Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven was much recommended in the coronavirus’ early days – but even she thought people shouldn’t be reading it right now. Her new novel is about the 2008 crash and a Bernie Madoff-like character. Why? “It’s a period in recent history that I remember so vividly. It was such an unsettling, chaotic time.” – The Guardian (UK)
Author: ArtsJournal2
Will Cinemagoers Flock Back After This Ends?
Whenever that is, of course. Some movie theatre owners expect that they will: “We strongly believe there will be a rush to cinemas to see all kinds of movies because people will just want to connect with their family and friends once it’s safe to do so.” – Yahoo
Wilhelm Burmann, Teacher Of Ballet’s Best And Brightest, Has Died At 80
Burmann, who died of renal failure after testing positive for COVID-19, was “a revered ballet master and teacher who trained generations of dancers, including Alessandra Ferri, Julio Bocca, Maria Kowroski and Wendy Whelan.” His advanced class drew students from all over the dance world, and he “was a part of ‘so many of our histories — across the world and across disciplines,’ recalled Ms. Whelan, the former New York City Ballet principal who is now the company’s associate artistic director.” – The New York Times
How Dancers In The U.K. Are Pulling Together In The Face Of Uncertainty And Fear
The dancers, especially the freelancers, are facing terrible losses of income and camaraderie, not to mention fitness opportunities. “Self-training isn’t anything new to dancers, but in the absence of daily classes or a trip to the gym, that chance to continue to train alongside others, even virtually, has offered a vital form of connection during a time of sudden change; a reminder that we’re not in this alone.” – The Stage (UK)
The End Of The Art World (As We Know It)
Via this year’s deeply reimagined Sydney Biennale, now called NIRIN: “The impact of COVID-19 is both a significant challenge and a threshold for new beginnings. An international art world that has called persistently for radical socioeconomic change is now faced with just that in large measure, albeit in ways that it is not in a position to readily absorb.” – Hyperallergic
Listening To The Sirens’ Call
What a music critic who lives close to a major hospital hears in, and beyond, the now-constant sirens. “Most American ambulances contain an ‘electronic box in each vehicle, which comes preloaded with seven different sounds with names such as ‘Wail,’ ‘Yelp,’ and ‘Piercer.’'” – The New York Times
Beloved British Children’s Author Jacqueline Wilson Talks About Her Own Plot Twist
The author is on her 111th novel – she long ago stopped buying her signature chunky silver rings for each book – and this one might be her most personal. “Wilson is the fairy goth-mother of children’s fiction credited with daring to introduce such non-cheery subjects as depression and divorce into her children’s bedrooms.” – The Guardian (UK)
Michael McKinnell, Bold Architect Of Boston’s Democratic City Hall, Has Died At 84
McKinnell was a 26-year-old graduate student and a teaching assistant for architect Gerhard Kallmann when the city hall competition arose. Their “heroically sculptural and democratically open design for Boston City Hall catalyzed the city’s urban revival in the late 1960s and embodied the era’s idealism and civic activism.” – The New York Times
The Planned Online Six-Hour Epic Pauline Oliveros Opera
The founder of Opera Povera posted the idea to perform an Oliveros opera, and the opera world responded quickly and in numbers. The plan for the participant opera and fundraiser for musicians: “More than 250 artists from around the world will gather for an epic online performance of the late composer’s The Lunar Opera: Deep Listening for _Tunes, an open-form opera in which the enlisted performers create their own characters, movements and sound based on sonic cues known only to themselves.” – Los Angeles Times
Is It Great Or Terrible That Quibi Is Launching In The Middle Of The Pandemic?
Quibi – whose ads you’ve likely seen if you’ve been online at all in the past four months – was meant to be a short-form video platform that people watched in moments of their commute or at quickly grabbed coffee breaks. Meg Whitman thinks people stuck at home will take breaks from screens with, uh, screens: “‘People have said, ‘I’m stuck in the house, I’m home-schooling, I need a break,’’ Whitman, the former CEO of eBay and Hewlett-Packard told me on a Zoom conference call with [co-founder Jeffrey] Katzenberg the other day. ‘‘I’m trying to keep everyone glued together and I need a 10-minute break. And by the way, I might watch three, four, five, six episodes of something that you have to offer.’ So I think people are going to come in new ways.'” – The Atlantic