“To be shocking, to be offensive: the meaning of these noble terms might not be obvious. There are so many variants of shock. What might be necessary, for more precise orientation, is some kind of shock genealogy.”
Is Washington, D.C. Oversupplied With Serious Theater? Arena Stage And The Shakespeare Worry
“The town is so crowded … that even voices from the small independent sector have begun to wonder aloud whether the city is oversaturated. Washington also teems with competition for audiences increasingly lured by a burgeoning restaurant scene and the cyber circus of online diversions. All this adds to the special pressure faced by big troupes: They have the most seats to sell, night after night.”
The Art of Literary Expletive Avoidance
“Swearwords pepper modern novels, not least in genres like detective fiction where they lend colour and authenticity to hard-boiled dialogue. But there are times when a writer can say more by not saying them.”
The World Has Some Remarkably Dark ‘Tourist Attractions’
“Everywhere Tézenas went, he saw examples of the oblivious, sometimes offensive behavior one might expect of tourists at any popular attraction. In a torture cell in Cambodia, he saw that a tourist had written ‘I was here’ on a wall.”
Composers: Rugged Individualists – Or A Community Of Hardworking Musicians?
“Living mostly in Europe these days and having to play the role of explaining just what is going on in contemporary American music to my composer colleagues there, I’ve run up against the opinion that seemingly everything is probably minimalist and if not, it’s loud and ambiguously tonal with orchestral tutti upon orchestral tutti, European orchestral music is taut, lean, precise, sophisticated, timbral, and we can go on.”
The Fall, And Rise, Of The Art Dealer In Red Flannel Shirts
“Galleries are not easy propositions. It can be a juggling act of finding artists, installing shows and alerting the public. There are critics to contend with, the public’s fickle tastes and the endless fluctuations of the market. It’s no surprise that spaces come and go like the tides.”
This Russian Movie Was Nominated For A Foreign Film Oscar, But Might Be Censored In Russia
“The film, which paints a dark picture of corrupt provincial life in the country, has been denounced as anti-Russian by public figures ranging from politicians to clerics. The culture minister, Vladimir Medinsky, has said he doesn’t like the film’s depressing story and foul language.”
Here’s Why You Don’t Have To Listen To Those Friends Who Think You’ll LOVE ‘The Fall’
“The show tells us that men are bothered by women who casually fuck men, it tells us there’s a virgin/vamp dichotomy in society. It tells us that male monstrosity isn’t monstrosity at all, but exists on a spectrum that includes hapless lovestruck officers of the law. It informs us that women can be unfeeling, that murderers can be empathetic, that men often mistake misogyny for art. True, all perfectly true, but the presentation is very After School Special.”
Possibly The Best Copyright Quirk Ever Makes James Bond Public Domain In Canada
“Some Canadian writers, mindful of the 2015 copyright changes, are musing about the prospect of taking 007 for a spin” – especially if they could sell their books outside of their genre-loathing country.
Turns Out Bilingualism Might Not Be *That* Much Of An Advantage – Until You Get Old
“Adults who speak multiple languages seem to resist the effects of dementia far better than monolinguals do.”
Technology Could Be Making Us Safer, Except Where It’s Making Us So Very Much More Vulnerable
“If technology moves along a linear axis, it is complemented by a cyclical resurgence of human forgetting, folly and failure. We might not be in danger of lapsing into the Dark Ages, but we do find ourselves relearning the same life-or-death lessons each generation.”
Why Did Popular Music Break Up With Jazz?
“Soldiers who had come back from World War II didn’t seem to be as interested in the more complex, challenging kind of popular song, the more jazz-based song. Sentimental ballads and, yes, novelty numbers, suddenly was much more appealing.”
The Ulster Orchestra Wins A Temporary Reprieve – But Can It Be Saved?
“The current situation, of a fragile status quo, and an orchestra having to run ever harder and harder to stand still, is too precarious to sustain in the medium and longer term.”
The Vocal (Cord) Life Coach Behind Some Of The Biggest Belters
“Vetro has lived through the rise of Auto-Tune, and he says it’s never had an impact on his business. He asserts that proper technique and vocal maintenance are still crucial for working artists, and that many singers and producers who record in fancy studios still push to get the most genuine vocal performances possible.”
Our Hidden Museum Masterpieces (And Why You Can’t See Them)
“Having 5% of your national collection on show is something people find difficult to understand,” says British curator Jasper Sharp, who was the commissioner of the Austrian pavilion at the 2013 Venice Bienniale. Many art institutions are thus coming up with ways to show their stuff, so to speak.
50 Years Ago: Did This Sci Fi Writer Predict Today’s Approach To Studying Humanities?
“The general trend to introduce mathematical thinking into various sciences (including disciplines that did not previously use any math tools, such as biology, psychology, and medicine), is slowly extending to the humanities. For now, we have had some rare efforts in language studies (theoretical linguistics) and literary theory (the application of information theory to the study of literary texts, especially poetry).”
Dreamworks Animation Studio Has Fallen On Hard Times. Can It Be Saved?
“The underperformance of films like Turbo, Mr Peabody & Sherman, Penguins of Madagascar and Rise of the Guardians has wiped almost 40% from the studio’s share value, leading to 500 layoffs, a change of management and a heavily reduced release slate.”
Facebook’s Battle Against Nudity In Art
“Social media giant Facebook has been taken to court by a French user whose account was closed down after he posted an image of Courbet’s racy painting L’Origine du Monde (1866). According to Le Figaro, the world-famous oil-on-canvas was part of a promo for an art history video about the artwork, broadcasted by the highbrow TV channel Arte.”
Let’s Understand Why People Engage (Or Don’t) With The Arts
Those who self-identify as lower or working class are more likely to attend events in order to “support the community” or “explore their cultural heritage;” upper classes often attend the arts “as a marker of their good taste, cultural capital and social identity.”