February 2018 – Page 13 – ArtsJournal Wayback

It May Be Time To Overhaul The Funny Pages Completely

With the entire comic-strip genre undergoing changes of medium (from paper to pixels), generation (the creators of many newspaper mainstays have been dying off or retiring), and audience (Millennials don’t tend to get their news or their cartoons on newsprint, and they prefer big events to day-to-day consistency), Ernie Smith argues that the remarkable ~~stagnancy~~ stability of the comics page needs a major shake-up.

‘Silhouettes And Steam Calliopes’ – Kara Walker’s New Public Art Piece For New Orleans (And Its ‘Extremely Irritating Auditory Element’)

It was a long, tricky, expensive, and contentious process to get Katastwóf Karavan fabricated and transported to Louisiana, even though Walker can laugh about it now.

A 700-Year-Old Nutmeg Tree In The Hirshhorn Museum Lobby

“A design over two years in the making, [Hiroshi Sugimoto’s makeover] transforms the museum’s entrance and lobby area, turning the information desk into a coffee bar, and providing a more inviting seating area next to it. Sugimoto’s armchairs reference both the iconically circular shape of the building and coils of DNA, and the tables are made from the roots of a 700-year-old Japanese nutmeg tree he found 15 years ago. … Benches stand on legs of the same kid of optical glass used in camera lenses.”

Deal Struck To Sell Westminster Choir College To Chinese Steel Co. For $40 Million

Just a day after Princeton Theological Seminary announced that it has filed a lawsuit to stop the sale of Westminster Choir College, Rider University has finally revealed the potential purchaser of the school, a Chinese firm based in Beijing that runs private K-12 schools. The company, Beijing Kaiwen Education Technology Co., Ltd., … was called ‘Jiangsu Zhongtai Bridge Steel Structure Co’ until December of 2017. The company has only been operating schools since 2016.”

Supreme Court Rules Terrorism Victims May Not Seize Iranian Antiquities As Compensation

“The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that Americans injured in a 1997 suicide bombing in Jerusalem cannot seize ancient Persian artifacts from a Chicago museum to satisfy a $71.5 million court judgment against Iran, which they had accused of complicity in the attack.”

Makers Of ‘The Shape Of Water’ Sued For Plagiarism By Playwright’s Estate

“David Zindel, son of American playwright Paul Zindel, filed the complaint Wednesday alleging that [Guillermo] Del Toro’s critically acclaimed film, which has more Oscar nominations than any other this year, has ‘exploited’ the play Let Me Hear You Whisper and should have credited and licensed his father’s work.”

With A New Orchestra In San Diego, Conductor Rafael Payaré Is Leaving His Old One In Belfast

Little more than a week after the San Diego Symphony announced that it had hired the 37-year-old Venezuelan as its music director, the Ulster Orchestra has announced that Payaré will step down as music director at the end of next season.

What’s The Next Big European TV Export? Flemish Crime Dramedies

Says Walter Iuzzolino, who curates a selection of European television for broadcast in the UK and streaming in the US, “You often pretty much know what you’re going to get from a Scandinavian, or French, or Italian show. But there is something about the Belgians that means a show is never entirely straight. So The Out-laws is like a family comedy stroke thriller. You’re watching something like Desperate Housewives with a gun, and then gradually it becomes darker and darker. Professor T has almost Ally McBeal-like musical and dream sequences alongside straight police procedural.”

Scotland’s Arts Funder Gets Caught Lying About Controversial Cuts

“Creative Scotland has admitted a cover-up over how controversial funding cuts were made – as its chief executive admitted she was ‘profoundly sorry’ over how they were handled. The quango has also pledged a ‘root and branch’ review of the way funding decisions were made and a ‘reset’ of its future priorities in the wake of widespread criticism across the cultural sector.”

Month: February 2018