Hamilton and the Iconoclasts of Tomorrow

Posted by John on Aug 16, 2020 in Art, Articles, Featured |
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0 comments This week, 216 years ago, one founding father killed another in a duel in Weehawken, New Jersey. On that early July morning, the vice president of the United States squared off against the former secretary of the treasury. As virtually everyone in America now knows, thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda, Alexander Hamilton didn’t survive the shootout with Aaron Burr. At the beginning of this month,...
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The Best of All Possible Worlds?

Posted by John on Jan 2, 2019 in Art, Articles, Featured, Human Rights |
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0 comments Candide is the first and most amusing example of the powerlessness of positive thinking. In this 18th century novel by Voltaire, the naïf Candide suffers one misfortunate after another – kidnapping, torture, earthquake. Still he adheres to the philosophy of his mentor, Dr. Pangloss, who insists that all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds. Never has there been such a mismatch...
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The Politics of Paper

Posted by John on Aug 4, 2017 in Art, Articles, Featured |
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0 comments Appropriation is a tricky issue from a legal point of view. You can’t use someone’s name or image for commercial purposes, without his or her permission, or risk a lawsuit. You can’t use someone’s words without attribution or risk charges of plagiarism. You can’t sample another person’s music without running afoul of copyright law. But what if you appropriate a lifestyle or some...
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A Peek at Paper

Posted by John on Jul 5, 2017 in Art, Articles, Featured, Plays |
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1 comment A teacher and a student argue over a remark in class. Or was it a remark about class? Or was it really about race? Or gender? My new play Paper brings the explosive confrontations on campus around race, class, and gender onto the stage. Take Rashomon, add Mamet, mix in Black Lives Matter, and stand back. Sophia, meanwhile, is taken aback by what she considers Emmanuel’s arrogance. She is...
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My Novel (Accidentally) Predicted Trump

Posted by John on May 12, 2017 in Art, Articles, Books, Featured, Fiction |
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0 comments It’s terrifying when your dystopian nightmares begin to come true. Donald Trump is consolidating a circle of extremist advisers. Hardline restrictions on immigration are going up, regulations on Wall Street are tumbling down, and ordinary Americans can no longer agree on simple truths, let alone politics. Abroad, Europe may be splintering, too, Asia looks volatile, and wars continue to rage in...
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The Art of Detente

Posted by John on Jan 20, 2017 in Art, Articles, Featured |
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0 comments On a wall in Boston, artist Mehdi Ghadyanloo is taking a quiet but historic step forward in U.S.-Iranian relations. His fanciful mural on an air intake structure in Boston’s Dewey Square represents a first. Ghadyanloo, who has completed more than a hundred surrealistic murals in downtown Tehran, is the first Iranian artist to do work commissioned by municipal authorities in both Iran...
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