"Representatives from Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam sent letters to the museum, via U.S. investigators, in May and June, saying the prized relics had no legal export permits to lawfully leave their countries. The museum, they said, did not respond." - The Denver Post
Yes, COVID lockdowns and all that time at home certainly played a part, writes Mary McNamara, but there are other factors at work, especially this long after things have reopened. She also has an idea or two for addressing the problem. - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)
"The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is the latest US institution to raise its admission fees to $30, making it one of the most expensive art museums in the country. … Other museums, like the Guggenheim, Whitney, and Philadelphia Museum of Art, have recently taken similar measures." - ARTnews
“The sheer volume of new artists, artworks, and platforms is growing. Think about the impact that YouTube had on a generation of viewers—it completely changed the business. I think we are seeing the beginning of something similar here. The volume of work we will be exposed to is just exploding.” - Artnet
Maddi Koch, who is a senior at Virginia Tech and is sometimes paid by film companies to promote their work, says she makes videos to connect people and to spare them “the pain of arguing over finding a movie or not knowing what you’re really looking for.” - The New York Times
Neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley reconstructed Pink Floyd’s classic rock song “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1” using recordings of the brain activity of 29 patients who heard the song while undergoing brain surgery. - The Wall Street Journal
Peak, who has now seen Barbie twice, thinks she might see more movies in theaters, if studios, "could replicate something where it's more of an event for us all to go. That would be really cool. Y'know you can't get that just sitting at home." - NPR
"He was viscerally aware that the essence of dramatic art is found in the living, breathing doing of it with a collective cast of participants—actors, directors, producers, mentors, audiences. Reworking isn’t failure. Indeed, Wilson the bluesman rewrote and remixed in real time, improvising and experimenting his way to mastery and historical revelation." The Atlantic
So many people cringe at the memory of the cheap little plastic instruments played by grade-schoolers. But a wooden recorder in the hands of a pro can be enchanting and even thrilling, and there's now music written for it in virtually every genre, including jazz, rock and pop. - The Guardian
Leaders of Portland’s Artists Repertory Theatre announced on Tuesday they are canceling the 2023-24 season, just as the company was beginning rehearsals for one of the shows it planned to produce. - Oregon Public Broadcasting
"'(It's) always been an iffy little enterprise that depends way too much on me,” said Peter Schumann. 'Is it sustainable when I'm gone and will people recognize it as important?' Those questions remain unanswered as Schumann's incessant creation of new work keeps the focus on the present." - The New York Times
The company wrote in a blog post that GPT-4 can not only help make content moderation decisions, but aid in developing policies and swiftly iterating on policy changes, "reducing the cycle from months to hours." - Engadget
"Now Morris, long a poked-fun-of example of British eccentricity, is opening up to younger dancers who approach it as a living tradition. For some, this means exploring ways to pull apart and reinterpret the form. And for traditionalists, it means perfecting ancient technique." - The New York Times
"I’m not sure I envy Cooper (who is directing the film and co-wrote the script) the task of getting into that storm-strafed mind or giving vent to Bernstein’s complexities." - New York Magazine