“London mayor Sadiq Khan has begun the process of appointing a ‘night tsar’ for the capital, who will develop a vision for night-time culture and entertainment in a ’24-hour city’. … [He or she] will be an ambassador for London’s night-time economy, working with sectors including culture and the arts as well as with pubs and clubs.”
Man Versus The Machines – Be Not Afraid
“We are not in competition with our creations. They are the stuff we are made of. They are stuff we use to construct ourselves, together – a language, a culture, a looping feedback between things we have made but did not choose. If this is a crisis, it is one characterized not by winners and losers, but by shifts in what we believe ourselves to be.”
Are Non-Profits Limiting Themselves By Overworking Their Employees?
“There’s no doubt that nonprofits today face serious financial difficulties and constraints, but do they have no choice but to demand long, unpaid hours of their employees? Putting questions of fairness aside, is their treatment of their workers limiting their effectiveness?”
Two Of Broadway’s Top Directors And Their Teams
“I realized if I didn’t support diversity, it wouldn’t necessarily happen. It’s so very easy to find yourself the only one if you’re not careful. I always have diversity in mind. I always am thinking about who’s on my team.”
Why We’re Stuck In A Morass Of Racial Euphemisms
“Some would say that black people have a right to decide what they want to be called, and that that’s all there is to it. However, that answer is incomplete, and risks people merely classifying the matter as one more example of what Steven Pinker has artfully called the “euphemism treadmill.” We can do better than that.”
The 450-Year History Of The True Crime Genre
“Between 1550 and 1700, British authors and printers produced an unprecedented number of publications that reported on capital crimes. As literacy rates expanded and new print technologies emerged, topical leaflets began to circulate among newly literate and semiliterate consumers.” It was a respectable genre, “consumed primarily by literate members of the artisan class and above.”
Are Pay-What-You-Will Nights Good For Theater Companies?
Charleston’s theater community is one of many where the debate continues. Says one artistic director, “People are driven by ticket costs. The reason we do it is to eliminate a barrier to participation.” Another argues that pay-what-you-will “devalues the art.”
Artist Vs. Artist: Four Of The Biggest Rivalries In Art History – Depicted In Comix!
Degas vs. Manet. Matisse vs. Picasso. Freud vs. Bacon. Pollock vs. De Kooning.
Perm Was To Be A New City Of Culture. Until Russia Put A Stop To It
“We realized that we had this unique chance to make Perm into a place where people would want to live, but there is always this fear in Russia that creative freedom makes people too difficult to control.”
The Web At 25 – Lots Of Unfulfilled Promise
“Sure, you can upload your own videos to YouTube, which is owned by Google. But will they show up in anyone’s search results? You can publish your manifesto, but will anyone see the links to it you post on Facebook? It’s as though everyone now has a printing press, but there are only two stores in town that sell newspapers. If you want to find an audience, you have to go through them.”
Ruling On Doig Painting Authenticity Is Still A Cautionary Tale For Artists
“To protect themselves in future, artists and dealers may have to look to a technological solution, especially if the art is a physical artifact. One possibility is genomic watermarking embedded in the painting, sculpture, print or installation.”
Using Improv To Train Doctors
“While physician-patient encounters may be structured, every interaction is, to some extent, improvised. … Medical schools are increasingly adapting improv tools to enhance patient interviewing, simulate difficult conversations, and facilitate learning in medical teams.”
Studies Say Liberals Are More Open Than Conservatives. But Are They More Tolerant?
“We know that people scoring higher in openness tend to endorse more liberal and unconventional values, and so the evident tolerance of people high in openness might actually just be tolerance for people who share their own values. Alternatively, the evident prejudice of people low in openness might actually be prejudice towards people who do not share those values. That is, openness might be bounded by the conventionality of the social groups.”
The Book That Changed The Way The World Sees Los Angeles
“Ever since publication, it has shown up on lists of great books about modern cities – even those drawn up by people who consider Los Angeles anything but a great American city. Somehow, this book that drew so much of its initial publicity with shock value (“In Praise (!) of Los Angeles”, sneered the New York Times review’s headline) has kept its relevance through the decades, such that newly arrived Angelenos still read it to orient themselves.”
Head Of Philadelphia Theatre Company Steps Down After 35 Years
“Sara Garonzik, who has helmed the Philadelphia Theatre Company from its tentative days as a professional troupe in 1982 to its status as a well-regarded and highly visible anchor for the Avenue of the Arts, has decided to step down from her post as executive producing director.”
