La Movida Madrileña

My current Spanish project is about the Movida in Spain, the crazy decade after the end of years of dictatorship. Similar to the free-love, beatnik period of the 60's an 70's in the US, a previously conservative Spain was able to let its hair down and culturally catch up to the world around it. This time period gave the world the musician Alaska and other Spanish punk/pop/rock artists as well as a dramatic increase in drug use. I think the animation  El mamut captures the sentiment nicely, as well as the musical Hoy No Me Puedo Levantar, which is similiar to the popular US musical Rent in its portrayal of young people trying to survive with AIDS during la Movida. To read more, check out madrid-uno.com.

Tapestries as DIY sound insulation

In the Middle Ages, many cavernous halls displayed woven tapestries as symbols of status. However, living in a time of fiberglass insulation and central heating, we often forget the lack of sound-deadening qualities these large, cold halls exhibited, making large tapestries more than pieces of art, but a sound-proofing tool that protected againsted the damp, chilly winters. Tapestries had the further advantage of being easily transportable between residences while often depicting historical events.

Source: Dayton Art Institute, Wikipedia