Director Ilinca Calugareanu talks about her new film, Chuck Norris vs. Communism which looks at how Hollywood action movies offered Romanians living behind the Iron Curtain a glimpse into Western culture, and helped spark a revolution.” (audio)
What’s The Deal With Dubuffet’s ‘Art Brut’?
“The trajectory of twentieth-century art history has long been a fairly tidy one, with artists of similar sensibilities herded into neat groups; those who fall beyond these bounds are too often left out of the story, sometimes ‘rehabilitated’ only decades later. But art brut offers a ready example of looking beyond expected lines of investigation into what Dubuffet praised as ‘new values not yet perceived.'”
What Does A Casting Director Do?
“We look for somebody who can elevate the material, which is very important when you’re looking at so many actors for a specific role. Particularly in pilot season. There are times when we see hundreds of actors for one role. It’s quite often the people who get down to the wire are the ones who can elevate the material in a way nobody else has.”
Will ‘Mozart In The Jungle’ (Not To Be Too Dramatic) Save Classical Music?
“Set apart immediately by its setting and even more so by its platform, Mozart, a show about art, commerce and change is being produced not on network or even cable television but on instant streaming. Classical music, often deemed inaccessible and elitist, is being represented in the most accessible form, and streaming or not, we have a show that delves into the complexities of a career in the arts without being pedantic. Unfortunately for those who may never care enough to watch, Mozart has selling power in surprising amounts.”
The Smithsonian’s Cosby Show Problems Magnified
“As the Smithsonian contemplates the dilemma yet again, it can’t be stressed strongly enough: This was a bad show from the start. It was bad on ethical grounds (because it could potentially elevate the value of an art collection owned by a close friend of the museum’s director), and it was bad on curatorial grounds.”
More People Are Streaming. But Piracy Is Way Up Too
“Piracy is still just a great alternative, unfortunately, for those who want free content. The best way to fight piracy is to just make your own services better, cheaper, easier to use.”
Royal Shakespeare Co. Set For First-Ever Tour To China
“Shakespeare’s works were banned in China from 1964 to 1977 and the playwright was denounced as ‘revisionist, feudalist and capitalist’ and now productions of his plays were allowed. But next year, to mark 400 years since the Bard’s death, the RSC will take productions of Henry IV Part I, Henry IV Part II and Henry V to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong in February and March.”
This Was The Year The FCC Showed Why It’s Still Relevant
“On Feb. 26, the commission adopted the strongest net neutrality protections in American history: the Open Internet Order of 2015. This historic order established basic “rules of the road” for online traffic to prevent broadband providers from splitting the Internet into two tiers.”
Rudyard Kipling, Misfit Poet
“Kipling is not at all like his image, which is a good thing, since he is widely regarded as jingoistic, narrow and racist. It is a pity if, for this reason, some never read him. Kipling was always an outsider, and never a member of the Establishment. He received the Nobel Prize, but refused any honour, including the Order of Merit, that would identify him with a single country.”
The Future No Longer Works The Way We Thought It Did
“The 130-year timeline of telephone innovation describes a relatively steady rise as the technology under the surface was continuously improved … But the timeline of innovation for the defining technology of our new age is barely a line at all: The Internet happens, and all hell breaks loose. … You couldn’t have foreseen Twitter, and if you had, you probably would have dismissed it as a dumb idea. I would have.”
A Wiki-Discography Becomes Indispensable To Collectors And The Entire Music Industry
“Borrowing from Wikipedia’s model of user-generated content, Discogs has built one of the most exhaustive collections of discographical information in the world, with historical data cataloged by thousands of volunteer editors in extreme detail. … And with an online marketplace through which nearly $100 million in records will be sold this year, Discogs has carved out a valuable niche in a market dominated by companies like Amazon and eBay.”
Canada’s Longest-Running Music Critic Retires At Age 84
Claude Gingras spent six decades as the classical critic for Montreal daily La Presse. Many observers objected to his often-harsh language – one Toronto colleague called him “Canada’s potshot king” and Marc-André Hamelin once refused to play if he was in the hall – but he was an early champion of conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin and composer Claude Vivier.
Sophisticated Art-Theft Ring At Rome Airport Busted, Say Police
“Police said the gang … made up of cleaning staff and ground crew at Rome’s Fiumicino airport … devised a plan to steal the works of art by pretending to bring them to oversized baggage collection points.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 12.30.15
Year-End Poll Results
Again this year, I swore off voting in what has become an epidemic of jazz popularity contests, also known as critics polls, with one exception. I don’t seem to be able to say no to … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-12-30
Cruising the Moskwa
Occasional Rifftides Moscow correspondent Svetlana Ilicheva (pictured) sent a report that may bring summer memories to those of us in the grip of the northern hemisphere winter. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-12-30
Screw Conventions
Liturgy’s new album, The Ark Work, wins the number one ‘avant’ album of 2015 over at Rolling Stone. They even mention John Luther Adams in the description. It is a remarkably original album, strongly compositional, and apparently … read more
AJBlog: PostClassic Published 2015-12-30
Snapshot: the original 1952 London production of South Pacific
A complete archival multi-camera sound film of the original London production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific, starring Mary Martin. The production, directed by Joshua Logan, was a reproduction of the original Broadway staging. … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2015-12-30
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Higher Education In America Has Huge Problems. How Can They Be Fixed?
“For too long at too many American colleges and universities, it has been assumed that students alone control their educational destiny. So, static lectures, irregular student assignments and feedback, and disjointed course offerings remain in place even though better alternatives exist.”
The Smithsonian Says It Won’t Alter Bill Cosby Art Exhibition
“Eddie Burke, a spokesman for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art, said Wednesday that the exhibit will close as scheduled on Jan. 24. He says no changes will be made to a posted disclaimer that says the museum does not condone Cosby’s alleged behavior.”
‘They Can’t Cage Your Mind’: New York Public Library Brings Spoken-Word Poetry To Rikers Island – And Inmates Love It
“They had been pried from their favorite television shows to attend – of all things – a poetry reading. Some nice people from the public library, they were told. Then came the poet: unshaven, in his early 20s, dark hooded sweatshirt, dark T-shirt, dark ball cap slung backward on his head. Some men leaned forward, elbows on their knees. Expressions shifted to curiosity: This was not what they were expecting.”
Why Doesn’t The Metropolitan Opera Perform On Sundays?
“Peter Gelb, the company’s general manager, who has broached the idea of performing on some Sundays to attract bigger audiences, said in a recent interview that he had not yet been able to reach the necessary agreements with members of the Met’s work force to make it happen.”
Egypt Shuts Down Two Arts Venues And A Publisher
“In the first raid, on Monday, government agents seized papers and computers at the Townhouse Gallery and the affiliated Rawabet Theater before suspending the organization’s activities … On Tuesday, officials and police officers raided Merit, the publishing house, arresting an employee and confiscating equipment.”