In making this argument, Philip Auerswald is using a very broad definition of the word code – one that includes recipes and procedural protocols as well as binary numbers and computer languages.
The Magician Who’s A Conceptual Artist
“[Derek] DelGaudio devises performances that combine sleight-of-hand with more theoretical preoccupations drawn from performance art, conceptual art and what’s known as relational aesthetics … [He] likes to nod to well-known conventions (pick a card, any card), only to slyly deconstruct them, in a manner that either heightens or thwarts their payoffs. His animating goal is not for observers to ask, ‘How did he do that?’ but, ‘Why?'”
Why Are There So Few Contemporary Novels About AIDS?
“Do today’s young writers, who live in a time when it is regarded more as a chronic condition than a death sentence, feel unqualified to approach the subject? Is it akin to the recent debates around cultural appropriation in writing, most recently stoked by Lionel Shriver: are writers uncomfortable with their right – or perceived lack thereof – to fictionalise experiences not their own?”
Religious Belief And Analytical Thinking Don’t Necessarily Cancel Each Other Out
“In 2012, several media headlines touted the narrative of what seemed like a groundbreaking study, which claimed that techniques used to make people think analytically can make them less religious. Half a decade on, however, the study’s findings are being brought into question with multiple papers that suggest its underlying methods were flawed – and, what’s more, the authors agree.”
Misty Copeland Injured And Out Of Action (But Another Star Makes A Surprise Appearance)
Copeland, suffering from a stress reaction in one leg, withdrew from the premiere run of Alexei Ratmansky’s Whipped Cream in Southern California. But to keep the balance of star power intact, ABT snuck in the long-recovering David Hallberg, recently returned to the company.
What To Do About The Subterranean Knowledge Of Harassment And Exploitation In The Literary World?
An essay in “Tin House” from a few weeks ago opened the floodgates. But still, no names are out there. For instance: “A former visiting professor was still the stuff of legend for, in the words of one woman, ‘trying to fuck everyone.’ Years later, that man had a regular NPR slot and every time I heard his voice I thought, ‘The guy who tried to fuck everyone is telling America what books to read.'”
Betty Boop Was Black And White: Here Are The Two Jazz Singers On Whom The Cartoon Sex Symbol Was Modeled
Writer Gabrielle Bellot introduces us to Helen Kane, “Baby” Esther Jones, and the court case over Betty Boop that revealed her origins.
George Will: Hell, Ya, Let’s End The NEA (What Is “Art” Anyway?)
Let’s pretend, counterfactually, that the NEA no longer funds the sort of rubbish that once immersed it in the culture wars, e.g., “Piss Christ” (a photograph depicting a crucifix immersed in a jar of the artist’s urine) and “Genital Wallpaper” (don’t ask). What, however, is art? We subsidize soybean production, but at least we can say what soybeans are. Are NEA enthusiasts serene about government stipulating, as it must, art’s public purposes that justify public funding? Or do they insist that public funds should be expended for no defined public purpose?
This New York City Ballet Principal Is Helping Put More Cracks In Ballet’s Glass Ceiling
Ashley Bouder is spearheading a project to create programs choreographed by women to music by woman composers. She explains to Chloe Angyal (who made her cry) why this is so important.
A Great Collection Of Impressionist Art Takes Its Place In Kansas City
The Bloch Collection – amassed by one of the co-founders of H&R Block and containing works by Van Gogh, Monet, Gauguin, Cezanne, Seurat, and Pissarro – is now on view in specially renovated galleries at the Nelson-Atkins Museum.
Not Funding The Arts Puts A Drag On The Economy
“The NEA estimates that, on average, its grantees raise $9 for every $1 of federal funding they are awarded. The power of that money, cumulatively, is extraordinary; arts organizations revive the fortunes of inner cities and small rural towns; arts programming improves academic outcomes for children; art therapy treats veterans suffering from PTSD. And those programs are the kinds that NEA grants fund, in addition to the things you might think of when you hear of the arts.”
Seattle Opera Downsizes After Persistent And Substantial Deficits
“For the past decade, Seattle Opera has spent $2 million to $3 million more a year than it earns, and its financial reserves are drying up. In an attempt to stabilize, the company will cut six full-time jobs and close its Renton scene shop.”
