AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- Be on the lookout for the punchline
Good Morning,
Homeland Security has circulated a “be on the lookout” alert to law enforcement nationwide for a comedian whose satire of immigration enforcement went viral (The Guardian). File it next to the universities quietly disinviting commencement speakers who might say something challenging (The Conversation), and the plan to build a 250-foot triumphal arch on the strength of a permission slip Congress signed 101 years ago (The Washington Post). Three different mechanisms — a watchlist, a heckler’s veto and a century-old loophole — are all determining who or what gets to occupy public space and what doesn’t. Turbulent times, my friends, turbulent times…
Elsewhere the question is gentler: not who gets silenced, but who is paying to keep culture alive. New Zealand is handing most of its arts-funding decisions to as many as 16 regional bodies (The Big Idea), a Finnish museum is covering four artists’ salaries and health insurance outright (The Art Newspaper) in a radical rethink of how to support artists (remember yesterday’s story about music venues in the UK allowing touring bands a place to sleep after their gigs), and Canada’s culture regulator just told streamers they will have to spend 15 percent of their revenue on Canadian content (AP) if they want to operate in the Great White North. Three countries, three evolving notions of where cultural support should come from.
And in a file marked the audience always finds a way: Seattle Opera held its first official Furry Night, led by the baritone singing Escamillo — better known to the fandom as Chester the Geroo (The Stranger).
All of our stories below. Have a great Memorial Day weekend.
Doug
- The Robot Fight Clubs Of San Francisco Are Now Having Dance Wars
Yes, this is a thing. – The San Francisco Standard
- Is Arts Criticism A Moral Good?
We no longer argue about whether art as such is a matter of life and death—we assume that it’s not. Consequently, critics aren’t prompted to ask about the political valence of their own activity: Is criticism itself a moral good? – Artforum
- One Of Chicago’s Veteran Music Critics Writes An Opera About His Holocaust-Survivor Mother
In 2019, Howard Reich, longtime jazz critic of the Chicago Tribune, published The Art of Inventing Hope, based on conversations with Elie Wiesel and Reich’s mother’s experiences in WWII Poland. He has now adapted that book into an opera libretto, The Dialogue of Memories, with music by Tom Cipullo. – WTTW (Chicago)
- Potential Strike On London’s West End After Actors Vote
An indicative ballot held by the performing arts union, Equity, was overwhelmingly backed by its membership: 98% voted yes to potential strikes. The result means the union now has the right to have a statutory ballot on taking industrial action. – The Guardian
ISSUES
- Philadelphia Museum Of Art Remakes Its Leadership Team
Daniel Weiss took over as director and CEO in December after the dismissal of former leader Sasha Suda. He has rolled back some of the decisions made during her tenure, including the brief renaming of the museum as the “Philadelphia Art Museum,” or PhAM. And now new leaders in finance and human resources. – Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
- Finnish Museum Tries Radical Support Plan For Artists
The museum has committed to supporting four artists over the next several years—P. Staff, Tarik Kiswanson, Jenna Sutela and Eglė Budvytytė—in four distinct ways: acquiring their work throughout the period; financially supporting external production; providing a part-time stipend for a year to alleviate financial pressure; and covering health insurance for a year. – The Art Newspaper
- Officials Say Congressional Approval To Build Trump’s Triumphal Arch Was Granted 101 Years Ago
“The Trump administration does not plan to seek approval from Congress for President Donald Trump’s planned 250-foot arch, arguing that they do not need it because lawmakers a century ago authorized a somewhat similar project that was never built.” – The Washington Post
- No Transparency: Palm Springs Museum Refuses To Release Report On Investigation Into Fraud And Theft
The whistleblower complaint made numerous detailed allegations. Among them are claims that the museum improperly reclassified funds in its endowment to meet cash crunches. – ARTnews
- Paris Judge Rejects Attempt To Block New Windows Commissioned For Notre-Dame
“A Paris judge has rejected a request to halt the removal of six 19th-century stained-glass windows by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc from Notre-Dame Cathedral, which are to be replaced by government-commissioned contemporary works (by artist Claire Tabouret).” – ARTnews
MEDIA
- New Zealand To Decentralize Arts Funding, Awarding Most Grants Regionally
The national government’s arts agency, Creative New Zealand, plans to have most funding decisions (excepting international projects and national companies such as the NZ Symphony and Royal NZ Ballet) made by up to 16 independent regional organizations. – The Big Idea (New Zealand)
