Does arts policy require quantification?
The NEA has posted a very interesting interview between their Sunil Iyengar and the critic Leon Wieseltier. It raises interesting questions about the role of measurement in arts policy, and so here is something of … read more
AJBlog: For What It’s Worth Published 2016-07-25
non-majority rules
We live in a democratic culture – in so many aspects of our day-to-day existence, there is at least the perception that the majority should rule. This goes for our elections, it goes for artistic trends, it goes for interpersonal interactions – at least in theory. … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2016-07-25
Willful Wilsey Wilts: Regime Change at Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
The long overdue wresting of control over the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco from a bejeweled socialite and consummate fundraiser, Diane “Dede” Wilsey, is finally occurring under the museums’ new director, Max Hollein, who … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-07-25
Monday Recommendation: DeJohnette, Coltrane, Garrison
Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane, Matthew Garrison, In Movement (ECM). Drummer DeJohnette leads John Coltrane’s saxophonist son Ravi and Jimmy Garrison’s bassist son Matthew in an album that has majesty, reflection, calm and flashes of fire. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-07-25
Community: An etymology of sorts
Being happily nerdy, I immediately went for the etymology of the word community. I got comuner, “to make common, share”; comun, “to talk intimately”; and commun, “free city, group of citizens.” Also, … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-25
Community is:
Awkward beers shared at a high school reunion, the Reddit thread I visit to share research about Game of Thrones episodes, an annual yelling match whose origins no one remembers each Thanksgiving, … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-25
Complexities that make us whole
Community, as a singular plurality, encompasses the people who, and places that I endear and embrace as an extension of my identity. … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2016-07-25
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Author: Matthew Westphal
Seriously Cute: The Spread Of Kawaii Was, In Fact, A Japanese Government Plan
“The aggressive development of this aesthetic was not fully organic, but in fact developed with a ‘global wink,’ as part of Japan’s plan to build cultural cachet overseas. … The government has embraced the designation, eager to rebrand the world’s perception of a staid culture characterized by honor and samurai to a more playful, feminized Japan.”
Why Do People Think Using A Period In A Text Message Comes Across As Insincere Or Angry?
“Because text messaging is a conversation that involves a lot of back-and-forth, people add fillers as a way to mimic spoken language. We see this with the increased use of ellipses, which can invite the recipient to continue the conversation. The period is the opposite of that.”
Getting To Understand John Cage Through His Letters
Question: “Is politics to society what music is to sound?”
Cage: “Yes, if music is thought of as a body of laws to protect musical sounds from noises, as government protects rich from poor.”
The Father Of Impressionism (Most Of Us Have Forgotten Him)
“[Charles-François] Daubigny … established an entirely novel approach to landscape painting that was to influence Monet, Pissarro and Cézanne and also, quite explicitly, Van Gogh. … He belongs at the fulcrum of modern painting.”
Revealed: The Young Lady To Whom Van Gogh Gave His Ear
And that incident wasn’t even the first trauma the poor woman suffered that year.
Israeli Defense Minister Compares Great Palestinian Poet’s Work To ‘Mein Kampf’ (As Godwin Shakes His Head)
“The controversy erupted after Army Radio, which has been under pressure from right-wing politicians to broadcast more patriotic programming, aired a show about the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish, a revered figure among Palestinians whose work is a staple of school curriculums.” (Wait, who’s Godwin again?)
This New York Times Critic Listened To Every Recording Jaap Van Zweden Has Made, And Here Are His Verdicts
David Allen: “Mr. van Zweden has been a prolific recording artist, churning out an average of three albums a year for more than a decade. … Over the past month, I listened to all of them, more than three dozen, a total of 52 hours. What did I learn?”
Ohio Museum Launches Lending Library For Art
“This fall, the museum will launch the Akron Art Library, which will let any resident with a library card check out artwork as they would books … Many of the pieces will be commissioned from local and regional artists.”
Meet The Orchestra Of Disabled Musicians That Grew Out Of The 2012 Paralympics
“The resistance that they come up against in being fearless, brilliant and bold doesn’t usually come from within, but from others. I’m talking about the British Paraorchestra, … performing challenging works, playing all manner of instruments you’d never hear in traditional orchestras, adding spikes of technology and pushing themselves to the limits of their hard-practised skills. Did I mention that they are disabled? Does it matter? Unfortunately it does, but that’s what we are here to try to change.”