Required Reading

This week, France’s faux prehistoric cave, Palmyra’s importance, does color exist, dangers of selfie sticks, and more.

 The world’s eyes are focused on the ancient city of Palmyra in the Syrian desert, which was overtaken by ISIS fighters this week. As worries increase that the fundamentalist members of ISIS will destroy the ruins, a number of interesting articles about the historical site have been published, including “5 reasons why Palmyra’s ruins are so important” by Carolina Miranda:

“Visually and architecturally, there are very few sites in the Roman world that have this much architecture in tact,” says Mulder, who lived in Syria for 12 years. “Palmyra has been out there in the middle of the desert and hasn’t been subjected to intense urbanization. It puts Rome to shame … That’s what makes it so amazing. You can essentially walk into a 2,000-year-old city.”

“The Romans really built on a scale in the Eastern provinces that was unprecedented anywhere in the Empire,” she adds. “In archeology, there is only one other place that takes my breath away in the approach, and that’s probably [the ancient city of] Baalbek, in Lebanon.”

And “The Ironies of ISIS at Palmyra: What would Zenobia Say?” by Michael Collins Dunn:

There is an irony in the Islamic State’s latest conquest: that a movement not known for its respect for women finds itself in possession of a site associated with one of the strongest female figures of antiquity. Second in fame only to Cleopatra (but unlike her, not in the shadow of a Caesar or an Antony), Queen Zenobia of Palmyra challenged Rome, ruled both the Levant and Egypt until he Emperor Aurelian brought her to heel.

 The US Ninth District Court ruled that there’s no copyright for an individual performance in a much bigger production, according to Clancco:

This week, the full panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found in Google vs. Garcia that an actress portrayed in the film Innocence of Muslims, Cindy Lee Garcia, did not hold copyright in her performance. The 2012 film, which led to protests and attacks in several Islamic countries because of its insulting content, included a dubbed over version of five seconds of a performance Garcia gave in response to a casting call for a different film, an action-thriller titled Desert Warrior. Last year, a three-judge panel of the 9th circuit issued a preliminary injunction which required YouTube and Google to take down any version of the Innocence of Muslims which included her performance, based on a finding that Garcia would likely prevail on her claim that her performance was independently copyrightable. The full panel has now reversed that holding, and YouTube can post the film.

 France spent $75 million rebuilding a prehistoric cave for tourists:

It was the official public opening of the Caverne du Pont d’Arc, one of France’s most-hyped tourist attractions, a $75-million “mini-me” replica of a real cavern whose contents upon their discovery two decades ago were hailed as “the Sistine Chapel of the prehistoric world.” The replication project spanned almost eight years from conception to completion. And this day, groups would be entering its gloom with guides every four to six minutes, the intention being to pump 4,000 visitors through its twisty topography by closing time that evening.

… The Caverne is, in fact, entirely man-made, housed not in the ground but in a climate-controlled, circular building, clad in thrusting, angular mortar forms and plunked atop a pine-forested hill like a faux paleolithic Parthenon.

… Another drawback is the Caverne’s relative compactness. The overall site, spanning 28 hectares, encompasses numerous interpretive zones, a restaurant, gift shop, temporary exhibition spaces plus an impressive cinema/gallery depicting the human life, flora and fauna of the prehistoric Ardèche. The cave simulation, however, is barely 40 per cent of the area of the original’s 9,000 square metres. Such compression no doubt eliminates the “boring bits” of the original but, like a Reader’s Digest condensation, it’s at the expense of much of the sense of drama.

 The 1,500-year history of the Hagia Sophia’s transformation from a church to a mosque to a museum:

During the time of the Byzantine Empire, all ceremonies and religious meetings were held in Hagia Sophia. Its dome had collapsed several times throughout history and was later rebuilt with lighter material. It became renowned considering that it was the biggest dome in the world. Those who saw this brilliant place of worship, which had a mighty lighting and acoustics, could not hide their astonishment. The Russian delegates who visited Hagia Sophia in the 11th century said they felt like they were in the sky.

Though there’s a weird non-historical tidbit thrown in that was noticed by @HG_Masters (bold mine):

When the Turks besieged Istanbul, the Byzantine people took shelter in Hagia Sophia, which had lost all of its previous glory. They prayed and waited for a miracle from The Virgin Mary, the patroness of the Istanbul. However the Holy Virgin was on the Turks’ side.

 Malcolm Harris asks, “does color exist?“:

Color perception is an ancient and active philosophical problem. It’s an instance of the wider category of sensory perception, but since the color spectrum fits on a single line (unlike, say, touch and taste), it has always been of particular interest. In her new book Outside Color, University of Pittsburgh professor M. Chirimuuta gives a serendipitously timed history of the puzzle of color in philosophy. To read the book as a layman feels like being let in on a shocking secret: Neither scientists nor philosophers know for sure what color is.

 Graphic journalist Dan Archer recently spoke with several community members in Baltimore about the unrest there since Freddie Gray’s death:

 “Texts From Hieronymus Bosch” by The Toast’s Mallory Ortberg:

what do you think heaven looks like
oh
i don’t know
peaceful, and green, and –
do you think dozens of terrified nudes have to flee inside of an egg to escape the fanged mermaids 
i
i’d have to check with a theologian
but i don’t think so

 This is a Pizza Hut ad, but the absurdity of its commentary on selfie sticks is funny enough to post here:

 Four types of opinion pieces Adam Gopnik won’t read:

1. Any piece about a sudden new national crisis of confidence, our precipitously plunging morale, or America finding itself at a unique crossroads.
2. Any piece about how all of France has adopted some custom or cultural more of ours or that urges all of us to adopt some French custom or cultural more.
3. Any piece assigning credit for something to the person or politician who happened to be around to get the credit, while missing the reality that it was an earlier politician or administration who actually did it.
4. Any piece arguing that a momentarily popular movie or television series completely explains—or, worse, has inspired—a new or current political trend.

 “Things We Heard in Line for The Obliteration Room” by Rebecca Bates:

Woman: “Did you see that selfie show?”
Man: “I was with you when you went.”
Woman: “No… The other selfie show.”
Man: “Was that selfie exhibit also by—”
Woman: “The OTHER selfie exhibit!”

 LOL:

Required Reading is published every Sunday morning ET, and is comprised of a short list of art-related links to long-form articles, videos, blog posts, or photo essays worth a second look.

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