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Straight Up | Jan Herman

Arts, Media & Culture News with 'tude

‘Righteous Poles’ Make an Appeal

March 3, 2018 by Jan Herman

Following Ronald S. Lauder’s open letter (“It’s Time to Dial Back the Rhetoric”) about the Holocaust and recent anti-Semitic developments in Poland, another open letter has appeared (also in The New York Times). This one is signed by 50 Polish citizens, “the remaining living Righteous representing the 6,850 Righteous Poles” who have been recognized by […]

Poland Dials the Wrong Number

February 27, 2018 by Jan Herman

An open letter from Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, took up a full page yesterday in The New York Times. The heading was “It’s Time to Dial Back the Rhetoric in Poland.” I have no expertise in the matter, but I couldn’t help recalling Tuvye Tenenbom‘s take on the situation of […]

A Burroughs-Gysin ‘Motherlode’

February 21, 2018 by Jan Herman

William Burroughs and Brion Gysin writings / Black Book 1963-1964 (at the Smithsonian Institute)

SEE UPDATE BELOW My staff of thousands informs me that the Smithsonian Institute has posted scans of three notebooks by William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin dating from 1963 to 1973, and 1977. It was described to me as “a motherlode” of writings and collages. And indeed it is. Have a look by clicking the […]

‘Aletheia’ to Tour Northeastern U.S.

February 12, 2018 by Jan Herman

'Aletheia,' a chamber music theater work performed by Abbie Conant, with a score by William Osborne.

Composed by William Osborne for singer-instrumentalist, computer-controlled piano, and quadraphonic electronics, “Aletheia” is a music theater work featuring the solo performance of Abbie Conant as the title character. Osborne writes, “Aletheia is an opera singer who is delighted that she has been asked to perform for an opera gala. She only needs to go down […]

Oh Say Can You See . ? .

February 1, 2018 by Jan Herman

Flag illustration © by Sonia Pulido [New York Times, 1/31/2018]

Some ideas are so good that they’re too good to steal. Norman O. Mustill had many of them. This was one. But good ideas get around –or go around — landing many times in many places. Sonia Polido’s good idea landed yesterday as an illustration for the lead editorial “What Trump Doesn’t Get About the […]

Two Sides of a ‘Small Electrical Storm’

January 21, 2018 by Jan Herman

Nearly 50 years ago, Gary Lee-Nova sent a pair of two-sided silkscreen prints to Marshall McLuhan. He had seen McLuhan’s copy of Finnegans Wake with handwritten comments on a subject Joyce had treated: “the electrification of the entire world.” He says his print drawing “was a crude, almost rude emulation of the comments.” If the […]

Acker Awards to Honor One-of-a Kind Artists

January 18, 2018 by Jan Herman

Acker Awards [image by Rolano Vega] Theater 80 80 St. Marks Place, NY (Jan. 21 6 p.m.)

I don’t know what the late Kathy Acker would think of an award given in her name to non-conforming artists. I assume an experimental punk novelist and poet would like the idea of supporting artists who don’t conform. Although awards are besides the point especially for non-conformists, they do generate publicity. And unless I’m wrong, […]

The Shithole and the Shithouse

January 17, 2018 by Jan Herman

The White House in Washington, D.C. also known as Trump's Shithouse.

By now roughly 23 million people have seen the rebranded Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. Or if they haven’t, at least that many have googled it. If you’re the one person who hasn’t seen it, here it is. And here, not incidentally, is Trump’s Shithouse in Washington D.C., also known as The White House. […]

A Rising Composer’s Calling

January 11, 2018 by Jan Herman

From a poem by Octavio Paz

Dylan Mattingly’s work-in-progress opera “Stranger Love” is to be performed at Roulette in a world premiere next week in New York City on Jan. 16 & 17. STRANGER LOVE Music by Dylan Mattingly Libretto by Thomas Bartscherer Concept by Thomas Bartscherer and Dylan Mattingly Act I is the tale of two lovers, in the tradition […]

DIY: Coupla White Rappers

January 3, 2018 by Jan Herman

CLICK FOR VIDEO: 'Fool Goes to France' [courtesy Evan Skladany]

Does everybody wanna be a web star? Click for video. EmailFacebookTwitterReddit

The Lust to Consume

January 2, 2018 by Jan Herman

Heathcote Williams [Photo: JH, 2013]

“The people who run Tesco’s must be Buddhists. You go in there … and there is nothing you could possibly want.”–Heathcote Williams Tesco PLC is a global retailer based in the U.K. It owns and operates supermarkets throughout Europe and in recent years has expanded to Turkey, China, Thailand, and the U.S. the Middle East, […]

Quad Cinema Hosts Wyler Festival

December 2, 2017 by Jan Herman

WNYC’s Sara Fishko has produced a terrific audio piece about William Wyler and two of his best films — “Dodsworth” and “The Best Years of Our Lives” — both of which are playing among the 25 being screened at the Quad through Dec. 11. Listen: Click for the schedule. “Jan Herman’s biography of William Wyler […]

Amazon Cashes in on AIDS

December 2, 2017 by Jan Herman

Cashing in on shopaholics.

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A Magazine for Word and Image

November 27, 2017 by Jan Herman

Andreas Hansen 3      Sabine Vogel 84 Tone Avenstroup 6      Caroline Hartge 86 Joshua Groß 7      Christian Geissler 88 Katja Horn 10      Sabine Peters 90 Wolf Ways 11      Bert Panenfuß 91 Kai Pohl 12      Stefan Döring 94 Kristin Schulz 15      Karl Krüll 95 Alexander Krohn 16      Monika Rinck […]

As the World Turns

November 16, 2017 by Jan Herman

Separated by 500 years and $450 million. EmailFacebookTwitterReddit

‘Give Peace a Chance’

November 1, 2017 by Jan Herman

here’s my attempt at images for oil transfer. wrote it on the full page ad in NYT, as you can see. Yoko Ono takes out the ad each year on the anniversary of John Lennon’s birthday. first wrote it with the carbon paper layered underneath the paper i wrote on. didn’t work. so i then […]

‘Just Like Real Life’

October 14, 2017 by Jan Herman

William Cody Maher & Signe Mähler at Freehome / Berlin (Oct. 21-28)

William Cody Maher & Signe Mähler “two people who have been living together for a long time have learned how to live together with the objects and the thoughts and the feelings that they have had for each other and when the thoughts and feelings and the rooms and the objects change and even the […]

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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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