There has been a proliferation of luxury celebrity writer “camps” that promise insight on how to be a successful writer. Is this an indulgence for the well-off or something practically useful? – The New York Times
How ‘Mao’s Last Dancer’ Transformed A Struggling Provincial Company Into A Powerhouse
Li Cunxin, who defected from China in 1981, danced with the Houston and Australian Ballets, retired from the stage in 1999, and became a Melbourne stockbroker. Then, in 2012, came a call from Brisbane. “Seven years [after he became artistic director], Li’s contribution has been dramatic. Queensland Ballet, once a struggling choreographer-led company, has become one of Australia’s most exciting repertoire ensembles … The budget has more than quadrupled, to over $20 million USD, and Li has launched not one but three major construction projects, with world-class headquarters, a theater and a new academy all in progress.” – Pointe Magazine
A “Marketplace Of Ideas” Is An Unworkable Idea
The metaphor of a “marketplace of ideas,” where some sort of rational choice theory means the eventual selection of the best quality information, looks naive in an environment where junk news driven by bots and trolls and other forms of non-transparent amplification floods the web, spreading faster than any byte of truth. – The American Interest
Geena Davis Just Made Children’s TV More Feminist
“In 2012, after receiving a $1.2 million grant from Google and working with computer engineers and social scientists, Davis launched the Geena Davis Inclusion Quotient, or GD-IQ, a method of using facial and voice recognition technology to analyze movies, TV shows and ads. The software … is able to ascertain the number of women relative to men, as well as the amount of screen and speaking time they’re afforded. – The Washington Post
Collector Paid $600 For Unknown Anthony Van Dyck Painting
A deteriorated oil sketch that Albert B. Roberts bought for $600 at an upstate New York auction in 2002 has turned out to be a study from circa 1620 for Van Dyck’s Saint Jerome with an Angel. The sketch — in as-is condition (including bird poop on the back) — is currently on view at the Albany (NY) Institute of History and Art. – artnet
Why We Can’t Agree On What’s True Anymore
Public life has become like a play whose audience is unwilling to suspend disbelief. Any utterance by a public figure can be unpicked in search of its ulterior motive. As cynicism grows, even judges, the supposedly neutral upholders of the law, are publicly accused of personal bias. Once doubt descends on public life, people become increasingly dependent on their own experiences and their own beliefs about how the world really works. – The Guardian
Netflix Might Start Giving Out Bonuses For Successful Films
Of course, that would mean it might need to release numbers because, after all, what is “successful” for Netflix? Bonuses for awards, however, might also be in the works at the streaming giant. – Bloomberg
Illustrator Marjorie Blamey, Who Just Died At 101, Had 10,000 Wildflower Paintings To Her Name
Blamey was an utterly prolific illustrator of wildflowers. She “contributed all the colour illustrations, amounting to many thousands of paintings, for a succession of distinguished field guides” – all without formal botanical training. “Her watercolour illustrations opened people’s eyes to the beauty of wild flowers at home and throughout Europe. … Her pictures captured the essence of a plant in a way that photography rarely can, and made identification much easier than was previously the case.” – The Guardian (UK)
Call It The End Of A (Millennials-Long) Era: Convents And Monasteries Are Dying
In Europe, an entire way of life is ending. “Around 1960, there were still about 110,000 nuns and monks in Germany. Twenty years ago, there were 38,348. Now, there are about 17,900.” But what to do with all of the art, architecture, land, and so much more? Er, how about student housing? “The students bring life into the convent. When they party on the field behind their building in the summer, it’s the superior general who has to deal with the calls from unhappy neighbors.” – Der Spiegel
German Jury Revokes Book Award Prize Over Author Kamila Shamsie’s Boycott Of Israel
Shamsie says it’s an outrage that her support of the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions movement would lead to this end. “The eight-member jury had decided on 6 September to make the British-Pakistani author their latest winner, citing writing that ‘builds bridges between societies.’ But when they learned of Shamsie’s support for the BDS movement, they announced that they would cancel their original vote and withdraw the award.” – The Guardian (UK)
Music Composed In Response To The Brett Kavanaugh Hearings
Composer Kenji Bunch had what he called a weird idea while watching the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings: Why not create music in response to “such a fraught moment, a watershed event”? He took his idea to Facebook, where other composers responded immediately. – Oregon ArtsWatch
After Transforming Children’s Lit, Jacqueline Woodson Pauses To Give Adults A Novel Too
Not that Woodson hasn’t written for adults – she has. She’s written memoir, poetry, prose, essays, and just about everything else for every age, including a recent picture book that grew out of a book of young adult poetry that grew out of her great-grandfather’s experiences. She’s won just about every prize there is to win in children’s and youth literature, including a prize that’s allowing her to found an organization that will give fellowships to emerging writers of color. And now, in her novels, she’s turning to a reckoning with the present and the past. – The New York Times
Think Museums Are Becoming More Inclusive? The Data Say No
“These findings challenge one of the most compelling narratives to have emerged within the art world in recent years: that of progressive change, with once-marginalized artists being granted more equitable representation within art institutions. Our research shows that, at least when it comes to gender parity, this story is a myth.” – artnet
Women’s Place In The Art World: What’s Changed In The Past Ten Years? (An Investigation)
“To examine the evolving representation of work by female artists in American museums and the global auction market over the past decade, we not only delved into data, but also conducted extensive interviews.” This seven-part package includes data visualization, methodology, examinations of museums and the marketplace, interview excerpts, case studies, and a look at the difficulties facing working mothers. – artnet
What, Actually, Is Cancel Culture?
