Arts & Culture

Ai-Da is not the kind of tool that aids an artist in selectively re-creating reality. Rather, it’s a tool for randomizing output and removing value-based selectivity—the essence of art—from the process and the outcome.

Ray Harryhausen was a maverick, path-breaking movie maker. He gave new life to old legends, created legends of his own, and inspired the legends of the next generation. It is in large part thanks to him that we have movies such as Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Indiana Jones today.

By explaining how one can create good art via hard work and rational processes, “Art & Fear” dispels myths of inborn talent and mystical inspiration, and it encourages artists to cultivate skills, just as in any other profession.

In an easy-to-read, seventy-four-page volume, Travers relays his approach to art appreciation: You don’t connect with an artwork by learning which period it’s from or who painted it. Rather, you connect with an artwork by immersing yourself in it and finding personal connections with its characters and themes.

The bulk of Free Guy is propelled by a compelling, original story (a rare thing in today’s movie landscape) with well-written, well-acted characters and a powerful theme, as well as a delightful dose of humor.

Including works by Charles Mackay, Rudyard Kipling, Henry Lawson, Robert Browning, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, William Shakespeare, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Dianne Durante's Innovators in Sculpture and Innovators in Painting transform a monumental topic into a manageable form, helping readers to better understand and appreciate the work of artistic trailblazers.

Throughout State of Fear, Michael Crichton artfully incorporates real-life academic sources, graphs, and other research, slowly piecing together his own thoughts about global warming and comparing these with commonly held beliefs.

The special glow of O. Henry's prose and the magic of his plots show us the world as it should be—and almost bring it within reach.

A $15 per hour minimum wage would have tripped Quanesha Burks up at the starting line of her career.