“The aesthetic experience is a simple beholding of the object . . . you experience a radiance. You are held in aesthetic arrest.” - Joseph Campbell
Aesthetic Arrest is our weekly dip into the Epicurean pleasures we’ve been enjoying lately. Here we go!
Ryan Wildstar’s Recommendations:
Reading: The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse
“Serenely let us move to distant places
And let no sentiments of home detain us.
The Cosmic Spirit seeks not to restrain us
But lifts us stage by stage to wider spaces.
If we accept a home of our own making,
Familiar habit makes for indolence.
We must prepare for parting and leave-taking
Or else remain the slaves of permanence.”
- A stanza from “Stages,” a poem written by the main character, Joseph Knecht, from The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse
Listening: The Miraculous Mandarin Suite by Béla Bartók
Looking: Ramon Casas and Pere Romeu in an Automobile & A Decadent Girl by Ramon Casas
Viewing: The Bear (starring Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Lionel Boyce, Abby Elliot & Liza Colón-Zayas)
Tasting: Ryan Wildstar’s Linguine alle Vongole
Ryan Elston’s Recommendations:
Reading: When Women Invented Television: The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered the Way We Watch Today by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
“I didn’t know until recently, and many of even the nerdiest of TV history nerds don’t know, that there was a time—a time before, even, Lucille Ball—when women ran television. Not everything, of course . . . But a surprising number of women pioneered the genres we still watch today, negotiated contracts, directed, produced, and wrote. But their names and contributions have now been largely forgotten.” - Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, from When Women Invented Television
Click here to watch a brief video introducing the book (via Jezebel).
Listening: The Music of Hazel Scott
Listen to Marian McPartland’s *amazing* 1980 interview with Hazel Scott (including beautiful live music in the studio from Hazel Scott and some great improv duets between the two) from her radio show here:
Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz: Hazel Scott on Piano Jazz
Looking: Art Nouveau Glass Art by Émile Gallé
Viewing: An Ode to Betty White!
The Complete Pioneers of Television (unedited interview)
The First Lady of Television documentary
and, as a bonus, The Best of Rose clips from The Golden Girls
Tasting: Chef’s Table: Pizza (Netflix)
Enjoying our podcast? Click here to check out the first installment of Ryan & Ryan in Conversation! Longer than our Aesthetic Arrest Friday podcasts, with more links and resources, Ryan & Ryan In Conversation is more of a deep-dive exploration, as we discuss some of our favorite topics in depth!
That’s it for this week! What are your reading, listening, looking, viewing and/or tasting recommendations?
Aesthetic Arrest Podcast: Art Nouveau, Linguine alle Vongole, Béla Bartók & Betty White