Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Move Over Miami Beach, Stand Aside Hamptons — The Art World Moved To Aspen
There is a general sense that Aspen has become a center of the art world during this hot vax summer. - New York Magazine
Is It Possible You Have Too Many Unread Books?
Unread books now exist in three states for me: Actual books, piled horizontally on a five-foot-wide bookcase; books listed in a tab on my...
“Hyperpop” And Defying Categorization
If mainstream pop is designed to make people feel as if they’re on common ground with all of humanity, this music made listeners feel...
El Sistema Has A Labor Problem
"Too often, those who fund our programs are, in effect, asking our team members to do more with less. There is a combined scarcity/charity...
Michael Tilson Thomas Has Emergency Brain Surgery
Thomas, 76, will now embark on a monthslong course of therapy and has canceled all his public appearances through the end of October. -...
Scientists Use AI To Translate Ancient Text
Researchers at University of Notre Dame are developing an artificial neural network to read complex ancient handwriting based on human perception to improve capabilities of deep...
SFMoMA Cuts Programs — Community Calls Out Disconnect Of Values
“Are you really telling the Bay Area that you spent the last year and a half forging diversity, equity and inclusion committees, to then...
How To Become Wise? Learning Rather Than Persuading
"The most remarkable feature of Socrates’s approach is his punctilious politeness and sincere enthusiasm. The conversation usually begins with Socrates asking his interlocutor: Since you...
Why It’s So Difficult To Design A Good Olympic Logo
Paris is not the only city to struggle when trying to create a memorable logo. The history of Olympic logos shows it’s not easy...
We’re Taught That Battle And Triumph Are Desirable. Is Neutrality A Better Option?
Our heroes are the warrior, the entrepreneur, and the activist, not the neutral parties. Neutrality appears cold, lifeless, effeminate, weak, and suspect. - Tablet
Haunting Pictures Of Cyprus’ Underwater Sculpture Park
The museum is within a marine protected area about 200 metres from Pernera beach and in water between eight and 10 metres deep, so...
People Are Quitting Jobs. Time For A Rethink?
Reports of workers of all types have quit, are quitting, or are looking for reasons to quit. Many are not seeking a new job,...
Broadway Is On The Verge Of Reopening. Can It? Should It?
“A week ago, there was great optimism that by Sept. 14 we would be raring to go. Now, I would say there’s cautious optimism,...
Texas’s Governor Forbids Mask Mandates. So People Will Go To Shows?
Not really. In an informal KERA and Dallas Morning News survey conducted over the past few days, about 70% of more than 1,200 respondents said they do not...
NYC’s Remarkable New Island Of Creativity
On 2.4 acres of lush lawns and man-made, sculptured hills, Little Island percolates daily with creative energy, fueled by talent recruited everywhere from the...
Balanchine As A Character In a Crime Novel
July 1943 happens to coincide with a window in Balanchine’s known itinerary. He might just have worked on this other wartime Hollywood morale-lifter, which...
So This Is The Metaverse, Eh? Yawn…
A game-y galaxy that seamlessly fuses with the meatspace. What matters is that metaverse is now the buzzword du jour and that Facebook wants a piece...
How Working In (For Now) Post-COVID Broadway Works
It’s a resumption of business — and, for many arts workers, employment — that’s been eagerly awaited and long in coming. But it’s also...
A Creative Redevelopment That Intends To Skip The Usual Mistakes
Birkenhead is barely a mile from Liverpool, situated on the opposite bank of the River Mersey. It was once known as the “New York...
How An Obscenity Trial 50 Years Ago Inspired A Generation Of Protest Art
The six-week trial of Oz magazine at the Old Bailey was the longest obscenity trial in England’s history. It remains the most absurd. - The Guardian
Canada Weighs Policies To Make Big Tech Companies Pay For Journalism
News companies in Canada have been struggling financially and digital platforms have vacuumed up most of the ad revenue that used to go to...
The Play Doctors Of Poughkeepsie
Though its theater season each summer is a must-see in the industry, even that is more inward facing than outward, with only a few...
In Praise Of Celebrity Memoirs
The sooner you accept that star stories are full of embellishments and omissions, invented quotes and one-sided recollections dictated to patient ghostwriters, the sooner...
And Now… AI-Generated Sculptures That Look Eerily Real
The resulting totemic structures, biomorphic forms, and sleek stacked shapes against drab gray backgrounds have a strange, mass-produced patina, as vaguely similar as Ikea...
The Value Of Profanity
Even in a society which tells itself the half-truth that it treasures ‘free speech’, there are, indeed must be, words that are beyond the...
