Olivia Rodrigo’s brilliance lies in her use of TikTok as a tool to present her celebrity image as authentic to a young, global audience. Her use of social media self-branding to remix already existing ideas, sounds and texts in fresh, new ways is what makes her and other young artists and creators shine. - The Conversation
Authorship as we know it — that is, singular, capital-A Authority — will become narratively obsolete. It won’t die, or disappear, but merely get integrated into a massive hive mind, a great narrative-making machine (“The newspaper is the sea; literature flows into it at will”). - LA Review of Books
In Adorno’s stricken 20th century, ‘any gaiety in art’ implied ‘an avoidance of the pain of history’. Good cheer had withered into a fake fix peddled by self-improvement merchants, ‘an affective tool that can reconcile you to drudgery.’ - The Spectator
As anyone who has attended concerts or stage performances over the past year can tell you, digital programs are increasingly sprouting up as the heir apparent to the printed programs we’ve come to know and love. - Washington Post
There is a breed of Homo sapiens that will walk inside, take a deep breath, and say, “Mmm, I just love the smell of old books.” They are to be got rid of as quickly as possible, with whatever violence it takes. - The New York Times
Though the publishing industry would never condone book banning, a subtler form of repression is taking place in the literary world, restricting intellectual and artistic expression from behind closed doors, and often defending these restrictions with thoughtful-sounding rationales. - The New York Times
The director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet says it's because dancers leaving the academy haven't spent as much time training with each other as they did before COVID - and he claims they're just not ready for complex ballets. - The Stage (UK)
The six artists in Kherson wanted to tell the truth about life under Russian occupation - and to continue making art. "The results, which they have named Residency in Occupation, offer a harrowing insight into the horrors endured by millions of Ukrainians living under the Russian invasion." - The Guardian (UK)
"Peele, who won an Academy Award in 2018 for Get Out's original screenplay, has brought industry prestige to a historically overlooked genre." And his influence is strong: "Among Peele's audience is a generation of BIPOC filmmakers inspired by his storytelling." - CBC
The Olympics are hard on cities. But 10 years on, says Rowan Moore, London's site "has achieved at least two things usually thought difficult: the creation of a thriving new urban district, and the making of a large new park to which people actually come." - The Observer (UK)
"Only 11 percent of tickets are involved" and "most tickets are under $200" might not be the ironclad defense the company widely known as "Ticketbastard" thinks it is. - Variety
"The Putin regime has dealt Russian culture a crushing blow, just as the Russian state has done to its artists, musicians, and writers so many times before. People in the arts are forced to sing patriotic songs or emigrate. The regime has in effect 'canceled' culture." - The Atlantic
Edward Feiner, as "the chief architect of the U.S. government, revolutionized the public image of countless federal agencies by hiring renowned architects to design hundreds of courthouses, government laboratories, border stations and office buildings." - The New York Times
