“Mainstream economics is built on the premise that the economy is a machine-like system operating at equilibrium. … The system might experience shocks, but the result of all these minute decisions is that the economy eventually works its way back to a stable state. … But why not look at the economy in terms of the messy complexity of natural systems?”
Leo Beranek, Father Of Modern Acoustical Science, Dead At 102
“Under his leadership, [television station] WCVB instituted news programming changes that continue to shape Boston’s broadcasting landscape today. Dr. Beranek also was a leading philanthropist for major arts institutions, particularly the Boston Symphony Orchestra … Yet, it was his work in acoustics that created a lasting legacy, through improved concert venues in Boston, at Tanglewood, and around the world.” He was also, alas, involved in one of the 20th century’s great acoustical fiascos.
Black Films Matter: African-American Indie Cinema Rises Again
“One thing is for sure: looking back, the 90s was a golden age. The amount of black cinema breaking through at that time is astonishing. … A new generation of black film-makers is starting to respond to this reality, down the road those 90s pioneers paved.”
What Did We Learn From The Orgy Of Dance That Was This Year’s “Fall For Dance”?
“What I took from this season was a strengthening dislike of dancing in the dark—piece after piece began without lights, and many of them never got much brighter—and the sad realization that dance is growing further and further detached from music.”
Movies Turn To A TV Show Process: The Writers’ Room
“Mr. Goldsman, who won an Oscar for ‘A Beautiful Mind,’ has persuaded other top writers to join him in adapting seemingly cheesy Hasbro brands like M.A.S.K., a short-lived ’80s toy line and TV series about secret agents whose cars and trucks turn into weapons. Among those he attracted to this year’s Hasbro room are Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ screenwriter Nicole Perlman.”
Claim: 90 Percent Of Movies Made Before 1914 Are Lost
“We estimate that in the U.S. 90% of movies made before 1914 have disappeared,” Nicolas Seydoux cautioned. “In France we don’t know the amount we’ve lost, but I think the fact we can reproduce them [digitally] gives us new hope,” he added. French film journalist Fabrice Leclerc in a presentation noted that, by his count, “one fourth of America’s cinematic heritage is now preserved outside the U.S.”
Stephen Fry: I Hate Dance! (A Meditation – A Rant, Really – Against Moving)
Directed, choreographed and performed by the US dancer and filmmaker Jo Roy, the result is a delightfully charged piece of performance art that’s utterly engaging, whichever side of the dance divide you tap your feet.
The Public Acclaim And Private Grief Of The Public Theatre’s Oskar Eustis
“His 16-year-old son, Jack, took his own life nearly two years ago. Now, Mr. Eustis, with his family, faces the kind of soul-searching for which there can be no preparation. How to hold on and move forward at the same time. What it means to be a public figure with a private grief. How he thinks about the work he does and the shows he sees. The tragedy coincided with a time of extraordinary success in Mr. Eustis’s professional life.”
An Artwork Is Damaged In Transit, Setting Off A Fascinating Insurance And Authentication Battle
If the piece can be repaired does the artist have to do it? If not, does the piece then lose its value because it’s no longer authentic? And who pays what to whom?
How Do You Measure Aesthetic Value? This Researcher Has Some Ideas
“For arts professionals, curators and artists, my research shows that evaluative measures (qualitative or quantitative) are most useful when selected and combined in ways that take into account how people encounter an exhibit in practice, and how they observe each other’s actions and share aesthetic experiences in the course of social interaction.”
This Should Be A Perfect Time For Nancy Grace, But Her Show Just Got Cancelled. What Happened?
“The past few years have been dominated by headlines about criminal justice and sexual assault – the latter has lately consumed even the coverage of the 2016 campaign. The cultural appetite for grim true crime storytelling, meanwhile, has never been so keen. We are seemingly more susceptible than ever to both Grace’s material and her method, to narratives about sexual violence and to blunt outrage. What happened to Nancy Grace?” Laura Bennett figures it all out.
