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Save The Corcoran Group Granted Standing To Oppose Merger In Court
“Judge Robert Okun ruled that nine members of the advocacy group Save the Corcoran must be admitted as intervening parties in a proceeding launched by the Corcoran last month to revise its 1869 charter” to allow a merger with the National Gallery of Art and George Washington University.
When Brigham Young Got A Mormon Alphabet
“In 1853, after [George D.] Watt taught shorthand to Brigham Young, the Mormon leader commissioned the British clerk to create a 38-character ‘Deseret alphabet.’ The phonetic alphabet was meant to simplify the spelling of English words. Watt said … ‘An alphabet should contain just as many letters as there are simple-pure atoms of sound.’”
How Classical And Jazz Are Getting Screwed By Streaming
“Between low royalties, opaque payout rates, declining record sales and suspicion that the major labels have cut deals with the streamers that leave musicians out of the equation, anger from the music business’s artier edges is slow[ly] growing. … The shift to digital is also helping to isolate these already marginalized genres: It has a decisive effect on what listeners can find, and on whether or not an artist can earn a living from his work.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 07.21.14
Timken Mess, Part 3: Hugh Davies Adds Perspective
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts | Published 2014-07-22
Placemaking: It’s About Addressing the Disconnect
AJBlog: Field Notes | Published 2014-07-22
Tan Dun’s “Nu Shu: Secret Songs of Women”
AJBlog: The Great Flourishing | Published 2014-07-21
Save The Corcoran Plaintiffs Receive Standing
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts | Published 2014-07-21
Inside America’s Biggest Employer Of Musicians
“The military is one of the largest employers of musicians in the Washington area; indeed, the Army’s Web site claims that the institution is “the oldest and largest employer of musicians in the world.” The combined budget for the nation’s military bands was projected, in 2013, at $388 million (before sequester-related cutbacks).”
How The Moon Became A Real Place
“In popular imagination, the moon vivid, expansive, and fantastic. There was talk of winged creatures, moon elephants, scalding heat, and deep oceans. Newspapers were filled with stories—fictional, scientific, and artistic. In 1902, The San Francisco Call had an actual man act out the various faces of the man in the moon.”
When Crime Writers Mix Historical Fact With Their Fertile Imaginations
“If a child of mine had just been murdered I would find it hateful if somebody saw that as a means of making money.”
The Man Who Turned Paper Dolls Into An Art Form For Adults Dies At 85
“Meticulously drawn and colored, and annotated with historical information, Mr. Tierney’s paper-doll books are not just for children — and some are not for children at all. His aim, he often said, was to contribute to the visual literature of costume history.”
So Why Was Julie Crosby Unceremoniously Dumped From the Women’s Project Theatre?
“The way it was handled has created a situation we fear is damaging to the Women’s Project’s reputation, especially as it typifies the very thing we are committed to fighting — the lack of acknowledgment of the contribution of women to the American theater”
That Time The Pet Shop Boys Wrote An Opera About Alan Turing For The BBC Proms
“The fact that a public work like this [is] going ahead in the very centre of one of our most famous concert series, on the BBC … there’s a sense of making up and making good, of expunging a lot of what was so bad about the old world.”
True Open-Air Theatre Has Been Rare In Britain – But Now, Bring On The Picnics During ‘Timon Of Athens’
“‘It’s a different experience, that appeals to people who are not necessary theatergoers,’ said Mr Jackson. ‘We see people just sit and relax into the atmosphere, and feel more included in the whole experience.’”
When The White People In MFA Workshops Seriously Do Not Get It
“A similar but different criticism occurs when a writer is told that her portrayal of minority characters isn’t different enough. A woman in my program has been told that her stories need to be more ethnic, that readers should be able to smell the food.”
How Theatre Is Finally Making A Borderless Future
“This conference was what many of us in el movimiento have been waiting for: that moment when the next generation of amazing young artists, scholars, producers, and administrators are not only ready to step it up, but have also been trained through mentorship programs, internships, and good old theater jobs.”
A Fight Against Censorship And For The Right To Read Heidegger
“If canonical philosophers were blacklisted based on their prejudices and political engagements, then there wouldn’t be all that many left in the Western tradition.”
Roger Ebert Predicted This Would Happen (But He Didn’t Know The Movie Would Be About Him)
“Sitting on my sofa, push-button dialing system by my side, I can’t help but feel that I’m filing a dispatch from a future entertainment universe. We should embrace and celebrate the fact that we can now watch great movies on TV the same day they’re in theaters. And yet this development feels like it’s brought on more consternation than joy.”
OK, World, J.K. Rowling Plans To Produce More Mysteries Than She Did Harry Potter Books
“One of the things I absolutely love about this genre is that, unlike Harry, where there was an overarching story, a beginning and an end, you’re talking about discrete stories. So while a detective lives, you can keep giving him cases.”
