The Gift of Art in Trying Times

“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” - Thomas Merton

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If you told me on March 25, 2019 that a year from then I’d be celebrating my 27th birthday in quarantine, I wouldn’t have believed you.

And yet here we are, all of us living in unprecedented times. Pandemics have occurred, but never in a time where information spreads as rapidly as the disease.

During this period of isolation and reflection, I have found solace in art — in its many forms and media — as comfort, food for thought, and inspiration.

Art does not and cannot serve merely as an escape from reality. If all of us sought refuge from the world’s crises, we would never have solved any of our past problems.

Rather, art allows us to feel all emotions. It makes us laugh; it makes us weak. It consoles us; it breaks us down.

We cannot avoid feeling fear, uncertainty, and despair; we must feel it to understand our shortcomings as a society and decide how to create enterprise and enact policy that improve lives and quell our fears for future generations.

Therefore it seems appropriate now to study the world’s great creative works, which were likely created in tumultuous times like these, to make this period of distancing productive yet enjoyable.

For my birthday this year, I asked friends whose expertise in many artistic fields exceeds mine to share their top 10 all-time in those categories, combining essentials and personal favorites.

My hope is to discover — and, in turn, to share with you — books, films, music, and visual art that impart new ideas, force us to face the current state of affairs, and change how we approach the next period of our lives.

Please enjoy, and be safe.

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Films

Top 10 Films & Documentaries: Benjamin Rigley - Scottish filmmaker of documentaries & music videos living in Cambodia; most recent film A Pearl Rouge has been screened at multiple international film festivals

Films:

1. Django Unchained - Quentin Tarantino

2. Kill Bill Vol. 1 / Vol. 2 - Quentin Tarantino

3. City of God - Fernando Meirelles & Kátia Lund

4. There Will Be Blood - Paul Thomas Anderson

5. This is England - Shane Meadows

6. Ikiru - Akiro Kurosawa

7. The Act of Killing - Joshua Oppenheimer

8. Seven Samurai - Akiro Kurosawa

9. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - Miloš Forman

10. Swiss Army Man - Daniel Scheinert & Daniel Kwan

Documentaries:

1. The Act of Killing - Joshua Oppenheimer

2. They Shall Not Grow Old - Peter Jackson

3. The Look of Silence - Joshua Oppenheimer

4. Senna - Asif Kapadia

5. The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On - Kazuo Hara

6. Diego Maradona - Asif Kapadia

7. Buena Vista Social Club - Wim Wenders

8. As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty - Jonas Mekas

9. Grizzly Man - Werner Herzog

10. The Missing Picture - Rithy Panh

Top 10 Film & TV Original Soundtracks: yours truly

1. The Triplets of Belleville - Benoît Charest

2. There Will Be Blood; Phantom Thread - Jonny Greenwood

3. The Graduate - Simon & Garfunkel

4. Inception; Interstellar; The Dark Knight - Hans Zimmer

5. Drive - Cliff Martinez

6. Blade Runner - Vangelis

7. American Beauty; 1917 - Thomas Newman

8. The Social Network - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

9. The Revenant - Ryuichi Sakamoto

10. Victoria - Nils Frahm

Honorable Mention: Schindler’s List - John Williams; Twin Peaks - Angelo Badalamenti

Top 10 Films - From Dreams to Nightmares (scaled spectrum): David Kim - SF based biomedical engineer with an affinity for the weird

1. Pierrot Le Fou - Jean-Luc Godard

2. My Own Private Idaho - Gus van Sant

3. Kaili Blues - Bi Gan

4. Hiroshima Mon Amour - Alain Resnais

5. Badlands - Terrence Malick

6. The Fall - Tarsem Singh

7. Enter the Void - Gaspar Noé

8. The Cranes Are Flying - Mikhail Kalatozov

9. Tetsuo: The Iron Man - Shinya Tsukamoto

10. Possession - Andrzej Zulawski

Books

Top 10 (+2) Novels: Afton Gray Montgomery - buyer for Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver & writer of nonfiction

1. The Seas - Samantha Hunt

2. Little Eyes - Samanta Schweblin (out this spring)

3. Stay and Fight - Madeline Ffitch

4. La comemadre - Roque Larraquy

5. The Glass Hotel - Emily St. John Mandel

6. Mr. Splitfoot - Samantha Hunt

7. Zazen - Vanessa Veselka

8. The Book of X - Sarah Rose Etter

9. The Night Swimmers - Peter Rock

10. The Iliac Crest - Cristina Rivera Garza

11. Get In Trouble - Kelly Link

12. Florida - Lauren Groff

Top 10 Biographies & History Books: Robert K. Harris - U.S. State Dept. Assistant Legal Adviser, history buff, my dad

