Master of Critique

“It is told of Sigismund, King of Rome, that when someone pointed out a grammatical mistake he had made in a speech, he answered, ‘I am King of Rome, and above all grammar.’ And he went down in history as Sigismund super-grammaticam. A marvelous symbol! Every man who knows how to say what he has

My Thesis in 5 Photos: Vala Schriefer

Welcome back to “My Thesis in 5 Photos”— a series in which fourth year graduating students share images that illustrate their thesis process—the good, the bad, and especially, the ugly. Here, co-editor of the blog Vala who studies Art and Aesthetics, shares moments from her thesis on Michelangelo’s unfinished sculptures the Prisoners. 1. Haunted by

Leonardo

There were new points of pain now, the body speaking verses so decisive and dense, Claudia could no longer understand the sensation. It was not a knot in the belly or a blinding headache—no, it was aches occupying the edges of words and images, unrefined and unpronounceable. Some afternoons when the winds were not so

Six Meetings with White Flowers

When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good