Podcast #161
John Steppling, Dennis Riches, Hiroyuki Hamada, and Roger Johnson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcBtTUztm2U
https://x.com/TheCradleMedia/status/1922216143126692247
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/09/leaving-new-zealand-record-departure-numbers
https://debbielerman.substack.com/p/cia-central-casting-the-means-episode
https://www.urmedium.net/c/presstv/133643
I just got home from NYC and saw the statue. I liked it. The braided hair in bronze is accomplished. It looks like it is flexible and could be moving. The rest is minimalist. The face is beautifully composed, relaxed, not emoting anger, pride, or a kiss-off of any kind. She is juxtaposed with the statues all over the city of white male military figures or mythological creatures. She is neither idealized nor objectified--for once, an ordinary person, a female person, depicted as worthy of our full attention, commanding it without having to compete for it with T&A or bling or social position. She's not buying the Ozempic or Wegovy or Zepbound. What is this huge bronze doing there? What is it saying? Obviously, it speaks to different people in different ways. It is not an apotheosis of any kind; on the contrary, she is just standing there in her being, and that is more than enough. How many of you have actually seen the sculpture in person? I saw it Thursday night in the rain and the massive bronze was dripping and glistening with the steady rain, all the flashing Times Square commercial lights reflecting in the gravity-moving droplets. I wasn't interested in it from seeing it in the media. I just happened to be there, just after seeing Good Night, and Good Luck (another story) We all know we have to bring ourselves willingly and openly to the experience of a large work like that. Surprisingly, I liked it a lot.
Happy Birthday Lex!