“While the Internet was meant to allow you to reach out to any- and everyone without a hint of the cruel discriminations that blight our world, it turned into the opposite, a forum where individuals are less speaking to other people than preening and listening to themselves—turning themselves into desirable objects to be coveted by all. It became, that is, the perfect embodiment of consumer capitalism, where everything can be touted in the marketplace.” – New York Review of Books
Author: Douglas McLennan
Remembering Canadian Curator Bruce Ferguson
From the late 1980s onward, Bruce was recognized as an expert on cutting-edge Canadian art. He knew all the artists and got all the jobs—well, not quite—and was repeatedly invited to curate the Canadian contributions to the major biennials. – Canadian Art
Benjamin Millepied, LA Dance Project, And Figuring Out Dance In LA
“We’ve never had anything kind of like the splash that Ben has made, for better or for worse,” said Ben Johnson, performing arts program director at the city of L.A.’s Department of Cultural Affairs. – Los Angeles Times
The Other Michael Cohen (Art Swindler) And The Documentary Maker Who Spent 17 Years Chasing Him
The story just got better – Papillon meets The Goldfinch meets The Great Train Robbery. But it had also gone cold. “I thought: oh, I’ve missed it.” – The Guardian
How’s Jaap van Zweden Doing At The New York Phil? There Are Some Surprises
Anthony Tommasini: “When Mr. van Zweden’s appointment was announced, it was questioned whether he would prioritize cultivating living composers, commissioning major works, bringing in a new generation of conductors and soloists, and reaching out to the New York community to try and become a leading cultural figure here. Yet he has delivered quite well thus far.” – The New York Times
BBC To Move More Staff Out Of London
“We’ve made enormous strides. A decade ago, a third of the BBC was based outside London and two-thirds was in London. Today, that balance is 50/50. We’ve moved from less than 10% of our network TV programmes produced in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to 20%. – The Guardian
Patreon Wants To Fund The Creative Class. But Is It Just Propping Up A Bad System?
The service may very well allow artists to become less beholden to the unpredictable algorithms, turbulent monetization policies, and stingy revenue-sharing of behemoth distribution platforms like YouTube. But in the absence of a viable alternative to those platforms, Patreon winds up effectively subsidizing that very unpredictability, turbulence, and stinginess. – Wired
UK Performers Union Calls For Radical Overhaul Of The Country’s Arts Infrastructure
Equity describes the policy as one that aims to “promote sustainable, optimistic and fulfilling careers” for its members and other arts workers. To achieve this, it claims a “radical overhaul of UK arts and culture is needed”. – The Stage
A Brief History Of Being Famous
There are two ways of telling the story of celebrity, and both are true. The first narrative holds celebrity to be a modern invention. There were always famous people, but they made their names through great deeds and works and with an eye to posterity. – Times Literary Supplement
Rise Of The Anti-Meritocracy
“An attack on meritocracy is invariably an attack on higher education, where meritocrats get sorted and credentialed. So the turn against meritocracy prompts big questions. Has meritocracy in fact failed?” – Chronicle of Higher Education