AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- When is a Library a Monument?
Critics can’t agree whether the new Obama Presidential Center is a library, a monument, or something without precedent (Christian Science Monitor). And a federal appeals court ruled the Trump administration may install its own slavery exhibit at George Washington’s Philadelphia house, overriding the city’s objections (MSN) — controlling the record is its own kind of authorship.
A new round of studies asks whether newsrooms should label their AI use and finds audiences want the disclosure more than outlets want to give it (Nieman Lab). Aeon counters that writers should quit panicking and treat AI as a fellow wordsmith (Aeon).
A lighter exit: a century after his death, we finally get renderings of the Manhattan skyscraper Gaudí designed and never built (Dezeen). Some buildings are most influential as the ones that got away.
Doug
- What Might Have Been: Gaudí’s Design For A New York Skyscraper
A supertall skyscraper, no less, topping out at 360 meters/1180 feet. The great Barcelona architect did a speculative design of a hotel complex in 1908 for a pair of Manhattan businessmen. AI artist Thierry Lechanteur has used Gaudi’s surviving drawings to create renderings of the project. – Dezeen
- Have Our Devices Dulled Our Sensory Experiences?
“The way we consume such content, by swiping idly on a glass screen, stands in stark contrast with the content of the content, the skillful manipulation of resolutely tangible material. It’s ironic, and a bit dystopian, this disjuncture, but I’m entranced by the videos anyway.” – The New Yorker
- Movie Theatre Box Office Has Surged This Year. So What Next?
“When we recognized that people want to go out, that they want to be treated with good service in a good theater with good product, when we recognized that and gave them that, they just came back in hordes more than any other generation.” – Deadline
- Gaudí Was A Superstar. Why Didn’t He Have More Influence On Future Architects?
Architectural history and Antoni Gaudí just weren’t headed in the same direction. – Dezeen
ISSUES
- What Might Have Been: Gaudí’s Design For A New York Skyscraper
A supertall skyscraper, no less, topping out at 360 meters/1180 feet. The great Barcelona architect did a speculative design of a hotel complex in 1908 for a pair of Manhattan businessmen. AI artist Thierry Lechanteur has used Gaudi’s surviving drawings to create renderings of the project. – Dezeen
- Gaudí Was A Superstar. Why Didn’t He Have More Influence On Future Architects?
Architectural history and Antoni Gaudí just weren’t headed in the same direction. – Dezeen
- The Obama Center: The Difference Between Libraries And Monuments
There is no question about its monumentality. It is at once colossal, haughty and ultimately inscrutable—as a great monument should be. The question is whether it should have been a monument in the first place. – The Wall Street Journal
- Art Galleries Are Not Okay
What went wrong? The short answer is: The art world expanded wildly, but the art market — the total dollar volume of art sales — did not. In fact, if you read the Art Basel/UBS Art Market Report for 2026 carefully, and adjust for inflation, the data shows that the art market has stagnated. – The New York Times
- For His First Work Of Performance Art, Ai Weiwei Will Re-Enact His Imprisonment
“From 5 p.m. on July 3 (in Manchester), Ai will enter a replica of his 25.92 square-meter cell, recreated by international architecture firm Hawkins\Brown. Inside, (over 24 hours,) he’ll sleep, eat, exercise, write, wash, and face interrogation on personal, political, and philosophical matters by four famed journalists.” – Artnet
MEDIA
- Court Says Trump Administration May Alter Slavery Exhibit At George Washngton’s Philadelphia House (And Philadelphia May Not)
When the Trump administration removed from the site panels telling the history of the enslaved people who lived with the Washingtons there, the city of Philadelphia sued. A lower-court federal judge ordered the panels restored; a three-judge panel of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed that order. – The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
- David Hockney Was Working Class. Artists From The Working Class Have A Much More Difficult Time Today
Through policies and schemes, previously unheard-of opportunities for people of his background began to open up, without which he would not have become the success he is considered today. The situation today for aspiring artists from a similar background is much starker. – The Conversation
- Ballmer And Bezos And Benioff: Mega-donors To The Obama Library
The foundation collected six donations of $50 million-plus, including one anonymous contributor. – Chicago Sun-Times
- The Woman Trying To Rebuild Oakland’s Arts Program
Oakland currently allots its entire arts community only $300,000 in grants — in contrast to the combined $29 million that Grants for the Arts and the San Francisco Arts Commission apportioned across the bay last fiscal year. – San Francisco Chronicle
- U.S. House Committee Advances Measure To Axe Department Of Education’s Only Arts Grant Program
“The Republican-chaired House Appropriations Committee … advanced a proposal that could defund the Department’s Assistance for Arts Education program, … which was established in 2015 to fund primary and secondary arts education with an emphasis on ‘disadvantaged students’ and children with disabilities.” – Hyperallergic
MUSIC
- So, If The Obama Presidential Center Isn’t A Library Or Archive, Then What Exactly Is It?
