AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- The frictionless feed
We have more culture available to us than any humans in history, and The Guardian wants to know why the dominant feeling is boredom. Its answer is that frictionless pleasure erodes the appetite it feeds.
College students have stopped reading whole books (The Conversation), though a sharp rebuttal argues the panic is aimed in the wrong direction (Trevor Aleo) — we built an excerpt economy, and now are blaming 19-year-olds for living in it. Video’s format keeps turning vertical because that’s how a hand holds a phone (The Verge). Pop’s big transformations now happen in the fan apparatus rather than in the music (The Conversation). Form follows medium.
Then the literal version: AI companies are buying rare books and cutting the spines off to scan them (Futurism). The books are destroyed so the text can be ingested.
Against all that, 32 Vancouver arts organizations just proposed four new concert halls (Daily Hive), and Pacific Northwest Ballet’s school is taking a big new space in SODO (Seattle Times).
Hadestown‘s filmed version did surprisingly well enough in theaters to earn an extended run (Deadline). The return to theatres continues.
All of our stories below.
- American Classical Music at 250 — Take Three: The Orchestra Gap: Europe vs. the US
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra going through the motions of Wagner’s “Liebestod” – “diminished motivation: as if the music
- Pop Music’s Biggest Transformations Are No Longer About The Music
On social media, fans don’t just follow an era – they help bring it to life. Through videos, memes, fashion, conversations and creative interpretations, they shape the meanings that come to define a project and extend an album beyond the music itself. – The Conversation
- Literary Crisis? I Think Not
I don’t want to totally wave away the issues these pieces are gesturing towards, but I’d argue the fear that we’re sliding into a post-literate society rests on a category error that feels endemic at this point. – Becoming Literary
- With So Much Abundance, Why Are We Bored?
For anyone with an Internet connection and a little discretionary income, the contemporary moment offers a superabundance of seductive distractions. Why then the pervasive mood of emptiness? Why are so many at once overstimulated and bored? – The Guardian
ISSUES
- How Museums Are Using Data To Shape The Experience
Perhaps the biggest opportunity created by detailed data is the ability to provide personalized recommendations. Supplementing traditional curation with analytical methods, more recently including machine learning and artificial intelligence, has become more common. – Ars Technica
- The Failures To Save The Glasgow School Of Art Building
A 12-year saga of destruction, rebuilding and yet more destruction, all underscored by an unedifying seam of political and institutional wrangling, reached an apologetic conclusion of sorts, with the recent announcement that Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s exquisite art nouveau creation is unlikely to be rebuilt in its original form because of stratospheric cost. – The Guardian
- What The UK Used To Think Of Georgia O’Keeffe
“After her Hayward show in 1993, Britain’s male critics unleashed a torrent of dismissive reviews. She was called a ‘commercial illustrator,’ ‘irredeemably amateur,’ an artist who ‘made good monthly images on calendars’ and ‘grossly overrated.’” – The Guardian (UK)
- In London, Museum Workers Want The Right To Carry Water During Heat Waves
The workers at V&A are unionized, and the ballot “is taking place because of concerns about soaring temperatures and access to drinking water, along with pay and conditions.” – The Guardian (UK)
- The Group Memorializing George Floyd Protest Murals Is In Financial Straits
“Amid the pain and protest following George Floyd’s murder by police in 2020, artists known and unknown picked up brushes and spray cans. They created hundreds of murals on 4×8-foot plywood sheets covering windows and doors.” – MPR
MEDIA
- Kennicott: Trump’s Smithsonian Complaints Are Laughable
Visitors who pass these signs on the way into the museum may find them concerning; when they pass them on the way out, they will probably find them laughably at odds with what they have just experienced. – Washington Post
- In The Ongoing Saga Of Portland’s Performing Arts Centers, The Mayor Has Made His Support Clear
Mayor Wilson now supports a 3,000-seat city-owned performance hall at Portland State University, while the venerable, earthquake-unprepared Keller Auditorium would be rebuilt as as 1,200-1,800 seat venue. Keller supporters are incensed. – Oregon ArtsWatch
- Meta Glasses Are Now Banned At Comic-Cons In The UK After Secret Filming Issues
“A number of guests had told the company they would be reluctant to appear at Comic-Con shows again after cases of recordings taking place without their knowledge. The ban is applicable to Meta glasses and any other ‘wearable recording devices.’” – BBC
- The Accomplishments Of Ancient Greece Are Not Just The History Of White People
“There is nothing wrong with taking pride in one’s ancestors. … Honoring and celebrating the past achievements of those ancestors, however, is different from taking credit for them.” – The Atlantic
- Trump Orders “Warning” Signs Outside Smithsonian Museum
President Donald Trump on Friday ordered the installation of signs outside the Smithsonian National Museum of American History that warn of “inaccurate” exhibits and direct people to “accurate information regarding America’s history.” – Washington Post
MUSIC
- Literary Crisis? I Think Not
I don’t want to totally wave away the issues these pieces are gesturing towards, but I’d argue the fear that we’re sliding into a post-literate society rests on a category error that feels endemic at this point. – Becoming Literary
- Students Are No Longer Reading Full Books
Before we ask our students to read difficult material, those of us who teach in college owe it to all of them to explain that reading books in their entirety matters. If we won’t, or can’t, then higher education will have a bleak future. – The Conversation
- AI Companies Are Buying Up Old Books And Destroying Them As They Scan
Once focused on helping libraries, distributors, and book shops find and sell books, ISBNdb now helps AI companies bulk-buy anywhere between 1,000 to one million books per order, according to 404. – Futurism
- From Nearly Forgotten Author To Japanese Literary Hero
“Much of the Japanese fiction translated into English fits into broad categories – cats, crime, coffee shops – but one surprise bestseller stands alone. Sales of books by Osamu Dazai, who killed himself in 1948 aged 38, have rocketed in the last few years.” – The Guardian (UK)
- The Perfect Books For A Summer At The Pool, The River, Or The Beach
“It is important to follow a balanced diet on holiday. … You need to be able to chop and change depending on your mood, which means fiction and nonfiction. And finally, you need to be able to throw all of these rules out of the window.” – The Guardian (UK)
PEOPLE
- The frictionless feed
We have more culture available to us than any humans in history, and The Guardian wants to know why the dominant feeling is boredom. Its answer is that frictionless pleasure erodes the appetite it feeds.
