AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- Every Masterpiece Is Really A Blueprint
Good Morning,
August Wilson wrote one of his best plays by staring at a Romare Bearden collage until it told him what happened next (New York Times). Not influence in the sentimental sense, but a transfer of structure across forms, he felt.
Lucy Caldwell reports that after Ulysses, even her text messages fizz differently (The Guardian). Then there’s a report that book cover design has been rebuilt around the phone screen, where a thumbnail is the first and often only impression, and designers have turned that constraint into a real new craft (Literary Hub). And as the Odyssey has its biggest cultural moment in a century, a reminder that the classical inheritance was never white Europe’s private property (The Atlantic).
The through-line: strong work isn’t only an object; it informs the next thing. Institutions sitting on collections and repertoires are sitting on maps, not inventory, which seems important as a tide of contextless synthetic art rises.
And there’s evidence the public understands this instinctively: the EU opened euro banknote design to crowdsourcing, and several submissions would appear to be better than the official shortlist (Fast Company).
Also, Tom Hiddleston has turned into a working classicist (New York Times). Loki, of all the gods, is doing the reading.
All of our stories below.
- 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
- Who Knew Loki Would Turn Out To Be A Classicist?
“It was very clear from the word go that his heart was in classics, and it became clear fairly quickly to me that he really loved Greek tragedy, and that is a nice bridge to his acting career.” – The New York Times
- How A Romare Bearden Collage Inspired One Of August Wilson’s Best Plays
Wilson “discovered Bearden in 1977, when The Prevalence of Ritual, a 1964 series of Bearden’s collages collected in a volume, captured his attention.” – The New York Times
- 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
ISSUES
- 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
- The Philadelphia Museum Of Art Is Running Record Deficits
“The museum is covering the deficits by drawing on a pool of money that includes cash and reserves — sometimes referred to as quasi-endowment — whose use was not restricted by donors for any specific purpose.” – Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
- When You Ask The People To Redesign Your Money, Sometimes The Ideas Are Great
And sometimes? They’re meme-inspired, as the European Central Bank found out last week. – Fast Company
- Ecuador Selects A Second Design For Its New National Museum After Everybody Hated The First One
The ungainly white box proposed by Spain’s Studio Alberto Campo Baeza was greeted with online objections by over 20,000 Ecuadorians and was withdrawn earlier this month. The new design, by Tokyo-based studio SANAA, is described as “a system of interconnected vertical plazas” wrapped in rounded façades of terracotta brick. – Dezeen
- Jeff Koons Wins Case Accusing Him Of Copyright Infringement
A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld a ruling in favor of pop artist Jeff Koons in a copyright dispute with a sculptor who had accused Koons of using his sculpture without permission in a 1989 series of artworks. – Reuters
MEDIA
- 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
- In This City, The Pay-What-You-Choose Model Is Starting To Spread. How’s It Working Out So Far?
The parameters are different for each company — Opera Philadelphia, an early adopter, sets an $11 minimum — but a number of different troupes and presenters in Philly have been trying the scheme. Here are some of the lessons, expected and unexpected, that they’ve learned so far. – Broad Street Review (Philadelphia)
- Proposed Massachusetts Law Would Help Keep Arts Spaces From Being Evicted Or Priced Out
“Artist studios, rehearsal spaces and performance venues frequently contend with rent hikes and evictions as developers gobble up property across the state. … The Creative Space Act would allow municipalities to establish a trust fund to acquire cultural spaces threatened by displacement.” – WBUR (Boston)
MUSIC
- How Social Media Has Changed Book Cover Design
“Covers today are expected not only to attract readers in bookstores, but to circulate fluidly through Instagram posts, TikToks, Substack photos, and carefully curated apartment interiors. Books are now asked to function simultaneously as texts and as lifestyle objects.” – LitHub
- The Joys Of Reading Ulysses
Reading Joyce “was, and continues to be, one of the most glorious reading experiences of my life. Even your text messages fizz after you’ve been reading Joyce.” – The Guardian (UK)
- Why Did This Children’s Lit Festival Remove Comments On Diversity?
