Among the honorees this year were scientists who investigated the differential in pain thresholds of people looking at beautiful art versus ugly art, the neuroscience behind people who see the face of Jesus in a piece of toast or the Virgin Mary in a stain on a wall, and the physics behind one of the hoariest gags in all of slapstock comedy.
Colorado Symphony Unveils Plan For Overhauled Concert Hall
“The proposed $40 million investment in Boettcher, part of downtown’s Denver Performing Arts Complex, would make it a 21st-century theater that has the capability to broadcast and stream live shows.”
Why All This Concern For The Future Of The Humanities?
“Caricature aside, reflections on the role of the humanities in education and in society have recently entered a predominantly reactive, plaintive mode. This is hardly surprising, given the alarming decrease in funding for these fields, not only in the US but also in Europe.”
15 Signs That Contemporary Dance Is Thriving In Texas
“Although issues of sustainability, training, visibility and funding remain constant, there are some major signs of hope on the horizon. It’s also important for the State as a whole to develop it’s own identity.”
How To Tell If You’re In An MFA Workshop Story
“You drink in a way that is simple and direct and not at all in imitation of Hemingway or Carver, and if it is then it’s an homage, a subtle, searingly thought-provoking homage, and the bartender is a charming old gent who calls you ‘hoss’ and not a college girl with a swallow tattoo on her breastbone.”
Are We Trapped With Dystopian Movies Forever?
“After so many totalitarian bummer allegories of varying quality, audiences, I suspect, are good and hungry for something off-world and a little less dire, set in galaxies far, far away.”
New York’s New Identity Card Comes With A Lot Of Free Culture
“The incentives are meant, in part, to encourage cultural activity among immigrants and other New Yorkers who may feel they cannot afford to visit the symphony or ballet. That anyone can sign up is by design: The de Blasio administration clearly hopes the cards will be embraced by a wide swath of residents, reducing any potential stigma they may carry.”
Germany, Like The U.S., Is Falling Apart
“Autobahn bridges are the most visible sign that a significant portion of Germany’s infrastructure is ailing. Autobahns and federal highways, bridges and locks, railway networks and shipping routes — much of this infrastructure has gotten old.”
And In Chicago, David Bowie Is The Focus Of One Of The Most Expensive ‘Art’ Exhibits Ever
“Asked if staff at the MCA was feeling full-court pressure, Erica Erdmann, senior preparer of exhibitions, said: ‘Everyone here loves David Bowie. No matter what.'”
So It Looks Like Facebook Has Made Ultrasound Images Into ‘Baby’s First Photo’
“Some expectant parents visit spa-like ‘keepsake ultrasound studios’ several times over the course of their pregnancy, to capture images at various stages. Others put ultrasound images on cakes and cupcakes, shower invitations, dog tags, and original prints.”
College Football Attendance Is Declining (Sound Familiar?)
“Student attendance at major college football games is declining across the country. By how much varies greatly at each institution, but a recent Wall Street Journal analysis of turnstile data at 50 public colleges with top football programs found that average student attendance is down more than 7 percent since 2009.”
Toronto’s Museum Of Contemporary Canadian Art Faces Uncertain Existential Future
“At the tail end of a predictable process that has seen the forces of culture work merrily along as unintentional gentrification elves, sprucing and preening until their grassroots urban renewal rewarded them with skyrocketing rents and a one-way ticket out, the question hangs as heavily as ever: Culture has been thrust into the role of cure-all for a litany of urban ills, but what happens when culture outlives its curative function?”
Steven J Tepper: Have Our Cultural Experiences Focused Too Much On The “Me”?
“Me experiences” are different from “bigger-than-me experiences.” Me experiences are about voice; they help students express themselves. The underlying question they begin with is, “What do I have to say?” BTM experiences are about insight; they start with, “What don’t I know?” Voice comes after reflection.
Is Local The New Digital?
