Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Study: For Now, Humans Beat AI In High-Level Creativity. Next Week?
The AI's "all outperformed the average human. However, when they measured the average performance of the top 50 percent of human participants, it exceeded...
The Political Left Case For Teaching The Great Books
The notion that students should mainly be acquiring “skills” or “competencies,” so prevalent in high-level discussions of education policy and in ranking school systems,...
Judge Rules For Arbitration In Philadelphia Museum Director Firing
A judge has ruled that the messy conflict between the Philadelphia Art Museum and its former director and CEO, Sasha Suda, who was dismissed in November, will go...
French Museums Would “Empty Out” Under Proposed Repatriation Law
Restituting artefacts will be crucial to improve France’s relations with its former African colonies, many of which have broken off military co-operation with Paris....
Kennicott: What’s At Stake At The Kennedy Center
It certainly seems possible that the 1971 building, designed by architect Edward Durrell Stone, could be partially or completely erased. And with it, the...
Essa-Pekka Salonen Gets A New Job
The Boston Symphony Orchestra announced Monday, Feb. 2, that the Finnish conductor and composer will serve as director of the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music in...
Surprise! “Melania” Did Great Box Office Its Opening Weekend
It was expected to generate in the region of $5m (£3.7m) in its first weekend, but its actual takings are "a huge start for...
So You Can Make An Audience Cry. Not Necessarily Good.
Is the direct representation of emotion to provoke emotion in fact a turn-off? - The Conversation
People Fear That Reading Is Dying. Don’t Believe It
All serious intellectual work happens on the page, and we shouldn’t pretend otherwise. If you want to contribute to the world of ideas, if...
Opera As “A State Of Emergency”
Created to commemorate the company’s 50th anniversary, Complications in Sue opens Wednesday with 10 composers commissioned to write eight-minute scenes. These collectively encompass the century-long life...
South African Artist Sues Her Government For Blocking Her Venice Biennale Artwork
A South African artist is suing the arts minister after he blocked her from representing the country at the Venice Biennale, having called her work...
Struggling San Antonio Philharmonic Cancels February Concerts
The news comes as the Philharmonic is embroiled in a legal dispute with the Scottish Rite over payments related to renovations of the historic...
Trump Wants To Build A 250-Foot Triumphal Arch In Washington
Trump has grown attached to the idea of a 250-foot-tall structure overlooking the Potomac River, according to two people who spoke on the condition...
I Write For A Living. I Tested My Students. They Preferred The AI Writing...
I gave the students time to read both pieces, and then asked for their comments. To my surprise, the majority told me the AI...
How The Metropolitan Opera Got To Be In Such Dire Straits
How did America’s greatest operatic institution get to the point of needing Saudi money to cover its $330 million annual operating budget? Ticket sales...
The Latest Art Basel Opens — In Qatar
It was the unlikely, but ultimately successful, host of the 2022 soccer World Cup. Its Grand Prix has become a Formula One fixture. And this week it will...
Trump Says He’ll Close The Kennedy Center For Two Years For Renovations
“I have determined that The Trump Kennedy Center, if temporarily closed for Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding, can be, without question, the finest Performing...
This Week’s AJ Chronicles: Context is Survival
Existential crises have a way of forcing clarity. Whether the arts and the larger creative world are in crisis I leave for you to decide. But with weekly news of financial and organizational meltdowns, political pressures and an almost primordial angst about threats of AI, some things may be becoming
Lessons From The Aztecs: Rule By Coercion Never Works
The Aztec empire did not fall because it lacked capability. It collapsed because it accumulated too many adversaries who resented its dominance. This is...
Perversely — AI Is Proving The Uniqueness Of Our Creativity
A great human artist, we’d like to believe, amplifies and defends the exceptionalist spirit of our species but, in an echo of the anxieties...
Painter Bob Ross, Public Media Rock Star
His painting are being sold to benefit public television. The latest, Change of Seasons (1990) led the sale, bringing in $787,900, more than 13 times...
If Radio Is Becoming Streaming What If NPR Ditched Radio?
What if NPR decides radio is no longer worth the hassle and puts all its efforts into streaming audio and podcasts? What if it...
Welcome To The Era Of De-Social Media
Platforms originally defined by keeping up with people you know, or have at least heard of, become something fundamentally different. - Intelligencer
Why Our Cities Need More Places Of Serenity
Perceptual psychologists have long studied what happens when people stare at uniform fields of colour without visual edges or contrasts. Sometimes, experiencing this kind...
Why More Professors Are Making Their Students Read On Paper
“The English classroom is increasingly a kind of special place where it’s still possible to converse without the screen. AI only seems to make...
