For this survey, Nielsen split up millennials into three categories to accurately capture how they operate: “Dependent Adults” (Stage 1), living in someone else’s home; “On Their Own” (Stage 2), living in their own home without kids; and “Starting a Family” (Stage 3), living in their own home with kids.
The Existential Arts – This Week’s Best Reads On ArtsJournal
This week’s best reads oddly hover around existential questions. What arts organizations should exist? Does truth exist? Can theatre really change anything, and should it even try? Canada’s new government makes a big existential bet on the arts. And do our tools define art?
The Secret, Hidden Bedrooms In Berlin’s Subways
“Checked wallpaper decorated with a Matisse poster and a miniature portrait of the Virgin Mary. A black leather sofa. A single bed with electric-blue sheets. … At first, the underground workers who stumbled upon this scene in a disused U-Bahn tunnel in Berlin’s Reinickendorf district in mid-January assumed they had encountered an abandoned film set.”
Why Is It The Only Time I Hear From My Opera Company Is When They Want Money?
“I don’t mind being solicited. It’s entirely appropriate for them to market themselves and ask for money. While I haven’t donated anything yet, that actually is on my agenda for this year. On the other hand, when all you do is solicit money, how does that build any sort of relationship with or loyalty to the organization?”
What If Klemperer Had Become The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Music Director?
“He stood before the Philadelphia Orchestra with the face of an anguished god, saying little with his partially paralyzed mouth, much through his hands, and more through his eyes – behind thick, sometimes askew glasses. In 1962, Otto Klemperer, one of the great conductors of the 20th century, returned to the Philadelphia Orchestra after an absence of more than 25 years, having suffered a brain tumor, a stroke, severe bipolar disorder, and third-degree burns from setting himself on fire by smoking in bed.”
The Harvard Repository That Protects Rare Colors (Did You Know Rare Colors Needed Protecting?)
“Rewind to a few centuries ago and finding that one specific color might have meant trekking to a single mineral deposit in remote Afghanistan—as was the case with lapis lazuli, a rock prized for its brilliant blue hue, which made it more valuable than gold in medieval times.”
Which Books Have Been Unfairly Maligned?
Benjamin Moser: “In [Susan Sontag’s] essayistic writing, strength expressed through categorical statements often became a besetting weakness. … In her often unloved fiction, however, she turned insecurity into a virtue.”
Charles McGrath: “What we tend to forget about Kipling, in our haste to pigeonhole him as a Victorian crank and reactionary, is that for all his failings he was also prodigiously gifted.”
Stratford Festival Roars Back With Box Office Attendance Of 475,000, Surplus
“While attendance has yet to rise back to the half a million Stratford has as an internal goal, this year 102,000 tickets were sold to patrons who had never been to Stratford previously, suggesting a healthy level of renewal in the festival’s audience base.”
Why Hollywood Can’t Stop Making Sequels, Spin-offs And Reboots
The problem with contemporary commercial cinema (epitomized by Hollywood) is that it’s more concerned with making money than it is with telling quality stories or creating indelible characters.
Why Hollywood Is Reluctant To Let You See Movies At Home The Day They’re Released
“The tech disrupters would clearly gain. But the old-fashioned communal theater experience remains extremely powerful, both culturally — Would “Star Wars” be “Star Wars” without the midnight lines at the multiplex? — and as a business. And with that kind of money at stake, Hollywood is more than happy to continue looking stodgy.”
More And More, Machines Are Making Art. What Happens When They Get Really Good At It?
“While it might seem tempting to pit man against machine to determine artistic mastery, perhaps the better approach involves combining human and AI skills, allowing real and artificial neural networks to flex their creative muscles in tandem. As they say, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”
‘Be Ready For Blood’: Diana Damrau On Covent Garden’s Upcoming ‘Lucia’
“I think audiences are going to leave feeling quite shaken. They will see what people in desperate circumstances are able to do and that is actually the basis of this drama. Everybody is desperate and it gets very dark and very sad and horrible. So, I am sorry, be ready for blood.”