Are US Nonprofits Dependent On Staffers’ Unpaid Overtime Work?
“[There’s] a gap between the values that many nonprofits hold and the way they treat their own staffs. There’s no doubt that nonprofits today face serious financial difficulties and constraints, but do they have no choice but to demand long, unpaid hours of their employees? … The answers have a lot to do with how nonprofits survive in an economy that’s geared primarily toward profit.”
So, Just How Poorly Paid Are Junior Curators At The Tate?
“In mid-August, [the museum] posted three job listings for assistant curator positions at Tate Britain and Tate Modern with starting annual salaries of £24,360 (~$32,200). The average monthly rent in London, £1,561 (~$2,065), will gobble up all but £5,628 (~$7,450) – or 23% – of that.”
‘Welcome To The Era Of Empathy TV’: Reality Shows Are Getting Way Less Mean
“[Things are now] an extremely far cry from the old days of The Voice‘s ideological predecessor, American Idol.” (Remember Simon Cowell’s insults?) “What The Voice is similar to, though, … is The Great British Baking Show, whose judges offer encouragement to their contestants even, and especially, when they fail. … And Project Runway and Dancing with the Stars and America’s Next Top Model and The Biggest Loser and RuPaul’s Drag Race – competition-based reality shows that, episode by episode, opt for supportiveness over sadism.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 08.24.16
Is Naked Trump Bad Satire? (And Do We Care?)
In this week’s AJ highlights I included some of the stories we found about the naked Donald Trump statues that appeared in five American cities last week. One reader was unhappy: “Vile & disgusting. This … read more
AJBlog: diacritical/Douglas McLennan Published 2016-08-24
Boiling Pot In Chicago: “America After the Fall”
Think about American art in the 1930s. Does anything come to mind? Maybe the Regionalism of Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood. But there was so much more to the decade than that. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2016-08-24
About that Italian €500
The Italian government has announced that it will give all eighteen-year olds, on their birthday, a €500 voucher to spend on books, film, music or theatre. … I think cultural vouchers are an interesting idea … [but] I can’t cheer this policy, … read more
AJBlog: For What It’s Worth Published 2016-08-23
Recent Listening: Steve Lugerner On Jackie McLean
Steven Lugerner, Jacknife: The Music Of Jackie McLean (Primary Records) After his studies at The New School in New York ended a couple of years ago, alto saxophonist Steven Lugerner returned home to … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-08-24
Another Do-It-Yourselfer
Thanks to an unencumbered and rather inspired summer, I am more than halfway through an evening-length collection of pieces for three microtonally retuned Disklaviers. I’m calling it Hyperchromatica, because … read more
AJBlog: PostClassic Published 2016-08-24
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How A Novelist Made Peace With Criticism: Curtis Sittenfield On Being Reviewee And Reviewer
“I’m aware more than I was before I had books published that any review is a bit arbitrary – it’s not really, say, The New York Times that’s authoritatively weighing in on the quality of a book, though it seems this way to the public. It’s actually one reviewer weighing in (maybe a daily reviewer like you, but maybe a random novelist like me who reviews one or two books a year), and all of us as individuals have quirky, subjective taste.”
Antiquities Chief: Most Of Antiquities Coming Out Of Syria Are Fakes
“There have been growing questions over the extent of illicit digging and antiquities trafficking in Syria by militant groups including Isis. While 7,000 objects have been seized by authorities in Syria since 2013, the proportion of fakes has risen from 30% to closer to 70%, both inside the country and in neighbouring Lebanon.”
Historic Towns Devastated By Italian Earthquake
“An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 has destroyed buildings and homes in the mountains of central Italy, trapping residents in their homes as they were sleeping in the early hours of Wednesday (24 August). At least 38 people have been reported dead. Two towns were hit particularly hard by the tremors.” (photo journal)
The New York Times Investigates Beethoven In Nightclubs
“The scene: a crowded pub in the London district of Islington. Waitresses nudge through the crowd of about 100 people, carrying trays of hamburgers and cheesy fries, as patrons – East End hipsters, young professionals, students – saunter up to the bar to get more libations. Then one of the evening’s hosts asks for attention and introduces the live entertainment: a violinist, a violist and a cellist.”