Author: Douglas McLennan

The Challenges Of Trying To Define “Cool”

What exactly is ‘intellectual cool’? For a start, although it includes intellectual trends, or what we sometimes call ‘fashions,’ it obviously is not just this. And here we run up against a very difficult problem – what we call ‘cool’ never describes itself, never declares itself, and never advises who it will be visiting next. People who write about Spinoza will never say they’re doing so because he’s really cool at the moment. Equally, ask a hipster who they hate the most and they will say, without a moment’s hesitation, ‘Hipsters! I f*cking hate them!’ – Sydney Review of Books

Being Lost Can Be Terrifying And Disorienting. Or It Can Open Your Mind

Lostness has always been an enigmatic and many-sided state, always riven with unexpected potencies. Across history, all varieties of artists, philosophers, and scientists have celebrated disorientation as an engine of discovery and creativity, both in the sense of straying from a physical path, but also in swerving away from the familiar, turning in to the unknown. – The Atlantic

CBS Is Using Artificial Intelligence To Measure Viewers’ Emotional Reactions To Shows

With Canvs Surveys, CBS can now field more open-ended surveys and also expand the set of questions it includes on each one. The tool measures and categorizes consumers’ responses to characters, plot lines and other topics (like related shows), using a standard set of emotional tags such as “love,” “excited,” “bored,” “sad” or “anxious.” – Variety

Portland Loses An Arts Institution – And It Happened Out Of Sight Of The Community

“Closing the college and selling off the campus is the worst possible outcome for just about everybody. It ends a craft community and keeps anyone else from ever joining it. Sometimes, your community isn’t large or committed enough to go on, and then, yes, that’s the end of things. But asking your community to help you figure it all out should be the prior step.” – Oregon Arts Watch

Here’s How Brexit Will Impact The Business Of Art

One example: Tornabuoni Art, a high-end dealership with galleries in six locations in Britain, France and Italy, now plans to close its current London exhibition of 20th-century abstracts by Alberto Burri and Lucio Fontana on March 9, three weeks earlier than scheduled. The 40 works in the show have a value of about 70 million euros, or $79 million, which would attract a tax bill of €7 million if shipped back to Italy after Britain drops out of the European Union’s free trade zone, because Italy levies 10 percent on artworks imported from outside the bloc. – The New York Times

Countries File Claims Against UK Museums For Return Of Artifacts

A series of high-profile restitution claims have been received by institutions including the British Museum and the Natural History Museum in recent months. They include a call from the government of Gibraltar for the return of Neanderthal remains, including the first adult skull to be discovered by scientists, and a request from Chile for the repatriation of the remains of a now extinct giant ground sloth. – The Guardian

Why Karl Lagerfeld Was A Giant

Lagerfeld made the leap from fashion-industry stalwart to pop-culture icon when he was appointed creative director of Chanel, showing his first couture collection in January 1983. It’s a sign of his transformative influence that few remember that Chanel was in genteel decline at the time, adrift since the death of its eponymous founder in 1971. Lagerfeld gave the ailing Parisian label an adrenaline shot to the heart, cunningly remixing the house’s classic looks for a younger, more international clientele.  – The Atlantic