Cast of “Romeo and Juliet,” at the Huntington Theater (Photo: Huntington Theater) “Theater is the essential art form of democracy,” claims Oskar Eustis, artistic director of the Public Theater in New York. A new idea that power should stem from the consent of the governed—flowing from below to above—was born in Athens in the 6th […]
Author: deborahbarlow
Endlings
Celine Song (Photo: Courtesy of the artist) A few years ago I was rhapsodizing with a friend about how much I love powerful storytelling, the kind that takes you so fully into another reality. Was the topic W. G. Sebald, George R. R. Martin, Rachel Cusk? I can’t remember what launched me, but the response […]
The Many Faces of Othello
Ira Aldridge playing Othello in the 19th century, from a painting by James Northcote Humans have a built-in pattern detection facility that is a key method for making sense of things. Making sense is, after all, an essential survival skill. Barraged daily by a firehose of sensory data, we have to employ some means of […]
Bad and Better, Both
Henrik Ibsen Humans are not particularly good at assessing large patterns. We can make smaller calls, like noticing that our train is late or determining that an apple is particularly delicious. But assessing transportation infrastructure efficiency or the overall quality of food production? It is like the difference between weather and climate: there is that […]
Sublime Persistence
Trevor Paglen, Blue #3 (Chelsea), detail. C-print, 2016 Stories about architect Louis Kahn‘s legendary tenacity and unwavering devotion to an idea fill the biography of his life by Wendy Lesser, You Say to Brick. Iconic and larger than life, complex while also doggedly singleminded, Kahn is an ongoing symbol of art that comes from relentless […]
Kathleen Petyarre: In the Dreaming
Kathleen Petyarre (Photo: Mimi Art Gallery) I was introduced to aboriginal art about 25 years ago after a friend spent several months in and around Alice Spring in Australia. When she returned to the U.S., she shared a breathless enthusiasm for a whole slew of artists she had discovered while she was Down Under. Of […]
Maps, Territories and Mind Drift
Territory I could get lost in, with a map or without (Southern Utah, near Boulder) The texture of every day consciousness has changed dramatically over the last two years for most people with whom I share my life. We are like patients whose vitals don’t make any sense—some of the indicators are healthy and hopeful, […]
Yet to Come
Trees, in Italy Voice as a creative concept feels worn out and tired to me. As my partner Dave often says about so many things that garner too much attention at the expense of other more valuable concerns, we are overinvested in that idea. But that does leave me without easy words to describe what […]
Unity, at Art Times Two
Dan Zeller, in The Unity of Everything When Karen Fitzgerald first told me about her idea for a show, The Unity of Everything, I was already on board. Karen and I are like-minded in many ways, particularly in our shared interest in visual lexicons that engage the viewer at multiple sensory points, not just the […]
The Unity of Everything
THE UNITY OF EVERYTHING Art Times Two 731 Alexander Road Suite 200 Princeton, New Jersey September 9 2018 – March 31 2019 Opening Reception: September 11 6-8pm Featuring: Deborah Barlow, Nandini Chirimar, Lorrie Fredette, Elizabeth Mead, Liz Quisgard, Andra Samelson, Daniel Zeller Curated by Karen Fitzgerald It is a rare opportunity to be part of […]