AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- Good Morning
Today’s AJ highlights a culture war that has moved from rhetoric to the physical infrastructure of our institutions, where national monuments are being scrubbed of history and the raw materials of knowledge are being shredded for data.
The epicenter is Washington. Philip Glass has withdrawn the world premiere of his Symphony No. 15 from the Kennedy Center, explicitly stating that the institution’s current values are in “direct conflict” with his portrait of Abraham Lincoln (The Washington Post (Yahoo!)). Donald Trump has taken to Truth Social to wash his hands of the Center’s “massive deficits,” claiming he merely tried to save it (The Daily Beast). The erasing of unwanted narratives is spreading: National Parks have been ordered to remove displays related to climate change and the mistreatment of Native Americans to comply with directives on “restoring truth” (Washington Post).
In the digital realm, the cost of “synthetic” culture is becoming real. Court filings reveal that Anthropic spent millions to slice the spines off books to feed its AI models (Washington Post), a stunningly destructive act. And for what — researchers say this ingestion has produced synthetic culture akin to “visual elevator music”—polished, pleasant, and ultimately stagnant (The Conversation).
Finally, the economic landscape is forcing a patchwork of hard choices. While museums across the U.S. are rethinking their strategies amid funding cuts and attendance drops (The Art Newspaper), and the Cliburn Amateur Piano Competition is shutting down for good (The Violin Channel), Broadway has found a rare exception: “The Outsiders” has defied the odds for new musicals by officially turning a profit (The New York Times).
All of today’s stories below.
- Finally, A New Broadway Musical Is Turning A Profit
“The Outsiders, … which opened in April 2024 and won the Tony Award for best new musical two months later, has recouped its $22 million capitalization costs. … The milestone, though occasionally achieved by plays and musical revivals, is an increasingly rare one for new musicals.” – The New York Times
- Study: AI “Creativity” Leads To Cultural Stagnation
The researchers called the outcomes “visual elevator music” – pleasant and polished, yet devoid of any real meaning. – The Conversation
- Trump Tries To Shift Blame For “Massive Deficit” At Kennedy Center
He posted on Truth Social, referring to cascading cancellations and plummeting ticket sales, “People don’t realize that The Trump Kennedy Center suffered massive deficits for many years and, like everything else, I merely came in to save it and, if possible, make it far better than ever before!” – The Daily Beast
- It’s An Old Question, But Let’s Consider Art Versus Entertainment
Entertainment is about diversion and pleasure. Fun. It occupies our attention, distracts us from boredom, and amuses. But many things in life can do that: food, games, conversation, idle distractions. If we define art solely as entertainment, we risk conflating it with any activity that gives pleasure, and end up with nothing distinctive about art. – 3Quarks Daily
ISSUES
- Report: Financial Pressure Have Museums Rethinking Strategies
Over 50% of the AAM survey’s respondents reported fewer visitors than in 2019 and 29% reported “declines tied to weakened travel and tourism and/or economic uncertainty”. This, of course, varies hugely from state to state. – The Art Newspaper
- Thieves Steal The Entire Collection Of Silver From A Silver Museum
Before dawn last Wednesday, two men broke into the Silver Museum in the Dutch city of Doesburg and stole every piece there except a few ceramic items on temporary display. – ARTnews
- Philadelphia Sues Trump Over Removal Of Memorial Of Enslaved People
Workers on Thursday removed the exhibit, which included biographical details about the nine people enslaved by the Washingtons at the presidential mansion. Just their names — Austin, Paris, Hercules, Christopher Sheels, Richmond, Giles, Oney Judge, Moll and Joe — remain engraved into a cement wall. – Bucks County Beacon
- Visual Arts Infrastructure In The UK Has Been Vastly Underfunded For Years
A new, private foundation wants to counter that with some funding. – The Guardian (UK)
- Little Did We Suspect That Viral Animal Videos Would Portend The Return To Prominence Of This Cartoon
Cows. Tools. Gary Larson. Need we say more? – NPR
MEDIA
- Trump Tries To Shift Blame For “Massive Deficit” At Kennedy Center
He posted on Truth Social, referring to cascading cancellations and plummeting ticket sales, “People don’t realize that The Trump Kennedy Center suffered massive deficits for many years and, like everything else, I merely came in to save it and, if possible, make it far better than ever before!” – The Daily Beast
