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Staging A Musical In A Working Swimming Pool Onstage

No, this isn't a site-specific production at an outdoor pool or the Y. Flint Rep in Michigan actually installed onstage a working swimming pool — complete with filters, temperature control, pool noodles, squirt guns, and rubber duckies — for its staging of Godspell. - Playbill

NYC Mayor Announces Possible Expansion Of Whitney Museum

The development would include up to 300 affordable housing units, a public open space, and 45,000 square feet set aside for a possible Whitney and High Line office expansion, according to the mayor’s office. - Hyperallergic

What Is It About A Work of Art That Gives A Person Genuine Chills? And Why Does That Seem To Happen So Rarely With...

A two-part essay by Ben Davis in which he considers (Part One) what exactly it is about a work that can give someone the physical response he calls "aesthetic chills" and (Part Two) why visual art doesn't seem to induce those chills as often as other art forms do. - Artnet

Sotheby’s Gets An Injection Of $1 Billion From Abu Dhabi Sovereign Wealth Fund

While the exact terms of the deal—or the company’s new valuation—were not disclosed, a Sotheby’s spokesperson said that $800 million of the cash injection has been earmarked for paying down the auction house’s $1.65 billion long-term debt. - ARTnews

A Look At The New Version Of The Chicago Manual Of Style

The 18th edition of the now-118-year-old guide has expanded sections on copyright, inclusive language (yes, it endorses the singular "they"), and how to credit non-text-based media and material generated by artificial intelligence. - Los Angeles Review of Books

Online Recommendations Are Deeply Broken (Compromised). We Can Fix That

Today’s automated social-media feeds deliver increasingly indistinguishable content now sometimes generated by artificial intelligence; in the face of this onslaught, we crave content with evidence that a real person actually stands behind the products or works being touted. - The New Yorker

Archaeology Student Finds Lost Ancient Mayan City By Accident

The team discovered three sites in total, in a survey area the size of Scotland's capital Edinburgh, “by accident” when one archaeologist browsed data on the internet. - BBC

Our Cultural Record Stored Digitally Is At Risk

When digital materials are vulnerable to sudden removal—whether by design or by attack—our collective memory is compromised, and the public’s ability to access its own history is at risk. - Internet Archive

Maurizio Pollini’s Final Recording, With His Son By His Side

"Dedicated to Schubert, it marks a welcome return to a composer whose music Pollini had not taped since the 1980s. But what makes the program so remarkably poignant is that Pollini is joined by his son. … Daniele Pollini discussed the new Schubert album in an interview." - The New York Times

What You Can Tell From An Imagined Audience

As researchers have noted, the less an actual audience is visible or known, the more communicators depend on their imaginations. Because journalists can never know precisely who consumes their work and why they do so, they instead form mental constructions of audiences. That has material consequences. - NiemanLab

There’s No Way To Reach The Top Of Hollywood’s Corporate Ladders Because The Boomers Already There Won’t Leave

"Unlike their bosses, some of whom ascended to the heights of authority in their 30s …, young professionals today … see no clear path to the top. Not one that isn’t blocked by an all-powerful boomer who’s been perched in a corner office since the Bush administration. The first one." - The Hollywood Reporter

Some True-Crime Podcasters Are Trying Something Different: Focusing On The Victims

"In a saturated and unregulated landscape, some creators — with little to no training on how to cover crime — try to humanize the people who have suffered. I spoke to four creators for this story, all women. … They prioritize empathy for victims and their loved ones." - Nieman Lab

Contemporary Artist Chosen To Supply Bayeux Tapestry’s Missing Panel

Most scholars believe that the enormous embroidery, which depicts the Norman Conquest, is missing a key scene: the coronation of William the Conqueror as King of England on Christmas Day 1066. Hélène Delprat has been selected to create what she describes as "neither a restoration nor a reconstruction." - Artnet

How Choreographers Are Experimenting With AI

"The impact of artificial intelligence ... can already be seen across film, television and music, but to some extent dance seems insulated, as a form that so much relies on live bodies performing in front of an audience." Yet several choreographers (most notably, Wayne McGregor) are working with the technology. - The Guardian

Odesans Fight Back As Regional Governor Tries To Erase City’s Russian-Language History

"Where the governor sees Russian imperialism, Odesan artists, writers, musicians and scholars and their friends in Ukraine and across the world see a high-handed cancellation of cultural figures who are integral to the city’s 230-year history." - Prospect (UK)

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