ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

Today's Stories

Artists Protest Proposal To Triple Fees For Artist Visas To The US

O-1 visas for “individuals with extraordinary ability or achievement” would increase from $460 to $1,655. P-2 visas would jump from $460 to $1,615. The USCIS proposed the changes in January, arguing that the new rates would reflect an increase in costs at the agency. - MixMag

Bollywood Music Removed From Spotify

Spotify says it's not been able to reach an agreement with the owners of the tracks after the old one expired. Soundtracks with millions of plays were among the deleted hits. - BBC

Using Tech To Probe The Grammar Of Dance

The Functional Grammar of Dance (FGD) explains how body parts create meaning by interacting with the space and the people surrounding dancers in a performance. We used it to annotate and interpret data collected from live dance rehearsals. - The Conversation

How Theatre Is Doing In A Post-Pandemic (Yeah, We Know) World

The more pressing question, now that theatres are back in some kind of business, is: How is business? Are audiences coming back at anything like pre-pandemic levels? And are theatres able to make ends meet? The evidence is mixed, and seems to vary by region. - American Theatre

New Technology That Reads A Movie Audience To Alter The Plot

Using this data from the brain, audiences create a non-conscious edit of the film in real time – reinforcing the films’ respective stories of science-fiction dystopia and a wandering, daydreaming mind. - The Conversation

A Headlong Scramble To Protect Artists In A Time Of AI

Collective campaigns, lawsuits, international rules and IT hacks are all being deployed at speed on behalf of the creative industries in an effort, if not to win the battle, at least to “rage, rage against the dying of the light”, in the words of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. - The Guardian

Timbuktu Isn’t The Only West African City With Libraries Full Of Priceless Medieval Manuscripts

The oasis town of Chinguetti in north-central Mauritania, a major trans-Saharan trading stop in centuries past, has 13 libraries housing more than 6,000 manuscripts. As desertification spreads ever onward, outside experts fear for the books, but their custodians are holding on. - MSN (The Washington Post)

In Our Distraction Maze, It May Be That Slower Art Becomes More Valuable

Paradoxically, we may come to want the things that we cannot have in an instant, that demand our time and patience before they will reveal all they have to offer: the art that demands that we slow down. - 3 Quarks Daily

How Does A Public Radio Star Cope With Hearing Loss? Ask Mary Louise Kelly

"When I'm anchoring, I never have trouble, because the NPR studio is soundproof — there's no background noise to distract you, and I wear great headphones that I can crank loud. It's harder when I'm out in the field. … So far, there has always been a workaround." - MSN (The Washington Post)

The Museum Director Who Stayed In Ukraine To Protect Culture

Her ideas of war had come from art—from photographs of the devastated city of Warsaw, which appeared deserted in the still images; from books that described battle and carnage. In real life, people got used to war quickly. - The New Yorker

A Shostakovich Operetta About Australia’s Housing Crisis

"What could be more pressing than an operetta about the housing crisis? This is something that everybody in Australia is grappling with at the moment. What was funny in adapting it from corrupt Soviet bureaucrats to greedy Melbourne landlords was that it was hilariously, disturbingly easy." - The Age (Melbourne)

Just How Important Is Identity To Who You Are?

In an identity crisis we question our purpose in life, what our role or place in society is, what values we ought to be committed to, or the meaning and significance of our activities. But having purpose, meaning, and a commitment to certain values doesn’t quite individuate us either. - 3 Quarks Daily

Iranian Women Are Posting Protest Videos On TikTok, Dancing Without Headscarves

Earlier this month a video of five teen girls dancing -- bareheaded, outdoors -- to the Rema/Selena Gomez hit "Calm Down" went viral. The girls were promptly arrested, detained, and forced to make a video of repentance. Now women all over Iran are making similar videos and posting them in solidarity. - BuzzFeed

The Ideas About Threats To Truth That Orwell And Camus Shared

The political turbulence of twentieth-century Europe forced both Camus and Orwell to confront the question of truth as a matter of necessity, even and especially among their own colleagues and friends. - The Critic

Can Streaming Broadway Shows Help Sell In-Person Tickets? Very Possibly, If It Can Be Made To Happen

