Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Why Such Disdain For Theatre That Is Commercial?
The antipathy for the commercial sector of the theater, especially from the inside and often fueled by envy or elitism, is far from new....
We’re Entering A New Frontier For Dance
It feels like dancemaking is entering a new era. By setting dancers loose in the open air, outdoor filmmaking paradoxically brings them even closer...
How Might We Redesign Higher Education?
Another way to ask this question is to start with how our universities are designed today and ask which elements support or conflict with...
Goodbye Minimalism? More Is Now More
No Pythonesque general is demanding we choose between plain and patterned plates. But it does feel like the finger-wagging minimalism that informed the housewares...
How Essay Collections Became A Hot Genre
When the century began, essays were considered box office poison; editors would sometimes disguise collections of the stuff by packaging them as theme-driven memoirs....
Move Over Miami Beach, Stand Aside Hamptons — The Art World Moved To Aspen
There is a general sense that Aspen has become a center of the art world during this hot vax summer. - New York Magazine
Is It Possible You Have Too Many Unread Books?
Unread books now exist in three states for me: Actual books, piled horizontally on a five-foot-wide bookcase; books listed in a tab on my...
“Hyperpop” And Defying Categorization
If mainstream pop is designed to make people feel as if they’re on common ground with all of humanity, this music made listeners feel...
El Sistema Has A Labor Problem
"Too often, those who fund our programs are, in effect, asking our team members to do more with less. There is a combined scarcity/charity...
Michael Tilson Thomas Has Emergency Brain Surgery
Thomas, 76, will now embark on a monthslong course of therapy and has canceled all his public appearances through the end of October. -...
Scientists Use AI To Translate Ancient Text
Researchers at University of Notre Dame are developing an artificial neural network to read complex ancient handwriting based on human perception to improve capabilities of deep...
SFMoMA Cuts Programs — Community Calls Out Disconnect Of Values
“Are you really telling the Bay Area that you spent the last year and a half forging diversity, equity and inclusion committees, to then...
How To Become Wise? Learning Rather Than Persuading
"The most remarkable feature of Socrates’s approach is his punctilious politeness and sincere enthusiasm. The conversation usually begins with Socrates asking his interlocutor: Since you...
Why It’s So Difficult To Design A Good Olympic Logo
Paris is not the only city to struggle when trying to create a memorable logo. The history of Olympic logos shows it’s not easy...
We’re Taught That Battle And Triumph Are Desirable. Is Neutrality A Better Option?
Our heroes are the warrior, the entrepreneur, and the activist, not the neutral parties. Neutrality appears cold, lifeless, effeminate, weak, and suspect. - Tablet
Haunting Pictures Of Cyprus’ Underwater Sculpture Park
The museum is within a marine protected area about 200 metres from Pernera beach and in water between eight and 10 metres deep, so...
People Are Quitting Jobs. Time For A Rethink?
Reports of workers of all types have quit, are quitting, or are looking for reasons to quit. Many are not seeking a new job,...
Broadway Is On The Verge Of Reopening. Can It? Should It?
“A week ago, there was great optimism that by Sept. 14 we would be raring to go. Now, I would say there’s cautious optimism,...
Texas’s Governor Forbids Mask Mandates. So People Will Go To Shows?
Not really. In an informal KERA and Dallas Morning News survey conducted over the past few days, about 70% of more than 1,200 respondents said they do not...
NYC’s Remarkable New Island Of Creativity
On 2.4 acres of lush lawns and man-made, sculptured hills, Little Island percolates daily with creative energy, fueled by talent recruited everywhere from the...
Balanchine As A Character In a Crime Novel
July 1943 happens to coincide with a window in Balanchine’s known itinerary. He might just have worked on this other wartime Hollywood morale-lifter, which...
So This Is The Metaverse, Eh? Yawn…
A game-y galaxy that seamlessly fuses with the meatspace. What matters is that metaverse is now the buzzword du jour and that Facebook wants a piece...
How Working In (For Now) Post-COVID Broadway Works
It’s a resumption of business — and, for many arts workers, employment — that’s been eagerly awaited and long in coming. But it’s also...
A Creative Redevelopment That Intends To Skip The Usual Mistakes
Birkenhead is barely a mile from Liverpool, situated on the opposite bank of the River Mersey. It was once known as the “New York...
How An Obscenity Trial 50 Years Ago Inspired A Generation Of Protest Art
The six-week trial of Oz magazine at the Old Bailey was the longest obscenity trial in England’s history. It remains the most absurd. - The Guardian
