“It’s possible, then, that an animal’s failure to pass the mirror test says more about a human lack of imagination than the animal’s lack of a self-concept, as de Waal argues … Because, think about it: Why should a mirror mean anything to most animals?”
What Happens When A Mathematician Sets Out To Create The ‘Ugliest Piece Of Music Ever Written’?
Well, this particular mathematician, Scott Rickard, started with the premise (which he attributed to “most musicologists”) that “repetition is a key aspect of beauty.” Then, as he explains in this 2011 TED talk, he employed the math behind sonar pings to create a work employing all 88 notes on the piano keyboard and avoiding any sort of repetition. (video)
Neurotic City Folk, It’s True: Peace And Quiet Really Do Make You Crazier
“When you’re incredibly stressed and have a million things to sort out there can be nothing more annoying than zen yoga and deep breathing and people who tell you to chill. … Such irritation isn’t simply irrational, as researchers found that neurotic people find anxiety-inducing environments more restorative than traditionally calm ones.”
Nigeria Has Become A Global Scrabble Superpower
“Scrabble has been a government-sanctioned sport in Nigeria since the 1990s. Tournaments get corporate sponsorship and offer big cash prizes. Results are reported in the media. When the 32-year-old [Wellington] Jighere captured the 2015 world championship in Perth, Australia, he received a congratulatory call from Nigeria’s president. … As a result, Nigeria boasts 23 players in the top 100 in the world rankings, compared to 18 for the United States, 13 for Australia, and 11 for England.”
Rowdy Children Smash Glass Sculpture In Museum As Parents Capture It All On Video
“Just when you’d thought you’d seen it all when it comes to art-breaking mishaps (selfie seekers, I’m looking at you), along comes this incredible footage from China of two boys fracturing a sculpture in the Shanghai Museum of Glass.”
The ’80s Were Wonderful And The ’90s Ruined Everything, Says Dale Peck
“If the angst reached its zenith in the 1970s (Watergate, the fall of Saigon, gas lines, the hostage crisis), its nadir came in the 80s. Enervated by the tremors of punk and disillusioned by the failures of the Congressional class of ’74 and the impotence of the Carter presidency, America sighed a collective ‘What the fuck’ and decided to ring out the end of empire/end of days with the indulgence of third-century Romans.”
Are Live Streams Of The Arts Cannibalizing The Live Theatre Audience?
ETO’s 2014 research with Guildhall School of Music and Drama found that 81% of cinema opera attenders were over 60, had an age profile “slightly older” than that typically found at live opera, and reported no increased motivation to attend live opera afterwards.
Afraid Of Being Bored? Then You Might Be Less Creative
“While boredom may threaten your ability to work quickly and efficiently, it may be essential to working well. As writer and philosopher Robert Pirsig claimed, “Boredom always precedes a period of great creativity.” Even if that isn’t always the case for you, chances are you need to be a little bored in order to generate your most inventive ideas and produce your highest-quality work.”
Qatari Royal Family And Gagosian Client Settle Lawsuit Over That Picasso Bust Of Marie-Thérèse
“A settlement was reached in an international legal drama over Picasso’s plaster Bust of a Woman pitting two of the world’s biggest art buyers against each other, New York billionaire Leon Black versus a member of Qatar’s royal family. But who now owns the 1931 sculpture, depicting the artist’s then-mistress and muse, Marie-Therese Walter, remains a secret.”
Ohio Orchestra To Fold After 75 Years
“Middletown Symphony Orchestra’s 75th anniversary next year will also mark its grand finale. Steve Ifcic, the symphony’s board chairman, said the board ‘has unanimously made the decision to close the curtain on the orchestra and end our musical programs in May of 2017 at the end of the 2016/2017 concert season.'”
Why People Gossip
“The origins of gossip can be traced at multiple levels: evolutionary, cultural and developmental. While some forms of gossip are almost certainly negative or superfluous, others seem to serve a beneficial social role: Gossip can help solidify personal relationships and encourage cooperation. And if a new research finding is right, children engage in this form of gossip by age 5.”
The Lumière Brothers Didn’t Just Invent Moving Pictures, They Were Film Artists
“The Lumières were responsible not just for a successful invention but a huge number of films, which experimented with techniques that were necessarily new and roamed across a rapidly changing landscape, from their factory in Lyon and across Europe to America and east Asia.”
George Frideric Handel, Financial Guru
“Handel’s investing career took a perhaps familiar course: after an initial, highly risky foray into the stock market, he decided to stick to safer assets that paid a steady income. In fact the shares he chose to buy in the early days were in the notorious South Sea Company, which ruined many investors, including Sir Isaac Newton.” (Handel, as it happens, got out in time.)
2016 Obie Awards To ‘Guards At The Taj’, ‘The Humans’, ‘Eclipsed’
Rajiv Joseph’s Guards at the Taj was honored as best new play, Stephen Karam (The Humans) and Lucas Hnath (The Christians and Red Speedo) won awards for playwriting, and the ensemble cast of Eclipsed took one of several acting prizes.
Nude Shakespeare In Central Park – The Video
Sorry, it’s not a recording of the full performance, but it is a 2¼-minute mini-doc with interviews and excerpts.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 05.23.16
A Small Museum Focuses On Men
Small museums in this country, and probably everywhere, tend to be ignored. Most lack the kind of art and exhibition program that brings notice beyond their communities. But the Freeport Museum of Art, in northern Illinois, … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2016-05-23
Speaking of Love
Alexei Ratmansky introduces Plato to American Ballet Theatre in its Lincoln Center season. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2016-05-23
“Tidal Wave of Change”: The Sudden Turnover of U.S. Art Museum Directors (towards contemporary)
While the annual meeting of the Association of Art Museum Directors (in Cleveland through tomorrow) focuses on ways “to increase diversity throughout the field,” Kaywin Feldman, director of the Minneapolis Institute of Art … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-05-23
Monday Recommendation: JD Allen
JD Allen, Americana: Musings on Jazz and Blues (Savant) The wisdom of Allen’s choice of material is borne out in nine performances that illustrate an article of faith he expresses in his notes, … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-05-23
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As A Music Magazine Dies, The Future Of The Music Press In France Faces Questions
“Newsstand sales and subscriptions were stable. But this could not offset declining revenues from advertising on the Internet, much less ensure the survival of the magazine.” [This article is in French; the translation comes via Google Translate.]
Our Brains Can’t Resist A Tune, Which Is Why Good Advertising Jingles Work For Decades
“Although we can regularly screen out the thoughts, sounds, images, memories, opinions and ideas of others as foreign and potentially noxious, it ain’t the same with music.”
What Will Happen To The Chicago Tribune And L.A. Times As Tribune Publishing Rejects Gannett’s Offer?
“Like many American newspapers, the Times has struggled with continual budget and staffing cuts in recent years, including several changes of publisher and a buyout last November that resulted in the departure of dozens of senior reporters and editors. Daily circulation, which topped 1 million a quarter-century ago, is now barely half that.”
When The Most Important Musical Form Of The 20th Century Is Distilled To One Musician, Who Will It Be?
“In any reasonable world, the Beatles are the answer to the question ‘Who will be the Sousa of rock?’ But our world is not reasonable. And the way this question will be asked tomorrow is (probably) not the same way we would ask it today.”
Inside The Tate Modern Addition For The First Time
“In a moment of exquisite justice, you can peer straight into the living rooms of Neo Bankside from the top of the Switch House – and observe the bleak still lifes of mail-order luxury, as sterile as a stack of Damien Hirst’s tanks. Having accidentally spawned this exclusive enclave, it’s as if the Tate has now co-opted it as a site-specific installation.”