Unruliness, perversity, pigheadedness—psychologists have long been interested in this bestiary of paradoxical thought and action. Perversity is a puzzle. It’s hard to explain, scientifically, what Edgar Allan Poe described as “the imp of the perverse.” – The New Yorker
Author: Douglas McLennan
The Rise Of Ambient (Background) Music
Ambient is often as haunting and uncanny as it is gorgeous. But the idea of music that eschews gestural rhetoric—there are no statements, no returns, no developments—is still highly experimental, avant-garde territory in the current state of the classical tradition. – Van
A Tiny Russian Town Of Artists Has Made Icons For Centuries. Now Its Livelihood Is Failing
It survived the Soviet Union, changes in taste, the rise of cheap knockoffs and fakes. But the modern world might prove too much. – The New York Times
Our Arts Patronage Problem – The Scandals And Those Who Fund
Keeping track of all the scandals around museum patronage in the United States in the last few years is no easy feat. There are scandals over real estate money, prison money, oil money, funding by climate change deniers, funding by supporters of far-right causes in general, Koch Brothers funding, and more. And as they multiply, the scandals begin, more and more, to become less about individuals and more about the system. Sometimes voiced out loud but mainly behind the scenes, the question for museums is: Where will the money come from? – Momus
Does The Shed Suggest New York Is Looking For Something Different In Its Arts?
“It seems there is a divergence in our artistic landscape, where we value trend and zeitgeist as highly as artistic growth and creative development. The Shed serves as a manifestation of this tension between art and spectacle, highbrow and lowbrow. My suggestion is that we view the construction of the Shed as a call for change on an artistic level—a sign that audiences and funders are ready and searching for new ideas and, more importantly, a new approach to exacting those ideas.” – Howlround
This Year’s Kennedy Center Honorees
This year’s class of honorees, the 42nd annual since 1978, is eclectic as usual. – NPR
Elon Musk Wants To Implant Computers Inside People’s Brains
The company is developing a device to implant inside the brain that supposedly will allow people to control computers and other devices with their minds. At the announcement, Musk said the company is on track to begin testing the implants in human patients as soon as next year. – The Atlantic
Prospect Magazine’s List Of The World’s 50 Top Thinkers
“The urge to rank and measure might itself seem anti-intellectual—more Top Trumps than top scholarship. But the aim is not to chase a chimera still less to deliver the results of some supposedly objective IQ test. Rather it is simply to honour the minds engaging most fruitfully with the questions of the moment.” – Prospect
Netflix Reports It Lost Subscribers In Q2; Stock Dives
The company on Wednesday reported a loss of 126,000 domestic paid subscribers compared with analysts’ expectations for a 352,000 gain. Netflix also missed its own forecast for global subscriber growth by 2.3 million. Its shares plunged more than 11% Thursday. – CNBC
Portland Opera General Director Steps Down
Christopher Mattaliano, who was hired as general director in 2003, will instead become an artistic consultant for the opera company, starting with the upcoming 2019-20 season. Effective immediately, Sue Dixon, Portland Opera’s current director of external affairs, will step in as interim general director. – Portland Mercury