America’s Oldest Music Group
“Music has been a part of America’s history since the very beginning. In fact, America’s oldest continuously active professional music organization predates Washington, D.C.”
It Took 30 Years To Get ‘Dreamgirls’ To The West End, Says Producer
Sonia Friedman: “And so for years and years, many great producers have tried and been thwarted. I just kept persisting, and anyone who knows me knows I don’t give up. I just kept trying to get the rights. I tried so many times and failed.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 10.13.16
Rejoicing
Well, I think it’s thrilling that Bob Dylan won his Nobel prize. One of the most profound artists alive today. Someone who goes very deep in me. … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2016-10-13
Colliding Ideas
Tere O’Connor Dance appears at the Joyce Theater in the second week of NY Quadrille. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2016-10-13
Other Places: Brilliant Corners … Neglected Ballads
On Brilliant Corners trumpeter, active blogger and close listener Steve Provizer not only names ballads that he believes don’t get enough attention, he also presents them in performance. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-10-13
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UK Decides To Phase Out Art History Exams Over Protests Of Art History Teachers
“Earlier this year, the board sent out a new history of art syllabus for consultation, which received widespread approval – but now it says that it has decided not to develop it for teaching in 2017. Students taking the current course will be unaffected and will be able to take their AS-level exams in 2017 and A-level exams in 2018, says the board. But this news means that once that course is phased out under government rules, they will be the last to take history of art for A-level.”
What The Literary World Is Saying About Bob Dylan Winning The Nobel
“Though Dylan was long rumored to be a contender for the Nobel, the possibility had attained a kind of mythical, some might say comic, status. And after waiting 23 years for an American to win the literature prize — Toni Morrison was our last one — wouldn’t the Swedes finally recognize DeLillo or Philip Roth or Joyce Carol Oates? You know, people who actually write literature? The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.”
Jacob Weisberg Explains The Corrupting Influence Of the Attention Economy
The old cliché about advertising was, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” The new cliché is, “If you’re not paying for it, you’re the product.” In an attention economy, you pay for free content and services with your time. The compensation isn’t very good.
A Literature Nobel For Songwriting? Not Quite
Handwringing about “what is literature?” seems inevitable after the announcement that a rock star has taken the global writing community’s biggest award. But no great existential crisis is needed. The Nobel Committee could have decided that with this prize it wanted to expand the definition of “literature” to include recorded music, a hugely influential and relatively young art form that doesn’t have an award of Nobel-like prestige dedicated to it. But it seems to have declined to do so.
Playwright Dario Fo, 90
“He was best known for two works: “Accidental Death of an Anarchist” (1970), a play based on the case of an Italian railroad worker who was either thrown or fell from the upper story of a Milan police station while being questioned on suspicion of terrorism, and for his one-man show “Mistero Buffo” (“Comic Mystery”), written in 1969 and frequently revised and updated over the next 30 years, taking wild comic aim at politics and especially religion.”
Stepping Into Fred Astaire’s Tap Shoes
Corbin Bleu, who started out as a star in Disney’s High School Musical and went on to star on Broadway in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights and the 2012 revival of Godspell, talks about his role – one originated by Astaire – in the revival of the Irving Berlin musical Holiday Inn.
Bob Dylan Wins Nobel Prize For Literature
“He is the first American to win since the novelist Toni Morrison, in 1993. The announcement, in Stockholm, came as something of a surprise. Although Mr. Dylan, 75, has been mentioned often as having an outside shot at the prize, his work does not fit into the traditional literary canons of novels, poetry and short stories that the prize has traditionally recognized.”
The Financialization Of American Education (Let The Debate Begin)
“Reconsidering and reforming our system of higher education should move beyond debates about whether STEM skills—those promoted by the study of science, technology, engineering, and math—trump liberal arts. We need both, not only because it’s impossible to predict exactly what the jobs of the future will be, but also because critical thinking in any field is the most important measure of economic and civic success.”