Art
Behind the Scenes with a Beloved Children's Book Illustrator
SAN FRANCISCO — Anyone who's read Arnold Lobel's iconic Frog and Toad series may wonder: why pick a frog and a toad? And what's the difference between a frog and a toad anyway?
AX Mina
AX Mina is an artist and culture writer exploring contemporary spirituality, technology and other sundry topics. She co-produces Five and Nine, a podcast about magic, work, and economic justice, and serves on the board of the Rabkin Foundation.
Opinion
Surreal Puppets Retell the Jabberwocky
SAN FRANCISCO — At San Francisco's annual Dickens Fair, I learned about the work of Darren Way, whose Dangerous Puppets creations feature fanciful characters and bizarre imagery bordering on the fantastical and grotesque.
Art
Remembering the West Coast Mail Art Scene
SAN FRANCISCO — While we tumble, tweet, and post our remixes of media online in a daily creative dialogue, it helps to remember that the history of creative correspondence extends to well before the internet.
Opinion
Why Do Short Messaging Platforms Matter?
SAN FRANCISCO — The day before the WhatsApp acquisition was announced, I was just using the app. It's one of many mobile messaging platforms I use, along with Viber, Line, and WeChat. I used WhatsApp to chat with friends as far away and diverse as Southeast Asia, East Africa, and Western Europe, and
Film
Capturing Slow Portraits of People and Landscapes
Koyanisqaatsi, a debut collaboration between filmmaker Godfrey Reggio and composer Philip Glass, broke ground in so many ways in the 1980's for exploring film as a poetic, rather than narrative or theatrical expression. Over ten years later, Reggio and Glass have come together to produce Visitors, a
Art
An Online Community for Young Poets
"If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can warm me I know that is poetry," Emily Dickinson once wrote.
News
An Anthem For Uganda's Oppressed Queer Community
This past December, Uganda's Parliament passed an Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which would extend criminalization of homosexuality to life in prison and up to seven years for advocacy work. Nkoyooyo Brian decided to respond with an anthem for the country's LGBTQ community.
Art
From Mapping Solar Potential to Mapping the American Empire
SAN FRANCISCO — According to Cliff Chen, a senior energy analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists, if a solar power system were built in the American Southwest it would apparently only need to be 100 miles by 100 miles to provide enough energy to power the entire United States.
Opinion
Using New Media to Shed Light on Old Art Narratives
The internet is a visual space, where virality comes most frequently to media rich in images, whether videos, animated GIFs or simple memes. Connecting these new forms of media with all the classic ways that human beings have told visual stories is a powerful way to reanimate them, sometimes literal
Art
A Coming-of-Age Graphic Novel Explores Gender and Identity
Flutter, Massachusetts-based writer Jennie Wood's latest comic series, explores themes of gender and sexuality through science fiction.
Opinion
Seeing the Elderly Through Children's Eyes
What might children's drawings look like in an internet age? Photographer Yoni Lefévre's Grey Power series reimagines children's drawings as photos.
Art
A Community Considers Systemic Support of the Arts
ALBUQUERQUE — As arts communities across the nation work to develop long-term sustainability in the face of the shifting economy, getting people talking together seems like a good first step.