Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Latest Museum Worker Union Drive: The Seattle Art Museum
Because the museum refused to voluntarily recognize UPAT Local 116, the SAM Visitor Service Officers have decided to go independent — this time including...
Removal Of Political Art From Hong Kong’s New M+ Fuels Worries About Censorship
Reports of the removal of the works fueled speculation that M+, a multibillion-dollar project billed as a cultural bridge between China and the West,...
French Presidential Debate Gets Historically Low Ratings
A nearly three-hour televised debate between French presidential candidates Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen on Wednesday night scored the lowest ever ratings for such a match-up. - Deadline
The Arts World — At War With The Culture Wars?
Following the lead of activist filmmakers and stars—who ran especially hot on social media during the long months of Covid lockdown—the industry has clearly...
What Does It Mean To Make Art?
Implicit in the phrase “the artist’s life” is the idea that this is a life apart. We are not so quick to rhapsodize about the...
What Researchers Are Learning About Language From Teaching AI
The difficulty in understanding transformers lies in their abstraction. Whereas a conventional program follows an understandable process, like outputting the word “grass” whenever it...
Is Netflix’s Stumble An Inflection Point For Streaming?
Is there such a thing as too many streaming options? How many people are really willing to pay for them? And could this business...
Why Is Netflix Losing Subscribers? It’s Become Cable TV
Since NBC took back The Office and HBO Max did the same with Friends, well, it can’t exactly be said that the emperor has no content....
Why Researchers Are Leaving Australia In Droves
My peers are burnt out, despondent and thinking of leaving the sector. Everybody has told me to leave the country, even if I am able...
Study: Public Art Reduces Traffic Accidents
A study conducted by Bloomberg Philanthropies examined 17 sites over two years, before and after they were painted with “asphalt art” (art on surfaces such as...
How Big Publishing Consolidated
As 2022 began, the U.S. trade publishing business was dominated by what has been called the Big Five—Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins,...
Struggling To Understand (It’s More Difficult Than Ever)
Not understanding makes bad things happen. When we don’t understand why lightning strikes or ships sink or babies die, sacrificing virgins might seem a...
Allegations Of Toxic Culture Behind Giant LA Dance Competition
Behind the bright lights and pulsing music, some dancers say they were sexually assaulted, harassed and manipulated by the company’s powerful founder and famous...
Florida Senate Votes To Strip Disney Of Special District Status
Republicans in the House also are expected to approve the move. It would take effect on June 1, 2023. - Deadline
The Twitter Account That Collects Awkward Writing
The account tracks the ways that writers strive to express the same thing differently, with examples taken mostly from newspapers and magazines around the...
Last-Minute Venice Biennale: The Ukrainians
Set among the nation-state pavilions that have stood in the Giardini for decades, it is a powerful statement in the face of the ongoing...
What It Takes To Be A Mid-Size Publisher
"The midsize publishing community has greatly contracted and, as I think about the businesses that still make up this community, I am struck by...
The Next Coachella: Arkansas?
Can a group of contemporary art curators and tastemakers turn the Arkansas town of Bentonville into an art-world hotspot? - Artnet
More Of Us Are Abandoning Cash. Is This Wise?
The economic and enforcement arguments against cash may stack up nicely, but a payment isn’t just an economic or administrative act; it is a...
Where, Exactly, Did The Blues Originate?
Every one of the hypotheses has some evidence to support it, although not every case is equally convincing. - Ted Gioia
Australian Ballet Goes All In
“To be the nation’s ballet company, to be one of the leading arts organisations in the country, we have to not only do a...
We Live In An Isolating Culture. The Arts Are Swimming Upstream
Collecting people in a certain space, at a certain time, on a certain date, in a certain seat, to see an unknown quantity —...
Fired San Antonio Symphony Conductor Speaks Out
“I think this is really to be seen as a hostile action against the musicians more than against me. Now you're undermining the efforts...
Sorry, But Paris Is Dead
Paris is dead, and many people like it that way. Living in the ruins of an old Cathedral, Parisians are the ivy that overtake...
Streaming Subscription Fatigue Taking Hold In The UK?
Just 3% of UK households signed up to a new video streaming subscription in Q1 2022, compared to 4.2% during the same period in...