“Tolokonnikova’s father Andrei told Reuters on Thursday that the planned release of the band members was clearly a public-relations move ahead of the Olympics.”
Archives for December 22, 2013
Can An Obscure Database Help ID Nazi-Looted Art?
“Questions about the origins of the Gurlitt trove, which includes works by Picasso, Matisse, Chagall and Renoir, have riveted the world. While German authorities have yet to divulge the identity of all the works, they have said they believe that less than half of them were stolen from Jewish owners.”
Even If Apple’s FreakyCool New HQ Gets Built, Will Workers Care?
“Its ambition is to be a marvel of modern architecture. … But there’s a problem.”
In Italy, Culture Intertwines With Politics (Sometimes Not So Legally)
“For years, the books kept coming. A precious edition by Thomas More. Leather-bound volumes from the Italian Renaissance. Some stolen from the Baroque-era Girolamini Library in Naples, given as gifts to an influential longtime consigliere to former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.”
Sundance: It’s Not Just For Movies Anymore
“Sundance’s growing influence on theater comes after two decades of gradually increasing the number of labs and workshops it holds each year and broadening its search for the next great, risk-taking playwright.”
Lichtenstein Foundation Gives Thousands Of Works To Major Museums
The trove of about 200,000 photos and associated items – mostly photos of artists – will be distributed to the Getty in L.A., the Museum of Modern Art in N.Y., the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the National Gallery of Art in D.C., and the Tate in London.
When ‘The Nutcracker’ Goes Wrong
“One time, the Bunny from the battle scene, danced by a school child, wet herself onstage, and we had to navigate around the yellow snow. The dressers were furious afterward because one of the dancers had to kneel in the puddle.”
We Love Technology – And This Year, We Became Fully Creeped Out By It
“In the last six months, Snowden — like Julian Assange, Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs before him — has become the personification of our fears and desires about the awesome power and potential downside of digital technology.”
The Mafia And The Mystery Of The Stolen ‘Nativity’
“Stolen works of art pay for drugs and arms. The turnover in stolen art is second to the turnover from drugs.”
Photographer Maps Canada, In Lego Form
“The project is not officially endorsed by the Lego company.”
These Kids Re-created ‘Hamlet’ – In Selfies
“With only 15 seconds and the small field of vision offered on Instagram, capturing an elaborately staged scene from ‘Hamlet’ is a technical challenge.”
Milwaukee Symphony Raises $1 Million In Emergency Funds
“The financially strapped MSO is trying to pay off a $2 million debt and stabilize cash flow as it aims to keep its doors open while planning for a balanced budget for the 2014-’15 season.”
Is Conceptual Art Really Art? (The Guggenheim Asks)
“Some answers the project is now reaching will be surprising: that, for example, the most responsible act of conservation might be the destruction of a piece of art.”
So What If Kids Have A Ton Of Screen Time?
“My belief is that an introduction to other epics—even via pop culture—will lay a sturdy foundation that will make their engagement and enjoyment of the classics that much more likely.”
The Dark Side Of Abu Dhabi’s Cultural Revolution [VIDEO]
A new Louvre, new Guggenheim, and new New York University campus are going up in Abu Dhabi. But who’s building them?
Still Missing In 2013: Women On The Podium
“Female conductors no longer attract open-mouthed attention among music lovers or the news media, yet they remain far from being fairly represented.”
The Rustle Of Tiny Feet (And Voices, And Candy Bags)
“In 1980, 400,000 children under 18 attended a Broadway show. By last year, that number had nearly tripled, growing to 1.12 million.”
Vienna Phil Revokes Nazi Honors, At Last
“It was such an obvious thing.”
Breaking The Glass Ceiling At Arthur Murray Dance Studios
In 1942, “the 22-year-old from rural North Carolina saw an ad for dance instructors. Soon she was interviewing for a position at Arthur Murray Dance Studios, the inspiration of a Hungarian immigrant whose franchises were expanding across the country.”
If You’re A Museum, Why Not Launch A TV Show?
“We’re being a little bit provocative, we’re looking at art historical moments through the lens of MOCAtv, where we celebrate people who’ve been associated with comedic values but are still artists.”
Brits Stop Resisting The French, At Least At The Movie House
“It’s no surprise that one of the most successful French films of recent years was The Artist and it had no language and was a silent film.”
In A Streaming World, Marketing Music Takes Serious Creativity
“The launch of Beyoncé was a pop-culture event in itself, quite apart from the actual music.”
Why Are Theatre Accents Often So Terrible?
“On stage there are no nets. There’s nothing you can do for an actor in the theater once that curtain goes up.”
Another Show Cancelled Because Network Execs Think Girls Don’t Count
“‘We need boys, but we need girls right there, right one step behind the boys’ — this is the network talking — ‘one step behind the boys, not as smart as the boys, not as interesting as the boys.'”
Ned Vizzini, 32, Writer Of Young Adult Novels
“Mr. Vizzini wrote openly about his struggles with depression and spoke about it with student groups. One of his most celebrated novels, ‘It’s Kind of a Funny Story,’ published in 2006, is based on the five days he spent in the psychiatric ward of a Brooklyn hospital in 2004.”