Art’s primary task, Perl asserts, is not to “promote a particular idea of ideology, or perform some clearly defined civic or community service.” Art is meaningful, valuable, and exciting precisely because of its irrelevance to our most immediate, surface-level concerns. - Commonweal
Sir James MacMillan "had not even heard a rehearsal of the piece, which he had written in secret, and until the night before the funeral was not completely sure it would be performed." - BBC
According to Greek news sources, "British Museum chair George Osborne, the former chancellor, has been holding secret talks with the Greek prime minister." - BBC
There's also a fair amount of Taylor Swift fandom, but "these posts from fans essentially serve as a denouncement of West’s praise of Hitler in the Infowars interview and his denial of the Holocaust, further highlighting the artist’s loss of support." - Variety
Scholars are increasingly voicing concern that the shift to working from home, spurred by the Covid pandemic, will bring the three-decade renaissance of major cities to a halt, setting off an era of urban decay. - The New York Times
The once-a-decade list of the top 100 films from Sight and Sound magazine has nudged 2012's champion, Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, down to runner-up status and crowned Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles. (Citizen Kane, which topped the list for decades, is now third.) - The Hollywood Reporter
The Pulitzer Prize winner, who has been at the newspaper for 25 years and was one of only two full-time dance critics in the U.S., was sacked as part of a set of layoffs and other cost-cutting measures at the newspaper. - MSN (The Washington Post)
Boundaries between “traditional” culture and online culture have been breaking down. Television audiences have shrunk. Newspaper circulations are in terminal decline. Meanwhile, people have been hooked to Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and all manner of alternative platforms on the Internet. - The Critic
"'Hey, I'm in the Dallas Museum of Art,' he told a dispatcher nearly 15 minutes after police say he entered. 'Come get me.' The calls show the museum security force appeared to have no knowledge an intruder was inside the building (that) night." - MSN (The Dallas Morning News)
“Most of the interesting things in the human experience need friction,” Honoré explained, and they benefit from a slower approach: cooking, creativity, thoughtful work, meaningful conversations, relationships. “Digital optimization just leads to a superficial way of being.” - The Walrus
When unusually high tides hit last week, the $6 billion MOSE system of barriers in the lagoon was raised and a repeat of the catastrophic 2019 floods was avoided. Yet, as sea levels continue to rise, so do fears that, within a few decades, MOSE won't be enough. - MSN (The Washington Post)
Cara was a child dancer and singer who found young fame on Electric Company (and in its band) and then became iconic for singing "Fame" in the movie of the same name, and cowriting and singing the title song for Flashdance. - The New York Times
I do know that the word “accuracy” in the context of audio means reproducing the master recording faithfully, but this always seemed like an imaginary pursuit. Who, other than the artist, would know how a master recording was supposed to sound? - Harper's
With the attacks showing no sign of abating, museum directors across Europe are settling into a nervous new equilibrium, fearful for the works in their care but unwilling to compromise on making visitors feel welcome. - The New York Times
In four years, the number of students graduating from high schools across the country will begin a sudden and precipitous decline, due to a rolling demographic aftershock of the Great Recession. - Vox
A Princeton University study involving singers and orchestral players from the Met found that "musical professionals have such fine control over their breath that they emit weaker airflows during singing and playing than they and others do while speaking and breathing" — so aerosol-borne pathogens don't travel as far. - Smithsonian Magazine
Some people who make a living from their visual creativity are upset that AI art tools trained on their work can then produce new images in the same style. The Recording Industry Association of America has signaled that AI-powered music generation and remixing could be a new area of copyright concern. - Wired
"(Writing stories was) her own temporary escape hatch from a life of 'boredom, calluses, humiliation, and not enough money. ... I needed my fantasies to shield me from the world.' ... When she learned she could make a living doing this, she never let the thought go." - New York Magazine
"The orchestra’s new female majority could prove fleeting — it currently has 16 player vacancies to fill, in part because auditions were put on hold during the pandemic — but it still represents a profound shift for an ensemble that had only five women (50 years ago)." - The New York Times
"The art-attack tactic ... shows how social movements are warped and distorted by the logic of spectacle, undermining their longer-term viability by forcing them to become the worst version of themselves just to get a media hit." - Artnet
