“Architecture is an expression of values – the way we build is a reflection of the way we live. This is why vernacular traditions and the historical layers of a city are so fascinating, as every era produces its own vocabulary. Sometimes we have to explore the past to find inspiration for the future. At its most noble, architecture is the embodiment of our civic values.”
Kennedy Center’s New President Wants To Spotlight Contemporary Arts
Deborah Rutter: “I grew up loving Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, but I am compelled by work that is created today. We need to expand that. We need to take more risks. “I keep hearing Washington is more conservative. I’m going to push you on that.”
Heroes: They Act First, Think Later
“People who perform heroic acts seem to do so instinctively, risking their lives to help someone else without giving the consequences much conscious thought.”
Edward Villella Gives Ice Dancing A Spin
No, not as a skater. (Our Eddie is 78, after all.) Dick Button – no doubt with an assist from Villella’s wife, once a champion skater herself – convinced him to try choreographing serious ice ballets. (And by the way, Villella says, “I will never work for a board again and I will never raise money again. It’s a beautiful freedom.”)
Could Atlanta Lose Its Orchestra?
“Could we lose the orchestra altogether, as happened in Miami and Honolulu in recent years? Of course we could. These things always seem impossible until they happen. There is a cascading effect flowing from the lockout. We are losing subscribers. Donors are angry. The crisis feeds on itself.”
Chinese Arrest Beijing Artists Protesting In Solidarity With Hong Kong
“In Beijing, police detained about 11 artists, poets, and journalists from Songzhuang Artist Village who were planning a pro-democracy poetry reading that would also showcase posters expressing sympathy for the Hong Kong demonstrators.”
She’s Making Flamenco Postmodern
“Some say she’s killing ‘real’ flamenco – but Rocío Molina has no time for conservatism. She’s teaming up with a Korean hip-hop dancer and takes her inspiration from Nietzsche and Brueghel.”
Shakespeare And Co. Artistic Director Ousted
“Roughly a month after Shakespeare & Company’s new executive director and president, Rick Dildine, arrived at his job at the helm of the venerable Berkshires company from a similar job at the helm of Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, he announced the departure of artistic director Tony Simotes, effective on Nov. 10, several months before the end of Simotes’ contract.”
Disney To License “The Lion King” For School Productions
“There will be two versions of the musical available – a 30-minute version for primary schools and 70-minute adaptation for secondary schools.”
Yes, Amazon Is Effectively A Monopoly, And The Justice Dept. Should Rein It In
Scott Timberg: “In many cities and neighborhoods, Amazon has destroyed the bookstores (and other locally owned shops), so it’s often the only option. Think of what the rapid spread of cellphones have done to payphone booths: There now is no alternative. In other words, exactly what anti-trust legislation was established for.”
Amazon Isn’t The Problem With Capitalism, It’s Part Of the Solution (So The Justice Dept. Should Let It Be)
Reihan Salam: “No, I’m not saying that it’s OK for Standard Oil to come along and gouge its customers because we don’t want to discourage future robber barons. I’m saying that having the government step in and squash Amazon before it actually uses its (supposed) pricing power to screw consumers will likely yield less innovative entrepreneurship. The only people who will win in this scenario are the mostly wealthy people who own shares in lazily managed companies.”
“High Times” At 40: Can An Outlaw Magazine Survive The Mainstreaming Of Marijuana?
“It had always been the place where dopers gathered to gaze at photos of 9-foot-tall plants and truncheon-sized joints; to advertise their homemade pipeware; and, not least, to flip their collective bird at the man. … But lately weed doesn’t feel all that countercultural. And fewer weed smokers self-identify as outlaws. … Does the world still need High Times when square-ass Slate is running vape reviews?” Totally, say the editors.
What, Everybody Can Be Queer Now? LGBT Themes And Images Meet The Ever-Vexed Issue Of “Appropriation”
“In theatre, television and pop music, being gay has become ever more mainstream, while in the traditionally avant-garde art world, queer art (or art that draws on the codes and cultures of homosexuality) is no longer only made by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) artists. … Who has the right to use this imagery and can anyone claim ownership of queer culture?”
Hanging A Tapestry In The Met Museum Is A Lot More Complicated Than You Think
“The tapestries are epic, intricate pieces, spanning up to thirty feet in length and weighing an average of 100 pounds – which begs the question of how, exactly, the museum hangs them. Luckily, the Met released a video illustrating the surprisingly arduous procedure of mounting van Aelst’s work.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 10.15.14
Outreach
AJBlog: Engaging Matters
Five Questions For Leonard Lauder As The Met Reveals His Cubist Collection
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts
Birgit Nilsson’s Legacy
AJBlog: OperaSleuth
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How Our Elite Colleges Have Failed Their Students
“More colleges with a higher tolerance for risk, for passionate weirdness in curriculum and teaching, might well help our children make a more distinctive world for themselves. How far off such hopes now seem.”
After Down Year, Warner Bros. To Cut $200 Million In Costs And Make Layoffs
“The studio released a handful of duds during the summer, including “Blended” and “Jersey Boys,” and now finds itself in unfamiliar territory: third place in domestic box-office share. The studio has finished No. 1 or No. 2 in nine of the last 10 years.”
National Book Awards Finalists
The prominent literary prize narrowed its nominees to 20 writers — a mix of heavyweights and many new ones. And across the Atlantic, Richard Flanagan won Britain’s biggest award, the Man Booker Prize.
Elena Ferrante Is One Of Italy’s Most Popular Writers (But Who Is (S)he?
“Over the past two decades Elena Ferrante – a pseudonym, of course – has become one of her country’s most exciting and compelling contemporary literary voices. And, as her celebrity grows, so too does the guessing game surrounding her identity.”
HBO To Launch New Standalone Streaming Service
“This will be transformative for our company,” Plepler said during his presentation at Time Warner’s Investor Day confab. Noting that there are now about 10 million households in the U.S. that are broadband-only, he declared: “It is time to remove all barriers to those who want HBO.”
Netflix Stock Drops After HBO Streaming Announcement
“Netflix’s stock slipped about 2% after HBO made a surprise announcement that it would launch a standalone, over-the-top U.S. streaming service in 2015 — representing a potentially robust new competitor to the No. 1 subscription VOD service.”
Cuba Struggles With A Violin Shortage
“Before Cuba’s 1959 revolution, many students played violins, violas, cellos and bass from European workshops. After it, the Soviet Union provided violins and cellos, along with many other goods. Now, as Cuba struggles to revive its stagnant centrally planned economy, students must make do with violins from China that too easily pop strings and lose their tone.”
Greece Turns To UN For Help In Repatriating The Parthenon Marbles
“Culture Minister Costas Tassoulas said Wednesday that UNESCO has urged Britain to consider a year-old proposal to participate in a mediation process to resolve the world’s most famous heritage dispute.”
Christopher Wheeldon, Edgar Degas, And “Swan Lake”
“Wheeldon discovered that the rather seedy world of 19th-century ballet harbored a counterpart to evil sorcerer Von Rothbart. In Degas’s paintings, ‘I kept seeing this mysterious top hatted figure,’ he says, ‘standing in the wings, looking out onstage.'”
Met Museum Gets Serious About 20th-Century Art With New Lauder Collection
The group of 81 Cubist works – including works by Picasso, Braque, Léger, and Gris, and donated by Leonard Lauder last year – “marks a turning point for the Met that includes new curatorial hires, a planned renovation of its Lila Acheson Wallace Wing and an expansion into the building currently occupied by the Whitney Museum of American Art.”