Biagio da Cesena, the Papal Master of Ceremonies, and Venetian satirist Pietro Aretino hated the fact that Michelangelo was putting so many naked people on the Sistine Chapel’s wall, saying the painting belonged in a public bathhouse. Bad idea to publicly attack a high-profile artwork while the artist is still working on it. - Artnet
Producer Charlie Brooker proposes scanning the faces of cinemagoers as they enter the theater and then using AI to cast them “randomly” in the actual movie. - Deadline
The move reflects where the entire tech industry is headed — toward a future where screens become background noise and audio takes center stage. - TechCrunch
In 1873, Jasper Francis Cropsey’s Autumn in the Ramapo Valley, Erie Railway was taken to London by its commissioner. It remained overseas until last year, when a couple of American art collectors acquired it — then sent it to a museum because it wouldn’t fit through the door of their home. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
These dancers, choreographers, directors, and companies are already doing exceptional work, but we’re betting on them to break through in a major way in the year to come. - Dance Magazine
“In a good museum, it’s a lot about imagination. You don’t want to spell things out. We are complex. History is complex, and history has both triumphs and it has dark pages.” - The Times
In addition to the countless millions of people who will enjoy Stranger Things on the Netflix streaming platform, in just two days, more than 753,000 Stranger Things fans flocked to an AMC Theatre to personally join in the celebration. - Deadline
During a meeting in the historic Uyghur city of Kashgar in October, authorities warned residents that performing, playing, uploading onto social media, or storing on devices any of a list of Uyghur songs would face imprisonment. Uyghur exiles report that several people have already been jailed for doing so. - AP
“The kid with the PC in the bedroom can’t play his instrument. He can make some sounds, and then you can get a vast amount of repetition, but if they didn’t take the time to learn their instrument and their scales and to actually speak the language of music then they can’t play.” - Music Radar
“Everyone was afraid of the telephone, everyone was afraid of television,” Harrison said. “It’s just going to march on. And we’ll acclimate.” - The New York Times
"I do believe they should be separate. And the success of the Kennedy Center, you know, working in a bipartisan way, has been an example of that in a great way." - NPR
The voguing scene, led by Māori (indigenous New Zealanders) and immigrants from the Pacific islands, only got started in the country about a decade ago. By last October, there was a major ball held at the national museum. - The Guardian
Each year, theater producers and publicists work to make opening night more and more meaningless. Given that this is the night that reviews come out, the result is the continuing, deliberate devaluing of professional theater criticism. - New York Theatre
The White House is expected to invite past Trump appointees to rejoin the Commission of Fine Arts, according to three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss those plans. - Washington Post
Led by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Democrats on the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee say they’ve obtained documents suggesting that the Center is being operated as a “slush fund and private club for Trump’s friends and political allies”, resulting in millions of lost income and a departure from its statutory mission. - The Guardian
