Why would anyone buy a piece of art just to burn it? Understanding the answer requires us to delve into the tricky world of blockchain or “NFT” art. It blends the niche subculture of cryptocurrencies with long running philosophical questions about the nature of art. No wonder people have difficulty explaining it all. – The Conversation
Tony Hendra, Comic Writer/Editor/Actor, Dead At 79
“[He] began writing and performing comedy while a student at Cambridge University, traveling in the same circles as future members of the Monty Python troupe. In 1964 he and his performing partner, Nick Ullett, took their stage act to the United States, and from there he fashioned a steady if peripatetic career doing stand-up comedy, writing and editing for various publications” — he spent periods in the top jobs at National Lampoon and Spy magazine — “acting [most notably in This Is Spinal Tap] and publishing books.” – The New York Times
The Hidden Message In Plain View On Munch’s “The Scream”
The inscription has always been visible to the naked eye, but the infrared images helped to more clearly distinguish the writing from its background. Comparing it with the artist’s handwriting then clearly proved Munch’s authorship. – Scientific American
Research: The Intricacies Of Detecting Bullshit
Recently, researchers have begun to treat bullshitting as having two separate dimensions. “Persuasive bullshitting” is motivated by a desire to impress or persuade. “Evasive bullshitting” is different — as a “strategic circumnavigation of the truth”, it’s the sort that a politician might engage in when trying to cover up a mistake, for example. By definition, the creation of either type of bullshit is intentional, though of course the spreading of bullshit may not be. – Research Digest
New Bill In U.S. Congress Would Provide $5 Billion or Libraries
“The Build America’s Libraries Act was introduced by in the House of Representatives by Reps. Andy Levin (D-MI-9) and Don Young (R-AK-at large) along with 52 cosponsors. The bill seeks to provide funds to address decades of needed repairs, updates, as well as the construction of modern library facilities in underserved and disadvantaged communities. The bill’s Senate counterpart (S. 127) was introduced on January 29. – Publishers Weekly
How Children Have Changed After A Year Lived On Screens
Since U.S. schools began closing down roughly a year ago, the country’s children have been adapting, learning and getting creative with how they use technology. The realities of their day-to-day lives vary wildly, as have their relationships with screens. – Washington Post
Can Clubhouse Be The New Facilitator For Artworld Conversation?
“I thought it was about time I spent a day actually paying attention. What is the art world talking about on Clubhouse? Does the app replicate the usual exclusionary hierarchies or replace them? Will I get to hang out with artists I haven’t seen since the pandemic started?” – The Art Newspaper
Cue the Regulators! Met’s Deaccession Regression Attracts the Critical Eye of NYS Attorney General’s Office
The Metropolitan Museum’s adoption of the Association of Art Museum Directors’ relaxed deaccession standards, driven by the financial challenges of the pandemic, has caught the attention of at least one official in the New York Attorney General’s Office. – Lee Rosenbaum
Ballerina Dances On Frozen Bay To Raise Awareness Of Endangered Swans
This is Ilmira Bagrautinova’s way of objecting against the construction of a port in Batareinaya Bay, a popular beach about 100 km west of St Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city. – BBC
Will European Theatre Bounce Back?
Basically, the pandemic has changed the performing arts audience. “Fans have had access to virtual theater from all over the world. Some venues have expanded their audiences far beyond what’s possible in their physical spaces. Around 160,000 viewers watched a streamed performance of Carmen last year by the Berlin State Opera, whose auditorium seats 1,300. The shift has raised questions about whether audiences will return to theaters in the same numbers as before, and whether a blend of online and in-person viewing will become the new norm.” – The New York Times
Was WandaVision A New Hybrid TV Model?
Or was the entire series – spoilers abound throughout this article, by the way – yet another Marvel tease? “It was intentionally meta and experimental, an ‘in-between’ work that, with its weekly rollout, operated as neither traditional TV nor a bingeable streaming series.” – The Atlantic
How Do Independent Book Presses Make It?
Ask Melville House. Or perhaps don’t: “We did what you would tell your children to never do. Not just having a business, but funding it the way we did: with our own money, with credit cards, we emptied out our bank accounts. I had a very small retirement fund from my life as a college professor and I emptied that into the company and just really put everything we had into it. You’re never supposed to play with your own money; that was an amazing risk, and if our first two books hadn’t been successful we wouldn’t be talking to you.”- LitHub
French Culture Workers Occupy Odeon Theatre In Paris
The occupation began Thursday; on Saturday, Culture Minister Roselyne Bachot went to visit the out-of-work culture and tourism workers, who want to know when theatre can start up again. “Among their demands is another year of special government aid for seasonal theater workers, who often struggle to make ends meet but have been particularly crippled since the virus hit. French theaters, cinemas, museums and tourist sites have been closed for much of the past year.” – Associated Press
American Academy Of Arts And Letters, Static For More Than A Century, Makes An Attempt To Diversify Itself
Here’s the deal: “Founded in 1898, the institution had capped membership at 250 since 1908; members are elected for life and pay no dues.” Before this year, the only way to add a member was for another member to die – and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the Academy was made up of mostly white men. Poet Joy Harjo, one of the new, expanded membership: ““Every culture has contributed to the restoration, remaking and revisioning of this country. … Together we are a rich, dynamic story field of every shade, tone and rhythm.” – The New York Times
Margaret Atwood Wrote The Words For A New Song Cycle About Murdered Women
The song cycle, with music by Jake Heggie and sung by baritone Joshua Hopkins, was inspired by Hopkins’ sister, who was murdered by her ex-partner on the same day that he murdered two of his other exes. When she got the request, Atwood wasn’t sure she could fulfill it. But “she ended up writing the sequence in one session. ‘I made the ‘sisters’ plural because they are indeed – unhappily – very plural. Sisters, daughters, mothers. So many,’ she said.” – The Guardian (UK)
In Japan, ‘Disaster Art’ Is Saving People’s Lives
While dealing with emotional turmoil after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, artist Kyohei Sakaguchi made a decision to merge his art and his life. First he published his phone number as a suicide hotline, and became more and more adept at helping others. “He wrote practical self-help books and answered phone calls, he painted abstract art and wrote experimental fiction. “I think art is a technique for life. … I do what I do in order to keep living.” – The New York Times
Long Before This Year’s Announcement, Read Across America Was Turning Away From Dr. Seuss Books
Conservatives heard that Loudon County had banished Dr. Seuss and started a backlash about “cancel culture.” But that wasn’t reality. “In fact, the Virginia county hadn’t banned his books but merely released guidance — back in 2019 — suggesting a pivot toward more diverse reading. Read Across America has been issuing the same guidance since 2018. And over the past several years, educators across the country have increasingly concluded that other books might better promote literacy and inclusiveness at the same time.” – Los Angeles Times
Lockdown Repainting In The Louvre Leads To A Lawsuit
Cy Twombly designed an Aegean sea-colored ceiling mural in the Salle des Bronzes at the Paris museum, which is undergoing various renovations while closed to the public – renovations including repainting the Salle des Bronzes’ walls. “A debate about the suitability of the new wall color — precisely ‘Marron Côte d’Azur,’ a reddish and black shade — has been circulating in the French press in recent weeks. On Friday, Twombly Foundation lawyers filed a lawsuit in a Paris court, demanding to reverse the Louvre’s renovation — part of a makeover project in what were once royal chambers — and restore the Salle des Bronzes’s neutral walls.” – The New York Times
Berlin Film Fest Awards Its First Gender-Neutral Acting Award
Women, men, and nonbinary people all compete for the same award starting this year at the Berlin Film Festival – and this year’s award went to a woman. “While some will argue gender-neutral categories are socially progressive, they will also have unintended consequences. It could, interestingly, lead to a battle between two different factions of equality campaigners.” – BBC
Naomi Rosenblum, Historian Of Photography Who Forced Others To See It As Art, 96
When she started her major scholarship, “histories of photography traditionally focused on England, France and the United States. But Dr. Rosenblum’s … A World History of Photography (1984), provided a true global perspective. The book was translated into several languages and remains a standard text in the field. Her other major work, A History of Women Photographers (1994), traced their accomplishments from the mid-1800s through the late 20th century.” – The New York Times
Egon Schiele Gave A Watercolor To His Dentist As Payment, And Then It Was Looted By Nazis
Now the painting, which was in Cologne’s Museum Ludwig, is returning to the dentist’s heirs. – Hyperallergic
What It’s Like Singing ‘Strange Fruit’ In 2021
Andra Day, who plays Billie Holiday in the new movie The United States Vs. Billie Holiday, explains how she felt when she heard it as a child. “It’s in my DNA. It’s in our DNA … I think as a nation. And as a people, as Black people. I remember being very quieted by the song, almost sort of prostrated. All I knew was it made me sad. … There was such pain there and it stunned me as a child. It really just struck me.” – NPR
The Toll This Year Took On The People Responsible For Explaining The Toll This Year Was Taking
It’s not great. “COVID has led to a sort of existential crisis for me working in journalism. When some of your readers claim that any facts you present that are inconvenient to their personal narrative are proof that you’re embedded in a conspiracy, you can only take so much of that before you start to question whether or not it’s worth it. The predominant emotion here is feeling powerless. … When I am constantly seeing these sorts of messages and realizing that represents a broader portion of not just our readership, the country, it’s really easy to turn to apathy. We’re just kind of stuck here. And that’s a pretty sad place to be.” – Slate
Wait, Disney Wants Us To Pay *How Much* For The New Princess Movie?
The economics of it are a bit weird. Mulan was $29.99 for a while, even with a Disney Plus subscription. Then Soul was free, starting on Christmas Day. Now Raya and the Dragon is … also $30? Sure, yes. Why? Well, “entertainment conglomerates are still very much in experimentation mode when it comes to settling the streaming vs. theatrical debate, particularly when it comes to kids’ films. It also underlines just how many kinks still have not been worked out (i.e., with theater chains).”- Fast Company
So, Let’s Talk About The Six Hundred Thousand Dollar Meme Art
How to explain this “NFT” thing we’re all hearing about in the news? OK, so … if you buy a unique ID number associated with a certain piece of art, then no one else – in theory – can buy that exact art again. “If I sell Picasso.jpeg to James, I can’t then turn around and sell the same Picasso.jpeg (or an exact digital replica of it) to Robin – the blockchain knows that I already transferred the art (and its NFT) to James, so I can’t sell it to Robin, and will mark the transaction as invalid.” Totally clear. – The Guardian (UK)