“Humans rarely think for themselves. Rather, we think in groups. Just as it takes a tribe to raise a child, it also takes a tribe to invent a tool, solve a conflict or cure a disease. No individual knows everything it takes to build a cathedral, an atom bomb or an aircraft. What gave Homo sapiens an edge over all other animals and turned us into the masters of the planet was not our individual rationality, but our unparalleled ability to think together in large groups.”
Author: Douglas McLennan
2017 Index: The Twenty “Most Vibrant” Arts Communities In America
“The overall index is composed of three dimensions: supply, demand, and government support. Supply is assessed by the total number of arts providers in the community, including the number of arts and culture organizations and employees, independent artists, and entertainment firms. Demand is gauged by the total nonprofit arts dollars in the community, including program revenue, contributed revenue, total expenses, and total compensation. Lastly, the level of government support is based on state and federal arts dollars and grants.”
Lindsay Pollock Steps Down As Editor Of “Art In America”
Under Pollock’s leadership, Art in America instituted regular features such as artist-designed covers and mini-profiles of up-and-coming artists. She also expanded the magazine’s international coverage, publishing regular reports from far-flung parts of the world in the “Atlas” column.
The Day They Dropped A Piano From The Sky (And Inspired Woodstock?)
Whether Woodstock would have happened without Sky River is, of course, anybody’s guess, but Sky River absolutely would not have happened without an even less-heralded event called the Piano Drop, a one-day Dadaist spectacle held on April 28, 1968, in a tiny town (its population was just 455) northeast of Seattle called Duvall. As the name of the event suggests, the Piano Drop featured a dropped piano (which organizers hoped would land on a specially prepared wood pile with a resounding crash), plus music by Country Joe and the Fish. Depending on whom you talk to, at least 3,000 and as many as 5,000 people showed up for this experiment in sonic mayhem.
Gustavo Dudamel Makes Rare Statement On Venezuela And Gets Criticized From All Sides
“Opponents of the Maduro regime, which is trying to starve the country into submission, have accused Dudamel of targeting the opposition by failing to name the government as the cause of present miseries. Supporters of the Government are calling him a turncoat. Debate is raging across social media.”
Youth Shelter In Oregon In Oregon Refuses Donation By Portland Gay Men’s Chorus
“What’s more shameful is that Hearts With A Mission is so fearful of being perceived as endorsing — what?” the Medford Mail Tribune wrote in an editorial. “The existence of gay men? The performance of choral music by gay men in a church sanctuary to benefit a charitable organization?”
Eugene Symphony Names New Music Director (Here’s Why That Might Interest You)
National and even international attention has been focused on music director searches in Eugene lately because three of the last four people on the podium — Marin Alsop, Miguel Harth-Bedoya and Giancarlo Guerrero — have all gone on from their jobs here to national prominence.
Once A Decade: Granta Picks The 21 Young American Writers To Watch
The literary magazine has a stellar track record picking writers. Rather than make a yearly list, Granta picks looks over the course of a decade to choose writers it thinks will make an impact.
Decoded: Ancient Carvings In Turkey Tell Of Comet That Devastated The Earth
“Evidence from the carvings, made on a pillar known as the Vulture Stone, suggests that a swarm of comet fragments hit the Earth in around 11000 BC. One image of a headless man is thought to symbolise human disaster and extensive loss of life. The site is at Gobekli Tepe in southern Turkey, which experts now believe may have been an ancient observatory.”
We Should Be Very Careful About What We Call “Art” (And Who We Call “Artists”)
Whereas “artists” originally were, by definition, people who create art, “art” is now defined as anything made by a purported artist. The “institutional theory” codifying that premise is fully operative in the global art establishment.