“Stripped to the absolute bare necessities, the artists of De Stijl promoted a design reminiscent of the contemporary web, with clean lines, solid colors, and simplicity. But how could a hundred-year-old movement influence contemporary digital design?” Here’s how.
How To Act Drunk: A Tutorial (From An Actor Who Knows)
Richard Roxburgh, currently starring on Broadway with Cate Blanchett in The Present: “In terms of the study of alcohol and its effects, I probably have an unfair advantage in that I am, A, Australian, and, B, an actor. I’ve had probably an unhealthy overexposure to the shenanigans of booze over time.”
I Was An Extra In A North Korean Propaganda Film
“In 2013, Australian documentarian Anna Broinowski was granted a rare chance to research North Korea’s cloaked and powerful propaganda film industry. … [This excerpt] from her book Aim High in Creation! chronicles the bizarre final days of Broinowski’s North Korean film production boot camp, when she was unexpectedly cast as an ‘evil American wife’ in a film about the 1968 capture of the U.S. spy ship, the Pueblo.”
Before Spending All That Time And Money On A New London Concert Hall, Let’s Think It Through Properly
Jodi Myers considers some potential unintended consequences of going through with Sir Simon’s enormous pet project.
Pioneering Nigerian-British Novelist Buchi Emecheta Dead At 72
“[Her] 20 novels mined her experience as a black single mother in Britain to produce work that inspired a generation of black British writers.”
Author Roxane Gay Pulls Her Book From Simon & Schuster, Citing Their Plan To Publish A Book By A Far-Right Favorite
Part of Gay’s statement: “I was supposed to turn the book in this month and I kept thinking about how egregious it is to give someone like Milo a platform for his blunt, inelegant hate and provocation. I just couldn’t bring myself to turn the book in.”
How Would You Sell An Artwork That’s Built Into The Ground?
“The original earthworks were never meant to be sold like paintings or statues. That was partly in keeping with the hippie, yippie tenor of the times. They have never come up for auction, although one sculpture fetched as high as $4 million in 2008. How would you even sell an earthwork?”
NY Times Pares Back Its Bestseller Lists And Comics People Aren’t Happy
“The Times abruptly announced that it’s gutting its best-seller lists, doing away with a host of existing lists in both the print and online editions of the paper as of February 5. Among the casualties are the Graphic Hardcover, Graphic Paperback, and Manga categories. The comics world is, understandably, quite unhappy with the development.”
This Year’s Oscar Nominations Owe Much To The Theatre
“The sheer reach of film when compared with theatre is certainly the reason why when the two appear to together in a story, it is Hollywood that secures the dominant position over Broadway or the West End. But on Oscar night, when big-budget glamour is all the rage (even for intimate and independently made films), theatre can hold its head high knowing that Academy Award glory owes a debt to the stage, directly or indirectly, even if we have to remind people that this the case.”
How Darwin’s Book Changed The World
“If evolution (a word Darwin used sparingly in the book) occurs randomly, without the intervention of divine will and protection—natural selection, after all—then change itself can occur not just for the better, but for the worse. The world, so wonderfully capable of evolution, is just as capable of the opposite. It was a troubling idea; it was also, potentially, a liberating one.”
New York’s Famous Half-Price Ticket Booth Finally Has An Indoor Location
Last summer, the Theatre Development Fund – hoping to add more New Yorkers to its largely tourist customer base – tried a pop-up of its TKTS booth at the location where Lincoln Center sells its own discounted day-of tickets. That arrangement has now been made permanent.
Is Book Collecting Anti-Social?
“One of the concerns in the early 19th century regarding book collecting was the fear that by hoarding books, buyers were denying their fellow countrymen their patrimony. The image of the rich dilettante was one of the conspicuous consumer of books that would never be read – the old TBR pile – therefore keeping books out of an intellectual commons. The collector was often portrayed as having a kind of antisocial disease that kept him from contributing to the greater good by sharing his printed riches.”
Quit Making Fun Of Academic Jargon – In The Age Of Trump, We Need It More Than Ever (Says Former Academic)
Rebecca Schuman (who, evidently, is still bitter over the Alan Sokal/Social Text incident), writes, “But now that we’ve just watched a sociopath with a fifth-grade vocabulary take the oath of office, … I have no choice but to come to jargon’s defense. Don’t worry: I’ll do it using small words.” (The commenters, however, are not having it.)