"While the general consensus among industry experts is that digital access provides an opportunity for Broadway to reach new audiences and tap new revenue streams, they told TheWrap that there are many financial and logistical challenges that stand in the way of a broader rollout." - Yahoo! (TheWrap)

Playwrights Sarah Ruhl And Samuel D. Hunter On Religion And Theater

Hunter: "I think people have been really reticent to talk about spirituality or religion in these kinds of 'secular spaces.'" Ruhl: "For me, theater is very much a sacred space. … I think of theater almost as an incarnation of 'the word made flesh.'" - The Christian Science Monitor

The Met Museum Is Reclassifying Some Formerly “Russian” Works As Ukrainian. It’s Not Going Entirely Smoothly.

For a start, one of the artists reclassified as Ukrainian was, in fact, an ethnic Armenian, as New York's Armenian-American community was very quick to point out. Another contested issue has been whether the dancers' costumes in some of Degas's paintings are Russian or Ukrainian. - The Guardian

Yes, Negative Headlines Work, But They Don’t Have To Be Angry Or Frightening: Study

A large survey of click stats from Upworthy.com (!) found that headlines with negative words had a higher clickthrough rate than those with positive words, that sad words were more effective than angry words, and that the general rate for any kind of headline is depressingly low. - Nieman Lab

Is The Indoor Plaza At Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center Is Finally Becoming A Genuine Public Space?

"The Kimmel Center was trumpeted as Philadelphia's fifth public square — an 18-hour-per-day, seven-day-a-week arts center where you could show up anytime and find a concert or see a film. But the Kimmel has sent mixed signals about just how welcoming it really wants to be." - MSN (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Contractors Renovating A Kitchen Uncover 17th-Century Friezes

The murals, believed to date from between 1635 and 1699, are in a one-bedroom apartment in the old walled city of York in northern England. - CNN

By Topic

In Our Distraction Maze, It May Be That Slower Art Becomes More Valuable

Paradoxically, we may come to want the things that we cannot have in an instant, that demand our time and patience before they will reveal all they have to offer: the art that demands that we slow down. - 3 Quarks Daily

Just How Important Is Identity To Who You Are?

In an identity crisis we question our purpose in life, what our role or place in society is, what values we ought to be committed to, or the meaning and significance of our activities. But having purpose, meaning, and a commitment to certain values doesn’t quite individuate us either. - 3 Quarks Daily

The Ideas About Threats To Truth That Orwell And Camus Shared

The political turbulence of twentieth-century Europe forced both Camus and Orwell to confront the question of truth as a matter of necessity, even and especially among their own colleagues and friends. - The Critic

Warning: We Need New Laws To Protect Artists From AI Creative Theft

Big Tech has successfully skated through legal matters for years, waving the banner of “permissionless innovation.” - Washington Post

Can You Copyright AI-Generated Work? Right Now It’s Complicated

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the guidance is an author’s “duty to disclose the inclusion of AI-generated content in a work submitted for registration.” - ArsTechnica

AI Is Less A Search Engine Than It Is A Librarian

The problem is that even when these systems are wrong only 10% of the time, you don’t know which 10%. People also don’t have the ability to quickly validate the systems’ responses. - Gizmodo

Artists Protest Proposal To Triple Fees For Artist Visas To The US

O-1 visas for “individuals with extraordinary ability or achievement” would increase from $460 to $1,655. P-2 visas would jump from $460 to $1,615. The USCIS proposed the changes in January, arguing that the new rates would reflect an increase in costs at the agency. - MixMag

A Headlong Scramble To Protect Artists In A Time Of AI

Collective campaigns, lawsuits, international rules and IT hacks are all being deployed at speed on behalf of the creative industries in an effort, if not to win the battle, at least to “rage, rage against the dying of the light”, in the words of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. - The Guardian

Is The Indoor Plaza At Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center Is Finally Becoming A Genuine Public Space?

