“British and American cultural influences collide with the inescapable realities of the weather, resulting in a lot of sweaty people in Santa hats lolling about on Bondi Beach. … A look at archival images from Australia’s state libraries shows some of the odder ways the country combines traditional Christmas images with Down Under culture.”
Gloria Contreras, 81, Choreographer Who Blended Balanchine With Mexican Culture
“One of [her] major achievements was the company and school she founded in 1970 in Mexico City … There she showcased a signature style that avoided folk dance but used Mexican composers and motifs to infuse even plotless neo-Classical ballets in leotards with a Mexican sensibility.”
Cleveland Orchestra Ratifies Three-Year Musicians’ Contract
“The agreement marks a smooth end to a lengthy so-called ‘play and talk’ period, and extends the peace that has reigned at Severance Hall since 2010, when orchestra members waged a brief strike.”
Arthur Miller’s Very First Script Gets The World Premiere He Wouldn’t Give It
“The staging of the play, No Villain, a nakedly autobiographical story that Miller wrote in 1936 as a 20-year-old sophomore at the University of Michigan, was scheduled to open on Thursday night, capping a banner year for the playwright in England.”
How Bad Behavior Online Is Like The Masked Mayhem Of Every Age
“Every human culture has used masks for ritual disinhibition, shaming and play. Is being online the ultimate masquerade?”
Why Older Paintings Didn’t Have Names
“For the vast majority of European paintings before the eighteenth century, the absence of a title testified not to a deliberate refusal of prevailing custom but to the default condition of artistic practice. That these are not the works we presently designate as Untitled has more to do with reception, broadly understood, than it does with production.”
The Best Movies Of 2015 (In A Blah Year For Hollywood)
“The anticipated Oscarizables have mainly ranged from the blandly enjoyable to the droningly disastrous. Partly, the problem is merely one of scheduling: most of Hollywood’s inspired directors, the ones whose images have a natural musical sublimity and complexity, weren’t on call this year.”
Univ. of Kentucky Covers Depression-Era Mural After Debate Over Racial Imagery
“Universities across the country are having productive conversations about race and representation, but what happens when campus public art is caught in the crossfire between a desire to preserve history and cultural sensitivity?”
Being Bored By Art Can Be A Good Thing
Alva Noë: “Works of art, in all their variety, it seems to me, afford us the opportunity for boredom – and they do so when everything in our lives mitigates against boredom. Maybe this is one of art’s gifts? Could it be that the power to bore us to tears is a clue to what art is and why it is so important?”
As Pittsburgh Center For The Arts Faces Deficit And Leadership Crisis, Donors Hold Back
“A $1 million deficit at Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Pittsburgh Center for the Arts plus the resignation of longtime executive director Charlie Humphrey have prompted one foundation to pause before investing more money in the nonprofit … Mr. Humphrey resigned Tuesday after a majority of staff told the arts group’s board that it had no confidence in his leadership. In June, he laid off 20 employees because of the deficit.”
Is Television Finally Returning To The Diversity Of The 1970s?
Or even being better? “Something is happening, a subtle rearrangement of the medium’s DNA that better represents both who we are now, collectively and variously, and where we are hopefully headed. The popular arts have always been a harbinger and an agent of change, positing the world that the world grows into.”
Netflix Is A TV Network For Real, So Now What?
“Next year’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel, along with the news that Netflix will invest in a new film from Snowpiercer director Bong Joon-ho, signals that the streaming service isn’t simply competing in the series categories at the Emmys and Golden Globes—it’s going after HBO’s TV-movie territory and has the Oscars in its sights.”
Surrealist Unica Zürn’s Terrifying, Hallucinatory Life
“Zürn’s vision as an artist could not have been more pronounced, definitive, a product of great will under duress.”
The Boy Who Quit Football For Ballet
“‘Try it. Just try it,’ he said. ‘I thought I would never like it, but I’d venture a guess it’s even harder than football. With football, there’s a limit to what you can do. But when you’re dancing, you really have no limit. Because you can get better and better and better.'”
Real Talk From Viola Davis And Edie Falco
Davis: “I stumbled onto the best profession to heal my childhood. The only one that lets you release and express whatever is ugly and messy and beautiful about your life. We’re in the business of creating human beings. The more we spew, and the more honestly we do it, the better. Try that on Wall Street. It’s why they throw all the kids with bad behavior into drama. We don’t care how screwed up you are. We actors love it.”
Libraries Like This One In Toronto Are Vinyl Goldmines
“For the eighth straight year since Nielsen began tracking music sales in 1991, more vinyl albums were sold than in any previous year. What’s even more interesting than the steady vinyl growth is that young consumers might be the strongest demographic.”
Is Facebook (Or Instagram) Censoring Your Photos Of Nude Art? Report ‘Em
“The social media site has deleted pics of artworks by people like Kate Durbin and Erika Ordosgoitto. It has blocked users like Frédéric Durand-Baïssas for sharing paintings including Gustave Courbet’s ‘L’Origine du Monde.’ And though some people have protested by creating Facebook groups like Artists Against Art Censorship, recording every instance of censorship — let alone fighting back — is next to impossible.”
How One Ailey Dancer Spends A Normal Day ‘Off’
“Though it is rare for dancers to perform into their 40s, Ms. Boykin said, ‘We’re not dancing late, we’re dancing just right.'”
A Former Field Museum Employee Is Accused Of Stealing $900,000
“The woman would issue temporary membership cards to people who bought memberships as they entered the museum, DeThorne said, and then not turn in the cash. ‘She would get cash, make a temporary ID card and not enter (the cash) into the file,’ he said.”
Banksy Has Had It With Anti-Immigration Rhetoric
“In the city of Calais he created a parody version of Théodore Géricault’s painting ‘The Raft of the Medusa.’ Banksy’s version shows immigrants crowded onto a raft, reaching out to a passing cruise ship.”
The Consequences Of ‘Peak TV’
“In fact, shows are having a tough time getting canceled — even broadcast networks are simply ‘trimming number of episodes’ from their low-rated fall shows, instead of immediately pulling them off the schedule.”
A History Play At BAM In The Age Of Hamilton
“He was working on the 2000 film ‘The Beach’ when one of his co-stars, the actress Tilda Swinton, asked him what he would like to leave as a legacy. … ‘You know what actors are like,’ he said dryly. ‘I just wanted to do a costume drama.'”
The Wordless Ode To China’s War Dead That Will Only Get One Performance
“Scholars estimate that 10 million to 30 million Chinese died from 1937 to 1945. The tragedy was far broader than most Chinese realize and despite many official accounts is still poorly understood, Mr. Wang said.”
The Conflicted Genius Of Robert Hughes
He developed his expertise in venting, was always colorful, always equipped with telling references and, in my opinion at least, fairly consistently completely wrong.
Negotiating On A Ransom For Art
They wanted more than $5 million for the 24 classic paintings taken from the Westfries Museum. The counter-offer: 1 percent of that. So they’re looking to sell elsewhere.