Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Afghanistan’s Cultural Sector Goes Underground
“In Afghanistan, work in the field of arts and culture is probably one of the hardest jobs.. but we did it because we loved...
Composer Bright Sheng Removed At University Of Michigan After Showing Olivier Othello Film
“To show the film now, especially without substantial framing, content advisory and a focus on its inherent racism is in itself a racist act,...
Why The Oxford English Dictionary Has Added 6 Korean Words
"They show how Asians in different parts of the continent invent and exchange words within their own local contexts, then introduce these words to...
The Odd Contortions Of Hollywood’s New Movie Museum
The Academy has created spaces that, as it declared last year, would “prioritize the experience of traditionally underrepresented or marginalized people.” Unfortunately, this embrace...
Andras Szanto: The Permeability Of Ideas Versus Our Institutions
"To what extent does the artistic institutional system become distanced from primary creativity? The system of scientific institutions is no less problematic. Sooner or...
Capturing The Movement Of Starlings As Art
Kathryn Cooper first films the starlings in 4K resolution. Then, working with clips that range in length from less than a second to more...
How San Francisco’s Last Video Store Survives
“Part of why I work so hard doing this is that I believe people should have access to more than what’s just currently in...
Performative Diversity?
The current emphasis on diversity and inclusivity, however warranted, endangers or distorts a cultural canon that we cannot (in fact, must not) wholly jettison....
Are Audiobooks Superior To Paper?
Audiobooks aren’t cheating. They aren’t a just-add-water shortcut to cheap intellectualism. For so many titles in this heyday of audio entertainment, it’s not crazy...
Streaming Has Killed Music Genres. That’s A Real Loss
Musical genres have long had a peculiar imaginative power and participatory quality. They aren’t just labels imposed by an industry; they’re shaped by passions...
European Movie Box Office Down 70 Percent In 2020
European movie theaters suffered a 70.4% year-on-year drop to €2.6 billion ($3 billion) in box office revenue in 2020. In terms of admissions, there...
Art Pranks (With A Message) On The Rise?
Most of these prankster examples either take a jab at the art market. This intersection seems to have escalated in the last five years,...
First Time: UK Audiences For Streaming Beat Traditional TV
Out of almost a thousand 18-70 year olds who watch at least 5 hours of television per week, more are watching via streaming platforms than traditional...
Today’s “Natural” Acoustics Are Based On Theatre Experiments in 18th Century Paris
When Hollywood technicians debated how to make movies sound natural, they were unwittingly following a trail blazed by 18th-century architects, who spent decades working...
San Jose Theatre Posts All-White Cast, Apologizes, Then Cancels
In attempting to defend itself, San Jose Playhousemade more perceived mistakes, including posting, then deleting, a note that was meant to be private; as...
Gotta Love How This Year’s Documenta Artists Were Announced
In Germany on Friday, October 1, you might have picked up a copy of Asphalt—a publication that is sold to benefit poor and people struggling...
What’s Up With The Movie Museum’s Giant Orb? (Death Star?)
A big glass-and-steel ball is not vanishing into the mist. It sits there and it’s shiny and hard and you have to pay to...
Biden Makes Historic Picks For New Heads Of NEA And NEH
Both selections are historic: Lowe will be the first Native American nominated to lead the federal humanities agency and Jackson will be the first...
After COVID: NYC Artists Testify About The State Of Things
“The illusion of reopening is that we’re back where we were in February of 2020. The reality is that in the meantime, there’s been...
The Critical Question (Post-COVID)
Playwright Oscar Wilde once warned an age without criticism is “an age that possesses no art at all.” He never could have imagined an...
Come For The Star Wars, Stay For The Kara Walker…
At the Lucas Museum: “What would be fantastic is if people came looking for Star Wars and learn about Ralph McQuarrie and then they learn about...
25-Year-Old New Play Incubator Closes
According to a press release, the decision to shutter the 27-year-old play development mainstay was a “unanimous yet painful conclusion” of the organization’s board...
Philadelphia Orchestra Ditches The Formal Dress
“We’re well into the 21st century. It’s time to acknowledge that in many ways, and one of them is the way the orchestra looks...
The Future Of Tourism? Venice Uses High Tech Surveillance To Limit The Mobs
The city’s leaders are acquiring the cellphone data of unwitting tourists and using hundreds of surveillance cameras to monitor visitors and prevent crowding. Next...
Inside The World Of Screen Subtitlers
It’s possible for subtitles and dubs to be so seamless that they feel invisible without pushing audiovisual translators ourselves out of sight. - Zocalo Public...