“By putting digital copies of works online, Darnton has argued, we could open the collections of the country’s great libraries to anyone with access to the network. We could create a ‘Digital Republic of Letters’ that would be truly free and open and democratic. The DPLA would allow us to ‘realize the Enlightenment ideals on which our country was founded’.”
Month: April 2012
Hurray For Public Transportation, But Not When It Kills Galleries
“The expansion of the new Exposition Light Rail (Expo) connecting downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica means major changes to the Bergamot Station Arts Center, a 7.4-acre complex that houses 35 galleries in several metal-clad industrial buildings. An 18-year-old art space is being threatened with destruction and gallery owners worry they could be pushed out by rising rents when the new railway stop opens in 2015.”
Home Entertainment Spending Percentages Way Up – But Will Rental Stores Survive?
With streaming up almost 550 percent in the first quarter of 2012 and people still buying packaged DVDs, the industry is smiling – but bricks and mortar stores are dying.
What Really Happened At Guernica? Survivors, Forced To Be Silent For Decades, Remember
Survivors want people to remember more than Picasso’s painting. “Guernica was a dress rehearsal of sorts for the blitzkrieg and a new breed of warfare that held no regard for civilian populations. During the Franco dictatorship, which lasted from 1939 to 1975, it was forbidden to speak about the number of people who died in the Guernica attack, and the figure continues to be contested.”
A Young Athlete United A Broken Country 40 Years Ago – And Now She Gets An Opera
“Her dramatic gold medal at the Munich Olympics in 1972 ensured her status in her home country of Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles. Now the pentathlete Dame Mary Peters is to be remembered in a 12-minute opera composed to coincide with the London Games.”
Fifty Shades of Grey Author Hits Town, And Adults Queue Up Like Mad
As the author of the “mommy porn” bestselling books starts her book tour, adults act like kids at a Harry Potter book release. “‘This is a literary phenomenon,’ said Mitchell Kaplan, owner of Books & Books, the independent bookstore where E L James was signing copies. ‘E L struck a nerve, and her storytelling speaks to so many people.'”
Mystery Sculptor Strikes Again – In Mystery Writer’s Mailbox
“Ian Rankin received a series of elaborate drawings etched into the pages of old parchment on his 51st birthday yesterday, the latest in a series of unexplained sculptures to appear across the libraries and cultural locations in Edinburgh.”
The Job: Making Goodwill Cool (Time To Call In Some Architects)
“There’s a lot of talk right now about values-driven design and what it can do to make the world a better place. Most of those conversations center on the green building trend; architects are leading the eco-revolution, creating smart homes and advanced public spaces that are energy-efficient and Earth-friendly. But conscientious design doesn’t have to be high-tech like that. In fact, many of the most worthy projects are positively pre-tech, recycling old materials and ideas into something fresh. They can take us higher as well.”
This Is Samuel Jackson’s World, And How It Got That Way
“Samuel L. Jackson works. It’s all but impossible to turn on a TV set any night of the week without happening on one of his movies (and sometimes two or three). Hence his anointment by Guinness World Records as ‘the highest-grossing film actor’ of all time.”
The Best New Yorker Covers You’ve Never Seen
The (possibly better; surely more outrageous) covers that didn’t make it through the process, culled by the magazine’s art editor.