A couple of architects are 3D printing using organic materials – a project to support coral reef restoration via protective clay ‘coral seeding units’, and a prototype cabin built from ceramic and sawdust tiles to help solve California’s affordable housing crisis. – Aeon
Leading Thinkers Envision The Post-Pandemic World
“They describe a society that is clear-eyed about the disparities that have made this pandemic so much worse for some communities than for others. They call on us to sustain each other through mutual aid, understanding that our lives are all woven together in ways that may not always have been visible until now. They outline the necessity of protecting democracy, resisting authoritarianism, and paying attention to one another, filling in the spaces left by loss.” – LitHub
How Verdi Evolved To The Next Form Of Opera
“At the Paris Opéra, there were many colleagues to deal with and only the institution’s most successful composers had enough clout to impose their will on a piece. It makes sense that Verdi’s triumph came at the end, when he was no longer just a successful foreigner, but a living legend and someone who had a work history with the company. For Don Carlos, he was the ultimate authority, like a modern movie auteur.” – San Francisco Classical Voice
Opera Of The Web (Not Just On It)
“In our first performance one of our actors froze in the middle of her big solo. But, fortunately, we had planned for and built that into the piece, so what we did is skip to the next cue, and then when she unfroze she joined up with us again, just as you would do if you were doing a live play or musical or opera.” – American Theatre
Why We Need To Rethink The Art Blockbuster
Over the years, the blockbuster has been frequently called into question, and with good reason. Do these shows really serve our audiences or do they just pander to the crowd in order to attract large numbers of visitors? – The Art Newspaper
When Art Became “The Show”
Today the more relevant split is the more recent one between modern and contemporary fields (the latter has no exact date of origin—1968, 1980, 1989?), which is a schism less between the university and the museum than between scholarly curators and flashy exhibition-makers. This split was opened up when the 20th-century art museum was penetrated by the culture industry, and it was deepened when the contemporary art world expanded into the global business of art biennials and fairs. With the first development came a demand for on-site entertainment, and with the second a need for far-flung attractions. – Artnet
Europe’s Dance Companies Begin, Very Carefully, To Go Back To Work
Here, for instance, are the rules for dance class at the Ballet du Rhin in France: “Dancers are not allowed to use changing rooms. Instead, they must go directly to the studio and stand at a marked spot at the barre, about 11 feet away from others. Their outside clothes must go into a bag to ensure they do not touch anything … [and] that bag must then be put into another one provided by the company that is thrown into the trash once the class has finished. They are also each given a spray to disinfect the barre. And, of course, they have to dance wearing masks.” – The New York Times
Kennicott: Online Arts Experiences That Work For Me
“I want stuff that has not been made in response to the pandemic, that would exist if we weren’t all in the same boat. Or things I know I won’t have time for once the real world begins to make its usual demands once again. I want to use my brain in ways that it didn’t ordinarily get exercised in the pre-pandemic world, things that I know I probably won’t have the time or patience for once this all gets back to some kind of normal.” – Washington Post
Missy Mazzoli’s ‘Breaking The Waves’ Premiered In 2016. The World’s Pretty Different Now. Does The Piece Hold Up?
Before the coronavirus hit, the Met was going to perform a new co-production of the opera this spring at BAM. David Patrick Stearns went online to revisit the original Opera Philadelphia production, and here’s why he believes that, despite the terrific craft in the score and libretto (and in Kiera Duffy’s performance as Bess), with the cancellation “the Met and Mazzoli dodged a bullet.” – WQXR (New York City)
Here’s One Theater That’s Putting On A New Show Every Weekend Despite The Lockdown
“As most American theaters have pared down their offerings to a mix of Zoom readings, artist conversations, and archival streams, Seacoast Rep, in Portsmouth, N.H., has been web-casting new productions since mid-May and has them planned for every weekend until at least July 5.” Says one of the Rep’s artistic directors, “People in the industry thought ‘no live audience means no live theater.’ We thought we just had to change our delivery system.” – The New York Times
Remembering Larry Kramer
For Kramer, who died at age 84 in Manhattan on Wednesday, not speaking up was a signal of a dishonorable combination — of cowardice, willful blindness and greed. He was constitutionally incapable of self-serving apathy, but that’s not to say that he didn’t recognize the cost of his conscience to that quieter corner of his identity as an artist. – Los Angeles Times
This Is The Book That Politicians, Pundits, And Reporters Want Everyone To See On Their Bookshelves
“It is 46 years old, weighs nearly four pounds in paperback and is about as ill-suited for the internet age as they come: The book is not even available for digital readers. And yet, in certain circles, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, the 1,246-page tome by Robert Caro, has become a breakout star of the Covid-19 era.” – The New York Times
Polish Government Fines Artists Who Protested At Parliament, Then Backs Down
Earlier this month, 11 artists from a collective called the Consortium of Postartistic Practices carried a 46-foot-long letter about 1¼ miles to the Parliament building in Warsaw as lawmakers debated whether to hold a presidential election during the COVID lockdown. The artists were subsequently fined about $2,500 for violating social distancing rules — until a public outcry led officials to reverse that decision. – The Art Newspaper
‘Deeply Disappointing’: Arts Officials Say Culture Is Being Cut In EU’s €750 Billion COVID Recovery Plan
“The European Commission announced an ambitious seven-year budget yesterday to bail out the EU’s 27 member states from the economic impact of COVID-19, but culture representatives say it fails to provide enough protection for their industry, which is one of the economic sectors that has been hardest hit by the pandemic.” In particular, the representatives say, “cuts to three programs — Erasmus+, Creative Europe, and European Solidarity Corps — send a ‘terrible message’ to the cultural, creative, and media sectors.” – Artnet
Michael Kaiser Has Become Therapist/Life Coach For Pandemic-Panicked Arts Orgs
The former CEO of the Kennedy Center and his colleagues at the DeVos Institute of Arts Management are giving pro bono consultations to more than 400 organizations. “In phone calls with groups as varied as Mosaic Theater Company in [D.C.] and the Women’s Museum of California in San Diego, Kaiser tosses out suggestions as each outlet lays out its predicament.” – The Washington Post
BBC Proms Plans For This Summer Finally Settled
Well, mostly settled. “A virtual first night in July will see more than 350 musicians play together in a Beethoven ‘mash-up’ [of the nine symphonies] having each recorded their part from home. … The Royal Albert Hall will be home to live performances in the final fortnight of the season, starting from August 28,” with audience numbers to be determined by the social-distancing guidelines in place at the time. Meanwhile, the BBC will air specially selected archive recordings of previous Proms each night for the first six weeks of the festival. – London Evening Standard