Memories
Berlin Wall Kiss destroyed
(via Towleroad) The famous kiss between Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German counterpart Erich Honecker painted on the Berlin Wall has been destroyed. I’m sad, and the artist, Dmitri Vrubel, isn’t too happy either:
But Dmitri Vrubel, who never agreed to his artwork being destroyed, is not happy with this explanation. “I’ve got no problem [...]
Remembering Harvey Milk and Anita Bryant
A bit of “old” news as I try to catch up on some blog reading: Evidently Sean Penn is endorsing a Harvey Milk Day in California, joining some state senators in calling for the memorial day, which would occur on May 22. I guess the bill passed last year, but the governor vetoed it because [...]
Young: The Texture of Memory (1993)
For our Public Memory and Rhetoric course we read James E. Young’s The Texture of Memory: Holocaust Memorials and Meaning, which was an enjoyable and intelligent investigation into the production and reception of various Holocaust memorials in Germany, Austria, Poland, Israel, and the United States. A few important takeaway thoughts:
“[T]he ‘art of public memory’ encompasses [...]
some random stuff akin to notes to you the reader
• I went to New York City last weekend, as I mentioned in my previous post. State College leaves me unfulfilled in so many ways, but mostly it has to do with the lack of people, diversity, good food, interesting architecture, the carnival — you know, city life. The trip was rejuvenating in ways I couldn’t [...]
textually mediated memory
Professor Browne has asked us to come to class with an artifact today dealing with public memory. Since I’ve been thinking quite a bit about Milk over the last few months, esp. in regards to queer activism and its relationship to its past, I thought I’d “bring in” this trailer to the film:
childhood’s end
I learned today that Arthur C. Clarke has passed away. The only book I’ve read by him was Childhood’s End, in one of my worst undergraduate literature courses: Science Fiction. I went into this class excited and eager to read some cool stuff. Instead, we had an awkward teacher with strange quirks and had to [...]
rhetorical memory number 1
eighth grade lesson: we are always communicating
I remember my eighth grade language arts classroom, where Mr. Keller, a tall, gangly man, spent quite a bit of time on less “written” communication and more time on other types of communication for a period of about a month — not new media or electronic stuff, but nonverbals, [...]