The Obama Foundation opted not to have the National Archives and Records Administration, which keeps presidential archives, involved in the Center; it will make Obama’s papers available digitally. So what is the Obama Center? Part museum, part public park, with a branch of the Chicago Public Library. – The Christian Science Monitor
- Why The New Obama Presidential Center Is Not Officially A Library
It isn’t a presidential library if it isn’t run by the National Archives and Records Administration, and the Obama Foundation had two big reasons for deciding not having NARA involved. So President Obama’s papers and archives will be made available to the public digitally while the Obama Center serves other functions. – Chicago Sun-Times
- In Its Centennial Year, The Book Of The Month Club Has Become Kind Of Cool
Since its rebrand as Book of the Month (no more club) a decade ago, the subscription service has grown every year and now has over 400,000 members. Its strength, says chairman John Lippman, is human curation: “We don’t depend on algorithms to determine your next book.” – Publishers Weekly
- Publishers Sue Website For Pirating
Fresh off of last month’s victory against pirate web site Anna’s Archive, 13 publishers across all segments of the industry have allied to sue yet another pirate site, WeLib, for copyright infringement. – Publishers Weekly
- New Owners Roxane Gay And Debbie Millman Relaunch Online Lit Magazine The Rumpus
“We’ll still be covering, with the same rigor and integrity, fiction, essays, poetry, book reviews, author interviews, and so forth,” said Millman. “But we’re also going to include more design criticism, art criticism, and overall cultural coverage. The soul of the writing … will be very similar; topically, it will be different.” – Publishers Weekly
PEOPLE
- When is a Library a Monument?
Critics can’t agree whether the new Obama Presidential Center is a library, a monument, or something without precedent (Christian Science Monitor). And a federal appeals court ruled the Trump administration may install its own slavery exhibit at George Washington’s Philadelphia house, overriding the city’s objections (MSN) — controlling the record is its own kind of authorship.
A new round of studies asks whether newsrooms should label their AI use and finds audiences want the disclosure more than outlets want to give it (Nieman Lab). Aeon counters that writers should quit panicking and treat AI as a fellow wordsmith (Aeon).
A lighter exit: a century after his death, we finally get renderings of the Manhattan skyscraper Gaudí designed and never built (Dezeen). Some buildings are most influential as the ones that got away.
Doug
- What Might Have Been: Gaudí’s Design For A New York Skyscraper
A supertall skyscraper, no less, topping out at 360 meters/1180 feet. The great Barcelona architect did a speculative design of a hotel complex in 1908 for a pair of Manhattan businessmen. AI artist Thierry Lechanteur has used Gaudi’s surviving drawings to create renderings of the project. – Dezeen
- Have Our Devices Dulled Our Sensory Experiences?