- National Parks Pull Historical Signs And Displays To Comply With New Trump Directives
Trump officials have ordered national parks to remove dozens of signs and displays related to climate change, environmental protection and settlers’ mistreatment of Native Americans in a renewed push to implement President Donald Trump’s executive order on “restoring truth and sanity to American history.” – Washington Post
- Understanding The Trade In Culture Between The US And Canada
In 2023, the United States accounts for roughly two-thirds of all cultural exports ($18.1 billion, or 67%) and imports ($22.2 billion, or 62%). Canada had a $4.2 billion trade deficit with the USA in 2023. – Statistical Insights on the Arts
- The UK Has Announced £1.5B Investment In The Arts. So…
A £1.5 billion investment is welcome news for a sector buffeted by years of austerity and inflation (not to mention the long tail of pandemic shutdowns). But the devil is in the detail, as ever, and the wider context: definitions of “infrastructure” beyond the landmarks, and its relationship to cultural workers. – The Conversation
- Salman Rushdie On Violence And Culture
“For the authoritarian, culture is the enemy,” he added. “The uncultured and ignorant and tyrannical don’t like it. And they take steps against it, which we see every day.” – The Guardian
MUSIC
- How Anthropic Scanned And Destroyed Millions Of Books Into Its AI Model
Within about a year, according to the filings, the company had spent tens of millions of dollars to acquire and slice the spines off millions of books, before scanning their pages to feed more knowledge into the AI models behind products such as its popular chatbot Claude. – Washington Post
- What The New California Version Of The New York Post Is After
Says Nick Papps, founding editor-in-chief of the Murdoch tabloid California Post, “We’ll have the wit of the New York Post headlines, which is really important to it. … We want to be disruptors. We want to challenge status quos. We want to shake things up.” – TheWrap (MSN)
- Legal Teams Across The US Organize To Fight School And Library Book Bans
“Across America, publishers, libraries, and literary organizations are building a formidable litigation slate to ensure the availability of books in public and school libraries.” – Publishers Weekly
- How Book Reviews Became Book Slop
Lydia Kiesling reflects on how book coverage devolved into bloated, AI-adjacent list culture, tracing her own path through The Millions and the broader media collapse. – The Baffler
- Wikipedia Has Been Cataloging The “Tells” Of AI Writing. Here’s A List
The source material is a guide from WikiProject AI Cleanup, a group of Wikipedia editors who have been hunting AI-generated articles since late 2023. – Ars Technica
PEOPLE
- Good Morning
Today’s AJ highlights a culture war that has moved from rhetoric to the physical infrastructure of our institutions, where national monuments are being scrubbed of history and the raw materials of knowledge are being shredded for data.
The epicenter is Washington. Philip Glass has withdrawn the world premiere of his Symphony No. 15 from the Kennedy Center, explicitly stating that the institution’s current values are in “direct conflict” with his portrait of Abraham Lincoln (The Washington Post (Yahoo!)). Donald Trump has taken to Truth Social to wash his hands of the Center’s “massive deficits,” claiming he merely tried to save it (The Daily Beast). The erasing of unwanted narratives is spreading: National Parks have been ordered to remove displays related to climate change and the mistreatment of Native Americans to comply with directives on “restoring truth” (Washington Post).
In the digital realm, the cost of “synthetic” culture is becoming real. Court filings reveal that Anthropic spent millions to slice the spines off books to feed its AI models (Washington Post), a stunningly destructive act. And for what — researchers say this ingestion has produced synthetic culture akin to “visual elevator music”—polished, pleasant, and ultimately stagnant (The Conversation).
Finally, the economic landscape is forcing a patchwork of hard choices. While museums across the U.S. are rethinking their strategies amid funding cuts and attendance drops (The Art Newspaper), and the Cliburn Amateur Piano Competition is shutting down for good (The Violin Channel), Broadway has found a rare exception: “The Outsiders” has defied the odds for new musicals by officially turning a profit (The New York Times).
All of today’s stories below.
