Issues

How rigorously will patrons expect to be protected from the dangers of the COVID-19 virus? Have entertainment habits atrophied during a hiatus of more than a year, or has the shutdown only made the hunger for the arts even keener? – San Francisco Chronicle

As blockchain technology evolves, transaction speed increases, and transaction fees decrease (all of which are slowly, but surely happening) and more content becomes uniquely identifiable using NFTs, the need for central authorities (aka gatekeepers) will diminish and possibly disappear altogether. Why? Because the creator class will be able to do it by themselves. The concept of an open, honest, one-to-one relationship between creator and community isn’t new, but the technology to do it at scale is. – Shelly Palmer

The anthropologist Elisa Bellato has called this an ‘identity crisis’ for the artistic manufacture of the gondola. While the boat made with cheaper materials may be indistinguishable to the untrained eye, its authenticity – not to mention quality and craftsmanship – has been lost. Bellato suggests that this modern gondola is more of a simulacrum than a true specimen, emptied of the values and knowledge accumulated over centuries. – Apollo

“The Substation was founded as Singapore’s first independent arts centre in 1990 by theatre doyen Kuo Pao Kun. The careers of some of Singapore’s most renowned artists … were launched here. The arts venue has always been at the forefront of efforts to push the official boundaries that limit public expression.” The closure was supposed to be temporary (its building is being renovated) but was declared permanent without warning last month, and the city-state’s arts community is rife with rumor, recrimination and fear about the decision. – South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)

The downward trend is occurring at community colleges across the country — the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center recently reported a 9.5 percent decline at community colleges nationwide — and is being compounded by the acute socioeconomic effects of the pandemic on students. – InsideHigherEd

“Not too long ago, stars aligning their images with multivitamins or prepaid debit cards might have been eyed skeptically, their efforts coded as a cynical money grab (George Clooney for Nespresso) or a pitiful last resort (the Joan Rivers Classics Collection for QVC). When celebrities cashed in, they also risked diminishing their credibility as serious artists. Now the opposite is true. Stars are respected for how much profit they can generate, even if the stuff they’re selling is inexpensive. This does not in any way compromise their mystique.” – The New York Times

“Just as an example, when I put a post on Facebook that I was looking for someone to help clean my house, I got at least 50 replies from artists that I’ve seen on stage and people that I’ve worked with. I also know of artists who have been in the profession for many years who have had to sell their houses and live in their cars. We are losing a lot of talented performers.” – BBC

Last summer, COVID forced the cancellation of the flagship of the Festival City’s summer events; this year, with new cases falling in Scotland and people getting their shots, the show will go on — in three specially constructed outdoor pavilions “specially built to maximize air flow and allow social distancing.” Edinburgh’s weather being what it is, the pavilions will have roofs. – The New York Times

A recent Harvard study showed that students actually learn more when education is built on “active learning,” which promotes working collaboratively on projects. And now, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the disruption of education as kids and young adults have been forced to learn from home. In the collective reckoning on what learning should look like going forward, I’ve found that the social media platform TikTok offers some surprising insights. – Fast Company

An American company is suing a Chinese company in U.S. federal court for copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property violations. The goods in question? Interactive toy robots. And both the defendant’s motion to dismiss the case and the plaintiff’s response have invoked the famous movie robots. – The Hollywood Reporter

Why did the media not come out and treat it as the truly awful (and unacceptable) fact that it was? “Unlike past stories, The Hollywood Reporter’s offers, for the first time in Rudin’s almost 40 years as a producer, an unromanticized affirmation of the seemingly endless anecdotes about him as a manager. It details his alleged misbehavior as well as his influence, which has arguably made the industry and the journalists who report on it more likely to accept workplace aggression as a condition of great art.” – The Atlantic

The Small Business Association opened a grant portal for arts venues closed down by the pandemic – and, after a few hours of deep misery for every arts venue trying to apply, took it all offline, indefinitely. “Anyone who tried to log on to apply for grants when the portal first opened was met with different error messages at each step. The SBA clarified in a tweet that they did not accept any applications or distribute any funding.” – NPR

