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JAMES MASON (1909–1984), actor, gave us Brutus, Captain Nemo, Hugo Drax. But above all, he gave us a Humbert Humbert who was elegant yet never effete, and through whose doleful, non-specifically European eyes we somehow […]
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Known best for his Flag (1954-5) and Map (1961), JASPER JOHNS (born 1930) along with his friend and one-time lover Robert Rauschenberg, applied gestural painting and bold, unblended color to everyday images and objects. Focusing […]
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The contemporary iteration of BRIAN ENO (born 1948) as cerebral master of oblique strategies is certainly worth considering. But my affection is for the balding, androgyne playboy of the early Seventies. Nobody had more sex […]
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In The Master and Margarita MIKHAIL BULGAKOV (1891-1940) created a gang of villains so fantastical and vivid in their descriptions — stocky Azazello with his straw patch of flaming hair hanging down, solitary fang protruding […]
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AUTONOMOUS CITY EXPLORER, or “Ace,” is a robot built by researchers at the University of Munich that navigates city streets by asking passers-by for directions. New Scientist has the story.
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THE STAR TREK MYTHOS hosts one of the most flourishing bodies of fan fiction since Euripides and the boys got busy on Homer back in the day (indeed, Trekkies ushered in the modern fan fiction […]
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HiLobrow.com thanks Mimi Lipson, David Smay, Peggy Nelson, and Tor Aarestad for these shoutouts to high-, low-, no-, and hilobrow heroes born on the following dates. Click here for more HILO birthdays. Starting next week, […]
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Rest in peace, BEA ARTHUR (1922–2009). She was intelligent, decent, effortlessly funny, and she was old-school show-biz. We adored her as Maude in her signature smock-vests and slacks: broadcasting suburban liberal values with that trumpet-like […]
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IAN DURY (1942–2000) is often identified with the original wave of British punk, but it’s hard to see much similarity between Dury and Johnny Rotten or Sid Vicious. Bawdy and sensual where they were aggressive […]
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A conceptual artist, self-inventor, and master of materials who constructed his strongest work out of intangibles, JOSEPH BEUYS (1921-1986) was our postcard deity in art school. His sense of the absurd combined with his high […]
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An icon as much for her chin line and Ivy League drawl (which possibly she made up; they certainly didn’t talk like that at Cornell!), KATHARINE HEPBURN (1907-2003) was a strong and independent woman, perhaps […]
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Absurdity’s great-uncle; Freudian punchline, with all those noses of yours (a procession of disappointed phalli); exploder-in-chief of the grand Victorian beard (you filled it with birds)… we salute you, EDWARD LEAR (1812-1888). You did to […]
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DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF’S BOOKS include novels, cyberspace memoirs, works of media criticism and religious exploration, and the cult classic Stoned Free: How to Get High Without Drugs. But with the forthcoming Life, Inc.: How the World […]
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