Author Archives: dbv

to reactivate for a second

Posted on by

“Travelling does not help us much in understanding (I’ve known this for a while; I did not need to come to the Far East to convince myself that this was true) but it does serve to reactivate for a second the use of our eyes, the visual reading of the world.”

(Italo Calvino, “The Old Woman in the Purple Kimono,” p. 154 in Collection of Sand, trans. Martin McLaughlin.)

june 1–15, 2016

Posted on by

Books

  • Marguerite Young, Angel in the Forest: A Fairy Tale of Two Utopias
  • A. R. Luria, Cognitive Development: Its Cultural and Social Foundations, trans. Martin Lopez-Morillas & Lynn Solotaroff
  • A. R. Luria, The Mind of a Mnemonist: A Little Book about a Vast Memory, trans. Lynn Solotaroff

Films

  • Joy, directed by David O. Russell

Exhibits

  • “Roman Wall Painting in Pompeii,” Mori Arts Center Gallery, Tokyo
  • “Sho Shou Exhibition,” The National Arts Center, Tokyo
  • “Nihon Jiyūgadan Sumie Exhibition,” The National Arts Center, Tokyo

may 16–31, 2016

Posted on by

Books

  • Ara Wilson, The Intimate Economies of Bangkok: Tomboys, Tycoons, and Avon Ladies in the Global City
  • Angélica Gorodischer, Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was, trans. Ursula K. Le Guin
  • Milton Rockeach, The Three Christs of Ypsilanti: A Psychological Study
  • Eric A. Havelock, The Muse Learns to Write: Reflections on Orality and Literacy from Antiquity to the Present

Films

  • Comizi d’amore, directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini
  • Macbeth, dir. Roman Polanski
  • The Harvey Girls, dir. George Sidney
  • Κυνόδοντας (Dogtooth), dir. Yorgos Lanthimos
  • Il gattopardo (The Leopard), dir. Luchino Visconti
  • La notte di San Lorenzo (The Night of the Shooting Stars), dir. Paolo & Vittorio Taviano

may 1–may 15, 2016

Posted on by

Books

  • Alison Bechdel, Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama

Films

  • The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, directed by Irving Reis
  • Bells are Ringing, dir. Vincente Minnelli
  • Tea and Sympathy, dir. Vincente Minnelli
  • The Lobster, dir. Yorgos Lanthimos
  • Under the Cherry Moon, dir. Prince
  • Sun Don’t Shine, dir. Amy Seimetz
  • The Leopard Man, dir. Jacquer Tourneur
  • A Face in the Crowd, dir. Elia Kazan
  • Carol, dir. Todd Haynes

Exhibits

  • “Mit Jai Inn: Wett,” Gallery Ver

april 16–30, 2016

Posted on by

Books

  • John Berger & Jean Mohr, A Fortunate Man: The Life of a Country Doctor
  • Thomas Meyer, Beowulf
  • Henry Green, Loving

Films

  • Imagine the Sound, directed by Ron Mann
  • The Jungle Book, dir. Jon Favreau
  • Knight of Cups, dir. Terrence Malick
  • 1991: The Year Punk Broke, dir. Dave Markey
  • A Foreign Affair, dir. Billy Wilder
  • The Panic in Needle Park, dir. Jerry Schatzberg
  • Comfort & Joy, dir. Bill Forsyth

Exhibits

  • “Lines from Three Lives: Chuan Leekpai, Chakrabhand Posayakrit, Nithi Sthapitanonda,” BACC

april 1–15, 2016

Posted on by

Books

  • China Miéville, Embassytown
  • Idra Novey, Ways to Disappear
  • Georges Simenon, Three Bedrooms in Manhattan, translated by Marc Romano & Lawrence R. Blochman
  • Samuel R. Delany, The Jewels of Aptor
  • Samuel R. Delany, The Ballad of Beta-2
  • Helen Phillips, The Beautiful Bureaucrat
  • Georges Simenon, Act of Passion, trans. Louise Varèse
  • Roald Dahl, Switch Bitch
  • Roald Dahl, My Uncle Oswald
  • Samuel R. Delany, They Fly at Çiron

Exhibits

  • Liwan Museum, Guangzhou
  • “Shen Shaomin: There Is No Problem,” Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art, Guangzhou
  • “Chinese Printmaking New Scene,” Tap Seac Gallery, Macau

march 16–31, 2016

Posted on by

Books

  • Álvaro Mutis, The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll, translated by Edith Grossman
  • Georges Simenon, Tropic Moon, trans. Marc Romano
  • Georges Simenon, Dirty Snow, trans. Marc Romano
  • Georges Simenon, Mr. Hire’s Engagement, trans. Daphne Woodward
  • Hisham Matar, In the Country of Men
  • Georges Simenon, Monsieur Monde Vanishes, trans. Jean Stewart
  • Georges Simenon, The 13 Culprits, trans. Peter Schulman

Films

  • Dark Passage, dir. Delmer Daves
  • Macao, dir. Josef von Sternberg & Nicholas Ray
  • The Big Knife, dir. Robert Aldrich
  • The Creature from the Black Lagoon, dir. Jack Arnold
  • The Anthem, dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul
  • Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy, dir. Kelly Makin 
  • The Forbidden Room, dir. Guy Maddin & Evan Johnson
  • The Queen Of Versailles, dir. Lauren Greenfield

march 1–15, 2016

Posted on by

Books

  • Gabriele D’Annunzio, The Child of Pleasure, translated by Georgina Harding
  • Susanne Kircher, A Roman Scandal: The Story of Beatrice Cenci
  • Mihail Sebastian, For Two Thousand Years, trans. Philip Ó Ceallaigh

Films

  • What Happened, Miss Simone?, directed by Liz Garbus
  • Hail, Caesar!, dir. Joel & Ethan Coen

there has not always been snow outside

Posted on by

“And what I really wish to record – as if otherwise I might forget it – is merely that there has not always been snow outside, that much else has occurred during this past year, bloom and harvest and the fragrance of resin throughout the woods, water dripping and trickling down over the rocks of the face of the Kuppron, wind blowing from afar and dying away, light that flamed and faded, and skies that changed from day to night and back again to day. All this occurred while my heart was beating, while wind and sun and clouds were there, all of them flowing through my hands and my heart.”

(Hermann Broch, The Spell, trans. H. F. Broch de Rotherman, p. 6.)