“‘We are in despair with the government,’ Ali al-Nashmi, a professor of history at Mustansiriya University in Baghdad, said in a telephone interview. He was nearly in tears after hearing the reports about Hatra, which he said had been rare in Iraq for its classical ruins. ‘We are losing the country.'”
Author: ArtsJournal2
How Black Comics Take On Unmentionable Subjects (Like ‘Drunk Mandela’) In South Africa
“The topics of the day were listed on a white board: ‘Je Suis Charlie’; the governing African National Congress party’s convention in Cape Town; results of the nationwide matric exams, South Africa’s equivalent to the SAT. But the crew remained stuck on the Paris killings, in an animated back and forth about free speech.”
Let’s Talk About Philip Guston’s Paintings, And How He Achieved Eerie Contemporary Status
“In much the same way as Brahms composed variations on themes from Haydn, Handel, Paganini, and Schumann, making their melodies his own by means of elaborate musical embroidery, Guston proved a skilled adapter of diverse sources, motifs, and mannerisms that came together in his hands as compelling, if still formative, works.”
Drones Will Completely Change How Directors Make Movies
“Filming with a camera-equipped drone isn’t hard at all. The controls, familiar to anyone who ever used a remote-control car, are easy to operate. The hardest part is keeping and eye on the drone and another on the smartphone displaying its video feed.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs For 03.08.15
Dueling With the Dean: Rock Crit Robert Christgau
AJBlog: CultureCrashPublished 2015-03-08
Lew Soloff, 1944-2015
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2015-03-08 Evolution of Postmodernism
AJBlog: Infinite CurvesPublished 2015-03-07
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2015-03-08 Evolution of Postmodernism
AJBlog: Infinite CurvesPublished 2015-03-07
AJBlog: PostClassicPublished 2015-03-07
Spotting Musically Talented Moroccan Women Isn’t Always Easy
“The music industry is not yet taken seriously as a career in Morocco, says Haddadi, who comes from a family of engineers and doctors. ‘When I told them I wanted to work in the music industry, as a woman, I’m going be working late at night, go on tour, they were like: “Are you sure?”‘”
The Internet Is Bad. The Internet Is Good. The Internet Is … A Trip.
“Being able to see hundreds, or thousands, or tens of thousands of people unwittingly having the same thoughts at the same time in plain view is, ironically, something that makes the internet really intimate.”
The Mysterious World Of Art Attribution, And The Painting That Exploded In Value After It Became A Constable
“The anonymous buyer, an art dealer, had a hunch. Real Constables were often painted over during the 19th century, when their rough, seemingly unfinished quality put off prospective purchasers. So the dealer had it cleaned and took it to a leading Constable expert, Anne Lyles, a former curator at Tate Britain.”
Brecht And Weill’s Opera Has Regained Its Bite In The Huge Economic Imbalances Of The 21st Century
“Its story is so contemporary, though, that it could almost have been written yesterday. It charts the creation, supposedly in America, of a city of pleasure with no history and no moral compass – and its destruction in a morass of consumerist malaise and addiction, with inhabitants put to death for the crime of having no money.”
The High Drama Of Curating London’s Serpentine Gallery
“Obrist (HUO to his colleagues) regularly tops lists of art’s most powerful. His network of proteges and followers extends around the world, and back again. There cannot be an artist alive of any note who has not had dealings with him of one kind or another. (Though it must be said that not everyone is convinced.)”