Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
The Need To Be Right (It’s Seductive)
The background condition of this discussion is our current state of permacrisis: the collision of multiple critical problems whose conjunction renders effective response to...
How Quincy Jones Became The Ultimate Artistic Collaborator
Even when letting a singer loose, he knew that rhythm would always end up having its say. - The New Yorker
When Johnny Carson Animated American Late Night
His easygoing exterior belied a deft improvisatory mind that could take the temperature of the room, the guest, and the viewer all at once,...
Why Is “American Gothic” Such An Enduring Image?
The painting’s essential elements—man, woman, pitchfork—have been referenced, reimagined, and parodied in everything from a 1942 photograph by Gordon Parks to a 2012 episode...
Warhol Prints Damaged In Amateurish Attempted Heist
The gallery’s owner Mark Peet Visser has described the heist as “amateurish,” noting that explosives used to gain entry were “so violent that my...
Studies Touting The Benefits Of Universal Basic Income Pile Up. But The Case For...
Spreading the fear of AI stealing all our jobs seems to garner much more enthusiasm for basic income than continually pointing at the evidence. But...
How Quincy Jones Helped Redefine Pop Music In The 80s
The pairing of Jones, a noted composer, arranger and producer for jazz and R&B acts, and Jackson, the child star looking for a breakout...
Ticket Scams Are Plaguing The Performing Arts
Even venues with programming that leans more toward Beethoven than Bad Bunny face mounting challenges from ticketing scams. - CultureOC
Today’s AJ Highlights
Good Morning: What happens when you make things easy? Getting any music you want. News traveling in rivers of stories. Distraction to fill in...
How AI De-Aged Tom Hanks In His New Movie
The de-aging technology comes from Metaphysic, a visual effects company that creates real time face swapping and aging effects. During filming, the crew watched two...
Can Kehinde Wiley’s Career Survive Abuse Allegations?
Wiley’s strategy for dealing with the allegations has been to publicly fight back. He hired Marathon Strategies, a crisis-PR and investigative firm that has...
The History Behind The English Language’s Most Famous Swear Word
Fuck has an enormous range of uses across many parts of speech, as this dictionary details: sexual and nonsexual, positive and negative, literal and figurative,...
Building The Great Native American Songbook
With this new focus, he was ready when people were “freaking out” and looking for songs. “There is no repertoire like this in existence,”...
How Gen-Z Marketing-Speak Has Infiltrated Museums
The videos, captioned “We got our Gen Z intern to write the marketing script,” have exploded across TikTok and Instagram in recent weeks. - Artnet
How WH Auden Used Culture To Reconsider His Place In The World
His work of this period combined a proclamation of the value of microcultures with a commitment to an intellectual cosmopolitanism. He celebrated the “local...
Should We Be Worried About Who’s Remaking The Whitney Museum’s Old Building?
Breuer’s building, which has served as three museums, will lose some of its public presence no matter what, but New Yorkers still have an...
Threat To Our Future? An Empathy Gap
People find it easier to empathize with a single individual than with groups, plausibly because individuals are easier to conjure in one’s imagination. Therefore, the difference...
A New Golden Age For City Parks
This is a golden age for parks, with cities sprucing up waterfronts, transforming abandoned industrial sites and bringing some green space to neighborhoods where...
Today’s AJ Highlights
City Of Miami Beach Steps Up To Replace Arts Funding Canceled By Gov. DeSantis After Florida’s governor cut state arts funding, Miami Beach committed...
Dallas Art Museum Director To Step Down
Augustin Arteaga is set to leave the museum while it is undertaking an expansion—an unusual move, given that most directors of art institutions stay...
Charles Ives At 150 — For Those Who Care
Part of the neglect has to do with the fact that craggy patriarchs are no longer in fashion, particularly ones who were prone to...
We Have Become An Algorithmically-Driven Culture. And We’re Unhappier Than Ever
Since the nineteen-sixties, much of American public life has become automated, driven by computers and predictive algorithms that can do the political work of...
Why Humans Innately Distrust Other Forms Of Intelligence
Figuring out how to relate to minds of unconventional origin — not just AI and robotics but also cells, organs, hybrots, cyborgs and many...
Is A Four-Day Workweek Workable In The Arts?
Employers and employees experienced increases in motivation and overall productivity with no drop in revenue. Employees generally report less stress, burnout and work-family conflict....
The Downside Of Making Our Lives Convenient
Continually choosing the convenient path lessens your ability to deal with unavoidable difficulties. And, from an evolutionary perspective, some measure of discomfort is just as crucial...
