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Articles and essays

In this section you will find mostly newly written articles and essays, primarily exclusives for The Art Bin. They are listed here in reverse chronological order, that is the most recent first. Other texts will be found in either the Origo section (classical source texts etc.) or the Gallery section (new poetry or prose — and of course images).

”The Beethoven Mystique” (ENG) "A product of The Age of Enlightenment, he personified revolution," Jeffrey Dane writes in this essay about Beethoven. "Where most composers reach a plain of musical maturity, Beethoven continued his ascent throughout his life." English only.

”What no eye has seen, nor ear heard” (ENG, SWE) by Karl-Erik Tallmo (a commentary to the Rilke text "Ur -Geräusch"). Here you may listen to Rilke's text used as a sound file and also view it rendered as a digital image. In Swedish as "Vad intet öga har sett och intet öra hört".

”The word "OK" - a linguistic virus from the eighth president of the USA” (ENG, SWE) Which words do we use most often when we speak? Is the word "OK" among those? Where does this acronym come from? What does it really mean? Article by Karl-Erik Tallmo.

”I huvudet på en skvallerkärring” (SWE) Paula Stenström reviews a new book about gossip ("Skvaller" by Kerstin Nordenstam). Is gossip something typical for women? What new forms of gossip will emerge in the information age? This article available in Swedish only.

”One Morning in Bangkok” (ENG) The July 1981 newsletter of the Tasek Utara Golf Club in Johor Baru, Malaysia, contained this linguistically intriguing dialog between a hotel guest and the room service at a Bangkok hotel. English only.

”Between tradition and tourism: Tingatinga and his followers” (ENG, SWE) Article by Berit Sahlström about Eduardo S. Tingatinga (1937-72), the Tanzanian artist who founded a new African art style of quadratic paintings made with bicycle paint on masonite.

”E-zine-list maker John Labovitz sums it up: ’Five years and counting’” (ENG) Internet pioneer John Labovitz writes himself about his five years with the well-reputed E-zine-list.

”Fotnot i en aktuell debatt: Lindahl & Larsson, jag väntar på er kampanj!” (SWE) Kort svar på en DN-artikel om kommunister, Lenin och folkpartiet, av Karl-Erik Tallmo. (Short contribution to a debate in Sweden about Communists, Lenin, and the Swedish Liberal party. Swedish only.)

”Den personliga uppgiften — offentlig, uthängd eller skyddad?” (SWE) Article by Karl-Erik Tallmo about the Swedish personal information handling law, effective as of October 24th, 1998. Will this law make web publishing illegal? Article about freedom of information, access to official documents, and privacy. Swedish only.

”The web is not a selling medium!” Interview with web design expert Jakob Nielsen (ENG).

Knowledge-on-demand”. Can knowledge be switched on and off — and can it be stored outside of our heads? Article by Karl-Erik Tallmo (ENG and SWE).

The Debabelizing of the Internet” (ENG) About automated translation, reading machines, etc. by Karl-Erik Tallmo. Original Swedish version (”Anti-Babel på Internet”), versions translated by the Alta Vista/Systran computerized translation service in ”French”, ”German”, ”Spanish”, and ”Italian”.

Nationalencyklopedin — kunskapsarv på CD-ROM” (SWE). The Swedish ”National Encyclopedia”, now released on CD-ROM, is reviewed (Swedish only). By Karl-Erik Tallmo.

"Misère cherchant de la compagnie/Misery Seeking Company", article about the French writer Emmanuel Bove, by Jean-Luc Bitton (ENG, FR).

"The Close Watcher of Trains", article about the Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal, by Mats Larsson (ENG, SWE).

And they all confessed ..., article about the Moscow trials 1936-38 by Gudrun Persson (ENG, SWE). Introduces the Art Bin publication of the full report of the court proceedings from 1936, when old Bolsheviks like Zinoviev and Kamenev where tried in Stalin's court.

On the Question of the Guilt of the New Left, the Revolutionary Clique, and the Silence of the Renegades, article by Karl-Erik Tallmo about Stalin's apologists in the non-Communist countries (ENG, SWE)

Expressing the Dark, Hans-Gunnar Peterson writes about Austrian author Ingeborg Bachmann (ENG, SWE).

Eric Ericson — 50 years with the Chamber Choir, an extensive interview with the Swedish choirmaster made by Hans-Gunnar Peterson and Karl-Erik Tallmo (ENG, SWE).

Disney mice aren’t Gottfredson only: Here’s the classic Mickey Mouse of Paul Murry, article by Germund Silvegren (ENG, SWE).

Ducks aren’t Barks only: Here’s the classic Donald Duck of Tony Strobl, article by Anders Berglund (ENG, SWE).

Fredric Wertham — Anti-Comics Crusader who Turned Advocate, article by Dwight Decker (ENG, SWE).