College students have stopped reading whole books (The Conversation), though a sharp rebuttal argues the panic is aimed in the wrong direction (Trevor Aleo) — we built an excerpt economy, and now are blaming 19-year-olds for living in it. Video’s format keeps turning vertical because that’s how a hand holds a phone (The Verge). Pop’s big transformations now happen in the fan apparatus rather than in the music (The Conversation). Form follows medium.
Then the literal version: AI companies are buying rare books and cutting the spines off to scan them (Futurism). The books are destroyed so the text can be ingested.
Against all that, 32 Vancouver arts organizations just proposed four new concert halls (Daily Hive), and Pacific Northwest Ballet’s school is taking a big new space in SODO (Seattle Times).
Hadestown‘s filmed version did surprisingly well enough in theaters to earn an extended run (Deadline). The return to theatres continues.
All of our stories below.
- American Classical Music at 250 — Take Three: The Orchestra Gap: Europe vs. the US
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra going through the motions of Wagner’s “Liebestod” – “diminished motivation: as if the music
- Pop Music’s Biggest Transformations Are No Longer About The Music
On social media, fans don’t just follow an era – they help bring it to life. Through videos, memes, fashion, conversations and creative interpretations, they shape the meanings that come to define a project and extend an album beyond the music itself. – The Conversation
- Literary Crisis? I Think Not
I don’t want to totally wave away the issues these pieces are gesturing towards, but I’d argue the fear that we’re sliding into a post-literate society rests on a category error that feels endemic at this point. – Becoming Literary
- With So Much Abundance, Why Are We Bored?
For anyone with an Internet connection and a little discretionary income, the contemporary moment offers a superabundance of seductive distractions. Why then the pervasive mood of emptiness? Why are so many at once overstimulated and bored? – The Guardian
PEOPLE
- The frictionless feed
We have more culture available to us than any humans in history, and The Guardian wants to know why the dominant feeling is boredom. Its answer is that frictionless pleasure erodes the appetite it feeds.
College students have stopped reading whole books (The Conversation), though a sharp rebuttal argues the panic is aimed in the wrong direction (Trevor Aleo) — we built an excerpt economy, and now are blaming 19-year-olds for living in it. Video’s format keeps turning vertical because that’s how a hand holds a phone (The Verge). Pop’s big transformations now happen in the fan apparatus rather than in the music (The Conversation). Form follows medium.
Then the literal version: AI companies are buying rare books and cutting the spines off to scan them (Futurism). The books are destroyed so the text can be ingested.
Against all that, 32 Vancouver arts organizations just proposed four new concert halls (Daily Hive), and Pacific Northwest Ballet’s school is taking a big new space in SODO (Seattle Times).
Hadestown‘s filmed version did surprisingly well enough in theaters to earn an extended run (Deadline). The return to theatres continues.
All of our stories below.
- American Classical Music at 250 — Take Three: The Orchestra Gap: Europe vs. the US
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra going through the motions of Wagner’s “Liebestod” – “diminished motivation: as if the music
- Pop Music’s Biggest Transformations Are No Longer About The Music
On social media, fans don’t just follow an era – they help bring it to life. Through videos, memes, fashion, conversations and creative interpretations, they shape the meanings that come to define a project and extend an album beyond the music itself. – The Conversation
- Literary Crisis? I Think Not
I don’t want to totally wave away the issues these pieces are gesturing towards, but I’d argue the fear that we’re sliding into a post-literate society rests on a category error that feels endemic at this point. – Becoming Literary
- With So Much Abundance, Why Are We Bored?
For anyone with an Internet connection and a little discretionary income, the contemporary moment offers a superabundance of seductive distractions. Why then the pervasive mood of emptiness? Why are so many at once overstimulated and bored? – The Guardian
THEATRE
VISUAL
- With So Much Abundance, Why Are We Bored?
For anyone with an Internet connection and a little discretionary income, the contemporary moment offers a superabundance of seductive distractions. Why then the pervasive mood of emptiness? Why are so many at once overstimulated and bored? – The Guardian
- This Booker-Winning Book Set In Taiwan Has Sparked A Cultural Reckoning
The author says she “wanted to tell Taiwanese people, ‘We do not really understand our own land’s history,’” partly because of the time Taiwan was a colony of Japan. – NPR
- Alert: Don’t Throw Away Your Old E-Reader
Of course don’t throw it away – get it to an e-waste recycler or dealer – but also, you can turn it into a Spotify controller or, perhaps coolest of all, a literary clock. – Wired
- Advocates For The Board Game Monopoly Say People Only Hate It Because We All Play It Wrong
Seriously, we just have to read the rules (or so they say). – Slate
- How A Classic Miyazaki Film Can Help In Troubled Times
“Optimism has gone from seeming like a novelty—a trait my less medicated friends had managed to cultivate under circumstances and genetics unfamiliar to me and my ilk—to something more sinister. Optimism feels like ignorance.” – Reactor