“It has been a turbulent year for the Leipzig Annual Exhibition — so much so that the show was even cancelled at one point because of an outcry over the inclusion, then exclusion, of an artist who sympathises with the far-right party AfD … It eventually went ahead — six days later than scheduled, and without the artist, Axel Krause.” – The Art Newspaper
Author: Matthew Westphal
Arts Workers Hit Streets To Protest Last-Minute Cuts To Romania’s Culture Budget
“In the first public protest by such artists in many years, well-known actors … attended a demonstration of a few hundred people outside the government offices on Victory Square on June 30 … [and] museum employees around the country took part in a one-hour strike on July 3 urging the government to reconsider the cuts.” – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Mark Morris Directs His First Non-Dance Theatre — Beckett, No Less
The choreographer is directing three plays — Come and Go, Catastrophe, and Quad (a pure-movement piece which Morris likens to Lucinda Childs) — for this month’s Happy Days festival in the Northern Irish town of Enniskillen (where Beckett went to boarding school). “The timing is actually much harder than it looks; the point isn’t virtuosity, it’s expertise,” says Morris. “… And I am all about timing.” – The New York Times
Cold, Dead White
Posset was a drink that, in the 16th century, solidified, a sheer nightmare with emollient richness I can only say is a spoonful of lacks — texture, diversity, surprise. On its face, raw tofu comes close — until you cut, taste, wake up. – Jeff Weinstein
BlogBack: A CultureGrrl Reader on Critic Douglas Crimp, Met Curator Douglas Eklund & “The Pictures Generation”
“We seem to be fighting similar battles,” wrote a CultureGrrl reader in response to my appreciation, posted Monday, of the critic/scholar, 74, whose pioneering work defined what became known as “The Pictures Generation.” – Lee Rosenbaum
Why Tracy K. Smith Spent Her Two Years As Poet Laureate Traveling America
“She felt poetry might be able to help mend some of the divisions that the election had highlighted. Her plan was this: to put together a collection of poems from living poets, called American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time, that she felt were in some way relevant to our moment, and to hit the road — visiting community centers, senior centers, prisons, and colleges.” (audio) – The New Yorker Radio Hour
Poet Marie Ponsot, 98
“She supported [seven children] as a translator, writer for radio and television, and college professor, carving out at least 10 minutes each day to write. While changing diapers and preparing dinners, she scribbled lines of poetry on notebooks, napkins and the backs of envelopes, ultimately filling the drawers of her desk with completed poems.” Twenty-five years after publishing her first book of poems, she published a second, and went on to be “recognized as one of the most distinctive poets of her generation.” – The Washington Post
Martin Charnin, Who Won A Tony For ‘Annie’, Dead At 84
“With more than 40 productions to his credit, Charnin penned lyrics for seven Broadway musicals and directed seven shows as well. He won his Tony Award for best original score, with composer Charles Strouse, for Annie,” which he also directed. “Charnin also received three Emmys for his work on television variety specials and won a Grammy for Jay-Z’s ‘Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem),’ which sampled his lyrics from the Annie song of that name.” – The Hollywood Reporter
Does Watching Lots Of TV Make You Dumber And More Likely To Vote For Populists? New Study Says Yes
Yascha Mounk: “These claims … sound far too much like the sort of thing educated people want to believe. But a meticulous new paper published in the American Economic Review, one of the world’s most prestigious social-science journals, suggests that there might be truth to these clichés.” At least in Italy, among those who watched channels owned by Silvio Berlusconi. – The Atlantic
Star Immersive Art Collective Meow Wolf Sued For Gender Discrimination And Unfair Labor Practices
“Two former employees of Santa Fe-based immersive arts and entertainment company Meow Wolf allege in a new lawsuit they were subjected to discrimination and unfair pay practices, and then wrongfully fired after bringing complaints to senior staff. … [They] also are seeking to have their case recognized as a class action, representing more than 50 female workers of Meow Wolf the women say have been affected by unfair labor practices since 2017.” – Santa Fe New Mexican