Author: akephale

Posted on

The Concrete Paintings of Kandinsky by Alexandre Kojève – Part I. ART

Kojève was born in Russia to a wealthy and influential family. His uncle was the abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky, about whose work he would write this influential essay in 1936. He was educated in Berlin and Heidelberg, Germany. He completed his PhD, on the Russian religious philosopher Vladimir Soloviev’s views on the union of God and man in Christ under the … Continue reading The Concrete Paintings of Kandinsky by Alexandre Kojève – Part I. ART

Posted on

Terry Eagleton in conversation with Roger Scruton

What really divides the left and the right? To answer this question, Intelligence Squared brought together two giants of British intellectual culture for an ideological reckoning: Terry Eagleton, literary critic and long-time hero of the radical left, and Roger Scruton, right-wing philosopher who has written on everything from economic theory to literature, and architecture to … Continue reading Terry Eagleton in conversation with Roger Scruton

Posted on

My Favorite Things

John Coltrane’s transformation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “My Favorite Things” is the first example of irony[1]. Embedded within Coltrane’s well-known version of “My Favorite Things” are several significant musical and cultural issues. First, there is an ironic juxtaposition of Coltrane’s version and the simpler and more sentimental version sung by Mary Martin in the stage … Continue reading My Favorite Things

Posted on

Critique of Separation

Guy Debord

We don’t know what to say. Sequences of words are repeated; gestures are recognized. Outside us. Of course some methods are mastered, some results are verified. Often it’s amusing. But so many things we wanted have not been attained, or only partially and not like we imagined. What communication have we desired, or experienced, or only simulated? What real project has been lost?

Continue reading “Critique of Separation”

Posted on

Photography, Or The Writing Of Light

Jean Baudrillard Translated by Francois Debrix The miracle of photography, of its so-called objective image, is that it reveals a radically non-objective world. It is a paradox that the lack of objectivity of the world is disclosed by the photographic lens (objectif).2 Analysis and reproduction (ressemblance) are of no help in solving this problem. The technique of … Continue reading Photography, Or The Writing Of Light