“If anything betrays Whistler’s military background, it is his conception of the artist’s life as a series of frequent engagements with the enemy – hostile critics, backward-looking institutions, uncomprehending patrons, philistines in general. … Was Whistler just as belligerent toward his art as he was with the wider world into which he sent it? You might think so, judging from reports of how he went about making it.”
Rafael Bonachela to Stay With Sydney Dance Company Through 2019
The Spanish choreographer has extended his contract for an additional five years, through the company’s 50th anniversary season.
The School Of Merce Cunningham And John Cage On A Downward Spiral
Seattle’s Cornish College “could revolutionize into a destination school, or it could keep on the way it’s been keeping on, responding to lower enrollment by continuing to make cuts, feeding a downward cycle. After 100 years, could Cornish shut down forever?”
A Plan To Find, Recover 20th Century Music Lost Through Repression/Supression
Since the Nazis’ concept of “degenerate music” was driven mainly by racial ideology, the works they suppressed cover a wide range of styles, from atonal modernism to idioms influenced by cabaret and jazz. The Soviet notion of “socialist realism” was sufficiently elastic that almost anyone who didn’t pass muster politically could be targeted as an anti-Soviet composer.
Candy Crush: Addictive Game, Incredible Business, Horrible Investment
Derek Thompson: “Last year the company took in $1.88 billion with $568 million in profits – half $1 billion in profits! To put this in perspective, a mobile gaming company specializing in colored sugar baubles made more than a quarter of Amazon’s lifetime earnings in a year.” But can that possibly last?
Saving a Fellow Photographer’s Work Amid the Chaos of the Central African Republic
AP photographer Jerome Delay tells how, while covering the horrific violence in the capital city, Bangui, he came across – and managed to salvage from a house in the midst of being looted – 30 years’ worth of photos, prints and negatives belonging to his friend Samuel Fosso, who had escaped to the safety of Paris. (audio)
This Company Wants to Print All of Wikipedia As 1,000 Dead-Tree Books
The company PrintPedia, whose product is an app to print Wikipedia content on demand, is trying to raise $50,000 on Indiegogo to produce the complete English-language Wikipedia as a 1,193,014-page, 1,000-volume set of books. Isn’t that completely beside the point? Depends on what exactly the point is.
Lisa Gasteen, Back From the Vocal Dead
Late in the ’00s, the Australian dramatic soprano was going through a vocal crisis so severe that she expected never to sing in public again. Now she’s back at work, thanks to determination, physical therapy and Botox. (She’s lost quite a bit of weight and founded a vocal academy to boot.)
Bedtime Stories by the Dear Leader
“North Korea’s leaders are often thought of as ruthless, secretive autocrats but rarely as popular children’s authors. However, between issuing instructions about prison camps and the development of nuclear weapons, Kim Jong-un’s father and grandfather apparently found time to write stories for the young.”
At What Point Does Watching a Series Tip Into Binge-Watching?
It’s a good question to ask as viewers devour the new season of House of Cards. “Despite its increased prominence, though, there’s never really been a good, single working definition of what binge-watching actually is.” So The Atlantic tries to settle the matter (or at least clarify it).
Shakespeare’s Globe Posts Record Year, With £21 Million in Income
Virtually every category is up by mid-to-high double-digit percentages, the outdoor Shakespeare season played to 96% capacity houses, and the indoor Sam Wanamaker was built and opened without any government funding.
BBC TV to Air Major Series of Ballet Specials in March
The programming, on BBC2 and BBC4, includes Darcey Bussell honoring her ballet heroines, a documentary on how World War II helped create modern British ballet, a behind-the-scenes visit with Tamara Rojo preparing the lead role in Swan Lake, and rare footage of Margot Fonteyn.
Israel Vs. Palestine, The Drag Show
“Certain art forms lend themselves to the Israel-Palestine conflict: epic, despondent, near-silent cinema, say, or interminable sagas about intransigent politics. But a camp, twinkle-eyed cabaret fronted by a man in gold lamé evening dress?”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.19.14
The Past and Future of Jazz, and “Writing From California”
Source: CultureCrash | Published on 2014-02-19
The components of risk
Source: The Artful Manager | Published on 2014-02-19
The “Pandering” Straw Man
Source: Engaging Matters | Published on 2014-02-19
Shouldn’t the swan be breathing?