The Getty Research Institute Gets Permanent Records Of Ephemeral ‘Happenings’
“The conundrum of how best to preserve the history of midcentury American performance art — art created before phones had video cameras — lies at the center of the Getty Research Institute’s recently announced acquisition of [photographer] Robert McElroy’s archive.”
Have You Heard Of This Amazing New Contemporary Art Space … In Jersey City?
“The complex occupies almost a million square feet — more than five Walmarts — and growing. It includes studios, galleries, a rehearsal space, a Middle Eastern art center and a museum of Richard Meier’s architectural models.”
Writing Romance Novels Is A Feminist Thing To Do (Duh?)
“In romance fiction, the lesbian werewolf with a thing for raw meat and three-ways underneath the full moon can get a date. The cross-dresser in 18th century England will find true love with a prince or a princess.”
Top AJBlogs From 07.20.14
Corcoran Cliffhanger: What Will Happen in DC Superior Court Tomorrow?
AJBlog: CultureGrrl | Published 2014-07-21Summer books: Brad Stone’s ‘The Everything Store’
AJBlog: For What it’s Worth | Published 2014-07-18Trusting Your Material
AJBlog: PostClassic | Published 2014-07-19The Dream Of Speed-Reading (And What It Does To Our Brains)
“It is much more difficult to gather ideas of any complexity at all using Spritz than it is in ordinary reading. Complex ideas, like those routinely presented in philosophy or literary fiction, require a lot of rereading as you go. Also, when the sentence begins in a Spritz display, you can’t tell how long it’s going to be: a terrific drawback for comprehension.”
Rethinking Our Concept Of The Solitary ‘Genius’
“Thinking itself is a kind of download of dialogue between ourselves and others. And when we listen to creative people describe breakthrough moments that occur when they are alone, they often mention the sensation of having a conversation in their own minds.”
Does Playing Music In An Orchestra Increase Kids’ Emotional Health?
“They fully listen to both themselves and other people’s needs as they learn to enter their ‘musical world’ (when they get in touch with people and their inner music).”
In Praise Of (And In Search For) Broads
“Like a lot of theater fans, I’ve been mourning the death of brassy Broadway legend Elaine Stritch. It means there’s one less fabulous, foul-mouthed, talented, gin-swilling broad on this earth.”
Iceland Is Almost Obsessively Literary. What’s Up With That?
“For a country that boasts a population of approximately 320,000 people — that’s less than Belize, Brunei, and the Bahamas — Iceland is punching above its weight class.”
Much Of The Century’s Best Literature Came Out Of World War I – Why?
“The Great War had a horrid novelty, in that it was Europe’s first war in almost a century and the first mechanized war. It began in idealism and naivete, and sooner rather than later many people realized that the whole thing was an apparently endless muddle.”
So, How Much Do Curators Get Paid?
“Freelance biennial curating is highly visible but relatively new as a paid occupation. Remuneration is shrouded in secrecy: most of the biennials mentioned in this article refused to comment on our findings.”
Dear Video Game Documentarians: Step Up Your Game
“All of this leaves me wanting more, specifically more context: such as what greater societal forces are shaping the types of games we play and why? And what do different games reveal about us as a culture?”
Which Building Will Win Architecture’s Stirling Prize – And Which Building *Should* Win
“This year’s Stirling prize shortlist sets out to compare what can’t be compared – as if one had to decide what is better between, say, a shirt, a piece of cheese, an app, some nice music or a chair. … The underlying absurdity is part of the fascination.”
NYT Makes Fun Of The Fact It’s Reviewing James Franco’s Poetry – So, NYT, Do Better
“Despite the fact that it is not James Franco personally who makes being an artist difficult in today’s economy, it will forever be frustrating to see the space in august publications being taken up by reviews of his work that are well aware of the celebrity futility of reviews of his work.”
Can The Arts Help Revive This Chicago Neighborhood?
“I don’t think many people see arts and cultural as economic engines, but they are. As the ward has become more vibrant, that has not only energized the residents but attracted new businesses, homeowners.”
Yes, Amazon Has Introduced Another ‘Netflix For Books.’ Is It Worth It?
“Just remember that if you’re not one of those folks reading at least 13 books a year, then a $10 per month book service is probably not a top priority.”
Well, That’s One Fewer Competitor For Netflix And Amazon
As Microsoft lays off 18,000 people, one of the departments slashed is the Xbox Entertainment Studio, launched in 2012 and with nearly 20 series in some phase of development.
When Hercule Poirot Retires (Or At Least When Actor David Suchet Finishes Playing Him)
” ‘It’s a pleasure to talk about him, but there will come a time very soon where I say, “I’ve done that, I am closing the door and moving on,” ‘ explained Mr. Suchet, 68, clad in a very un-Poirot-like blue dress shirt and jeans.”
