Felines and art crimes do not mix, people.
Where Physics Crossed Into Metaphysics (Was Einstein Wrong?)
Astrophysicist Adam Frank looks at a famous debate between Albert Einstein and philosopher Henri Bergson in which Einstein declared, “The time of the philosophers does not exist.”
How The DMCA Copyright Law Is Making It Illegal For Documentary Filmmakers To Do Their Work
“Filmmakers and authors have long held the right to make fair use of copyrighted material, transforming it for uses like criticism and commentary, making arguments, and providing historical context. But the DMCA made it illegal—and, in some cases, a crime—to access this content by breaking encryption.”
Winter Depression And Mental Sluggishness May Not Be Real Things: Researchers
“A pair of new studies” – one of them quite large – “challenge many of the popular assumptions about the psychological effects of wintertime, suggesting that we should look at the season in a new, brighter light.”
An Opera Revolution: The Numbers Are In And Opera Has Changed
“It’s startling to see how quickly the opera world has changed, which composers (according to Operabase) are most popular and which no longer are. Of the 100 in this new concise book, more than 50% have flourished since 1900 and 18 of them – almost 20% – are living.”
Pee-Wee Herman Makes A Comeback – And So Does Paul Reubens
Both the character actor and his most famous character vanished for a while after a notorious 1991 arrest. But Reubens never lost all his fans – among them Judd Apatow, who helped get a new Pee-Wee Herman movie made. And Reubens has been getting plenty of gigs under-the-radar work as well; when not playing Pee-Wee, he’s unrecognizable.
Eiko’s First Dance Project Without Koma Is Transforming Her Career
“Two years ago, after Koma injured his ankle, Eiko, the other half of the husband-and-wife dance duo – treasured for their stark, startlingly slow excavations of stillness and shape while time gradually passes – struck out on her own. The pair are likely to perform together in the future, but for now, Eiko is consumed with a solo project that has transformed her career.”
The Man Who Wrote The Longest-Running (And Still On) Play In New York Has Died
“Attuned to his critics, Mr. Manzi rewrote the play, energetically and often, to make it more accessible. ‘He sometimes would give me a rewrite as I was trying to get onstage, and I would have to slap him,’ Ms. Russell said warmly. ‘I’ve learned how to learn lines quickly.'”
Esa-Pekka Salonen, Finding A Balance And Living In the Present
“As Salonen’s music becomes increasingly in demand, he keeps finding surprises. For instance, he had had long dreamed of being in the position where different conductors want to premiere his pieces. ‘Mostly that experience has been very good,’ he says. ‘But there is now a new category in my planning, which is hanging around doing nothing.'”
The R-Rated Deadpool Is So Wildly Successful Because It Knows Exactly What Its Fans Want
“The sizzle reel, the cheeky imagery, the online bandwagon, it all falls in line with the contemporary drift towards fan-inspired cinema, where movie studios feel safest spending money on films with their audience already guaranteed. But Deadpool doesn’t just offer up a hero it thinks the fanbase will love, it offers up an entire world.”
The Woman Who Cracked Radio Success By Listening To Her Audience
“Those who don’t know the name almost always recognize the voice: a folksy, honeyed, sometimes firm, usually schmaltzy flow that can comfort without condescension and make you want to heed even the harshest advice. That voice is the essence of the show, and during my time in the studio, caller after caller told her how its tone alone has provided comfort at some of their lowest points.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs For 02.14.16
Editors’ Choice: Some ArtsJournal Stories You Shouldn’t Miss From The Past Week
1. This week in What-Does-The-Audience-Want?Cheaper tickets, for sure. Or at least the opportunity to pay what they want. One theatre converted its season to pay-as-you-want and saw a 50% increase in audience. But perhaps it’s… … read more
AJBlog: DiacriticalPublished 2016-02-14
Coming into land
Shouldn’t ballet have previews? Wouldn’t it help dancers and choreographers alike? As with most bad things, the money says no. Ballets have short runs, so you slap ’em on stage and get reviews and… … read more
AJBlog: Performance MonkeyPublished 2016-02-14
From Palestine via Belgium
Badke, a Belgian-Palestinian dance production, comes to New York Live Arts. Badke. Maalii Maali (L) and Samer Samahnah; visible at back: Mohammed Samahnah (L) and Ameer Sabra. Photo: Yi-Chun Wu There is no light in… … read more
AJBlog: DancebeatPublished 2016-02-14
The Old Catchup Game (Part II): Geller, Magris, Washington, Diehl, Wheeler
Not to make too big a deal of it; I know I’ve mentioned it once or twice before. But it’s impossible to keep up with the torrential flow of jazz releases. All we can do… … read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2016-02-14
Is there a Canadian cultural policy crisis?
At the Globe and Mail, Kate Taylor writes: The policy tools that have protected and nurtured Canada’s cultural industries since the 1970s are unknown to transnational distributors of foreign content – that would be… … read more
AJBlog: For What it’s WorthPublished 2016-02-13
Celebrating Bernard Herrmann
A towering figure in twentieth century American music,Bernard Herrmann (1911-1975) has long been pigeon-holed as a “Hollywood composer.” Though he is widely acknowledged the supreme American composer for film (Citizen… … read more
AJBlog: Unanswered QuestionPublished 2016-02-12
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The Woman Who Runs PR For Hollywood During Oscar Bait Season
“Ms. Siegal, 68, has employed sharp elbows and inexhaustible energy reservoirs to claim a unique social position in New York and the Hamptons: as a host for hire for clubby, insider-only film screenings and dinners for the influential, she stands at the crossroads of Hollywood power and New York society (or what’s left of it), functioning as a spin doctor, salonista, celebrity confidante and, occasionally, bouncer.”
‘The Revenant’ Sweeps The BAFTAs As We Edge Toward The Oscars
This is the list of winners, but don’t miss the rather funny Guardian liveblog as well, linked here.
The English National Opera Is Still In Major Trouble
“It requires the wisdom of Solomon to work out how cutting one of the finest opera choruses, and possibly an orchestra too, can conceivably be the only honourable deed.”
Joel Grey Comes Of Age, And Comes Out, At 83
“Despite his successes on stage and screen – that rare Tony and Oscar for the same role, the M.C. in Cabaret – Mr. Grey has not always felt that luck was on his side. As his book reveals, the journey from child actor to teenage nightclub phenomenon (who knew?) to established Broadway name contained its share of bumps, and his personal life was no less rife with conflict and complication.”