“Both walking through a city and reading a poem are ways to thoughtfully and pleasingly disrupt the flow of time and possibly to intensify or concentrate your experience. Both constitute occasions to ignore or even disrupt the prevailing fantasies—predicated on speed—of global capitalism: efficiency, profit maximization, and productivity. A poem is by design inefficient; it’s not a set of instructions or a memo or a text. A walk is almost never the fastest way to get somewhere. But both walks and poems can afford a more textured and deep experience of space and time.”
Why Akram Khan Made ‘Giselle’ Into A Ballet About Migrant Workers
“As [dramaturg Ruth Little] and Khan explored their own ideas about Giselle, they realised that the ballet’s apparently formulaic simplicity was actually its strength … Most fruitful to them was exploring the underlying issue of power – the gulf of money and class that separates the aristocrats from the peasants in the ballet, and that dooms Albrecht and Giselle’s love to tragedy.”
How To Get Boys Into Ballet?
“So, how do some academies in Texas – and across the U.S. – get more boys to sign up for ballet? One way is free tuition. While girls can pay thousands of dollars a year for lessons and gear, boys can get lessons for as little as nothing.”
Finally, We’re Beginning To Understand Time
“We’ve made little progress since Einstein – until now. Some theorists, in their frustration, revert to Augustine’s deduction: that the flow of time is an illusion. Although this conclusion doesn’t fall within the realm of science (how could you falsify it?), it provides a convenient excuse for ignoring the most salient aspects of time, the flow and the now, the aspects that are at the heart of human experience. Now, in the early 21st century, it is time once again to examine the meaning of time.” Physicist Richard A. Muller explains why.
Could Blockchain Transform The Art Market?
“In the art world, blockchain technology may hold the key to overcoming one of its greatest challenges: the lack of transparency. Frequently described as the last unregulated market, the art world often operates on trust alone. But this trust keeps being tested, as recent forgery scandals such as the Knoedler Gallery fiasco and the case of German forger Wolfgang Beltracchi show. A networked digital ledger such as a blockchain could help keep track of a work of art’s movements without relying on a paper-based—and at times insecure—system of recording provenance.”
So What Exactly Is El Sistema, And Is Its Effectiveness Over-Hyped?
The music-training program that started in Venezuela and now has many versions operating all over the world, has gathered passionate adherents. But its effectiveness is difficult to judge and many of its claims are unsubstantiated.
Turner Prize Show Gets Approval Of The Critics (Oh How Things Have Changed)
Time was, everyone’s favorite sport was dumping on whatever crazy art the Turner Prize finalists had created. That was then. The critics are much more enthusiastic this year…
How ‘Weird’ Became The Term Of Civic Pride In Hipster Cities
“About 15 years ago, an independent bookseller in Texas went to battle against the specter of mega-bookstore invasion. His weapon of choice was something a purveyor of books knew best: a word. And the word was weird.”
The Hip-Hop Heroines Of Kabul
“The Taliban may no longer control the airwaves, but young women in Afghanistan still face torture and death for performing music. Meet the women who are pushing back – by rapping, singing, even playing the cello.”
New California Law Requires IMDB To Remove Actors’ Ages If Requested
“Their ages are already very public and easy to find. The law is designed for the working performer… who wanted the opportunity to be able just to be seen for the first time or to be able to go into a room when they’re not known and be able to show their work and not have the subconscious bias of their age being the deciding factor of whether they should be able to come in that room or not for an audition.”
Is The Future Of Americana Music In England?
“While the Americana Music Festival and Conference, which wrapped on Sunday in Nashville, primarily focused on artists from the States, a good number were from Britain, where the genre is becoming better known and where artists are feeling more enabled to play music that appeals to their sensibilities for string-based music that harkens back to traditional country icons, from Hank Williams to Dolly Parton.”
Women Dominate This Year’s Giller Prize Shortlist
Of the six finalists, five are women with Gary Barwin, author of Yiddish for Pirates, the sole male finalist for the prestigious prize.
The Best Foreign-Language Oscar Race: Here’s Some Early Handicapping
“Frequent competitors – such as France, Spain, Iran, South Korea and Chile – have opted to bank on festival favorites from directors with significant art-house clout. As tried-and-tested as this method of attack sounds, it’s in fact not a given occurrence.”
Iraq’s Newest Museum Opens – In Saddam’s Former Palace In The City He Tried To Strangle
“The Basrah Museum has been planned for eight years and will join the National Museum in Baghdad as one of the most important institutions in Iraq. For the first time in a generation, the people of southern Iraq will have their own museum – a great achievement under extremely difficult circumstances.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 09.27.16
Arts Congressional Report Card: Why The Arts Have No Political Clout
Americans for the Arts Action Fund PAC has released its 2016 Congressional Arts Report Card rating members of Congress on their support for the arts. Many lobby groups do such rankings as a way of … read more
AJBlog: diacritical | Douglas McLennan Published 2016-09-27
Met Layoffs Today: About Three Dozen People Let Go
Today, the Metropolitan Museum of Art shed more staff – in the form of involuntary layoffs. As we’ve known for a while, the Met’s financial position has deteriorated: … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2016-09-27
Library Lessons
The transition from books to information as the core mission was something libraries had to address over the last generation. Today, the relevance transformation expands to provision of services and resources. … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2016-09-27
Witnessing
When you think about it, the majority of my practice as an orchestral musician is witnessed. … Lately I’ve been focusing on the thinking part of my practice. It’s the part that wrestles with aesthetic, organizational and social frameworks. … read more
AJBlog: SongWorking Published 2016-09-27
Abstract Expressionism Hits the Bull’s Eye
This is the Tate website glossary’s definition: “Abstract expressionism is the term applied to new forms of abstract art developed by American painters such as Jackson Pollock, … read more
AJBlog: Plain English Published 2016-09-27
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Brent Assink To Leave San Francisco Symphony
Assink has been executive director for 17 years. “Running an organization presenting more than 220 concerts a year, with an operating budget close to $70 million (and including the crisis years of the Great Recession), Assink guided the orchestra through many challenges, saved it from going deeper into debt, even during the unusually expensive season celebrating the Symphony’s centennial in 2011, and allowed it to maintain high standards.”
Maastricht Art Fair Makes A Move Into Manhattan
“The American debut of the European Fine Art Fair … is more than just another event on the cultural calendar. It’s an attempt by the fair, whose 270 exhibitors face a shrinking audience in Europe, to secure and revitalize its future.”
Simon Keenlyside Back In Action After Almost Two Years Of Throat Trouble
First he felt a “tick” in his vocal cords during a live simulcast of Rigoletto from Vienna (he had to bow out mid-opera), then his doctors told him he needed thyroid surgery. “Luckily it was a false alarm, but they had to take some out, and they did a bad job. That stopped me dead in my tracks. I couldn’t sing a note for five, six, seven months. Nothing.”
Pierre Huyghe Wins Second-Ever $100K Nasher Sculpture Prize
“Huyghe, 54, succeeds last year’s inaugural winner, Colombian artist Doris Salcedo, who received, as Huyghe will, the $100,000 grand prize, along with a special award created by Italian architect Renzo Piano, who designed the Nasher.”