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Five ArtsTrending Stories From This Week’s AJ: Are The Arts Falling Into A Measurement Trap?

September 18, 2016 by Douglas McLennan Leave a Comment

This Week: The remarkable new National Mall museum that doesn't look like the rest... An arts council's risky change in standards... What scientists have learned about the accomplishments of gifted children... Will algorithms take over the book business?... Seven things scientists have learned about creativity. Washington's National Mall Gets A Unique New Addition: The long-awaited National … [Read more...]

This Week’s AJ Arts Highlights: Has Entertainment Made Art Irrelevant?

September 11, 2016 by Douglas McLennan Leave a Comment

This Week: Major shakeup in London's museum world... Nobel laureate says entertainment has killed art... Latest study of Hollywood reaffirms cultural inequality... Why did Wells Fargo disparage artists?... Did the Glenn Gould Foundation get ahead of itself in announcing arts Nobel prizes? Seismic Changes In London's Museum World: Two high-profile resignations this week. First,  Martin Roth, … [Read more...]

This Week’s Notable AJ Stories: An Artist Erased, A Cautionary Tale

September 4, 2016 by Douglas McLennan Leave a Comment

This Week: What exactly does cultural equity actually mean?... In our social media world everything is about images... A cautionary tale as an artist is erased from the internet... There's a difference between culture and art... Why Italy fought to keep Venice off the endangered list. A Good Survey Of Debates About Cultural Equity: The crew over at Createquity have written a comprehensive … [Read more...]

This Week’s AJ Highlights: That Time Ballet Superstars Nureyev And Fonteyn Got Arrested In A “Hippie Raid”

August 28, 2016 by Douglas McLennan 1 Comment

This Week: Earthquake Devastates Historic Italian Towns... Has the audience deserted blockbuster movies?... The best new beautiful library of 2016... Is it a good idea to pay young people to try culture?... When superstar dancers were arrested in a 1960s police raid. Earthquake Devastates Historic Italian Towns: Historians fear that valuable Italian art and heritage have been destroyed by the … [Read more...]

This Week In Culture – Some ArtsJournal Highlights

August 21, 2016 by Douglas McLennan 2 Comments

This Week: An artist collective skewers Trump... How Florence's Uffizi is dramatically addressing its problems... Our fetishizing of "authenticity" doesn't ring true... So what if Google is changing the way you think... An inspiring comeback after medical calamity by one of America's best musicians. The Naked Trump: Five American cities woke up this week to statues of a naked Donald Trump … [Read more...]

Culture Trends: Five Stories From The Week’s ArtsJournal That You Shouldn’t Miss

August 14, 2016 by Douglas McLennan Leave a Comment

This Week: Is the music industry's piracy war really about higher royalty payments?... There are signs the Golden Age of TV might be ending... Theatre's emotional toll on actors... LA as the next great center of contemporary music... Europe's tourist glut is damaging its great cities. Piracy Or Pay? The Music Industry's Latest War: The music industry is complaining that rampant piracy is … [Read more...]

Five Essential Stories From Last Week’s ArtsJournal Haul, Context Edition

August 7, 2016 by Douglas McLennan Leave a Comment

This Week: The ways in which we experience art are about to change in big ways... Auction houses are becoming shadow banks for the super-wealthy with money to stash... The Met Museum's super-successful year (at least at the admissions booth)... Predictably, Harry Potter slays sales records... Do we have a problem with the ways we develop artists' careers? How We Encounter And Experience Art … [Read more...]

Editor’s Picks: Five Highlights From Last Week’s AJ – How To Define Art Edition

July 31, 2016 by Douglas McLennan Leave a Comment

This Week: In an age of artists what is the definition of being an artist?... Canadian study says arts workers are most at risk... What is R&D in the arts?... Edinburgh Festival's success shows the broadening impact of festivals... In the information age our opinions seem to be more arrogant. We're All Artists Now (So Maybe It's Worth Asking What Is An Artist?): We equate creativity with … [Read more...]

Editor’s Picks: Five Stories You Shouldn’t Miss, Factually Challenged Edition

July 24, 2016 by Douglas McLennan Leave a Comment

This week: How did our culture get to the point we don't trust facts?... Are artists actually detrimental to neighborhoods?... Our notions of "greatness" need an overhaul... Europe's new cultural paradigm desperately needs artists... Are donors to museum building projects do their museums a disservice? Do Facts Matter Any More? (Let's Define "Facts" Please): It's as if we live in parallel … [Read more...]

