Five years ago in Indonesia, a crested macaque named Naruto found a photographer’s unattended digital camera and took what became known worldwide as the “monkey selfie.” Last year, PETA filed a lawsuit arguing that Naruto was legally the creator of the image, which should be considered its intellectual property. PETA lost the first round, but the appeal is now in court.
Author: Matthew Westphal
An Unknown Language Was Discovered Three Years Ago, Hiding In Plain Sight In A Big City – And Now There’s A Race To Save It
The leader of the effort to preserve Hawaiian Sign Language is being led by its last native user. But there are conflicts – cultural and personal as well as practical – making the job even more difficult.
Meet The Keeper Of Frederick Ashton’s Ballet Legacy
Carrie Seidman talks with Anthony Russell-Roberts, Ashton’s nephew and the inheritor of the rights to his works, about preserving and reviving his dances, what Ashton loved about New York, and how Sarasota, Florida became the modern-day standard-bearer for Ashton’s choreography.
52 Portraits: A Year Of Solo Dance Videos
The subjects of this Sadler’s Wells project, whose episodes are being posted online weekly through 2016, “range from the 29-year-old dance-maker Alexandrina Hemsley to the 91-year-old choreographer Robert Cohan, and from performance artist Hetain Patel to Royal Ballet principal Zenaida Yanowsky.”
Art Dealers In $2 Million Lawsuit Over Mysterious Work That May Not Yet Even Exist
“An unnamed artwork by a mysterious artist is at the center of a $2 million lawsuit against dealer David Zwirner by Old Master dealer Fabrizio Moretti via his the London company, Blue Art Limited, which accuses Zwirner of breach of contract, fraudulent concealment, and inducement.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 08.11.16
How Do You Test For The Arts?
It’s a more difficult question than you might think. There’s a maxim in the education world that only subjects that are tested are funded. Thus the imperative for arts education champions to get the arts included in required standardized tests. … read more
AJBlog: diacritical/Douglas McLennan Published 2016-08-11
Rewind: Another Look at William Merritt Chase
Do we need to become reacquainted with William Merritt Chase? I’m afraid we do. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2016-08-11
2016 Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival: Further Impressions
Nearly as old as jazz itself, Svend Asmussen celebrated his 100th birthday in February. The Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival honored him in a concert … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-08-11
[ssba_hide]
When Women Were Barred From The Ancient Olympic Games, They Created Their Own
“The Heraean Games, a separate festival honoring the Greek goddess Hera, demonstrated the athleticism of young, unmarried women. The athletes, with their hair hanging freely and dressed in special tunics that cut just above the knee and bared their right shoulder and breast, competed in footraces.”
Margaret Atwood Goes To Comic-Con
“One line member tells Atwood she doesn’t know who she is, hasn’t read any of her books, and wants to know which she should start with. The author shoots her that stare. ‘So you want me to say who I am. Well, I’m secretly Glinda the Good Witch in disguise, and the best novel that I wrote is called the Iliad,’ Atwood says, deadpan. ‘What?’ the woman asks.”
The Wars Over The Singular ‘They’ Have Been Raging For Centuries
“For some word purists, the singular they is the linguistic equivalent of an ingrown hair, but for others, the solutions for getting around the problem are way messier. … It may be the most controversial word use in the English language – because it highlights a hole in the language where a better-fitting word should go. … And there has been a lot written about it. Here’s another piece of tinder to throw on the fire.”
Are Humans Fundamentally Selfish Or Cooperative? Wrong Question, It Turns Out
“Those options are derived in large part from philosophy and classical economic theory, rather than data. In a new paper, researchers have flipped the script, using observations of simple social situations to show that optimism, pessimism, envy, and trust, rather than selfishness and sacrifice, are the basic ingredients of our behavior.”