“Over the years there would be female secretaries, copywriters, reviewers, and editors at Knopf. There would be women in charge of little magazines and the children’s-book divisions of big publishers. But there would be no other woman in the publishing industry with the status of Blanche Knopf—either in the 1920s, when she signed Langston Hughes and Willa Cather, or in the 1950s, when she celebrated Albert Camus’s Nobel prize and oversaw the translation of Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex. And despite it all, although her husband swore he’d put her name on the masthead, he never did.”
Library Anxiety (Yes, It’s A Thing)
“That term is hardly a household name among students, but say it to a college librarian, and he or she will know exactly what you’re talking about. It’s the feeling that one’s research skills are inadequate and that those shortcomings should be hidden. In some students it’s manifested as an outright fear of libraries and the librarians who work there. … ‘Why would anyone think we are intimidating?’ writes Michel C. Atlas. ‘What is intimidating about a master’s-prepared professional earning $35,000 a year?'”
Classical Raves Aren’t Good For Classical Or Dance Music, And They Need To Stop (Says Nightclub Critic)
John Thorp: “The current trend for high-concept classical ‘raves’ in prestigious venues feels at odds with dance music’s forward-thinking worldview. … Getting an orchestra to play dance anthems may come off as a gilded seal of prestige or legacy but it drains them of their naive simplicity and euphoria.”
Africanizing Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’
“Both stories share the premise of a human body undergoing a change so abrupt and so drastic that the old body is unrecognizable in the new one. But there is a key difference. The Metamorphosis tells the story of a man named Gregor Samsa who wakes up one non-descript morning and finds he is a human-size bug. But in Blackass, Furo Wariboko wakes up and finds he has been transformed into a white man while his buttocks remain black.”
It Ain’t Necessarily So: Cost Disease And The Arts
“When I’m forced to justify the arts in a narrow outcomes-based context I feel like I’ve already lost, because the reason art is so interesting is how hard it is to pin down to just one dimension. I like to argue like this: we need to make a commitment as a society to paying health care workers, educators, and artists enough to support them as well as any typical worker in our society.”
Record Worldwide Movie Box Office In 2015: $38.3 Billion
The worldwide film market increased 5% in 2015 thanks to billion-dollar films including “Jurassic World,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” according to a report released Tuesday by the Motion Picture Assn. of America.
Coming Soon: Smartphone-Friendly Movie Theatres?
“When you tell a 22-year-old to turn off the phone, don’t ruin the movie, they hear please cut off your left arm above the elbow. You can’t tell a 22-year-old to turn off their cellphone. That’s not how they live their life.”
Did McCarthyism Drive Aaron Copland To Write 12-Tone Music?
“What caused Copland’s shift from populist to abstruse? Was Senator Joseph R. McCarthy to blame? Or the Modernist influence of the composer Pierre Boulez? For decades, listeners and scholars have offered a range of answers.”
Everyone Hates Art Fairs (So Why Are There Even More Of Them?)
“Fairs aren’t as good as gallery or museum shows because they’re anti-contemplative—nobody looks at any piece of art for very long. That’s why so much on view is bright, shiny, gimmicky, pseudo-shocking, and easy to comprehend. Fairs are predicated on quick looks and one-stop shopping, actual and metaphorical.”
What It’s Like To Be In A Broadway Musical That Isn’t ‘Hamilton’
“With all the hoopla and hubbub, it’s tempting to think all the other shows are Aaron Burr. Imagine working on a big new show for years, pouring millions into it and then finally finding a Broadway theater, only to discover that all anyone wants to talk about is the cool nearby rival?”