"The Kimmel Center was trumpeted as Philadelphia's fifth public square — an 18-hour-per-day, seven-day-a-week arts center where you could show up anytime and find a concert or see a film. But the Kimmel has sent mixed signals about just how welcoming it really wants to be." - MSN (The Philadelphia Inquirer)

Ranked Choice: Enjoying Art Is About Reacting

Criticism is not an unerring ranking system but a form of personal expression, and a good review is not right (or not only right) but convincing, fresh, entertaining, satisfying, perceptive – in other words, possesses the sorts of qualities prized in the objects the critic is nominally appraising. - New Statesman

Does Anyone Read Professional Reviews Anymore?

Good criticism can provide that context — historical or theoretical or even economic — and some vocabulary for discussing musical taste. It can help demystify some of the mechanics of the art form, ideally in language that remains approachable to the novice or new initiate. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

AI Generators Just Figured out Hands

This is a huge issue for verifying images, as hand issues had been one of the ways to tell an AI-generated photo from a human-created image. "Many viewers have already proven themselves unable to discern AI-generated artwork from the real deal." - Hyperallergic

Bollywood Music Removed From Spotify

Spotify says it's not been able to reach an agreement with the owners of the tracks after the old one expired. Soundtracks with millions of plays were among the deleted hits. - BBC

A Shostakovich Operetta About Australia’s Housing Crisis

"What could be more pressing than an operetta about the housing crisis? This is something that everybody in Australia is grappling with at the moment. What was funny in adapting it from corrupt Soviet bureaucrats to greedy Melbourne landlords was that it was hilariously, disturbingly easy." - The Age (Melbourne)

The BBC Used To Be Champions Of Culture

Something seems to have gone terribly awry at the BBC when it comes to classical music. - The Critic

In Southwest England, The Police Don’t Want Any Stinkin’ Jazz Festivals

Or at least not the We Out Here fest, founded by the BBC's Giles Peterson, expecting about 25,000 people during the event. The Dorset police said the music event "will likely undermine the licensing objective to Prevent Crime and Disorder and ensure Public Safety." - BBC

Kate Bush And Big Mama Thornton Still Aren’t In The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame

How is this possible? "Today, just 8.48% of the inductees are women." - The Guardian (UK)

Anna Netrebko Didn’t Denounce Putin, But The Met Must Still Pay Her Contract

An arbitrator "in a decision issued last month that has not been previously reported, ruled that the Met should compensate Netrebko for 13 canceled performances," which means the opera company owes the Russian soprano more than $200,000. - The New York Times

The Met Museum Is Reclassifying Some Formerly “Russian” Works As Ukrainian. It’s Not Going Entirely Smoothly.

For a start, one of the artists reclassified as Ukrainian was, in fact, an ethnic Armenian, as New York's Armenian-American community was very quick to point out. Another contested issue has been whether the dancers' costumes in some of Degas's paintings are Russian or Ukrainian. - The Guardian

Contractors Renovating A Kitchen Uncover 17th-Century Friezes

The murals, believed to date from between 1635 and 1699, are in a one-bedroom apartment in the old walled city of York in northern England. - CNN

Orange County Museum Of Art’s New Building: Bettter, But…

It’s easy to dump on the contractors. But the contractors didn’t design this overwrought building, nor did they commission it. That falls to the Culver City-based Morphosis, led by Thom Mayne, and the museum’s board. - Los Angeles Times

Still Life Paintings Are Boring, And Often Bad

Honestly, Cézanne, who cares now, and who ever cared? "Portraitists and landscape artists have almost always been held in much higher esteem. ... Humans, nature: teeming with verve, vigour and vitality. But a vase? A candlestick? A jug? Cutlery, I ask you!" - The Guardian (UK)

Two Halves Of A Long-Divided Flemish Portrait Are Reunited In Denmark

After some art historical detective work, "the two artworks, which were once one, now hang side-by-side ... only a sliver of wall dividing the woman from her husband and son." - Yahoo News (AFP)

AI Is Actually Going To Increase The Value Of Human-Made Art

"We have changed our collective tastes in response to technological progress in the past. We’ll now do it again, without even noticing that it’s happening. And if history is any indication, our tastes will evolve in a way that rigs the game in favor of human artists." - Wired

