weekend links: childhood libraries, Buchla LSD, gender-neutral swimwear
Rudi Gernreich’s “monokini,” on display at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Image courtesy Hyperallergic.
How do you go about destroying the library you spent your summers as a child in? Sara Lippmann is forced to ask herself this question in her essay Sacred Trash: How to Dismantle a Library. As she combs over the decrepit library, with books covered in bat urine and feces, she finds herself unsure how to handle this loss. [The Millions]
When Eliot Curtis volunteered to repair an old synthesizer that had been gathering dust in a closet at California State University East Bay, he had no idea of the trip he was about to take. One of the modules of the synthesizer, a Buchla Model 100, had a crystalline build-up underneath its knobs. The build-up was LSD, and Curtis ended up absorbing it through his fingers, adding a new chapter to the lore of Buchla’s legendary synthesizers. [CBS]
If you’ve seen a movie or watched a television show recently, chances are at least part of it was filmed in Georgia. However, this may soon change as Georgia’s abortion laws become more restrictive. Many top names in the film industry are calling for a production boycott of the state, but top brass at these companies are reluctant to abandon a state they’ve so heavily invested in. Cara Buckley explores the intricacies of how Hollywood politics influence a state over 2,000 miles away. [The New York Times]
It’s hard enough creating art while the impending doom of climate change looms overhead, but what about criticizing it? Soraya Roberts discusses the increasing intricacies of criticizing art, while both the industry and planet die. Roberts criticizes the art criticism world for ignoring climate change’s effects on art, and calls for critics to include climate change in their selection process of pieces to critique. [Longreads]
Last month, physician and author John Metzl was giving a talk at a bookstore when he was interrupted by a group of fascists. Fascists work by suppressing and destroying stores of knowledge, evidenced notably by the Nazi book burnings of the 1930s. Elizabeth King highlights the history of fascist book burnings and how they were precursors to modern day fascist plots against authors and critical thinkers alike. [The Nation]
And just in time for summer, the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles celebrates the fashion of Rudi Gernreich, a designer notable for introducing gender-defying swimsuits and other apparel. Although the breast-baring “monokini” would prove too scandalous for the public at the time, the designer’s clothing and philosophy have since found wider appreciation. “The future will involve unisex: men are going to wear skirts, and women are going to wear pants” Gernreich stated in 1971. The future is now. [Hyperallergic]
—Nicolas Perez and Sean Redmond