Authors said that their comments criticising the festival for its lack of representation under a post on its Instagram page were deleted, with the original post later removed and comments limited on other posts. – The Guardian
- Tips From Experts On How To Get Your Book Published
We asked five literary experts – a mix of published authors and publishing professionals – for their top tips on getting published. – The Conversation
- Why We Buy Books We Don’t Read
An unread book is a good example. It may remain closed for weeks or months, but the brain has already recognised its potential value, enjoying the prospect before the first page has been turned. – The Conversation
PEOPLE
- Every Masterpiece Is Really A Blueprint
Good Morning,
August Wilson wrote one of his best plays by staring at a Romare Bearden collage until it told him what happened next (New York Times). Not influence in the sentimental sense, but a transfer of structure across forms, he felt.
Lucy Caldwell reports that after Ulysses, even her text messages fizz differently (The Guardian). Then there’s a report that book cover design has been rebuilt around the phone screen, where a thumbnail is the first and often only impression, and designers have turned that constraint into a real new craft (Literary Hub). And as the Odyssey has its biggest cultural moment in a century, a reminder that the classical inheritance was never white Europe’s private property (The Atlantic).
The through-line: strong work isn’t only an object; it informs the next thing. Institutions sitting on collections and repertoires are sitting on maps, not inventory, which seems important as a tide of contextless synthetic art rises.
And there’s evidence the public understands this instinctively: the EU opened euro banknote design to crowdsourcing, and several submissions would appear to be better than the official shortlist (Fast Company).
Also, Tom Hiddleston has turned into a working classicist (New York Times). Loki, of all the gods, is doing the reading.
All of our stories below.
- 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
- Who Knew Loki Would Turn Out To Be A Classicist?
“It was very clear from the word go that his heart was in classics, and it became clear fairly quickly to me that he really loved Greek tragedy, and that is a nice bridge to his acting career.” – The New York Times
- How A Romare Bearden Collage Inspired One Of August Wilson’s Best Plays
Wilson “discovered Bearden in 1977, when The Prevalence of Ritual, a 1964 series of Bearden’s collages collected in a volume, captured his attention.” – The New York Times
- 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
PEOPLE
- Every Masterpiece Is Really A Blueprint
Good Morning,
August Wilson wrote one of his best plays by staring at a Romare Bearden collage until it told him what happened next (New York Times). Not influence in the sentimental sense, but a transfer of structure across forms, he felt.
Lucy Caldwell reports that after Ulysses, even her text messages fizz differently (The Guardian). Then there’s a report that book cover design has been rebuilt around the phone screen, where a thumbnail is the first and often only impression, and designers have turned that constraint into a real new craft (Literary Hub). And as the Odyssey has its biggest cultural moment in a century, a reminder that the classical inheritance was never white Europe’s private property (The Atlantic).
The through-line: strong work isn’t only an object; it informs the next thing. Institutions sitting on collections and repertoires are sitting on maps, not inventory, which seems important as a tide of contextless synthetic art rises.
And there’s evidence the public understands this instinctively: the EU opened euro banknote design to crowdsourcing, and several submissions would appear to be better than the official shortlist (Fast Company).
Also, Tom Hiddleston has turned into a working classicist (New York Times). Loki, of all the gods, is doing the reading.
All of our stories below.
- 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
- Who Knew Loki Would Turn Out To Be A Classicist?
“It was very clear from the word go that his heart was in classics, and it became clear fairly quickly to me that he really loved Greek tragedy, and that is a nice bridge to his acting career.” – The New York Times
- How A Romare Bearden Collage Inspired One Of August Wilson’s Best Plays
Wilson “discovered Bearden in 1977, when The Prevalence of Ritual, a 1964 series of Bearden’s collages collected in a volume, captured his attention.” – The New York Times
- 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
THEATRE
VISUAL
- 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
- How Hierarchy Hides in How We Think
The question is not whether the technological revolution already underway will abolish hierarchy. It will not. The question is different: what will the new currency of rank be, and will it better recognise ability, responsibility, and work, or give old advantages a new language? – 3 Quarks Daily
- Reality Is Breaking Down
The rapidly degenerating digital culture is the third leg of the stool of the “reality distortion field” that has engulfed the U.S. – Artnet
- The Power Of Coffee Houses To Change History
It was debated whether coffeehouses were truly a place of creativity or frivolous laziness. Many resolved to leave the coffeehouse behind, as if it were a vice, and then failed to kick the habit. – Aeon
- Why Costco Is Thriving As The Antithesis Of Amazon
While most retailers today assume that consumers want ever greater assortment, Costco’s popularity speaks to a countervailing desire for less choice. Indeed, the pre-selection of items for sale in their warehouses is part of the value proposition. – The Walrus