Timbuktu Isn’t The Only West African City With Libraries Full Of Priceless Medieval Manuscripts

The oasis town of Chinguetti in north-central Mauritania, a major trans-Saharan trading stop in centuries past, has 13 libraries housing more than 6,000 manuscripts. As desertification spreads ever onward, outside experts fear for the books, but their custodians are holding on. - MSN (The Washington Post)

Yes, Negative Headlines Work, But They Don’t Have To Be Angry Or Frightening: Study

A large survey of click stats from Upworthy.com (!) found that headlines with negative words had a higher clickthrough rate than those with positive words, that sad words were more effective than angry words, and that the general rate for any kind of headline is depressingly low. - Nieman Lab

When The Pandemic Hit, Pico Iyer’s Income Dropped To Zero

His mother was dying, and, like everyone, he couldn't travel. But, he says, "given so much external suffering, as the Dalai Lama pointed out, it didn’t seem helpful to compound that by creating even more suffering, internally, through anxiety or rage." - Los Angeles Review Of Books

Is The Internet Archive A Library, Or Is It A Publishing Scam?

Librarians argue that a lawsuit filed by four major publishers, should it succeed, "would jeopardize the future development of digital libraries nationwide. The Internet Archive is the most significant specialized library to emerge in decades." - Inside Higher Ed

This Year’s Best Picture Winner Signals A Linguistic Change In Hollywood

It's complex - see the Indigenous villains in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but "Increasing use of non-English languages and subtitles demonstrates both a trend toward linguistic realism in Hollywood and also broader acceptance of linguistic diversity." - Raw Story

Poet Warsan Shire’s Influences Include Toni Morrison – And The Goosebumps Series

Not to mention luck at the library: "I found Krik? Krak!, a short story collection by Edwidge Danticat, in the Ealing Road Library and fell in love. This book raised me." - The Guardian (UK)

New Technology That Reads A Movie Audience To Alter The Plot

Using this data from the brain, audiences create a non-conscious edit of the film in real time – reinforcing the films’ respective stories of science-fiction dystopia and a wandering, daydreaming mind. - The Conversation

How Does A Public Radio Star Cope With Hearing Loss? Ask Mary Louise Kelly

"When I'm anchoring, I never have trouble, because the NPR studio is soundproof — there's no background noise to distract you, and I wear great headphones that I can crank loud. It's harder when I'm out in the field. … So far, there has always been a workaround." - MSN (The Washington Post)

After 41 Years, Beloved NPR Veteran Sylvia Poggioli Is Retiring

"Sylvia's wide-ranging, often hard-hitting and always rich storytelling helped NPR distinguish itself in its early years as a news organization with deep interest in the wider world. Her work helped build the foundation for what is today NPR's award-winning International Desk." - NPR

It Looks Like Netflix’s Ad-Supported Subscriptions Are Getting Traction

The figures suggest that Netflix is finding its footing with the new revenue stream, after having been overwhelmingly reliant on subscriber revenue for most of its history. - The Verge

In The Years Since The U.S. Invaded Iraq, Hollywood Has Addressed The War Only A Few Times

Basically, "Americans simply did not want to hear about it" early on, and now? "There’s reason to be pessimistic about the risk-averse, IP-addicted studios of the 21st century dipping back into a war that it rarely bothered to engage with in the first place." - The Guardian (UK)

The Future Of AI In Hollywood – Fact Or Fiction?

At SXSW, there's a lot of discussion around what AI could do for (or against) the movies. But "for all the hype, some remain skeptical, wondering how much of the excitement is venture capital-fueled froth." - Los Angeles Times

Using Tech To Probe The Grammar Of Dance

The Functional Grammar of Dance (FGD) explains how body parts create meaning by interacting with the space and the people surrounding dancers in a performance. We used it to annotate and interpret data collected from live dance rehearsals. - The Conversation

Iranian Women Are Posting Protest Videos On TikTok, Dancing Without Headscarves

Earlier this month a video of five teen girls dancing -- bareheaded, outdoors -- to the Rema/Selena Gomez hit "Calm Down" went viral. The girls were promptly arrested, detained, and forced to make a video of repentance. Now women all over Iran are making similar videos and posting them in solidarity. - BuzzFeed

