“The weird feel of us meeting in a virtual fishtank, with real people able to peek in, makes me think of a possible future where performers work in VR, while directors or creators observe in video panels, able to provide more emotional nuance with their faces. VR isn’t able to blend moving around and using real facial expressions yet, which makes VR theater performances feel more like dance and puppetry than real living, talking faces. But this hybrid of VR and video chat feels like something new.” – CNET
Author: Douglas McLennan
The World Has Suffered A Trauma – So How Might Trauma-Care Inform Our Response?
“We will need to be prepared for an entirely new and multi-phased approach to audience and community engagement—both at the organizational and industry-wide levels. When there is no precedent, there is also no case study, so in my own formulation of possible ways forward, I’ve turned to approaches from outside our field and outside of our own literal context. In fact, this ultimately led me back to my training in social work.” – Tom OC
Denver Arts Funders Rush To Help, But The Scale Of Damage Is Overwhelming
Colorado’s funders have been stepping up to prop up the arts with emergency money. But it’s clear that the need far outstrips the resources. What happens next? – Westword
When Pianists Write Books
Five prominent pianists have released books recently. Some are collaborations, some a simple musings. All show an engagement with the world beyond the keyboard. – Van
Time To Do Away With The Meritocracy?
Meritocracy begins with the idea that people have to be measured on a scale of human value. So when we have decided that meritocracy is the way into higher education — or in particular into government, via higher education — it becomes an essential problem, because participation is then premised on the idea of achievement on a hierarchy of values which you may or may not have subscribed to in the first place. – Chronicle of Higher Education
Why We’re Still Crazy Over Old Rock Musicians
“There are many reasons why musicians continue to make music, both live and in the studio, right up until the end. In some cases it is out of financial necessity, and in other instances it is because of an addiction to the adrenaline rush of mass adulation, an experience rather harder to reproduce in the lavish surroundings of an exclusive retirement community. Even as we might good-naturedly mock and wince at what we see as the more absurd aspects of their careers, there is an enormous affection that exists between audience and act, especially if their fans have grown up with their favourites.” – The Critic
UK Festivals Say They Could Be Wiped Out
The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), which represents 65 festivals in the UK, including Gloucestershire’s 2000trees, London’s Meltdown and Sheffield’s Tramlines, reports 92% of its members saying they face costs that could ruin their businesses as a result of cancelled events, with the vast majority (98.5%) not covered by insurance for cancellation related to Covid-19. – The Guardian
Some Bookstores Are Starting To Reopen. How’s It Working?
As some states allow a handful of businesses to reopen and other regions charge ahead full throttle, it is an experiment for bookstore owners and other retailers attempting to strike a balance between staying afloat and keeping workers and customers safe. – The New York Times
Twitter Tells Its Employees They Can Work From Home Forever
The company will “never probably be the same” in the structure of its work. “People who were reticent to work remotely will find that they really thrive that way. Managers who didn’t think they could manage teams that were remote will have a different perspective. I do think we won’t go back.” – BuzzfeedNews
What Do Artists Need Now? Why Not Ask Them?
“I think that’s the problem with the model. The institutions do have to exist, but when s**t gets hard they have to care about their staff, not their gig workers, or their artists. I mean they might say that they do, but there’s no net for the artists I don’t think because the artists aren’t employed by anyone. The artists are self-employed.” – Dance Magazine