Art and the Homeless

The artist and writer Harry Hay, had an opinion piece published in 2017, by Abcrit, on the painter Philip Guston. Reams have been published on Guston, particularly after his last act. He is an artist about which nothing needs to be said. His work speaks for itself. The original angle, by Hay, is that Guston reminds Hay of Ivan Goncharov's novel “Oblomov.” First published in 1859, it is available to read in a 1915 translation, now in the public domain. For kicks, let's read some Oblomov, and the reader can decide if it doesn't fit Guston (in his mature phase) to a tee. To make it more curious, the Gutenberg text starts with an abstract, copied verbatim, here. The last line of the abstract admits it was composed by what was, probably, an AI program -although that is not explicitly stated. Nonetheless, it certainly sounds like an AI-generated synopsis. It is very well written, in my humble opinion: The story revolves around the life of Ilya Ilyitch Oblomov, a somewhat lethargi...

... AI search news summary of stolen art found in Argentina private collection Stolen Painting Identified in Argentine Real Estate A painting stolen from a Jewish art dealer during World War II, "Portrait of a Lady" by Giuseppe Ghislandi, has been identified in an Argentinian real estate listing, hanging in the home of the daughter of Friedrich Kadgien, a financial adviser to Hermann Göring who fled to Argentina after the war  The artwork, part of the looted collection of Jacques Goudstikker, was spotted in interior photos of the house for sale and has been confirmed by experts as matching the known dimensions and characteristics of the original, ruling out a forgery  The Goudstikker family, through their American lawyer, plans to reclaim the painting, with Marei von Saher, an heir, stating she will not give up on restoring her father-in-law's legacy  - The painting, a portrait of the Contessa Colleoni, is listed on both international and Dutch official lists of Nazi-loot...

Headline: "Kiev triggered by Woody Allen" (Russia Today 25 Aug, 2025 13:38)  The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has blasted US filmmaker Woody Allen for participating in a Russian cinema event... The 89-year-old film director appeared via videolink on Sunday at the Moscow International Film Week... Later on Monday, the Maria Zankovetska Lviv National Academic Theatre announced it was scrapping its upcoming performances of Allen’s stage musical ‘Bullets Over Broadway,’ which had been set to take place on August 28-29... ... AI synopsis of Broadway stage production of Bullets Over Broadway  Woody Allen's stage musical adaptation of his 1994 film “Bullets Over Broadway” closed on August 24, 2014, after 156 regular performances and 33 previews on Broadway. The production, which premiered on April 10, 2014, at the St. James Theatre... the musical was a commercial failure, closing after a run of just four and a half months due to mixed reviews and declining box office sales. The mu...

... fact check was Bob Dylan a guest on William F Buckley's "Firing Line"  There is no evidence in the provided context that Bob Dylan appeared as a guest on “Firing Line” with William F. Buckley Jr. The sources mention various guests such as Barry Goldwater, Huey Newton, Jesse Jackson, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Robert Bork, and Enoch Powell, but Bob Dylan is not listed or referenced as having appeared on the program. ... so, I just returned from the public library, where I had requested inter-library loan of Loïc Wacquant's "Urban Outcasts: A Comparative Sociology of Advanced Marginality" (2008). My blog post "Seeing Redlining," on 8/20/2025, featured the renowned sociologist Loïc Wacquant. AI search had fixed on Wacquant for his use of rhetoric similar to mine, and to my point of view, as outlined in my post. When the inter-library loan arrives, I look forward to discovering if the similarity is superficial, or integral. Checking the new book...

... summary search of River Terrace Washington D.C. River Terrace Washington River Terrace is an urban cul-de-sac neighborhood located in Northeast Washington, D.C., on the eastern bank of the Anacostia River, and is Washington, D.C.'s only planned unit development with an unimpeded connection to the river  Established in 1937 on 65 acres of rural land, it was developed as a community of modern homes designed for working-class families, with initial row houses built 15 feet wide on 100-foot-deep lots  The neighborhood is bounded by Benning Road NE to the north, DC Route 295 (the Anacostia Freeway) to the east, East Capitol Street to the south, and the Anacostia River to the west  The neighborhood features a mix of single-family row houses, semi-detached houses, and approximately 75 rental apartments in 7 low-rise multi-family buildings  It is known for its quiet, suburban feel within the city, with no through traffic and limited entry points, contributing to its repu...

... what is a "scarlet letter E record"  Scarlet E Eviction Records The concept of the "Scarlet E" refers to the lasting negative impact of eviction records on tenants, which can severely hinder their ability to secure future housing, employment, and other opportunities, even if the eviction case was dismissed or the tenant prevailed in court  A report published by The Appeal on April 20, 2021, highlighted that private companies collect and sell housing court data, compiling records of tenants named in eviction proceedings regardless of the case outcome  This information is used by prospective landlords to screen applicants, often resulting in a complete ban on rental applications for individuals with any prior eviction filing, even if the case was dismissed or the tenant won  The report emphasized that the merits of an eviction lawsuit often have little bearing on the tenant's record, as many tenants lose by default due to lack of legal representation, with lan...

On the new books shelf at the public library was displayed, “There is no place for us: working and homeless in America,” (2025) by Brian Goldstone. It is a print documentary of the experience of the typically underpaid, independent single mom, who must grapple with a bewildering array of limited housing opportunities, meager financial means, laws, and help organizations just to stay off the street. It is written in a conversational style without footnotes. The scholarly references are at the back of the book, referenced by short phrases from the corresponding page of the text.  The reader, and the writer, are treading water with this book. The narrative is a whirling blizzard of anecdotes of getting by at the poverty level. While not legally—literally—homeless, the itinerant mother at the center of the book must change accommodations so often as to be, practically speaking, without a home. More than one home address in a year is effectively the same as being without a place to call...

Since the demise of all criteria of art, the artist's personal background, biography, politics, economics, and other structural conditions of the artist's art have become the subject. The artist is at the center of a cluster of affects, as celebrity, or even as heroic figure, as the art of the artist is relegated to supporting role. This shift in focus has led to the artistic subject of the work of art increasingly being pushed further and further into the background, with the artist standing upon the work of art as a statue stands upon a pedestal. The present analysis of the role of the artist in art was prompted by an excellent, even, if I may say so – devastating – analysis, in a widely-read journal, of a certain famous writer's personal habits in evaluating the writer's oeuvre as a whole. It was so well done I deliberately omit any attribution. Stop right here, and go read the inspiration for this study. Except that this offshoot concerns art, and artists. As a pers...

The thesis of my artwork is fairly simple and straightforward. It wasn't always so, and it's always worth recounting the stages it went through before arriving at the present state. The starting point was recognition of the face as a carrier of emotion—not necessarily of identity—as in traditional portraiture. The succeeding stages in my work's development were to bring-out the feeling expressed by the face's expression. The look that held my attention—without letting go—was that of the hapless bum.  My “portraits” of bums are not portraits in the traditional sense. It can be as literal as a “portrait” aspect ratio, as opposed to a “landscape” aspect ratio. The difference is in physical distance between the viewer and subject, of intimacy—already a suggestive predicate with wide connotations—before qualifying favorable and un-favorable, and degrees thereof. To some, it might have a confrontational effect. What a portrait is not is a landscape in which the viewer can get...