The Oscars Completely Screwed Up The Naatu Naatu Dance Performance

How? By not hiring a single South Asian dancer for the performance. Dance group artistic director Achinta McDaniel says South Asian dance groups are organizing. "This really lit a fire. ... It’s been too long that we’ve been quiet." - Variety

Stella Abrera Named Permanent Director Of ABT’s School

"Stella Abrera is ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School's new Artistic Director. Abrera has been acting in this position for the last several months after serving as Artistic Director of Kaatsbaan Cultural Park in Tivoli (a position now held by former ABT star Paloma Herrera)." - The Ballet Herald

“Democracy Dies In Darkness.” (How About Dance?)

The Washington Post laid off its Pulitzer-winning dance critic Sarah Kaufman. Kaufman talks about what that means. - MDTheatreGuide

Bees Learn Their Waggle-Dances From Their Elders, Says Researchers

"Booty-shaking worker bees guide their fellow workers to pollen by a form of communication known as 'waggle dancing' — performing steps that map out where food is located. ... Now scientists have discovered that bees hone these moves when they're young, by touching their antennae to the bodies of dancing elder bees." - CNN

How Theatre Is Doing In A Post-Pandemic (Yeah, We Know) World

The more pressing question, now that theatres are back in some kind of business, is: How is business? Are audiences coming back at anything like pre-pandemic levels? And are theatres able to make ends meet? The evidence is mixed, and seems to vary by region. - American Theatre

Can Streaming Broadway Shows Help Sell In-Person Tickets? Very Possibly, If It Can Be Made To Happen

"While the general consensus among industry experts is that digital access provides an opportunity for Broadway to reach new audiences and tap new revenue streams, they told TheWrap that there are many financial and logistical challenges that stand in the way of a broader rollout." - Yahoo! (TheWrap)

Playwrights Sarah Ruhl And Samuel D. Hunter On Religion And Theater

Hunter: "I think people have been really reticent to talk about spirituality or religion in these kinds of 'secular spaces.'" Ruhl: "For me, theater is very much a sacred space. … I think of theater almost as an incarnation of 'the word made flesh.'" - The Christian Science Monitor

When Good Stage Design Reinforces A Character’s Internal Journey

"In devising an onstage gateway to Ally’s imagination, 'We were like, what if the portal is actually her notebook?' said Sammy Lopez, co-director. 'And what if we gave the audience the opportunity to jump into the notebook with Ally?'" - The New York Times

Suzan-Lori Parks Is Making A Musical

And it's not just any musical - it's an attempt to adapt the 1972 movie The Harder They Come, the movie that introduced a worldwide audience to reggae via star and musician Jimmy Cliff. - Slate

When Acting Is A Lifeline To Freedom

"The Actors’ Gang Prison Project is a rehabilitation program that offers theater programming to 14 California state prisons, a reentry facility and an L.A. County probation camp" - and it's celebrating 40 years since its inaugural production. - Los Angeles Times

The Museum Director Who Stayed In Ukraine To Protect Culture

Her ideas of war had come from art—from photographs of the devastated city of Warsaw, which appeared deserted in the still images; from books that described battle and carnage. In real life, people got used to war quickly. - The New Yorker

Adam Sandler Wins The Mark Twain Prize

“As I look at this goofy award, I can’t help but think that one day it just might be the weapon used to bludgeon me to death,” Mr. Sandler said in his familiar silly cadence during his acceptance speech. - The New York Times

Bollywood Actor Attacked By Hatchet-Wielding Man Outside Southern California Area Gym

Aman Dhaliwal is an actor who has appeared in Punjabi, Hindi, and Telegu films. "The suspect approached the victim in the parking lot ... and began to attack him with a hatchet and knife." - Los Angeles Times

Lance Reddick, Star Of The Wire, Bosch, And The John Wick Series, Has Died At 60

Reddick "was a distinctive, instantly recognizable presence, even if he was not quite a household name. His voice was distinctive, too, as players of Horizon Zero Dawn, Destiny 2 and other video games on which he could be heard know." - The New York Times

