In today’s entries to the Disability in the Humanities listserv, DS-HUM, there was a discussion of a new album cover of Nikki Minaj. I couldn’t resist opining:It looks like the Pink Friday album cover is a continuation of Nikki Minaj’s redefinition and playing with the images of women rappers. From a quick reading of Wikipedia […]
I managed to make the deadline for the VSA Arts Postcard Project. The theme was to create a postcard with the artist’s definition of disability. Since Christmas I’ve been playing around with my new disabled action figures. It seemed to me that perhaps one of the facets of my definition might be this. […]
Every Sunday the San Francisco Chronicle has a feature, Wayback Machine, that runs stories from its past. In an article dated February 25, 1934 there is an announcement of a silent movie, “Eskimo,” showing in town. The Chronicle would be hosting 100 deaf persons. During the previous decades movies were silent and had superimposed titles—open […]
Here’s some good news from the UK disability arts newsletter, ETC. (To subscribe, silvie@disabilityarts.info) To my mind Ian Dury’s “Spasticus Autisticus” should be the disability community’s rockin’ anthem. If this movie is successful it should help bring the disabled Dury back into public consciousness. Here’s the news: Sex & Drugs & Rock ‘n’ Roll 104 […]
From what I can tell from this side of the pond, there was a huge hue and cry when it was announced in 2005 that a sculpture of a naked, pregnant, disabled woman would be on display in Trafalgar Square for 18 months. I can’t imagine a statue like this in a public space in […]
Last saturday, October 18, the People’s Republic of Berkeley, birthplace of the independent living movement, unveiled a massive, social realist statue honoring the town’s political activism. It’s depicts people engaged in some of the town’s different protests. For once a righteous, angry, political, powerful wheelchair user is depicted in public art. As soon as I […]
Another one! Disabled artists are everywhere. Our local PBS station aired a documentary, “Man on Fire,” about Jose Clemente Orozco. He was a muralist and contemporary and rival to Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo’s husband. Towards the end of his life he became more famous than Diego. The interesting aspect is how his disability affected his […]
According to a blurb in American Photo there is a new photo book out. It’s by Amelia Davis. She’s documenting with portraits people who share her MS identity, e.g. Richard Pryor. The title is My Story (Demos Medical Publishing). I haven’t seen any of the portraits from the book yet, but her web site has […]
I think that disability culture is starting to break out. On the Yahoo Disabilities and Disabled news page, the lead story was an LA Times review of a German art show, The [Im]Perfect Human Being. From the story as well as the web site, it appears to be a heady mix of the avant garde, […]
In one of those small clues in the press about how disability is being viewed, I noticed the inclusion of the movie “My Left Foot” (MLF) in a list of movies about artists in the Sunday, February 16, SF Chronicle. (Sunday’s Pink Section ) The list was created to give video rental ideas to people […]