6/29/2023
The 33 Project
Hello hello. Another Thursday and I’m back. I hope you’re having a smooth week. We’re flush into summer now, AC blasting, smelly garbage lining the street, sweat dripping down our backs. When summer makes itself known I always think of The Wackness.
A classic coming of age tale set in summer of ‘94 in NYC. Olivia Thirlby shining in all her glory. Great film.
Back to the present. Today looks ripe with potential, sunshine and a warning for poor air quality. Let’s make it through.
On to the recommendations for this week:
1/ This was a nice interview with Brooklyn museum director Anne Pasternak on the museum’s “Pablo-matic” exhibit. Oddly, the exhibit has made waves for its co-curator Hannah Gadsby’s quippy tone and its choice to place non-male art side-by-side with the famous painter’s work. You see it and be the judge. Here’s a pull quote I liked.
A.P.: I think it’s more complex than that. Hannah pushes on issues that are uncomfortable for us to look at. Here I am, a person who studied art history, who loves art of all time periods, as much as I love anything in the world. Listening to Hannah’s performance, Nanette, had me see things that I love with a new light — which has been enriching. When Hannah makes these jokes about the fact that women didn’t have clothes historically, or that it’s a women’s role to be lying naked in a field, it shows us that these images that we love, because we love art and art history, have become so much a part of our social, cultural, and personal psyche that we stopped seeing them for what they are. Yes, they’re about mythology. Yes, they’re about fantasy. No, we shouldn’t be policing people’s personal desires. At the same time, they have contributed to a history of imagery that, frankly, has left women unsafe. I think it’s much easier for women to understand that. I think it’s much harder for men.
2/ I love this guy on tiktok - he gives tours of the village and gay NYC and is just an all around great follow. He recently posted about books that define American culture and as a result I’ve jumped into Another Country by James Baldwin and am loving it.
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3/ This Mars simulation situation is both terrifying and fascinating. Over a full year trapped in a 1,700 sq. ft simulated Mars base, including “…potential problems a crew could encounter during an actual Mars mission.” It’s a no for me.
But…how much does it pay? Not enough.
Bonus/ Just started watching Hijack on apple tv+ and it’s great! Beautifully shot, suspenseful and surprising, check it out.
That’s it for this week. As always, thanks for reading and sharing this newsletter. If you’re interested in bonus content you can always upgrade to receive the weekend edition of this newsletter with more recommendations, musings, etc.
See ya next week.