A Childhood Spent During The Philosophy Of Nudity
“Nudity proponents of every stripe harbored the romantic notion that humans are naked in their natural state and feel no shame about it. This belief provided the underlying justification for every gospel of nakedness — but we now know that it is mistaken.”
What If Washington, D.C.’s Sculptures Dealt With The Ugly Parts Of Our History?
“Perhaps in addition to building landmarks to the best parts of our past, the physical infrastructure of America’s capital should note the worst of it. If D.C. statues and monuments didn’t just exalt, but also criticized, would we face reality more squarely?”
One Of Young Adult Lit’s Most Famous Authors Would ‘Hate To Be A Teen Today’
“Girls about 15 or so are screaming, ‘Oh my God, oh my God,’ and circle around and of course there’s the blimming selfie craze now, so you have to stand there peering into mobile phones.”
The Dance World Has To Do More To Keep Merce Cunningham’s Work Alive
“It’s always a pleasure to see Cunningham choreography these days. No choreography is a keener tonic to the dancegoer’s palate, and what once felt difficult now looks both absorbing and natural.”
Should Playwrights Be Worried About Piracy If They Digitize Their New Plays?
“Since theater is a live art form, to me there’s nothing about digitization that intrinsically makes piracy easier. Unlike the music and film industries, where digitization (and the attendant problem of piracy) has had a vast and industry shaking effect, I don’t anticipate the same thing for theater. As a friend once said, the worst piracy tool of the century is the photocopier.”
Why Isn’t Frank Gehry Designing The New LACMA?
“The architect who shattered all architectural expectations for what a museum and even a building might be has been conspicuously overlooked.”
James Garner, Star Of Stage And Screen, Dead At 86
Garner, star of ‘Maverick’ and ‘The Rockford Files,’ “was a genuine star but as an actor something of a paradox: a lantern-jawed, brawny athlete whose physical appeal was both enhanced and undercut by a disarming wit.”
San Diego Opera Settles With Its Former Director
“The opera said in a statement that it has mutually resolved its differences with Campbell and his ex-wife Ann Spira Campbell, a former high-ranking adminstrator at the company. It said the differences arose out of their former employment relationships with the opera.”
North Carolina Poet Laureate Resigns After Protests
“Less than a week into her role as North Carolina’s poet laureate, Valerie Macon, a self-published poet and state employee, resigned over questions about her literary credentials and qualifications.”
The Art Of Tests (How Testing Makes Us Smarter)
“The question is how to structure and use tests effectively. One insight that we and other researchers have uncovered is that tests serve students best when they’re integrated into the regular business of learning and the stakes are not make-or-break, as in standardized testing. That means, among other things, testing new learning within the context of regular classes and study routines.”
Unfunded UK Theatres Warn They’ll Have To Close
“We don’t want to close because we would be letting down whole communities and a new generation of young theatregoers in rural areas whose access to quality professional theatre is limited, but there is only so long that you can struggle on unfunded. Even though we have been hugely successful in our fundraising, this work cannot operate unsubsidised.”
Educators Look At Multi-User Video Games As Effective Teaching Systems
“The goal is to change the student’s mindset to a mastery orientation—to promote motivation, engagement, active learning—and to cultivate 21st century skills like collaboration, problem solving, creativity and systems thinking.”
A Creativity Pill? A Doctor Looks At The Evidence
“I started painting from morning till night, and often all through the night until morning. I used countless numbers of brushes at a time. I used knives, forks, sponges … I would gouge open tubes of paint–it was everywhere. But I was still in control at that point. Then, I started painting on the walls, the furniture, even the washing machine. I would paint any surface I came across. I also had my ‘expression wall’ and I could not stop myself from painting and repainting [it] every night in a trance-like state. My partner could no longer bear it. People close to me realized that I crossed some kind of line into the pathological, and, at their instigation, I was hospitalized.”
So Opera Is Dying, Says The Met. But Does The Evidence Back That Up?
“At its best, no art form is more thrilling than grand opera, yet none is at greater risk of following the dinosaurs down the cold road to extinction. The New York City Opera was forced to close its doors last year after seven decades of introducing nonrich New Yorkers to big-house opera. That could happen to the Met, too, unless Mr. Gelb—or his successor—takes a searching look at the company’s artistic policy.”
So Opera Is Dying, Eh? Here’s How Many New Opera Companies Have Formed In America Since 2000
It’s a surprising number for an art form that has supposedly hit hard times.
The Heart Of Opera? Why, That Would Be Germany
“According to the opera statistics website Operabase, last year 7,230 opera performances took place in Germany, one-third of the world’s total. The United States was a distant second, at 1,730 performances, followed by Russia and France, at 1,441 and 1,288, respectively. Austria ranked sixth, at 1,252 performances, and Switzerland ninth, at 795.”