Post-Kobborg Exodus From Bucharest Begins With First Foreign Dancer To Resign
Two years ago, Dawid Trzensimiech left a promising career at London’s Royal Ballet to follow Johan Kobborg to the Bucharest National Opera. Wednesday, one day after Kobborg’s final resignation as the ballet company’s artistic director – and an evening confrontation where company dancers from abroad who had threatened to follow Kobborg out the door were greeted with shouts of “Foreigners out of the country!” – Trzensimiech announced his departure. (in Romanian; Google Translate version here)
‘I See Our Country Is Not Ready’ – Alina Cojocaru’s Open Letter To Romania’s Prime Minister On Crisis At National Ballet
“Unfortunately, I [now] understand that our country is not ready for what Johan [Kobborg] and I have offered these two years … We hoped that what were doing was a break from the circle of malice and destruction in which our country finds itself. … But it seems I was wrong. Few are willing to see and accept that there are people like Johan who aren’t self-interested – quite the contrary.” (in Romanian; Google Translate version here)
Warhol Soup Cans Stolen From Missouri Museum
“The prints of the cans, which are among the artist’s most recognizable works, had been part of the Springfield Art Museum’s collection since 1985, and were currently on display in a special exhibit of British and American pop art.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 04.13.16
Customer, Client, Collaborator?
In January, Doug McLennan published a post Is Earning Making Money The New Audience-Building Strategy? In a comparison of for-profit and not-for-profit enterprise, he began to intrigue me when, addressing the former, he said … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2016-04-12
$1 for Music Unwound
The NEH Music Unwound consortium, which most recently brought Dvorak’s New World Symphony to an Indian reservation, has been re-funded by the Endowment with a $400,000 grant, bringing the total NEH investment to … read more
AJBlog: Unanswered Question Published 2016-04-13
A Big Picture: The Big Country
William Wyler’s anti-macho Western The Big Country, which is remarkable for its imposing visual beauty and sonorous musical score, makes it to the (relatively) big screen at the New York Historical Society (as in bigger … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2016-04-13
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This Graffiti Artist Defaces Fashion Posters And (Surprise!) The Fashion Industry Embraces Him
Posters for brands like Christian Dior and Chanel went missing; at his studio, Michael De Feo covered the models in cheerfully painted bouquets and returned the posters before anyone noticed. Fashion companies are loath to let street artists tinker with their messaging. (Who wants a mustache on Julia Roberts’s face?) But somehow, designers are embracing Mr. De Feo’s colorful approach.
Good News: Sales Of Music were Up In 2015
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said global revenues from recorded music rose 3.2 per cent between 2014 and 2015, to $15 billion, as an industry decimated by the digital revolution returned to growth. The group said the rise marks “the industry’s first significant year-on-year growth in nearly two decades.”
Irrepressible “Hamilton” Is Now A Publishing Bestseller
“Hamilton: The Revolution” is out of stock on Amazon, with an expected wait of nine to 12 days for a copy. It was No. 2 on Barnes & Noble’s website. Grand Central Publishing spokesman Jimmy Franco says “Hamilton: The Revolution” already is going into its third printing, for a planned total of 210,000 copies.
London’s Serpentine Galleries Appoint Philanthropist/Entrepreneur As New Director
“Julia Peyton-Jones, who put the institution on the international map, is stepping down as co-director this month after 25 years at the helm. Jana Peel will work in partnership with Hans Ulrich Obrist who has been at the Serpentine since 2006 as co-director of exhibitions and programmes. He takes on the new role of artistic director.”
Letterboxing – A Brief History Of The Two Horizontal Black Bars That Changed How You Watch Movies At Home
“Before letterboxing, we were throwing away three-quarters of the picture on some films.”
Female Architects Tell Us What It’s Like, Even Today
“Every single day I have to remind someone that I am, in fact, an architect. And sometimes not just an architect, but the architect. … Every new job site means a contractor who will assume I am the assistant, decorator or intern.”
How The Fiasco At Romania’s National Ballet Went Down
“Administrative tumult, a prominent snub on the Bucharest National Opera’s website and questions over artistic direction have cost the Romanian national ballet company its two biggest stars: Johan Kobborg and Alina Cojocaru.” Michael Cooper gives an English-language recap of the situation as of Tuesday morning.