“The vast majority of characters with disabilities, whether they’re played by actors with disabilities or not, continue to represent the same outdated tropes.” – The Conversation
Alan Rath, Who Created Kinetic Electronic Sculptures, Dead At 60
“Since the early 1980s, Rath has created kinetic sculptures guided by software of his own making. Rath’s robotic structures often feature computer-generated animations of disembodied human body parts — a roving eye or gaping mouth — exemplifying his interest in the relationship between human nature and mechanical and technological systems.” – ARTnews
How The National Endowment for the Humanities Is Complying With An Executive Order And Restoring Statues
“The money is coming in the form of Chairman’s Grants, the NEH’s method of providing emergency funding to safeguard cultural heritage in the face of (what are typically natural) disasters. Instead of courting controversy by re-erecting downed Confederate leaders, however, the NEH will use the money to restore a selection of mostly neutral choices.” – The Architect’s Newspaper
Chicago Jazz Clubs Flounder Under New Shutdown
“The past few months have been picking up a little bit. We’ve been trying to meet our restricted quota. So people were starting to come out a little more now. Now that we have to close, that’s another nail in the coffin.” – Chicago Tribune
Historical Interpreter At A Heritage Site Is One Of The Most Challenging Acting Jobs Around
These are the people you see in period dress portraying anyone from a Tudor monarch to an aristocrat’s cook “The work is underpinned by rigorous research, often drawing on primary-source material. The results, [one interpreter] says, have a different depth than a guidebook, or an audio guide.” – The Stage
Time To Take Out The “Word Trash”
Here’s why word trash is a problem: If language isn’t specific, it’s hard for us to connect with it—and with each other. And it’s 2020, which for some of us has been a year already devoid of physical contact. – Fast Company
How To Stay Creative During COVID Lockdown
The sameness and lack of novelty in our Covid existence can negatively impact our creativity — our ability to put ideas together in new, useful combinations to solve problems. Creativity is often enhanced when we’re exposed to new situations. – Harvard Business Review
When Bernstein, Sondheim, And Robbins Tried To Adapt Brecht
It was a decade after West Side Story, and Jerome Robbins got the idea to make one of Bertolt Brecht’s didactic plays into a musical. Though Sondheim in particular required some convincing, it eventually became a promising project, with John Guare writing the book and Zero Mostel engaged to star. Finally, the piece was set to premiere on Broadway in 1968, and then 1969, as A Pray by Blecht. (The title was Lenny’s.) Never happened, of course. Jesse Green recounts the story of how it came together and then fell apart. – The New York Times
Classical Concerts Under COVID: Where Things Stand In Asia, Australia/New Zealand, And the Americas
With governments in China, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore mostly able to impose safety measures without too much pushback, case numbers are down and concert numbers are up, though usually with reduced audience. New Zealand is almost back to normal and Australia is getting there, with even a Ring cycle planned for Brisbane this month. Alas, reports David Karlin, “the contrast between Asia and the Americas could not be more stark,” though tentative returns to concert life are happening in Canada, Colombia, and Chile. – Bachtrack
New Research: Van Gogh’s Mental Illness
“Experts at the University Medical Centre Groningen conducted a psychiatric examination based on hundreds of letters he wrote – the majority to his beloved brother, Theo – as well as existing medical records. They found that the artist probably experienced two episodes of delirium caused by alcohol withdrawal after he cut off his own ear.” – BBC
Fierce Debate About Whether Iowa Senate Candidate Should Have A Wikipedia Entry
During the past several months, while Joni Ernst and Theresa Greenfield debated each other (and gave us viral clips about the break-even price of corn and soybeans), a separate debate raged among Wikipedia’s volunteer editors about Greenfield’s eligibility for a page of her own. – Wired
“Fullnaming” Famous Composers Is Silly
Chris White’s “fullnaming” idea—an invented word for his invented crusade—seems to belong more in a social studies department at a middle school than a music department at a university. Johann Sebastian Bach versus Bach. We get the point. Doesn’t insisting on full names for everyone seem a little pretentious, annoying, tedious, and dare I say . . . elitist? – The Bulwark
Jeremy O. Harris Has Gotten HBO To Pay For Experimental Theater Stagings