“There are still cases when I want to physically experience a product before I buy it, since the product is not standardized. I want to feel and test it. My decision as to whether to buy it or not depends on the feel of it and on a conversation with the sales staff that cannot be replaced by or compensated through a return service.”
Atlanta Symphony Lockout: Donald Runnicles Speaks (Very) Frankly
“The lockout is essentially the board and management punishing the orchestra … It’s a one-sided attempt to force the orchestra to its collective knees. It also paints the orchestra as this intransigent group of musicians. But in fact they have shown extraordinary willingness to come to a common agreement, as what happened two years ago proves.”
Did Henry James Write YA Fiction?
“In fact, James is every bit as concerned with innocence recoiling at adulthood … The difference is that James writes about women, instead of wild boys. The archetypal Jamesian character is a young American woman – Daisy Miller, Isabel Archer, Milly Theale, Maggie Verver – whose innocence is manipulated and ultimately destroyed by the forces (usually British or European) of experience.”
Bill Moyers Retires Again (He Really Means It This Time)
“Bill Moyers has notified public television stations that his weekly series Moyers & Company will end after the Jan. 2 program. He made a similar announcement last October, but changed his mind in the face of an outpouring of support from his fans on social media. This time, however, “it’s the real deal’.”
How Freud And His -Ism Came To Be Ubiquitous
“Eavesdrop on a conversation and it’s likely that, sooner or later, a concept invented or popularised by the founding father of free association will pop up. Oedipus complex. Denial. Id, ego and super-ego. Libido. Death wishes. Anal retentiveness. … Phallic symbols. Projection. And, of course, Freudian slips.”
America’s First LGBT Jazz Festival Has Begun
Jazz has generally been thought to be a somewhat homophobic field, notwithstanding such great musicians as Cecil Taylor, Billy Strayhorn, and Fred Hersch – who is a headliner at the inaugural OutBeat festival this weekend in Philadelphia.
How To Dig Yourself Out Of Your Sleep Debt
“Sleep loss, researchers contend, works kind of like credit. Skip a few hours of sleep, and you’ll be all right, so long as you pay back the ‘debt’ in a timely manner. But when sleepless nights stretch on for weeks, or months, your sleep debt starts to accumulate.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 09.18.14
What we should do
AJBlog: Sandow | Published 2014-09-18
More Triumphs And Woes For Frank Gehry
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts | Published 2014-09-19
The Big Lie of Jeff Koons
AJBlog: CultureCrash | Published 2014-09-18
Report From Russia: Арфа и джаз (Take Five)
AJBlog: RiffTides | Published 2014-09-18
Poking Koch: Meet the Metropolitan Museum’s Vibrant New Plaza & Its Detractors (with videos)
AJBlog: CultureGrrl | Published 2014-09-18
The funeral at the Hideout, with Survival Unit III
AJBlog: Jazz Beyond Jazz | Published 2014-09-19
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Why Net Neutrality Is Important For Artists And Arts Organizations
“Net neutrality is about how access to our society’s living archive should be governed. Do we want monied interests to be making that decision, or us, the users? The value of the web is how easy it is to share with anyone what we make; whether it’s a business, an artwork, or academic research.”
Researchers: Here’s Why We Care About Original Art Work More Than Reproductions
A team of scholars led by George Newman of Yale University argues that “art is seen as a physical extension of the self, and imbued with the person’s soul/essence.” That being the case, the researchers write in the journal Topics in Cognitive Science, “the original possesses an essence that cannot be duplicated.”
Innovation or Invention?
“What is the difference? For me, innovation requires a radical new understanding of some basic questions of your craft. On the other hand, incremental invention only extends what you already know.”
Ai WeiWei’s Dissident Prison (Alcatraz)
“Given Mr. Ai’s sharp critiques of the Chinese government and the tireless campaigning for freedom of expression that led to his own imprisonment in 2011, he could have included himself in the group portrait. He did not.”