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How Merce Cunningham Upended Concert Dance’s Conventions: Technology, Philosophy And Randomness

"This video from the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis explores six aspects to Cunningham's 70-year career, from dance maker, collaborator and chance taker, to innovator, film producer and teacher, to put his influence and legacy in context." - Aeon

Once Threatened, This One-Million-Pound Artwork Is Being Rehomed

Elyn Zimmerman's rock-and-water installation Marabar was erected in 1984 in the courtyard of the National Geographic Society — which now has other plans for that space. Then American University came to the rescue. - The New York Times

When Someone Hears Music That Isn’t There

Here's an explainer about Musical Ear Syndrome — which isn't a form of tinnitus or of audio hallucinations caused by a psychiatric condition. In fact, MES is pretty common. - Ludwig Van

99 Finds: The Most Exciting Art And Artifact Discoveries Of 2021

Sorted into categories such as "Missing masterpieces", "Ancient art", "Prehistoric peoples", African-American and indigenous North American history, and "Royal treasures", here are nearly a hundred pieces of (mostly) good news. - Smithsonian Magazine

Saudi Government Wants To Make Its Country The Arab World’s New Filmmaking Capital

With Egypt's once-dominant industry stagnating under the Sisi dictatorship, the government led by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman is dropping lots of money to fill that void, building soundstages and film schools, launching a star-studded movie festival, and even directly funding productions. - The New York Times

Belgium’s High Court Overrules Government’s Shutdown Of Cultural Venues

The Council of State, the country's top administrative court, found insufficient justification for prime minister Alexander De Croo's COVID-related order closing theaters, concert halls, and cinemas while leaving restaurants, bars, and Christmas markets open. - Variety

Let’s Look At The Toxic Damage Of Bullshit

The mass production of warm sounding words with minimal interest in real material outcomes is signifying bullshit (SB). It is nearly ubiquitous. - 3 Quarks Daily

TV Newsrooms Are Jumping To Streaming In 2022

As the nation’s big media companies look to woo new viewers trying to pick their way through a dizzying number of streaming outlets, news divisions are signing up for the battle. - Variety

We’re Addicted To Stories With Trauma. But Are We Lazy?

The prevalence of the trauma plot cannot come as a surprise at a time when the notion of trauma has proved all-engulfing. Its customary clinical incarnation, P.T.S.D., is the fourth most commonly diagnosed psychiatric disorder in America, and one with a vast remit. - The New Yorker

Recontextualizing Messiahs In Confronting Racism

How these two Canadian companies chose to respond to our contemporary context of anti-racist calls when interpreting Messiah provides an opportunity to have a conversation about how performers and audiences of western classical music can engage more fully in anti-colonial and anti-racist work. - The Conversation

Perspective: Seeing The Real Chuck Close

Seeing Chuck’s image reduced to the accusations against him in recent years has inspired me to tell my story, not as a defense or rebuttal — I believe and honor the women who came forward — but to add perspective to how we see Chuck Close, even if that portrait is more Cubist than photorealist. - The New York...

Maria Rosario Jackson Confirmed as New NEA Chair

Jackson, 56, earned a doctorate in urban planning from the University of California at Los Angeles, and she’s a professor at Arizona State University and a sought-after speaker on how to embed arts, culture and design into community life. Jackson previously worked at the Urban Institute. - Washington Post

While Paris Wants To Be A “Fifteen-Minute City,” Sweden Experiments With A “One-Minute City”

While Paris works with a 15-minute radius and Barcelona’s superblocks with nine-block chunks of the city, Sweden’s project operates at the single street level, paying attention to “the space outside your front door — and that of your neighbors adjacent and opposite.” - Bloomberg

The Original Novel “Bambi” Was No Cloying Tale For The Kiddies

"Far from being a children's story, Bambi was actually a parable about the inhumane treatment and dangerous precariousness of Jews and other minorities in what was then an increasingly fascist world, the new translation will show." - The Observer (UK)

Meditating On The Art Of Giving Up

The way the idea of giving up figures in our lives, as a perpetual lure and an insistent fear. The giving up that involves leaving ourselves out of what we had wanted, or thought we had wanted. The giving up that is linked to a sense of impossibility, or of possibilities running out. - London Review of Books

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