“Harris, who is 31, has moved fast through the New York theater world — in a truncated season, Slave Play garnered 12 Tony nominations — and he now has a contract with HBO, the much-anticipated film Zola in the can, and Hollywood at or near his feet. But he hasn’t dumped the old toy for the shiny new one. As part of his HBO deal, Harris has secured a discretionary fund for experimental-theater production, essentially a weird-art slush fund.” – Vulture
AMC Theatres Report 90 Percent Decline In Revenue
The world’s largest exhibitor suffered a brutal 90.9% drop in revenues during the most recent earnings period, with sales clocking in at $119.5 million. Losses hit $905.8 million or $8.41 cents a share. In the prior-year quarter, a time when cinemas were open around the globe and world-altering pandemics were largely the stuff of Hollywood thrillers, AMC logged revenues of $1.3 billion on a net loss of $54.8 million or 53 cents a share. – Variety
The Mark Twain Election Story That Was Required Reading In Communist Chinese Schools
“‘Running for Governor’ is barely known in the United States. Samuel Clemens was editor of the Buffalo Express when it was published. It is the story of his run for governor, as Mark Twain, in 1870 — well, fictional run, of course.” The story was placed on the school curriculum soon after the People’s Republic was founded and remained there for half a century. – The Buffalo News
Artists And Our Cultural Divide
What role can artists play in the healing of a nation wounded by a viral pandemic and the chronic diseases of racism, inequality and rabid partisanship? Even for the proponents of art for art’s sake, politics is inescapable. – Los Angeles Times
Quibi’s Closure Announcement ‘Blindsided’ People Who Actually Make Its Content
Said crew members on one of the service’s original short-form series, “We were blindsided. We had just signed contracts and turned down other jobs to keep working on this show. … Our own execs had to constantly hound Quibi for further information.” – The Hollywood Reporter
A Recap of Trump’s, Pence’s, Biden’s, And Harris’s Records On the Arts
“The arts, writ large, rarely represent more than a footnote in election discourse (if we’re lucky). … But for those wondering what the election will mean for creative industries specifically, we’ve laid out the candidates’ respective histories with art — their policies, voting records, donations, and more — in a digestible breakdown below.” – Artnet
Which Museums Have Closed As Europe’s Second Wave Of COVID Worsens
“Countries such as Belgium, Germany, and France have imposed new lockdowns and forced the closure of institutions for a month and, in some cases, potentially longer. Below, a look at some of the major institutions that have planned closures in response.” – ARTnews
Rehearsals And Streamed Performances May Continue Under New Lockdown In UK
As Culture Minister Oliver Dowden clarified on Twitter, “Arts venues are places of work, so people can come into them for work, if it cannot be undertaken from home. This includes rehearsals and performance. Audiences are not permitted.” – Yahoo! (Press Association UK)
Are You Stuck Missing Galleries And Museums?
No worries, London will bring the art to you – and to everyone else, as long as you can get to the central city. “Details have been announced of an art programme on a spectacular scale, involving 2,000 sq metres of 8K resolution, 360-degree screens near Tottenham Court Road tube station.” – The Guardian (UK)
Johnny Depp Loses Libel Case Against British Tabloid
After the tabloid The Sun called Depp a “wife beater,” the actor sued. But the judge in the civil lawsuit ruled that “the great majority of alleged assaults of Ms Heard by Mr Depp have been proved to the civil standard.” – The Guardian (UK)
A Site Built To Compete With Amazon, But For Indie Bookstores, Makes Moves In Britain
Bookshop opened in the U.S. in January, hoping to build its site slowly while helping independent bookstores in the States. Five weeks later, cue COVID-19 shutdowns. “By June, Bookshop sold $1m worth of books in a day. The platform has now raised more than $7.5m (£5.7m) for independent bookshops across the US.” Now it’s starting to partner with independent bookstores in the UK as well. Why not? Amazon certainly threatens their existence as well. – The Guardian (UK)
Teaching The Arts To Students Via Zoom Requires Every Last Piece Of Teacher Creativity
And arts teachers in public schools are creative, no doubt about it. One middle school teacher quickly “created online tutorials on how to make art supplies at home, like glue and paint, from materials that could be found in a kitchen or recycling bin. She delivered content to her student by using her classroom’s Instagram and YouTube accounts, posting videos and images on topics like community art.” Music teachers do the same, with berry containers and rubber bands. It’s not easy. – Oregon ArtsWatch