Good Morning: We're at the stranded assets part of the cable television business. Comcast has decided to spin off its cable networks (though not NBC). Networks include MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Oxygen, E!, Syfy and Golf Channel. It's the clearest sign yet that the cable TV model is dying before our eyes. Comcast, which itself is bleeding subscribers as customers...
Black Artists And Performers Claim Egypt For Africa At The Met“By staging performances within the Met’s hallowed halls, these artists challenge traditional narratives of Egyptian art as solely Middle Eastern, highlighting its African roots.” – The New York Times
Restoration Of Rembrandt’s “Night Watchman” Begins In Public“Restorers at the Rijksmuseum are working in a specially designed glass chamber in full...
How To Select Ten Books To Represent A Quarter Of A Century“Once we got back about ten years, I had a much better sense of what had lasted, what was really lastingly good and not just shiny. … The closer we get to the present the less perspective we have.” – Reactor Magazine
In Colorado, There’s No History Without Art...
Festival Attendance Might Be Down, But Glastonbury Sells Out In 30 Minutes Despite concerns about declining attendance at music festivals globally, Glastonbury's rapid sell-out reflects enduring demand for live cultural experiences, raising questions about accessibility and ticketing systems. – BBC
How People Focus Attention On Art Has Changed. Museums Need To Change Too "Claire Bishop argues that social media and...
Good morning. One of the revolutions in marketing brought about by AI will be going from getting your message out in front of the right people to having AI agents that will make relationships and "persuade" people. Spotify is testing a version of this. The streaming service, which has made its mark with algorithms tuned to users' choices, has...
Good Morning: In a delicious irony, the humor publication The Onion has won an auction to buy Alex Jones' InfoWars website. The site said: “The Onion is proud to acquire Infowars, and we look forward to continuing its storied tradition of scaring the site’s users with lies until they fork over their cold, hard cash,” said The Onion CEO...
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Theater Festival Brings Solace To Capital Of Troubled Burkina FasoIn Ouagadougou, the festival Récréâtrales offers a glimmer of hope amid political instability and violence in Burkina Faso, showcasing the resilience of the arts in times of crisis. – AP
Has The Internet Trapped Fiction In A No-Man’s Land?This essay questions how digital reading has flattened narrative structures in fiction, suggesting...
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In The Theatre, Digital Tickets And Programs Erase The Physical Record Of Attending This piece explores the impact of digital-only tickets and programs, questioning how the loss of physical mementos affects our memory of theatrical experiences and the tangibility of cultural participation. – Public Books
Reconsidering Antiquities: American Museums And The Ethics Of It All Reflecting on the extensive...
Good morning: For months big AI companies have been touting how AI will change things. In the past few weeks, we're starting to see it. Starting with online search. AI-powered search is radically different from the traditional Google search we're used to. Instead of returning lists of thousands of websites where you might find your answer, the new AI...
Good morning. Here are this weekend's highlights:
How The Pandemic Has Reshaped Cultural PhilanthropyThe pandemic spurred a shift in arts funding, with donors increasingly focused on social justice, equity, and supporting smaller, community-based organizations, altering the landscape of cultural philanthropy in profound ways. – The Art Newspaper
The Quiet Rise of Eco-Set Design in Theater Theater companies are adopting sustainable practices...
Good morning: An eventful week. 'Nuff said. Here are this week's AJ highlights:
Cal Shakes Veterans Mourn, And Remember Former artists of the California Shakespeare Theater reflect on its unique, progressive audience and the cultural shifts that have impacted the company, questioning how the theater community can retain relevance in changing times. – San Francisco Chronicle
Building The Great Native American...
Good morning. Since the early days of the internet, people have been trying to figure out how our screen lives compare to our real-life versions. Clearly there are differences: "The upshot of device-mediated encounters is that they may be benign in single instances but collectively they are alarming. The larger question is where we are headed with such encounters....
Good morning: The ticketing industry is rife with scams, fake tickets, outrageous fees and frustrating service. Customers get lured to websites that aren't official but pretend to be. And TicketMaster's lock on the industry as well as its monopolistic behavior in owning venues and controlling ticketing make for a mess. This report from the excellent independent arts site CultureOC...
Good Morning: What happens when you make things easy? Getting any music you want. News traveling in rivers of stories. Distraction to fill in every available crack in your day. Do we value the music, the news, the distractions more because its easy to get? Or because it's so ubiquitous do we lose investment in seeking out music or...
City Of Miami Beach Steps Up To Replace Arts Funding Canceled By Gov. DeSantis After Florida’s governor cut state arts funding, Miami Beach committed nearly $1 million to support local arts, highlighting the city’s commitment to its cultural institutions. – Artnet
Dallas Art Museum Director To Step Down Amid Expansion PlansAugustin Arteaga’s departure during a major museum expansion has raised...
