War Games War Games
In the players' handbooks that once circulated among commedia dell'arte troupes, the wandering actors of early modern Italy used to set down inventories of the lazzi, or comic tu...
Oct 28, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
Darkness Visible Darkness Visible
The remarkably gifted artist Francesca Woodman abruptly ended her brief life and career on January 19, 1981, leaping to her death from a window in her New York studio.
Oct 28, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Arthur C. Danto
Eminem Aims at Bush Eminem Aims at Bush
"Mosh" could be one of the most overtly political pop music videos ever produced.
Oct 26, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Sam Graham-Felsen
Guided by Voices Guided by Voices
The new Tom Waits album begins, in very Waitsian fashion, with a racket: a squall of percussive noise that sounds like it was recorded in a freight elevator.
Oct 21, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Jody Rosen
Art Makes a Difference Art Makes a Difference
The Bush era has seen an explosion of sharply political creativity.
Oct 21, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Alisa Solomon
Pay Attention Pay Attention
A star is on the rise for Death Cab for Cutie. The Seattle-based indie band's last record, Transatlanticism (Barsuk), has sold just over 184,000 copies.
Oct 14, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Hillary Frey
In the Cut In the Cut
Throughout the four decades of his great career--which is the same thing as saying, throughout the history of filmmaking in sub-Saharan Africa--Ousmane Sembene has switched back ...
Oct 14, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans
Presumed Innocent Presumed Innocent
Unlike news reports, theater isn't expected to stick to the facts. By nature, the form is duplicitous, built on a sandy foundation of make-believe and pretense.
Oct 14, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Alisa Solomon
Picking Up the Pieces Picking Up the Pieces
Brian Wilson began recording his masterpiece, Smile, in 1966; the project collapsed a year later, unfinished.
Oct 7, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Douglas Wolk
Rhythm Nation Rhythm Nation
Since Fidel Castro's brief fainting spell during a speech in June 2001, Miami, Havana and Washington have been caldrons of feverish speculation on his succession and the politics...
Oct 7, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Ann Louise Bardach