It wasn’t just another weird pastime: for a time, it figured to become a real Olympic sport. (includes video)
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.11.14
What’s So Good About Milwaukee?
Source: Real Clear Arts | Published on 2014-02-12
New art vs. old growth
Source: The Artful Manager | Published on 2014-02-11
Calder, Bookstores and the Death of Cool
Source: CultureCrash | Published on 2014-02-11
‘Dirt Always Wins’ (Part Five) — Pay Dirt
Source: Out There | Published on 2014-02-11
Passings: Alice Babs, Dick Berk
Source: RiffTides | Published on 2014-02-12
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Kiev Biennale Postponed Because Of Political Unrest
“Ukraine is experiencing an unprecedentedly difficult time, when the question of the state’s future is being decided. Taking this into account, it is impossible to carry out responsibly the preparation needed for a large-scale artistic project of international significance like the biennial.”
Netflix Is Experimenting With Artificial Intelligence In Choosing Videos
“Understanding how content providers and subscribers use certain words or phrases could improve search by making more about what users really want and less about what they actually typed.”
Remix: Actors Act Out Internet Comment Strings
“The reconstructions are just that — re-creations of particularly inflamed and idiotic YouTube comment exchanges — except they’re acted out by two well-dressed, middle-aged British men (or men with stellar British accents) who sit in shadowy domestic interiors populated with high-backed armchairs and baroque chandeliers.”
Dozens More Nazi-Looted Art Works Found In Cornelius Gurlitt’s House
The latest finds in Salzburg include paintings by Renoir, Monet and Picasso.
Stolen Strad Returns To The Stage
“The first standing ovation of the evening began before Frank Almond set foot on the stage. He stepped out without the violin to thank the audience, the Milwaukee Police Department, the FBI, any other law enforcement agencies that worked on the investigation as well those who had shown him an enormous outpouring of support over the past two weeks, saying very little about the robbery.”
Extra-Sensory: Art That Senses Your Mood
“For good or ill, we are about to find out what happens if you have media built around you, remixed in real time as your mood and engagement changes. But technology can go further than just monitoring and responding to attention levels. Biosensors such as heart rate monitors and EEGs to measure brainwaves make it possible to use emotive media such as film and music to actively affect an audience’s emotions.”
The Arts Get Tax Breaks (So They’re Weak) The NFL Gets Tax Breaks (So They’re Strong) WTF?
“The perennial struggle for survival of non-profit arts groups—which enjoy broad tax exemptions—is often seen as proof of their inherent weakness, their lack of cultural connection, their failure of appeal, when it is in fact a sign of their institutional strength.” But “let’s not forget all the little incentives, the tax breaks, the give aways, that help dominant organizations maintain their dominance. Power, in our society, is self-re-enforcing.”
How Americans Are Isolated From Literature From The Rest Of The World.
Americans “don’t really participate in the big dialogue of literature.” When the internationally celebrated author Herta Müller won the Nobel in 2009, Europeans poked fun at the bafflement of Americans with headlines like: “Amerikaanse Mewedia: ‘Müller, Who the f*** Is Müller?’”
Why I Killed Flappy Bird – Game’s Creator (and Destroyer) Speaks
In the first interview since he withdrew the app, Dong Nguyen says, “Flappy Bird was designed to play in a few minutes when you are relaxed. But it happened to become an addictive product. I think it has become a problem. To solve that problem, it’s best to take down Flappy Bird. It’s gone forever.”
First There Was Binge-Watching, Then Binge-Reading, And Now Binge-Publishing
“While the television industry has begun catering to impatient audiences by releasing entire series at once, the book business is upending its traditional timetable by encouraging a kind of binge reading, releasing new works by a single author at an accelerated pace.”