Studies of Snowball the dancing cockatoo (who had a round of television fame in the late ’00s) “turned out to be just the prelude to a new concerto of research on musicality in the animal kingdom. In recent years, scientists have tested various species and found evidence that nonvocal learners such as sea lions and bonobos have rhythm too. In parallel, pioneering studies have begun to elucidate how the brain tracks a beat.”
San Antonio Symphony Musicians Accept Three-Week Furlough
“Facing a funding shortfall and mounting debt, the San Antonio Symphony reached an agreement with its 72-member orchestra for a temporary layoff during the 2016-17 season to help the organization shore up its finances.”
Congresswoman To U.S. Air Force: Disband The Bands!
Martha McSally (R-Ariz.): “We have hundreds of people playing the tuba and clarinet. … If we really had a manning crisis, from my perspective, we would really tell people to put down the tuba and pick up a wrench or a gun.”
We’re Losing Our Radio History. Can Anything Be Done?
“There’s no way to quantify how much of broadcasting history has been lost, except to say that most of American radio will never be heard again. That is, many scholars argue, in large part the fault of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which eliminated mandates for local ownership and led to major consolidations across the radio market. New ownership often meant the obliteration of recorded history.”
What Policymakers Could Learn About Artificial Intelligence From The Guy Who Played Go With Google’s Computer
“In the first three games, AlphaGo bludgeoned Lee with a calculating efficiency that mystified the 33-year–old Korean. Then in Game 4, Lee responded to the challenge of artificial intelligence with new tactics. He attacked AlphaGo, aggressively sought to hem it in, and in a transcendent moment of genius laid down a lone white pebble that one Go champion dramatically called the ‘hand of god.’ He won.”
Charles Kaufman, 87, Saved, Led Mannes School Of Music
A gifted teacher and charismatic presence, Kaufman led a faculty and student revolt at the music conservatory in 1979 that saved it from a merger with the much larger Manhattan School of Music.
How To Read Dante (Since So Few Of Us Really Have) In The 21st Century
“Start by treating The Divine Comedy not as a book, with a coherent, beginning, middle, and end, but rather … treat the poem as Dante the character treated his journey, something to be undertaken step by step.”
Heart Of Stone: Tracey Emin Has Married A Rock
“[The artist] says the story may sound pretentious and stupid, but she recalls finding a small box and in it was a ring with an ant on it. ‘I put it on my finger and suddenly realised it’s superstitious to put a wedding ring on your finger unless you are getting married, otherwise you have to throw the ring away,’ she said. But because she liked the ring so much, she decided instead she needed to marry someone – and why not the rock?”
The Sea Creatures That Inspired Art Nouveau
The drawings that biologist Ernst Haeckel made while aboard the HMS Challenger‘s round-the-world voyage in the 1870s had a surprisingly wide influence. (They’re also very cool.)
‘You Don’t Know Who I Am, But You’ve Been Affected By Things I Did’ – Meet The Great Adventurer Of New York’s Avant-Garde
Tony Conrad: “It appeared as if Schoenberg had destroyed music. Then it appeared as if Cage had destroyed Schoenberg. Our project was to destroy Cage. … Yeah! Of course we were high on drugs! But honestly, drug experiences are very private, and cultural experiences are very social. I think the social is better.”
Should Governments Fund Cinemas The Way They Do Theatres And Concert Venues?
“In the world of contemporary art, policymakers use our taxes to fund galleries and museums. In the world of theatre, we build new spaces and new stages. In the world of music, we fund broadcasters … So why in the film world do we predominantly fund films but not the spaces to screen them in? Why isn’t Australia’s film policy angled more towards distribution, access and experience?”
Here’s What’s Difficult When We Try To Talk About Intelligence In An Intelligent Way
“We might be getting stupider, we cannot predict our future path, and we have no idea what kinds of intelligent beings (if any) exist in the cosmos beyond. But I maintain that there is a silver lining, because this very act of self-examination forces us to confront some harsh, but fascinating, realities about our culture and our technology.”
Where Citizen Budgeting Meets Community Arts Groups
“In the North Shores Collinwood area of Cleveland, ‘Ohio’s first experiment with participatory budgeting’ has just resulted in four arts-based community development projects being chosen – by local residents – to share in $120,000 in funding from ArtPlace America.”
New Canadian Government To Make Huge Investment In Arts And Culture
“The Canada Council, whose budget will double by 2021, called it an unprecedented, once-in-a-generation investment, while the performers union ACTRA expressed the hope this marked the beginning of a new relationship between government and creators.”
Tamara Rojo Dances Frida Kahlo
Choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and theatre director Nancy Meckler talk about creating She Said, a piece about Kahlo that Tamara Rojo commissioned for English National Ballet. (Rojo had not, at first, expected to take the title role.)
What, Exactly, *Is* A Robot? (It’s Not That Simple A Question)
“The truth is, we’re surrounded by robotics all the time. Your washing machine is a robot. Your dishwasher is a robot. You don’t need to have a very broad definition to draw that conclusion … Robotics will continue to be ubiquitous and fairly invisible. Systems will just be smarter and people will accept that. It’s occurring around us all the time now.”
Hundreds Of Looted Antiquities From Disgraced London Dealer Returned To Italy
“The artifacts – dating from the seventh century B.C. to the second century A.D. – were found two years ago in a storage unit at the Geneva Freeport that investigators traced to [dealer Robin] Symes.” Said one consultant to Italy’s culture ministry, “The Geneva Freeport is the largest undiscovered archaeological site in the world.”
Books For People Who Don’t Like To Read Books – James Patterson’s Next Big Plan
“People already read James Patterson’s books – and in staggering numbers. … But Mr. Patterson is after an even bigger audience. He wants to sell books to people who have abandoned reading for television, video games, movies and social media. So how do you sell books to somebody who doesn’t normally read?”
English National Opera’s Music Director Quits Over Cuts
Mark Wigglesworth said in his resignation letter, “The plan for the future is one that the Board and Chief Executive have always known I cannot support. I made this clear to them last year.”
Fine Arts Museums Of San Francisco Name New Director
“The position is the top job at FAMSF, which comprises two of the Bay Area’s largest and most important cultural facilities, the de Young Museum and the Legion of Honor. … [Max] Hollein is currently director of three noted museums in Frankfurt, Germany, a broad responsibility that should prepare him for the Fine Arts Museums’ structure.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 03.22.16
Committing to Engagement
In Engage Now! I discuss the importance of making a public commitment to engagement. When new communities meet representatives of arts organizations they often assume the intent of the latter is to get them to … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2016-03-22
MoMA’s Degas Monotypes Press Conference: My Cantankerous Cameo (with video)
I’ve already awarded myself the Hilton Kramer Award for Old Fogey-ism. Lately, I’ve been feeling more and more like the Helen Thomas of art journalism. Thomas, UPI‘s (and later,Hearst Newspapers‘) veteran White House correspondent, … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-03-22
It’s Spring
The temperature doesn’t feel like spring, but tell that to the backyard apricot tree. See what it did overnight. Soon, the orchards around here will all be in full bloom. I hate to leave them… … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-03-22
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Art Against Belgian Terror Attacks
Artists have taken to social media to express contempt for the terrorists who attacked Brussels.
The Largest – And Possibly Cheapest – Chamber Music Series In The U.S.
“The society has become the largest presenter of chamber music in the country, now giving 60 concerts of major artists each season. It insists on prices from $18 to $24, … though the same concert in New York a few days later goes for three times that.”