“They need to find somewhere else to bang on their cans. [The popular 12-hour annual festival] will not be held this year in New York City because it has lost its space and presenting partner of the past decade, the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place in Lower Manhattan” (formerly the World Financial Center).
Author: Matthew Westphal
Stolen Edvard Munch Recovered After Seven Years
The lithograph, titled Historien, “shows an elderly bearded man speaking to a young boy and was valued at the time of its theft at 240,000 euros ($244,000).”
Top European Art Award Cancelled After Two Of Five Finalists Withdraw
Said the awards committee, “The jury believes that the recent discussion has overshadowed the intentions of the award and could eventually comprise the nominated artists.” The chairman added, “It is the strong idea of the jury that the Vincent should be about art. But that was not the case any longer.”
Doin’ It All Night Long: London To Launch A Version Of Paris’s Nuits Blanches
“For one long rapturous night, artists will wrest Westminster from the clutches of politicians, creating art from dusk till dawn in public spaces and very private ones … Plenty is programmed, even for the sad suburbanites who have to catch the last tube home, including installation art, theatre, film and dance, and a giant exercise class.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 04.11.16
Smithsonian London? “Not So Fast!” Says Secretary Skorton
Notwithstanding the fact that its founding donor was British, the Smithsonian Institution’s proposed London outpost, conceived before the institution’s current head, David Skorton, came on board, is not necessarily a marriage made in museum heaven. … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-04-11
Monday Recommendation: Brooklyn Blowhards
Jeff Lederer, Brooklyn Blowhards, (Little (i) Music) Lederer conglomerates music by the free jazz avatar Albert Ayler with sea shanties that survive from the whaling ship era when Herman Melville had Ahab pursuing Moby Dick. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-04-11
Just because: Van Cliburn plays and conducts Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto
Van Cliburn plays and conducts a performance of Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto, Op. 26, with the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Moscow. This concert was originally telecast on Soviet TV in 1962. … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-04-11
[ssba_hide]
Nigeria’s Booming Literary Genre: Romance Novels
“The books shift between morality tales and classic pulp romance. Often written by hand in small composition books, the books are sold in crowded marketplaces, where you can buy thousands of different titles for a dollar or two.” (text and audio)
‘Fainting And Nervous Breakdowns’ – Argentina’s National Library Lays Off A Quarter Of Its Staff
“The cuts at the Biblioteca Nacional, once run by Jorge Luis Borges, were announced last Tuesday to ‘tears and cries of outrage’ … Staff had been phoned by authorities throughout the day to be given the news, which caused ‘fainting and nervous breakdowns’.”
Inge Hardison, 102, Sculptor Of African-Americans Heroic And Ordinary
“A former actress, artist and photographer, Inge Hardison sculpted a cast-iron collection in the 1960s that she called Negro Giants in History, which included George Washington Carver, W. E. B. Du Bois, Paul Robeson and Harriet Tubman. She titled another series, featuring relatively obscure black inventors, ‘Ingenious Americans’.”
Is It Really Intelligent To Pooh-Pooh IQ Tests?
“‘IQ tests just measure how good you are at doing IQ tests.’ This is the argument that is almost always made when intelligence-testing is mentioned. It’s often promoted by people who are, otherwise, highly scientifically literate. … In fact, decades of well-replicated research point to IQ tests as some of the most reliable and valid instruments in all of psychological science.”
Podcasts Have Been Around For 15 Years, And They’re Finally Coming Of Age
Yes, it’s been that long: the iPod was launched back in 2001. But – except for a few popular radio shows like This American Life – the first generation of podcasts weren’t always professional quality, and most faded away. But over the past couple of years, the form – led by Serial – had leapt upward in quality, variety, and popularity.