AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- Good Morning
The Live Nation antitrust trial opened this week, with the government arguing the company uses its grip on venues to coerce artists into using its promotion services — a vertical squeeze that’s defined the live music business for years (The New York Times). Also on the question of who controls creative work: the Supreme Court declined to revisit AI copyright, leaving machine-made art without legal protection and the more pressing question — who profits when creativity gets automated — unresolved (Artnet). [see my take on this here (Diacritical)
Funding cuts keep finding their way into local institutions. Buffalo Toronto Public Media is reshuffling programming across two stations after losing $2.2 million in annual federal support (Inside Radio). The cancelled Pompidou Center Jersey City is now slated to become affordable housing — with Kushner Real Estate as the development partner (Gothamist).
In downtown Los Angeles, an artist installed a performance venue disguised as a utility box in the Arts District — police stopped her during installation, suspecting copper wire theft. Inside: a stage for experimental artists who’ve run out of more official options (Los Angeles Times).
All of our stories below.
- Meet The Last Of The Signpainters For The Markets Of Naples
“Announcing the clementines, artichokes and other goods on offer are cheerful, hand-painted signs in sun-bright lettering. Quotidian but also quintessential, the signs have become emblems of Naples’s vibrancy. … Pasquale De Stefano is, by consensus, the last living numeraio — or number painter — in Naples.” – The New York Times
- Universities As Practical Job Creators? We Ought To Do Better Than That!
An education spent in pursuit of material comfort and convenience is a recipe for unhappiness, an existence in thrall to the raw, hungry American mantra of success, “More! More!” – LA Review of Books
- Ballerinas Learn To Partner Each Other For Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s New Piece
Gentleman Jack, premiering this weekend at England’s Northern Ballet in Leeds, is Lopez Ochoa’s adaptation of a 2019 television series about Anne Lister, a 19th-century landowner considered to be one of the first modern lesbians known to us. – The New York Times
- When Pop Culture Has a Half-Life of Six Months
Kids giggling at “six-seven” reveals the brutal math of digital culture: references expire faster than milk. What happens when shared cultural touchstones become as fleeting as TikTok trends? Generational gaps now measure in weeks, not decades. — Common Reader
ISSUES
- Meet The Last Of The Signpainters For The Markets Of Naples
“Announcing the clementines, artichokes and other goods on offer are cheerful, hand-painted signs in sun-bright lettering. Quotidian but also quintessential, the signs have become emblems of Naples’s vibrancy. … Pasquale De Stefano is, by consensus, the last living numeraio — or number painter — in Naples.” – The New York Times
- Buckminster Fuller Sculpture Collapses Following Snowstorm
The piece, installed outdoors at the LongHouse Reserve on the South Fork of eastern Long Island, is one of only five existing versions of Fuller’s Fly’s Eye Dome. The roof of the fiberglass structure caved in under the weight of the heavy snow which fell in late February. – Artnet
- Site Of Cancelled Pompidou Center Jersey City May Become Affordable Housing
“Jersey City Mayor James Solomon, who took office in January” and killed the project shortly afterward, “announced Monday that the city would work with Kushner Real Estate Group on new plans for the Artwalk Towers development.” – Gothamist
- Painting Unseen For 65 Years Authenticated As Rembrandt
The artwork, Vision of Zacharias in the Temple, has been in private hands since 1961, a year after art historians declared it not to be by Rembrandt. After two years of examination with state-of-the-art equipment, experts at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum have now reversed that earlier assessment. – AP
- Indianapolis Museum Of Art Has Closed Its High-Tech Immersive Art Space
The museum opened the 30,000-square-foot space, called the Lume, in 2021 with a 150-projector installation emblazoning images of Van Gogh’s paintings across the walls and floor. – The Indianapolis Star (Yahoo!)