- Finally, A New Broadway Musical Is Turning A Profit
“The Outsiders, … which opened in April 2024 and won the Tony Award for best new musical two months later, has recouped its $22 million capitalization costs. … The milestone, though occasionally achieved by plays and musical revivals, is an increasingly rare one for new musicals.” – The New York Times
- Study: AI “Creativity” Leads To Cultural Stagnation
The researchers called the outcomes “visual elevator music” – pleasant and polished, yet devoid of any real meaning. – The Conversation
- Trump Tries To Shift Blame For “Massive Deficit” At Kennedy Center
He posted on Truth Social, referring to cascading cancellations and plummeting ticket sales, “People don’t realize that The Trump Kennedy Center suffered massive deficits for many years and, like everything else, I merely came in to save it and, if possible, make it far better than ever before!” – The Daily Beast
- It’s An Old Question, But Let’s Consider Art Versus Entertainment
Entertainment is about diversion and pleasure. Fun. It occupies our attention, distracts us from boredom, and amuses. But many things in life can do that: food, games, conversation, idle distractions. If we define art solely as entertainment, we risk conflating it with any activity that gives pleasure, and end up with nothing distinctive about art. – 3Quarks Daily
PEOPLE
- Good Morning
Today’s AJ highlights a culture war that has moved from rhetoric to the physical infrastructure of our institutions, where national monuments are being scrubbed of history and the raw materials of knowledge are being shredded for data.
The epicenter is Washington. Philip Glass has withdrawn the world premiere of his Symphony No. 15 from the Kennedy Center, explicitly stating that the institution’s current values are in “direct conflict” with his portrait of Abraham Lincoln (The Washington Post (Yahoo!)). Donald Trump has taken to Truth Social to wash his hands of the Center’s “massive deficits,” claiming he merely tried to save it (The Daily Beast). The erasing of unwanted narratives is spreading: National Parks have been ordered to remove displays related to climate change and the mistreatment of Native Americans to comply with directives on “restoring truth” (Washington Post).
In the digital realm, the cost of “synthetic” culture is becoming real. Court filings reveal that Anthropic spent millions to slice the spines off books to feed its AI models (Washington Post), a stunningly destructive act. And for what — researchers say this ingestion has produced synthetic culture akin to “visual elevator music”—polished, pleasant, and ultimately stagnant (The Conversation).
Finally, the economic landscape is forcing a patchwork of hard choices. While museums across the U.S. are rethinking their strategies amid funding cuts and attendance drops (The Art Newspaper), and the Cliburn Amateur Piano Competition is shutting down for good (The Violin Channel), Broadway has found a rare exception: “The Outsiders” has defied the odds for new musicals by officially turning a profit (The New York Times).
All of today’s stories below.
- Finally, A New Broadway Musical Is Turning A Profit
“The Outsiders, … which opened in April 2024 and won the Tony Award for best new musical two months later, has recouped its $22 million capitalization costs. … The milestone, though occasionally achieved by plays and musical revivals, is an increasingly rare one for new musicals.” – The New York Times
- Study: AI “Creativity” Leads To Cultural Stagnation
The researchers called the outcomes “visual elevator music” – pleasant and polished, yet devoid of any real meaning. – The Conversation
- Trump Tries To Shift Blame For “Massive Deficit” At Kennedy Center
He posted on Truth Social, referring to cascading cancellations and plummeting ticket sales, “People don’t realize that The Trump Kennedy Center suffered massive deficits for many years and, like everything else, I merely came in to save it and, if possible, make it far better than ever before!” – The Daily Beast
- It’s An Old Question, But Let’s Consider Art Versus Entertainment
Entertainment is about diversion and pleasure. Fun. It occupies our attention, distracts us from boredom, and amuses. But many things in life can do that: food, games, conversation, idle distractions. If we define art solely as entertainment, we risk conflating it with any activity that gives pleasure, and end up with nothing distinctive about art. – 3Quarks Daily
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Study: AI “Creativity” Leads To Cultural Stagnation
The researchers called the outcomes “visual elevator music” – pleasant and polished, yet devoid of any real meaning. – The Conversation
- It’s An Old Question, But Let’s Consider Art Versus Entertainment
Entertainment is about diversion and pleasure. Fun. It occupies our attention, distracts us from boredom, and amuses. But many things in life can do that: food, games, conversation, idle distractions. If we define art solely as entertainment, we risk conflating it with any activity that gives pleasure, and end up with nothing distinctive about art. – 3Quarks Daily
- How Do We Compete When “Excellence” Is No Longer The Quality That Stands Out?
The question is no longer just “How do we play Beethoven better?” but “How do we survive as a cultural institution in a digitized, competitive economy?” in a way to convince 21st-century society that it is still worthy? – LinkedIn
- Culture Change: Santa Fe Ties Its Minimum Wage To Cost-Of-Living
Starting next year, Santa Fe will become the first U.S. city to explicitly link the high cost of housing to the minimum wage. – Governing
- The Allure Of “Lost” Civilizations
Who doesn’t want to know how a lost civilization got lost, or where it might be hiding? The trouble is that what gets touted as a lost civilization often turns out to have been there all along. – The New Yorker
