We want to start this week’s Aesthetic Arrest with a statement from Ryan & Ryan:
The Epicurean Vagabonds believe that art, culture and education are needed now more than ever. We need creativity and imagination, wisdom and empathy, inspiration and beauty, celebration and joy. We need books to teach us the lessons of history, philosophy and science, and to help us to envision effective and humane solutions to the problems that threaten us. We need stories that build empathy for those who have lived different lives than we have. We need a wide diversity of voices to share what they know and give us new perspectives. In times of sadness, we need comedy to give us the gift of laughter, and tragedy to give us the gift of catharsis. In times rent by division and conflict, we need the harmony of sublime music to soothe, uplift and heal. In times when the only choices seem to be a polarity of either-or, us-them, good-evil, black-white or blue-red, we need a non-binary rainbow of magnificent colors and infinite possibilities across all spectrums. Most of all, we need hope. Art gives us all of these things.
Which is why we remain wholly committed to the importance of art and culture and education, with an emphasis on those special works with the power of aesthetic arrest. It’s also why we’ve chosen, for both our podcast and our Substack, to offer an intentionally curated experience, highlighting the art, literature, music, cuisine, performance and film we find genuinely meaningful, valuable and transformative. Each week, we make a conscious choice to spotlight dynamic creators from all times and all places, all genres and all backgrounds, who have gifted us all with aesthetically arresting works of art and bold, visionary ideas which we believe have the power to change this world into a better place for everyone. We hope you’ll stay with us on this journey of discovery. Welcome to Aesthetic Arrest.
“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. Now with TWO ways to enjoy our curated splash of inspiration and culture! Cheers to that!
Click above to listen to our Aesthetic Arrest Podcast, featuring R&R discussing our reading, listening, looking, viewing and tasting recommendations of the week!
Take a deep-dive into our Aesthetic Arrest: Mid-Week Libation! Below is a splash of interesting cultural gems to explore — videos, music, art, articles, recipes and more. Something different every week!
Aesthetic Arrest: Mid-Week Libation
Wildstar’s Wednesday Libation: Evening Land Vineyards, Seven Springs Passetoutgrain (Willamette Valley, OR)
“At Evening Land Vineyards, we believe that land stewardship, vineyard sensitivity, and conscientious farming are key to producing high-quality, age-worthy wines that depict a true sense of place.” [Source]
Reading: A Hopeful Science Fiction Vision of What Our World Could Be — The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
“Ministry is not a perfect future—it’s filled with turmoil and messiness and lots of local defeats. But it’s a best-case scenario of what we could do if we did everything right.” — Kim Stanley Robinson [Source]
Listening #1: R&R’s Newest Playlist — Quintessential Quincy! Our Tribute to a Legend: The Music of Quincy Jones (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024)
Check out our newest curated playlist of 30 fantastic songs from the illustrious career of Quincy Jones:
Listening #2: Celebrating The Cure’s First #1 Album in 32 Years! Songs Of A Lost World by The Cure
Click here to watch the free, three-hour global livestream concert marking the release of the new album! (recorded November 1st, 2024)
Looking: Raven Transforms the World from Darkness Into Light — The Luminous Glass Works of Seattle-Based Tlingit Artist Preston Singletary
“Glass brings another dimension to Native American art. It's luminous quality and shadow effect are like a spirit that appears when the lighting is right.” — Preston Singletary [Source]
Official Site of Preston Singletary / Instagram / Works for Sale (via Artsy)
View (and purchase!) works by Preston Singletary here: Traver Gallery / Stonington Gallery / Blue Rain Gallery
Buy tickets to the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s world premiere of Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty, featuring scenic design by Preston Singletary and costumes by Hamilton’s Paul Tazewell (performances from January 31 – February 9, 2025!)
Check out the current exhibition, Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight, at the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, IN (on view until March 9, 2025!)
Check out the upcoming exhibition, The Importance of Being Raven, at Sandra Ainsley Gallery in Toronto, Ontario (on view November 23, 2024 - January 8, 2025!)
Viewing #1: “Changing the World One Smile at a Time!” The Unabridged Mrs. Vera’s Daybook (2023) — documentary about Verasphere creators David Faulk (aka Mrs.Vera) & Michael Johnstone
“The Unabridged Mrs. Vera’s Daybook tells a story of historic activism and community art through the works of two San Francisco artists, who also happen to be long-term AIDS survivors. During one of the darkest periods in US History, two men decide to bring joy and color to a broken community for which an entire movement has emerged. Supporters, fellow activists and members of the Queer Art Community join the film to help paint this vivid portrait of perseverance, compassion and outrageous dime-store fashion.” [Source]
Click here to dive into the Verasphere! Changing the world one smile at a time!
Click here to see the fabulous photos from Mrs. Vera’s Daybook series!
Viewing #2: Remembering Judith Jamison (May 10, 1943 – November 9, 2024), Renowned Dancer, Choreographer & Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
This past weekend the world lost Judith Jamison, one of the greatest choreographers and dancers of the past century. Check out her powerful TED Talk below! “‘Dance can elevate our human experience beyond words,’ says Judith Jamison, artistic director emerita of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. In between performances of excerpts from Alvin Ailey’s classic works ‘Revelations’ and ‘Cry,’ Jamison reflects on the enduring power of dance to transform history into art that thrills audiences around the world.” [Source]
Judith Jamison page at Ailey.org (includes links to numerous repertory works she choreographed, some with videos)
Tasting: Enjoying Local Wines, Community & Anti-Authoritarian Rock Music at the Skopje Wine Festival 2024! (Skopje, North Macedonia)
For Halloween we attended the Skopje Wine Festival 2024! This annual event, celebrating the wines of North Macedonia, is one-part wine tasting and one-part block party. A harmonious mix of all ages and all types were gathered: big families, tattooed hipsters, grizzled barflies, international foodies (like us!), rockers, ravers, and even a group of Goth kids in their Halloween costumes. Everyone was friendly and we felt very welcome. There was gourmet street food, carnival games, and a stage full of youth from the local “School of Rock” performing exuberant covers of anti-authoritarian rock songs like “Killing in the Name” by Rage Against the Machine. As Ryan Wildstar wrote [all the way back in Aesthetic Arrest: Weekly Cultural Highlights 6/11/22!] when we saw another class from this same school of rock performing a free concert here in the park a couple years ago:
“I can say without hesitation that I’d never before seen or heard a performance of local kids, on a professional sound stage at midnight, on a school night, in a public park, their instruments firmly in hand (the crowd and their parents chanting along in unison) screaming ‘Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me!’ Our hearts were filled with joy.”
Click on the reels below to see some cute videos:
So that’s it for this week! But in the tradition of our Mid-Week Libations, we’d like to end with this week’s words of wisdom, a quotation from the visionary science fiction writer, Ursula K. Le Guin:
This Week’s Words of Wisdom: Ursula K. Le Guin
Thank you for joining us for Season 3 of Aesthetic Arrest!
Cheers to that!
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