MEDIA
- LA’s Art Gold Rush Ends, Actual Work Begins
The carpetbaggers have packed their Hermès bags and fled back east. What remains? The unglamorous business of building a real art scene—one gallery lease and artist studio at a time. — Artnet
- Supreme Court to AI Art: Sorry, Humans Only
The high court declined to revisit whether algorithms can hold copyright, leaving AI creations in legal limbo. While tech bros rage and traditional artists breathe easier, the real question remains: who profits when creativity gets automated? — Artnet
- The Role Of Arts And Culture In Turbulent Times
When the news and social media are flooded with opposing interpretations of events, outright lies, and about a zillion editorial style video shorts that offer about a zillion different opinions, art and culture can bring the reality and humanity of the headlines to light. – Ludwig Van
- Downtown L.A.’s Latest, And Smallest, Performance Venue Looks Like An Electrical Box
Indeed, when artist S.C. Mero was installing it in the Arts District, police stopped her, concerned she was ripping out copper wire. Inside, the Electrical Box Theatre is “an impromptu performance space for the sort of experimental artists who no longer have an outlet in downtown’s galleries or more refined stages.” – Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
- Should AI Be Used In Grantmaking? If So, How?
Arts-minded folks are likely to hate the idea, but there are pressures which could push toward it: increasing application volumes, limited staff capacity, and mounting expectations for speed and consistency in decision-making (not least from board members). Could grantmakers use AI responsibly? – SMU DataArts
MUSIC
- Who Wrote This? The Age-Old Question Gets Circuitry
Before ChatGPT made everyone panic about robot poets, writers were already grappling with authenticity’s slippery slope. Ghostwriters, collaborators, editors—the literary world’s dirty secret is that pure authorship was always a romantic fiction. — LitHub
- The Artist Who Copied Out The Complete “Moby-Dick” By Hand
Bethany Collins spent four months transcribing the 900-odd-page text. She finds many of Melville’s concerns relevant today: “following the lone madman who will take the whole ship down, … overconsumption, the pursuit of oil and an obsession with whiteness.” (Okay, the last one might be a stretch.) – T — The New York Times Magazine
- The AI-Written College Essay And The Decline Of Thinking
Surely the most dismal prospect is that we will lose sight of our own forms of thinking and understanding if those terms are assimilated to the capacities of AI. – Public Books
- Poet Threatens To Sue Arts Council England After Defunding
A poet is threatening Arts Council England (ACE) with legal action after a magazine it funds withdrew her work from publication based on her “social media presence”, which she believes refers to gender-critical posts. – The Guardian
- Firefighters Rescue Rare Books From A Library On The Cliff Edge After Landslide
“Firefighters drilled through the wall of a building behind the structure and entering for minutes at a time, strapped the bookcases together and hauled them backwards to reach the books.” – The Guardian (UK)
PEOPLE
- Good Morning
The Live Nation antitrust trial opened this week, with the government arguing the company uses its grip on venues to coerce artists into using its promotion services — a vertical squeeze that’s defined the live music business for years (The New York Times). Also on the question of who controls creative work: the Supreme Court declined to revisit AI copyright, leaving machine-made art without legal protection and the more pressing question — who profits when creativity gets automated — unresolved (Artnet). [see my take on this here (Diacritical)
Funding cuts keep finding their way into local institutions. Buffalo Toronto Public Media is reshuffling programming across two stations after losing $2.2 million in annual federal support (Inside Radio). The cancelled Pompidou Center Jersey City is now slated to become affordable housing — with Kushner Real Estate as the development partner (Gothamist).
In downtown Los Angeles, an artist installed a performance venue disguised as a utility box in the Arts District — police stopped her during installation, suspecting copper wire theft. Inside: a stage for experimental artists who’ve run out of more official options (Los Angeles Times).
All of our stories below.
- Meet The Last Of The Signpainters For The Markets Of Naples
“Announcing the clementines, artichokes and other goods on offer are cheerful, hand-painted signs in sun-bright lettering. Quotidian but also quintessential, the signs have become emblems of Naples’s vibrancy. … Pasquale De Stefano is, by consensus, the last living numeraio — or number painter — in Naples.” – The New York Times
- Universities As Practical Job Creators? We Ought To Do Better Than That!