No, Spinoffs, Sequels And Remakes Will Never Stop
“The drive to exploit audience interests in comic strips, magic lantern shows, vaudeville, popular songs, and other films and then to replicate those successful formulas over and over until they cease to make money is foundational to the origins and success of filmmaking worldwide.”
How Public Poetry Can Change Lives – Or Get You A Cup Of Coffee
“Scottish poet Robert Montgomery has consciously made an ‘awkward space’ for himself in between artistic categories – and he thoroughly enjoys it. His work puts poetry in front of people in eye-catching visual formats: from advertising billboards he has covered with poems, to words he has set on fire or lit with recycled sunlight in public spaces – including the Sussex seafront and a Berlin airport.”
Millennials Are Flocking To The Broad Museum In Downtown Los Angeles
“The average visitor age is 32 — a full 14 years younger than the national average for art museum attendance in the U.S., according to the National Endowment for the Arts’ most recent study.”
On Miles Davis, And The (Extreme) Whiteness Of Hollywood
“Eventually, Cheadle persuaded the Davis family to let him bring in screenwriter Steven Baigelman to help retool the script into something more palatable to foreign-sales teams, which meant writing in a role for a white co-star.”
A Dance Company Finds A Permanent Home In Queens
“Moving around often, Ms. Lang said, ‘does have an effect on the work I create.’ So she has spent the past few years looking for a permanent home. She said the space in Long Island City provided an opportunity for the company to settle down.”
How Did The Washington Ballet Convince Its New Director To Accept The Job?
“Did the Washington Ballet approach you?
“Oh, yes. And to be quite honest, the answer was no. We have a very happy, deep life here in New York City. Our children are thriving. It’s one thing if you’re really looking for something, it’s another thing if you’re perfectly content.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs For 03.20.16
How Korea Spreads Its Visual Arts — And Diplomacy
Like many good articles, the one I wrote on Korea’s investment in having its visual arts seen in this country for The New York Times‘s recent Museums section began years ago with a conversation. It… … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear ArtsPublished 2016-03-20
I’ve been away from this blog for several months now, engaged in a variety of the usual pursuits (teaching, lecturing, directing, producing, playwriting) but also traveling to South Africa on a research expedition. I’m back… … read more
AJBlog: We The AudiencePublished 2016-03-20
AJBlog: We The AudiencePublished 2016-03-20
Beyond a Boundary: The Extraterritorial C.L.R. James
I once told my telegenic comrade Dave Zirin (America’s leading, if not only left-wing sports commentator) that, in my case. it is a matter of political responsibility not to appear on screen. Nonetheless, I serve… … read more
Five Most-Interesting Reads From This Week’s ArtsJournal (3.20.16)
How do the arts transition to the future without sacrificing the past? Has technology become “culture” rather than soft/hard-ware? Where did we get the idea that art is supposed to comfort? Will we be able watch new movies at home when they open in theatres? And should our museums be more moral?
Making Radio’s Sound Effects Was Weird, Inventive, And Vital
“The creation of live sound effects is often referred to as Foley, after the Hollywood sound recordist who pioneered the techniques in the 1920s. Without it, the clean audio of voices would be a boring world for the listener, and Foley devices continue to be used in radio drama today.”
This Is Uber-Stereotypical, But Apparently It Works For Boys And Ballet
“Instead of classes based on the classical repertoire, with its emphasis on fairytales, princesses, tiaras and tutus – seen as more appealing to little girls than their male counterparts – the boys are encouraged to adopt the personae of superheroes and characters from films and video games such as Angry Birds, Optimus Prime, Minecraft, Star Wars, Lego and Toy Story.”
Ángel Corella, Lovin’ It At Pennsylvania Ballet
“Mr. Corella, 40, seems to be having a very good time these days as he works to reinvent the Pennsylvania Ballet, where he has made top-to-bottom changes since becoming artistic director in 2014. He has brought on new artistic staff, new administrative leadership, new dancers from all over the world and a new approach to programming.”