Andrew O’Hehir: “The philosopher gave himself credit for being the first modern thinker to tackle ‘the problem of science itself,’ for presenting ‘science for the first time as problematic and questionable.’ Dude! If the perverse German genius could only have known how far ‘the problem of science’ would extend in our age, or to what ends his critique of Socratic reason would be twisted.”
“The Work That Changed Ballet For Ever”: William Forsythe’s “In The Middle, Somewhat Elevated”
Sarah Crompton: “He is consequently the only choreographer who has ever been mentioned in the same sentence as the philosopher Michel Foucault, applying a similar critical intelligence to the nature of dance and its language.”
Everything Around Us Is Recorded Now. So What’s The Role Of The Writer?
“The rise of corporate capitalism, and the astonishing, almost exponential rate of its recent acceleration, I would argue, present a huge challenge to the writer, forcing him or her to rethink their whole role and function, to remap their entire universe.”
Barbarians At The Gate: What Was Lost At Nimrud
“Before ISIS’s razing of Nimrud, the Met had created a stunning 3-D tour of the northwest palace, to show Ashurnasirpal’s stronghold in all its glory.”
Can You Tell If What You’re Reading Was Written By A Human?
“These days, a shocking amount of what we’re reading is created not by humans, but by computer algorithms. We probably should have suspected that the information assaulting us 24/7 couldn’t all have been created by people bent over their laptops.”
A Victory For Photographers: Taking Pictures Is Not A Crime
“Los Angeles has agreed to pay a $50,000 settlement to three photographers after they were detained by LA County Sheriffs while taking pictures in public places. As part of the settlement, the city will also teach its sheriff deputies that photography is not a crime.”
Yet Another Ancient Iraqi Site (Probably) Destroyed By ISIS
“‘We are in despair with the government,’ Ali al-Nashmi, a professor of history at Mustansiriya University in Baghdad, said in a telephone interview. He was nearly in tears after hearing the reports about Hatra, which he said had been rare in Iraq for its classical ruins. ‘We are losing the country.'”
How Black Comics Take On Unmentionable Subjects (Like ‘Drunk Mandela’) In South Africa
“The topics of the day were listed on a white board: ‘Je Suis Charlie’; the governing African National Congress party’s convention in Cape Town; results of the nationwide matric exams, South Africa’s equivalent to the SAT. But the crew remained stuck on the Paris killings, in an animated back and forth about free speech.”
The Mysterious World Of Art Attribution, And The Painting That Exploded In Value After It Became A Constable
“The anonymous buyer, an art dealer, had a hunch. Real Constables were often painted over during the 19th century, when their rough, seemingly unfinished quality put off prospective purchasers. So the dealer had it cleaned and took it to a leading Constable expert, Anne Lyles, a former curator at Tate Britain.”
Who’s Counting The Real TV Audience?
Not advertisers – and TV executives are fed up with that. They’re “pushing advertisers to pay for all viewers as measured by Nielsen up to a full week after the original airdate. That might sound like inside baseball. But tens of millions of dollars are at stake.”
Netflix Wants Simultaneous Release Of Movies Online And In The Theatre, But Movie Chains Are Freaked Out
“This week, Netflix announced that it paid nearly $12 million for the worldwide distribution rights for [Beasts of No Nation]. The movie already has a lot of Oscar buzz, but to qualify for an Academy Award nomination, it has to be shown in theaters before or on the same day it plays on TV, online or other platforms.” But the big chains have already said no.
Los Angeles Has A Newish Mural Ordinance, And Its Effects Are Slowly Starting To Show
“With the restoration of the Olympic artworks nearly completed — and enjoying newfound freedoms brought on by the city’s passing of a mural ordinance in 2013 that lifted a decade-long ban on public murals —- the mural conservancy is now preparing to embark on new projects.”
Can Smuggled Copies Of ‘Friends’ Help North Koreans Free Themselves?
“Kang likens the USB sticks to the red pill from The Matrix: a mind-altering treatment that has the power to shatter a world of illusions.”
Paul Taylor Is 84, And He’s Got Some New Ideas About Dance
“Paul Taylor’s American Modern Dance, an umbrella name for his organization — when the troupe tours it will remain the Paul Taylor Dance Company — opens on Tuesday at the David H. Koch Theater. Its mission is ambitious: to become a home for American modern dance.”
Translating ‘The Hobbit’ Into Hawai’ian
“The closest matches in Hawaiian mythology were forest-dwelling creatures called the mū, but they are unsophisticated creatures who make screechy noises in the mountains. NeSmith decided to adapt the mū, which are like the Eldar in the sense that they’re shy and sing in a haunting way, and added ‘wao,’ or ‘wilderness.’ Now elves are mūwao.”
‘The Letter That Encapsulates The Millennial Age’
“BuzzFeed is the hottest entertainment/news/advertising/whatever property on earth right now. Everyone is talking about it and everyone (even the celebrities) reads it. Even the fact that you might answer this is a testament to how popular they are. Would you answer this if I was having an existential breakdown over Mother Jones or the Washington Post? How can you feel good about yourself if you don’t work for such a massive, popular, successful company?”
Albert Maysles, 88, Dean Of Documentary Filmmakers
Often working with his late brother David, Maysles was known for such popular and influential nonfiction films as Gimme Shelter, Grey Gardens, Salesman, When We Were Kings, studies of Vladimir Horowitz and Mstislav Rostropovich (the latter on his return to Russia), and five films about the work of artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude.