AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- Inside The Dysfunctional Boston Symphony
Two years. That’s how long it’s been since Andris Nelsons, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, has had a meaningful conversation with the orchestra’s chief executive Chad Smith. In fact, the two barely speak at all. – Boston Globe
- Alessandra Ferri Famously Doesn’t Follow Strategies, So How Does She Run The Vienna State Ballet?
“It’s not that I don’t have a strategy — I just don’t have one for my life. I don’t plan it. Some people define their next goal and know exactly what they want. I let things come. … I have a vision about how I want to run the company.” – Hube
- Are Movies Bad For Us?
Whether in the spirit of saving or eulogizing the industry, the question of its influence deserves serious thought. – The Atlantic
- How Madrid Renters Are Using Art To Protest Landlords
When their homes came under threat, they instinctively reached for the tools they had to hand: their social and cultural capital. That’s how an apartment block in Madrid became a stage, broadcast on every news channel. – The Guardian
- The Violin As Aesthetic Choice
Nature never produces two things that are truly identical. If art is an imitation of nature, then true art cannot be replicated. It can only be pursued. Each instrument was a singular act. – The Strad
ISSUES
- Oh, Great — Now They’ve Found Legionnaires’ Disease Bacteria At The Met Museum, Too
“The Metropolitan Museum of Art has tested positive for traces of the bacteria linked to a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, health officials announced Tuesday. The bacteria were previously detected at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, as authorities continue searching for the source of the outbreak.” – ARTnews
- Tasmania’s “Provocative” Museum Of Old And New Art To Open Branch In Bangkok
MONA, owned and run (in famously quirky style) by gambling mogul David Walsh in Australia’s island state, is slated to open its first satellite museum on the banks of the Chao Phraya River in the Thai capital in 2029. – Artnet
- Six Decades After It Was First Performed, Yoko Ono’s “Cut Piece” Is Still Frightening
Ono debuted the work at Carnegie Hall in 1964, sitting motionless onstage as people took turns cutting off her clothes with scissors. The Broad in Los Angeles is presenting Cut Piece twice this weekend across the street at REDCAT. The performer, known as MPA, is scared — but not of the scissors. – The Guardian
- Why Did Toledo Museum Of Art Cancel Its Exhibition Of Bongs?
The museum began work on “High Style: The Art of Cannabis Pipes” three years ago, thinking that increasing legalization and acceptance of marijuana made the timing good. Yet the show was cancelled this spring; museum management says it was for logistical reasons. The question: the logistics of what exactly? – The New York Times
- Major Collection Of Mexican Art, Including Kahlos And Riveras, Is Going On Tour. Angry Mexicans Fear It Won’t Come Back.
The privately-owned Gelman Santander Collection, whose 68 pieces include 10 paintings by Frida Kahlo along with works by Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, and others, is scheduled to spend two years touring Europe. Some citizens, unconvinced that the art will come home, are suing to keep it in Mexico. – Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
MEDIA
- How Madrid Renters Are Using Art To Protest Landlords
When their homes came under threat, they instinctively reached for the tools they had to hand: their social and cultural capital. That’s how an apartment block in Madrid became a stage, broadcast on every news channel. – The Guardian
- Arts And Culture In Moscow Are Starting To Resemble The Late Soviet Years
Art shows in apartments or offices, open to friends only, featuring artists forbidden to exhibit publicly. Philosophy clubs in people’s kitchens and living rooms. Small theater companies careful to refer to sensitive topics (like the Ukraine war or Putin) obliquely or not at all. A pervasive climate of fear. – The New York Times
- Trump Administration Removes Mentions Of Slavery From Site Of George Washington’s House In Philadelphia
“The original panels” — removed on Wednesday following a court decision — “were put in place in 2010 and told the story of how nine slaves lived in the home along with George and Martha Washington in the 1790s, when Philadelphia was briefly the nation’s capital.” – AP
- Foreign Artists Are Skipping The US Because Of Broken Visa Process
The time it takes to process a visa has dramatically increased. The number of available interview slots at U.S. embassies is backlogged. Application costs have surged. And there’s an added layer of uncertainty: paperwork can be perfect, fees can be paid, and yet artists still can be turned away at the border. – NPR
- What Happens To Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center Without Robert Wilson?
