Seeking Hidden Lives in Art

PBS's LGBT series In The Life produced a really interesting discussion of the Smithsonian Institute's groundbreaking exhibit Hide/Seek. The segment helped me understand the context that inspired the Smithsonian to put the exhibition together in the first place.




Controversy erupted recently surrounding the removal of David Wojnarowicz's video installation, "A Fire in My Belly," from the National Portrait Gallery's Hide/Seek show at the Smithsonian. The video, which represents the artist's anger as he faced death from AIDS ignited outrage among conservative lawmakers and religious leaders. READ MORE

Fire in My Belly was recently screened here in Ottawa:
About 100 people took in A Fire In My Belly by David Wojnarowicz during three successive screenings in the single-room exhibition space of Bank St's Gallery 101 on Saturday night. Two screenings were originally planned, but organizers added a third due to demand. Most people had come out to see for themselves what was creating so much controversy but couldn't understand what caused the United State's most well-known museum to remove the film.
READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE HERE


The film was subsequently purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. READ MORE
Read my previous post about the show.

Sex, Drugs, and Rock-and-Roll

People like music for the same reason they like eating or having sex: It makes the brain release a chemical that gives pleasure, a study says.

The brain substance is involved both in anticipating a particularly thrilling musical moment and in feeling the rush from it, researchers found.

Previous work had already suggested a role for dopamine, a substance brain cells release to communicate with each other. But the new work, which scanned people's brains as they listened to music, shows it happening directly.