“The way we consume such content, by swiping idly on a glass screen, stands in stark contrast with the content of the content, the skillful manipulation of resolutely tangible material. It’s ironic, and a bit dystopian, this disjuncture, but I’m entranced by the videos anyway.” – The New Yorker
- Movie Theatre Box Office Has Surged This Year. So What Next?
“When we recognized that people want to go out, that they want to be treated with good service in a good theater with good product, when we recognized that and gave them that, they just came back in hordes more than any other generation.” – Deadline
- Gaudí Was A Superstar. Why Didn’t He Have More Influence On Future Architects?
Architectural history and Antoni Gaudí just weren’t headed in the same direction. – Dezeen
PEOPLE
- When is a Library a Monument?
Critics can’t agree whether the new Obama Presidential Center is a library, a monument, or something without precedent (Christian Science Monitor). And a federal appeals court ruled the Trump administration may install its own slavery exhibit at George Washington’s Philadelphia house, overriding the city’s objections (MSN) — controlling the record is its own kind of authorship.
A new round of studies asks whether newsrooms should label their AI use and finds audiences want the disclosure more than outlets want to give it (Nieman Lab). Aeon counters that writers should quit panicking and treat AI as a fellow wordsmith (Aeon).
A lighter exit: a century after his death, we finally get renderings of the Manhattan skyscraper Gaudí designed and never built (Dezeen). Some buildings are most influential as the ones that got away.
Doug
- What Might Have Been: Gaudí’s Design For A New York Skyscraper
A supertall skyscraper, no less, topping out at 360 meters/1180 feet. The great Barcelona architect did a speculative design of a hotel complex in 1908 for a pair of Manhattan businessmen. AI artist Thierry Lechanteur has used Gaudi’s surviving drawings to create renderings of the project. – Dezeen
- Have Our Devices Dulled Our Sensory Experiences?
“The way we consume such content, by swiping idly on a glass screen, stands in stark contrast with the content of the content, the skillful manipulation of resolutely tangible material. It’s ironic, and a bit dystopian, this disjuncture, but I’m entranced by the videos anyway.” – The New Yorker
- Movie Theatre Box Office Has Surged This Year. So What Next?
“When we recognized that people want to go out, that they want to be treated with good service in a good theater with good product, when we recognized that and gave them that, they just came back in hordes more than any other generation.” – Deadline
- Gaudí Was A Superstar. Why Didn’t He Have More Influence On Future Architects?
Architectural history and Antoni Gaudí just weren’t headed in the same direction. – Dezeen
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Have Our Devices Dulled Our Sensory Experiences?
“The way we consume such content, by swiping idly on a glass screen, stands in stark contrast with the content of the content, the skillful manipulation of resolutely tangible material. It’s ironic, and a bit dystopian, this disjuncture, but I’m entranced by the videos anyway.” – The New Yorker
- Last Remaining Chinese Theatre In America Seeks Emergency Funding
City records describe it as a 410-seat performing arts and film theater and the last remaining Chinese theater in any Chinatown in the United States. The theater at 636 Jackson St. opened in 1925 as the Great China Theater for Chinese opera. Over the decades, it also became a movie house and community gathering place. – San Francisco Chronicle
- Why Writers Should Embrace AI
AI may well be terrible news for software engineers, but I think it’s an intriguing development for people who care about language and ideas – precisely the people who currently reject it the most. – Aeon
- What Literature Teaches Us About Neurodivergence
Far from being a modern phenomenon, neurodivergence has a long history. In other words, people whose ways of thinking, sensing or behaving differed from social expectations have always existed. Members of my research project have described discovering these historical figures as like finding neurodivergent ancestors. – The Conversation
- The Philosophical Consequences Of Simulations
Students tend to have a low tolerance for fanciful hypotheses and abstruse thought experiments. All but the most philosophically inclined roll their eyes at Descartes’s famed “evil demon” scenario in which the reader is meant to reflect on whether any of her beliefs couldn’t have been presented as a deception of a malevolent spirit. – Hedgehog Review
