The Hall of Fame is about old and dead people; rock’n’roll is about the young and living. The Hall of Fame tries to reform rock’n’roll, tame it, reduce it to bland, middle-American family entertainment; it drains all the sexiness and danger and rebelliousness out of it. - The Atlantic
Such a staggering budget may seem to befit the late queen, a towering figure of British history, but why is so much money being thrown at this statue when the country is still gripped by austerity? - ARTnews
The image was created by digitally stitching more than 8,000 photographs of the curving walls, taken in the crawl space behind the panelling which could not be dismantled as it forms part of the choir stalls. - The Art Newspaper
If the market woes of 2024 continue, expect 2025 to winnow the field of art fairs, auction houses, and galleries. Lest we forget, the art world has expanded greatly in the last decade. This year will likely decide how much of that new infrastructure the market can actually support. - ARTnews
"The painted angels ... once were among the defining features of Old North Church when they were painted around 1730. But officials at the church … painted over the angels in 1912 with thick coats of white paint, part of an austere renovation that restorationists are trying to reverse." - AP
Women led the way in recorded music this year, according to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), topping the singles chart for 34 out of the 52 weeks and accounting for half of the top 20 albums for the first time. - The Guardian
If we think of plots in the mathematicians’ terms, as data sets whose patterns can be objectively mapped and compared, then perhaps it makes sense that even as the number of books in the world has soared, the number of plots might not have followed suit. - The New York Times
No, the company wasn't started by the Pilgrims, even though it is near Plymouth. The Avedis Zildjian Co. was founded in Istanbul in 1623 to make cymbals for the Ottoman sultan's Janissary bands. The company was moved to the US in 1929 and is now the world's oldest musical instrument manufacturer. - WBUR (Boston)
The thieves used the basement of a condo building as their excavation site, tunneling 26 feet under the city to find thousands of ancient and medieval objects for the black market and even the remains of an 11th-century church. Here's how Italy's crackerjack art police caught the villains. - The Guardian
Just like Cleveland, Bradford (just west of Leeds in Yorkshire) has a mighty industrial past, a de-industrialized present, notoriously grey weather, and a very grim reputation. Also like Cleveland, Bradford has champions who insist it's underrated (especially for its South Asian community and food) and look forward to showing it off. - BBC
"Charme" is a popular dance style which developed in the 1980s as the Brazilian way to party to American soul and R&B. When COVID shuttered indoor clubs, this spot in a working-class Rio suburb became the happening place for charme, and a new generation has discovered it. - The New York Times
A three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit Court Of Appeals in Cincinnati found that the Internet is an "information service" rather than a "telecommunications service," meaning that the Federal Communications Commission does not have the authority to impose regulations on it. - Axios
"She approved the last six state budgets, each of which included an increase for South Dakota Public Broadcasting. The organization’s annual state funding went up 27% during that period. … Now she’s proposed a 65% reduction, which will slash state funding to just under $2 million if legislators go along with the plan." - South Dakota Searchlight
"Whether or not you’re already familiar with these up-and-comers, our editors and contributors from across the dance world predict that we’ll be hearing a lot more from these artists on the verge of a breakout in 2025 and beyond." - Dance Magazine