Here’s How The Internet Is Now Saving Culture…
“In the last few years, and with greater intensity in the last 12 months, people started paying for online content. They are doing so at an accelerating pace, and on a dependable, recurring schedule, often through subscriptions. And they’re paying for everything. You’ve already heard about the rise of subscription-based media platforms — things like Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Spotify and Apple Music. But people are also paying for smaller-audience and less-mainstream-friendly content. They are subscribing to podcasters, comedians, zany YouTube stars, novelists and comic book artists. They are even paying for news.”
Why People Can Become Enthralled By An Arrogant, Obnoxious, Unpredictable Person
Anthropologist Joel Robbins shares a real-life parable from a village in Papua New Guinea.
How America’s University Museums Are Drawing In Students
“Across the country, museums associated with universities are organizing social events: The Princeton University Art Museum in New Jersey holds evenings when graduate students meet curators, for example. Beyond that, museums directors are seeking ways students can play a role in curating and experiencing artworks.”
The Robot-Librarian Apocalypse Is Coming To The Emirates
“Later this year, Dubai-based education technology firm ATLAB will release into classrooms across the United Arab Emirates a swarm of cutesy robots with cartoon eyelashes, penguin-arms, and robustly apportioned 3D cameras and infrared sensors … The platform, called TeachAssist, will function as a sort of in-class librarian, helping students locate and check out books, responding to questions, and pulling research materials from the cloud.” (Anyone else think it reminds them of the Jetsons’ robot maid, Rosie?)
Trump’s Budget Cuts Will Badly Damage Public Broadcasting As A Whole, But Not So Much NPR And PBS
“In other words, defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting would mean hurting the local TV and radio stations that a whole lot of Republican voters watch and listen to.”
NY State Lawmakers Introduce ‘Right To Be Forgotten’ Bill
The proposed legislation is modeled on the European Union’s “right to be forgotten” rules mandating removal of certain material from search engines upon request from the subject of that material. Eugene Volokh argues that, regardless of the legal principles involved in Europe, this law would be unconstitutional in the U.S.
How The New York Philharmonic Got Deborah Borda Back
The New Yorker Has A New Poetry Editor
“Paul Muldoon, who for a decade has served as the poetry editor of The New Yorker, will step down, the magazine announced on Wednesday. His successor will be Kevin Young, who moved to New York from Atlanta last year to become the director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.”
Acting For Animals: A Theatre Piece Performed For Sheep, Pigs, And Goats
“The animals won’t need a ticket, but there will be human spectators who do. The cast will definitely be performing for the animals, and the audience are there to watch that encounter.” Lyn Gardner reports.
Paris’s New Concert Hall Has Been Packing ‘Em In, With Well Over 90% Of Tickets Sold
Since it opened in January 2015, the Philharmonie de Paris has welcomed more than 1,100,000 visitors each year. Ticket sales have been 97% of capacity in its main hall, and 03% of capacity overall. (in French; Google Translate version here)
Fiora Corradetti Contino, Pioneering Female Opera Conductor, Dead At 91
Born on Long Island to a father who had been a leading baritone at La Scala, Dr. Contino founded her first opera company at age 27 and spent five decades as a verismo specialist, conducing and teaching at universities and regional companies across the U.S – including two decades as artistic director of Opera Illinois in Peoria.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 03.15.17
Midweek Extra: Howard McGhee With A Classic Ballad
McGhee, one of the essential bop trumpeters, plays “Lover Man,” accompanied by Richard Davis, bass; Ted Dunbar, guitar; and Roy Haynes, drums; at Jack Kleinsinger’s “Highlights In Jazz” tribute to Charlie Parker … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-03-15
Deborah Borda Will Leave LA Philharmonic To Head NY Philharmonic
“On the surface, this is a startling coup for New York. In her 17 years as head of the L.A. Phil, Borda has made it the most successful and glamorous orchestra in America and the most progressive major symphony in the world, premiering an unprecedented amount of new music, staging operas and rethinking every aspect of the symphony orchestra for the 21st century.”