“Culture has been a potent driver of Chicago for decades, of course, but this still is a unique moment, especially with the new availability of federal money. Hence it’s high time to develop some new cultural spaces and both the private and the public sectors will need to get involved. This change of emphasis, which seems to me inevitable, could be a win-win situation, creating jobs and restoring the vibrancy of the city.” – Yahoo! (Chicago Tribune)

As lockdowns arrived and spread, many mutual aid networks, mostly small-scale, were put together on the fly to help the many thousands of suddenly unemployed arts workers. Those funds had been planned, and expected, to be temporary measures lasting only a couple of months. But, as the pandemic ran on and shutdowns continued, furloughs became layoffs; even now, as more Americans are getting vaccinated, much of the arts world won’t restart operations fully for more months or even the end of the year. So a number of those mutual aid groups are reorganizing as permanent entities. – Artnet

“As the government prepared on Thursday to start taking applications for a $16 billion relief fund for music clubs, theaters and other live event businesses, thousands of desperate applicants waited eagerly to submit their paperwork right at noon, when the system was scheduled to open. And then they waited. And waited. … Shortly after 4 p.m., the Small Business Administration — which runs the initiative, the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program — abandoned its effort to salvage the broken system and shut down it down for the day.” – The New York Times

“After trade union representatives in Paris entered the shuttered Odéon Theater, a movement to occupy playhouses spread rapidly. … Yet with the infection rate rising, the movement finds itself facing difficult options. Protesters can’t be seen to flout restrictions or draw large crowds, so there have been no impromptu plays or theatrical tableaux. … Yet public actions are needed to rally support. As a result, the occupiers have walked a fine, often awkward line amid art, safety and their political demands.” – The New York Times

Student responses show that their biggest concerns are the high cost of tuition for remote classes and the changes to their social lives on campus. But students interested in the arts say they have embraced the difficulties of virtual arts learning by pivoting to digital showcases, as well as platforms like Instagram and TikTok. – American Theatre

The 50th anniversary celebration is part of 1,110 dance, theater, jazz, comedy and musical concerts and events in the 2021-2022 season. The total represents a 25 percent cut from pre-pandemic averages, Rutter said, and many of the special performances have been scheduled for 2022 as a hedge that vaccines would by then be widely available. – Washington Post

“California officials shocked the performing arts community Tuesday when they announced plans to fully reopen the economy June 15 if certain vaccination and hospitalization benchmarks are met, leaving leaders of theaters, music groups and more scrambling to revisit plans for spring and answer a long list of questions.” – Los Angeles Times

Out of 700 businesses surveyed by the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), which represents businesses like nightclubs, bars and festivals, 70% felt that vaccine certificates, negative testing or immunity proof were not necessary to reopen, the organisation said. And 69% felt they would have a negative impact on business. – BBC

“While a copyright dispute about computer code might not seem like a subject of particular consequence for them, an opinion from Justice Stephen Breyer concluding that Google made fair use of copyrighted material will very likely be discussed for quite some time and be invoked in other contexts. As such, a few lines in particular from today’s opinion regarding public benefits and public harms could have many in Hollywood quite tense about a future staked on intellectual property.” – The Hollywood Reporter

“Like budding flowers awakening just in time for spring, music, dance, theater and comedy began a cautious return this past week as venues were allowed to reopen with limited capacity — in most cases, for the first time since March 2020. … Reporters from The New York Times visited some of the first indoor performances, and spoke with the pioneering audience members and staff who took them in. Here is what they saw.” – The New York Times

There will be 80 events spread across four stages, three of them outdoors and two of those newly-constructed. (The old Dock Street Theater, site of the popular noontime chamber music concerts, will be this year’s sole indoor venue.) Capacity will be about one-quarter that of a normal year. – Charleston City Paper

The open secret among anyone who enjoys the pleasure of their own company, however, is that the public health strategy of sheltering-in-place to combat COVID-19 was never a burden. It was a breath of fresh air. – ArtsATL