“There’s an awful word that Western media folk sometimes use to describe my kind of journalism that’s meant to be flattering but always makes me cringe precisely because it expresses so well this gap between audience and subject, and the conflict therein. The word is “humanizing.” By my own standards, if my article has succeeded, if I’ve done what I set out to do, I have to some degree “humanized” a situation—a conflict, a crisis—for the reader. But of course the subject doesn’t feel any more human for the experience; the subject, in most cases, doesn’t even realize he’s been made more human in the eyes of the subscribers to the New Yorker and the New York Times Magazine.”
If You Want To Come To My Show, You’re Gonna Lock Your Phone In This Pouch, Say Artists
“The pouch might not look like the latest techno-bling out of Silicon Valley, but it’s become the go-to tool for a slew of artists - including Dave Chappelle, the Lumineers and Louis C.K. - trying to reclaim their live performances without going all Adele on their fans. … ‘Because people still feel they still have their baby in their arm, it’s a little bit clunky but it’s better than telling them to leave their phones in their cars or forbidding it.'”
Lost Gauguin Still Life Turns Up In Connecticut
“A still-life of flowers by Paul Gauguin – which hung for 30 years in the home of a retired Manhattan antiques dealer, who did not know it was by the artist – has been rediscovered by a Connecticut auction house.”
The Bolshoi’s Dancers Like Their New Director (That May Be Newsworthy In Itself)
Says one company principal, “I’d say Makhar Vaziev is lifting the classical level of the troupe. … There wasn’t this type of discipline in the past … I see now that people are really trying hard, the halls have stopped being almost empty as they were before. Now everyone is trying to prepare something and to show something.”
Another Ex-ABT Star Joins The New Julie Kent Regime At Washington Ballet
“Xiomara Reyes will head The Washington School of Ballet, effective September 1. The move marks Kent’s first staff appointment. Reyes will take the place of revered teacher Kee Juan Han (who famously trained David Hallberg) and who announced his retirement in late April. … We spoke with Reyes about the vision she and Kent share, her Cuban roots, relocating to DC and more.”
Wild New Designs For The Next Generation Of Digital Pianos
“The Roland Digital Piano Design Awards were open to designers and design students from around the world. Competitors were encouraged to conceive a futuristic instrument that broke away from tradition. While the focus was on the look and structure of the piano, competitors had the option of proposing alternative digital functions and sounds as part of their concept.”
Theatre’s Economic Proposition For Those Who Work In Theatre: It Ain’t Pretty
“Yes, the actors will be paid for that gig but it doesn’t take into account the unpaid work that went into creating the show and getting the gig in the first place. On paper everything looks hunky dory, fulfilling the safeguards put in place by unions and funders. The reality is rather different.”
Study: Does Making Art Lower Stress Levels?
“Their results suggest that engaging in a short burst of creative activity has measurable physical benefits, even if you’re no master artist. So if you need to lower your stress, don’t hesitate to take a break — but rather than grabbing a cup of coffee, reach for a chunk of clay.”
Study: Reading To Dogs Helps Kids Learn. Seriously?
“The evidence suggests that reading to a dog may have a beneficial effect on a number of behavioural processes which contribute to a positive effect on the environment in which reading is practiced, leading to improved reading performance,” they write.
Uncovering The Bits Of Video Games The Developers Hid From You
“As anyone who has ever used a Game Genie could tell you, there are things that developers don’t want you to see … Recently, I discovered that many of these discarded concepts and ideas not only remain on the cartridge or disc after their release, but that there’s a fairly significant community working to find these missing items, with the goal of bringing them to life.”
Grand Rapids Has Lost Its Arts Coverage. Now What To Do…
“Without that review and without a reliable reviewer people have come to trust, a lot of the performing arts groups are saying that their second weekend of shows aren’t getting that big bump they used to when someone would come to review the dress rehearsal or reviewed their opening night.”
Facebook Exec: FB Will Likely Be All-Video Within Five Years
“I just think if we look already, we’re seeing a year-on-year decline on text. We’re seeing a massive increase, as I’ve said, on both pictures and video. If I was having a bet, I would say: video, video, video.”
Fresno Grand Opera Reports Financial Falsifications, Misrepresentations
“Among the issues raised in the internal report and documents delivered to the attorney general’s office, are alleged falsification of tax forms, an alleged failure to disclose an outside business relationship with a for-profit company owned by key employees, alleged improper accounting methods misrepresenting the organization’s true financial health, and allegations that board minutes were created several years after meeting dates.”
We Have An Official World’s Ugliest Color – And A Defense Of It
“Also known as ‘opaque couché,’ the drab hue of greenish brown has drawn endless comparisons to baby poop.” (We think it looks more like guacamole that’s been in the fridge too long.) “Researchers first discovered widespread repulsion to this particular tone in a 2012 study intended to help the Australian government come up with unappealing packaging for cigarettes.”
