For those of you who are getting bored with the same-old same-old half-assed, pseudosmart crap on PBS (how many fucking times can you watch Charlie Rose), you've got to check out the lecture series broadcast online by The Philoctetes Society. From rambles about jazz with Bela Fleck to discussions about biography with the likes of Simon Winchester (The Madman and the Professor) and Judith Therman (The New Yorker), you will not be disappointed with the intellectual breadth and rigor of the panel participants!
The Philocetetes Societ describes itself as follows:
The Philoctetes Center for the Multidisciplinary Study of the Imagination was established to promote an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to the understanding of creativity and the imaginative process.
The Center creates and supports projects, public forums, research and information gathering which foster cooperation and dialogue among diverse disciplines, while seeking to create public awareness of these efforts.
To achieve its mission the Center holds roundtable discussions with participants from various fields (neuroscience, psychology, mathematics, psychoanalysis, humanities and art, philosophy and theology), offers a forum for presentation of works in progress, and is developing a data base on imagination with the aim of becoming a clearing house for all available literature on the subject.
The Philoctetes Society reminds me of a high brow version of some of my other favorite cultural spaces in the U.S.On Chicago's North-Side (Rogers Park), there is an incredible venue called Mess Hall, run by artists who bring in amazing folks to do lectures, performances, workshops, etc...
Mess Hall is an experimental cultural center. It is a place where visual art, radical politics, creative urban planning, applied ecological design and other things intersect and inform each other. We host exhibitions, discussions, film screenings, brunchlucks (brunch + potluck), workshops, concerts, campaigns, meetings (both closed and open) and more.
Another New York-based space I love is 16 Beaver.
16Beaver is the address of a space initiated/run by artists to create and maintain an ongoing platform for the presentation, production, and discussion of a variety of artistic/cultural/economic/political projects. It is the point of many departures/arrivals.
So many smart spaces in a country that prides itself on stupidity! I wish more of these spaces promoted their series via online video.
If you have an awesome cultural space near you, drop me a line!
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