting the story by volunteering a translation ex-post.
The affirming sadness of New York.
Humans speak a multitude of languages but are rarely fluent in any one of them. As a result, one may have to invoke multiple languages to get the intended message across. By contrast, committing to but one language helps live a story with just enough ambiguity to engage its narrators, as long as for each narrator the story remains interesting. One should then refrain from rewriting the story by volunteering a translation ex-post.
The affirming sadness of New York.
Burn This
(Hudson Theatre, 30 March 2019)
The production is first and foremost a showcase for its leads, Kerri Russell and Adam Driver, both appropriately ageless. The plot is driven by events and personalities more than by each character's character (at least while in previews), perhaps, because two hours is insufficient to thoroughly set up each character, or doing so would be too risky in 2010s, or would require to sacrifice too many Wildesque repartees. While movies have not destroyed destroyed theatre, TV shows, unleashed, just might.
The events are set in the safely distant era that is either pre-woke (1980s) or post-woke (2020s), lest the positive be mistaken for the normative. The narrative gets deeper as the play progresses. The seemingly accidental churning of words, people, and events emerges as the play's philosophy: talk, reevaluate, or else you run the risk of being left behind your better self.
The production is first and foremost a showcase for its leads, Kerri Russell and Adam Driver, both appropriately ageless. The plot is driven by events and personalities more than by each character's character (at least while in previews), perhaps, because two hours is insufficient to thoroughly set up each character, or doing so would be too risky in 2010s, or would require to sacrifice too many Wildesque repartees. While movies have not destroyed destroyed theatre, TV shows, unleashed, just might.
The events are set in the safely distant era that is either pre-woke (1980s) or post-woke (2020s), lest the positive be mistaken for the normative. The narrative gets deeper as the play progresses. The seemingly accidental churning of words, people, and events emerges as the play's philosophy: talk, reevaluate, or else you run the risk of being left behind your better self.
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