“The accompanying political narrative was that the creative industries would champion the social utility of arts and culture as progressive realms to engage fractured communities, realise progressive values and create a more sustainable economic world. … Now it seems impossible to doubt the economic success story that is the creative industries,” at least in terms of the size of their contribution to the economy. “The trouble is that all this ‘success’ has come at the expense of any cultural, artistic or creative integrity that the sectors once had before they were herded into a single political concept.” – Prospect (UK)
Author: Matthew Westphal
Harlem Nonprofit Providing Art Education In Public Schools Expands To Two More Cities
“As the 2019 school year gets underway, ProjectArt, an initiative founded by Ardash Alphons in Harlem in 2011, is expanding to New Orleans and San Francisco, bringing arts access to two cities with large communities of homeless young people and giving the organisation a presence in a total of eight cities across the US (By 2021, ProjectArt plans to be in ten cities.)” – The Art Newspaper
MIT Invents A Black Even Blacker Than Vantablack
Three years ago, the invention of Vantablack, a carbon nanotube coating that absorbs up to 99.965% of all light, made headlines, especially when artist Anish Kapoor acquired exclusive rights to its use in artworks, infuriating other artists. Now MIT scientists have discovered — by accident, they say — a carbon nanotube material that absorbs 99.99% of light. And to demonstrate, they’ve coated a $2 million yellow diamond with the stuff. (Meanwhile, BMW has made a car coated with Vantablack.) – Newsweek
Yannick Nézet-Séguin Signs Lifetime Contract With His Montreal Orchestra
The Orchestre Métropolitain, where native Montrealer YNS held his first music director position (beginning in 2000) and which he brought to international attention, has appointed him Artistic Director and Chief Conductor for life, an extremely rare move in the orchestra world. – Ludwig Van
L.A. Philharmonic CEO Simon Woods Resigns, Effective Immediately
“After a great deal of reflection,” said Woods in a statement, “I have concluded that my hopes and aspirations lie elsewhere, and as a result, I have tendered my resignation.” He served in the position for less than 21 months, succeeding Deborah Borda at the beginning of 2018. – Los Angeles Times
Is Gary Larson About To Revive ‘The Far Side’?
“Fans of the surreal, the bizarre and sardonic anthropomorphic cows are in a fervour after The Far Side cartoonist Gary Larson’s website was updated this weekend with promises of ‘a new online era’, 24 years after the reclusive creator retired at the age of 44.” – The Guardian
Kentridge, Hatoum, Mutter, Bando, And Williams & Tsien Win Praemium Imperiale
The 2019 laureates for the ¥15 million ($141,000) award, created by the Japan Art Association as a sort of Nobel Prize for the arts, are William Kentridge (painting) Mona Hatoum (sculpture), Anne-Sophie Mutter (music), Tod Williams and Billie Tsien (architecture) and kabuki master Tamasaburo Bando V (theatre/film). – Deutsche Welle
Nature Calls: Blenheim Palace Gives Thieves a Golden Opportunity to Steal Cattelan’s Toilet
Q: How do you invite thieves to steal a famous, expensive, publicly exhibited artwork? A: Publicly announce that no guards are protecting it. – Lee Rosenbaum
Recent Listening: Dave Douglas & Friends + Mary Lou Williams
Dave Douglas is a trumpeter whose adherence to basic jazz values fully justifies the title of the new album he shares with pianist Uri Caine and drummer Andrew Cyrille in their unusual trio. Unusual? Yes. – Doug Ramsey
Why Are Books Rectangular? This Is Why
“It turns out that there are a lot of forces converging to make this shape ideal, and to get the whole picture, we’ll have to look from three angles: the anatomy of a reader, the history of publishing, and — in a brief departure from the world of books — the magic numbers behind printing.” – Book Riot