Sure, everything’s online now, but some comedians have been doing the work for a much longer time than the last two weeks. They didn’t need to adjust “because they were already there, particularly those in the growing genre of ‘front-facing camera comedy’: short character sketches played directly to the camera. Owing a debt to the hectic editing of Tim and Eric and the influence of the defunct six-second-or-less platform Vine, these videos have gone viral for years, but with comedians and audiences stuck at home, they have replaced the special as the dominant comedy form of the Covid-19 crisis.” – The New York Times
Memes Belong In Museums
Think about the doge meme, for instance. “This meme is iconic, woah heritage, such icon.” (But for real: Memes show the power of photography and creativity, and the top memes deserve to be archived.) – BBC
A Choir Practice That Turned Deadly
Sixty singers showed up in early March for a 2.5-hour choir practice. Now, three weeks later, “45 have been diagnosed with COVID-19 or ill with the symptoms, at least three have been hospitalized, and two are dead.” – Los Angeles Times
Who Gets The Credit – And Money – For An Artist’s Quick Rise?
A lesson in not making desperate promises, perhaps: “When Derek Fordjour was a little-known art student at Hunter College, before Michael Ovitz and Beyoncé began collecting his work, before his paintings came to sell for more than $100,000, the fledgling artist struck a deal with a New York gallery. He agreed, according to a lawsuit now being pursued in New York Supreme Court, to produce 20 works for $20,000.” Now the gallery says he owes 7 paintings – or $1.45 million. – The New York Times
Can Community Radio Survive With Its Unique Sound Intact?
Sure, they’re still as quirky and gap-filling as ever, except for one rather large problem. WFMU Jersey City’s station manager: “This is the situation that so many broadcasters dream of! … You have a global, captive audience, and everyone can share and commiserate their experiences. But it’s not safe to go to the station!”- The New York Times
How Can Visual Artists Survive?
Museums are silent, and the Tate Modern’s 20th anniversary celebration has gone mute. But the small galleries and artists of Britain are in much more dire circumstances. Says one close observer, “We might lose the really interesting emergent art, the stuff of the future, if we are not careful.” – The Observer (UK)
The Producers Of Dystopian Fiction Are Thinking Again
But it’s a complex consideration: “‘You do feel guilty about putting these anxieties in people’s minds,’ said Bruce Miller, the creator and showrunner of Hulu’s adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale. ‘There’s no way not to feel like you somehow wished things into being.'” – The New York Times
Is This A Craft Renaissance?
People in Britain – perhaps spurred on by Brexit fears, or perhaps it’s just a cyclical thing, this “return to traditional craft” – are learning everything from vase painting to making spinning wheels and clay pipes. – The Observer (UK)
When Your Book About Getting Through Hard Times Comes Out In The Middle Of A Pandemic
Carmen Esposito’s Save Yourself was meant to be released on a book tour that saw the comedian and podcaster performing in cities across the country. But then, COVID-19. In the book, she writes, “Humans are scared out of our minds and want to be saved. We want to know why we are here, what we are supposed to do, and how to protect ourselves.” – NPR
Arts Critics Reflect On Their Lives Before Social Isolation
The Observer‘s theatre critic, for instance: “‘I am a big believer in walking as writing (or vice versa),’ she says. ‘If I get stuck, I charge around the square and often find a sentence slips into place. I work out what I think more easily on the hoof – going to or from the theatre, or emptying the rubbish – than when stooped over my desk.'” – The Observer (UK)
One Art Form That Can Survive The Pandemic: Radio Productions
At least, once the show has caught up to where people are. “The BBC has revealed that its long-running BBC Radio 4 soap The Archers will have its first coronavirus-related storyline in early May. Recording is typically done weeks in advance of broadcast, meaning writers have so far been unable to reflect the rapidly evolving pandemic on the show. Producers said they wanted listeners to be able ‘to go to Ambridge in the usual way for as long as possible.'” – BBC
Composer And Conductor Krzysztof Penderecki Has Died At 86
Penderecki, composer of the scores for The Exorcist, The Shining, and Wild at Heart, also wrote operas and choral works, and won multiple Grammys. “Penderecki’s stated aim as an avant-gardist in the early 1960s was to ‘liberate sound beyond all tradition,’ and his emotionally charged experimental 1960 work ‘Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima’, for 52 strings, brought him to international attention and acclaim when he was only 26.” – The Guardian (UK)
Online Buyers For Powell’s Are So Hungry For Books That Company Recalls 100 Laid-Off Workers
Some of the still laid-off Powell’s staff are unhappy with the way the company has handled the store closures and layoffs, but for others, the present is a little rosier. CEO Emily Powell wrote on Friday in a memo on the website, “Thanks to your orders on Powells.com, we now have over 100 folks working at Powell’s again – all full time with benefits.” – The Oregonian
The Pop And Classical Music Critics Traded Jobs For A Day
The classical music critic got to watch a rapper marched offstage after verbally assaulting a host and throwing a drink at the crowd. She said, “I was surprised he had his shirt off and trousers down so quickly. It takes a bit longer for a symphony orchestra.” – The Observer (UK)