Source: Performance Monkey | Published on 2014-02-19
More on Joseph Lewis Antiquities Case: Dealer Got More Than Wrist-Slap
Source: CultureGrrl | Published on 2014-02-19
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What The….? Our Rich History Of Swear Words
“Our favourite four-letter words have a fascinating history. Rather than being written in manuscripts by monks, we find them used by normal people and preserved in surprising places like place names, personal names, and animal names and they reveal more about our medieval past than just attitudes towards sex and body parts.”
The Dancing Skeleton – Scientists Create 3D Motion-Capture To Pinpoint Dancer Stress
“The result is a moving three-dimensional model of the ballerina’s skeleton – that mimics her actual movements. Algorithms then calculate how much stress is placed on each part of the body, drawing attention to areas that are likely to cause trouble in the future.”
Can We All Just Get Over The Idea Of “The Great American Novel”?
“What the Great American Novel relies on as a concept is the notion that there is some unifying experience, some core or set of values, that we as Americans all share. But as our political life daily reminds us, this is not the case.”
Hard Choices In Makeover Of DC’s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library
“The building on Ninth and G streets NW was never perfect, and it’s long been overdue for renovation. But the choice of Mecanoo suggests there may be complicated and painful process ahead, as concerns about historic preservation clash with the library’s urgent desire for a more functional, welcoming and contemporary building.”
Santa Barbara Classical Music Station Is Sold
“KCRW is acquiring KDB, a longtime Santa Barbara classical music station at 93.7 FM. The bottom line appears to be that KCRW gets a stronger signal along the Santa Barbara coast, using 88.7 FM, while classical music will continue at 93.7 in a partnership between KDB and KUSC.”
Author Mavis Gallant, 91
“Considered one of Canada’s finest writers of short fiction, Gallant is known for collections such as Montreal Stories, Going Ashore and 1981’s Home Truths, which earned her a Governor General’s Literary Award.”
Read Mavis Gallant’s Work in The New Yorker
The late author published 114 short stories in the magazine, which has made a selection of them available online.
How a Spat Between Two Bloggers Became a Major Intellectual Property Battleground
Blogger A posted a photo of herself flipping off Blogger B; Blogger B complained to Blogger A’s Internet provider. Next thing we know, Hollywood studio lawyers are facing Electronic Frontier Foundation attorneys in Federal court. At issue: the takedown notice.
Iain Banks’s Final Book To Come Out in 2015
“Banks died last June, two months after revealing he had terminal cancer. He would have been 60 on 16 February, and his publisher Little, Brown said it would mark the date next year by publishing a collection of poems by Banks and his friend and fellow science fiction author Ken MacLeod, who will edit it.”
Unseen Derek Jarman Footage Surfaces
“Almost exactly 20 years after his death, a previously unseen film by Derek Jarman has come to light, shot inside a gay nightclub in east London, and will be premiered next month” with the title Will You Dance With Me?
London Theatre With Collapsed Ceiling Sets Reopening Date
The Apollo, where the ceiling fell in during a performance of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in December, will reopen with a new show on March 26.
Theatre Owner on Ceiling Collapse: ‘You Never Forget Something Like That, And Nor Should You”
Nica Burns: “I pushed past everyone into the theatre and straight into the auditorium. It was unimaginable. About 112 years of thick black dust had come down. … It was like a stricken ship – that’s the only image I can think of with all the debris.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.18.14
The Under-resourced Nonprofit Sector – Crisis or Chimera?
Source: Field Notes | Published on 2014-02-18
The Invasion of San Francisco, and Intellectual Property
Source: CultureCrash | Published on 2014-02-18
Jamming with Mozart from MTT to Perm
Source: Condemned to Music | Published on 2014-02-19
Potato Bravo
Source: Out There | Published on 2014-02-18
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Why Won’t China Let More Foreign Films In?
“A need for more movie theaters is holding back government support for an expanded quota of foreign films allowed in Chinese theaters.”
NY Arts Journalist Attacked, Hospitalized – Police Are Investigating As Hate Crime
Randy Gener had surgery at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital for a fractured skull and swelling in his brain, his sister told the Journal. He was awake by Sunday afternoon, but his speech made no sense, she said. “My understanding is the road for recovery is going to be very long.”
Ai Wei Wei Comments On The Vandalism Of His Work In Miami Museum
“The protest itself may be valid but to damage somebody’s work to do that is questionable.” The artist told CNN that the destroyed vase doesn’t bother him because his work has been damaged before.