Author: Matthew Westphal

Facebook’s New Independent Oversight Board ‘Has All The Hallmarks Of The UN, Except Potentially Much Less Effective’

Kara Swisher: “I am not trying to be glib here, because solving the problem of how to deal with speech across the largest and most unwieldy communications platform in human history … may be beyond the capabilities of anyone .. given that Facebook and [Mark] Zuckerberg have purposefully created a system that is ungovernable.” – The New York Times

As Creatives Move Online During Lockdown, Fans Follow Them To Patreon

“Since mid-March more than 70,000 extra creators have joined Patreon, which allows fans to give monthly payments to artists in exchange for exclusive content or simply out of a desire to support someone whose work they appreciate. The artistic influx has been matched by an equally large increase in supporters. … the number of whom is up 25% month on month. Over the same period, spending by existing patrons has increased by 75%.” – The Guardian

As If COVID Weren’t Bad Enough, This City’s Shuttered Museums Are Dealing With An Earthquake

A 5.4 magnitude temblor hit the Croatian capital, Zagreb, in late March. “Over 80% of [the city’s] museums are in buildings that date from before the Second World War and most of them have reported serious damage, but the aftershocks and lockdown have stopped detailed inventories of the destruction being made. More than a third of them are identified as unsafe or dangerous.” – The Art Newspaper

It Wasn’t Just A Once-In-A-Lifetime Exhibition, It Was A Once-In-History Show. COVID Sank It For Good

Years of preparation — conservation, research and catalog writing, loan negotiations, insurance, shipping arrangements, and more — went into the big Van Eyck show that opened in February in Ghent. And that city’s famous altarpiece, newly restored, was at the heart of the event, the largest-ever assemblage of the artist’s work. The pandemic shut the exhibit down, and journalist Sophie Haigney explains why there’s no hope of postponing or rescheduling it. – The New York Times

Nancy Stark Smith, Co-Creator Of Contact Improvisation, Dead At 68

“Although [Steve] Paxton is credited with inventing, or initiating CI, it was Stark Smith who became the chief educator and organizer. … Whether springing up out of the floor or boomeranging off another person, she made the pleasure of touch visible. She had a wondrous way of talking/writing about the sensations of momentum that drew people in.” – Dance Magazine

Spain’s First Movie With Sound To Be Directed By A Woman Discovered In Archive

“[Maria Forteza’s documentary] Mallorca, an eight-minute, black-and-white sweep across the Balearic island inspired by the music of the Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz, was donated to the national film archive in 1982 … For 38 years, Mallorca languished in the collection, wrongly identified as a silent 1926 film made by a male director.” – The Guardian

Germany And Austria Want Theaters To Start Rehearsing Again. Directors Are Balking

“Performances in front of an audience are still out of the question for now. But on May 18, Austria will become one of the first countries on the continent where theater troupes can return to rehearsal, with detailed restrictions to limit the virus’s transmission. Actors must stay at least three feet apart, government guidelines say, and performers can come closer only if they wear face coverings or masks. In Germany, an insurance body has outlined similar rules. In interviews, leading theatermakers in both countries said rehearsals would be impossible under such conditions.” – The New York Times