“What is the modern equivalent of the philosophical novel? How, if we happened upon one, might we recognise it? Assuming it is not enough for there to be a passing reference to Wittgenstein or Kant, or for pages to be sprinkled with words like “epistemological” and “ontological”, what does it look like?”
Month: April 2012
Movie Trailers As Art Form
“This is the new world of trailers, in which the Internet and rabid fan culture have turned one- to three-minute ads, once seen only in theaters, into events promoted and analyzed as avidly as the films themselves.”
Anonymous Hits Netflix, Trying To Start Boycott
“Monday afternoon saw a case of the Internet hype machine gone wildly out of control in which a Twitter account associated with the hacktivist movement Anonymous launched an online boycott of Netflix over the video subscription company’s newly-formed political action committee.”
Decoding A Maestro’s Moves
“So in an attempt to understand what is going on, we interviewed seven conductors as they passed through New York in recent seasons with an eye to breaking them down into body parts – like that poster in the butcher shop with dotted lines to show the different cuts of meat – left hand, right hand, face, eyes, lungs and, most elusive, brain.”
At Canadian Opera Co., Where Are The Canadian Operas?
“The COC is an international-calibre opera company that routinely sells out houses with powerful productions of European classics … but it has been 13 years since the company programmed a piece of music written by a Canadian in its main venue.” This doesn’t seem to bother subscribers, but it drives the Canadian music community crazy.
The Lion King Is Now Broadway’s Box Office Champion Of All Time
“Nearly 15 years after it made its debut to both critical and popular acclaim, The Lion King has topped The Phantom of the Opera as Broadway’s highest-grossing musical of all time. The show, based on the Disney animated film of 1994, has grossed $854 million.”
Mike Daisey, Career Apparently Salvaged, Prepares New Piece On Cape Cod
“Despite being found to have fabricated details in his one-man show The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, Mike Daisey will lead off the season at the Cape Cod Theater Project this summer. Working with the director Jean-Michele Gregory, Mr. Daisey will devise a new work at the theater, where he developed the Jobs project, among others.”
The Living Eco-Sculptures Of Mexico City
There’s “a towering arch of 50,000 plants rising over a traffic-clogged avenue in a metropolis once called “‘Mexsicko City’ because of its pollution. … One of three eco-sculptures installed across the city by a nonprofit called VerdMX, the arch is both art and oxygenator. It catches the eye. And it gobbles up the carbon dioxide contributing to high ozone levels.”
Competing To Redesign Washington’s National Mall
“A amphitheater at the base of the Washington Monument. A glass-enclosed restaurant overlooking the Constitution Gardens pond – and a winter-time ice-skating rink where the pond currently sits. A lively new Union Square, with streams of water arching into the Capitol Reflecting Pool. Those are among the ideas that architects and designers have floated for redesigning and reviving three sites on the National Mall.”
We Are Explanation-Seeking Animals
“So uncomfortable is it for us if something doesn’t have a cause that we strive to determine one, one way or the other, even absent the necessary evidence.” According to some researchers, the process of seeking – or making up – explanations for things is crucial to human cognition.