An education spent in pursuit of material comfort and convenience is a recipe for unhappiness, an existence in thrall to the raw, hungry American mantra of success, “More! More!” – LA Review of Books
- Ballerinas Learn To Partner Each Other For Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s New Piece
Gentleman Jack, premiering this weekend at England’s Northern Ballet in Leeds, is Lopez Ochoa’s adaptation of a 2019 television series about Anne Lister, a 19th-century landowner considered to be one of the first modern lesbians known to us. – The New York Times
- When Pop Culture Has a Half-Life of Six Months
Kids giggling at “six-seven” reveals the brutal math of digital culture: references expire faster than milk. What happens when shared cultural touchstones become as fleeting as TikTok trends? Generational gaps now measure in weeks, not decades. — Common Reader
PEOPLE
- Good Morning
The Live Nation antitrust trial opened this week, with the government arguing the company uses its grip on venues to coerce artists into using its promotion services — a vertical squeeze that’s defined the live music business for years (The New York Times). Also on the question of who controls creative work: the Supreme Court declined to revisit AI copyright, leaving machine-made art without legal protection and the more pressing question — who profits when creativity gets automated — unresolved (Artnet). [see my take on this here (Diacritical)
Funding cuts keep finding their way into local institutions. Buffalo Toronto Public Media is reshuffling programming across two stations after losing $2.2 million in annual federal support (Inside Radio). The cancelled Pompidou Center Jersey City is now slated to become affordable housing — with Kushner Real Estate as the development partner (Gothamist).
In downtown Los Angeles, an artist installed a performance venue disguised as a utility box in the Arts District — police stopped her during installation, suspecting copper wire theft. Inside: a stage for experimental artists who’ve run out of more official options (Los Angeles Times).
All of our stories below.
- Meet The Last Of The Signpainters For The Markets Of Naples
“Announcing the clementines, artichokes and other goods on offer are cheerful, hand-painted signs in sun-bright lettering. Quotidian but also quintessential, the signs have become emblems of Naples’s vibrancy. … Pasquale De Stefano is, by consensus, the last living numeraio — or number painter — in Naples.” – The New York Times
- Universities As Practical Job Creators? We Ought To Do Better Than That!
An education spent in pursuit of material comfort and convenience is a recipe for unhappiness, an existence in thrall to the raw, hungry American mantra of success, “More! More!” – LA Review of Books
- Ballerinas Learn To Partner Each Other For Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s New Piece
Gentleman Jack, premiering this weekend at England’s Northern Ballet in Leeds, is Lopez Ochoa’s adaptation of a 2019 television series about Anne Lister, a 19th-century landowner considered to be one of the first modern lesbians known to us. – The New York Times
- When Pop Culture Has a Half-Life of Six Months
Kids giggling at “six-seven” reveals the brutal math of digital culture: references expire faster than milk. What happens when shared cultural touchstones become as fleeting as TikTok trends? Generational gaps now measure in weeks, not decades. — Common Reader
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Universities As Practical Job Creators? We Ought To Do Better Than That!
An education spent in pursuit of material comfort and convenience is a recipe for unhappiness, an existence in thrall to the raw, hungry American mantra of success, “More! More!” – LA Review of Books
- When Pop Culture Has a Half-Life of Six Months
Kids giggling at “six-seven” reveals the brutal math of digital culture: references expire faster than milk. What happens when shared cultural touchstones become as fleeting as TikTok trends? Generational gaps now measure in weeks, not decades. — Common Reader
- Why Is It So Hard To Make The Case For Universities?
The “constitutive” role of universities cannot merely be announced to like-minded audiences or extracted from sympathetic courts. – Chronicle of Higher Education
- There Are No Psychopaths?
While it has been researched across hundreds of empirical studies – especially since the explosion of research in the late-1990s – there is still remarkably little evidence that corroborates popularised claims about the diagnosis. – Aeon
- A Conspiracy Theory That A Jim Carrey Doppelganger Picked Up His Honorary Cesar Is Making The Rounds In France
This is where we are with the internet now: The man in charge of the Césars (the “French Oscars”) had to say, ““From the outset, he was extremely touched by the Academy’s invitation. … He worked on his speech in French for months.”- The Guardian (UK)
