"The real reason that the critique has shifted from 'people are too mean to bots' to 'people are too nice to them' is because the political economy of AI has suddenly and dramatically changed, and along with it, tech companies’ sales pitches." - Wired
Figures published on Friday by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions show that while the number of visits to its sites rose by 69% in 2022 compared with the year before, this was still 23% lower than in 2019. - The Guardian
“Despite being the top per capita provider of arts in the nation, Los Angeles ranks 259th in government funding allocation,” the nonprofit’s CEO Gustavo Herrera said in a statement. - Hyperallergic
The study, covering calendar year 2021, shows a 13.7% increase in economic value over 2020 provided by the arts; it also indicates clearly that the sector had not fully bounced back from the 2020 lockdowns. - National Endowment for the Arts
The exhibition blows through the polite separation between artwork and money work. Not only does it name, in wall label after wall label, what each artist did to keep the lights on — it demonstrates how artists drew techniques, subjects, even inspiration from their diurnal grind. - The New York Times
"The Treasury had doubled the rate of the reliefs ... about 18 months ago to help cultural bodies recover from the pandemic, but the support had been due to be phased out from next month. Cultural organisations on Wednesday welcomed (the) decision to extend the measures for another two years." - FT
Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt will announce the £8.6 million ($10.4 million) in funding as part of the UK government's next budget. Scotland's regional government is ambivalent: happy for the money, but suspicious of London paying directly for culture within Scotland, normally funded from Edinburgh. - The National (Scotland)
"Warhol, the original narcissist; Warhol, the genius; Warhol, the void. He is responsible for the TikTok dancers, the Instagram models hogging the infinity pools, the needy comedians, the intense desire for recognition we are confronted with daily. It's an awful lot for one notoriously frail man to carry." - The Guardian
Nowadays the majority of the art world gatekeepers are ever more myopic, risk averse and conformist, daring only to support what is “hot” or on trend. That feeds into the money going to an increasingly small coterie of “celebrated” and hyped-about artists, producing what the market rewards. - The Critic
All in all, it is not as clear as it once seemed how the project of critical theory maps onto the practical politics—institutional and insurgent—of our moment. More serious is the looming sense that critical theory is somehow near the center of the crisis of our time. - Hedgehog Review
In Pascale Sablan's second week at the Pratt Institute, "a young white professor asked Sablan and another female student to stand up in a classroom. ... 'These two will never become architects because they're Black and because they're women,' she recalled him saying." - NPR
What do they want? Health care! When do they want it? In the contract for the future. And pay: "By offering annual increases that lag behind industry standards, pushing for a deal that ignores the soaring cost of living.” - Los Angeles Times
Everything is about class, including where we sit in the cinema. "One of the last truly democratic public institutions where everyone paid the same and had the same chance to get a good seat, will join airplanes, live theaters, music venues." - The Verge
So, #MeStillFreakinToo. Grace Van Dien is "looking for more agency after a producer on 'one of the last movies I did' allegedly asked for sexual favors." So, she's turning to her Twitch stream instead. - Los Angeles Times
The events of the Oscar-nominated Argentina,1985 aren't much fictionalized. "With more than 300 open investigations and 14 trials, the process is 'permanently alive,' said Estela de Carlotto, the president of Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo." - The New York Times
