“If the monuments are going to be thrown out, chucked away, we’re happy to buy them and dismantle them and put them together back in Russia for future generations to enjoy and to appreciate. The idea is preserving those things for history. History has two sides of it always. Bad or good, it’s a piece of art.” – Washington Post
Author: Douglas McLennan
How We Perceive Time May Be Related To How Wealthy We Are
“Research already suggests that, on average, wealthy people live longer ,biologically. Now, emerging work hints that varied and novel experiences could create more “time codes” in the human brain as it processes memory formation. This, in turn, could mean that people who can afford to enjoy more vacations and hobbies, and who have more stimulating jobs, will recall having lived for a longer time on Earth.” – National Geographic
Why The Internet Is Debating “Canceling” Beethoven
A musicologist and a songwriter, stars of Vox’s ‘Switched on Pop’ podcast produced with the New York Philharmonic, have been criticised for their new reading of Beethoven’s Fifth, which argues that white men embraced the work and turned it into a “symbol of their superiority and importance.” – ClassicFM
How BandCamp Became The Anti-Spotify
The platform, with its artist-first business model, has since its birth in 2008 become a player in the music streaming wars by celebrating niche communities while promising a radically transparent approach to royalties. – Los Angeles Times
The Thousand-Year Performance Turns 20
“Harnessing the pure sound of Tibetan singing bowls, this new composition was programmed to run for 1,000 years without ever repeating itself. Two decades on, Jem Finer chuckles at his own presumption. When he was devising the project in the late 90s, he says, he hadn’t understood the real challenge, which was that such a long-term project is only as good as the structures devised to look after it, keeping it relevant to a fast-changing world and up to date with a technological revolution that has swept us from the infancy of the internet to the hyper-connected world in which we now live.” – The Guardian
Lessons For The Arts From The NBA’s “Bubble” Season
The achievements of the enterprise became evident as the playoff games got underway. The bubble games blended theatre and sports to create a hybrid performance space that offered a great “live” experience while protecting performers and audiences. Curtains and video screens masked empty seats in the auditorium. Digital logos and ads, lighting effects on the court, and amplified soundtracks with music, sound effects, and fan noises mimicked the feel of live games both for the players and for those watching at home. – Ludwig Van
The Benefits Of Reading Aloud
“A growing body of research suggests that we may be missing out by reading only with the voices inside our minds. The ancient art of reading aloud has a number of benefits for adults, from helping improve our memories and understand complex texts, to strengthening emotional bonds between people. And far from being a rare or bygone activity, it is still surprisingly common in modern life.” – BBC
So Does This Mean Quibi Has Failed?
Launched in April 2020, Quibi has raised about $1.75 billion from major studios and other investors and has banked dozens of original series from Hollywood A-listers. The major question is who, exactly, would be interested in acquiring the struggling Quibi venture, given its untested business model and weak subscriber traction to date. – Variety
San Francisco Symphony, Opera Musicians Sign New, Reduced Contracts
“We voted to accept devastating changes to our existing contract,” stated a press release issued by the musicians. “Had we rejected these cuts — including 50% of our weekly salary for the fall season and deep but graduated cuts for the ensuing two years — we would immediately have been without any income or the guarantee of health coverage.” – San Francisco Examiner
Online Theatre Has Become Very Creative. But Can A Model To Support It Evolve?
The best of them have come in the shape of theatrical activism, especially amid the Black Lives Matter movement, made cheaply and with a speed that a live theatrical production could never match. These have included a YouTube series about racism experienced by British East Asians as a result of Covid-19, the Bush theatre’s The Protest after the killing of George Floyd, and Roy Williams’s 846, all of which combined the arts, politics and activism. There has also been the Almeida’s Shifting Tides series, which focused on climate activism in audio plays made by their young actors. – The Guardian