Category Archives: Art

On David Bowie’s Bluebird

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Peter Schmidt

Re David Bowie’s “Lazarus,” from his brilliant final album, Blackstar, the New York Times has this to say: “The song is a man in total distress, and then finding a way out, in his imagination, so he could still be … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Jazz and other music, Literature, Other (including pop culture of all kinds), Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Some quick thoughts on current debates about higher education

Posted on August 14, 2015 by Peter Schmidt

“Everyone Thinks the Current State of Higher Education is Awful. Who is to Blame?” Daniel W. Drezner, The Washington Post, 14 August 2015. This article summarizing some current debates about higher education is worth reading. In the U.S. we’re definitely … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Classical Music, Jazz and other music, Literature, Other (including pop culture of all kinds), Swarthmore; Academia, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Reducing the Bull: the NYTimes Gets It Wrong Equating Apple Design and Picasso’s Art

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Peter Schmidt

Brian Chen’s NYTimes’ August 11th article on design training at Apple is fun and informative, particularly the anecdote about design decisions that led to a Google TV remote control with 78 buttons (all the design teams got what they wanted) … Continue reading →

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on Edward Hopper’s East Wind Over Weehawken being sold by PAFA

Posted on September 14, 2013 by Peter Schmidt

Click on the link below for a short piece on Edward Hopper’s East Wind Over Weehawken (1934), being sold by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts to raise money to buy contemporary art. on Hopper’s East Wind Over Weehawken

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On “In Search of a Gay Aesthetic” in Fashion History, a NYTimes article about a show at the Fashion Institute of Technology

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Peter Schmidt

In Search of a Gay Aesthetic – NYTimes.com. Some key things you get to learn about in this sweet piece by Guy Trebay: 18th-century “molly” houses (yet where is the equally important invention, from even earlier, of the “fop”?); the … Continue reading →

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On the Game of Thrones title sequence

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Peter Schmidt

a map that renders time as well as space! maps and their dangerous illusions tricky shadows: questions of power in Thrones the Song/Thrones/HBO/fandom complex fire-forged swords: GRRM and JRRT maps and literature A colleague of mine at Swarthmore, Bob Rehak, … Continue reading →

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On Nefertari’s Tomb in Egypt

Posted on August 21, 2011 by Peter Schmidt

Essay: Ankh, Snail, Blood, and Knot: A Virtual Tour of Nefertari’s Tomb (and its paintings). For a video tour of the tomb, see the following.  But the essay above will allow you to think about some of the meanings in all … Continue reading →

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On Ruins and Prophecy

Posted on August 21, 2011 by Peter Schmidt

Ruins in the Eighteenth-Century Art of Panini and Others  

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Just got a new iPad. So guess which is the first book I finish reading on it?

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Peter Schmidt

Turns out the first book I wanted to finish reading on our new iPad is a book that enchanted me when I was 12 and just becoming a serious reader—R. L. Stevenson’s Treasure Island. The free Kindle copy of the text … Continue reading →

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