“UX is sort of like an artist’s collective, but far from being avant-garde–confronting audiences by pushing the boundaries of the new–its only audience is itself. More surprising still, its work is often radically conservative, intemperate in its devotion to the old. Through meticulous infiltration, UX members have carried out shocking acts of cultural preservation and repair, with an ethos of ‘restoring those invisible parts of our patrimony that the government has abandoned or doesn’t have the means to maintain’.”
Month: February 2012
How A Silent Movie Few People Have Seen Won The Best Picture Oscar
“The film hasn’t made much money in America but that’s not the point – the point was getting those 6,000 voters fully au fait with it. It’s the perfect campaign.”
The Meryl Streep Problem
“The issue isn’t really one of authenticity. Streep can be piercing in grief, as her searing Oscar-winning performance in “Sophie’s Choice” attests. But her characterizations are so well calculated that they call attention to their own artistry. The dancer is always distinguishable from the dance.”
How To Save The Oscars Telecast
“The Oscars are about the movies, not podium jokes and stage spectaculars. Generating audience enthusiasm requires more radical steps. Here are a few ideas for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, all designed to engage moviegoers’ interests without sacrificing Oscar voters’ independent critical judgment.”
Foreclosing On Hollywood (Signs Of Ill Health)
“Beyond the hype that culminates in the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, Hollywood is contracting, battered by the same economic forces reshaping the rest of the country.”
Scotland’s “Margaret Thatcher” Steps Down From The Country’s National Library
“Mr. Anderson’s tenure has seen a long-running battle, between a corporatist management approach that has forced through change in a digital era and old-guard librarians who cherish their love of books and archives.” And it hasn’t been pretty.
Stop! Take A Picture Before You Drink The (Latte) Art
“There are technical reasons for variations from barista to barista, like how quickly they pour the milk through the espresso or the size of the cup; but in the end, it’s the rhythm of their hand, just like any artist’s hand, that makes the difference. No two are alike, and personal style can be your best friend or something you fight in the quest for perfection.”
Why LeBron Can’t Take The Pressure – And Why Some Of Us Can’t Either
“For social scientists, the National Basketball Association isn’t simply a source of pulse-pounding excitement, it’s a laboratory that yields insights into human behavior,” even in the arts. (Check out the one on unconscious racial bias, for instance – that’s a pretty powerful study.)
What The Hell Is Washington State Thinking, Trying To Sell Its Public Art?
“Public collections are kept in trust for the public. The thing about trusts is that you don’t go radically altering (in this case selling) the asset kept in trust. If you treat a trust as a rainy day fund, it simply ceases to exist.”
Working Musicians Need To Hear And Play – In The Same Evening
“When I go to hear live music, I experience one of the few healthy things that our culture offers us: a chance to connect with members of our species without our differences being at the fore. Wouldn’t it be great to play music the same way? It seems like that should be the way it is, but our culture isn’t small enough to unify music making.”