Joe Berkowitz: “The best pun I heard during the course of writing the book was: ‘I went to go shopping for cherries and microphones the other day: bought a bing, bought a boom.'”
Nietzsche Was Not A Relativist (And He Wasn’t Responsible For The World Wars, Either)
Patrick West: “Since his death in 1900, the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche has had the unfortunate distinction of being blamed for three catastrophes to have befallen Western civilization” – World War I (some of his bellicose writings), World War II (the whole Übermensch thing), and relativism (thanks to Foucault). “But is Nietzsche really to blame? And was he really a relativist? I would say that he isn’t and he wasn’t. I believe that it’s time that the great man and free-thinker par excellence was reclaimed by the school of the Enlightenment.”
Canada Is Issuing Glow-In-The-Dark Money
The new $2 coin being issued for Canada’s sesquicentennial features a colored design depicting a canoe on a lake under the Northern Lights, which do indeed glow in the dark. The new “Toonie” is the first photoluminescent coin in general circulation.
Revenge, Punishment, Justice, And Empathy: Wallace Shawn On How A Person Should Be
“Revenge and punishment both imply, ‘Even if I’d been you, and I’d had your life, I would never have done what you did.’ And that in turn implies, ‘I wouldn’t have done it, because I’m better than you.’ But the person who says, ‘I’m better than you’ is taking a serious step in a very dangerous direction. And the person who says, ‘Even if I’d had your life, I would never have done what you did’ is very probably wrong.”
Shakespeare’s Globe At 20: A History In Clips
“To mark the Globe’s 20th birthday, we raid the Guardian archives to see how it has divided critics, sparked academic arguments, faced down political protests – and weathered the British summertime.”
The Decades-Long Journey To A Workable Version Of Lou Harrison’s Opera ‘Young Caesar’
Harrison’s score was always recognized for its good qualities, but the story of the youthful Julius Caesar’s possibly-mythical affair with a foreign king was plagued by an overlong, repetitive libretto to which Harrison refused cuts. John Rockwell tells the story of the 46-year-long effort to create a Young Caesar that could captivate and hold an audience.
Violinist Paul Zukofsky Dead At 73
“[He] specialised particularly in the performance of 20th-century repertoire, working with such composers as Milton Babbitt, John Cage, Elliott Carter, George Crumb, Morton Feldman, Philip Glass, [etc.] … He premiered Glass’s Violin Concerto in 1987 and was the dedicatee of John Cage’s Freeman Etudes – Books I and II, composed between 1977 and 1980.”
Akron Ponders Turning A Freeway Into A Big Urban Park
“The Innerbelt National Forest is the idea of Hunter Franks, a San Francisco-based artist who has been working in the Akron community since 2015. He plans to populate the freeway with potted plants, public seating, and programming meant to reconnect the two communities severed by the freeway 40 years ago. The project just received a Knight Cities Challenge grant, which is giving $15 million to projects in 26 American cities.”
Did Bob Dylan Take Parts Of His Nobel Speech From SparkNotes?
Those familiar with Dylan’s music might recall that he winkingly attributed fabricated quotes to Abraham Lincoln in his “Talkin’ World War III Blues.” So Dylan making up an imaginary quote is nothing new. However, I soon discovered that the Moby-Dick line Dylan dreamed up last week seems to be cobbled together out of phrases on the website SparkNotes, the online equivalent of CliffsNotes.
The Greatest Music Festival Ever (And No, It Wasn’t Woodstock)
“The idea for Monterey Pop, a model for subsequent rock music festivals from Woodstock to Bonnaroo, emerged from a conversation in early 1967 among Paul McCartney, the record producer Lou Adler and the folk rock band the Mamas and the Papas. They weren’t thinking of the war; they were thinking of music — in particular, why rock wasn’t considered an art form alongside the likes of jazz.”
Lost Jackson Pollock Painting Found In Arizona Garage
“When a Scottsdale, Arizona, man was headed to a retirement home, a neighbor helping with the move found the collectible in the garage and suggested contacting an auctioneer to appraise it. Josh Levine, owner of the auction house who was called to look at the poster, estimated the signed Lakers memorabilia would be worth about $300. But when they went to the man’s garage, what they found could be 50,000 times more valuable.”
Can Art Turn San Francisco’s Treasure Island Into Something Interesting?
“The plan would fund projects inspired by the island’s unique features: its name; its “vantage point” amid an iconic bridge and two great cities, surrounded by an inland sea; its history as a site of innovation — a world’s fair, an early nexus of commercial aviation, a military installation; and its environmental and ecological conditions. Projects will be solicited from local, national and international artists.”
