While a recent report revealed that 2020 witnessed a global downturn in art sales overall, online sales surged, making up a quarter of the market’s value.Although a number of fairs are holding onto tentative summer and fall dates in the hopes that in-person events will be feasible, there are some who are continuing to forge ahead with digital programming...
As libraries continue to examine their role in digital life, they recognize that one of their critical and unique weapons is the hands-on, brains-on human capital of the librarians and library staff. They have been helping people research and navigate through their online lives for a long time. With libraries’ well-earned and precious reputation as a trusted place with...
"The Digital Age has supplied a vast overload of information. “A well-informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny,” wrote Thomas Jefferson. But are we now living in a time when so much free-floating information has in subtle ways become a tyranny in itself? One could argue that this overflow of information has been accompanied by a simultaneous reduction...
Clubhouse arrived at a perfect moment. It delivered spontaneous conversations and chance meetings to people stuck at home. For those weary of tidying and curating backgrounds for Zoom, its audio-only format is a virtue. Even being iPhone-only and invitation-only hasn’t held back its popularity. New users often become obsessed with it, spending 20, 30, even 40 hours a week...
The B.20 tokens based on Beeple’s work are about 41 times more valuable today than they were in January, when MetaKovan first made them available, according to CoinMarketCap. From the day the Christie’s auction began, on Feb. 25, to the close of the auction on March 11, the price of one B.20 token grew from $8.28 to $18.57. -...
Josh Kosman: "When a composer pleads for a more sympathetic view of Levine because of his advocacy for new music, or when an opera buff clings to Levine’s recordings of the standard repertoire, that’s a tell. It says that wrongs inflicted on others don’t merit a full moral standing, at least not when weighed against the benefits to oneself....
"The unevenness of response across the London halls, from the vagueness and uncertainty of the SBC to the Wigmore Hall’s dauntless ongoing programme of streamed recitals, with audiences to be readmitted as soon as possible, has been mirrored across the country." - The Guardian
The Palms Springs Art Museum, a low-slung building designed by E. Stewart Williams in 1974, is emblematic of the Midcentury Modern architecture now synonymous internationally with the desert enclave. Rather than a civic celebration of one of the town’s greatest cultural contributions, as the 2016 plan envisioned, the council opted instead for a civic celebration of the misdemeanor crime...
The choreographer’s eclectic inspirations wind like a scenic highway through American culture, from ballet to figure skating, from Frank Sinatra to Philip Glass. - Washington Post
"The loss of broadcast exclusivity is going to accelerate cord cutting as younger viewers gravitate toward the streaming platforms. The loss of coveted younger viewers will reduce total local TV viewership. Still worse, as local TV stations fall into an inescapable vortex toward irrelevance to advertisers, it will become tougher and tougher for them to negotiate with their cable...
After a long-invested dictator falls, the Sudanese people (and some of the rest of the world) may gain access to the archaeological sites that show off the history of their country. "The ancient city of Meroe — part of a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2011 — is a four-hour drive from Khartoum, northeast along the Nile River. The pyramids here,...
In some cases, artists will never work again; some venues have shut down; and the cultural life of Britain has taken a beating. Artists including Ai Weiwei explain how the year worked, or didn't. - The Guardian (UK)
How "democratic" are these streaming Oscars when they're almost impossible to find, and expensive to subscribe to, in the UK? The coronavirus, and attendant openings and lockdowns, is mostly to blame, of course, but also: "Streaming infrastructure in the UK is less well-established than in the US, so outside major players such as Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ and Apple, distributors do...
Things aren't necessarily getting easier for museum directors thinking about what to do with their collections, and whether they should rely on their boards for money - or sell some art. "The debate has grown heated in recent weeks, pitting museum against museum, and forcing the — which serves as the industry’s referee and moral watchdog — to...
At Netflix, Bridgerton (at least the first season) succeeded beyond executives' wildest dreams. But the Shondaland production team wants a lot more than just Netflix success. No surprise, they need a lot more content, at all times. Podcasts, articles, behind the scenes snippets, TikToks, Instagram Stories, rebranded books (since the series comes from a book series). Welcome to 2021.-...
