“If you’re looking for virtuoso virtue-signallers, then classical music is the place to start. But right-on competitions are merely the gruesome fruit of something more deeply rooted: an intellectual culture poisoned by late 20th-century identity politics and postmodern verbiage. That’s a problem in other disciplines, of course, but at least artistic and literary pseuds attract mockery. It flourishes in university music departments because no one gives a toss what happens there.”
Author: Douglas McLennan
Guggenheim Reveals Newly-Cleaned Manet And Surprise… Different Colors
The late-period painting, found in the artist’s studio when he died, had been dramatically changed over the years, including being cut down on the sides and trimmed at the top, as is demonstrated by a photograph taken by Fernard Lochard in a studio inventory. Overpainting included an added signature (“Ed Manet”) and filling in the trellis-like background, which was less “finished”. The syrupy top, dark layer of varnish is a type typically used for musical instruments or wood furniture, also muted the painting’s sketchy energy. Even the subject’s right eyebrow was changed during the earlier restoration from a raised arch to a more neutral and passive line.
Banksy Offers To Help Save Bristol’s Public Libraries
“He has come forward and talked about supporting us and we will see how that plays itself out. There is nothing signed and delivered and so far it is just a conversation that we had.”
The Three Kinds Of Biases That Lead To Fake News In Your Social Media Feeds
Cognitive biases originate in the way the brain processes the information that every person encounters every day. The brain can deal with only a finite amount of information, and too many incoming stimuli can cause information overload. That in itself has serious implications for the quality of information on social media.
Big Tech Companies Dodge Paying Billions After EU Rejects Copyright Changes
The proposed new rules, which have been going through the European parliament for almost two years, have sparked an increasingly bitter battle between the internet giants and owners and creators of content, with both sides ferociously lobbying their cause.
What The Press Is (And Isn’t) And Why It Needs To Be Reinvented)
Objectivity has totally failed, and we have to question whether there ever was such an animal in the first place. Christopher Lasch has brilliantly argued that it was manufactured by those who needed a sterile environment within which to sell advertising, and I don’t disagree. That sterile environment was also very useful for the selling of ideas, which is the role of public relations – the spin doctors.
Netflix Viewing Now Exceeds That For Any Other Video Service
The subscription-video service is now the most popular platform for watching entertainment on TV, ahead of traditional cable and broadcast television networks as well as YouTube and Hulu, according to a recent survey of U.S. consumers by Wall Street firm Cowen & Co.
How Audible Is Powering The Next Revolution In Book Publishing
Audible isn’t exactly a giant-killer yet, but it is putting out an intriguing mix of content, one that—if you squint a bit—resembles the work being done by the publishing houses Audible simultaneously is partnering with and competing against. Audible is emphasizing its strengths while essentially taking what it can get from big-name authors—it’s a smart, patient strategy that is yielding results.
Today’s AJBlogs Highlights 07.03.18
- Bill Watrous Has Died Trombonist Bill Watrous died yesterday in Los Angeles at the age of 79. Celebrated for his skill and speed, Watrous employed those attributes in a career that began with Billy Butterfield and … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2018-07-03 - Propwatch: the pencils in Fun Home The urge to rewrite the past is irresistible. To make yourself more cool, your family more content, to turn grim endings into happy ones. Fun Home (at London’s Young Vic), the engrossingly imaginative musical … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2018-07-03 - Trend Bender: Baltimore Museum’s “Canon Correction” Needs Correction In the interests of “canon correction” (as he calls it), Christopher Bedford, the Baltimore Museum of Art’s director, is doing the wrong things for the right reasons: He has acquired seven recent works (five of … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2018-07-03
How One Of Italy’s Best Restaurants Keeps Its Creative Edge Sharp
“I had been here for just a couple of months, and I was getting used to [Chef Bottura’s] style,” Canadian-born chef de partie Jessica Rosval told me when I visited the restaurant. “He burst into the kitchen one day and said, ‘Okay, everybody, new project for today: Lou Reed, Take a Walk on the Wild Side. Everybody make a dish.’ And I was just like, ‘Oh my gosh, where do I even start?’” But Rosval’s initial panic soon turned to excitement. “We created a wide variety of dishes,” she said. “Some people focused on the bass line of the song. Some people focused on the lyrics. Some people focused on the era in which the song was written. We had this diverse array of different plates that were created from this one moment of inspiration when Massimo had been listening to the song in his car.”