Philip Gossett, 75, World’s Leading Scholar Of Rossini
“Gossett was widely respected as an authority on the operas of Gioachino Rossini and Giuseppe Verdi, having served as general editor of the collected Rossini works and coordinating editor of the collected Verdi works.” The Rossini edition in particular was crucial to the modern revival of interest in the composer’s operas beyond the two or three in the standard repertory.
‘This Is About The Right-Wing Hate Machine’ – Director Oskar Eustis Talks About The Central Park ‘Julius Caesar’ Controversy
“Those thousands of people who are calling our corporate sponsors to complain about this – none of them have seen the show. They’re not interested in seeing the show. They haven’t read Julius Caesar. They are being manipulated by Fox & Friends and other news sources, which are deliberately, for their own gain, trying to rile people up and turn them against an imagined enemy, which we are not.”
What It’s Like Coming Back To The Ailey Company After Half A Dozen Years Away
Marina Harss talks with Clifton Brown, who spent 13 years with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater before leaving to dance with Lar Lubovitch and Jessica Lang and is just now returning to the Ailey fold.
Sara Mearns Tries Channeling Isadora Duncan
“Sara Mearns, wearing rehearsal clothes she wouldn’t normally wear – a purple chiffon Grecian dress – turned to Lori Belilove to ask a question she wouldn’t normally ask as a principal at New York City Ballet. Her brow narrowed in concentration: ‘We decided I would come on like the wind?'”
Charitable Giving In The U.S. Reached All-Time High In 2016: $390 Billion
The new study from Giving USA reports that much of the increase comes from small donors and that donations to the arts, culture and humanities category grew by 5.1%, behind only environmental and animal-welfare organizations.
Government Finally Comes Through With Funding To Expand Sydney’s Flagship Museum
Blockade Of Qatar Is Affecting Cultural Institutions
“The diplomatic crisis will affect exhibitions as no art from Qatar can be exhibited in these Gulf countries right now. If anyone bought anything in Qatar—not only art works—it would not be easy to export to these countries either.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 06.13.17
Development Terminology
Fools rush in … I may just be a glutton for punishment. However, over the (many) years I taught arts management and the many more in which I have engaged with colleagues … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2017-06-13
Dan Weiss Announced As Met’s CEO: Initial Thoughts
My initial reaction to this morning’s announcement from the Metropolitan Museum – that Daniel H. Weiss is now President and Chief Executive Officer, with the TBD director reporting to him – is skepticism. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2017-06-13
President Dan Weiss Snares Top Spot at Metropolitan Museum (with director as subordinate)
Congratulations, Daniel Weiss. You’ve passed the audition. … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-06-13
Monday Recommendation: Mat Walerian
Mat Walerian, Matthew Shipp, Hamid Drake, Jungle: Live At Okuden (ESP-Disk)
His adventurism ranges far and he occasionally makes harsh sounds, but Polish reed artist Mat Walerian ultimately projects a calming effect … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2017-06-13
Billie Joe’s secret
Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe” turns fifty years old next month, and we’re still listening to it — and talking about it. … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2017-06-13
Metropolitan Museum Changes Its Leadership Structure, Subordinating Artistic Leadership To Fiscal Direction
“In a striking leadership reorganization, the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Tuesday announced that Daniel H. Weiss, its president and chief operating officer, will lead and run the museum, filling the new, higher-ranking role of president and chief executive. And in a sign that fiscal responsibility now trumps artistic control, the museum’s next director, who oversees programming, will report to Mr. Weiss, rather than the other way around.”
National Museum Of Women In The Arts Gets Record $9 Million Donation
“Madeleine Rast became a supporter of the National Museum of Women in the Arts before it opened its doors in 1987, and she remained a loyal and generous donor throughout her life. But the California business professional, who died on Jan. 29 at 92, saved her biggest gift for last.”
Animal Rights Activists Attack Artist’s Studio At Documenta In Athens
“Animal-rights campaigners smashed windows and threw blue paint on the work space of Aboubakar Fofana in Athens … Fofana’s piece, Ka touba Farafina yé (Africa blessing) (2017), features 54 sheep – one for each country in Africa – that have their wool dyed in different shades of indigo. It deals with the ‘tragedy of migration’, Fofana says, using a sheep’s quest for new pastures as a symbol of humans risking their lives in search of a better one.”