AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- What gets built in the gap
Good Morning,
The middle keeps cracking, and what’s interesting is what people are building in the gap. Jeffrey Kahane left the foundering San Antonio Philharmonic in February; today he announced a new orchestra and education initiative to replace it (San Antonio Express-News). Twin Cities midsize theaters describe themselves as “melting” as corporate and civic funding dries up (Minnesota Star Tribune). NPR is reorganizing and offering buyouts after the feds yanked $8 million from its budget (NPR).
The improvisation runs further down. UK music venues are now letting touring bands sleep in the building because the math otherwise doesn’t work (The Guardian). Artists on Instagram are bartering paintings for haircuts and groceries (The Art Newspaper). Meanwhile, Cannes is wrestling with AI as “a tsunami” (AP), and celebrities have started trademarking their own identities to fend it off (The Conversation).
Quieter notes: soprano Felicity Lott has died at 79 (The Guardian), and Herbert Blomstedt, 98, had to be wheeled offstage mid-Mahler at the San Francisco Symphony (SF Chronicle).
All of our stories below.
Doug
- Artistic Director Of Utah’s Ballet West To Step Down After 20-Year Tenure
Adam Sklute, who came to Salt Lake City in 2007, will depart at the end of next season. His tenure, the longest in Ballet West history, saw the company stabilize its finances, increase its subscriber base, triple its budget, and sextuple its school’s enrollment. – KSL (Salt Lake City)
- The Americanization Of Tourism
We’re selling vibes, textures. A sunset on the hills in Chianti, riding a bike on an island in Sicily. Imagine us discussing it in parliament with an Italian accent: l’importanza del made in Italy. We use the English expression unironically. It’s aimed at Americans. – The Dial
- Ex-San Antonio Phil Conductor Launches New Orchestra For City
As the troubled San Antonio Philharmonic, which has canceled more concerts than it has played this year, appears to edge toward collapse, Jeffrey Kahane, who resigned as the Philharmonic’s music director in February, has announced the founding of a new orchestra and education initiative called Harmonium of Texas. – San Antonio Express-News
- Pompidou And Hong Kong’s M+ Strike A Five-Year Deal To Exchange Art
The major exhibition featuring collections from both institutions will be staged first in Paris at the Centre Pompidou, after its five-year renovation, around 2029 or 2030, before being hosted at the M+ with a focus on visual culture in France and China. – South China Morning Post
ISSUES
- Pompidou And Hong Kong’s M+ Strike A Five-Year Deal To Exchange Art
The major exhibition featuring collections from both institutions will be staged first in Paris at the Centre Pompidou, after its five-year renovation, around 2029 or 2030, before being hosted at the M+ with a focus on visual culture in France and China. – South China Morning Post
- Will Paint For Food?
“If my art isn’t in your budget right now, I’ll accept the following as payment…” the viral posts on Instagram and TikTok read. The caption includes a list of items or services that the artist will trade the work for, ranging from handmade clothes, jewellery and tattoos to accommodation, meals and beauty services. – The Art Newspaper
- The (Current, As Of Last Night) 16 Most Expensive Artworks Ever Sold At Auction
Yes, the maybe-it’s-really-a-Leonardo Salvator Mundi is still number one, more than $200 million ahead of the runner-up, which made the list just last year. Meanwhile, the fourth-ranking piece set its record on Monday night. Fully half the artworks on this list were auctioned since 2020. – ARTnews
- Louvre Announces Architects For Its Coming Renovation
“The Paris office of STUDIOS Architecture will lead the project, which includes the creation of new galleries and a new lobby. … (The firm’s) recent portfolio includes the well-received renovations of the Frick Collection in New York and the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery in London.” – ARTnews
- The Artists Using San Francisco As A Canvas For Laser Shows
The San Francisco sky was lit Friday night with dozens of colored lasers beaming from the Transamerica Pyramid toward Coit Tower and One Sansome Street. – ABC7
