Illustrations by Robert Sandler
65 illustrations found.
In the Hall of Mirrors
Fernando Pessoa Today
[start hero] [end hero] Fernando Pessoa was the author who tried to write the author out of writing. His works were …
Dynamic Range
The Politics of Popular Dance
This is not about you. You will not Travolta across the dance floor, the neon lights on the lapels of your …
The Openings
The galleries in Chelsea are white. Their floors are usually polished concrete. Galleries are modern. Their job is to highlight the …
The House on Broadview Terrace
A few days after hurricane sandy made her way, clumsily, morbidly, along the Atlantic Coast, a friend emailed my father a …
I'm Dead
Political Poisonings Through the Ages
Yasser Arafat vomited during a meeting in Ramallah. His spokesman said he was coming down with the “flu,” but it soon …
Week in Review
San Fran Sans Clothes If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to wear...clothes. San Francisco has long been a city …
Throwback Live
Nas, Lauryn Hill, and '90s Nostlagia
It would’ve been hard for me to pass up Nas and Lauryn Hill’s double bill on Monday night at Lupo’s. They’re …
Week in Review
Price TagsThey say that some things can’t be bought, but soon they might not be able to say that about permanent …
Future Histories
Modernism & Preservation in Providence
Providence is a film set. Its two-dimensional skyline reads like a greatest-hits list of the last century’s architectural design principles—the 1913 …
The Commissioner and I
Bidding Adieu to the Father of Modern Basketball
Last Tuesday afternoon my best friend called, which was exciting because he only calls if he forgets to tell to me …
Payasos Azules
The distance from the village to Colomba is “twenty minutes by pickup.” Described that way, always. As if there weren’t any …
Walmart Has Sprung a Leak
Belated upheaval in the world's largest retail chain
Walmart does not take union action lightly. It does a lot to warp its two-million-plus employees’ perception of their rights from …
Week in Review
Diamond in the RoughA new source for diamonds may be hard even for De Beers to tap into—it’s a nearby diamond-rich …
Quebec Student Strike
After a winter semester of massive student strikes and repressive government reaction, Quebec university life may finally be returning to normal. …
Hapless in Seattle
This past Monday, immediately following the Seattle Seahawks’ victory over the Green Bay Packers, ESPN.com ran a reader poll: “what did …
Week in Review
Current EventsAfter floating in the north sea for 98 years, a message in a bottle was pulled in by a Scottish …
Hemingway’s Twitter
She arranged sloppily enough to suggest that she might have a trace of apathy in her personality, carefully curating the mountain …
Blessed are the Barren
The woman’s prerecorded voice sounds tired, slightly nasal. “Hello and thank you for caring enough to call Project Prevention. We hope …
Week in Review
taps, teats & tabloids
Arid Cups On September 22, over 6.5 million people are expected to descend on Munich, Germany to attend Oktoberfest, a 16-day …
And There Is No Word For That
expanding the narratives of rape
There was this girl, whose face I can no longer see and whose name might have been Maggie but just as …
Promise In The Present
faith and skepticism in Carol Becker’s micro-utopias
Last Thursday, Carol Becker—writer, scholar, and Dean of Columbia University School of the Arts—gave a talk on micro-utopias to a micro-sized …
Athena's Adaptation
a 19th century library in the 21st century
When people step into the Providence Athenaeum for the first time, they take their first breath of 19th century air and …
Parasites in the Pew
Something Rotten in the State of Nature
Many scientists have been wary about using evolution to study human nature. But not Randy Thornhill. Author of The Evolutionary Biology …
Boy's Club
resurrecting Portuguese tradition on Trenton street
The procession started around 7:30, a half-hour behind schedule. A young blonde girl walked in first, carrying a silver crown on …
Earth Daze
how a radical anti-corporate movement got lost in the lamest holiday on the planet
There were rumors that NASA had the capacity to take satellite images of the Earth. It was 1966 and Stewart Brand, …
Nonprofits Say No
With 600 signatures, a ten-foot protest banner, and demands for $4 million, three dozen Brown University students marched into the university’s …
A Diocese In Arms
On February 22, hundreds of Rhode Island’s Catholic faithful filled the pews of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, located …
Week in Review
STOP MAKING CENTSCanadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced last week that the Royal Canadian Mint will stop producing pennies this fall, …
Computers Building Buildings
In November 2011, Michael Hansmeyer’s exhibit “Subdivided Columns – A New Order” at the Gwangju Design Biennale made quite the splash. …
Week In Review
Grade GrubbingOn February 24, the New York City Education Department released “value-added” rankings of 18,000 public school teachers to the public, …
Cash Rules Everything
Three perspectives on the rise of casinos in RI
Betting Wars: Gambling taxes, Narragansetts, and the politics of casinos in Rhode Island On Tuesday, March 6, the Rhode Island House …
"They Bump Hips"
Lacrosse and Native Americana
On Saturday, February 18, over the course of an afternoon, Brown University’s Men’s Varsity lacrosse team faced off against the Iroquois …
Love Thy Neighbor?
