Challenging, international contemporary art has always struggled to capture the attention of any but a very small share of the local population in Hawaii. (There are no galleries specializing in anything but decorative, genre, or antique paintings.) – Hyperallergic
Don’t Get It Wrong: AI Is A Tool, Not A Mind
“For two millennia, humanity has endured good and bad in the name of God. We are on the cusp of repeating the same drama on a new plane. Some people believe AI is a mind. They describe its functions with active verbs. They revere AI’s potential as infinite, as if it were some divinity. Non-believers disagree and say, “An AI ‘mind’ is not a real mind. You wrongly credit AI with power.” Believers grow angry and demand respect for AI.” – The American Interest
Report: Arts Engagement Declines Slightly In UK
‘Taking Part’ figures released by DCMS indicate about 77% of English adults engaged with the arts at least once in the past 12 months, a drop of about 1.5% on the year prior. About two-thirds (63.7%) of people engaging with the arts were doing so three or more times a year, compared to a low of 59.9% in 2008/09. – Arts Professional
Language Frames How We Think About Things. But Changing That Language Can Backfire
When a linguistic shift is too heavy-handed, too obviously driven by an agenda to change hearts and minds, it can run up against a response known as reactance. Reactance is our mind’s instinctive defense against the attempts of others to control our thoughts and behavior. – Nautilus
Did The Philly Fringe Risk Its Patrons’ Safety By Including This Event?
“The 2019 Fringe Festival page touting [a solo biofeedback session with psychologist Gary Ames] reads biofeedback will open the bridge ‘between conscious and subconscious realms. Let creativity and talent arise.’ So why shouldn’t Fringe patrons try it? Perhaps because sending unwitting ticket-buyers alone to someone’s suburban home for a therapeutic session could result in major problems — for Ames, for the Fringe, and for the ‘audience’.” – Broad Street Review (Philadelphia)
Advancing Philosophy Comes In Clarifying Existing Ideas
“It is no triviality to define analytic philosophy. Broadly, it combines a faith in formal logic as a tool for eliminating philosophical confusion with an almost unquestioned, at least in recent decades, belief in its own status as continuous with the natural sciences.” – The Point
Mona Lisa Returns To Its Regular Refurbished Gallery
The Louvre attracts 10.2 million people a year with about 80 per cent believed to come just to see the Mona Lisa. In July, officials had to restrict access for three days because of the chaos caused by the queues. – The Telegraph (UK)
Facebook Would Pay $40 Million For Falsely Inflating Video Metrics
The suit accused Facebook of acknowledging miscalculations in metrics upon press reports, but still not taking responsibility for the breadth of the problem. “The average viewership metrics were not inflated by only 60%-80%; they were inflated by some 150 to 900%,” stated an amended complaint. – The Hollywood Reporter
Why Are Streaming Companies Paying Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars For Old TV Shows?
These pricey deals for what is essentially digital reruns have, like the Seinfeld syndication deal two decades ago, raised eyebrows. Why are streaming companies willing to pay so much for shows of nostalgic value? And as numerous companies prepare to launch their own streaming services – HBO Max and Peacock, not to mention the forthcoming Apple TV+ – why bet on the appeal of legacy TV shows? – The Guardian
In The 50 Years Since Caravaggio’s Nativity Was Stolen, Have The Police Been Chasing Bogus Tips?
“[A] stream of stories, boasts and false leads has kept the police busy for years and has led to just two conclusions: the painting was stolen by the mafia, and it was then destroyed. … In 2017, however, the case was re-opened by the anti-mafia commission, … [and] the situation raises a number of questions that have never been answered by earlier investigations.” – The Art Newspaper
Marshall Efron, Star Of Idiosyncratic TV Comedies, Dead At 81
“An actor and humorist, [he] was a core figure in two of the quirkiest television shows of the 1970s, The Great American Dream Machine and the children’s program Marshall Efron’s Illustrated, Simplified and Painless Sunday School.” – The New York Times
A Black, Queer Kentuckian Returns Home To Take The Helm At Actors Theatre Of Louisville
After decades living and working all over the U.S., actor-director-choreographer Robert Barry Fleming is now in his first season as artistic director of one of the country’s most important regional theatres. He tells Diep Tran, “It’s taken me 50 years to be afforded my ‘Jackie Robinson moment’: the chance to lead a large, multi-million dollar institution, and I believe that may have less to do with my ability or readiness to do the job, and more about the dominant culture demonstrating readiness.” – American Theatre
Does George W. Bush’s Art Deserve A Show At The Kennedy Center?
“By giving these paintings the endorsement of a professional exhibition, in the nation’s capital, with the imprimatur of a major arts center and by extension the federal government (which supports the center’s budget), the art has been put into a different context, where it does not belong.” – Washington Post
Paris Opera Director Stéphane Lissner Named Superintendent Of Teatro San Carlo In Naples
Lissner, who ran La Scala in Milan (2005-2012) before taking charge of the Opéra national de Paris, reaches France’s mandatory retirement age of 67 next year, so his contract there won’t be renewed past its expiration in August 2021. He begins his five-year term in Naples as both superintendent and artistic director that fall. (in French; for Google Translate version, click here) – Le Monde (France)
Mayhem At New York’s WBAI: Network Fires Staff And Locks Offices As Staffers Go To Court
The city’s Pacifica Radio station, which for six decades has aired leftist-leaning news coverage and alternative programming, has been in chronic turmoil for the past several years, with constant financial crises, heavy employee layoffs, frequent management turnover, and vicious battles over governance. (Not to mention shrinking listenership.) Things came to a head early Monday morning, when, without warning, Pacifica changed the locks, fired the staff and volunteers by email, and started broadcasting a feed from its California stations. Staffers got a judge to block the shutdown and reopen the station, but Pacifica did not comply. (So staffers broke the new locks.) – Gothamist
Looking Hopeful, Long-Troubled English National Opera Appoints New Artistic Director
“Annilese Miskimmon, the Belfast-born opera director who has drawn influence from Sondheim, Shakespeare and the Muppets [and is currently director of opera at Norwegian National Opera and Ballet], has been named as the new artistic director of English National Opera, after a search to replace Daniel Kramer, who announced in April that he would step down in July.” – The Guardian
For First Time, Stirling Prize For Architecture Goes To Public Housing Project
“Goldsmith Street in Norwich represents what has become a rare breed: streets of terraced homes built directly by the council, rented with secure tenancies at fixed social rents. And it’s an architectural marvel, too.” – The Guardian
Mr. Armstrong, meet Mr. Shaw
A friend of mine sent me this color photograph the other day, remarking that he suspected it was the only time that Louis Armstrong and George Bernard Shaw appeared in the same painting. – Terry Teachout