“Almost a year after announcing their separation, the billionaire Roman Abramovich and his third wife, Dasha Zhukova, … remain deeply committed to [the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art,] the private institution they co-founded, says its director, Anton Belov.”
Month: July 2018
Today’s AJBlogs Highlights 07.10.18
- Wanna Direct the National Gallery of Art? (Job Description Below) When Earl (Rusty) Powell IIIannounced his intention to retire in early 2019 from the directorship of the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, I wrote that our country’s “two preeminent [art] institutions could … read more
- Where Culture Meets Community “What do you mean by the word community?” is a question I’m often asked when talking about the Creative Community Fellows program. And rightfully so. The term community is so over-used that it has become … read more
- Weinstein’s Rehab Reading “Harvey Weinstein entered New York State Supreme Court yesterday clutching a copy of A Talent for Trouble. Was Weinstein looking for someone to teach him about being a mensch?” — Leon Freilich He walked … read more
- Axel, Lutz, Salchow — whodunnit at Garsington Opera? It’s not very often that you hear and seen an opera in which you worry about (or care) whodunnit. Even Nicol Muhly’s (I thought splendid) Marnie, which had its world première in London … read more
When Numbers And Math Overtook Literacy As The Way Of The World
Even the mathematically averse among us today recognize the basic geometry that Radolph and Ragimbold failed to grasp, for we live in a numerate society, surrounded by countless manifestations of mathematics. Broadly defined as the ability to reason with numbers and other mathematical concepts, numeracy underlies our current information explosion. Its clichés dot popular speech: “do the math,” “crunch the numbers,” “figure the odds.” From birth to death, numbers track our lives institutionally and demographically. Some scorn such customs (think of Mark Twain’s “figures” of “lies, damned lies, and statistics”), but we all acknowledge numeracy as a cultural given, and agree that mathematics fuels the science, technology, and industry of our world.
Architects Are Using Virtual Reality To Give A Sense Of What Their Projects Will Feel Like
For centuries, architects have employed drawings and models to display and explain design plans. Virtual reality has turned things up a notch — some architects use the technology because it not only allows them to see a proposed building, it lets them get a sense of what it might feel like.
Head Of France’s National Arts Academy Fights For Support After Student Complaints Of Harassment
Jean-Marc Bustamante, the outgoing director of the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSBA), France’s national arts academy in Paris, has criticised the French culture minister for a lack of support after being attacked by students. This follows allegations of sexual harassment made by students against some of the school’s teachers earlier this year. An online petition on Change.org, demanding that the administration address the issue, has more than 1,000 signatures.
Here We Go Again – Reviving The Mozart Effect
A common test that detects electrical activity in the brain reveals “there is an anti-epileptic effect of Mozart music,” reports a research team led by Eliza Grylls. Three pieces of contemporary popular music did not have the same positive impact.
Rediscovering The Value Of CDs?
Many things once thought worthless—vinyl records, Brutalism—have grown in value. The Internet, which leaves no take unturned, has been predicting a compact disc comeback for years. After seeing what my lost Felt CD was now selling for, I began checking the prices of the CDs I’d held onto. A solo album by Kevin Rowland, of Dexys Midnight Runners, turns out to be worth $100 to $200 on Amazon. A couple Alex Chilton discs fall within the same price range. I was pleased, but scandalized too; I’d been so negligent with this treasure.
Revolving Door: UK Gets Its Sixth Culture Secretary In Six Years
Jeremy Wright takes up the position of culture secretary following four years as attorney general, legal adviser to the government. He replaces Hancock, who had been in the position since January this year, and becomes the sixth person to hold the post since 2012, following on from other MPs including Maria Miller and Sajid Javid.
It’s 50 Years Since Theatre Censorship Was Abolished In Britain – But How Much Freer Are Theatre Artists, Really?
“For over two centuries, since 1737, the Lord Chamberlain had the authority to veto new plays that they deemed indecent or that posed a threat to public order. … In the UK, we may no longer have ‘big C’ Censorship, but there’s also that with a small c, which can take the form of regulation such as film certification, or artists and organisations self-censoring due worries about public protest, sponsorship and its potential loss, media storms.”
The End Of HBO’s Boutique Quality?
Netflix is a production company of peerless scale when it comes to TV. It’s projected to spend $12 to $13 billion on original programming in 2018; meanwhile, HBO spent $2.5 billion on its shows in 2017. Netflix’s strategy is to overwhelm, pumping out fresh content at its subscribers and relying less and less on licensed material it doesn’t own. HBO has always had more of a “prestige” bent, taking a very long time to develop its shows and launching them with extreme fanfare, with an eye toward awards. But Stankey seems to view that deliberate pace as a result of laziness, and his desire to upend the network’s careful approach to putting out new shows (it only makes a handful per season) could mean the end of HBO as we know it.