The suffix “-ification” (also “-ization”), usually attached to words that end in “-ify,” describes change, the process of something becoming different from what it once was, as in “gentrification” or “globalization” or “Californication." - The New Yorker
"It has struck me lately that the recurrent frenzy of destruction of prized objects in popular culture may tell us less about our current relationship to the past than it does about our fears for the future." - Public Books
The curators Paul Farber and Salamishah Tillet have asked six artists — three women and three men; three of them Black, one Asian, one Latino, one Native — to make “prototype monuments” for the west half of the Mall, from 12th Street to the Lincoln Memorial. - The New York Times
"What makes rongorongo so difficult is that ... no one is quite sure whether it is a form of proto-writing or a fully fledged writing system. If the former, are the glyphs pictograms or mnemonic 'cues'? If the latter, is the script ideographic, phonetic, or a mixture of the two?" - History Today
The key finding was that, for the eminent creators, there was a higher connectivity, both within each hemisphere, the right and left, but particularly across them—and especially in the two key networks that many studies have identified as important for creative thinking, the default mode network and the executive control network. - Nautilus
"The change opens the door to a strange social experiment. … 'So much of the experience of TikTok is that weird sense that you're being profiled—this idea that each thing that you see is somehow related to you,' (says anthropologist) Nick Seaver. … What happens when that goes away?" - MSN (The Atlantic)
The ArcLight has become a Los Angeles mystery, the subject of speculation that befits a movie theater that was always more than just another neighborhood cinema. - The New York Times
As with so many other US regional theaters, a post-pandemic cash crunch to put on hold all five of its scheduled productions for the coming season and undertake a $500,000 "Save the Playhouse" emergency fundraising campaign. When performances will resume depends on how much money is raised. - San Antonio Report
“I think the other time when things moved really quickly was 1984,” he says—the year when the personal computer came out. Yet he sees this moment as distinct. “What’s going on in A.I. is like a major, major difference, conceptually, in how we think about music and who can make it.” - Chamber Music America
"The problem with comics is … it's not challenging anymore because I know how to do it. My life is about the search, not getting comfortable. I like the chaos. I'm not going to live another 300 years. I have to explore everything I can before dying." - Publishers Weekly
Holders of women’s titles who change their genders to male would see those titles “abolished,” the federation said, while holding out the possibility of a reinstatement “if the person changes the gender back to a woman.” - Fast Company
"Oleksandr Budko, 27, has been touring the US with the United Ukrainian Ballet, dancing before audiences of up to 3,000 people with, and without, his prosthetic legs. “This choreography is about the consequences of the war, about how indomitable we are, despite the pain and losses,” he said." - MSN (The Telegraph, UK)
No, you're not the only hearing person who turns on the closed captions in order to make out what's being said. It's a particular problem with movies originally made for theaters. Here's an explanation of why it happens and a few ways consumers can address it. - The New York Times
"(The troupe) is part of a second lawsuit challenging a Texas law that some argue would amount to a ban on public drag performances. The VORTEX Repertory Company joined seven other plaintiffs suing Texas and local leaders to block Senate Bill 12 from going into effect next month." - KXAN (Austin)
Called The Megiddo Mosaic, the 3rd-century work comes from the oldest surviving Christian place of worship, located near what's believed to be the site of Armageddon. Some scholars believe the mosaic shouldn't be moved at all yet, for the sake of research as well as the piece's safety. - AP