The call for Scottish independence
"Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?” This is the question that First Minister Alex Salmond of the …
Hearts On Fire
Self-immolation as political protest
When a Tunisian fruit seller named Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire on December 17, 2011, he sparked the Arab Spring, …
Uncanny Oscars
Investigations in cinema astrology
The Oscars are the anti-Superbowl. Any real pathos over victory and defeat quickly gets lost in the pomp and circumstance. Just …
THE SECOND ANNUAL INDYS
THE SECOND ANNUAL INDYSBest Anagrammatic Film Reviews: @WPoundstoneBest YouTube: Skrillex in IbizaBest Comeback: D’angeloFuture of Literature: @dog_ebooksBest Creepy Alien Eyes: Ryan …
Civility and its Discontents
Gabrielle Giffords and the aftermath of the Tucson shooting
On January 25, 2012—a year and several weeks after she was shot in the head outside of a grocery store in …
When Do Their Sentences End?
Reentering RIPTA
On November 17 of last year, WPRIChannel 12 “Target 12 Investigator” Tim White reported that Rhode Island Public Transport Authority (RIPTA) …
Kosher Thanksgiving
Last week, neoconservative Pam Geller warned Americans against a new threat: Butterball turkeys. Although all of the company’s turkeys are certified …
Marathons and Our Bodies
Facts and Musings to Consider Before Deciding to Run a Marathon
The idea that there are health benefits to pushing our bodies past their limits is pure myth. Our bodies, organic gifts, …
The Greatest Spectacle in Gaming
MLG Providence 2011
The Major League Gaming National Championship is the premiere competition for video game players worldwide. This year Providence is hosting. From …
Ai Wei Wei: Dissident Artist Investigated Again
Ai WeiWei, prominent Chinese contemporary artist, clamorous political dissident, and recently-released government prisoner was charged again last week for tax evasion. …
This Will End With A Fruit
Petals are swarming in my mouth,I’m savoring an angry swarm of springI breathed today to blow against your thigh.There’s heat left …
How to be a Lesbian in Ten Days or Less
At 8PM on Friday September 30, the doors of Artist Exchange’s Black Box Theater in Cranston closed, sequestering a tightly-packed, 27-person …
(Stop) Watching Jon Stewart
People should probably stop watching Jon Stewart. The Daily Show on Comedy Central has been self-described on numerous occasions as “throwing …
Frankly, Somewhat Pro-Pun
There are four kinds of people in this world. There are those who do not yet know Frank Lesser. Then there …
Crying Over the Eurozone
On Oct 19, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy gave birth to her first child with the sitting French president. Brushing off media paparazzi, Bruni-Sarkozy …
Israel On Its Own
When Doron Shiffer-Sebba first walked the fifteen minutes from his house in West Jerusalem to the Old City in East Jerusalem, …
An American Casualty
Bugles didn’t burst with taps when Samir Khan died in Yemen last month, yet another American casualty of the War on …
Forward Down the Field
Motown legend Marvin Gaye released his landmark single What’s Going On in January 1971. Everyone knows the smooth report of Gaye’s …
Police, Millionaire’s Tax, Tim Geithner, and Mace
A week ago, NYPD Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna pepper sprayed 23 year old Jeanne Mansfield and two other women in the …
Open Source Academia
On April 4, 2001, a project spearheaded by the then-president of M.I.T., Charles Vest, was announced in the New York Times …
A New Discovery Zone
The Rhode Island Museum of Science and Art
The Rhode Island Museum of Art and Science (RIMOSA) is a nonprofit that calls itself a ‘wall-less’ museum. For now, the …
Week in Review
Facebook Squahes "Third Palestinian Intifada" After receiving numerous complaints and appeals, including a request from the Anti-Defamation League—a US-based Jewish advocacy …
The Art of Barter
In 1969, Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe hawked their sketches and paintings for a month’s rent at the Chelsea Hotel. Pablo …
Sleep No More: A Review
Late last Saturday night, I was in New York City searching frantically for 530 West 27th Street, the site of Sleep …
Week in Review
Operation Odyssey Dawn-s Saturday, March 19 marked the beginning of Operation Odyssey Dawn—an assault led by American forces on the Qaddafi …
The Gay Elephant in the Room
conservatives snub GOProud at conference
Every winter since 1973, Washington D.C. has braced itself against a ragtag mob of Joe Six-Packs and corporate bigwigs; aunts and …
Burning Boats
the Edgewood Yacht Club recovers from fire
From the windswept parking lot, it is impossible to ignore the charred skeleton of a landmark that blots out a school …
Veteran PTSD: The Tension Between De-Stigmatization and Mis-Diagnosis
In 2003, after 15 years of non-combat duty for the Rhode Island National Guard, Vinnie Scirocco was giddy about his deployment …
A New Dawn for Sudan
Sudan is no stranger to struggle. For most of its post-colonial history, the largest nation in Africa has been at war …
Spreading the Cheese
With Christina Aguilera holding the final note of the National Anthem for over 10 seconds, it was easy to forget who …
Airwave Renaissance
On Friday, November 25, 1960, radio drama died. Goodbye, Ma Perkins. Farewell, Amos ‘n’ Andy. It was the end, too, for …
World's End
Rewind about a decade back, and people are panicking. Many buy generators and stock up on canned goods, consumed by the …
In a Native Land
Last Friday, as the Olympic torch made its way to Vancouver, a cultural center dubbed the Aboriginal Pavilion opened its doors …