Sunday, February 15, 2009

Disconnect

Some of you have probably noticed that there's an apparent disconnect between the subject description of the Adam Gopnik reading on syllabus and the content of the story that comes up if you follow the link. There was a slight bit of sloppiness on my part. The reading is about Shaker art, not about director's commentaries on DVDs. In case there's any doubt, read the Gopnik story about Shaker art that comes up. The story ties in nicely to a theme that we'll touch on Tuesday night -- commerce and creativity. Which brings me to a story that appeared in the NYTimes Sunday magazine today. It's from Rob Walker's "Consumed" column, which is always about commodification, in a way. This story explores the points of connection between design, social networking and stock agencies like iStock. As with the Gordon Ramsay profile, the Consumed column is a good example of the ways that the solid reporting skills that many of you are already acquiring in your roles as writers for the paper can come in handy when writing an arts and culture piece. And as you think about the Gopnik story on Shaker art, take note of the breadth and scope of his artistic, cultural and historical references.

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