Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
A Russian-less Venice Biennale Is Different
While the cool contemporary art crowd strolled among the exhibits, Ukraine was being pummeled by missiles, and there was hardly a Russian in sight....
The Humanities’ Credibility Crisis
That problem takes two forms: first, the lack of public trust in humanities scholars’ processes of inquiry and expert conclusions. Simply put, the public...
Classical Music’s Dance Between Entrepreneur And Institution
The composer, who has accrued reputational capital on the open market, exchanges some of it for an ever-dwindling share of institutional security. The institution...
The First Philosopher Of AI
Virtually all modern computers are modelled on Alan Turing’s idea. However, he originally conceived these machines merely because he saw that a human engaged...
Who Gets Credit For Choreography?
The accepted definition of “choreographer” is the person who composes the physical steps—not necessarily completely on their own, but the majority of the movement...
Actors Union Warns That AI Is Replacing Live Performers
"From automated audiobooks to digital avatars, AI systems are now replacing skilled professional performers" the union says. It warns of "dystopian" consequences unless copyright...
The Machine Invented To Digitize 100-Year-Old Wax Cylinder Recordings
Sound restoration engineer Nicholas Bergh spent two decades designing the revolutionary new machine, known as the Endpoint Audio Labs cylinder playback machine. - Atlas Obscura
NY Singers Remember A Beloved NY Vocal Coach, Killed Last Month
She had a gift for unusual metaphors that made her teachings stick. In the bedroom of her 17th-floor apartment in the Chelsea neighborhood of...
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...
