“If I’m worried about anything about the future of the arts in this country, it’s the future of the arts in London. Because I think London is becoming unsustainable as a city for artistic creativity, because it’s so expensive. The amount of young directors, writers, actors I know who are moving to Cardiff, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester… I think London could become like Manhattan: a very beautiful, empty place.”
We’ve Replaced One Myth Of An Artist For Another
“We’ve done away with the ridiculous Outsider Saint. But we’ve replaced him with a Servant whose primary task is to make us feel good about ourselves, either through the work itself, or through the way the work (or the artist’s personal life) allows us to grandstand.”
The Long Strange Story Of Chopin’s Heart
“Chopin’s heart remains an object of fascination and dispute. In 2008, a team of scholars asked for permission to subject it to a DNA analysis, in order to test a theory that Chopin died not of tuberculosis, as was long believed, but of cystic fibrosis.”
Yuja Wang (The Hemline Pianist, Remember?) Will Wear Long Dresses When She’s Ready, Thank You
“I am 26 years old so I dress for 26. I can dress in long skirts when I am 40. Anyway I have many different styles, I don’t only wear short. I don’t understand why I have to explain this,”
A History of Violins (Stolen Ones)
Every year or so a stolen or lost Strad or Guarneri makes headlines. Former FBI special agent Robert K. Wittman gives a brief history of purloined fiddles and talks about how law enforcement goes about locating them. (audio)
What’s To Be Learned From The Minnesota Orchestra Lockout?
“The real story of the lockout, and a lesson for other orchestras, is how the musicians in Minneapolis bonded and never broke, how they supported each other with cash and connections, with grocery cards, time shares, babysitting, and just time on the phone late at night, and all the while they kept playing, and became more united each week, even as babies were born and loved ones died, even as one member was diagnosed with breast cancer.”
The Key To Popular Books (At Least One Theory, Anyway)
“There are people with bullhorns and there are ecosystems of people with bullhorns. There are institutions and networks, formal and otherwise, in which we all live and dream, tell stories and finger our worry beads. The ecosystems in which books are developed, written, published, publicized, and enjoyed are no different.”
A Gizmo That Helps You Feel The E-book You’re Reading (Literally Speaking)
“Changes in the protagonist’s emotional or physical state [trigger] discrete feedback in the wearable, whether by changing the heartbeat rate, creating constriction through air pressure bags, or causing localized temperature fluctuations,” the designers explain.
Want To Innovate? Churn Is The Key
“Churn, not density, between places also spurs innovation. No sidewalk ballet required. Conversely: If no one left your super-dense city and no one moved in, innovation would suffer. Migration is economic development. Encouraging a local graduate to stay makes everyone poorer. Walkability and density are of little consequence.”
We’re Getting Obsessed With Data About Ourselves. Will All This Measuring Make It Harder To Just Live?
“All this data is meant to spur us to love ourselves better and run our lives more efficiently. And yet it’s hard not to hear, lurking in this promise of self-possession, the threat of numbers dispossessing us, of becoming a feverish addiction we can’t kick. Can even the most adept multi-tasker really live the life that they’re simultaneously tracking?”
The Night Vladimir Horowitz Captured America
“That evening changed a lot of lives, as households tuned in across the country to see and hear one of the most celebrated of all pianists (remember that there were only three networks in 1968—and no video stores or Netflix) and Horowitz never again played to an unsold seat.”
A “Sea Change” In The Way American Museums Approach Restitution Of Art
“In the past museums would not have acted without concrete evidence that would stand up in a court of law. Today museums are amenable to looking at persuasive circumstantial evidence.”
College Community Is Creeped Out By Sculpture Of Near-Naked Older Man
“Now we’re celebrating near naked statues of older men on campus? Sorry, don’t get it.”
How ‘The Simpsons’ Took on Hollywood and Got Its Audience Back
“An executive producer talks about the show’s sendup of the film industry’s illegal-downloading obsession, which earned rave reviews and big viewership.”
In Search of Lost Screenplay: When Pinter Adapted Proust
“If one were to create a stylistic spectrum of great writers in the twentieth century, Harold Pinter and Marcel Proust would likely wind up on opposite ends of it. … So, when choosing a writer to adapt In Search of Lost Time for the screen, one would not be inclined to think first of Pinter – and yet, that is what happened.”
MoMA Mulls Making Its Sculpture Garden Free to Public, And Not Everyone Is Thrilled
“The idea that you buy your giant pretzel and walk in off the street is, I’m sorry, just not the same,” says one visitor. Grouses an architect, “How is this different than just a shopping mall with sculptures? That’s where it’s headed.”
Should We All Just Dump ‘Swan Lake’ for a While?
The artistic directors of half a dozen major ballet companies weigh in on which classic works could use a bit of a rest – and which newer works are beginning to earn classic status of their own.
Why I Nailed My Scrotum to Red Square
“He has wrapped himself in barbed wire, sewn his lips shut and caused the world to wince with his now-infamous stunt in Moscow. As the Russian authorities circle around Petr Pavlensky, the protest artist explains why he’s not afraid.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.05.14
Museum Secrets: Instructive Audit In St. Louis
Source: Real Clear Arts | Published on 2014-02-06
That’s going to dampen fundraising
Source: The Artful Manager | Published on 2014-02-05
UX Design
Source: Engaging Matters | Published on 2014-02-05
See It Now: Video of Architect’s Presentation and Panel Discussion on MoMA’s Expansion
Source: CultureGrrl | Published on 2014-02-05
Nastiness Starts: DIA Plan Opponents Attack Director
Source: Real Clear Arts | Published on 2014-02-05
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Famous Japanese Composer Admits He Hired Another Composer To Write His Music
“A deaf composer known as Japan’s Beethoven has confessed to hiring someone to write his most famous works, to the embarrassment of broadcasters and the chagrin of a figure skater due to dance to his music at the Winter Olympics.”
A Novel Music Commissioning Scheme: Buy It By The Bar
It makes a peculiar kind of sense – you can buy a bar of soap or a bar of chocolate, so why not a bar of music?
London’s SouthBank Center Postpones Planned £120 Million Makeover
“We have been handed a massive challenge and we don’t yet see how we will make it work – it is not as if we haven’t already explored numerous funding options.”
Three Arrested In Last Week’s Theft Of Stradivarius Violin
“Police records show three armed robbery suspects were taken into custody on Monday. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the violin had been recovered, and Milwaukee police have not released any new details in the case.”
New York Philharmonic Puts Its Archives Online
Among the future highlights, the Philharmonic said, would be first editions of Berlioz’s “Benvenuto Cellini” and Wagner’s “Rienzi” overture, and a score of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 with evidence of a spat between two of the orchestra’s most illustrious music directors.
Desperately Needed: Better Ways To Measure Arts Impact
“I’d love to see an increase in the arts’ commitment to research. But we should stop using it to prove that our work is valuable and start using it to improve the work that we do.”