“The £80m [Victoria and Albert] Museum Of Design Dundee on the banks of the Tay, housed in a dazzling building inspired by cliffs on the east coast of Scotland, is to open [on 15] September. Details were announced on Thursday for what will be the V&A’s first outpost outside London, and Scotland’s first design museum.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Top Posts From AJBlogs 01.18.18
Ken Burns, Collector, Gets An Exhibition
There’s nothing like a celebrity, even a person behind the camera instead of in front of it, to attract attention – sometimes even deservedly so. I think that is the case for an exhibition opening Friday, … read more
>AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2018-01-18
Women in jazz journalism on gender issues, in NYC MLK weekend
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. weekend ’18 was a big one for jazz in NYC, with the first Jazz Congress at Jazz at Lincoln Center, a glorious Winter Jazz Fest, artists showcases at the conference … read more
AJBlog: Jazz Beyond Jazz Published 2018-01-18
Acker Awards to Honor One-of-a Kind Artists
I don’t know what the late Kathy Acker, who died in 1997, would think of an award given in her name to non-conforming artists. I assume … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2018-01-18
What We Misunderstand About Willpower
“It turns out that self-control, and all the benefits from it, may not be related to inhibiting impulses at all. And once we cast aside the idea of willpower, we can better understand what actually works to accomplish goals, and hit those New Year’s resolutions.”
It’s Time To End The Fat-Phobia In Theater
Maggie Rogers: “It is time to talk about the elephant in the room: me. I’m the elephant. I’m the fat girl playing the Nurse in Romeo & Juliet senior year of high school, because as a fat girl you only play grandmas or other ‘undesirable’ characters. I am the fat girl who sits behind the rehearsal table as an assistant director trying to keep her mouth shut while wondering why all the characters of lower status and even lower intelligence levels in the show are fat.”
Why ‘Three Billboards’ Is Off In What It Says About America Today
Wesley Morris: “This is a revenge movie that’s also a dead-child tragedy that’s also a local-law-enforcement comedy that leaves room for physical comedy, cancer and a bad date. … Meanwhile, the issues of the day come and go: brutal police, sexual predators, targeted advertising. It’s like a set of postcards from a Martian lured to America by a cable news ticker and by rumors of how easily flattered and provoked we are.”
The Protest Song Is Back! Pop Music Is More Political Than At Any Time Since The ’60s
And you can guess why. Dorian Lynskey, author of 33 Revolutions Per Minute: A History of Protest Songs, talks with Spencer Kornhaber about the current revival of political pop and its pitfalls.
Pop Culture Has Been Painting Harassment And Predatory Behavior As Romantic For A Long Time
As one male character in Gossip Girl sais in a wedding toast, “In the face of true love you don’t just give up, even if the object of your affection is begging you to.” Julie Beck lays out some of the owrrying examples, from “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” to “Blurred Lines” and from Say Anything to Twilight to Grey’s Anatomy.
‘The Boy Factor’ – Do Young Men Get An Unfair Advantage In Dance Competitions?
It sure seems that way, various teachers and judges tell Sarah Nagle. Why? Basically, the law of supply and demand.
Windfall Or White Elephant? Great American Songbook Foundation Gets A Huge Donation It May Not Be Able To Afford
“The Great American Songbook Foundation is around 10 years old and has an annual budget of less than $1 million, so accepting the donation of the $30 million Asherwood Estate is … well, complicated.” The gift isn’t cash: it’s an actual estate with mansion, pool and golf course – and there are restrictive covenants attached to the property that will complicate a sale.
Even With Free Admission, Attendance At Baltimore’s Art Museums Is Falling
“Eleven years ago, when Baltimore’s two largest art museums” – the Walters Art Museum and the Baltimore Museum of Art – “joined a nationwide trend by announcing that they would drop admission fees, the news was applauded in newspapers from New York to Detroit to Jackson, Miss. … [But] after initial surges in attendance, museums in Baltimore and nationwide that went free soon resumed losing visitors at alarming rates. A decade later, museum officials are still scrambling to devise ways to reverse the slide.”