A Guest Post by Daniel Siedell My approach to abstract painting changed forever fifteen years ago during a conversation with an artist friend in front of Kasimir Malevich’s White on White (1918) at the Museum of Modern Art. As I was telling my friend about Malevich’s theories of abstraction and his utopian belief that paintings of squares and rectangles could transform society, my friend interrupted me and, with his nose about as close as one could get to a painting,... Read more
Bring me a fountain pen dipped in blood! And the skin from his back for parchment on which to pen this post! At least that’s how I felt two months ago when S.L. saw fit to call my wife one morning and lay into her for how she had handled a matter pertaining to the upcoming school auction. The details are insignificant, only that S.L. had not been properly informed of a decision that involved a friend he had suggested... Read more
In her collection The White Album, published in 1979, Joan Didion has an essay called “In Bed.” The essay is about migraine headaches, which Didion suffers “three, four, sometimes five times a month.” Her migraines are much, much worse than mine, but every few weeks, when my first conscious moment involves the awareness of a headache, I think of her. I don’t take the powerful drugs she does—for me, over-the-counter Excedrin does the job—and I don’t suffer the aura. I... Read more
In the spring of 2002, my sister Alyssa and I left college behind for a weekend to visit our parents. After driving two hours to reach their home, we expected embraces, but encountered an empty house instead. We received only aloof acknowledgements from their Birman cats, Ellie and Vignoles. Upon searching the house for occupants, we came upon a loaf of fresh banana bread—still steaming—in a pan on the range. “Where are Mom and Dad?” Alyssa asked. “This banana bread’s... Read more
“Why does he make us feel the questions if he won’t give us the answers?” I don’t know that I’ve heard an existential cry as eloquent as that in all my born days, at least not one that sounded as though it might have risen from my own chest. It forms the theme of two films based in Judaism that sit high on my list of essential modern films. In 2009’s A Serious Man, one of Joel and Ethan Coen’s... Read more
When it comes to music, I am a lover of routine. My iTunes playlists are at least 2 years old, I haven’t bought a new album in months, and if you looked at the number of plays my Neko Case “Live at Austin City Limits” album has, you’d see that I’ve listened to it hundreds of times. But it’s not only music that bears my signature love of repetition. Most days, I would rather read a cookbook than pick up... Read more
Another exercise. This one an exercise in seeing deeply, visualization, sketching from memory, and composing a written sketch of a photograph held in memory. The photograph: Robert Frank’s “Navy Recruiting Station, Post Office, Butte, Montana,” published in his groundbreaking book The Americans. Here’s what I asked students in my “Contemplation and Imagination” class to do: 1. Look at the photo projected on the screen. 2. Close your eyes and visualize, in as much detail as you can, the photo. 3.... Read more
Several years ago I had the humbling honor of sharing my journey as a convert to the Orthodox Church with former my parish, a large cathedral in Washington DC. Here are some of my remarks: Being a part of this family, and having the Orthodox Church as my spiritual home, comes at the end of a long road of hope and longing for me. For so many of you, the depth of your faith and your commitment to the Church—indeed,... Read more
I spent elementary school in a Mexican neighborhood in Austin, Texas. I attended birthday parties with piñatas and ate in a school cafeteria that served home-style enchiladas, tamales, and beans made with lard. And because of my dark hair I truly didn’t realize a difference between the other students and me until fourth grade, when my Latino classmates nicknamed me the Holy Ghost on account of my fair complexion. I came home in tears, alarming my parents. But when they... Read more
Join Image’s Arts and Faith discussion community for a live Oscars Night chat below! All are welcome. The chat is now closed. Thanks to everyone who spent Oscars night with us, and see you in 2014! Read more
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