“Like many phrases and ideas in 2019, this one has been appropriated, bastardized, and misused to the point of not only betraying its original definition and its usefulness in checking the actual repercussions of reactionary censorship, but in fact has become almost meaningless.” – The Daily Beast
Benjamin Millepied, LA Dance Project, And Figuring Out Dance In LA
“We’ve never had anything kind of like the splash that Ben has made, for better or for worse,” said Ben Johnson, performing arts program director at the city of L.A.’s Department of Cultural Affairs. – Los Angeles Times
Unknown Françoise Sagan Novel Causes Sensation In France
The just-published, unfinished 200-page volume, titled The Four Corners of the Heart and described as “a laconic dissection of the lives of the French haute bourgeoisie,” is the big news of this year’s rentrée litteraire, the post-summer “return” which is the height of the book-publishing year in France. – Yahoo! (AFP)
The Other Michael Cohen (Art Swindler) And The Documentary Maker Who Spent 17 Years Chasing Him
The story just got better – Papillon meets The Goldfinch meets The Great Train Robbery. But it had also gone cold. “I thought: oh, I’ve missed it.” – The Guardian
In Times Like These, We Need Literary Journals More Than Ever
“Almost certainly more than any other media in our country, literary magazines model critical thinking and arrange an exposure to the unorthodox, both of which can provide inoculations against where we seem to be headed as a collective. They assist in that crucial rear-guard holding action on both reading and writing’s behalf.” – Literary Hub
BBC To Move More Staff Out Of London
“We’ve made enormous strides. A decade ago, a third of the BBC was based outside London and two-thirds was in London. Today, that balance is 50/50. We’ve moved from less than 10% of our network TV programmes produced in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to 20%. – The Guardian
Patreon Wants To Fund The Creative Class. But Is It Just Propping Up A Bad System?
The service may very well allow artists to become less beholden to the unpredictable algorithms, turbulent monetization policies, and stingy revenue-sharing of behemoth distribution platforms like YouTube. But in the absence of a viable alternative to those platforms, Patreon winds up effectively subsidizing that very unpredictability, turbulence, and stinginess. – Wired
Making Dance Accessible To Blind And Partially Sighted Audiences
“Our ears take in the score, the artists’ breathing patterns, fellow audience members’ reactions, and the physical percussion made by the dancers’ footfalls and partnering. All of this information is available to audience members with limited to no vision, and when it comes to providing them with the rest, there are multiple approaches being refined by experts in the field generally referred to as ‘audience accessibility.'” – Dance Magazine
France And Italy Have Finally Stopped Fighting Over The Loan Of Leonardos
“Italy and France are set to sign an agreement to exchange works by Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael, burying a spat triggered by Italy’s former populist government. The deal … will result in Italian museums lending works by Leonardo to the Louvre, in Paris, for an exhibition in October to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the artist’s death. In return, France will lend Italy paintings by Raphael for events marking 500 years since his death next year.” – The Guardian
Finally, The Met Will Stage An Opera By A Black Composer
The chosen work is Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones, with a libretto by Kasi Lemmons based on the memoir by New York Times columnist Charles Blow, premiered this past summer at Opera Theater of St. Louis. When will it arrive in New York? That hasn’t been worked out yet. – The New York Times
UK Performers Union Calls For Radical Overhaul Of The Country’s Arts Infrastructure
Equity describes the policy as one that aims to “promote sustainable, optimistic and fulfilling careers” for its members and other arts workers. To achieve this, it claims a “radical overhaul of UK arts and culture is needed”. – The Stage