“Cormac McCarthy [is] a novelist who neglects to contact one-night stands after a passionate night of lovemaking, Tom Wolfe one who sends each conquest a handwritten note on monogrammed paper.”
Dancing Through Injury – Because the Show Must Go On
Lord knows they all do it. Here one dancer describes just what the misery and the adrenaline are like – and why she went through with it.
Music Streaming Revenue Doubles In 2013, Passes $1 Billion Globally
“There are now an estimated 450 music rental services around the world, and while many people still listen for free, a desire for more choice is persuading more music lovers to part with their cash. In a three-year period the number of paying subscribers rose from 8 million to 28 million.”
Warning: UK Arts Organizations Are Trapped In Funding Death Spiral
“The UK government suggests marching to the beat of the philanthropic drum. But there is no way that philanthropy can generate the kind of money that arts organisations are losing from local authority and Arts Council cuts.”
The Terror Of One-Star Book Reviews
Go find a book you love. Click the one-star reviews – there will always be some. Cancel your plans for this evening. But one-star Amazon reviews are more than a space for performance art or green-ink rantings. Some authors believe that they amount to “bullying”.
How Theatre Can Help Science (And Vice Versa)
“With this requirement [for scientists] to perform (student assessment of lecturers’ abilities is now standard), comes an increasing readiness to engage with audiences who might have little understanding of the process of science, but a lot of interest in the message of science. But theatre can engage with science in more ways than simply the technical. The key thing here is that they share a common term and a common tool – that of ‘interpretation’.”
Need Orchestral Backup? There’s An App For That!
“A number of apps provide musical backup, but Cadenza out of Harvard goes a step further, automatically synching a recording of a full live orchestra to your style and tempo in real time. As you begin playing your instrument, the app listens to each note you play and the rhythm and speed in which you play them, calculating and recalibrating a prediction model for when you will play the next note.”
Report On Global Art Sales Shows Winners, Losers
“The market is not one homogenous entity; some sectors are booming while others are lagging behind”.
How Did The Language Police Take Over?
“We grammarians who study the English language are not all bow-tie-wearing martinets, but we’re also not flaming liberals who think everything should be allowed. There’s a sensible middle ground where you decide what the rules of Standard English are, on the basis of close study of the way that native speakers use the language.”
The Rise Of Walter Benjamin
“Following his suicide in 1940 at age 48, in Portbou, Spain, his name had been kept alive by a small number of friends and colleagues, the kind of trickle of a readership that hardly suggested he would one day be counted among the most significant and far-ranging critics, essayists, and thinkers of the past 100 years—and one whose reach may still not be completely fathomed.”
Maybe The Problem With Arts Advocacy Is The People Who Are Advocating…
“While the arts sector continues to believe that it is best placed to advocate on its own behalf, and whilst those charged with leading the debate remain wholly unrepresentative of the public, I fear I will always remain slightly at odds with the sector, out of time and out of place. Rather like a Turner in the Louvre.”
How Much Are We Willing To Pay For Music? (Here Are The Data)
“So, the data tells us that consumers are willing to spend somewhere around $45–$65 per year on music, and that the larger a service gets, the lower in that range the number becomes. And these numbers have remained consistent regardless of music format, from CD to download.”
The Story Of The Greatest Juggler Of All Time (And Why He’s Now Working In Concrete)
“Jugglers have always taken advantage of audiences’ ignorance. Instead of performing hard tricks, they perform easy tricks that look hard. They lie to delight. But then came a guy who wasn’t interested in lying, who wanted to do stuff that was hard because he could.”
Your Self Is Located in Your Chest, Says New Study
“It’s hard to get empirical data on a concept as subjective as the location of the self – if the self can be pinpointed at all – but one new study … suggests we conceive of the self as located in the upper chest.”
Artists Who Quit L.A. MoCA’s Board Come Back
“The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles announced Tuesday that three of the four artists who resigned from the museum’s board in July 2012 over concerns about the direction of the institution will rejoin it.”
Shirley Temple As Dancer
Joan Acocella: “Since Shirley Temple died, a month ago, I’ve read tributes to her adorableness and her courage and her success. … But I haven’t seen much about Temple as a dancer. She was a pretty good one, and a pioneer.”
Why People Are Gullible And Fall For Fake News Stories
“Most of us – though unfortunately not all of us – are now aware that Onion articles aren’t real, but the proliferation of online parody and fake news has created an environment where many people are simply accepting fake news as fact. … So why do people believe this crap?” One new study suggests an explanation.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 03.18.14
The Death of Music Journalism, and SXSW
AJBlog: CultureCrash | Published 2014-03-18
Futurisms: Can Italian Futurism Be Saved?
AJBlog: Artopia | Published 2014-03-18
The New Stolen-Art Tracker Opens Its Doors
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts | Published 2014-03-18
Taylor’s Treasure Trove
AJBlog: Dancebeat | Published 2014-03-18
Supportin’ Skorton: Cornell’s Sad Loss is Smithsonian’s Big Gain (with video)
AJBlog: CultureGrrl | Published 2014-03-18
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Here’s What’s Really Wrong At The Metropolitan Opera
“In a single season, the company requires more in donations towards annual operating expenses than the New York Philharmonic, BAM, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The New York City Ballet, and Lincoln Center Theater combined! Or, to put it another other way, the Met’s fundraising obligation of $161 million is more money than the National Endowment for the Arts disperses in a single year.”
Sydney Biennale In Disarray
“The month-long exhibition of contemporary art, set to open on Friday, has been marred by a controversy that led to the dumping of a major sponsor, Transfield, and the resignation of the chairman of the Biennale board.”
Is It Time To Think About Building Floating Cities?
Whereas some coastal cities will double down on sea defences, others are beginning to explore a solution that welcomes approaching tides. What if our cities themselves were to take to the seas?””
The Tiny Group Of People Who Drive Art Market Prices
“The report found that 8% of the art auctioned worldwide in 2013 accounted for 82% of the money spent. In the United States, the ratio was even more skewed: 7.5% of the works auctioned raked in 91.2% of the bucks.”
After Brief Stability, Global Music Sales Resume Their Downwards Plunge
“The Digital Music Report published by industry body IFPI shows that a 0.3 per cent growth in the piracy-decimated industry has been reversed, with total revenues falling from $16.5 to $15 billion in 2013. Total recorded music sales have shrunk by 45 per cent since 2000.”
Seven Years Ago Viacom Sued YouTube For $1 Billion. Here’s How They Settled Today
“Google and Viacom today jointly announced the resolution of the Viacom vs. YouTube copyright litigation. This settlement reflects the growing collaborative dialogue between our two companies on important opportunities, and we look forward to working more closely together.”
America’s TV Networks Are Busy Reinventing How They Do Business
“People are consuming content much differently, and that requires the networks to think about how they’re getting audiences to these shows. When you see the leading broadcaster in the business, CBS, doing things outside of their normal wheelhouse, you know that all rules are up for grabs right now.”