L.A. Philharmonic associate concertmaster Nathan Cole (who’s been on both sides of the screen): “Imagine that you have a great-uncle who’s an automobile fanatic. He owns an entire fleet of amazing vehicles, and he makes you an unbelievable offer: he’ll give you whichever one you want. There are only two conditions: this will be the last car you’ll ever own; and you’ll have to make your decision based solely on three-minute test drives. You won’t be able to do any research beforehand. You won’t even know what car you’re test-driving since all the identifying marks will be covered up.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Choreographer Nancy Meehan Dead At 85
“[Her] evocative, plotless works on nature themes found a special place amid opposing trends in experimental dance after the 1960s … Unlike [other modern dance choreographers [of the time], who initially rejected dance technique, Ms. Meehan insisted that highly trained dancers execute her own nonballetic idiom with refined precision.”
Van Gogh Museum In Amsterdam Doubles Down On Rejection Of That Sketchbook
A statement this week from this museum (which declared the sketches to be clumsy copies back in 2008) criticizes the experts who are caliming that the sketchbook is real van Gogh for an “excessively easygoing attitude … towards questions of authenticity.” (They’re not the only ones who think so.)
Robert Lepage Explains The 28,000 LEDs He’s Using In The Met’s ‘L’Amour De Loin’ (And He Fesses Up About ‘The Machine’)
The director says that Kaija Saariaho’s opera is very much about water, “but when you take it literally and say, ‘I’ll put water onstage,’ water … will do what it wants, and you don’t have any control over it.” (LEDs – we hope – will do what they’re told.) (includes video)
Guggenheim Helsinki Plan Killed By City Council For Second Time (At Least)
Many ordinary Helsinkians have been ambivalent at best about this project (especially the part that involves spending public money), and at this point it has been rejected, restarted, put out to competition and designed, rejected by the full city council, rejiggered and re-approved, and now rejected again. Is this the end of it, or is this a Rasputin project?
Bad Sex In Fiction Award For 2016 Goes To Italy’s ‘Writer Of The Decade’
That’s how Corriere della sera described Erri de Luca, winner of the 2013 European Prize for Literature, who beat this year’s other Bad Sex finalists with a passage from The Day Before Happiness that reads, in part, “Our sexes were ready, poised in expectation, barely touching each other: ballet dancers hovering en pointe.” (Still, this isn’t nearly as godawful as last year’s winner.)
What Makes So Many Sex Scenes In Literature So Bad? Let The Bad Sex In Fiction Award Guy Tell You
“Unlike bad sex, which is often obviously recognizable, bad sex writing can be hard to define … When describing sex, [spokesperson Frank] Brinkley says, authors feel moved to put a strain on language they wouldn’t ordinarily.”
Indie Film In The Philippines Is Having A Renaissance – But Can It Break Out Of The Festival Circuit And Reach Home Audiences?
What’s more, considering that many of these small neorealist movies deal with poverty, violence, drugs, and corruption, how will they fare under President Duterte?
Prado’s Director To Step Down After 15 Years
In his resignation letter, Miguel Zugaza says, basically, “My work here is done,” so he’s going home to his old (and much smaller) job in Bilbao. And Spain’s leading newspaper allows as how he’s done an excellent job.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 11.30.16
Should We Bother?
My post reflecting on the presidential election, Blindsided, drew a thoughtful comment that seems to me to be worthy of a fuller response than a simple “Reply.” … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2016-11-29
Nine Ways the Arts Can Heal Our Hurting Civilization; or Lessons I Learned from Reading Comics to my Daughter
“This is the time when artists go to work. We speak, we write, we do language. This is how civilizations heal.” This is a quote from Toni Morrison. It has stuck with me. This is our power, and it is immense. But what will we do with it? … read more
AJBlog: New Beans Published 2016-11-29
The Cost of the Met Breuer (and other nuggets from Metropolitan Museum’s FY16 financials)
Back in April, the Metropolitan Museum’s president, Daniel Weiss, declined to disclose to me the cost of renovating the Whitney Museum’s Breuer building, now repurposed (at least temporarily) as the Met Breuer. Thanks to the Met’s annual report … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-11-29
Portland Jazz Bulwark To Close
There is news from Portland, Oregon, that Jimmy Mak’s jazz club will permanently close at the end of 2016. A leading west coast club for 20 years, Mak’s has been a primary outlet for the talents … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-11-30