The Beauty of Gore

Why Are We So Attracted to Murder Mysteries?  Written by Nastassia Tsialpuk Why are we as humans so fascinated with blood-curdling stories of serial killers, and why do we derive a sort of guilty pleasure from indulging in consuming them? What kind of masochistic tendencies make us want to flip through the gruelling details of… Continue reading The Beauty of Gore

Why are Korean women such good writers?

Written by Livy Li After the phenomenal success of the film Kim Ji-young: Born 1982, I went to read the novel. On Japanese Goodreads, many people gave it four stars. One highly upvoted review said: “A thin book, just over a hundred pages, sparsely printed and written like a diary without any literary flair. Hardly… Continue reading Why are Korean women such good writers?

Gatekeeping, or the art of being tasteful

Written by Maria Francesca Ficarra “We need gatekeepers again – new, more diverse ones. Editors, experts. Taste isn’t a democracy, nor should it be populist. It comes from experience and exposure… Just because you eat doesn’t make you a restaurant critic.” This extract from a Substack post written by Emily Sandberg sparked a lot of… Continue reading Gatekeeping, or the art of being tasteful

The (dead) art of music criticism

Written by Bouchra Haddani In the time of vinyl and cassettes, a music critic was someone an artist would fear. Musicians, especially in pop music, sought their approval because they knew that by  winning them over to his side, listeners would follow. Fans tended to feel as though their opinion was inferior to the one… Continue reading The (dead) art of music criticism

Thus Spoke the DJ

Reflections on the Modern Dionysus Written by Maria Cairoli “Art is the production of objects for consumption, to be used and discarded while waiting for a new world in which man will have succeeded in freeing himself of everything, even of his own consciousness. This example I cite could be extended to the exclusively noisy… Continue reading Thus Spoke the DJ

Is reading sexy again? 

Written by Deniz Kaya All the internet girls read like it’s a fashion statement. Almost all of my friends bring a book with them wherever we go. How many of us carry books with us? How many of us read them on public transportation? Do we all secretly want the title of being a reader?… Continue reading Is reading sexy again?