Remember Lillian Hellman? She Was A Genuinely Important American Playwright, And It’s Time We Remembered That
For decades she’s been thought of less as a dramatist than as a steely literary figure (thanks to her own efforts) or an inveterate liar (thanks to Mary McCarthy’s). DC’s Arena Stage is spending this season trying to change that.
Rehearse, Ice Feet, Repeat: A Week In The Life Of A New York City Ballet Corps Dancer
“With apologies to James Brown, the hardest working people in show business may well be ballet dancers. And at New York City Ballet, none work harder than the dancers in its lowest rank, the corps de ballet.” Michael Cooper spent six days shadowing one corps member, and he found even that “exhausting.” (includes video)
How Mel Gibson Went From Pariah To Oscar Nominee
“How did liberal Hollywood decide to once again embrace Gibson a few short years after leaked audiotapes and a domestic-violence accusation painted a picture of a him as an unhinged, abusive racist?” It’s not just that his movies are still making money, Kevin Lincoln reports – a lot of people there genuinely like the guy and say those tapes give an inaccurate picture.
A Unisex Lead Role In Ballet? Yes, In Justin Peck’s New Piece
The choreographer has cast Ashly Isaacs as Robert Fairchild’s understudy in The Times Are Racing. “I don’t know if it’s a first time, but it certainly feels like it might be one,” says Peck. “[Isaacs] has stepped in a few times, and she looks great.”
Esa-Pekka Salonen Stays With London’s Philharmonia Orchestra Indefinitely
The composer/conductor has signed a rolling contract with the Philharmonia, where he will celebrate his tenth season as principal conductor and artistic advisor in 2017-28.
Korean Court Says Japan Can’t Have Its Stolen Buddha Back. Why? Because Pirates, That’s Why
“The 20-inch gilded bronze statue was taken from a Buddhist temple on Tsushima, a Japanese island halfway between the two countries, by South Koreans who also stole another statue from a Shinto shrine there.” But a historic temple on the Korean coast argued that the idol had been looted by Japanese pirates in the 14th century, and a court in Daejeon agreed.
Actor Mike Connors, Star Of ‘Mannix’, Dead At 91
“As the heroic good guy on the CBS action series, he was among the highest-paid TV actors in the early 1970s.”
Pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard Wins €250K Siemens Music Prize
Recent winners of the annual lifetime achievement award from the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts include Mariss Jansons, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Christoph Eschenbach, and Per Nørgård.
Highlights From Today’s AJBlogs 01.26.17
Cause for Cautious Optimism? NEA’s Statement on Continued Federal Funding Widespread reports that President Trump has decided to ax the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities may (or may not) be premature. The only hard information on this that I’ve seen is Alexander Bolton‘s … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-01-26
What our new audience wants Over and over I’ve said that our classical music world doesn’t feel like the world outside, the world most people live in. Including our hoped-for new audience! Not that I’m the only one saying this. … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2017-01-26
Picturing the President Insect brain, cold-blooded eye, bared teeth of a human predator.Twitter Fingers looks in the mirror.The total obscenity of the American Dream Comes to fruition in Donald John Trump …— Heathcote Williams, from a poem in … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2017-01-26
Getting from stage to screen In this week’s Wall Street Journal “Sightings” column, I write about Fences and Manchester by the Sea, and what those two films teach us about the differences between writing for the stage … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2017-01-26
Want To See Everything The NEA Funded Last Year?
“To illustrate just how beneficial the NEA’s work has been, artist and environmental engineer Tega Brain has programmed a website that scrolls through the types of grants the NEA awarded last year alone. Like end credits of a movie, each funded project moves slowly down your screen in bright colors to form a simple but clear message: we really need the NEA.”
Has Ballet Been Co-Opted To Play To Americans’ Body Image Issues?
“As a fashion influence, ballet has come and gone for decades: legwarmers cycle in and out of style, and American Apparel spent years trying to convince hipsters everywhere that leotards are comfortable. Ballerinas from New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theater are currently serving as models for luxe clothing brands like Wolford, Thakoon and Negative Underwear. But ballet’s current mainstream moment goes beyond fashion, crossing over into fitness culture and serving as a revealing reminder of the kind of female athleticism ― the kind of female bodies ― that American culture deems acceptable and admirable.”
A Growing Divide Between America’s Artists And Ordinary Americans?
“This country has some of the strongest art institutions, best-known artists, and the most (and arguably the best) arts professionals in the world, yet the divide between the art community and the American public is something people are constantly trying to figure out. Maybe part of the appeal of American art is the constant desire by artists, curators, and other arts professionals here to expand the audience. What these stats don’t tell us is how we’re going to do that.”