Krista Tippett: “In his art, Yo-Yo Ma resists fixed boundaries. He’d like to rename classical music just ‘music’ – born in improvisation, and traversing territory as vast and fluid as the world we inhabit. In this generous and intimate conversation, he shares his philosophy of curiosity about life, and of performance as hospitality.” (audio plus transcript)
Sergei Filin Isn’t Leaving The Bolshoi Ballet After All
“Sergei Filin has finally confirmed that he will be staying at the Bolshoi Ballet, after his contract as artistic director expires in two weeks’ time, heading a new choreographers workshop, as proposed by the theatre’s chief Vladimir Urin last July.”
The Video Store Is Not Dead (As Long As It’s Indie)
“All I’ve read, for months and even years, is that the video store is dead, and yet here I am at the counter of Video Free Brooklyn in the middle of a weekday afternoon, and I can’t get a word in edgewise.”
Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker And Brian Eno Try Shakespeare Without Words
“In the show Golden Hours, featuring tracks from Eno’s Another Green World and choreography by de Keersmaeker, the playwright’s lines are danced rather than spoken. The duo talk about stretching time, the power of pop songs and searching for answers in the studio.”
The Cowshed: A Victim Remembers The Cultural Revolution
“I had the good fortune not only to have seen a cowshed – or rather, to have been forced to see it – but to have lived in one for about nine months. It was no life of luxury, but I did gain a rare opportunity to witness the Cultural Revolution from the inside. … Would anyone these days build a prison for me, and ensure its security by guarding it day and night?”
3,900 Pages Of Paul Klee’s Notebooks Are Now Online. Enjoy
“These works are considered so important for understanding modern art that they are compared to the importance that Leonardo’s A Treatise on Painting had for Renaissance.”
Shakespeare, Performed By Your Spatula
“The nurse is a bottle of Dettol. Lady Capulet is a half-used bottle of washing-up liquid. There’s something rather sad about that.”
Everything’s A ‘Con’ Now, Thanks To The Internet
“The far-flung corners of fandom used to thrive mostly online, invisible to those didn’t share the same groupie passions. But recently, more fans have been stepping out of the virtual world and into convention centers—the physical manifestation of an obsessiveness bred by the Internet.”
Wait, Authors! That’s Not A Spam Email – That’s Real Prize Money
Australian author Helen Garner “was going to delete the email but thought to call her publisher, who informed her that the Windham-Campbell prize was in fact real. The Windham-Campbell prize is one of world’s richest literary awards, according to reports.”
Can Movie Theatres Sell Tickets As Social Experience?
“People still like to go to the movies. They like to go out, be around people, engage other people, and cinema still has a very strong pull in that respect.”
Chinese Censors Get Serious About Online Television
“The authorities in China are tightening their grip on the country’s booming online television industry after officials from the top broadcast regulator said last week that programs would soon be subject to the same censorship as regular TV shows.”
‘The Dress’, One Year Later: Scientists Know More About Why People See Different Colors In It – And Now There’s ‘The Jacket’
Some factors evidently make no difference (genetics), while certain factors you’d think were entirely irrelevant do seem to correlate. And researchers have finally found another image for which people’s color perceptions vary wildly; you can take an online test and help with the research.
Scientists May Just Have Found Banksy (Whose Lawyers Are Not Happy)
Using a technique called “geographic profiling” which was pioneered by criminologists, “researchers [studied] a list of Banksy artwork locations in London and Bristol, [and] they said that the resulting ‘geoprofile’ was a good match for an obvious candidate.”
Amazon Customers In Review War Over The Book Of Mormon (The Real One)
“‘WARNING: May cause drowsiness and occasional eye-rolling. Go watch the musical instead,’ said one reviewer. A five-star fan, however, said that ‘it was translated by the Gift and Power of God, and is the record of a people who are a branch of the tribe of Israel who had Prophets in their day who preached about Christ. Read it and pray about its contents.'”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 03.03.16
Celebrating the future
Had a marvelous time last weekend at the Sunderman Conservatory of Music, a school just 10 years old at Gettysburg College … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2016-03-03
“Unfinished” Business: Met Breuer Engulfed by a Dark Cloud of Unknowing
What a disappointment! The debut installation at the Met Breuer, unveiled to the press on Tuesday (and to the general public on Mar. 18), fell short of the expectations raised by the Metropolitan Museum itself. … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-03-03
Black and Blue of Michael Butterworth’s Diaries
Michael Butterworth’s new book, The Blue Monday Diaries: In the Studio with New Order — recently published in the U.K., and just out in the U.S. — tells how he began “hanging out … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2016-03-03
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Soaring New NY Train Station Is Eye-Dropping (And Yes, A Boondoggle)
“At first blush, Mr. Calatrava’s architecture can almost — almost — make you forget what an epic boondoggle the whole thing has been. That virgin view, standing inside the Oculus and gazing up, is a jaw-dropper.”
An Uncertain Start For The New Met Breuer
“Is the Met Breuer a new museum, or an extension of an old one? Does the Met Breuer do what the Met does best? It’s too soon for me to say – but I am not as confident as I’d wish that this new pavilion has the same ambitions and sympathies as the mothership.”
Famed Hollywood Studio MiraMax Bought By Qatari Company
“Miramax, one of Hollywood’s best-known independent film and television labels, was acquired by the beIN Media Group, a sports and media company headed by the Qatari executive Nasser Al-Khelaifi.”
What’s At Stake For The Met’s New Breuer Museum
“There’s enormous good will and crossed fingers about the Met’s endeavor, in part because there is something deeply unsettled, and unsettling, about the project. All know that ahead lies a treacherous balancing act — creative thinking, self-examination, scholarship, good staff decisions, and sterling curatorship are all critical for the success of the Met Breuer.”
How Digital Technology Is Revolutionizing Archaeology
“As the digital and physical worlds collide, archaeology is changing—not just in practice but in scale. A huge database of Biblical-era pottery, for example, means an archaeologist in Jordan can find a shard of pottery from the Iron Age and, in minutes, query how that one fragment of clay connects to every other excavation site in the Holy Land.”
How Profitable Is It To Be A Hollywood Movie Studio? Here Are The Numbers
“Four of the six major studios posted profits exceeding $1 billion for the calendar year, based on newly released numbers, though only three managed to grow their bottom lines.”
Why Art ABout TV Shows Is Showing Up In Museums
“Museums have to change what they do and bring in more diverse audiences if they want to survive and thrive in the 21st century. Some museums are changing the look and feel of their displays, for example, making them more colorful or shortening text descriptions to appeal to a broader audience. Other times, it meant putting graffiti, comic book characters or President Underwood on display.”
Tech News Site CNET Adds New Feature: Fiction
“On Wednesday, CNET published a 5,500-word story about a female social media guru in Silicon Valley who is kidnapped by a taco truck owner. The man handcuffs the woman in the back of his truck and forces her to create a social media campaign to promote his tacos.”
Dance Beyond Ballet – Here Are The Issues
“No matter what sector we’re in, the big questions are the same: What does it mean to have your body under scrutiny on the job? How does it feel to be asked to represent your entire race in a company meeting? How do you find the right people to mentor and guide you?”
Could This Oscar-Winning Film Help End Honor Killings In Pakistan?
“Before traveling to the United States for the Academy Awards ceremony, Ms. Obaid-Chinoy screened A Girl in the River at the official residence of Pakistan’s prime minister, Nawaz Sharif … [who later] announced that his government was ‘in the process of legislating to stop such brutal and inhumane acts in the name of honor.'”