MEDIA
- The Americanization Of Tourism
We’re selling vibes, textures. A sunset on the hills in Chianti, riding a bike on an island in Sicily. Imagine us discussing it in parliament with an Italian accent: l’importanza del made in Italy. We use the English expression unironically. It’s aimed at Americans. – The Dial
- Chicago Arts Groups Are Asking Patrons To Turn Over Their Phones At The Door
“If you want a deep dive into Chicago arts and culture, check your phone at the door: The ‘unplugged’ trend is growing locally among arts groups responding to a collective desire for more phone-free experiences.” – WBEZ (Chicago)
- France’s Top TV Production House Says It Will Blacklist Artists Who Protest Billionaire
The head of France’s biggest film producer, Canal+, has said the group will no longer work with hundreds of cinema figures who signed a petition voicing concern over the growing influence of the rightwing billionaire owner Vincent Bolloré. – The Guardian
- How AI Has Taken Over My College Education At Stanford
Stanford has always been a haven for aspiring techies, but recent events have taken the school into uncharted territory. A.I. is everything. We talk about it at the dining halls and in history classes, on dates and while smoking with friends, at the gym and in communal dorm bathrooms. – The New York Times
- Humanities Make A Comeback As AI Gobbles Up Tech Jobs
As it turns out, tech jobs may be drying up after years of students rushing to computer science. Who needs to code? AI does that for you. What AI can’t do – yet – is the stuff that makes us human: empathy, emotion, psychology, critical thinking. – Irish Times
MUSIC
- New York Magazine Investigates Contributor For Alleged Plagiarism
“Ross Barkan, who is a contract writer for the magazine, … has been accused of plagiarism after publishing at least three stories with striking similarities to other published work.” – NPR
- Judge Delays Approval Of Anthropic Authors Settlement
Calling out lawyers for requesting more than $320 million in legal fees when each author only expects a $3,000 payout, some objectors asked the court to delay approving the settlement until a more reasonable plaintiff compensation plan is constructed. – Ars Technica
- The Story Of The Community College Prof Who Suddenly Found Out Her Novel Was A Pulitzer Finalist
Stacey Levine’s Mice 1961, published by a very small press in Oregon, is “a deeply weird book, a kind-of coming-of-age comedy with no easy takeaway, full of twangy dialogue that reads like an alien in a human suit going ‘hello fellow Earthlings.’” – LitHub
- The Egyptian Mummy Buried With The Iliad
Was Greek literature a “cheat code” to the afterlife for Egyptian royals of Roman-era Egypt? – The New York Times
- A Forgotten Medieval Book In Rome Was Hiding A Copy Of The World’s First Poem In English
“Prior to the discovery of the Rome manuscript, the earliest one was from the early 12th century. So this is three centuries earlier than that. And so it attests to the importance that was already being attached to the English in the early 9th century.” – Seattle Times (AP)
PEOPLE
- What gets built in the gap
Good Morning,
The middle keeps cracking, and what’s interesting is what people are building in the gap. Jeffrey Kahane left the foundering San Antonio Philharmonic in February; today he announced a new orchestra and education initiative to replace it (San Antonio Express-News). Twin Cities midsize theaters describe themselves as “melting” as corporate and civic funding dries up (Minnesota Star Tribune). NPR is reorganizing and offering buyouts after the feds yanked $8 million from its budget (NPR).
The improvisation runs further down. UK music venues are now letting touring bands sleep in the building because the math otherwise doesn’t work (The Guardian). Artists on Instagram are bartering paintings for haircuts and groceries (The Art Newspaper). Meanwhile, Cannes is wrestling with AI as “a tsunami” (AP), and celebrities have started trademarking their own identities to fend it off (The Conversation).
Quieter notes: soprano Felicity Lott has died at 79 (The Guardian), and Herbert Blomstedt, 98, had to be wheeled offstage mid-Mahler at the San Francisco Symphony (SF Chronicle).
All of our stories below.