Biographies:

1. The Last Lion (Winston Churchill) Vol. 1 - William Manchester

2. The Complete Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant - Ulysses S. Grant

3. Lincoln - Gore Vidal

4. Hitler - Ian Kershaw

5. Darwin - Adrian J. Desmond

6. Passage of Power (LBJ) - Robert A Cairo

7. Lincoln - David Herbert Donald

8. Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar - Simon Sebag Montefiore

9. Confessions - St. Augustine

10. No Ordinary Time (FDR & Eleanor Roosevelt) - Doris Kearns Goodwin

History:

1. The World The Slaveholders Made - Eugene Genovese

2. The 18th Brumaire of Louis Napoleon - Karl Marx

3. The Making of the English Working Class - E.P. Thompson

4. The Radicalism of the American Revolution - Gordon S. Wood

5. What is History - E.H. Carr

6. The Contours of American History - William Appleman Williams

7. Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men - Eric Foner

8. The American Age - Walter Lafeber

9. Eichmann in Jerusalem - Hannah Arendt

10. The Face of Battle - John Keegan

Music

Top 10 Country Albums: Fletcher Viders - country music and ‘za connoisseur, clown school grad

1. Rocky Mountain High - John Denver

2. Traveler - Chris Stapleton

3. Come On Over - Shania Twain

4. At Folsom Prison (Live) - Johnny Cash

5. Golden Hour - Kacey Musgraves

6. Home - Dixie Chicks

7. Fearless - Taylor Swift

8. Blue - Leann Rimes

9. GIRL - Maren Morris

10. Troubadour - George Strait

Top 10 Electronic Albums (of the 2010’s): Eric Orr aka Blonders - Producer, DJ and Sound Designer

1. Settle - Disclosure

2. Immersion - Pendulum

3. Flume - Flume

4. Worlds - Porter Robinson

5. Recess - Skrillex

6. Damage Control - Mat Zo

7. In Colour - Jamie xx

8. Welcome Reality - Nero

9. Bloom - RÜFÜS DU SOL

10. Full Circle - Oliver

Top 10 Folk/Indie/Alternative Albums: Cole Silberman - creative helper, pride of Ohio

1. For Emma, Forever Long Ago - Bon Iver

2. Caamp - Caamp

3. The Wild Hunt - The Tallest Man on Earth

4. Crack-Up - Fleet Foxes

5. The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan

6. You Don’t Mess Around With Jim - Jim Croce

7. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel

8. All Things Must Pass (Remastered) - George Harrison

9. Inside Dave Van Ronk - Dave Van Ronk

10. In My Own Time - Karen Dalton

Honorable Mention: Benji - Sun Kil Moon; Little Neon Limelight - Houndmouth; Lost At Last Vol. 1 - Langhorne Slim; The Covers Record - Cat Power

Top 10 Rap Albums (in no particular order): Nathaniel Heller - Young music professional who loves Gucci Mane just as much as Nas

1. Liquid Swords - GZA

2. Illmatic - Nas

3. Ready to Die - The Notorious B.I.G.

4. Bizarre Ride II - The Pharcyde

5. To Pimp a Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar

6. Habits & Concentrations - ScHoolboy Q

7. Late Registration - Kanye West

8. Yellow Album - Dom Kennedy

9. LIVE.LOVE.A$AP - A$AP Rocky

10. Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) - Wu-Tang Clan

Top 10 Jazz & Rock Albums: R.C. Rossell - guitar extraordinaire, south jersey lad

Jazz (in no particular order):

1. Now He Sings, Now He Sobs - Chick Corea

2. The Trio Live From Chicago - Oscar Peterson

3. Smokin’ at the Half Note - Wes Montgomery

4. A Night at the Village Vanguard - Sonny Rollins

5. Crescent - John Coltrane

6. Bright Size Life - Pat Metheny

7. Sunday at the Village Vanguard - Bill Evans Trio

8. Criss Cross - Thelonious Monk

9. Buttercorn Lady - Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers

10. At the Lighthouse - Cannonball Adderley Quintet

Honorable Mentions: Follow the Red Line - Chris Potter; A Love Supreme - John Coltrane; Chet Baker Sings - Chet Baker; Ramshackle Serenade - Larry Goldings

Rock (in no particular order):

R.C.: “There are all must know bands on here but probably not always their most essential album. Just my favorites.”

