We tend not to associate aging with creative bursts. Historically, critics saw advancements by elderly artists as peculiar… Many older artists, however, sense the significance in their new creations, even if the public reacts with hostility.
Author: Douglas McLennan
The Art Market’s Blowout Week – So What Does It Say About The Market?
“Christie’s sold a whopping $1.42 billion worth of art last week, besting rival Sotheby’s by nearly $700 million. The publicly traded auction house made a total of $724 million across its four sales, while Phillips—which held only two—trailed in third place with $134.6 million. All told, the houses made a combined total of $2.3 billion during the so-called auction “giga-week,” one of the highest aggregate results ever. The market has not seen such lofty totals since the spring 2015 season when the sales made a record $2.7 billion.”
Artificial Intelligence Can Now Identify Forged Art
“Analyzing the works, the AI identified 80,000 individual strokes, and, through the neural network, learned what features in the strokes were specific to which artists. A machine-learning algorithm was also taught to look for these features, such as the differences in line weight, which reflect how hard the artist was pushing. By combining the neural network and the machine-learning algorithm, the study found that AI was able to correctly identify a work’s author 80 percent of the time.”
Why Are Teachers Still Giving Lectures?
Seth Godin: “I know why we used to do it. We used to do it because a lecture is a thoughtful exposition, a reasoned, researched argument that delivers a lot of information in a fairly condensed period of time. And before technology, the best way to deliver that exposition was to do it live. But now?”
Winners And Losers If Net Neutrality Goes Away
Winners? Big internet providers and marketers. Losers? “You. If you’re a normal person and you want access to the Internet, get ready for all kinds of airline industry-style charges. You’ll either accept a slower connection or pay extra for going over a threshold on your unlimited data plan. In practice, you’re likely to get amazing speed and service for video content you don’t care about and terrible service while trying to use the things you really want. The solution … pay more.”
Study: Singing Musical Theatre Can Help Slow Alzheimer’s
Researchers working with elderly residents at an East Coast care home found in a four-month long study found that people who sang their favorite songs showed a marked improvement compared to those who just listened.
The Dismantling Of The Oregon Bach Festival
It’s sad how easily a great arts organization can fall apart. The Oregon Bach Festival, which had already shrunk in size in 2017 compared to previous years, appears to be getting even smaller in the wake of the firing of its artistic director Matthew Halls.
Today’s AJBlog Highlights 11.24.17
The Literary Roots of Lou Reed Back in the spring, when I pitched the Los Angeles Review of Books on a regular column on musicians and their literary interests, my editor immediately came up with the title All the Poets. … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2017-11-24
Piano Sonata as Video Game: Anomalies in My Reception of Beethoven’s Music A transcript of my spoken remarks at Boston University this week, as part of a symposium on piano sonatas by Beethoven. “I’d like to talk about what I would call anomalies in my own reception … read more
AJBlog: PianoMorphosis Published 2017-11-23
So you want to see a show? Here’s my list of recommended Broadway, off-Broadway, and out-of-town shows, updated weekly. In all cases, I gave these shows favorable reviews (if sometimes qualifiedly so) in The Wall Street Journal when they opened. For more … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2017-11-23
Soft power and the arts (3/3) Soft power is the ability for a country to have international influence through means other than the threat of military action or aggressive economic policy (i.e. hard power). How do the arts and cultural … read more
AJBlog: For What it’s Worth Published 2017-11-21
How Dance Addresses A Culture Of Suffering
“In countries where people suffer and have a rough life, they dance as a necessity instead of as an option. When you have this kind of history, this very hard background, you don’t practice art for the same reasons. It’s not a luxury; you need it, to heal yourself. I know people in Algeria who say: ‘I had to dance, or I would die.’”
What John Lasseter’s Departure Will Mean To Pixar And Disney
Industry analysts and experts in the animation community said Lasseter’s absence could be a significant blow to the studio if his departure becomes permanent because the executive has been such a key figure in its success. Lasseter is the chief creative officer of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios.