Randy Cohen on his annual list: “Changes this year include updating #3 with the BEA’s new Arts in the GDP research, #8 to include a statement about the benefits of the arts in the military, and #10 includes the new Creative Industries data (now current as of January 2015).”
Why Are Non-Musicians Running Our Great Opera Houses?
“Sure, some of them will have worked in opera houses for quite a while, learning the ropes on their way up the greasy pole. But I bet I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of opera directors who are musicians in any shape or form. I’ve certainly met very few who can actually read a score.”
Why Nicholas Hytner Is A Playwright’s Dream Director
Alan Bennett (The Madness of George III, Talking Heads, The History Boys): “To a playwright, what immediately commends him is the amount of work he puts in. Directing can be quite a lazy profession with the play once roughed out and in preview left to coast along or settle down. Not with Nick; he never lets up.”
When The Bots Take Over
It’s understood now that, beside what we call the “real world,” we inhabit a variety of virtual worlds. Take Twitter. Or the Twitterverse. Twittersphere. You may think it’s a stretch to call this a “world,” but in many ways it has become a toy universe, populated by millions, most of whom resemble humans and may even, in their day jobs, be humans. But increasing numbers of Twitterers don’t even pretend to be human. Or worse, do pretend, when they are actually bots.
Report: China Is Now The Largest Market For Art
“The value of art traded reached an all-time high, worth an estimated €51bn last year. Art fairs accounted for around 40% of total revenue made by dealers last year (around €9.8bn), though the costs of taking part in them is steep.”
Could Canada FINALLY Be Making A Move To Produce Better Quality TV?
“There is a vast hunger for challenging, layered, complex, innovative drama that grips, tests and provokes an audience. In Canada in the past 15 years we have made almost diddly-squat in that arena.”
Tired Of The Grammar Police? Here’s Ammunition
“Instead of having some rule book of what is “correct” usage, they examine the evidence of how native and fluent nonnative speakers do in fact use the language. Whatever is in general use in a language (not any use, but general use) is for that reason grammatically correct.”
Bassem Youssef, “Egypt’s Jon Stewart,” In Exile
“His life in Egypt became ‘an unpredictable roller coaster,’ he says. ‘And I’m getting old for amusement parks.'” And yet: “I refuse to put myself in a position where I’m some sort of fugitive. If you’re dissing the country from outside, the brand will lose credibility.”
When Book Titles Have Zero To Do With Book Contents (A Problem Of Fiction)
“There’s something to be said for allusive titles: they can be intriguing and draw you in. And obscure titles at least make a change from the current trend for The Woman Who Climbed out of Her Car and Mowed the Lawn.”
Frei Otto Created ‘Transparent, Democratic’ Architecture In Reaction To The Horrors Of The Third Reich
Mies van der Rohe’s “famous dictum ‘less is more’ is one Otto believed in to the core of his being. The duty of the architect was to make as little impact as possible on nature and to learn from natural design – in Otto’s case, from the structures of crab shells, birds’ skulls, spiders’ webs and bubbles on the surface of water.”
Artefacts Under Attack Across History And Across The World
“The assault on ‘idolatrous’ images in England had begun in earnest a century earlier with the Protestant Reformation. One thing you didn’t see in Wolf Hall were the sledgehammer gangs unleashed by Thomas Cromwell during the dissolution of the monasteries. … It has been estimated that by the time this state iconoclasm ended, with Edward’s death in 1553, England had lost as much as 90 per cent of its Christian art.”
Hiding From Facebook Or Other Institutions? Invisibility Glasses Are (Almost) Here
“While the prototype won’t be on sale anytime soon, the company thinks there’s a clear need for something like this, especially as facial recognition technology improves.”
Five Contemporary African Artists To Watch
“Auction houses like Christie’s and Sotheby’s focus more on Africa’s antique statues than on contemporary photography or video installations. But contemporary art from the continent is finding a foothold at some premier gatherings in Europe and the U.S.”
The Planned Lucas Museum In Chicago Gets Hit With Another Setback
“A Chicago judge ruled Thursday that local conservation group Friends of the Parks could move forward with a suit to block construction of George Lucas’ radical new museum on the city’s lakefront. The lawsuit, filed in November, claims the planned site for the institution is part of a protected waterway belonging to the state and cannot legally be privately developed.”
The Famous, Formative Manga Artist Yoshihiro Tatsumi Told Dark Stories Through Cartoons
“Often cited as an innovator, Mr. Tatsumi was one of a group of young writers and illustrators who, in the late 1950s, created a manga subgenre — Mr. Tatsumi christened it ‘gekiga’ — that dealt, realistically and dramatically, with subjects like sex and violence, behavioral motives like greed and betrayal and emotions like anguish and regret.”
Are Artists And Writers Condemned To Loneliness?
“Visual artists and the authors of literary fictions are engaged in a profoundly social endeavor. In writing or creating, they partake in an artistic or literary tradition, elaborating on the works that preceded them.”
Parents Who Work In The Performing Arts Need A Childcare Revolution
“The Royal Court’s Vicky Featherstone was asked what might have helped her when she was developing her career. ‘Childcare,’ came the reply – or at least some tax relief on childcare.”
What In The Heck Is The ‘Village Voice’ Doing With A Homophobic, Racist Art Review This Week?
“It seems to have to do with the fact that the male subjects in Wiley’s paintings are sexualized — an immediate red flag given the long, ugly history in this country of gay men being labeled sexual predators.”
Roberto Bolaño’s Novel ‘2666’ Is Coming To A Chicago Stage Because Of That Episcopalian Monk Who Won The Lottery
“In an interview on Friday, he traced the impulse behind the gift to a trip several years ago to London, where he saw Nicholas Hytner’s lavish adaptation of Philip Pullman’s ‘His Dark Materials’ at the Olivier Theater.”
When Some Welsh Officials Say No To James Bond
“The revelation caused a social media storm with some politicians saying it had been a missed opportunity to showcase Wales and attract visitors.”
Michael Graves, The Prolific Architect
“Few careers can claim to be as productive; Mr. Graves had over 350 buildings and some 2,000 products to his name. From his cake-white and keystone ornamented Portland Building (1982) in Oregon to the blue-handled Alessi tea kettle with the red bird whistle (1985), he aimed to make design approachable at every scale. Ultimately, he became more famous to the general population—especially those who shopped at Target, for whom he designed products for more than 15 years—than emulated by fellow professionals.”
What A Reality TV Series Did For Ballet West
“Despite the worries and righteous indignation at the company’s supposed lowbrow treatment of ballet, Ballet West seems to have emerged from the experience in fine shape and with an undeniably more prominent profile. Though there is no definitive correlation, ticket sales in the last two years have risen by more than 20 percent, and Ballet West’s touring schedule is busier than ever.”
Major Fire At Battersea Arts Center
“A large cloud of black smoke can be seen billowing across Clapham. The fire is believed to have started in the roof of the Grade II listed building, which houses a theatre. There are no reports of any injuries.”
Should Military Action Be Taken To Prevent ISIS From Destroying Historic Sites?
Saving ancient sites “needs to be a priority, it needs to be the first thing” in the struggle against Islamic State, Zahi Hawass said before lecturing this week at USC. “I receive emails all the time from young archaeologists in these countries, and they are afraid. We can’t wait, we can’t leave them to destroy our history.”
Michael Graves, 80, Pioneering Postmodern Architect And Designer
“Not many architects can claim to have spearheaded a major design movement. Michael Graves played a prominent role in three.”