“’Bob was always saying he didn’t want Watermill to become an institution,’ said Charles Chemin, Watermill’s new artistic director. ‘He didn’t want to create a Bob Wilson school. But Watermill is filled with the vision of Bob Wilson, with his unique form of composition and his unique way of collaborating.’” – The New York Times
MUSIC
- PEN America’s Co-CEO Defends Article On Israel That Prompted Organization’s President To Resign
“The article, ‘A Silent Moratorium,’ explores the harassment and professional challenges that Israeli and Jewish authors have experienced since the (Gaza War). … The chief executives knew the article could be controversial, … but the idea for it had come out of conversations with writers starting last year, and it felt ‘critical’ to pursue.” – The New York Times
- No, AI Is Not Killing Reading
AI summaries differ in speed, scale, and uncertain accuracy, but not in their basic educational function. They compress and translate. They can provide a map before we enter unfamiliar territory. – AI In
- Utah’s Board Of Education Bans Stephen King’s “Different Seasons”
“It’s a collection that includes stories which inspired the acclaimed movies ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ and ‘Stand By Me’. Libraries in (four) school districts removed the book. Under a 2022 Utah law, that means it can be removed from schools statewide, since at least three districts banned it.” – Utah Public Radio
- “Catcher In The Rye” At 75
Pour out a Scotch and soda — make that a malted milk — for this spry codger of a novel that’s stayed on the dance floor long past when might be expected, leaping over book bans from the right and dodging cancellation from the left. – The New York Times
- Major Publishers Sue Google Contending Unprecedented Copyright Infringement
A group of major publishers have filed a lawsuit against Google, accusing the company of illegally using millions of copyrighted books to help build its Gemini artificial intelligence models, in “one of the most prolific infringements of copyrighted materials in history”. – The Guardian
PEOPLE
- Inside The Dysfunctional Boston Symphony
Two years. That’s how long it’s been since Andris Nelsons, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, has had a meaningful conversation with the orchestra’s chief executive Chad Smith. In fact, the two barely speak at all. – Boston Globe
- Alessandra Ferri Famously Doesn’t Follow Strategies, So How Does She Run The Vienna State Ballet?
“It’s not that I don’t have a strategy — I just don’t have one for my life. I don’t plan it. Some people define their next goal and know exactly what they want. I let things come. … I have a vision about how I want to run the company.” – Hube
- Are Movies Bad For Us?
Whether in the spirit of saving or eulogizing the industry, the question of its influence deserves serious thought. – The Atlantic
- How Madrid Renters Are Using Art To Protest Landlords
When their homes came under threat, they instinctively reached for the tools they had to hand: their social and cultural capital. That’s how an apartment block in Madrid became a stage, broadcast on every news channel. – The Guardian
- The Violin As Aesthetic Choice
Nature never produces two things that are truly identical. If art is an imitation of nature, then true art cannot be replicated. It can only be pursued. Each instrument was a singular act. – The Strad
PEOPLE
- Inside The Dysfunctional Boston Symphony
Two years. That’s how long it’s been since Andris Nelsons, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, has had a meaningful conversation with the orchestra’s chief executive Chad Smith. In fact, the two barely speak at all. – Boston Globe
- Alessandra Ferri Famously Doesn’t Follow Strategies, So How Does She Run The Vienna State Ballet?
“It’s not that I don’t have a strategy — I just don’t have one for my life. I don’t plan it. Some people define their next goal and know exactly what they want. I let things come. … I have a vision about how I want to run the company.” – Hube
- Are Movies Bad For Us?
Whether in the spirit of saving or eulogizing the industry, the question of its influence deserves serious thought. – The Atlantic
- How Madrid Renters Are Using Art To Protest Landlords
When their homes came under threat, they instinctively reached for the tools they had to hand: their social and cultural capital. That’s how an apartment block in Madrid became a stage, broadcast on every news channel. – The Guardian
- The Violin As Aesthetic Choice
Nature never produces two things that are truly identical. If art is an imitation of nature, then true art cannot be replicated. It can only be pursued. Each instrument was a singular act. – The Strad
THEATRE
VISUAL
- What If Americans Just Don’t Want To Participate In Community?
Over and over again, Americans choose to sever bonds that connect us with each other: We move away from our hometowns, we leave our churches, we quit our unions, we quit our parties, we stay in instead of going out, we donate instead of volunteering, we let friendships fade away. – Matt Pearce
- How Foucault Anticipated What’s Happening Today
“What Is an Author?” predicted a future where old ideas about authorship would give way to new questions about technology and power. “What are the modes of existence of this discourse?” Foucault asked. “Where does it come from, how is it circulated” and — perhaps most important — “who controls it?” – The New York Times
- The Canadians Who Want To Stop AI In Its Tracks
Canadians are hugely wary: a Leger poll found 85 percent of respondents want the government to regulate the technology. But that number doesn’t convey just how frightened many are. – The Walrus
- Silicon Valley’s Science Fiction Problem
Steve Wozniak, Apple’s co-founder, gave expression to this ethos in 2017 when he said: ‘We are the people who make fantasies real.’ It sounds inspiring, but it is important to know which parts of those fantasies they’re choosing, and which parts they’re leaving out. – Aeon
- Is It Really Possible To Map The Odyssey?
The ancient Greek polymath Eratosthenes, who was the first person to measure the circumference of the Earth, disputed that the Odyssey had anything to do with geography. He said: “You will find the scene of the wanderings of Odysseus when you find the cobbler who sewed up the bag of the winds.” – The Conversation