Ramin Bahrani (who may not be objective, as he has directed a film adaptation of the Bradbury book): “In the novel, he imagined a world where people are entertained day and night by staring at giant wall screens in their homes. They interact with their ‘friends’ through these screens, listening to them via ‘Seashells’ – Bradbury’s version of Apple’s wireless AirPods – inserted in their ears.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
What On Earth *Is* This Giant Contraption? It’s A 210-Instrument Playable Sculpture
“Timpani is played by a rolling pin with spikes. A trombone slide is equipped with a mallet that hits a xylophone. A horn has a Hindustani tabla drum stuffed in its bell; it’s both blown and tapped. Rather than having a bow play a cello, the cello – strapped to a rocking chair, swaying back and forth – plays the bow. The piece is Mauricio Kagel’s Zwei Mann Orchester (‘Two-Man Band’), heard last week in the first of a series of ‘Sound Machines’ performances … The opening-night audience was slack-jawed.”
Why The Dancing In Childish Gambino’s ‘This Is America’ Is So Uncomfortable To Watch
It’s not just that Donald Glover keeps dancing as violence spreads all around him, writes Aida Amoako. It’s our own kinesthetic empathy – the action of mirror neurons in the brain that makes us want to move along as we see someone else dance. “An internal struggle begins in the viewer’s body, which is pulled between joy and horror. Just as the video questions how we can dance when there is pandemonium all around, the audience struggles with whether to continue moving, too, after witnessing such brutality.”
The Problem With Saying A Work Of Art Is ‘Necessary’
“The prospect of ‘necessary’ art allows members of the audience to free themselves from having to make choices while offering the critic a nifty shorthand to convey the significance of her task, which may itself be one day condemned as dispensable. The effect is something like an absurd and endless syllabus, constantly updating to remind you of ways you might flunk as a moral being. It’s a slightly subtler version of the 2016 marketing tagline for the first late-night satirical news show with a female host, Full Frontal With Samantha Bee: ‘Watch or you’re sexist.'”
At Last! Backlash Begins Against Overuse Of Exclamation Points
“More likely than not, most people – women in particular – do it to make sure their message reads as friendly and not too … insert-negative-quality-here: corrective, cold, aggressive. Perhaps the irony is that the punctuation itself is too much. And if conversations taking place recently on social media are any indication, there may be a revolt brewing that could pry those exclamation points from our prose, particularly in work-related communications, in favor of more nuanced language on the internet.”
At 74, One Of France’s Greatest Singer-Songwriters Is Literally Back From The Near-Dead
“[Françoise Hardy] learned she had lymphatic cancer in 2004; her health declined; and, in 2016, she was placed in a coma from which doctors thought she would never wake up. Against all odds, Ms. Hardy has returned and recovered her sensually adolescent voice, and her taste for writing.”
Bookstore Pulls Books By Junot Diaz, Sherman Alexie, David Foster Wallace From Shelves
Says Allison Krzanowski, co-owner of Quill Books & Beverage in Westbrook, Maine, “There are plenty of authors who aren’t sexually assaulting and sexually harassing people, so we make more space for them by removing the ones who are. … There have been some people who think we are banning books, and to that, I say it is our choice not to carry products. … We have a ‘safe space’ commitment, and that extends to our shelves.”
A New International Court For Art Disputes
“A new body dedicated exclusively to resolving art disputes, the Court of Arbitration for Art (CAA), will be formally launched 7 June in the Hague by the Netherlands Arbitration Institute (NAI) and the nonprofit Authentication in Art. Instead of being decided by judges and juries, cases will be heard by arbitrators who are seasoned lawyers familiar with industry practice and issues specific to art disputes. Scientific and provenance experts, who are often essential to proving authenticity and title to an artwork, will be appointed by the court rather than hired by the disputing parties.”
Growing Like Mad But Hemorrhaging Cash, Can MoviePass Survive The Summer?
“With the service’s subscriber base exploding from 20,000 ([last] August) to nearly two million users in under one year, MoviePass faces fresh doubts about its ability to remain in the game. Specifically, the embattled company is facing existential reckoning about its gigantic negative cash flow, financial sustainability, and protection of user data.” Chris Lee explains the situation.
ABT Begins Program To Commission Female Choreographers
“American Ballet Theater announced a multiyear initiative on Wednesday that will support the creation and the staging of new works by female choreographers. The A.B.T. Women’s Movement, which will support at least three female choreographers each season, grew out of Ballet Theater’s Women’s Choreographers Initiative, which has already funded dances by Jessica Lang, Lauren Lovette and Dana Genshaft.”