Alex Gardega, who responded to what he called the “corporate nonsense” of the State Street Bank-sponsored “Fearless Girl” statue on Wall Street by placing his “Pissing Pug” statue at its feet, was hit by a downtown no. 6 train on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. (He had evidently been on the subway tracks.)
Thousands Of Languages Are Dying. A New Project Aims To Save Their Poetry Before It Falls Silent
“Languages are dying out at an astonishing rate: a language is being lost every two weeks. And each of those languages has a poetic tradition of some sort, whether it’s written or aural – within that poetry will be all the different approaches and styles of writing poetry, as well as everything that poetry can tell us about those people: what they’re interested in; what their concerns are.”
After Four Years Off, Mabou Mines Revives Itself And Gets A New (Old) Theater Of Its Own
The 50-year-old company, a legend of the late 20th-century downtown avant-garde theater scene, is back at the old P.S. 122 building, just renovated, in Manhattan’s East Village. Reporter Zachary Small visits the new Mabou Mines HQ and talks with co-artistic director Sharon Fogarty and company co-founder Lee Breuer, who – at age 80 – is premiering a new play there.
Creativity Versus The Arts
I think these creative endeavors resonate with people because they are grounded in each participant’s lived experience (rather than universal plots or a reflection of someone else’s perspective) and, as such, they cannot help but be authentic. Perhaps what we call “bad” or “amateur” art isn’t because of “aesthetics,” but because it feels derivative of some form that already exists rather than growing from this place of fearless, individual experience. But how then do we nurture this creative authenticity?
The Movie Industry Thinks Rotten Tomatoes Has Ruined Criticism. But Has It?
“The question then becomes, are the scores on Rotten Tomatoes just reflective of the history of criticism, and thus of conventional opinion? Or are the Rotten Tomatoes contributors themselves the critics who prop up these reputations, and thus pave the way for smarter conversations about film online?”
Where Did The Idea Of A Mentor Come From? ‘The Odyssey’ – And Homer’s Version Is Wisdom Personified
In fact, Homer’s version is literally Wisdom personified – which is to say that it’s Athena, goddess of wisdom, appearing to Telemachus in the form of a man named Mentor. Harvard classicist Gregory Nagy talks to The Atlantic about how Homer’s Mentor is still relevant today.
Lost Rodin Turns Up In Small-Town New Jersey
“The art world lost track of acclaimed sculptor Auguste Rodin’s bust of Napoleon in the 1930s, but it’s apparently been on display for the past 85 years in the most unlikely of places – the council chambers in Madison Borough Hall.”
Structure Deemed Too Lewd For Louvre Will Go To Pompidou Centre
The architectural sculpture titled Domestikator was rejected by the Louvre for installation in the Tuileries Gardens because they were thinking of the children: the work was thought too sexually suggestive to be displayed outdoors. (A playground is not far away.) So the work will end up outside the Pompidou Centre instead.
Study: Dance Helps With Aging Health Compared To Regular Exercise
Over a year and a half, older adults who took weekly dance classes showed gains in their balancing ability. There were no such improvements in the traditional exercise group. Researchers also found hints that all those mambos and cha-chas had extra brain benefits.
Scottish National Arts Funder Warns Of Steep Declines
In a letter to arts organizations this week, Iain Munro, deputy chief executive of Creative Scotland, outlined the decline in National Lottery income, which he said had a 15% year-on-year reduction in 2016/17 and is continuing on this downward trend. “This means we are having to budget very carefully for 2018/19 and subsequent years,” he said.
Study: Fundraising Matches Increase Size Of Average Donations
The UK study “reveals the average donation to participating organisations increased by 17% when the project was match funded, and over three quarters of crowdfund backers gave more than they usually would. In addition, more than 66% of fundraisers reported improvements in pitching and fundraising skills, and 32% of project participants leveraged additional funding from other sources after completing their campaign.”
Millennials Are Done. Make Way For Gen Z
“The oldest Gen Z’ers are turning 18 this year, and we millennials, long used to being the cool kids, can already feel your cultural power pushing us to the side. While big and deeply uncool companies once paid $20,000 an hour to learn how millennials think, they’ve now moved on to shelling out cash for Gen Z experts, frequently paying teens themselves to advise on what’s cool. Gen Z has already been declared “the next big retail disruptor,” and consumer goods companies are already getting anxious about whether you’ll buy their shampoo.”
