{"id":3237,"date":"2026-02-08T10:11:03","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T18:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/?p=3237"},"modified":"2026-02-08T10:11:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T18:11:06","slug":"aj-chronicles-this-weeks-stories-when-spectacle-replaces-authority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2026\/02\/aj-chronicles-this-weeks-stories-when-spectacle-replaces-authority.html","title":{"rendered":"AJ Chronicles: This week’s stories — When Spectacle replaces Authority"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image: Moira Clunie on Flickr<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

First up, a visual metaphor for the culture this week: a 15-foot gold-leaf statue of the President<\/a> commissioned by crypto investors, versus the empty desks at the Washington Post<\/em><\/a>, where the entire photography staff and Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic Sebastian Smee were unceremoniously let go. Heavy-metal “boosterism” in its rawest form versus the sound of expertise leaving the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week\u2019s feed reads like a study in the displacement of authority<\/em> by spectacle<\/em>. The stewardship of high culture substituted with a deep-fried state fair. Literally. The Smithsonian is replacing its thoughtful Folklife Festival with a “Great American State Fair”<\/a> on the National Mall, a pivot from anthropological curiosity to populist funnel cake. Federal arts policy feels increasingly like the writers’ room at a reality show producers’ meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The social contract between the audience and art is loosening. In Japan, a city had to cancel a major cherry-blossom festival<\/a> not because of climate change, but because tourists couldn’t stop defecating in residents’ gardens. On Broadway, producers are wringing their hands over audiences who treat musicals like karaoke bars<\/a>, drowning out the professionals they paid hundreds of dollars to see. We are apparently no longer “passive observers.” We insist on being the “main character,” where the art is merely a backdrop for our own performative consumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You want economics? In the arts there’s a state of cognitive dissonance. The Minnesota Orchestra<\/a> posted record-breaking earned revenue and still<\/em> face-planted into a $4.2 million deficit. It turns out that even when you win, you lose\u2014a paradox that makes the strategy of “Boosterism”<\/a>\u2014betting on optimism as a business model\u2014seem less like a delusion and more like a survival tactic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amidst this, the mass-market paperback<\/a> is officially dying, taking with it the idea of culture as a cheap, disposable utility found in drugstores. We are bifurcating into a world of high-end luxury experiences (that lose money) and digital “slop” (that makes money).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it depressing? If you embrace the absurdity\u2014an opera featuring zombies and a Trump-like King Ubu<\/a> premiere in Hamburg\u2014it\u2019s actually bizarrely fascinating. Institutions are cracking, audiences are feral, and the critics have left the building. The inmates are running the asylum and they\u2019re singing along to show tunes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My weekly essay reflecting on arts stories of the past week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3237","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-aj-chronicles","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/275654247_0b89849085_c.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4ePZm-Qd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3242,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2026\/02\/aj-chronicles-this-weeks-stories-changing-of-the-guard.html","url_meta":{"origin":3237,"position":0},"title":"AJ Chronicles: This Week’s Stories \u2014 Changing of the Guard","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"February 15, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"This week there's a question that connects nearly every story. Who gets to decide what's real? A viral AI-generated video of Tom Cruise fighting Brad Pitt is racking up views. Neither actor consented or was paid. SAG-AFTRA is furious. Lawsuits await. 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