Video viewing time grew 80 percent year-over-year, and the amount of videos uploaded to the platform every day quadrupled over the past 12 months, according to internal data from June of 2017. What’s more, Instagram now has over 2 million advertisers.
Author: Douglas McLennan
How Big Is Too Big? Dublin Fringe’s Existential Crisis
If this year’s Dublin Fringe Festival felt bigger, it may have been because it was more complicated to navigate. The event covered more ground than before, including venues spread so widely through the city that the map in the festival brochure seemed to give up. But the shows themselves made it harder to get your bearings.
Why Have We Romanticized The Art Thief?
When one thinks of art crime, a Hollywood image is conjured: one of black-clad cat burglars, thieves in top hats and white gloves, and perhaps the occasional criminal collector twirling his waxed moustache as he cackles maniacally over a stolen horde in his Bavarian castle. But the truth behind art crime, a truth that is misunderstood by the general public and professionals alike, is far more sinister, and more intriguing.
Our Music Might Have Become Post-Genre. But Listeners?
Post-genre thinking seeks to move away from objective methods of characterizing music, instead focusing on a more subjective method within which music is viewed piece by piece with an emphasis on the intention and background of the composer. If a composer has no intent of writing within the “classical” genre label, then attempting to understand the piece through a classical lens is irrelevant. But what about the listener? There is no doubt that all listeners have pre-existing connotations surrounding certain types of sounds. Realistically, because we have discussed music in terms of these genre constructions for so long, a listener’s experience is likely to naturally include elements of: “This moment in this piece of music reminds me of X genre, which makes me think of Y connotation.”
US Interior Secretary Mounts Attack On Antiquities Act
In his recommendations, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke isn’t simply calling on Trump to unilaterally shrink national monuments and weaken protections on hundreds of thousands of acres of public land. He is also exhorting the president to team up with Congress to undermine the Antiquities Act itself. And, indeed, a legislative assault on the law is already underway.
Data Overload Is Messing With Our Mental Health
Yes, algorithms are getting better all the time and related content is getting more relevant. What does that mean? More wasted time on Facebook. That “quick look at a notification” turns into five minutes watching the “greatest premier league goals from the 1990’s.” Fun? Yes. Life-improving? Not so much.
Scientists X-rayed Degas’s Sculptures To See How He Constructed Dancers
“The use of ordinary shop-bought armatures, wine bottle cork and old floorboards, confirm Degas to have been a highly unorthodox sculptor who used unconventional working practices, in terms of materials and technique, which resulted in the frequent loss of his wax sculpture.”
The Turner Prize Once Celebrated Shock. Now It’s Become Diverse
In the past, the Turner Prize has been famed for works like Damien Hirst, with his cow in formaldehyde, Tracey Emin’s unmade bed, and Martin Creed’s The Lights Going On and Off. Only artists under 50 have been eligible before – but this year, Anderson, 52, and Himid, 63, have taken their places in the nominees’ exhibition after the age restriction was lifted. They are the bookies’ favourites to win.
Do Leadership Departures At Top Magazines Signal A Crisis In The Industry?
Magazines have sputtered for years, their monopoly on readers and advertising erased by Facebook, Google and more nimble online competitors. But editors and executives said the abrupt churn in the senior leadership ranks signaled that the romance of the business was now yielding to financial realities.
Why Orchestras Play Behind The Beat
Here’s the simple response: When an orchestra plays behind the conductor, it has the room to produce a more expressive sound. “It works so well because the musicians can take in a great deal more information before they play,” said Falletta. Waiting a tick allows the ensemble to take in the trajectory, speed and style of a conductor’s beat, which helps them determine what kind of sound the conductor is hoping to achieve. “It gives them a chance to prepare that sound. So the downbeat comes, and the sound opens after that.”