Media Matters

      TV Hearings have become the new Broadway if you consider the high drama that has played out on two particular network programs over the last month. Sure, this observation seems like a rather exaggerated notion to ponder, but maybe not. First was the recent series broadcasting the   January 6 Hearings with Liz Cheney at the helm. Second was PBS' Frontline:  "Supreme Revenge: Battle For the Court," an investigative documentary on August 23 showing how Mitch McConnell guided the last three confirmations of Supreme Court judges. While footage of these hearings was well documented, the most dramatic was the one offering Clarence Thomas as a "victim." And everyone knew it, including   Judicial Committee members ( with Joe Biden as Chairperson ) and the TV viewers. The Hearings made this clear as Andrea Mitchell stated in a voice over, " The stage is set for a ... brutal hearing. "        Or as Tom Brokaw commented, " This is high drama, and we all

      The last "Media Matters" suggested a new and expanded notion for "media," namely SHAPE. Continuing this temporary diversion means giving "media" another dimension related to the visual arts: TEXTURE. Such exploration features two Spanish cities, Marbella and San Sabastian.      Marbella's location on the Mediterranean Costa del Sol is a perfect place for Darius Yektai's recent exhibit at the Sholeh Abghari Gallery. However, instead of the surrounding Mediterranean Sea as a background, we have the artist's own real-life setting, the nearby ponds and fields of the Hamptons in Eastern Long Island. It's curious to note that these subjects represent quite a departure from Mr. Yektai's past endeavors. For example, this critic remembers several years ago when the artist's figurative art was Expressionist in style and "mysterious" in tone, with a striking, yet often subtle, narrative to consider. Thus, the works showed compo

       While this "Media Matters" blog has been in existence for nearly four years, the term "media" is temporarily changing course by extending  its dimensions. In the past,  the word has meant traditional "mass" media, including print and electronic approaches. Yet the term has other denotations as well.  In the visual arts, particularly, media means the materials/tools out of which a work is created. ( Acrylics is one example applied to painting. ) For our purposes here, however, media will go a step further, assuming a specific design element: notably shape. No doubt, such a component may present contradictory characteristics: for example, curves ( round / circular ) vs. linear lines ( straight edges / right angles). This critic's favorite samples derive from Washington, D.C.: The Capitol and the Washington Monument, respectively.      Obviously, such a particular media focus is  far-reaching. Yet when opposing shapes help define an urban landscape