Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
How TikTok Is Changing Not Just Content, But How We Think About The Medium
The overriding focus on the algorithm—and the content it delivers—has caused us to overlook a central part of TikTok’s operating logic: the phone. A...
Activists Attacking Art – Forcing Us To Consider Our Values
By attacking a famous and high-value cultural target like Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring — it even starred in its own movie — the protesters are asking...
The Inimitable Mr. B (A New Biography)
Balanchine is an unusual subject for what critics like to call, and I’ll go there, a magisterial biography. He was a shy, somewhat receding...
The Dreariness Of Book Clubs
I read and write about books for fun. And yet, time and again, my mind goes blank during book discussions, and all I can...
Art As Difficult Conversation? That’s Rather Limiting, Isn’t It?
Art is now viewed as a pretext for collective discourse, raising “issues” that provide the raw material for op-eds, Twitter threads, college seminars, and...
New Orange County Museum Disappoints
With the museum, designed by Thom Mayne, obviously the headliner, OCMA might have shown off its collection as the main exhibition, with perhaps a tangy...
Toronto’s Habourfront Theatre: Exec Director Leaves, Board Resigns, So What’s Next?
Last week, mere days after long-time director Gaëtane Verna left for a bigger job in the United States, board members resigned en masse, saying interference...
David Duchovny, Playwright?
Duchovny has moved fluidly between social circles, careers, and media. He was well into graduate school, preparing the fancifully titled (but never written) PhD...
A Hula Renaissance
Real hula is primal, archetypal, esoteric and ever- evolving. And it’s now shared digitally all over the world. This is a good thing, because...
Time To Get Rid Of Oscar’s Best Foreign Film Category?
Every year, the Academy tweaks the rules, trying to improve the controversial and oft-criticized process by which the international nominees are selected: But they...
Meet Esa-Pekka: “I’m Just Getting Started”
"It is not to say that there wouldn’t be room for improvement, and that’s the fun part actually, because I’m nearing an age where...
Critic Takes His 30-Year-Old Daughter To “Lion King” 25 Years After They First Saw...
I thought about the astonishing durability of the show, how many others in attendance like them were not even born when Lizzie and I...
Ukraine Issues Stamp Commemorating The Crimean Bridge Attack On Russia’s “Unity Day”
Designed by the Ukrainian artist Yuriy Shapoval, the stamp shows the bridge behind clouds of dark grey smoke. In the forefront is the famous...
How To Talk To Someone You Love About Their Conspiracy Theories (And Not Get...
A big mistake we make in confronting conspiracy theories is assuming they provide nothing but harm to those who hold them. In fact, a...
Activists Who Attacked Vermeer Painting Get Jail Time
A Dutch court sentenced the protestors to two months, with one month suspended, and the third activist who was involved will appear in court...
An Artifact Repatriation Deal… Or Not?
After 10 years from the signing of the deal, some of the antiquities will periodically travel to Greece to be exhibited at the Goulandris...
“The World Doesn’t Need Another Foundation.” This Super-Wealthy Heiress Calls For Structural Change
Philanthropy to her only replicates the same power dynamics that have created the systemic inequalities she wants to see dismantled, with new tax policies...
Micro-Mobility: Why The Golf Cart Might Be The Next Cultural Disrupter
While few people embarking on a long journey would choose an e-bike or a golf cart over a car, many Americans might do so...
“Santa” Copyright Case Dropped Against Mariah Carey
Songwriter Andy Stone sued the popstar in June, claiming he co-wrote a song with the same name five years earlier. He told the court he...
The End Of Facebook?
Mark Zuckerberg is obsessed with a virtual world no one wants, the company’s stock is down 70 percent from its peak, and it has...
Taiwan National Museum Admits To Breakage Of Artifacts Worth $77 Million
The items – a bowl, a teacup and a plate – were broken in three separate incidents during the past 18 months but the damage came...
What, Me Worry? Report Suggests Record Import/Exports In Art In 2022
In the coming year, 77% of collectors say they plan to attend more overseas fairs, exhibitions and events—good for trade but not the environment. - The...
Alarming! Holiday Movie Plots As Analyzed And Pitched By AI
An Artificial Intelligence (DALL-E) was tasked with imagining from their official synopses and titles what these movies, with their mix-and-match tropes and grab bag...
John Garfield’s Seminal Role In Figuring Out Acting In The Movies
It’s tempting to see Garfield as a footnote. But he was far better than his contemporaries at solving the puzzle of how to take...
The Multiverse: Where New Ideas And Originality Go To Die
All these multiverses might add up to nothing good. If all potential endings come to pass, what are the consequences of anything? What matters?...
