AJ Four Ways:
Text Only (by date) | headlines only
- What A Photograph Might Tell Us About Consciousness
When I am photographing humans, I want to hear about their lives and aspirations. I care about their aesthetic sensibilities, what they are wearing, how they want to present themselves. Photographing an object feels different. I still savor the aesthetics of my subject, but my appreciation extends back to the object’s creator. – The New Yorker
- How It Came To This: Inside Sasha Suda’s Firing From The Philadelphia Art Museum
Nobody currently with the museum who was interviewed for this article would agree to be named, but some former members went on the record, as did Suda herself — extensively. Perforce the story is told largely (though not entirely) from her side, but it is quite a tale. – Philadelphia Magazine
- Smithsonian Replaces Trump Portrait, Removes Impeachment Text
It now contrasts with portraits of other former presidents, including Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, which all hang alongside wall text highlighting events during their time in office. Clinton’s notes his impeachment. – Washington Post
- The AI Abundance Problem
“This isn’t A.I.’s problem. This is our political system’s problem. If you get a massive increase in productivity, how does that wealth get shared around?” If A.I. abundance does materialize, that will be a central question. – The New Yorker
- Word Puzzle: English As A Made-Up Language
The truth is—and this may come as a surprise to some of you—the English language does not exist. English is an entirely borrowed language. There was Anglo-Saxon, and overlays of Norse from the Vikings, then the French invasion brought some upper-class words. – Harper’s
- Lucinda Childs Named Resident Choreographer Of Gibney Company
The 85-year-old contemporary dance pioneer has accepted a five-year appointment with the company. She will begin with restaging her 2015 work Canto Ostinato and will develop a full-length work, scheduled to premiere in 2027, to “honor a milestone birthday of one of (her) most enduring musical collaborators,” presumably Philip Glass. – BroadwayWorld
- Why Are Some Of Britain’s Best Actors Appearing In This Tiny Theatre?
“I want it to be a theatre where theatre people can come and see a show and that generates a kind of warmth,” he says. “You’ll often find actors in the bar afterwards.” – The Times (UK)
- Writing About Your Family In Your Novel? See You In Court!
In contemporary European literature, a book these days is often the beginning of a familial feud. With thinly disguised autobiographical accounts of family strife undergoing a sustained boom across the continent, it can increasingly lead to family reunions in courtrooms. – The Guardian
- News Publishers Are Seeing AI-Summaries Replace Traffic From Search. Response? Make News More Like TikTok
Search traffic to news sites has already plunged by a third in a single year globally, with the rise of AI overviews and chatbots, as well as changes to the search algorithms that have been the lifeblood of some media companies since the rise of the internet. – The Guardian
- Composer John Luther Adams Writes About Why He Has Emigrated To Australia
“The real reason I’ve left (the U.S.) is deeper than politics: it’s the culture. The culture creates the politics. … The relentless commercialisation, rising tides of xenophobia, the strident acrimony of social discourse, the violence, and the increasingly hysterical tenor of life in the USA have simply worn us down.” – The Saturday Paper (Australia)
- The Guardian’s Chief Classical Music Critic, Andrew Clements, Has Died At 75
“Clements joined the Guardian arts team in August 1993, succeeding Edward Greenfield as the paper’s chief music critic. His appointment was clinched by a personal recommendation to the editor from the late Alfred Brendel. … For the next 32 years, Clements ranged across all fields of classical music … and often beyond.” – The Guardian
- Erich von Däniken, Whose Books Spread The Idea That Aliens Established Earth’s Early Civilizations, Is Dead At 90
“(He) rose to prominence in 1968 with the publication of … Chariots of the Gods, … (which) was followed by more than two dozen similar books, spawning a literary niche in which fact and fantasy were mixed together against all historical and scientific evidence.” He became the first winner of the Ig Nobel Prize. – AP
- Savannah’s Telfair Museums Lay Off 15% Of Staff
“While the museums offered severance, the layoffs were announced without warning on a (Friday) afternoon Zoom call, according to former employees. Museum representatives (said) that the staff cuts stemmed from reduced funding and were approved by the museum’s executive committee of the board.” – ARTnews
- PBS Cancels Its Saturday And Sunday Newscasts
“PBS News Weekend signed off Sunday, ‘at least for the foreseeable future,’ anchor John Yang said. … Starting Saturday, PBS will air the weekly show Horizons on science and technology issues. The new show Compass Points will focus on foreign affairs Sunday.” – AP
- Story Time — A Fable for the Nonprofit Arts SectorDoing the right thing isn’t easy. But it’s always the right thing to do. Right?
- Adelaide Festival’s Writers’ Week Cancelled After Writers Withdraw And Board Resigns
In response to the festival board’s earlier intervention to disinvite Palestinian-Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah, more than 180 writers and speakers cancelled their appearances at the February-March event and half the board resigned. Now the remaining board members have quit and the festival has been called off. – The Guardian
- Again, Louvre Completely Closes Due To Strikes
Last week the museum was partially closed due to the ongoing walkouts over inadequate pay, staffing and building maintenance, but public access to the biggest attractions, such as Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo, was maintained. Work stoppages on Monday shuttered the entire building. – ARTnews
- Good Morning
Today’s Highlights: San Francisco Ballet is facing intense public pressure to cancel its upcoming performances at the Kennedy Center to avoid aligning with an institution critics say has been “politicized” (San Francisco Chronicle). Reports indicate that the U.S. has withdrawn from 66 international institutions, a move experts warn “weakens the global protective frameworks” that artists and cultural workers rely on for freedom of expression (Artnet). And the Washington National Opera’s decision to part ways with the Kennedy Center is getting a “groundswell of support” for patrons who had stopped attending during the recent administrative takeover (Washington Post (Yahoo)).
