“A group of young people in Krasnodar, southern Russia, burned several books written by American author Henry Miller and filmed the whole ‘ritual’ on camera. The group slammed Miller for promoting an ‘amoral’ western way of life.” (includes video)
Wikipedia – It’s All About The Tiny Edits
“Researchers found that even though Wikipedia editors don’t tend to change much—they typically add delete, or alter about half-a-sentence at a time—even small edits to an article prompt other people to jump in and make edits of their own. And those edits encourage even more edits. And so on.”
The Controversial Chinese Gay Erotic Novel You Can Finally Read In English
“In 1998, an anonymous writer began publishing installments of a gay erotic novel online. Perhaps the first gay novel ever published in China, it quickly became a touchstone for queer men in the country. This week, Beijing Comrades is finally coming out in the US.”
These Kids Today Don’t Know How To Practice, Says Pianist
“The great Singaporean pianist [Melvyn Tan] first made a name for himself as an expert in early music, recording music on the fortepiano. We spoke to him about how taking up the harpsichord by accident, learning how to practise and why he’d really like to meet Schubert.”
Backlash Against Casting Zoe Saldana As Nina Simone Comes Out Of Slave-Era Mentality, Says Founder Of BET
“That’s where some of this comes from, when you hear people saying that a light-skinned woman can’t play a dark-skinned woman when they’re both clearly of African descent. To say that if I’m gonna cast a movie, I’ve gotta hold a brown paper bag up to the actresses and say, ‘Oh sorry, you can’t play her.’ Who’s to decide when you’re black enough?”
Italy’s Banksy Paints Over 20 Years’ Worth Of His Work To Protest Exhibition
“On Saturday night, the renowned and mysterious Italian street artist Blu went on an art-destroying spree through the streets of Bologna. The work he erased was his own – with the help of activist groups XM24 and Crash, Blu covered 20 years’ worth of massive, colorful murals with gray paint.”
The Website Where People Post Their Darkest Secrets Anonymously Gives Birth To A Play
“The only reason I’m with him is to see if you care enough to fight for me …”
“At first, PostSecret was an art project. Then it was a blog site. Now, the ‘community art project’ is an official website, a TED talk, multiple books, museum installations, and, thousands of secrets later, a dramatic event on tour.”
The Dancer Who Fought Lyme Disease To Dance Again
“There was a tingling sensation moving up my arm and into the neck and ear that affected my balance. But I still thought it could be some kind of whiplash or concussion-related thing.”
How Diversity Makes Our Music Better
“The diversity of styles and traditions across the world’s music offers rich possibilities. Tremendous precedent can be found all over music history.”
Problematic: When Critics Impose Their Own Cultural Biases On Theatre
“There is no singular Latina/o experience, nor is there a litmus test that identifies a person as Latina/o. Our cultural community has a vast spectrum of experiences which span from recent immigrants to those who have been in the US for multiple generations.”
Poet Released From Prison After Royal Pardon
“A Qatari poet jailed for 15 years for reciting verses that praised the 2011 uprising in Tunisia and criticised his own country’s ruling family has been freed after receiving a royal pardon.” Muhammad Ibn al-Dheeb al-Ajami’s release “came days before Qatar hosts two international press freedom conferences.”
How This Guy Stole A Rare Strad Violin Is Simple. But WHY He Stole It (And Got Away With It Is Another Question Altogether)
“The crime defies logic. The young violinist, with so much ahead of him, brazenly acts while the master mingles in the next room. He leaves town under a cloud of suspicion. And even as he squanders his career, he refuses to reveal his secret. This delicate, hand-crafted masterpiece of wood and gut strings is his to possess, to play, to imprison.”
C’Mon People, Toughen Up! Art Is SUPPOSED To Challenge You
“Never apologise for art. Art entertains and delights. It also shocks us into awareness. It shows us aspects of life we may prefer to turn away from. If you are seriously sensitive, enquire ahead.”
Should We Be Afraid Of Intelligent Computers?
