We should let go of the idea that our technologies are us, that we are somehow the sum total of the platforms we use… Just maybe, if more people can be convinced that this wealth of culture offers them a mirror to themselves, they might be willing to put down the phone for a few minutes and gaze inside.
Author: Douglas McLennan
Is This The Final Chapter For Barnes And Noble?
Sales have been on the slide for 11 years; even online sales have fallen. Over the past five years, the company has lost more than $1bn in value. Dozens of stores have closed. A shake-up in February resulted in the loss of 1,800 full-time jobs. If Barnes & Noble closes it will mark the death of the last major book chain in the US, leaving the field open to Amazon, which sells one out of every two books in the country, according to analysts. Closure is also likely to hurt publishers, who will become even more heavily reliant on Amazon. Big swaths of America will be left without a major bookstore.
The Reality For Women Of Color Wanting To Run Arts Organizations
A recent study found “zero women of color as executive directors in LORT, the largest professional theatre association in the United States, and only one woman of color as an artistic director. This is a dismal reality for women like me who are founders of their own theatre company, hoping to transition to jobs at LORT theatres in the future. The ugly truth, which was revealed in the study, is that “hidden behind a gender- and race-neutral job description is an expectation, grounded in a stereotype, of what a theatre leader needs to look like: white and male.”
Assistant Principal’s Inflammatory Rap Ignites Debate About Free Speech
In a time of heightened anxiety about school shootings, Logic Amen’s after-class rapping, posted on the website Bandcamp.com, has raised questions about the limits of free speech and artistic expression for a public figure whose job is guiding young people – at least among the hundreds of commenters weighing in on social media.
How Patreon Became A Viable Source Of Income For Creative People
On the date of its fifth anniversary, the company employs 140 people from its San Francisco offices, hosting 100,000 creators who are supported by two million patrons. Since its foundation, it has paid out more than $350m, and this year alone it’s on course to pay out “well over $300m”, according to a spokesperson, twice what it distributed in 2017.
TV Networks Battle For Ad Dollars That Might Have Peaked
Magna Global, the Interpublic Group media-research unit, believes TV’s power to woo new dollars from Madison Avenue has peaked. Magna believes national TV hit a high in 2016 when it captured $43.3 billion dollars from advertisers; it now expects national TV to lure $41 billion in 2018. Meanwhile, it’s calling for digital media this year to capture half of all ad dollars spent – he equivalent of $97 billion spent across search and display; digital video; and social.
What We Know About The State Of Television
As networks unveil their fall lineups this week, here are some lessons from the season just ending that tell us something about the state of TV right now.
Artists Are Having A Bigger Role In Thinking About Technology
Technology is no longer a novelty—it’s a given. And artists, who might have in the past approached technological advancement with a hint of idealistic curiosity, now question the impact it’s had on the way humans interact with one another. This tension is ripe territory for artists, who are often more interested in creating provocations around technology than they are in building practical applications.
Donor Saves Canada’s National Gallery From Having To Sell Painting
The National Gallery announced on Thursday it will not pay a penalty itself for withdrawing the 1929 work The Eiffel Tower from auction, the proceeds of which it had planned to use to buy a Jacques-Louis David painting from a Quebec church. The gallery said an unidentified donor had agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to Christie’s auction house to release the work.
Thieves Steal Ballet School’s Costumes; Dancers Get To Work Sewing Replcaements
Ballet dancers from the Central School of Ballet had 100 outfits stolen from their touring van, leaving them without costumes for their showcase which signifies their graduation and for many a chance to secure jobs with dance companies.