“The Islamic State, also known as ISIS, has a twisted relationship with art. It understands its significance to humanity, and so it is unsurprising that such a brutal and nihilistic organization would want to wipe it out.”
When ‘Candid Camera’ Went To Moscow At The Height Of The Cold War
“[Host Allen] Funt, himself the son of a Russian immigrant, didn’t buy into the antagonism and distrust. … Without telling his bosses at CBS, not to mention the authorities of either the United States or Russia, Funt took it upon himself to pull back the Iron Curtain and shoot a special Moscow episode of Candid Camera.”
Museum Sues Wikimedia For Hosting Copyrighted Photos Of Its Public-Domain Artworks
“On October 28 the Reiss Engelhorn Museum (REM) in Mannheim, Germany, filed a lawsuit against the Wikimedia Foundation for making high-resolution images of public domain artworks from its collection available for download. … The institution is seeking the removal of 17 specific images of artworks that it commissioned from its in-house photographer, Jean Christen.”
Study: Don’t Use Periods While You Text
Researchers led by Binghamton University’s Celia Klin report that text messages ending with a period are perceived as being less sincere, probably because the people sending them are heartless.
North Korea Now Runs A Cheesy Museum At Cambodia’s Angkor Temples
“On Dec. 4, North Korea’s government officially debuted its Angkor Panorama Museum in Cambodia, one of Kim Jong Un’s few foreign allies. The display was created by members of a 4,000-person ‘work unit’ devoted to deifying the Kim dynasty through statues, panoramas and other propaganda pieces. … But this exhibit instead glorifies Cambodia’s ancient Khmer kingdom.”
On The ‘Baby Hitler’ Question: Are Historical ‘What-Ifs’ Really A Waste Of Time?
“In order to truly answer this apparently silly hypothetical, you have to define your own beliefs about the nature of progress, the inherent contingency of events, and the influence of individuals – even very charismatic ones – on the flow of historical change. These are big, important questions. If well-done counterfactuals can help us think them through, shouldn’t we allow what-ifs some space at the history table?”
So There’s This Way That People On YouTube Talk…
“It wasn’t a matter of their accents, or the sound of their voices, it was the way they were talking. The only word that came to mind was … bouncy.”
Survival Strategy: The “Click-Bait” Novel?
“You have to get the reader on the first page of a short story, you have to convince them of a world inside page one. As writers try to capture the scattered attention of readers, I think the novel is moving towards that degree of compression.”
Los Angeles’ Hot New Arts District Creates Problems For Artists
In 2013, Mayor Garcetti posted a photo of himself to Twitter holding a sign that read #ArtsMatter, with the statement: “Let’s make sure L.A. is the creative capital of the world for years to come.” Good idea. Let’s start by finding a way to keep the artists in town.
That Garish New Peterson Museum? I Like It!
“The Petersen looks less like mobility-in-motion and more like an ambiguously unspooled Diet Coke can. What is obvious is that the Petersen wanted to make a splash.”
Contention Attention – This Year’s Best Books Sparked Backlash
“The most important consequence of a wave of adoring reviews, followed by a backlash of negative opinion is that it suddenly matters whether you’re the kind of person who loved A Little Life or just didn’t.”
After 60 Years Of Growing TV Audience, Five Years Of Decline
Nielsen says that traditional TV viewing by all age groups peaked in the 2009-2010 season, and has been on the decline ever since. Until that point, the audience for TV had grown every year since 1949.
This Is The Guy Who Bought Wu Tang Clan’s Single Copy Album For $2 Million (You Know Him)
“Initially, the Clan wanted to forbid the buyer from publicly releasing the album for 88 years, but over time decided to grant the buyer total freedom as long as the album wasn’t sold commercially.”
Geeks Under The Microscope – Just Who Are They?
“Among their findings is that, contrary to the stereotype of the isolated, obsessed fan, geeks—while largely apolitical—report above-average levels of civic engagement. Many comfortably have one foot in the real world, and another in the fantasy realm.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 12.08.15
The Ideation Summit: Transforming Stakeholders into Collaborators
Conversations about critical issues happen all the time. Conferences, blogs and community meetings offer any number of opportunities to raise and share experiences with these issues. And yet, we experience seemingly endless discussion with little discernible progress towards shared solutions. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-12-08
Driving While …
An October article in the New York Times presented research into the nature of the African-American experience of police traffic stops. … This blog is about the arts and community engagement so one might think the issue is not relevant. But any effort to connect with new communities demands understanding those communities. … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2015-12-08
Cautionary words
You might think – given my views on the future of classical music – that I’d welcome what I heard at the Kennedy Center Friday night, when the National Symphony played Ben Folds’ Piano Concerto … … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2015-12-08
The Ailey Dancers Welcome In the Holidays
During the curtain call at City Center that followed the world premiere of Robert Battle’s Awakening, the twelve members of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater joined the audience in clapping enthusiastically for him. … This was the first new dance made for the AAADT by its artistic director. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2015-12-08
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NPR’s Diane Rehm Announces Retirement
“My thinking is that I’ll stay on the air until the election because I really want to see how this will go. My feeling is, I have a number of ideas and I’m perfectly happy doing something different … where I’m not forced to get up at 5 a.m. every morning to prepare for a show. I’ve been doing that for 37 years. Maybe I’ll get to sleep until 7 or 7:30 a.m., like other people do.”
Man Sues Met Museum For Having ‘Racist’ Paintings Of An ‘Aryan’ Jesus
The plaintiff described such paintings as The Resurrection by Perugino and The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes by Tintoretto as “offensive aesthetic whitewashing” because the real Jesus of Nazareth had “black hair like wool and skin of bronze color” like he does. The suit claims the museum and the city of New York are violating his rights under the First Amendment and the Civil Rights Act.
The Complex Psychology of the Geek
“And while this may provoke many to reach for their light sabers, among the qualities [these researchers] consistently find in this population are narcissism, neuroticism, and depression. … [Yet they’re] not linking geek culture with mental illness or antisocial behavior. Among their findings is that, contrary to the stereotype of the isolated, obsessed fan, geeks – while largely apolitical – report above-average levels of civic engagement.”
How I Got Over My Fear Of Running Out Of Ideas And Became A Dancer-Choreographer
Louise Lecavalier, longtime member of La La La Human Steps: “A choreographer once told me, we all have our tricks in our pockets. I thought: I have nothing in my pockets. … But then I worked with Benoît Lachambre, who encouraged me to create choreography. He would arrive at the studio and find me already dancing my guts out, and helped me feel that movement was pouring out of me, and I didn’t need anyone to tell me what to do.”
Pantone Wanted to Celebrate Gender Fluidity With Its Color of the Year – So It Picked Pink *And* Blue
“Everyone hated Marsala, Pantone’s 2015 color of the year, a dark red that critics widely slandered with comparisons to blood, rust, and meatloaf. This year, the company … made an unprecedented move by nominating not one bold color but ‘the blending of two shades’ – Rose Quartz (baby pink) and Serenity (baby blue).”
Architecture Collective Wins Turner Prize
“Assemble’s win signifies a larger move away from the gallery into public space that is becoming ever more privatised. It shows a revulsion for the excesses of the art market, and a turn away from the creation of objects for that market.”