Old phials in a 7th-century medicine factory now being excavated in Istanbul have been found to contain methanone (an antidepressant) and phenanthrene (a cardiac medication). And yes, there’s plenty of evidence that the Byzantines – and many other ancient cultures – knew about and used treatments for depression.
Claim: Our Museums Have Been Taken Over By A Culture Of Complaining
“Since Robert Hughes wrote his book over 20 years ago, the culture of complaint has become ever more prevalent. Complaining has become an art form and a way of life. Much of contemporary art (as represented on the other floors of Tate Modern’s new extension) is a complaint about greedy corporations and the inhumanity men show to men – or, more often, to women. And it invites us to join in. Tate Exchange touts itself as ‘a space for everyone to collaborate, test ideas and discover new perspectives on life, through art’. That is, it’s a space for complaining. The corrosive effect of turning complaining into an artistic endeavour is becoming clear.”
The Library Is Dead; Long Live The Library!
“Gone are the days in which functional literacy, i.e., being able to read and write and do basic math, is enough for people to find their way around. The Internet bombards us with so many blocks of text, images, and videos that online navigation is turning into an increasingly complex and, for those lacking information literacy skills, mind-boggling enterprise.”
How Do You Get The Attention Of A Nation Binge-Watching The Presidential Election?
“At BookPeople in Austin, Texas, summertime sales of general fiction titles fell 12% from last year, while science fiction took a 26% hit. ‘I guess they don’t need science fiction because they’re getting so much in politics,’ says Steve Bercu, who is co-owner of the 46-year-old store. Sales of books about politics and current events, he said, surged 45% during the same period.”
Phil Chess, Co-Founder Of Chess Records And Pioneer Of Blues And Rock Industry, Dead At 95
“Mr. Chess and his brother Leonard Chess arrived in America as little boys, two Jewish immigrant kids from Poland. They started Chess in 1950, recording Muddy Waters, Etta James, Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy and other top musicians who spread the gospel of the blues. Teens in England and around the world heard the so-called ‘race music’ Chess helped popularize, and the cross-pollination helped birth rock.”
At 90, Chuck Berry Is Releasing His First Album In 38 Years
“Beyoncé and Radiohead may have surprised the world with unexpected records, but Berry likely just left a few jaws on the floor. Because on Tuesday, he announced Chuck, his first record since 1979’s Rock It.”
How Can The State Dept. Get Russians To Like Americans Better? Broadway Musicals
“When Russians were asked [in a survey] what they liked about Americans, they answered, in essence, ‘Not much.’ But when asked what Americans do well, oddly, one of the top answers was ‘musicals.’ (Russians obviously missed Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.) So America’s diplomats looked stageward for help and discovered Broadway Dreams, a decade-old nonprofit that runs week-long master-class programs throughout the United States and internationally.”
New App Lets Anyone Create Music. So How Will This Change Music?
“When we use screenplay-writing software we become used to moving scenes around physically, as if stacking neat plastic boxes. Similarly our music – once represented only as cryptic black scratches on white paper – is now circles and squares and starbursts. Whether this has any long-term effect on our cognition will be for the scientists to study; I wonder if our ability to conceive the invisible will change, or even shrink.”
Reading Books Has Always Been A Status Symbol Even Among Those Who Don’t Read Them
“The symbol of reading was, perhaps, bigger than the act of reading itself. Individuals sought to capture their devotion to books through painted portraits that depicted them deeply absorbed in reading a text. Paintings of people reading and portraits of individuals embracing a book became widespread in Renaissance art.”
The Chinese Billionaire Who Wants To Take Over The Global Movie Business
Since acquiring AMC Entertainment, the second-largest cinema chain in the US, for $2.6bn in 2012, Wang Jianlin, who is worth an estimated $32.5bn and has ties to the communist Chinese government, has been aggressively staking his claim on the industry. So far, he’s snapped up Europe’s biggest cinema group, Odeon and UCI, purchased the US production house Legendary Entertainment (the company behind the Dark Knight trilogy and Jurassic World), and boasted that he intends to soon buy one of the six major US studios.
Has Satire Died? (And Is That Okay?)
“The thing I’ve learned over the 30 years of doing it is that satire doesn’t work. It has the opposite effect. Our outrage turns into elation and a joke. It’s a release valve.”
Octobass – The Biggest Bass Fiddle You’ve Ever Seen
“We can go pretty low,down to the lowest note on a piano, so, quite a bit lower than a double bass and actually lower than the tuba and the contrabassoon.” The instrument was invented in 1849 by luthier Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume in France.
