Nächtliches Bad

From September 5 to October 7, 2006, the of museum of the School of Visual Arts (SVA) http://www.schoolofvisualarts.edu/ is showing the exhibit “Still Missing: Beauty Absent Social Life.” The exhibit explores “the sense of isolation or disconnectedness that has come to define the modern ear.” My favorite painting was Nächtliches Bad (2006) by Mathhias Ludwig. It shows a man and two women about to take a bath. Most of the characters in his paintings at the exhibit are very short, giving them, I think, a somewhat Botero-like quality. As the quote from the Visual Arts school says, the characters show their disconnectedness.

Matthias Ludwig is from Leipzig. Some of his works may be seen on the internet at the page of the galerie Gmyrek http://www.galerie-gmyrek.de/pop.lud.html (Nächtliches is the third painting from left to right). SVA is at 209 E 23rd St.

Sight Unseen

It seems to me that in his latest book Hopkins tries to find a middle ground between two different opinions concerning the nature of extraterrestrials among us. Some think of Aliens as conquerors, others as god-like beings who only want to help, the latter giving support to the many psychologists who think that belief in UFOs is a New Age religion.

Hopkins concedes that, in general, abduction narratives often show Aliens who seem to worry about the physical well-being of their subjects. However, he finds it troubling that Aliens would apparently cause harm to their subjects, both physically and psychologically. He mentions cases such as that of a female abductee whose medical records show severe scars from possibly some 50 incidents of apparent retrieval of ova. Hopkins also mentions sperm retrieval on male abductees which apparently is not bloodless.

UFO fans will find this book fascinating, with many updates, even on those government helicopter conspiracy theories. Those who don’t think that UFOs are real would likely enjoy its twilight-zone character.

Cicero

I always enjoy reading about Ancient Rome. Anthony Everitt uses many sources to reconstruct the life and times of Cicero. Comparing Ancient Rome to the United States has often been tempting. Cicero is no exception. However, Everitt does remind us of the fact that we shouldn’t judge the past by today’s standards. For example, this is evident when he writes about Cicero’s opinion concerning cruelty at the Coliseum. Cicero was against it, but believed it was admissible to use the arena to punish criminals. I also found his use of religion as a tool for political advancement very interesting. This and many other details of Cicero’s life and times make the book worth reading for the history buff, from beginning to end.