And that’s because we couldn’t check the box office receipts obsessively. “Early on in the pandemic, I would feel a phantom curiosity every Sunday afternoon. Isn’t there something I’m supposed to do right about now? It was a tiny, unscratchable itch that has since numbed to almost nothing. But it’s still there. I miss the feeling of a continuous curiosity regularly sated, and I know I’m not alone.” – Fast Company
Author: ArtsJournal2
Jeff Koons Has Joined The MasterClass List
That’s right, Koons could be your art teacher. Or, well, your something. “While the chef Thomas Keller demonstrates how to cook scrambled eggs on MasterClass and the tennis star Serena Williams walks viewers through groundstrokes, Mr. Koons is here as a life coach and a salesman. He wants us to succeed, and he wants us to be happy.” – The New York Times
Has Thomas Becket’s ‘Little Book’ At Very Long Last Been Found?
The book was important enough that, in 1164, he sent his closest confidant to do something about it as he fled trial in England for exile in France. But he never named it. Fast-forward to 2014 (and later), and a tale of academic adventure and record-keeping that began over coffee. – BBC
Prestige TV Just Doesn’t Matter Anymore
Nobody cared in 2020 about “good” or “bad” TV. It was there for something different. “I craved a slightly different definition of quality. I wanted shows that made me feel just a bit better about the world, through their kindness or their zaniness or their offering of nostalgia—shows that made me, physically isolated from so many of the people I love, feel a little less alone.” – The Atlantic
An L.A. Couple Rallies To Save Indie Bookstores And Other Small Businesses
Inspired by stories about the woes of local indie bookstores, the couple at the head of a skin-care company (this is Los Angeles, after all) decided to do what they could to aid small businesses, including indie bookstores, in the area. “The thing I’m fearful the most of after this is, when we lift our heads and look around our communities and neighborhoods, I think we’re going to see a lot missing, and we have to rebuild our main streets in our neighborhoods because otherwise we just don’t have a point of connection.” – Los Angeles Times
Can Asia Save The Modernist Masterpieces Of Its Many Cities?
The campaigns to save the Hong Kong post office and Modernist buildings in Thailand, the Philippines, and Japan are about more than the structures. “Many of the structures were municipal buildings that served as downtown hubs of civic life. The campaigns, in a sense, are an attempt to preserve the collective memories stored inside.” – The New York Times
Look, Warner Bros. Believes Movie Theatres Will Still Be Around In 2023
Question is, which theatres will still be around by then? (And is Warner Bros. 2021 slate of movies to HBO Max plan going to devastate those same theatres?) – The Verge
The Pandemic Has Decimated The Live Music Business, Along With All Its Unsung Heroes
Yes, musicians and music venues have been horrendously hard-hit. But “not enough has been said about the workers who make live music tick – the people whom fans and gig-goers barely know about. Managers and tour managers, festival staff, sound technicians, promoters, and booking agents and their long-suffering assistants.” How to help them out at this point? – The Guardian (UK)
The Year In Reading Of A Writer Who Died Far Too Young
Anthony Veasna So’s Year in Reading is a heartbreaker. The 28-year-old died suddenly at the beginning of December, but his essay for The Millions was nearly finished. “I did love Girl, Woman,Other by Bernardine Evaristo. Or maybe I loved knowing the characters of this kaleidoscopic novel. Maybe I need to record the lives of as many archetypal Khmer queers I can imagine.” – The Millions
The Moments Of Theatre That Offered Comfort, Aid, Glimmers Of Light
“Needless to say, 2020 didn’t exactly go as planned.” But actors, directors, playwrights, sound producers, lighting designers, and stage directors came through just as much as they possibly could. – Playbill