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Check Your Local Little Free Art Gallery If You’re In Need Of Visual Stimulation

One artist says little free art galleries stir "feelings of 'cute aggression,' a term that describes the way our minds cope with the onslaught of positive feelings brought on by something adorable — you just want to squish/squeeze/eat it. Thankfully, no one has tried, but part of the popularity might come from the feeling that you could. Artists and...

What Novelists Can Learn From The Marvel Comics Universe

Sounds ridiculous, right? What do literary novels have in common with Avengers or WandaVision? Benjamin Percy says his Comet Cycle came about because he wanted to "go wild, do something different, change shit up, and create an experience—from a creative and business perspective—that was lit from beginning to end." - LitHub

Frederike Mayrocker, Grande Dame Of German Language Poets, 96

Mayröcker, an Austrian, earned acclaim as a formally inventive poet, but her writing "ranged far more widely, producing an immense body of work that encompassed nearly every literary genre: novels, memoirs, children’s books, drama and radio plays as well as poetry. (Only a handful of her works have been translated into English.)" Perhaps that should change. - The New...

Art Basel Will Take Place In September

A successful Hong Kong venture means Switzerland gets its fair (with new safety protocols, no surprise). - Artnet

John Boyega Exits Netflix Production Mid-Filming

Production is paused for the role in Rebel Ridge to be recast and reshot. The Small Axe star left for family reasons, he said - The Guardian (UK)

Bach, But Make It Upside Down

Another creative moment borne from boredom during the pandemic: "Dan Tepfer plays the first of Bach's "Goldberg" Variations. The piano is a Disklavier, which can record and play back. When he finishes, Tepfer taps a button on his iPad, triggering the piano to play back what he's just recorded with the notes inverted, as if the score were turned upside...

The National Black Theater Makes A High-Rise Decision

The National Black Theater is trading up - and up. It will replace its current building with a 21-story high-rise, where the theatre can have three floors while retail and housing occupy the rest. "National Black Theater leaders see the $185 million project, and the partnership they are entering with developers, as a new chapter with the financial and...

Escaping The ‘Teen On Disney’ Trap

Olivia Rodrigo has figured out something that few have before her. There's" a shift within the Disney sphere, which has apparently evolved enough to allow its stars to curse while still holding down jobs on PG-rated television." - Washington Post

The Studio Of Corita Kent, L.A.’s ‘Pop Art Nun,’ Earns Historic Status

And that's historic for more than her art; it's also unusual for Los Angeles to honor women artists in this way. Kent adapted silkscreen printing to the era of Pop. "In the wake of the Second Vatican Council in 1962, which called for a liberalization and modernization of the Catholic liturgy to the realities of 20th century life, she...

Kim’s Convenience Actor Calls Out Producers, Pay Issues

Actor Simu Liu plays Jung Kim in the show, whose fifth and final season is dropping on Netflix Canada. It's a critically lauded show with a lot of comedy buzz. But, says Liu, the producers (who were "overwhelmingly white") discounted input from Asian cast members; the actor also said that the actors were paid at an "absolute horsepoop rate."...

A Mining Company Sponsors A Fringe Festival No More

In Perth, Australia, the multi-arts Fringe World loses its decade-long sponsor, the decidedly non-edgy mining company Woodside, after three years of protests by festival artists. - The Guardian (UK)

The Challenges Ahead For Media’s Newest Giant Company

The government review of the planned Discovery-Warner Bros merger could take more than a year, and subscribers are abandoning Discovery's cable channels (and cable in general) in droves. Then there's the huge debt - and the companies' culture clashes. - Los Angeles Times

Bothsidesism Leads To Offensively Inoffensive Opera

See: Bartlett Sher's Oslo and his Elisir."It’s rare that history colors a human experience without applying a layer—even a thin layer—to the whole surface." - Van Magazine

Artist Auctions Off Invisible Sculpture

That's right, there's nothing there. And it sold for more than $18,000. - Artnet

A Dissident Cuban Artist Is Released From Hospital

Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara "is the leader of the San Isidro protest movement (MSI) of artists and intellectuals pressing for free speech and other rights" in Cuba. He spent nearly a month in hospital after an 8-day hunger strike, without his phone or any means of communication. - Yahoo News (AFP)

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