Yes, the defeat of a world-champion Go player by Google’s DeepMind computer was impressive, as was Watson’s triumph over Ken Jennings at Jeopardy!. Yet we’re still far from anything like HAL.
New York City Allocates $2 Million To Promote Diversity Backstage
“Guidelines are being sent out to more than 1,000 arts groups and individuals in the five boroughs of New York, seeking applicants for the funds … Specifically, the grants are being offered to provide training for production and technical personnel.”
How They Found The Music Circuit In Our Brains
“[Researchers] played a total of 165 commonly heard natural sounds to ten subjects willing to be rolled into an fMRI machine to listen to the piped-in sounds. The sounds included a man speaking, a songbird, a car horn, a flushing toilet, and a dog barking. None sparked the same population of neurons as music.” (includes video)
Top Posts From AJBlogs 03.16.16
Failure is an Option?
When conducting recent audience research with colleagues last year, we were stricken to hear from local teens that failure isn’t an option for them. With such a concentrated focus on … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-03-16
Who is Allowed to Fail?
A few weeks ago I helped one of our community chefs fill out a $5,000 loan application to kickstart his own business. I emphasized to him that his proposal would … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-03-16
Diversity and Genuine Engagement
In February Malesha Taylor posted “Is Your Theatre Only ‘Diverse and Inclusive’ Twice a Year?“, a meditation on diversity initiatives, outreach, and inclusiveness, on HowlRound. There were so many spot on observations it’s hard to … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2016-03-15
Critical Takeaways From The Taft’s Daubigny Show
“The puzzle I had was, how did an artist who grew up studying Rembrandt and observing the landscapes of Corot and Rousseau end up painting like an Impressionist?” That is Lynne Ambrosini, the director of collections … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2016-03-16
When Lloyd Met Shoemake
Yesterday’s post about Charles Lloyd’s birthday brought this communiqué from vibraharpist and pianist Charlie Shoemake. Thought you and your readers might get a chuckle out of this 1957 photo of Charles Lloyd and Charlie Shoemake … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-03-16
At 79, Charles Lloyd Is At A New Peak
This is a busy week for birthdays. We can’t observe them all, but yesterday Quincy Jones’s 83rd was a must, and today is saxophonist and flutist Charles Lloyd’s 78th. More or less coincidentally with his … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-03-15
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Hollywood Gives Cold Shoulder To Plan To Release Movies Simultaneously In Theatres And For Home
“More sophisticated window modeling may be needed for the growing success of a modern movie industry. Those models should be developed by distributors and exhibitors in company-to-company discussions, not by a third party.”
Spanish Town Loved The Tourists Attracted By Botched Fresco Restoration. How Do We Keep Them Coming?
“Borja Mayor Eduardo Arilla said 160,000 people had come to see the fresco since the story of Cecilia Gimenez’s restoration of a Christ fresco in a town sanctuary went viral in 2012. He said with the new center, the town hoped to keep attracting up to 30,000 visitors annually.”
Police Arrest 13 In Theft Of Tintoretto, Rubens and Mantegna Paintings From Verona Museum
“Newly released video shows the masked and armed thieves working their way through the museum, patiently removing the paintings from the walls and easels where they were mounted before escaping in two vehicles.”
Luminato Festival Gets A New Artistic Director
“On Wednesday, Luminato CEO Anthony Sargent and festival co-founder/chair Tony Gagliano announced they had hired Josephine Ridge, former creative director of the Melbourne Festival, to helm the Toronto showcase, starting with the 2017 edition.”
US Agents Seize Antiquities En Route To New York’s Asian Art Fair
“For the second time in a matter of days, federal agents on Tuesday seized what they described as an illicit antiquity, valued at several hundred thousand dollars, and scheduled to be sold during New York’s Asia Week.”
Tech Transcends Hard/Soft-ware To Become A State Of Being
“This year SXSW, as the festival is known, feels like a story of how the tech ethos has escaped the bounds of hardware and software. Tech is turning into a culture and a style, one that has spread into new foods and clothing, and all other kinds of nonelectronic goods. Tech has become a lifestyle brand.”