“Can I just say, very loudly, bollocks. If you look after yourself and you’re healthy, then you’ll have the energy to do things. But not to recognise getting older for what it is? I do think the infantilisation of our generation is one of the huge issues of our time. People wanting to be 35 when they’re 50 makes me think: why? Why don’t you be 50 and be good at that?”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Google Art Project Is A Threat To Museums? Absolutely Not
“Some critics complain that Google’s initiative to take us on virtual trips through museums and to show us great pieces of art on demand, as we sit gazing at our laptops, will discourage people from actually going to these institutions. This is flatly untrue. Museum attendance is on the rise, dramatically so.”
Jan Morris On Carpaccio
Not the raw meat dish, silly; she means the painter. “I am no connoisseur, cultural scholar, or art historian. I know nothing about painterly techniques, chromatic gradations, or artistic affinities, and my infatuation with him is largely affectionate fancy. I feel I know him personally, and I often sense that I am directly in touch with him across the centuries, across the continents, as one might be in touch with a living friend. But however much I delight in Carpaccio’s virtual company, I know hardly anything about the man, and in this I am not alone.”
We Just Can’t Let Go Of Scott And Zelda Fitzgerald
Adam Gopnik: “Second acts there may or may not be, but American epilogues go on forever. Scott and Zelda’s friends from the Jazz Age would doubtless have spit up into their morning coffee – or, more likely, into teacups filled with bathtub gin – to find the pair, almost a century after their meeting, not a poignant footnote to an ill-named time but an enduring legend of the West, a subject adaptable for movies and novels and probably paper dolls and ice shows.”
On Repeat: Why People Watch Movies And Shows Over And Over
“Pop culture is a relentless machine of newness and manufactured surprise. We queue around the block for new comic-book-movie installments and crash HBO Go to watch season finales. … Why do we spend so much time with stories whose endings we already know?” Derek Thompson lays out four reasons.
Look, Here’s The Truth About Jobs For Critics In 2014
Last week, Mark Shenton wrote in passing “There are plenty of budding actors, writers, directors and even critics (though no jobs for the latter), …” To which journalist Matt Trueman responded, “Mark, saying no jobs for young critics does a disservice to young critics making a living from their writing.” Well, disservice or no, here’s Shenton’s response.
Meet The Czar Of The World’s Biggest Theatre Empire
“Few producers will criticize Sir Howard [Panter], … given that his company holds the keys to 40 theaters and has plans for more in Asia and Australia.” That company – Ambassador Theatre Group – is about to open its own Broadway house, the Lyric (formerly the Foxwoods Theater).
Royal New Zealand Ballet Names New Director To Succeed Ethan Stiefel
“The Italian dancer and choreographer Francesco Ventriglia has been appointed as the director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet, following … the surprise resignation of Mr. Stiefel, a former American Ballet Theater principal dancer, who took on the job in 2011.”
Would Scottish Independence Mean The Death Of The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra? (These Musicians Fear As Much)
“In a letter published today, composers, conductors and a former director of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra express their ‘grave concerns’ over the future of the orchestra in the event of a Yes vote and the establishment of a Scottish Broadcasting Service (SBS).”
Another Worry About Scottish Independence: Talent Might Stampede South
“Scots who consider themselves to be artists living in the land of their birth are increasingly uneasy about the instrumentalism of all this, how the arts are fine as long as they earn, and as long as it’s seen as definitively Scottish. … That’s okay while when there’s still an enthusiastic cultural traffic between Scotland and the rest of the UK, but the Scot Nats want to end it on Thursday.”