We Have Moved

Tweeting a revolution

As a messy election unfolds in Iran, details of the situation have been broadcast throughout the world not only by the mainstream news media, but also by Iranian citizens who are members of social networking sites such as Twitter. Iranian officials have tried to block the flow of information, first by restricting foreign press and later by the government curbing access to Twitter and other internet resources. 

Jonathan Zittrain, author of The Future of the Internet--and How to Stop It, and the OpenNet Initiative have recently release a study on Internet Censorship in Iran. In an interview with the New York Times, Zittrain commented that Twitter is somewhat resistant to censorship because of its multiple methods of updating, including SMS text messaging. However, the Iranian government has also tried to restrict updates via this method by blocking text message service, for some say up to 24 hours. As we look to see how the situation plays out, it seems to be relevant to look at the apparent ascendancy of social media and how it informs our understanding of world affairs.

Abstract city

During the early 1960s, New York City endured a rapid physical and economic transformation. Small shops were exchanged for office towers. Crooked streets made way for massive highway construction. It was in this upheaval that artists like Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg gathered the relics of their outmoded city and raised them up to the level of art. Old ale cans. Tires. Retired license plates. In The Disappearance of Objects, art historian Joshua Shannon examines the work of four artists living in New York City, arguing that these halting alternatives to the cool steel and glass of the rising capitalist city were the artists’ tools for making sense of an increasingly abstract world. 

Though abstraction is still very much at work in today’s New York, the city appears to be turning back to its less congested roots. Just last month, city officials shut down parts of Times Square to traffic, signaling an apparent change in tack. Today’s artists may indeed reflect these changes as well, but no matter what direction we’re heading, a book like The Disappearance of Objects will always serve to illuminate where we’ve been.

Ideology & Iran

With riots erupting in the streets of Iran, many have criticized the Obama Administration’s refusal to take a side on the issue.  In light of the current crisis, there is a renewed opportunity to look at past diplomatic relations in order to develop a strategy for the future. 

In his classic work Ideology and U.S. Foreign Policy, Michael Hunt argues that, in its dealing with foreign nations, the U.S. frequently assumes a position of superior knowledge and wisdom, offering assistance and aid to those whose revolutions are deemed worthy and condemning those felt to be frivolous.  The United States has acted, he writes, with a “special understanding of appropriate revolutionary behavior” allowing for “an American right to judge and instruct other peoples.”  Perhaps in an effort to avoid this rather controversial position, the Obama administration has shied away from vocalizing a firm opinion on the situation abroad.  However, critics seem to caution the president not to let his silence speak for him. 

For further reading on the U.S. and Iran, check out Trita Parsi’s Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel, and The United States and Nikki Keddie’s Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution.

Gifts dads will love (neckties not included)

As Father’s Day rapidly approaches, we at the Press would like to suggest a few great picks for last-minute shoppers hoping to give dad a gift that can be enjoyed for years to come.

For fans of real-life tales of espionage, John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr, and Alexander Vassiliev’s Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America will be a revelation. Written from information Vassiliev collected during his days as a KGB agent, Spies not only contains insights into espionage tactics and the motives of Americans who spied for Stalin but also resolves long-standing controversies involving Alger Hiss, I. F. Stone, and the Rosenbergs, to name a few. A thrill for all Cold War enthusiasts.

Adrian Goldsworthy’s How Rome Fell is perfect fodder for history buffs who prefer gladiators to secret agents. Following up on the success of his much acclaimed biography, Caesar, Goldsworthy continues to build his reputation as “a rising young star in the area of Roman history” (Washington Times) with this fast-moving and compellingly written new history of the Roman empire’s fantastic collapse.

For a more panoramic view for the armchair historian, few books can match Barry Cunliffe’s masterful Europe Between the Oceans, 9000 BC-AD 1000, which Benjamin Schwartz of the Atlantic called “further proof that its publisher produces the most beautiful and intelligently designed works of scholarship in the humanities. I can’t think of a better gift this year for the historically minded reader.” We certainly won’t argue with that!

An aural history of the tenor

Opera singers might seem out of place in a era of American Idol and MP3s; however, the tenor’s voice is as much a mainstay of classical music as it is of modern rock, country, and R&B. In his new book The Tenor, John Potter maps the history of the tenor. Starting with the pre-tenors of 12th century to modern crooners like Andrea Bocelli and the “Three Tenors”: Domingo, Carreras, and Pavarotti. Throughout the book, Potter discusses differences in national styles and compositions and provides a witty and comprehensive aural history that allows tenor fans, new and old, to more fully appreciate the beauty and art of the tenor.

Click here for a classic example of a master tenor at work and here for an excerpt of Potter's prose. Music buffs might also enjoy Mozart’s Operas: A Companion by Mary Hunter, Andrew Lloyd Webber by John Snelson, and A Windfall of Musicians: Hitler's Émigrés and Exiles in Southern California by Dorothy Lamb Crawford.

Landscape architecture: the art of the earth

Though the stated goal of the Lower Don Lands project in waterfront Toronto may be to increase flood protection, its immediate appeal is much more aesthetic than practical. The revitalization project, led by New York-based architect Michael Van Valkenburgh, promises to establish a green oasis in an urban setting, something that Van Valkenburgh's firm has excelled at since its inception over 20 years ago. The whole experience of a Van Valkenburgh design is aimed, as New Yorker architecture critic Paul Goldberger notes, to “make you see everything, city and nature alike, with a striking intensity.”

In Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates: Reconstructing Urban Landscapes, leading critics and historians look at twelve of the firm's most fascinating and challenging projects. If Van Valkenburgh's website is enough to whet your appetite for the art of the earth, this exquiste catalog is a feast.

Of course, nothing matches seeing the firm's work in person. Connecticut residents can enjoy Van Valkenburgh's at the water treatment plant just miles up the road from YUP. And all architecture enthusiasts should look forward to Goldberger's Why Architecture Matters, which hits stores this fall.