The Story Of Donald Trump And His Fake Renoir
Curious, Tim O’Brien asked Trump about the painting: was it an original Renoir? Trump replied in the affirmative. It was, he said. “No, it’s not Donald,” O’Brien responded. But, once again, Trump protested that it was. “Donald, it’s not,” O’Brien said adamantly. “I grew up in Chicago, that Renoir is called Two Sisters on the Terrace, and it’s hanging on a wall at the Art Institute of Chicago.” He concluded emphatically: “That’s not an original.”
Landscape Architects Are Designing For The Last Tragedy – And Trying To Prevent New Ones
Landscape architects put rain gardens at the new Sandy Hook Elementary School to allow observation space before anyone enters the building, for instance. But “security focuses on what happened in the past. That can mean large barricades to stop cars from entering, bomb-sniffing dogs to check abandoned backpacks, and bag checks at gated entrances. Yet, all these defenses share a failure in common: there are protections against what previously worked.”
The Next Thing Millennials Will Kill: The Lottery
That’s bad for state coffers, and thus possibly for arts budgets. How can states get Millennials addicted to what is, after all, legalized gambling? The obvious: “Georgia, which runs the fifth largest US lottery program in terms of sales, introduced smartphone lottery game apps in an attempt to appeal to millennials.”
Some Books To Read When Everyone Is Talking About Assault And Rape
There’s a list, but first … “In publishing, just as in the movie business, there are men we warn women not to work with, not to be alone with, not to send work to. The burden has always been placed on women to keep each other and ourselves safe—men don’t take accountability for their actions, and why should they? After all, they aren’t held accountable for those same actions (but sometimes their victims are). This is called rape culture.”
The Smithsonian’s First Choreographer In Residence Takes On Sylvia Plath
The director of the National Portrait Gallery: “The corporeal verve of dancers is a perfect remedy for the typically static environment of museums. ‘All these artificial boundaries between art and poetry and performance need to come down,’ Sajet says. ‘Our goal is to bring a sense of emotion about who we are as humans into the Portrait Gallery.'”
Apparently, Because The Political Climate Is Grim, Neon Is Back
Maybe: “We want the promise that everything is going to be O.K. … We want the joy back. We’ve moved away from the dark Edison bulb toward something bright.”
‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ Pulled From Mississippi Eighth Grade Classroom Due To ‘Uncomfortable Language’
Was it pulled because of its use of the ‘n-word’? That seems to be the case, but the reason is not clear. “Kenny Holloway, vice president of the Biloxi School Board said, ‘There were complaints about it. There is some language in the book that makes people uncomfortable, and we can teach the same lesson with other books.'”
Lawrence Argent, Sculptor Of Whimsical, Massive Public Art, Has Died At 60
The sculptor, who placed a massive bear outside the Colorado Convention Center in 2005, said in 2013, “Public art gives you a chance to embrace peace and inquisitiveness. … You become a part of it, and you’re changed.”
Book Stories Often Have Links To Amazon, But Why?
One indie bookstore representative wonders what the ever-loving heck: “Even as people seek out the expertise of indie booksellers, they treat Amazon as the default for book links. Bloggers write about shopping local while linking to Amazon. Authors appeal to bookstores for book tours and sales but announce their books on Facebook with Amazon links (yes, even for a book titled How to Find Love in a Bookshop).”
The Artist Inspired By National Geographic Explorers
Artist Dianna Cohen says that oceanographer Sylvia Earle helped inspire her to found her biggest art project: A non-profit that’s working on cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Music Journalism Is Surviving Not In Papers, But In That Other Print Form: Books
Well, that’s happening in Canada, anyway: “Books on music are hardly new, but the recent flurry of new titles is part of a broader cultural shift – a nascent one, with kinks to work out. New authors are working with small, scrappy publishers to get these stories into the world. With hope, this won’t all be a blip and we’ll be treated to long treatises on Canadian pop for years to come. There should be time for growing pains.”
So, Will The Portraits Of The Obamas Be Classic Or ‘Edgy’? Philip Kennicott Says Both
Kennicott: “If there’s a safe center to the cutting edge, the Obamas seem sure to find it. Like the Obamas’ personal presentation, the paintings are almost sure to look a lot tailored and just a little trendy, without crossing any lines that might discomfit popular expectations.”
Women Know – And Direct – Horror
But has anything changed? Jackie Kong, director of the 1987 cult classic Blood Diner, says no. “This is real life. … You’re still not trusted; you’re still not hired. You can be this icon, this cult figure, but they have to be enlightened already, otherwise you’re fighting an uphill battle.”