“The striking workers are all employed at companies that have federal contracts with the U.S. government. They include food service workers, cleaning staff and other privately contracted employees who labor on federal properties such as the Smithsonian Institution’s museums and the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.”
Month: November 2014
Could We Ever Really Program Computers To Write Fiction? (Maybe)
There are challenges, of course – getting machines to understand a plot arc, let alone metaphor or irony. But scientists are working on three programs – Scheherazade, the What-If Machine, and Metaphor Magnet – to tackle these problems. Tom Meltzer talks to the creators, while Nicholas Lezard reviews the stories.
North Miami Settles Lawsuit With Former MOCA Board Members
“[The city of] North Miami will keep the majority of the 600-work permanent collection, some of which was donated by board members who left MOCA, … [as well as] $1 million in grant funds and the rights to the ‘MOCA’ name.”
“The Audience”, About Elizabeth II, To Be Adapted By Netflix
Peter Morgan’s play, a West End hit currently running on Broadway with Helen Mirren as the Queen, will be adapted into a ten-part on-demand video series titled The Crown.
National Dance Company Wales Finally Stabilizes With New Leaders
“Ann Sholem, who co-founded the company formerly known as Diversions, with her husband Roy Campbell-Moore, quit as artistic director last year – months after Campbell-Moore left his post as artistic associate.” Gustavo Ramírez Sansano has been named the new artistic director, with Paul Kaynes as CEO.
Elite Colleges In An Arts Arms Race
“Elite campuses across the country have emerged from the recession riding a multibillion-dollar wave of architecturally ambitious arts facilities, even as community arts programs struggle against public indifference. … But the seeming boom also comes at a time of unprecedented criticism of how colleges teach and how they spend money, and amid a push to measure what students learn.”
Stanford Univ. Is Building An Entire New Arts District
“Construction of a $235 million arts district near Palm Drive, the grand tree-lined campus entrance, is well underway here. Last year, the $112 million Bing Concert Hall opened. This year came the $36 million Anderson Collection, a new American-art museum … Next up is the $87 million McMurtry Building for the art and art history department, to open in 2015.”
Declan Donnellan Remembers Cheek By Jowl’s All-Male “As You Like It”
“To many at that time, an all-male Shakespeare production seemed like a one-off curiosity that would lead nowhere. … We were nervous opening with this strange experiment; the first performance was in Farnham and the following week was Rio. … The news slowly started to spread. Soon festivals were inviting us to perform in other countries.”
£10,000 Goldsmith Prize To Ali Smith’s “How To Be Both”
“[The novel] comes in two different versions, enabling its readers to experience its two parts – one about a Renaissance Italian fresco painter, one about a contemporary teenager whose mother has recently died – in a different order.” The award, now in its second year, recognizes fiction that experiments with or expands the novel form.
“Trespass Theater” At A Superfund Site (Ew)
“While [most site-specific] productions are held in controlled and sanctioned spaces, [Jeff] Stark’s works take place in locations like abandoned power plants and disused subway stations, with no permission or permits, and are subject to a rude lack of cooperation from the real world.” The play at hand: an enactment of the Persephone myth at Brooklyn’s notoriously polluted Gowanus Canal.