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Straight Up | Jan Herman

Arts, Media & Culture News with 'tude

Archives for February 2017

Juggling Ideas About the Avant Garde

February 22, 2017 by Jan Herman

Manchester University Press

So much art is called “avant garde” these days that my tireless staff of thousands wonders whether it’s just a label. Some think that the entire culture, no matter how far out, has gone mainstream and that there’s nothing legitimately avant garde anywhere — not since the good old days of Dada, surrealism, cubism, futurism, […]

This Dog Has the Right Idea

February 21, 2017 by Jan Herman

My tireless staff of thousands sent a one-minute video. Banksy doesn’t do it better. The little flourish at the end is priceless. And for your further diversion, catch this: The Statue of Liberty’s Burka. EmailFacebookTwitterReddit

‘Why Are Americans So Stupid?’

February 9, 2017 by Jan Herman

VG: 'Why Are Americans So Stupid?' [Sept. 30, 2004]

My staff of thousands has reminded me of an opinion piece that appeared a little more than a dozen years ago in the Oslo-based Norwegian newspaper VG. I had stashed it away and forgot about it. Notice the dateline: September 30, 2004. Since my piece never appeared in English, here it is — a little […]

James ‘No Name’ Baldwin, the Maverick

February 6, 2017 by Jan Herman

'ALL THOSE STRANGERS: The Art and Lives of James Baldwin' by Douglas Field (Oxford University Press, 2015)

In his critique of “I Am Not Your Negro,” the movie bringing renewed attention to James Baldwin, Hilton Als comments on a key moment: It’s the summer of 1979, and Baldwin is working on a book that he does not want to write but knows he must write. Titled “Remember This House,” it will tell […]

The Gilded Toad & Social Corrosion

February 2, 2017 by Jan Herman

The gilded toad, an image from a video montage by Alan Cox of the poem 'Trump's Gonna Make Me Rich!' by Heathcote Williams

Poem by Heathcote Williams Video Montage and Narration by Alan Cox • From IT: International Times, The Newspaper of Resistance • EmailFacebookTwitterReddit

Jan Herman

When not listening to Bach or Cuban jazz pianist Chucho Valdes, or dancing to salsa, I like to play jazz piano -- but only in the privacy of my own mind.
Another strange fact... Read More…

About

My Books

Several books of poems have been published in recent years by Moloko Print, Statdlichter Presse, Phantom Outlaw Editions, and Cold Turkey … [Read More...]

Straight Up

The agenda is just what it says: news of arts, media & culture delivered with attitude. Or as Rock Hudson once said in a movie: "Man is the only … [Read More...]

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