- Universities Are Canceling Commencement Speakers Who Might Be Controversial
Some students only want people who hold similar views to address them at their graduation. They exercise what free speech law experts call a “heckler’s veto,” meaning when an audience’s reaction, or anticipated response, stops someone from speaking. – The Conversation
- US Homeland Security Puts Out Alert For Comedian Who Created A Satire Website
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has circulated a “Be on the Lookout” alert to law enforcement nationwide, targeting a comedian whose satire of US immigration enforcement went viral. – The Guardian
- Trump Panel Approves Trump Arch
Thursday’s vote by the Commission of Fine Arts, whose job is to vet the design of monuments and other major projects in the capital, represents a key approval as the White House seeks to begin construction. – Washington Post
- National Trust Lists America’s 11 Most-Endangered Historic Places
Among those selected are two sites that have drawn the ire of the Trump administration, the Stonewall National Monument in New York, often considered the birthplace of the gay right’s movement, and the President’s House Site in Philadelphia, which served as the presidential home prior to the capital’s relocation to Washington. – ARTnews
MUSIC
- Chicago Tribune Strikes Last-Minute Agreement To Buy Suburban Paper Daily Herald
The Tribune, owned by finance firm Alden Global Capital, landed the deal to purchase the employee-owned Herald (based in northwestern suburb Arlington Heights) after several full-page ads, an 11th-hour bid and (probably) a premium price. – Chicago Tribune (Yahoo!)
- The Perils Of Writing With AI When You Don’t Check
My fellow nonfiction writers: AI can be a helpful tool. If you rely on it for factual accuracy you are putting your reputation, your career, your very livelihood in peril. – The AI Humanist
- Short Story Which Won Prize Last Week Is Now Thought To Be Written By AI
“’The Serpent in the Grove’ was named as the winning entry for the Commonwealth Prize from the Caribbean on Saturday and published in Granta magazine. … Shortly (afterward), internet sleuths — and a few literary critics — seized upon the work and its author, Jamir Nazir, reportedly a 61-year-old from Trinidad with few publications to his name.” – The Guardian
- Pirated Audiobooks Voiced By AI Bots Are All Over YouTube
“While piracy has long been an issue for the book business, the rapid rise of unauthorized audiobooks” — typically with vocally flat narration and unrelated visuals — “on YouTube, which publishers and authors believe are eroding sales for their books, poses a new challenge for the industry.” – The New York Times
- Author Of A Book About AI And Truth Admits Some Of His Book Was Written By AI With Fake Quotes
The author of a nonfiction book about the effects of artificial intelligence on truth acknowledged on Monday that he had included numerous made-up or misattributed quotes concocted by A.I. – The New York Times
PEOPLE
- Be on the lookout for the punchline
Good Morning,
Homeland Security has circulated a “be on the lookout” alert to law enforcement nationwide for a comedian whose satire of immigration enforcement went viral (The Guardian). File it next to the universities quietly disinviting commencement speakers who might say something challenging (The Conversation), and the plan to build a 250-foot triumphal arch on the strength of a permission slip Congress signed 101 years ago (The Washington Post). Three different mechanisms — a watchlist, a heckler’s veto and a century-old loophole — are all determining who or what gets to occupy public space and what doesn’t. Turbulent times, my friends, turbulent times…
Elsewhere the question is gentler: not who gets silenced, but who is paying to keep culture alive. New Zealand is handing most of its arts-funding decisions to as many as 16 regional bodies (The Big Idea), a Finnish museum is covering four artists’ salaries and health insurance outright (The Art Newspaper) in a radical rethink of how to support artists (remember yesterday’s story about music venues in the UK allowing touring bands a place to sleep after their gigs), and Canada’s culture regulator just told streamers they will have to spend 15 percent of their revenue on Canadian content (AP) if they want to operate in the Great White North. Three countries, three evolving notions of where cultural support should come from.
And in a file marked the audience always finds a way: Seattle Opera held its first official Furry Night, led by the baritone singing Escamillo — better known to the fandom as Chester the Geroo (The Stranger).
All of our stories below. Have a great Memorial Day weekend.
Doug
- The Robot Fight Clubs Of San Francisco Are Now Having Dance Wars
Yes, this is a thing. – The San Francisco Standard
- Is Arts Criticism A Moral Good?
