Salon.com > Chen Hooft van Huysduynen

Cement and lace paintings uncover political conflicts

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 22:00:00 +0000

A bit more than a year ago, Naomi Safran-Hon opened her studio to the public as part of the Brooklyn Museum's Go community-curated project and was worried that no one would show up. The 29-year old Safran-Hon was one of the 1,708 artists who participated, and in the end, she was chosen as one of the five winning artists to exhibit her work at the Brooklyn Museum. Visiting her studio in Crown Heights, I was not surprised that a large number of people who showed up voted for her work, which combines cement and lace and possesses a haunting quality that forces you to linger in front of her paintings.

Although technically Safran-Hon is a painter, her process is far from the traditional definition of the medium. First, she takes a photograph and mounts it on canvas, after which she paints on and cuts holes in it. She then stretches lace along the back of the canvas and pushes cement through it. “I think of my lace as my brush and my color palette,” she explains. “It’s not only the color but also the pattern which determines the shape of the cement that I push through the back of the canvas.”

From Salem to Monty Python: Witch hunt in pop culture

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 22:55:00 +0000

February 1692 marked the beginning of the Salem Witch Trials. At the time in colonial North America, it didn't take much to be accused of witchcraft. If someone lived alone, was a bit of an outsider and sometimes talked to his pet, he could be easily accused of having made an unlawful covenant with the devil.

Anyone could file a complaint against an alleged witch with the local magistrates. If the complaint was deemed credible, the magistrates had the “witch” arrested and brought in for a public interrogation, where they pressed the accused to confess. During the trials, more than 150 people were arrested and jailed after being accused of practicing witchcraft. Nineteen people (14 women and five men) were hanged, others died in prison or were crushed to death under heavy stones, including Giles Corey who refused to enter a plea and instead entered history as the man whose last words were: “More weight.”

Since then, witch hunts have received much attention in literature, TV and film. Here’s a look at some of the most renowned witch hunt moments.

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Witch-hunt slideshow

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 22:51:00 +0000

Lena Dunham is working on a new HBO comedy

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 21:52:00 +0000

As if her recent $3.5 million book deal and the news of “Girls'” being renewed for a 3rd season wasn't enough, Lena Dunham and her “Girls” collaborator Jenni Konner are overwhelming New York with another HBO show.

The new series is based on Betty Halbreich, a personal shopper who created her own job at Bergdorf Goodman in 1976 and has since dressed the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Joan Rivers and Liza Minnelli. Halbreich is also known for consulting for movies and TV shows, notably early Woody Allen films and the signature look for HBO’s “Sex and the City.”

At 85, Halbreich is still running her personal-shopping service based in the Fifth Avenue department store, and HBO has optioned her upcoming memoir “All Dressed Up and Everywhere To Go.” Dunham and Konner plan to write the new series together delving into her adventures with Manhattan socialites.

Watch “Paperman”: The Oscar-nominated animated short film

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 17:06:00 +0000

With the 85th Academy Awards around the corner, Disney has just released its heartwarming Oscar-nominated short “Paperman” in full on YouTube. The mostly black-and-white animated six-minute film marks the directorial debut of “Tangled” and “Ratatouille” animator John Kahrs, who blends traditional hand-drawn animation with CG techniques, and the result is a sweet love story between a man and a woman who meet by chance on their morning commute.

The dialogue-free short unfolds in 1940s Manhattan, where a lonely young man is hit by a flying piece of paper while standing on a train platform. He is dazzled by the beautiful woman who accidently drops her paper as a gust of wind blows it away, but quickly realizes she's departed on the train. Convinced that the girl of his dreams is gone forever, the guy spots her in a skyscraper window across the avenue from his office and gets a second chance to woo her.

“Paperman” will be competing for the best animated short film on Feb.24, against Mnikyu Lee’s “Adam and Dog,” PES’ “Fresh Guacamole,” Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly’s “Head over Heels” and David Silverman’s “The Longest Daycare.”

10 top films from Sundance 2013

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 21:21:00 +0000

Cheers: Prohibition era cartoons

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 16:24:00 +0000

On this day in 1919, the 18th Amendment, prohibiting the manufacture, transport and sale of "intoxicating liquors" won ratification from enough states to become law. Since they couldn't drink (supposedly), people diverted themselves with ornate, hilarious campaigns for and against alcohol. Today, 94 years later, political and social ad campaigners can raise their glasses to those who had to live without.

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Prohibition Era Vintage Ads

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 16:15:00 +0000