“Over time, humans have learned how, under certain conditions, to sit still and give someone or something undivided attention. Such learning, though, runs counter to who we instinctively are. We are hardwired to pick up the slightest distraction in our environment and to move toward or away from that distraction. The popularity of events such as Wimbledon and the World Cup reminds us that most of us feel far more at home in stadium culture—getting up, moving around, making noise, attending off and on—than in sanctuary culture.”
How Do You Measure Impact Of A Movie Or TV Show?
“What actually gets people moving? Do grant-supported media projects incite change, or are they simply an expensive way of preaching to the choir? Ultimately, the answers may help determine which projects get financed, which formats are favored and how stories are structured.”
Portrait Removed From Major London Gallery After Complaints That It Is Pornography
“The painter can’t begin to understand how a painting that reveals no intimate flesh, other than the pelvic triangle, could possibly be described as pornography.”
Adding Up The Cost Of The “Grand Bargain” To Save Detroit’s DIA Art From Being Sold
“All told, this is an absolutely unprecedented series of foundation commitments from the foundation community, stretching the boundaries of what foundations might have ever considered doing anywhere.”
Mayor Bans Ruhrtrienniale Art Installation For Fear It Could Cause ‘Panic’
Still skittish four years after 21 people died and more than 500 were injured in a stampede at a Love Parade, the mayor of the German city of Duisberg refused permission for Totlast (“Deadweight”), a labyrinthine installation by Gregor Schneider, because it could induce “confusion, panic and disorientation.”
Lynn Nottage To Make ‘Black Orpheus’ Into Broadway Musical
“With all eyes on Brazil and the World Cup, Broadway is getting into the act with plans to adapt the Oscar-winning film Black Orpheus for the stage. Producers said Monday that Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage will write the story and Tony Award-winner George C. Wolfe will direct.”
China’s “Dancing Grannies”: The Backlash
“By one estimate there are now one hundred million public dancers in China, and the number is growing rapidly as the country ages. The “dancing grannies”, as they’ve been dubbed by the Chinese media, are facing an urban backlash. Younger city-dwellers see them as a nuisance, and are demanding they turn down the volume.”
Don’t Want To Lose It When You Get Old? Learn To Make Art Says A New Study
“A research team led by neurologists Anne Bolwerk and Christian Maihofner reports “the production of visual art improves effective interaction” between certain regions of the brain.”
Taylor Swift Writes About The State Of The Music Business
There are a few things I have witnessed becoming obsolete in the past few years, the first being autographs. I haven’t been asked for an autograph since the invention of the iPhone with a front-facing camera. The only memento “kids these days” want is a selfie. It’s part of the new currency, which seems to be “how many followers you have on Instagram.”
New York City Opera Has A Buyer – And He Wants The Board To Stop Diddling Around
“Businessman Gene Kaufman made an undisclosed offer six months ago to buy ‘the people’s opera’ and salvage the venerable cultural institution. He now says the opera’s board is ‘stuck in neutral’ nine months after filing for bankruptcy and canceling the season, and should relinquish control of the process.”
To Help Revive Itself, San Diego Opera Makes Deep Budget Cuts
A change of office space (saving about $400,000 annually), layoffs of 13 staff members (about one-third of the total), pay cuts for remaining employees, and other measures have reduced the upcoming fiscal year’s budget to $10.5 million, down from around $15 million in earlier years.
Behind the Scenes With The Actors Defying Europe’s Last Dictatorship
Leonard Lopate talks with documentarian Madeleine Sackler about her most recent subject: Belarus Free Theatre, which has wowed the West with the same shows it creates and performs in secret back home, constantly under threat from Alexander Lukashenko’s neo-Soviet regime. (audio)
Top Posts From AJBlogs 07.07.14
On the State of Opera
(introducing a new ArtsJournal blog by former Seattle Opera general director Speight Jenkins)
AJBlog: OperaSleuth | Published 2014-07-07
Creative Placemaking: A Conversation
(introducing a three-week blogging event from National Arts Strategies)
AJBlog: Field Notes | Published 2014-07-07
Practicing extreme transparency: Why does your “About Us” section have to be so boring?
AJBlog: Speaker | Published 2014-07-07
Small Show At The Met Makes Me Wish…
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts | Published 2014-07-06
In Praise of Spoilers (and a plug for Jacob’s Pillow)
AJBlog: We The Audience | Published 2014-07-07
Building Communities, Building the Field
AJBlog: Field Notes | Published 2014-07-08
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The Secret Of Brian Eno’s Genius: Cluelessness
Sasha Frere-Jones: “Eno is widely known for coining the term ‘ambient music,’ and he produced a clutch of critically revered albums in the nineteen-seventies and eighties – by the Talking Heads, David Bowie, and U2, among others – but if I had to choose his greatest contribution to popular music it would be the idea that musicians do their best work when they have no idea what they’re doing.”