Culture Shift is a weekly newsletter curated by the HuffPost Culture writers and editors.
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This week we're talking about the power of short films, the deceptively complex set design of "Hamilton," the monumental role of photography in the fight for racial equality, Instagram artist Amalia Ulman, and the gripping new books you need to pack on your next vacation.
Bothered By The Lack Of Diversity In Hollywood? Watch More Short Films.
Ahead of Nitehawk Cinema’s fourth annual Shorts Festival in New York City, filmmakers and cinema programmers discuss the democratic and experimental medium: “Most shorts are financed independently so short filmmakers don’t have to ask permission to cast actors of color or older actors,” Kiki Lambden Stout told HuffPost. “Women directors don’t have to wait for a studio to hire them to get a chance behind the camera.” (Read more here.)
Step Inside The World Of ‘Hamilton,’ A Spectacular Stage You Might Never See
“Hamilton” is the most beloved show on Broadway that few can actually see.
For even its diehard fans, the sold-out musical tends to exist in a digital ether, somewhere between Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Twitter account, the #Ham4Ham channel on YouTube and Spotify. Especially for those outside of New York City, “Hamilton” can seem more like an internet phenomenon than a real, physical, Tony-nominated production that exists in a finite space eight times a week.
And yet, “Hamilton” exists, in a finite space, eight times a week — and we have designer David Korins to thank for that. (Read more here.)
How Contemporary Photography Is Changing The Image Of Blackness In America
For centuries, people of color were not visualized with veracity and careful attention in photographs or books or movies, but reduced to one-dimensional black bodies. Their images existed only as objectified stereotypes that failed to accurately represent the realities of black lives, rendering them virtually invisible.
That time, thankfully, is no longer. Contemporary photographers and filmmakers are capturing the black experience in its full nuance and complexity, and the world is watching. Aperture magazine’s most recent 152-page edition, titled “Vision & Justice,” celebrates the artists responsible for this current cultural moment, in which black lives are immortalized through images that contain multitudes — just like their subjects. (Read more here.)
8 Gripping New Books To Pack On Your Next Vacation
A magical butcher, a league of ragamuffin football fans, and a Viennese time-hopper star in these wild new reads:
1. The Throwback Special by Chris Bachelder
2. Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty by Ramona Ausubel
3. The After Party by Anton Disclafani
4. The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood
5. The Lost Time Accidents by John Wray
6. Albina and the Dog-Men by Alejandro Jodorowsky
7. The Insides by Jeremy P. Bushnell
8. The Girls by Emma Cline
‘Whitewashing Or Bold Casting?’ Asks Terrible Twitter Moment About Whitewashing
No. Twitter, come on, now. This is not a debate with two sides, one side of which is “bold casting” and the other side of which is “white-washing.” It’s definitely white-washing — it’s pretty much the dictionary definition of it — leaving the only thing to debate the reason two Hollywood industry players felt it wise or acceptable to discuss casting white actors as people of color. (Read more here.)
Instagram Artist Toys With The Stereotypes Of White, Women Artists
If an internet troll and a catfish made sweet love, Amalia Ulman would be their mischievous offspring, endowed with a desire to use her artistic powers for good, or at least for playful provocation. In 2014, she introduced the world to her work via an Instagram performance titled “Excellences and Perfections,” in which Ulman adopted the persona of an Instagram “It girl,” chronicling a story of moving to Los Angeles and trying to make it as a model.
Through the course of 186 posts, lined up in chronological order like an unconventional chapter book, Ulman played the role of a small-town artsy girl relocating to the City of Angels, falling into a cycle of anxiety and low self-esteem. She eventually adopts a new “bad girl” persona by dying her hair blonde, getting a boob job and working as a “sugar baby” to make ends meet. In the end, she finds her balance as a “Goop”-type girl next door, achieved her inner zen by posting about yoga, avocado toast and gratitude.
And now, Ulman has a new project. (Read more here.)
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