Uncommon Catastrophes Uncommon Catastrophes
Reconsidering how the Middle East was transformed by World War I.
Jan 26, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Tom Finn
Return Return
January robin, I want you to live more than I want you to stay and I want you to stay more than I want to live. Stipple your frost-fitted feet on the crunchsqueak of the cornsnow lit up with its own freezing. Your chest like morning-mouth blood on the pillow for reasons I’d rather not know. Cold-cramped wing fly you to Iowa for half-safety for these climes will climb to your beak. And all we hear from is heat and melt. Let that rumor your feather, fling you far.
Jan 26, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Christopher Richards
What Are ‘Nation’ Interns Reading the Week of 1/23/15? What Are ‘Nation’ Interns Reading the Week of 1/23/15?
What are Nation interns reading the week of 1/22/15?
Jan 23, 2015 / Books & the Arts / StudentNation
I’ve Got a Little List I’ve Got a Little List
Eric Alterman on 2014's best music, concerts and the year of the box set.
Jan 22, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Eric Alterman
This Long-Lost Constitutional Clause Could Save the Right to Vote This Long-Lost Constitutional Clause Could Save the Right to Vote
It’s time to start enforcing Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Jan 21, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Richard Kreitner
James Baldwin, a Guide in Dark Times James Baldwin, a Guide in Dark Times
His essays on police brutality still burn hot, but his understanding of sex, self-knowledge and power demand equal attention now.
Jan 21, 2015 / Books & the Arts / JoAnn Wypijewski
Ganzeer Versus the NYPD Ganzeer Versus the NYPD
One of the works appearing prominently in the Egyptian artist Ganzeer’s first US solo show has already been displayed to the thousands who attended this fall’s anti-police brutality protests. It’s a silkscreened print in yellow and blue, with a picture of Eric Garner being choked by an NYPD officer. Along the side, bold lettering reads: BE BRUTAL. The mock recruiting poster carries contact information at the bottom: NYPDKILLS.COM / 212-KILL-PEOPLE. Mohamed Fahmy, 32, who goes by the name Ganzeer (or “bicycle chain”) achieved international fame during the Arab Spring uprising in Egypt. For many foreign artists, a New York show might be viewed as an opportunity to focus an audience’s attention on their home country, but Ganzeer wasn’t interested. “I think that’s what they were expecting: ‘This guy’s from Egypt. He’s going to do a show about Egypt and the situation there,’” he said about being approached by the Leila Heller Gallery curator and Middle Eastern art expert Shiva Balaghi. But Ganzeer had other ideas; he wasn’t going to be Orientalized—a problem, he noted, that never seemed to be experienced by the British street artist Banksy or the Italian artist Blu. “I’m interested in making art about relevant things that are happening in the world,” he said. In other words, when in America, set your sights on America. “At first there was some hesitancy,” he said of the gallery, “but I think they really got into it.” Please support our journalism. Get a digital subscription for just $9.50! He arrived in New York in mid-May, his first trip to the United States. He began to immerse himself in American politics and history. “He’s been reading Howard Zinn,” said Balaghi. The only link to his Egyptian work is a reference to a poster that landed him in the clink. In 2011, Ganzeer and two associates were arrested by Egyptian security forces while hanging a silkscreen called The Mask of Freedom, of a man wearing a ball-gag and blinders, wings protruding from his temples. In the new image, the ball-gag remains, the blinder is replaced by a full Captain America mask with no eye holes, and the man sports a business suit. “Great American Mask of Freedom,” the poster reads, “since 1776 and still going strong.” At least for now, Egypt’s loss is our gain. Ganzeer’s show will be on display at the Leila Heller Gallery through February 21. Read Next: Michelle Chen on police unions
Jan 21, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Ali Gharib
History Re-Dressed: Taylor Mac’s Queer History of American Pop History Re-Dressed: Taylor Mac’s Queer History of American Pop
A musical project of maddening ambition unearths—and invents—a gay history of America.
Jan 21, 2015 / Books & the Arts / David Hajdu
Bonfire of the Humanities Bonfire of the Humanities
Historians are losing their audience, and searching for the next trend won’t win it back.
Jan 21, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Samuel Moyn
Mistakes Get Made Mistakes Get Made
Democracy floats on currents of change. Is it ever capable of managing them?
Jan 21, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Jackson Lears