1. Highway to Hell - AC/DC

2. Outlandos d’Amour - The Police

3. First Impressions of Earth - The Strokes

4. Van Halen - Van Halen

5. Band of Gypsies - Jimi Hendrix

6. Appetite for Destruction - Guns N Roses

7. Houses of the Holy - Led Zeppelin

8. Moving Pictures - Rush

9. Truth - Jeff Beck

10. The Beatles (The White Album) - The Beatles

Honorable Mention: Fair Warning - Van Halen; Let It Bleed - The Rolling Stones; Superunknown - Soundgarden; Damn The Torpedoes - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers; Paranoid - Black Sabbath

Top 10 (+1) Live Shows (in no particular order): Laura Kanter - event planner w/ a passion for concerts, pups, and noods [she has seen ~824 artists and bands live!]

1. Coldplay

2. Delta Spirit

3. Dawes

4. Bruce Springsteen

5. Arkells

6. Jungle

7. Portugal. The Man

8. Eagles

9. The Rolling Stones

10. Janelle Monae

11. Prince

Honorable Mention: Jackson Browne, The Highwomen, Lady Gaga, The Lone Bellow, The Arcs, Elton John, Maggie Rogers

Visual Art

Top 10 Architects: Ian Lee - architecturally trained designer and real estate developer working to push the boundaries of construction

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Top 10 Artists of the 20th Century: Emily Wikle - art historian and fine artist currently grinding as a graphic designer

1. Jean-Michel Basquiat: Integral in helping graffiti become a recognized form of postmodernist art, Basquiat’s inimitable, highly personalized style commented on the segregation, intolerance, and surrounding injustice of New York City in the 1980s. (Self-Portrait, 1982)

2. Piet Mondrian: Mondrian was a contributor to the De Stijl art movement, which advocated for pure abstraction and a reduction to the essentials of form and primary colors. (Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow, 1929)

3. Frida Kahlo: Known universally for her colorful and vibrant portraits, Kahlo’s work has been celebrated internationally as emblematic of Mexican national and indigenous traditions and by feminists for its uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form. (Self Portrait as Tehuana, 1943)

4. Henri Matisse: Matisse — best known for his paintings, though skilled in sculpting, printmaking, and collage — brought art into a new age as a pioneer of post-impressionism, fauvism, and modernism. (Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence, 1951)

5. Yayoi Kusama: As a child, Kusama began to experience vivid hallucinations, as if fields of dots appeared and flowers could speak to her. She has carried this process into her artistic career, translating her mental state through her art. (Infinity Mirror Room, 1965)

6. Marcel Duchamp: Duchamp sought to create art to serve the mind, not just the eye. His impact on conceptual art is best seen in his Fountain — which was dismissed from galleries on the grounds that a urinal could not be considered a work of art. (Fountain, 1917)

7. Richard Serra: One of the 20th century’s preeminent sculptors, Serra’s work focuses on altering viewers’ perceptions of space and proportion, using his background in modern dance to engage viewers in monumental sculptures in seeming movement. (Fulcrum, 1987)

8. Constantin Brancusi: A pioneer of modernist sculpture, Brancusi emphasizes geometric lines that balance forms inherent in his materials, drawing influence from Romanian folk art. (La Muse Endormie, 1910)

9. Christo and Jeanne-Claude: Partners in life and art, Christo and Jeanne-Claude are best known for their expansive environmental works of art, creating new ways of seeing familiar landscapes. (Running Fence, 1976)

10. Yves Klein: Known as a founder in the development of performance art, Klein is perhaps best known for his Blue Epoch, trademarking his signature lapis lazuli shade as International Klein Blue. (Portrait Relief de Claude Pascal, Arman et Martial Raysse, 1962)

Top 10 Photographers: Jerm Cohen - 28 year old photographer who lances freely

1. Irving Penn

2. Garry Windogrand

3. Vivian Maier

4. Weegee

5. Andre Kertesz

6. Vikram Valluri

7. Robert Frank

8. Diane Arbus

9. Richard Avedon

10. Annie Leibovitz

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