The All-Out Battle Over A Broadway Show That Just Started Previews
“Threats of lawsuits are flying, people have been banned from the theater, and the creative team is fomenting revolt. And it’s all over . . . billing. Don’t laugh. Billing on Broadway is as important as holding territory on the Russian front.”
The Macarthur Genius Poet Who’s Giving Her $625,000 Prize To The “Racial Imaginary Institute”
Claudine Rankine is part of a group of thinkers who are dreaming up a “presenting space and a think tank all at once” where artists and writers can really wrestle with race. She wants it to be a “space which allows us to show art, to curate dialogues, have readings, and talk about the ways in which the structure of white supremacy in American society influences our culture.”
Have You Heard Of The “Museumization” Of Migration?
The “museumization of migration,” as one academic has put it, is a significant shift in the history of museums. But the resulting exhibitions deserve as much attention for how they obscure the West’s new relationship to migrants as for how they clarify it.
An Exotic Dancer Tells How Work Has Changed In The Internet Era
“A lot of people don’t come out for the companionship anymore. They can get it in other ways for much cheaper. Why go to a strip club just to live out the fantasy, when you can pay $100 dollars for somebody to sleep with you for the evening and actually get the fantasy come to you? … We don’t really get a lot of people who are paying customers anymore. We get a lot of people who are looking for girlfriends.”
‘I Was Having Conversations With Myself’ – Soprano Sings Two Roles In Same Performance Of ‘Traviata’
“Less than six hours before the curtain was to rise for the final performance of Pittsburgh Opera’s production of La traviata, the lead singer, Danielle Pastin, was sick, and it was unclear whether she would be able to perform. Was [Claudia] Rosenthal – the understudy who had been playing the small role of Annina – prepared to play Violetta instead? … Oh, and by the way, she would still have to sing Annina’s part, too.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 10.19.16
The essence of every picture
I’ve offered a few posts recently on the craft and qualities of language in advancing purposeful work. … But to me, the most essential and the most often missing aspect of any productive conversation is the frame. … read more
AJBlog: The Artful Manager Published 2016-10-19
KQED is encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation with an in-house incubatorNieman Lab
This isn’t an article written by me, but it features me. So I thought I’d share it here. … read more
AJBlog: Lies Like Truth Published 2016-10-19
Recent Listening: Cyrille-McHenry, Effenberg
Andrew Cyrille & Bill McHenry, Proximity (Sunnyside)
Cyrille, a dancer on drums, teams with the intrepid tenor saxophonist McHenry in a succession of duets. Their close listening to one another results in empathy that … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-10-19
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Leeds International Piano Competition To Be Rethought
The Leeds is a major competition and has launched the careers of pianists such as Murray Perahia. Preliminary rounds will now be held in international cities and streamed. Winners will now also get career mentors who will help them adapt to international careers.
Just What Tonight’s Debate Needed: A String Quartet Accompaniment!
The Late Show will have PUBLIQuartet improvising along with the debate on Facebook Live. According to the group’s website, PUBLIQuartet’s “innovative programs span arrangements from the classical canon, contemporary works, original compositions, and open-form improvisations that expand the techniques and aesthetic of the traditional string quartet.”
Report Scotland’s Visual Art Sector Is In Peril
“Creative Scotland’s study found that almost half of Scotland’s artists were having to take on additional jobs to make ends. Self-employed artists are said to be earning an average of less than £15,000 a year, compared to the average Scottish salary of £26,000, with even those work more than 15 years experience behind them struggling on little more than £20,000 a year on average.”
Very Brave Choreographer Creates Dance Starring Art Museum Staffers
“When the French choreographer Jérôme Bel unveils MoMA Dance Company next week at the Museum of Modern Art, the 25 performers will have had just three rehearsals as a group. Mr. Bel is the first to acknowledge that the experiment, as he calls it, might not work.”
Why Aren’t More Top Museums Led By Women? Asks New York Times Op-Ed
Sonnet Stanfill, curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum: “In 2015, the world’s top 12 art museums as based on attendance – what I call the ‘directors’ dozen’ – were all led by men. When Frances Morris became the director of the Tate Modern in April, she became the first woman to join the club. This gender gap extends from Europe to North America, where only five of the 33 directors of the most prominent museums (those with operating budgets of more than $20 million) are women.”
Ted V. Mikels, 87, Film Auteur Of ‘The Corpse Grinders’ And ‘Blood Orgy Of The She-Devils’
“[He] was a flamboyant figure – known for his waxed handlebar mustache and the boar tusk he wore around his neck – who often produced, wrote, directed and edited his films. He relied on outlandish plots, cheesy special effects and curvaceous actresses like Tura Satana … [as he] cranked out an endless stream of bloody shockers, sci-fi thrillers, action films and jiggle-fests.”