Gregory Rabassa, 94, Giant Of Literary Translation
Perhaps the greatest tribute to Rabassa, whose work brought (among others) Mario Vargas Llosa, Octavio Paz, Jorge Amado, and Clarice Lispector to the English-speaking world, came from Gabriel García Márquez, who called Rabassa “the best Latin American writer in the English language” and said that his translation of One Hundred Years of Solitude was a better book than the original.
Creator Of ‘The Big Gay Musical,’ 41, Commits Suicide, Leaves Note On Facebook
“[Fred] Caruso, who was openly gay, wrote or produced – and often directed — several LGBT-themed films, including Go Go Crazy and A Four Letter Word, and he produced the off-Broadway news spoof hit Newsical. But [he] was best known for The Big Gay Musical, a film which follows two gay actors starring in a (fictional) off-Broadway musical titled Adam and Steve Just the Way God Made ‘Em.”
EU Court Set To Rule That Libraries Can Lend Ebooks Like Print Books
“Maciej Szpunar, advocate general to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), said in an opinion published (PDF) Thursday morning that public libraries should be allowed to lend e-books so long as the author is fairly compensated.”
Is Australia’s Largest Baroque Festival Near Collapse?
Brisbane Baroque only launched last year, and the first-ever festival won five Helpmann Awards, Australia’s national honors for the performing arts. But this week, just two months after the second festival ended and a few days before it’s expected to get another batch of Helpmann nominations, news emerged that many of this year’s performers still haven’t been paid and Brisbane Baroque’s CEO is incommunicado in a Melbourne hospital.
Outdoor Arts Attract The Diverse Audience We (Say We) Want
“The findings [of a recent large-scale study] are both fascinating and exciting. One of the most important findings is that outdoor arts consistently attract an audience that is representative of the population as a whole. This is a simple statement with profound significance. In the cultural sector there’s often the ambition to be accessible for all, and there are examples of that being achieved. The outdoor arts though consistently achieve it over both time and place.”
Still Teaching At Age 102: Curtis Institute’s Eleanor Sokoloff
While she’s currently at her summer home in New England, in the fall Sokoloff will return to her students in Philadelphia, where she has taught at Curtis since 1938.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 06.16.16
ARTnews Lives! (former parent company files for bankruptcy)
A lot of confusion ensued from this artnet post today, in which Brian Boucher reported: Artnews S.A., the Polish company that briefly published the New York-based ARTnews magazine and, even briefer still, Art in America, has filed for bankruptcy and liquidation of its assets, according to the Polish website Investments. … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-06-16
Singers — Revisited
Spotify, iTunes and other companies streaming music did not exist when the following Rifftides piece [first] appeared. If anything, there has been an escalation of the ability of singers, and of musicians in general, to make themselves ubiquitous. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-06-17
Musical Films
With our newly released Redes DVD, PostClassical Ensemble completes its Naxos quartet of classic 1930s films with freshly recorded soundtracks. The scores for these four films – the others are The Plow that Broke the Plains, The River, and The City – are among the most distinguished ever composed for film … read more
AJBlog: Unanswered Question Published 2016-06-16
Recent Listening: Iris Bergcrantz
Iris Bergcrantz, Different Universe (Vanguard Music Boulevard). In an impressive display of her talent as a singer and songwriter, the daughter of prominent Swedish musicians Anders Bergcrantz and Anna-Lena Laurin debuts as a leader with her parents as members of the band. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-06-16
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Study: Taking Pictures During Concerts Enhances The Experience
The new study by a team of researchers from the University of Southern California, Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania, published in the June 6 edition of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, actually says taking time to snap photos of experiences like concerts and vacations helps us enjoy those experiences more.
The Orchestra World’s Existential Crisis
“How do we justify the continued existence of our [orchestras, newspapers, insert institution of your choice here]? How do we make these institutions relevant to an audience that is pulling away, finding other ways to get music and information? The scrutiny isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s shining a light on some unexpected baggage.”
Corcoran School Of Art Dumps Half Its Faculty
“Although it wasn’t a total surprise — the full-time faculty was expected to shrink in proportion to budget cuts, a shrinking student body, and as part of the school’s ongoing integration into George Washington University (GW) — no one expected this many beloved professors to lose their jobs. Of the school’s 19 full-time faculty who taught last semester, only 9 will be back to teach in the fall.”
An International Opera House Building Boom (Why?)
“Does China, with its own rich cultural history, need opera houses performing a Western repertoire? Does Oman need one? And what about Dubai, traditionally an Arab trading town? Performing opera in countries that are not part of the Western cultural history may be cultural imperialism initiated by the countries’ rulers rather than an enlightened offering to their residents.”