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Archives for September 29, 2016

“Art Is Good?” Not Much Of An Argument For Art Is It?

September 29, 2016 by Douglas McLennan 8 Comments

I suggested in a post this week that, based on the lack of any arts business before the 114th US Congress, that it appears that lobbying for the arts seems to be failing. Yes, the NEA/NEH budgets have stayed more or less stable for the past few years, but the almost complete lack of any action on policy related to the arts suggests the arts have no place in a national agenda. And I suggested that … [Read more...]

Douglas McLennan

I'm the founder and editor of ArtsJournal, which I launched in 1999. ArtsJournal has never been a news source — it's a curated conversation: 26 years of gathering the most significant writing about … [Read More...]

About diacritical

Our culture is undergoing profound changes. Our expectations for what culture can (or should) do for us are changing. Relationships between those who make and distribute culture and those who consume it are changing. And our definitions of what artists are, how they work, and how we access them and their work are changing. So... [Read more]

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Recent Comments

  • Avoca Code on Not Really a Manifesto, I guess, but Perhaps a Framework for Thinking about AI and Art…: “Thought-provoking and well said. I appreciate how you frame AI not just as a new tool, but as a structural…” Nov 23, 17:42
  • Douglas McLennan on Making the Creative Turn: Is Using AI Cheating?: “Is it too hyperbolic though? A study just out this week reports that AI medical diagnosis capabilities now far surpass…” Jul 2, 13:34
  • Alan Harrison on Making the Creative Turn: Is Using AI Cheating?: “There is no pushback that would make sense. “Cheating” is, of course, a relative term — it means different things…” Jun 29, 18:48
  • Tom Corddry on Making the Creative Turn: Is Using AI Cheating?: “The emergence of new tools doesn’t make previous tools illegal to use for artistic creation, though new tools may radically…” Jun 29, 15:30
  • David E. Myers on How Should we Measure Art?: “A sophisticated approach to “measuring” incorporates all of the above, with clear delineation of how each plays a part if…” Nov 3, 16:20
  • Tom Corddry on How Should we Measure Art?: “Reading this brought to mind John Cage’s delineation of different ways to experience a Beethoven symphony–live in concert, on a…” Nov 3, 01:58
  • Abdul Rehman on A Framework for Thinking about Disruption of the Arts by AI: “This article brilliantly explores how AI is set to revolutionize everything, much like the digital revolution did. AI tools can…” Jun 8, 03:49
  • Richard Voorhaar on Classical Music has Lost a Generation. Blame the Metadata (in part): “I think we’ve lost several generations. My parents generation was the last that really supported, and knre something about classical…” May 15, 12:08
  • Franklin on How Subsidy for Big Tech Wrecked the Arts (and Journalism): “Language, yes; really characterization. Investments and margins don’t become subsidies and taxes whether or not markets “are working” – I’m…” Mar 8, 07:13
  • Douglas McLennan on How Subsidy for Big Tech Wrecked the Arts (and Journalism): “So what you’re arguing is language? – that investments aren’t subsidies and margins aren’t taxes? Sure, when markets are working.…” Mar 7, 21:42

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An ArtsJournal Blog

Recent Posts

  • From Messages to Conversations: AI Agents are Changing how we Find Culture
  • AJ Chronicles: The Excellence Problem and Why it Matters
  • AJ Chronicles: Why Tech Infrastructure is Becoming the Most Important Arts Story of 2026
  • AJ Chronicles: What Habermas Feared for our Public Sphere
  • What Ireland’s Basic Artist Income Experiment tells us about a new Arts Economy

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