Art Review  |  Dec 04, 2008

Gently Forcing the Question: SFMOMA's The Art of Participation

Most of the works in the exhibition set out to intentionally complicate what at some point in the mid-20th century was decided to be an overly simple relationship: that of the viewer and the art object. By Danielle Sommer

 

The Writers' Block  |  Dec 03, 2008

Serpent Box

Vincent Carrella reads a passage from Serpent Box, the story of Pentecostal preachers in the mountains of Appalachia. By Vincent Carrella

The Bay Bridged  |  Dec 02, 2008

French Miami

This week, The Bay Bridged spotlights French Miami, a San Francisco band whose synth-rock sound is as immediately gripping as it is difficult to pigeonhole.

Previously in KQED Arts

Theater Review | Dec 01, 2008

The Arabian Nights

Zimmerman borrows freely and subjectively from The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, stories spun by the clever Scheherezade to keep the gleaming knife of frozen-hearted King Shahryar from slitting her virgin throat. By Ben Marks

Music Review | Nov 30, 2008

David Holmes: The Holy Pictures

Inspired by the death of his mother in 1996, this is an album firmly rooted in the past, but one that thankfully doesn't wallow in it. A lifetime's worth of diverse influences are combined to create something fresh and (oh yes) full of surprising new directions. By Keith Laidlaw

Book Review | Nov 29, 2008

Love and Rockets: New Stories, Vol. 1

Once upon a time there were two brothers in Southern California. They lived with their mother, their father, and their mother's prodigious comic book collection. In the late '70s, the brothers collided with the Los Angeles punk scene, and, swept up in punk's do-it-yourself ethic, began making and selling their own comics. By Heather Smith

Visual Arts | Nov 28, 2008

Maya Lin: Systematic Landscapes

We are standing under a wire sculpture by Maya Lin. The piece is quite simple -- a large, uneven grid constructed out of thick wires, it outlines an underwater topography with gentle swells and drops. By Cynthia Houng

The Writers' Block | Nov 27, 2008

Forgotten Fashion

Kate Hahn reads an excerpt from Forgotten Fashion, a tongue-in-cheek history of faux fashion trends. By Kate Hahn

NPR Topics: Arts & Entertainment
  • Frost And Nixon, Clashing For The Cameras

    In 1977, a dilettante British TV host sat down to grill a disgraced U.S. president. The politico thought it would be a cakewalk. As Ron Howard's film recalls, it turned into a takedown.

  • 'Timecrimes' Messes With Space-Time, But Modestly

    Ever worry about running into other, potentially dangerous versions of yourself? Us either. But Mark Jenkins says this thriller's modest scale and strong performances lend the idea a certain credibility.

  • 'Cadillac Records,' Staying True To The Tunes

    An exuberant fictionalization of the Chess Records story, Darnell Martin's movie constructs a wobbly history. But the film is truer to one essential thing: the music. And that may be just enough to put it in the rock-flick Top 10.

  • 'Rent' Gets A High School Makeover

    More than 50 student groups across the country are performing Jonathan Larson's edgy rock opera Rent this school year. Like the Broadway show, Rent School Edition is centered on a group of friends in the 1990s dealing with AIDS, gender identity, homosexuality, drug addiction and poverty.