Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Why It’s So Difficult To Write About Images
The English vocabulary is especially limited, with only 170,000 or so words in an English dictionary. What does this mean to the art writer...
Australian Writers Decry Their Place In The Country’s Cultural Support Structures
“Funding and the politics of funding within the Australia Council is dominated by performing arts, the lion’s share of funds goes to performing arts...
How An Orchestra’s Home Imprints An Orchestra’s Sound
It seems logical that an orchestra’s basic tools of sound production – tone colour, dynamics, rhythmic precision and articulation – are strongly influenced by...
David Frum: Is Returning African Art The Right Thing To Do?
Each museum that pledges to surrender some or all of its African collection intensifies the pressure on the holdout institutions to follow. But each...
How The Broadway Revival Of “Funny Girl” Became Real-Life Drama
This revival’s story is the real-life version of Smash, NBC’s own campy drama about casting the perfect lead; from previews to present day, Funny Girl has been...
Artificial Intelligence Is Sneaking Into Everything Around Us – Subtle, Unobtrusive…
Unlike search or social media, whose arrivals the general public encountered and discussed and had opinions about, artificial intelligence remains esoteric—every bit as important...
New York Theatre Right Now? The Avant-Cozy
Anything, including revolution, can be repurposed as comfort right now. Nostalgia isn’t just for conservatives—we are in the time of the derriere-garde, experimental hygge,...
Google AI Researcher Concludes: Artificial Intelligence Could Destroy Humanity
The paper, published last month in the peer-reviewed AI Magazine, is a fascinating one that tries to think through how artificial intelligence could pose an existential risk...
The Structural Blocks To Reimagining Museums
Museums must be disentangled from national and corporate interests that guide narratives and reproduce dominant social norms. Structural transformation is needed which involves more diverse...
A History Of Encyclopedias: Our Search For Authority And Meaning
It "was meant as reference, but also to be savoured. The 11th edition of Britannica (1929) featured Cecil B. DeMille on motion pictures and J.B. Priestley...
An Opera Lover’s Treasure-house: SF Opera Makes Available Its Archives
The new online hub at sfopera.com/firstcentury features recordings from the company’s past, along with rare artist interviews, archival photographs, program articles, oral history excerpts and newly...
Manohla Dargis Remembers Jean-Luc Godard: A Prophet Of Film’s Future As An Artform
When we speak of adored artists, we often flash on the first time we encountered their work, a tendency that evokes first love. I...
EU, UK File €25 Billion Lawsuit Against Google Over Digital Ad, Search Manipulation
“This important claim will represent a class of victims of Google’s anti-competitive conduct in ad tech who have collectively lost an estimated £7bn. This...
Philosophically Speaking, What Constitutes A “Good Conversation”
British philosophers from the 18th century, who were fixated on impressions and ideas, would have taken successful conversations to be those that moved the relevant cluster...
Ukrainian Ballet Star Killed On The Battlefield
The National Opera of Ukraine announced, with "indescribable sadness," the death of Oleksandr Shapoval, one of the company's former principal dancers and a teacher at...
Meet The AI Currently Embroiling The Artist (And Regulatory) Communities
The movement’s prominence has led to fierce debate in art circles, with some arguing that it creates an “ethical and copyright black hole,” given...
The Quiet Death Of Instagram As An Artistic Medium
While the dream that was Instagram did once serve artists, many artists have spent years struggling against not just Instagram’s algorithm, but for access...
Internet TV Has Become A Giant Wasteland
Social media first presented itself as a new wave of populist content, eccentric infotainment. But look at that: Social media is now shot through...
Study: Does Gender Of The Artist Change Perception Of The Viewer
We showed average Americans pairs of paintings side by side. Each of the pairs are similar in style, motif and period, but one work...
Anna Netrebko’s Complicated Career Since Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine
The debate over Netrebko has been part of a broader discussion in arts, culture and sport over how much individual Russians should bear responsibility...
Time To Remove Distinctions Between Physical Health And Mental Health?
In practice, physical diseases are treated by physicians working for medical services, and mental illnesses are treated by psychiatrists or psychologists working for separately...
Eradicating Speech Isn’t Free Speech
Most college students, according to a FIRE report published this week, do not believe that speakers who hold various conservative beliefs should be allowed on campus; I...
Scientists Discover “Switch” In The Brain That Determines Whether An Experience Was Good Or...
“If you have a brain response to anything that is important, how does it differentiate whether it is good or bad? It’s a central...
Making The Case For Art: It Can’t Be About Words
If you are presenting art because you enjoy art and only because you enjoy art, you are not respecting your charter as a nonprofit. That’s vanity,...
A Terrible Emmy Awards Show For Shows That Were This Good
This was one of the worst Emmys telecasts in recent memory. Not in the “claws are out” way that people tend to pounce on...