“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: Nepali Spiced Lemonade (Kagati Ko Sarbat) from Rachana Rimal
This week’s libation comes from The League of Kitchens Cookbook by Lisa Kyung Gross (see our Tasting Recommendation below for more info!). Described as “sweet and tangy fresh-squeezed lemonade flavored with black pepper, cinnamon, and cardamom,” this delicious drink “also makes a great mixer: Rachana was the first person to ever cook Nepali food at the famous James Beard House in New York City, and when she did, we turned this lemonade into a cocktail with the addition of a little vodka.” Which is exactly how we enjoyed it!
Reading: In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
“Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2024, internationally bestselling author and literary icon Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies is ‘beautiful, heartbreaking and alive ... a lyrical work of historical fiction based on the story of the Mirabal sisters, revolutionary heroes who had opposed and fought against Trujillo.’ (Concepción de León, New York Times)
Watch a phenomenal documentary, Julia Alvarez: A Life Reimagined, via American Masters at PBS.org!
Also note that November 25th (next Monday), the date of the 1960 assassination of the three Mirabal sisters, was chosen to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. “Every 10 minutes, partners and family members killed a woman intentionally in 2023. The crisis of gender-based violence is urgent.
That is why, during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, the UNiTE campaign is drawing attention to the alarming escalation of violence against women under the theme, ‘Every 10 Minutes, a woman is killed. #NoExcuse. UNiTE to End Violence against Women’.” [Source] More information here, including these startling facts:
Globally, an estimated 736 million women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence. Girls are at particular risk of violence—1 in 4 adolescent girls is abused by their partners.
70% of women in conflict, war, and humanitarian crisis, experience gender-based violence.
Globally, female genital mutilation has increased by 15% compared to data from eight years ago. [Source: More data from UN Women]
Listening #1: A Tribute to Legendary Jazz Drummer Roy Haynes (March 13th, 1925 - November 12th, 2024)
Last week the world lost the genius Roy Haynes at age 99. One of the most recorded drummers in the history of jazz, across his eight-decade career Roy Haynes appeared on over 600 albums! In 2008, Roy Haynes curated his own box set, A Life in Time: The Roy Haynes Story, which includes sessions with Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Sarah Vaughan, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane and many more, including many stunning examples of Roy Haynes leading his own groups:
Also check out his wonderful album with Quincy Jones:
And this delightful conversation with Jon Batiste:
Roy Haynes, Pioneering Modern Jazz Drummer, Has Died at 99 (via NPR)
Roy Haynes, Jazz Drummer Whose Career Spanned Nine Decades, Dies Aged 99 (via The Guardian)
Listening #2: American Railroad by Silkroad Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens
“We are a collective; we do not speak with one voice, but we do share one aim - humanity, peace, and love for all. By any metric what has been happening around the world is horrific and it has forced us to confront who we are as an organization, and who we want to be. We all grieve for the terrible things happening to innocent people but also must recognize that the systemic issues in place allowing and encouraging violence against our fellow humans is large, complicated, interconnected, and needs so much more than we can do alone. We are artists, we lead with art, and we hope to continue to inspire, challenge, and confront the best and worst of our species with the talents and creative beauty we have been given. There are many ways of speaking - and we must speak - with every note, every sound, every beat we have within us, as we come beautifully and musically together despite distance, different languages, approaches, trainings and expectations - what Silkroad does is radical and shall remain radical; and art, in its purest sense, rejects the inhumanity of violence and demands that we see each other as we see ourselves. That way, and that way only, is the path to transformative change - and we stand for nothing less.” – Rhiannon Giddens, Artistic Director of Silkroad [Source]
Official Site of Silkroad / American Railroad Official Site (with upcoming tour dates!) / Download a PDF of the American Railroad Booklet
Watch this amazing performance of the Silkroad Ensemble with Pura Fé:
Looking: The Art of Brazilian Watercolor Painter Marcos Beccari
“Marcos Beccari is an artist, philosopher and professor at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR) … Through Instagram, his paintings gained worldwide notoriety, especially for their technical realism and vibrant use of color. With a Baroque and Impressionist influence, his work makes reference to watercolor masters such as Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent and Anders Zorn. For attributing fluidity and spontaneity to the painted figures, Marcos Beccari is considered one of the exponents of the renovation of watercolor painting”. [Source]
And last, but not least, a portrait of our beloved Octavia Butler! Watch the reel, it’s incredible!
Viewing #1: Inspector Ellis [aka Ellis in the U.K.] — new British crime drama starring Sharon D Clarke (Acorn TV in the U.S. & Channel 5 in the U.K.)
“DCI Ellis is the last hope for failing investigations; she takes over tough cases across northern England, often with resistance from local police; her formidable demeanor disguises deep empathy fuelled by her complicated past.”
Viewing #2: Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light (BBC One/iPlayer in the U.K. / Coming to Masterpiece on PBS in the U.S. in March 2025, with Season 1 Streaming Now!)
The second TV adaptation by Peter Straughan of the Wolf Hall novels by Hilary Mantel, covering The Mirror & the Light, the final novel in the trilogy, with Peter Kosminsky returning to direct, with most of the original cast returning, including Mark Rylance in the lead role of Thomas Cromwell and Damian Lewis as Henry VIII.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light review – Six Hours of Utter TV Magic (via The Guardian)
Tasting: The League of Kitchens Cookbook: Brilliant Tips, Secret Methods & Favorite Family Recipes from Around the World by Lisa Kyung Gross
“Founded in 2014 by Lisa Kyung Gross, the daughter of a Korean immigrant and a Jewish New Yorker, League of Kitchens is a unique cooking school that empowers immigrant women to share culinary expertise and culture through hands-on cooking workshops, both in their homes and online. The instructors pass on their knowledge, skills, recipes, and most importantly, their secrets for how to cook with love. At its heart, League of Kitchens is a celebration of the invaluable contributions of immigrants to our food culture and society.” [Source]
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 Julia Alvarez:
This Week’s Words of Wisdom: Julia Alvarez
Thank you for joining us for Season 3 of Aesthetic Arrest!
Cheers to that!
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