Stories

The NEA Has Survived. But At What Cost?

The generally inoffensive nature of these selections seems to reveal an agency that has trimmed its sails (not only financially) and ceded ground to conservative demands in order to survive. - American Theatre

Choreographer Azsure Barton Reimagines Pandora’s Box As A Parable About AI

“Pandora … was the first woman, an Eve-like figure, created from clay and given by Zeus to Epimetheus, unbeknownst to him, as a punishment for his brother Prometheus giving humans fire. ‘One of the things I was really driven by was the fact that she was an agent of change,’ says Barton.” - The Guardian

V&A Museum Workers Vote To Strike

A PCS ballot registered 95% in favour of industrial action. The union did not say how many workers would be striking. It called for better pay, a cross-site policy to close public spaces when temperatures reached 30C, and for V&A East Storehouse workers "to drink and carry water at work". - BBC

A Case For Limiting AI In Culture

If we fail to think through and delimit the role of AI in our lives, we risk undermining the intelligibility of our own guiding cultural concepts, and thus initiating a period in our own society of which it may someday be possible to say that “nothing happened.” - The Point

The Worst Year Ever To Be Alive

A massive volcanic eruption in AD536 has led historians to describe it as the “worst year to be alive”. Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia were plunged into darkness for 18 months. Temperatures in the summer months fell by 1.5˚C to 2.5˚C, initiating one of the coldest decades in the past two millennia. - The Conversation

One Of Satirical Sculptors The Gao Brothers Jailed In China For Insulting “Heroes And Martyrs”

Gao Zhen, 70, who with Gao Qiang is known for statuary of Mao Zedong such as the “Miss Mao” series of drag sculptures and a firing squad of seven Maos aiming at Jesus, has been sentenced to three years' imprisonment under a law passed years after the works were made. - The Guardian

Our Misconceptions Of What Consciousness Is

Perceiving, experiencing and thinking are inherently embodied activities. The body is not just a physical object, it is a living organism that is in constant flux. It is also part of the social, cultural and material world. - Nature

In 1939, The BBC Broadcast Sound From A 3000-Year-Old Egyptian Trumpet

“The trumpets of the pharaoh Tutankhamun!” booms the BBC announcer. A short intake of air and then — the blare of a trumpet which for more than 3,000 years had lain silent inside the boy-king’s tomb. - CNN

Why Is So Much New Literary Fiction So Boring?

The question driving these opening pages is not: “What does it mean to live a good life?” or “What do we owe to people?” or “What can be saved from the ravages of time?” The question I hear is: “Have I impressed you yet?” - Devon Halliday

Opera Australia Is Having Some Trouble With A Major Donor

“The future of Opera Australia’s signature event, the annual Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour, is in limbo over a funding dispute with its patron, reclusive Japanese billionaire Haruhisa Handa,” who is reportedly unhappy that the event has been presenting money-making musicals rather than opera in recent years. - Australian Financial Review

US State Department Wants To Sell Kehinde Wiley Painting: “Too Woke”

On Monday, the New York Times reported that the State Department wants to sell the painting. Campos said in her Instagram post that the “Trump Administration and under my leadership we are turning away from globalist and woke ideologies.” - ARTnews

An All-Star Dance Company At Over-40

For dancers over 40, retirement is close. A new company, WINNDance, is challenging that assumption, and it’s launching with a roster of names that most companies would kill for. - Gramilano

AI Tracks Banned From Australian Music Charts

Wholly AI-generated tracks will be banned from the ARIA charts from Monday next week, but some AI-assisted music will remain eligible, an ARIA statement said. - PBS

Stanley Ritchie, Dean Of Baroque Violinists In North America, Is Dead At 91

Following stints as assistant concertmaster of the Met Opera Orchestra and Vancouver Symphony, he took up period instruments in the 1970s and became North America’s first major soloist on Baroque violin. He was an influential teacher; virtually every period violinist in North America at some point studied with him or his students. - Violinist.com

“Appointment Viewing” Television Is Back

“In the era of streaming, binge-watching is easier than ever. So, it seems potentially incongruous that appointment viewing — watching a television show when it first airs — is so capable of seizing the collective attention of viewers. But fandom is a powerful force, and appointment viewing has tamed the beast into something fearsome.” - Variety

Our Free Newsletter

Join our 30,000 subscribers

Latest

Don't Miss