The Bettie Page Revival. Bettie Page, pin-up girl from the 50's, is as hot as ever. Her image now appears in fashion magazines, on catwalks in Paris — and as cameos in movies and rock videos. The book "Bettie Page: The Life of a Pin-Up Legend" is reviewed here by Karl-Erik Tallmo (ENG, SWE).

The Manic Landscape: Mati Klarwein. Mati Klarwein - residing in Majorca, has become an artist with special appeal to musicians. His art may be found on many record covers, e.g. albums by Miles Davis, Santana ... Article by Conny C. Lindström and Peter Holmlund (ENG).

The Didactic Landscape: A Stalinist Dream of Art by Alexander Jartsev, who grew up in Omsk, seeing the socialist realist art of the Soviet union everywhere. Jartsev shares his impressions from a large exhibiton with paintings from the Stalin era, shown in both St. Petersburg and Stockholm. (ENG, SWE)

"Finns det ett 'vi' i musiken?" Hans-Gunnar Peterson skriver om hur 1900-talstonsättare utnyttjat människoröstens samklang a cappella för att uttrycka existentialistiska värden: Henze, Poulenc, Xennakis, Ligeti ...(Hans-Gunnar Peterson writes about vocal music a cappella and its existentialist implications in the 20th century - Henze, Ligeti, etc.) (SWE)

Short update on the latest happenings at the WIPO conference in Geneva (December 2-20, 1996) (ENG, SWE)

Copyright Alert by Karl-Erik Tallmo (ENG). Special extensive commentary on the World Intellectual Property Organisation's proposal for an addendum to the Berne Convention to be decided upon in December 1996. The proposed measures would strongly affect all kinds of electronic publishing.
Svensk version Varning copyright (SWE) artikel av Karl-Erik Tallmo om FN-organet WIPO:s tilläggsförslag till Bernkonventionen, som starkt påverkar all elektronisk publicering.

"The Salamander and the Parrot". Apropos a Swedish Library Fire in Linköping, Friday, September 21st. Article by Anders Andersson (SWE, ENG).

"Marie Selander - the singing professor". An extensive interview with Swedish singer, composer, and voice teacher Marie Selander, who uses her voice for improvisation and World music.(SWE, ENG). This article is a sequel to an earlier interview, made in 1980 which is re-published here (Swedish only): Vår röst - ett fantastiskt instrument (SWE)

"When Love Strikes Late". Merete Mazzarella reviews Doris Lessing's new novel "Love, Again". (SWE, ENG). Addendum by Karl-Erik Tallmo about a female troubadour from the 13th century: Condesa de Dia (SWE, ENG).

"@ — A Sign of the Times" (oldie on request) about the origins of the commercial at-sign. Article by Karl-Erik Tallmo (SWE, ENG).

"Love Da Capo", Harry Amster writes about the remarkable band "Love", started in '65 by Arthur Lee, now reappearing as "Baby Marmalade". With photographs from the Stockholm concert in May 1996. (ENG, SWE)

"Good morning, my name is Guillaume Apollinaire!", an introduction to Apollinaire's manifesto "L'Esprit Nouveau et les Poëtes", by Björn Ericsson (ENG, SWE) (The manifesto itself is in the Origo section in French.)

"En orättvis betraktelse" (An unfair discourse) on two art fairs in Stockholm. By Linda Hedendahl. (SWE)

Tillvarons symmetri. A review in Swedish written by Linda Hedendahl of an exhibition - "The symmetry of existence" - with photographs by Arne Widman and paintings by Magnus Carlén. If you don't read Swedish, look at the pictures - here's one of them! (SWE)

Mystik och nostalgi — i minimalismens landskap, article in Swedish by Hans-Gunnar Peterson about minimal music and the concept of time within 20th century music (SWE)

Section about medieval provincial code of law in Sweden: Landskapslagarna — en spegling av medeltidens maktförhållanden, article by Elsa Sjöholm (SWE)
Språket i landskapslagarna — Sveriges äldsta litteratur, article by Per-Axel Wiktorsson (SWE)
Source text (this text is also in the Origo section): Ur Östgötalagen: "Vådamålsbalken" (Swedish provincial code of law, appr. 1350) (SWE)

En sons långa farväl — något om Peter Handkes författarskap. Article by Karl-Erik Tallmo (SWE)
A son's long good-bye, translation of the above article about Peter Handke's writings until 1986 (ENG).

Jens August Schade: Den kosmiske barden. Essay by Karl-Erik Tallmo (SWE)

Kisamor — läkarinna där vetenskapen knappt mer hoppas. From a lecture by Karl-Henrik Tallmo (SWE). This is an accompanying article to the Kisamor documents in the Origo section.
English summary: Kisamor — female natural healer in Sweden, 1788-1842 (ENG)

Three articles on authenticity and archival preservation of electronic texts by Karl-Erik Tallmo (previously published in Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet and Danish Politiken):
I. The electronic age - on the verge of total memory loss? (ENG)
II. The hacker - archaeologist of the future? (ENG)
III. Dare we trust the authenticity of electronic texts? (ENG)


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