“The punch lines write themselves, but so do the checks. According to the publisher, 300 million books are in print, and the brand adds about 200 new titles a year. … Most importantly, a Dummies book assumes the reader is starting with zero knowledge on the topic. This is not a universal quality in the how-to world.”
Another Country Faces Steep Arts Funding Cuts – Because Lottery Money Is Falling Short
Creative New Zealand, the island nation’s arts funding body, has warned arts organizations to prepare for 10% reductions in grants. “Creative New Zealand receives two-thirds of its annual revenue from Lotto NZ profits, and is set to receive NZ$11 million less this financial year than in 2013-14.”
If Art Has Become A Currency Of The Super-Rich, Do We Need To Regulate It As Such?
“Art has become an instrument for generating wealth and political influence in the interests of an audacious plutocracy. In this sense, we are indeed being ruled by art in a way we have not been before, and its price now comes at a direct social cost. Its commodification has ceased to be a matter merely of cultural debate, as it was for Fry, and should now be subject to political scrutiny in the name of the public interest.”
Vienna Festival Fires Director Of Flagship Opera Production, Two Months Before Opening Night
Charging that he had not provided the production and set designs on time, the management of the Wiener Festwochen dismissed Dmitri Tcherniakov, a 45-year-old Russian known for inventive and sometimes controversial stagings, from a high-profile period-instrument production of Beethoven’s Fidelio at the Theater an der Wien. (in German; Google Translate version here)
Donald Trump And The Arts (Meh)
“A general indifference to the arts in America is not exactly surprising for a man who, before running for president on a platform of jingoism, misogyny, and fear-mongering, was best known to most of the country outside of New York for a reality show where he fired people and a series of commercials for stuffed crust pizza at Pizza Hut.”
America’s First Slavery Museum Opens In A Restored Plantation
“The Whitney Plantation is unlocking the grim story of America’s greatest shame, a tale too often masked by a genteel preservationist approach to plantation history that has pasted romantic Gone With The Wind wallpaper over slavery’s appalling reality.”
DC’s Brilliantly-Restored Howard Theatre Opened With Such Promise. Now That’s Gone
“Four years later, the promise of those ecstatic opening days has faded amid charges of mismanagement and mounting financial problems, according to a number of people closely associated with the Howard who were interviewed for this article.”
Why We’re Drawn To Really Bad Art #Fail
“There are countless blogs devoted to poking fun at paintings and sculptures that otherwise would have been forgotten: The Ugly Renaissance Babies Tumblr is an addicting compendium of paintings featuring babies that look like old men, worms, creepy dolls, and Gollum. Other blogs like All This Shitty Art and The Weirdest, Worst Art pay homage to the myriad amateur artists publishing their work on the Internet (to Tumblr users’ amusement and dismay).”
In Hollywood Pay-To-Audition Has Become Part Of The Gig Economy
“The result is a gig economy in which temporary labor pays to be “taught” by independent contractors, who in many cases are staffing programming for media corporations. Cost-conscious networks and studios offload a burden once held by productions to cast their shows onto the labor market itself. Millions of dollars previously spent on casting have been cut from balance sheets, and tens of thousands of aspiring actors have been stuck with the bill.”
Think Special Effects Are Just For Stunts? Now They Can make Actors Younger, More Beautiful
“Retouched, impossibly enhanced bodies are creating unrealistic new body-image standards — and the effects are so sophisticated and invisible that most audiences aren’t aware of how much they’ve been manipulated.”
$50,000 Richard Tucker Prize To Soprano Tamara Wilson
“Ms. Wilson, 34, made a noteworthy debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 2014 singing the title role in Verdi’s Aida, and was nominated for a 2016 Olivier Award for her highly praised performance in Verdi’s Force of Destiny at English National Opera.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 04.04.16
Monday Recommendation: A Duke Ellington Book
Steven Brower & Mercedes Ellington: Duke Ellington: An American Composer and Icon (Rizzoli). 224 pages. $35.48 The scores of photos, illustrations and reproductions of documents make this book a valuable supplement to the growing stack … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-04-04
Local DC jazz apart from NEA Jazz Masters events
In Washington DC for events surrounding the investiture of vibist Gary Burton, saxophonists Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp, and Jazz Foundation of America‘s executive director Wendy Oxenhorn as NEA Jazz Masters, I visited a new grassroots venue that shows where the deep heart of jazz support lies. … read more
AJBlog: Jazz Beyond Jazz Published 2016-04-04
Just because: George Bernard Shaw talks about the filming of Pygmalion
George Bernard Shaw talks about the filming of Pygmalion in a 1939 British Movietone newsreel. … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-04-04
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A Statue Of George Orwell, Rejected At First For His Politics, To Grace BBC Smoking Area
“The BBC and the writer parted acrimoniously in 1943, when Orwell resigned after two wartime years as a talks producer in the Eastern Service, making propaganda broadcasts for India. In his resignation letter, under his real name, Eric Blair, he wrote: ‘For some time past I have been conscious that I was wasting my own time and the public money on doing work that produces no result.'”
A Hong Kong Film Banned In China Wins Asia’s Top Film Award
“Set in 2025, it depicts political gangs and persecution of local people for speaking Cantonese not Mandarin. It comes amid increasing nervousness in Hong Kong about perceived Communist Party interference in its affairs.”
No Matter How Bad The U.S. Economy Got, Museums Kept On Growing
“Museum leaders say they must expand because they want to show art forms such as performance that do not fit neatly in white-cube galleries. They also need to adapt to museums’ evolving role as community hubs—and, most importantly, they need to build to show more of their rapidly growing collections and to attract new gifts.”
Azerbaijani Author Accused Of ‘Hooliganism’ And Prevented From Traveling To Literary Festival
“Stone Dreams, which told of the massacres of Armenians by Azeris, provoked widespread protests in Azerbaijan four years ago. Aylisli’s books were burned, his title of ‘People’s Writer’ revoked, and a reward was offered to anyone who cut off his ear.”
The Art Lords Of Kabul Try To Reclaim Their City
“Because of the poor security situation, many defensive walls have sprung up around high-profile buildings in the city, and these provide the ArtLords with their canvases.”
The Queen Of Soul And Her Need For Control: The New Yorker Turns Its Eye To Aretha Franklin
“[She’s] a musical genius and a pivotal figure in the cultural history of the black freedom movement; she is also someone who has suffered countless losses, been mistreated in many ways, and at times has reactions that try the patience of her associates, creditors, family, and friends.”
The Rebel Start-up Opera Companies Taking The Met Head-On
“The Met, despite its perpetual financial struggles, shows no signs of capsizing. Though dozens of competitors have come and gone, it lumbers on, embattled but essential. What it offers—and what no pocket-sized company, however edgy, can match—is an acoustical environment commensurate with the grandeur of the form. To hear an unamplified voice surmounting a full orchestra and pinging across a large space is an elemental thrill that lies somewhere between high culture and extreme sports.”