Kazuo Ishiguro On The Art Of Writing And Medium

Over the decades I’ve learned a huge amount about writing novels. I feel like I’m just learning on the job about screenplays. One key difference is that a screenplay is a contribution to something that a team is going to work on, so it’s necessarily a collaborative document. - The Millions

Mexico’s Greatest Living Writer Is 90, And She’s Not Done Writing Yet

"Elena Poniatowska has chronicled every major social movement in Mexico over seven decades, her 40-plus books a one-woman time capsule of a country's modern history. … (She) still writes a weekly column, showcasing her uncanny ability to get her subjects — presidents, murderers, victims of unspeakable crimes — to crack open." - MSN (The...

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In Our Distraction Maze, It May Be That Slower Art Becomes More Valuable

Paradoxically, we may come to want the things that we cannot have in an instant, that demand our time and patience before they will reveal all they have to offer: the art that demands that we slow down. - 3 Quarks Daily

Is The Internet Archive A Library, Or Is It A Publishing Scam?

Librarians argue that a lawsuit filed by four major publishers, should it succeed, "would jeopardize the future development of digital libraries nationwide. The Internet Archive is the most significant specialized library to emerge in decades." - Inside Higher Ed

AI Is Actually Going To Increase The Value Of Human-Made Art

"We have changed our collective tastes in response to technological progress in the past. We’ll now do it again, without even noticing that it’s happening. And if history is any indication, our tastes will evolve in a way that rigs the game in favor of human artists." - Wired

Anna Netrebko Didn’t Denounce Putin, But The Met Must Still Pay Her Contract

An arbitrator "in a decision issued last month that has not been previously reported, ruled that the Met should compensate Netrebko for 13 canceled performances," which means the opera company owes the Russian soprano more than $200,000. - The New York Times

The Fraud Of AI Generators

AI image and text generation is pure primitive accumulation: expropriation of labour from the many for the enrichment and advancement of a few Silicon Valley technology companies and their billionaire owners. - The Guardian

What If We’re Thinking About The Culture Of Climate Change All Wrong?

Much of the reluctance to do what climate change requires comes from the assumption that it means trading abundance for austerity. But what if it meant giving up things we’re well rid of, from deadly emissions to nagging feelings of doom and complicity in destruction? - Washington Post

AI Will Make Us Question Everything We Think Is True

The advancement of generative artificial intelligence is not an advancement toward artificial personhood for a simple, absolute reason: There is no falsifiable thesis of consciousness. You cannot find a researcher who can define, in a testable way, what consciousness is. - The Atlantic

100-Year-Old Movies Accompanied By 500-Year-Old Music — And It Works!

For nearly two decades, Tina Chancey and her ensemble, Hesperus, have been assembling and performing live music — songs and instrumental works from the Middle Ages, along with period-style improvisation — to accompany such classic silent films as The Mark of Zorro, Robin Hood, and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. - Early Music America

The Guardian’s Chief Theatre Critic Defends Audience Misbehavior (Up To A Point)

Arifa Akbar: "Crunching or chewing can be a distraction, especially in the confines of the older, tighter West End venues, but theatre is a group activity. … The group experience is what we come for – and that includes jostling in the foyer, coughing, rustling and, yes, eating or drinking." - The Guardian

Disney’s Oldest Animator

Burny Mattinson became a messenger at Disney, beginning a career that would eventually make him the longest-tenured employee of the company (just shy of seventy years) and one of the last still at the company to have started there when Walt Disney himself was running it. - The New Yorker

How The FBI’s Art Crime Team Works

"Recently, two of the team's investigators … agreed to answer questions from The New York Times. They declined to comment on the Basquiat case, citing the ongoing investigation. But they discussed the origin and purpose of the Art Crime Team, and the public's increased interest in it. - The New York Times

For The First Time In Decades Vinyl Records Outsell CDs

Vinyl revenue grew 17% and topped $1.2 billion last year, making up nearly three-quarters of the revenue brought in by physical music. At the same time, CD revenue fell 18% to $483 million, the RIAA said. - NPR