ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

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Deepfakes — The End Of Truth?

Like most digital technologies, the quality of deepfakes is increasing at an alarming rate, and it is clear that even the most complex deepfake tools will be as easy to use as Instagram filters in the very near future. - Shelly Palmer

The New Activism: Art Attacking The Institutions — Any Institution, Including Those Who Show The Art

One irony of contemporary art that critiques or transcends the institution is just how central the institution remains to it. Indeed, the complexity of the art ecosystem as a reflection of global power is at the heart of Forensic Architecture’s origin story. - The New York Times

John McWhorter On Campus Culture And The Bright Sheng Case: Radicalism Or Progressivism?

It's not "the students’ fragility, it’s that their approach illustrates the difference between radicalism and progressivism. It’s an example of a strain of thought permeating campuses, one that blithely elides that difference in favor of preaching only “social justice.” - The New York Times

Is The Line Between Inspiration And Appropriation Clear, Or Sometimes A Bit Fuzzy?

"People in power have always had a way of working nuance to their advantage. If consent is also nuanced, are we ready to admit that creativity and power go hand in hand?" - Hyperallergic

Tentative Agreement Reached Between IATSE And Hollywood

The membership hasn't ratified the contract, so a strike could still be called. The details go to the membership for a vote. - The Hollywood Reporter

Rotten Tomatoes And Measuring The Divide Between Critics And Audience

The new Disney Plus documentary on Dr Anthony Fauci, which explores the personal side of the controversial figure, has a certified 91 percent approval rating from critics and a mere 2 percent from audiences. - The Spectator

Landscape Architect Who Rehabs Contaminated Sites Is Inaugural Winner Of Oberlander Prize

Julie Bargmann, whose firm is called D.I.R.T. ("Dump It Right There") has been given the first Oberlander Prize, a $100,000 biennial award for landscape architecture. Justin Davidson explores how Bargmann's approach leaves onsite as much as possible of what’s there and uses nature for cleanup. - Curbed

Just What Are Esa-Pekka Salonen And His “Collaborative Partners” At The San Francisco Symphony Up To? They’re Not Sure Yet

Esperanza Spalding: "You may know who you're writing for, the instrumentation, the length. … But once you actually start populating the spaces with notes and phrases, it changes. You can't know what the shape of something you've never done before is going to be." - San Francisco Chronicle

Could A One-Atom-Thick Layer Of Graphene Really Protect Artworks From Fading? Very Likely, Say Scientists

"Graphene is a two-dimensional carbon allotrope whose molecules bind together through a phenomenon called Van der Waals forces. … It can be produced in large, thin sheets; it blocks ultraviolet light; and it is impermeable to oxygen, moisture, and other corrosive agents." - Artnet

Former “Hamilton” Cast Member, Black And Nonbinary, Files Discrimination Complaint Against Producers

Suni Reid, who's done the show in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, alleges their contract wasn't renewed because they requested a gender-neutral dressing room. Producers say they supported Reid, financially and otherwise, and withdrew the contract only after learning they were being sued. - The New York Times

Half The PPP Loan Money For Culture Went To Only 228 Institutions. They Still Laid Off A Quarter Of Their Workers.

The purpose of the Paycheck Protection Program was to let businesses hobbled by the pandemic retain their employees. An AFSCME study found that, out of 7,500 eligible cultural institutions, 228 large ones got $771 million, half the total — and let go of 28% of their staff. - Hyperallergic

The Crisis In Scientific Publishing

The worry is that scientific processes have been undermined by perverse incentives to the point that it’s difficult to know what to believe. - London Review of Books

University Of Hong Kong To Remove Tiananmen Commemoration

The 23-foot tower of naked bodies twisted together, some mid-scream, was created by Danish sculptor Jens Galschiøt and is the last remaining Tiananmen commemoration on Chinese soil. - Washington Post

Nathalie Stutzmann Named Music Director Of Atlanta Symphony

Stutzmann, a former contralto from France who's currently principal guest conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, will start an initial four-year term at the ASO's helm next fall. She'll be the only woman currently serving as music director of a year-round orchestra in the US. - The New York Times

Inside The Rebuilding Of The New York Philharmonic’s Hall: Will The Acoustics Finally Be Good?

"Renovation is a weak term for this undertaking. … Acousticians scrutinized every block and beam in the auditorium and the architects bent their design to the properties of sound." Justin Davidson looks into what made David Geffen Hall's sound problematic and how it's being fixed. - New York Magazine

Time To Abandon The Idea Of Generational Cultures

For one thing, there is no empirical basis for claiming that differences within a generation are smaller than differences between generations. - The New Yorker

Hollywood Has A New Champion Boss-From-Hell: Sharon Waxman Of TheWrap

Move over, Scott Rudin. As one former staffer put it, "I don't say this lightly. Sharon Waxman is one of the most awful people that I have known in my life." - The Daily Beast

Is Releasing A Movie Only In Theaters Elitist And Unfair?

"How is it that a quintessentially democratic cultural activity — buying a ticket and some popcorn and finding a seat in the dark — has been reclassified as a snobbish, specialized fetish?" A.O. Scott has an answer to that question. - The New York Times

Our Complicated Ideas About Work And Identity

Why do we continue to cling so hard to our work-based identities, in spite of an inner nature that tells us not to work so much? - The Nation

Justifying Why Princeton Should Exist

This is the puzzle of Princeton: How can an institution designed to serve the aspirations of an elite few authentically wrestle with issues of inequality and racism in society? - The Atlantic
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