“An East Hampton man accused of selling dozens of fake paintings and sketches purported to be by famous artists, and using some of the money to buy a submarine, pleaded guilty in federal court on Monday to one count of wire fraud.”
Is Internet Addiction Like Drug Addiction?
Maria Konnikova: “In some sense, they aren’t [the same]. A substance affects a person physically in a way that a behavior simply cannot: no matter how severe your trichotillomania, you’re not introducing something new to your bloodstream. But, in what may be a more fundamental way, they share much in common.”
Why The Novel Is Lagging
“The novel form isn’t the reason so much contemporary fiction seems uninspired; for that, we’d do better to consider other causes, of which there are plenty: an emphasis on documenting social conditions and modernity over the study of individual characters, a post-Freudian tendency to lean on secondhand psychoanalytic ideas as a cover for incomprehension or shallowness, a corrosive commitment to niceness at the expense of the kind of social and moral judgments that used to be at the novel’s center, MFA programs, to name just a few possibilities.”
Cirque Du Soleil – A Need To Reinvent Itself As Business Declines
“Following a bleak outlook report from a consultant, a spate of poorly received shows and a decline in profits, executives at Cirque say they are now restructuring and refocusing their business — shifting some of the attention away from clowns and acrobats, towards other business ventures.”
Maybe *All* The Designs For The Guggenheim Helsinki Are A Bad Idea
“There’s nothing especially wrong with any of the individual designs, but taken as a whole, they cast a cynical view of the purpose of architecture (as hype for a project). … “Finns are right to ask whether Helsinki needs the Guggenheim as much as the Guggenheim needs South Harbor.”
RSC to Begin on Restoration of Swan Wing at Stratford-Upon-Avon
“The Swan Wing, which contains the Swan Theatre, is the only remaining part of the original 1879 Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, which burnt down in 1926. It originally housed a library, reading room and picture gallery, and it currently includes the façade and entrance, hallway, bar area, staircase, Ferguson exhibition room and the bridge that links it to the Swan Theatre auditorium.”
Celebrating Fat Dancers (Sure Is Controversial, But Really…)
“You can’t make a simple work about body size because it’s an incredibly complex conversation. I personally use the word fat because I’ve reclaimed it and it doesn’t have any negative baggage. It’s just a description of my body, like tall or brunette.”
So How Come These Video Stores Are Surviving In The Age Of Streaming?
“I’m unconvinced that video stores are in direct competition with streaming services or Netflix any more so than a free concert in the park, the World Cup, a local film festival, or anything that distracts someone away from my shop on a Saturday night.”
What The Guys Who Hacked Sony Got That The Studio Didn’t Want You To See
“The breach exposed two things the secretive movie industry is extremely sensitive about — the piracy of films and details about executive compensation — and sent a ripple of dread across Hollywood to Washington.”
Tired Of The Same Old Christmas Music? Wait – This Is The Digital Age, And There’s An App For That
“We admire Pandora’s spirit of giving, but 28 choices may be a bit daunting. So to save you some trial and error, I have explored every single one of its options (listening to at least 10 songs on each station) and ranked them.”
“The Happiest Ballet Studio In The World”
Sarah Kaufman: “The happiest ballet studio in the world may be the one just down the street from a Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery [in Charlotte], inside a bright purple building bearing the words ‘Patricia McBride/Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux Center for Dance’.”
Theatre Critics – Theatres Miss Them, Now That They’re Disappearing
Tim Walker: “‘Another day, yet another newspaper critic in @ThatTimWalker faces the axe,’ the Tricycle Theatre in north London tweeted recently, when it was announced the curtain was coming down on my run as the Sunday Telegraph‘s chief theatre critic. ‘What’s going on? Theatre will be the poorer without these voices.'” Many professionals, not least the director Michael Grandage, “retweeted this howl of despair – and one can well understand it.”
The Odd History Of The First Erotic Computer Game
“Released in 1981, Softporn was controversial, cheesy, and earnest to a fault. It also presaged today’s ongoing debates about who computers and games are for.”
Massachusetts Becomes First U.S. State To Fund El Sistema-Style Music Education
“The dozen or so organizations and schools receiving the first round of funding include the social service Kids 4 Harmony program in Pittsfield, Sistema Somerville and the Cape Conservatory in Hyannis.” (includes audio and video)
UK Pledges £141M To London “Olympicopolis” Arts Hub
“A new Sadler’s Wells dance theatre, a world-class V&A museum and exhibition space, and two university campuses that are dedicated to arts, design and engineering will rise on the site of the 2012 Games.”
Now Christie’s Is Losing Its Boss, Too
Less than two weeks after rival auction house Sotheby’s saw its CEO resign under pressure, Steven Murphy has stepped down from the helm of Christie’s after a four-year tenure – a decision Murphy describes as “mutual and amenable”.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 12.02.14
No Gehry Guggenheim: The Six Outliers Are Finalists for Helsinki Outpost
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2014-12-02
Spalding Takes On Art’s “Self-Congratulatory In-Group”
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2014-12-02
Smokin’ Ivan Vasiliev Manifests “The Flames of Paris”
AJBlog: Fresh Pencil Published 2014-12-02
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Finalists Chosen To Design New Helsinki Guggenheim
“The shortlisted entries — chosen by an 11-member jury from 1,715 anonymous submissions — come from emerging and established architectural practices located in a range of countries.”
Chinese Theatre Owner Wants To Own Major Hollywood Studio
“The potential acquisition would accomplish two things: provide a steady stream of popular movies for Chinese theaters, and make Wang’s Dalian Wanda Group a more powerful force in the global entertainment industry. Dalian Wanda also owns AMC Theatres, the No. 2 chain in the U.S.”
Why The UK’s Greatest Art Prize No Longer Matters
“The Turner Prize has been a victim of its own success. The things it was created to do have now been done. So what is to be done with this albatross of an institution?”
Here Is The Great Art The UK Got Last Year In Lieu Of Taxes
“The Acceptance in Lieu (AIL) scheme allows owners to use their cultural and historical artefacts to pay inheritance tax. It was augmented last year by the Cultural Gifts Scheme, which allows people to give gifts to the nation for a reduction in income tax.”
Steven Hawking Warns About Artificial Intelligence
He told the BBC:”The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.”
New York, Berlin Philharmonics To Take Extended Residencies In Michigan
“The partnership begins next fall [in Ann Arbor] with three concerts [by the New York Philharmonic] Oct. 9-11, 2015 in Hill Auditorium, including two led by music director Alan Gilbert. The Philharmonic will return in the 2017-18 and 2019-20 seasons. The Berlin Philharmonic and another orchestra to be named later will appear in the alternating seasons.”
After Ten Years Off Due To Injury, A Great 20th-Century Violinist Is Back
“As a violinist who helped define the classical music scene through the 1970s and 1980s and became a role model for subsequent generations of players – not least, female Asian ones – [Kyung Wha] Chung could fairly be described as legendary. And she is certainly returning, concluding an extended “disappearance.