Educators are raising alarms as Gen Z arrives at college unable to read full-length books, forcing institutions to lower standards as students struggle to complete assigned reading at record levels (Fortune (MSN)). And new research reveals that AI models “memorize” the books they ingest on a massive scale, a finding that could cost tech companies billions in upcoming copyright battles (The Atlantic).
Finally, we look at the friction between national branding and artistic independence. South Africa’s right-wing culture minister has axed the country’s Venice Biennale proposal—a performance mourning Gaza’s dead—arguing that international platforms must be used to “sell our country” rather than highlight global tragedies (Hyperallergic).
All of our stories below.
- Pressure Mounts On San Francisco Ballet To Pull Out Of Kennedy Center Performance
Supporters argue that performing at the center now risks aligning the Ballet with an institution they say has been politicized under Trump’s leadership. – San Francisco Chronicle
- We’re Increasingly Interacting With Non-Humans. This Is Changing Our Human Interactions
We ask for help from artificial customer service representatives. Some of us accept friend requests from bots and are, thereafter, influenced by the content they post. This is a momentous change to the nature of the public square. – 3 Quarks Daily
- Trump Withdrew The US From 66 International Institutions. This Is Damaging To Culture
“Disengagement” from institutions that uphold freedom of expression and artistic freedom “weakens the global protective frameworks on which artists and cultural workers depend.” – Artnet
- AI Could Mean The Death Of Canadian Culture
If Canada wants its cultural policy to survive the age of slop, it will have to insist that what claims to be human—and Canadian—be verified as such. Sovereignty, in this context, is not just about protecting domestic production from foreign influence. – The Walrus
- Students Are Arriving In College Unable To Read. Colleges Are Struggling To Adapt Their Standards
As Gen Z ditch books at record levels, students are arriving to classrooms unable to complete assigned reading on par with previous expectations. It’s leaving colleges no choice but to lower their expectations. – Fortune (MSN)
- I’m A Musician. I created An Album Using AI To See If It Worked
We have gone from clapping to drumming, and from using drum machines in recording studios to generating “new” sounds with AI. Yet now that I have completed these experiments, I realise that one thing remains the same. – The Conversation
- The 3000 Imagineers That Make Disney Ideas Real
The theme parks and cruise ships Vaughn’s team designs cost billions of dollars, dwarfing the budgets of movies that cost several hundred million dollars at most. When they succeed, they bring in revenue for decades and imprint Disney characters into children’s memories. – The Wall Street Journal
- Oops: Turns Out AI Models “Memorize Books They Ingest. This Could Cost Them Billions
This phenomenon has been called “memorization,” and AI companies have long denied that it happens on a large scale. – The Atlantic
- Ticketmaster Tries To Get FTC Suit On Ticket Gouging Dismissed
Ticketmaster is urging a federal judge in Los Angeles to throw out the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s case accusing it of working with resellers to gouge fans, saying the law it is accused of violating applies only to resellers, not ticketing platforms. – Reuters
- The Scam Artist And The Masterpiece
Thomas Doyle already had 11 convictions to his name for various swindles. His latest alleged fraud involves a London gallery owner and Bruce Springsteen’s manager. – The Wall Street Journal
- SAG-Aftra Negotiator: Let’s Make Using AI Really Expensive
Here’s the thinking: A lack of cost savings could dissuade employers from using AI-generated performers instead of real actors like Emma Stone or Viola Davis. “In my opinion, if synthetics cost the same as a human, they’re going to choose a human every time.” – The Hollywood Reporter
- Hamnet Is No Shakespeare In Love
It’s far worse: It does wrong by Shakespeare. “Hamnet changes many details and events in Shakespeare’s life to tell its story, but it is in its prestigeiness that it truly does Shakespeare dirty.” – Slate
- Why It’s Good For The Washington National Opera To Part Ways With The Kennedy Center
Financially, it’s likely to be good for the Opera. “The news of the split could inspire a groundswell of support from longtime patrons who pumped the brakes on their operagoing in 2025 amid the Trump takeover. It may even serve to restore projects that were thought lost.” – Washington Post (Yahoo)
- New York’s New Mayor Says Theatre Should Be For Everyone, Handing Out Free Tickets
“’The shared laughter in a crowded theater, the eager debrief after a musical, the heavy silence that hangs over all of us in a drama — these are moments that every New Yorker deserves,’ Mamdani said.” – The New York Times
- South African’s Right-Wing Culture Minister Axes The Country’s Venice Biennale Proposal
The proposal by artist Gabrielle Goliath was a performance to mourn Gaza’s dead after Israel’s actions against the area. A spokesperson said that it wasn’t focused enough on South Africa: “We need to use our platforms to sell our country to the world.” – Hyperallergic
- In A Last-Minute Decision, CBS Cut Best Original Score From The Golden Globes Broadcast
Welp, podcasts are in, music is out; sorry to “Alexandre Desplat for Frankenstein, Ludwig Goransson for Sinners, Jonny Greenwood for One Battle After Another, Kangding Ray for Sirat, Max Richter for Hamnet and Hans Zimmer for F1: The Movie.” – The New York Times
- The Writers Who Saw All Of This Coming
In case you need a list of dystopian novels to read instead of, hm, the news. – The Guardian (UK)
