POSSESSION: A Conversation – Part One

Posted on by

10686692_673637559413951_460331002549515793_n

The Harvard Advocate is proud to announce the upcoming launch of the POSSESSION issue. In anticipation of the issue’s imminent arrival, features board members Indiana Seresin ’15, Faye Zhang ’17, Caleb Lewis ’17, and Lily Scherlis ’18, sat down with outgoing president Julian Lucas ’15, for a discussion centering on their nonfiction contributions to the magazine, and the many avatars of possession analyzed therein. Below find an abridged transcript of the first of this two-part conversation, in which Seresin’s “A Love Letter to My Stepmom,” and Scherlis’ “Their Party,” are considered. In part two, the group will discuss Lewis’ “When the Mammy Sphinx Gawks Back at You!” and Zhang’s, “Full Circle: (Exotic) Odysseys Through (Oriental) Rainforests on (Outlawed) Tour Buses.” Continue reading →

A Conversation with Matt Saunders

Posted on by

RK_MS12034

Rote Kapelle (Pour) #3, 2012, unique silver gelatin print on fiber-based paper, 147 x 101 cm 

Where artists come from is oftentimes inseparable from who they are. It is perhaps because art-making is necessarily a deeply personal practice; understanding an artist’s body of work in its entirety requires that we put him in the context of history, in relation to the city that he lived and worked, the people that he conversed with, and the works of art from which he drew inspiration. Naturally it’s difficult to pin down the factors that transformed artists as who they are now. The cliché that each human being brings a universe of his own resonates profoundly with artists. But if art-making is a personal pursuit in the end, where one has to carve his own path for creativity, what does it mean to study art in an institutional setting? Can art be taught?
Continue reading →

Distortion: The Problem of Dubbing in International Cinema – Part One

Posted on by

From Hollywood with Love

Disney’s Frozen is one of the greatest success stories of modern dubbing. Available in 41 languages, it’s enjoyed stratospheric international success. Thanks to the team at Disney Character Voices International Inc., children from Malaysia to Norway can hear the musical comedy in their own language and sing along with Princesses Elsa and Anna on their grand hypothermic adventure. Continue reading →

Berceuse, by John Ashbery

Posted on by

Berceuse - John Ashbery

In preparation for The Harvard Advocate‘s upcoming 150th anniversary anthology, and in celebration of the launch of our brand new website, we’re reaching back into our archives for the previously-published work we’re most excited about. John Ashbery ’49, an Advocate member and an undisputed master of American poetry, frequently contributed to the magazine. His poem, “Berceuse,” was included in the Advocate‘s December 1947 issue.

The Paradox of Serial: Authority and the Amateur

Posted on by
image courtesy of berfrois.com

image courtesy of berfrois.com

It might be said that a party reaches its critical mass when the rate of increase of the volume of guests surpasses the rate of decrease of the volume of refreshments. On one snowless December night, the moment arrived, fairytale-like, just before midnight. The last spoonful of salsa scooped, my coat buttoned, the hostess thanked, my exit was only halted by the call of one or two (gender-neutral) princes—“We have to discuss Serial!” Continue reading →