Our Don’t-Miss Stories From Last Week’s ArtsJournal: Musical Prime Minister Edition

July 17, 2016 by Douglas McLennan Leave a Comment

This week: A penetrating portrait of artist Chuck Close, a reality check on meritocracy as a concept, a look at anger and our access to visceral emotion in a media-saturated world, the enduring meritocracy of the Emmy as measure of success, and a Prime Minister exits stage right, humming. A Virtuoso Artist Profile: Wil S. Hylton's profile of Chuck Close for the New York Times endeavors to … [Read more...]

Five Highlights From Last Week’s AJ: Ethics, Success, And Documentation Edition

July 10, 2016 by Douglas McLennan Leave a Comment

This week: What ethical responsibilities do funders and funded have to one another?... The gatekeeper problem is still a thing in the internet age... What should the measure of success be in opera?... Historians are going to have a real problem documenting today's artists... Our all-image culture suggests the place of images in art may be changing. What Ethical Responsibilities Do Funders … [Read more...]

Five Highlights From Last Week’s AJ You Shouldn’t Miss

July 4, 2016 by Douglas McLennan Leave a Comment

This week: Alas, hard work probably doesn't trump innate ability... It's tempting to believe extravagant claims for technology, but there are limits... Yes, by all means let's talk about equity, but be sure you know what it means... A real-world experiment in ticket pricing (and some surprising results)... The death of the mid-budget Hollywood movie. We Like The Idea That Hard Work Trumps … [Read more...]

Last Week’s Don’t Miss Arts Stories: Brexit Edition

June 26, 2016 by Douglas McLennan Leave a Comment

Clearly Brexit is a cultural decision, and it will have a big impact... A new jazz scene emerges and re-energizes the art form... There's a practical reason there are so few women ballet choreographers... Christo's simple idea wows the world... Has public radio figured out a compelling future? Brexit Will Have Big Impact On Culture: The British vote to leave the European Union is a … [Read more...]

Five Stories From Last Week’s AJ You Shouldn’t Miss (Meaning Of Art Edition)

June 20, 2016 by Douglas McLennan Leave a Comment

Can computers help us better understand art? What the world thinks is creative. Why is it still okay to discriminate against stupid people? How gaming is taking over. And the "Rotten Tomatoes of Books" reveals a problem with how books are reviewed. What's New In Understanding Art: How do we understand art? Of course there are the tangible technical qualities anyone can see. But there are also … [Read more...]

This Week’s Top AJ Stories, When Blockbusters Fail Edition

June 12, 2016 by Douglas McLennan Leave a Comment

Maybe our biggest problem with teaching music in schools is the way we teach it. Hollywood thought making blockbusters would save it. Surprise! How charity auctions take advantage of artists. The internet is changing what we value in the world. And the wonder of Bill T. Jones... Music Teacher: We should change the way we teach music in schools Currently we teach it based on classical music … [Read more...]

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Douglas McLennan

I’m the founder and editor of ArtsJournal, which was founded in September 1999 and aggregates arts and culture news from all over the internet. The site is also home to some 60 arts bloggers. I’m a … [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

  • 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
  • Franklin on How Subsidy for Big Tech Wrecked the Arts (and Journalism): “Doug: You can, if you like, buy a jailbroken Android, install GrapheneOS, and sideload apps from the open-source ecosystem at…” Mar 7, 16:17
  • Douglas McLennan on How Subsidy for Big Tech Wrecked the Arts (and Journalism): “Franklin: Thanks for the response, But a few points: My Chinese solar panel example was to make the point that…” Mar 7, 12:46
  • Steven Lavine on How Subsidy for Big Tech Wrecked the Arts (and Journalism): “Terrific essay, with no prospect to a different future” Mar 7, 09:53
  • Franklin on How Subsidy for Big Tech Wrecked the Arts (and Journalism): “The economics of this essay are incoherent. The CCP was creating yuan ex nihilo and flooding it into domestically produced…” Mar 7, 08:49

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  • When “Vacuum Cleaner for Babies” Beat Taylor Swift: Fixing the Music Streaming Problem

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