Doug
- Artistic Director Of Utah’s Ballet West To Step Down After 20-Year Tenure
Adam Sklute, who came to Salt Lake City in 2007, will depart at the end of next season. His tenure, the longest in Ballet West history, saw the company stabilize its finances, increase its subscriber base, triple its budget, and sextuple its school’s enrollment. – KSL (Salt Lake City)
- The Americanization Of Tourism
We’re selling vibes, textures. A sunset on the hills in Chianti, riding a bike on an island in Sicily. Imagine us discussing it in parliament with an Italian accent: l’importanza del made in Italy. We use the English expression unironically. It’s aimed at Americans. – The Dial
- Ex-San Antonio Phil Conductor Launches New Orchestra For City
As the troubled San Antonio Philharmonic, which has canceled more concerts than it has played this year, appears to edge toward collapse, Jeffrey Kahane, who resigned as the Philharmonic’s music director in February, has announced the founding of a new orchestra and education initiative called Harmonium of Texas. – San Antonio Express-News
- Pompidou And Hong Kong’s M+ Strike A Five-Year Deal To Exchange Art
The major exhibition featuring collections from both institutions will be staged first in Paris at the Centre Pompidou, after its five-year renovation, around 2029 or 2030, before being hosted at the M+ with a focus on visual culture in France and China. – South China Morning Post
PEOPLE
- What gets built in the gap
Good Morning,
The middle keeps cracking, and what’s interesting is what people are building in the gap. Jeffrey Kahane left the foundering San Antonio Philharmonic in February; today he announced a new orchestra and education initiative to replace it (San Antonio Express-News). Twin Cities midsize theaters describe themselves as “melting” as corporate and civic funding dries up (Minnesota Star Tribune). NPR is reorganizing and offering buyouts after the feds yanked $8 million from its budget (NPR).
The improvisation runs further down. UK music venues are now letting touring bands sleep in the building because the math otherwise doesn’t work (The Guardian). Artists on Instagram are bartering paintings for haircuts and groceries (The Art Newspaper). Meanwhile, Cannes is wrestling with AI as “a tsunami” (AP), and celebrities have started trademarking their own identities to fend it off (The Conversation).
Quieter notes: soprano Felicity Lott has died at 79 (The Guardian), and Herbert Blomstedt, 98, had to be wheeled offstage mid-Mahler at the San Francisco Symphony (SF Chronicle).
All of our stories below.
Doug
- Artistic Director Of Utah’s Ballet West To Step Down After 20-Year Tenure
Adam Sklute, who came to Salt Lake City in 2007, will depart at the end of next season. His tenure, the longest in Ballet West history, saw the company stabilize its finances, increase its subscriber base, triple its budget, and sextuple its school’s enrollment. – KSL (Salt Lake City)
- The Americanization Of Tourism
We’re selling vibes, textures. A sunset on the hills in Chianti, riding a bike on an island in Sicily. Imagine us discussing it in parliament with an Italian accent: l’importanza del made in Italy. We use the English expression unironically. It’s aimed at Americans. – The Dial
- Ex-San Antonio Phil Conductor Launches New Orchestra For City
As the troubled San Antonio Philharmonic, which has canceled more concerts than it has played this year, appears to edge toward collapse, Jeffrey Kahane, who resigned as the Philharmonic’s music director in February, has announced the founding of a new orchestra and education initiative called Harmonium of Texas. – San Antonio Express-News
- Pompidou And Hong Kong’s M+ Strike A Five-Year Deal To Exchange Art
The major exhibition featuring collections from both institutions will be staged first in Paris at the Centre Pompidou, after its five-year renovation, around 2029 or 2030, before being hosted at the M+ with a focus on visual culture in France and China. – South China Morning Post
THEATRE
VISUAL
- 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
- How AI Has Taken Over College Education
During the exam, students were pulling out phones and taking photographs of the test to submit to LLMs before copying down machine-written responses into their blue books. – The New Critic
- The Gamification Of Homework
Prodigy is among a bevy of gamified tools that have gained a foothold in classrooms across the country by promising to make learning fun. (As Prodigy’s website puts it: “Kids no longer have to choose between homework and playtime.”) – The Atlantic
- What Both Old And New Amadeus Teach Us
Every great artist needs a nemesis – fictional or not! – in order to stand out. – Salon
- Artists, Writers, And Musicians Experiencing Despair As Generative AI Collides With Art
“Musicians, artists and writers generally possess something AI does not, which is the lived human experience out of which they create. That experience includes the accidents, serendipities and epiphanies that shape our arts.” – KC Studio