We no longer argue about whether art as such is a matter of life and death—we assume that it’s not. Consequently, critics aren’t prompted to ask about the political valence of their own activity: Is criticism itself a moral good? – Artforum
- One Of Chicago’s Veteran Music Critics Writes An Opera About His Holocaust-Survivor Mother
In 2019, Howard Reich, longtime jazz critic of the Chicago Tribune, published The Art of Inventing Hope, based on conversations with Elie Wiesel and Reich’s mother’s experiences in WWII Poland. He has now adapted that book into an opera libretto, The Dialogue of Memories, with music by Tom Cipullo. – WTTW (Chicago)
- Potential Strike On London’s West End After Actors Vote
An indicative ballot held by the performing arts union, Equity, was overwhelmingly backed by its membership: 98% voted yes to potential strikes. The result means the union now has the right to have a statutory ballot on taking industrial action. – The Guardian
PEOPLE
- Be on the lookout for the punchline
Good Morning,
Homeland Security has circulated a “be on the lookout” alert to law enforcement nationwide for a comedian whose satire of immigration enforcement went viral (The Guardian). File it next to the universities quietly disinviting commencement speakers who might say something challenging (The Conversation), and the plan to build a 250-foot triumphal arch on the strength of a permission slip Congress signed 101 years ago (The Washington Post). Three different mechanisms — a watchlist, a heckler’s veto and a century-old loophole — are all determining who or what gets to occupy public space and what doesn’t. Turbulent times, my friends, turbulent times…
Elsewhere the question is gentler: not who gets silenced, but who is paying to keep culture alive. New Zealand is handing most of its arts-funding decisions to as many as 16 regional bodies (The Big Idea), a Finnish museum is covering four artists’ salaries and health insurance outright (The Art Newspaper) in a radical rethink of how to support artists (remember yesterday’s story about music venues in the UK allowing touring bands a place to sleep after their gigs), and Canada’s culture regulator just told streamers they will have to spend 15 percent of their revenue on Canadian content (AP) if they want to operate in the Great White North. Three countries, three evolving notions of where cultural support should come from.
And in a file marked the audience always finds a way: Seattle Opera held its first official Furry Night, led by the baritone singing Escamillo — better known to the fandom as Chester the Geroo (The Stranger).
All of our stories below. Have a great Memorial Day weekend.
Doug
- The Robot Fight Clubs Of San Francisco Are Now Having Dance Wars
Yes, this is a thing. – The San Francisco Standard
- Is Arts Criticism A Moral Good?
We no longer argue about whether art as such is a matter of life and death—we assume that it’s not. Consequently, critics aren’t prompted to ask about the political valence of their own activity: Is criticism itself a moral good? – Artforum
- One Of Chicago’s Veteran Music Critics Writes An Opera About His Holocaust-Survivor Mother
In 2019, Howard Reich, longtime jazz critic of the Chicago Tribune, published The Art of Inventing Hope, based on conversations with Elie Wiesel and Reich’s mother’s experiences in WWII Poland. He has now adapted that book into an opera libretto, The Dialogue of Memories, with music by Tom Cipullo. – WTTW (Chicago)
- Potential Strike On London’s West End After Actors Vote
An indicative ballot held by the performing arts union, Equity, was overwhelmingly backed by its membership: 98% voted yes to potential strikes. The result means the union now has the right to have a statutory ballot on taking industrial action. – The Guardian
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Is Arts Criticism A Moral Good?
We no longer argue about whether art as such is a matter of life and death—we assume that it’s not. Consequently, critics aren’t prompted to ask about the political valence of their own activity: Is criticism itself a moral good? – Artforum
- AI Passes Turing Test For The First Time
Researchers discovered that when equipped with specific “persona” prompts, advanced models like GPT-4.5 were judged to be human 73% of the time, significantly outperforming actual human participants and fundamentally altering our understanding of machine intelligence. – Neuroscience News
- How Does Your Brain Process Beauty?
“Neuroaesthetics is a search to give a value, a quantity, to beauty—to locate it, perhaps, in the brain and in the heart.” – Smithsonian
- Always On: Pretty Much Everything We Do Now Is Being Recorded
The next time you conduct a delicate bit of office diplomacy or share a romantic or financial secret with a friend over drinks, a sensor built into someone’s glasses, necklace, or lapel pin might be watching you and listening. – The Atlantic
- The Slop Before The AI Slop
In 1962, a programmer at Librascope, a California-based defense contractor, announced that “a computer can be programmed to write meaningful and relevant sentences in proper English.” – The New Yorker
