Author: ArtsJournal2

In Europe, Lockdowns Mean Neighbors Having Impromptu Singalongs From Their Windows

And then there’s the social-media-scheduled applause for hospital workers as well. In Rome, one neighborhood sang the anti-fascist anthem “Bella Ciao.” And “elsewhere in the city, pop triumphed over politics, as a neighborhood came together to perform the 1958 Eurovision Song Contest’s third-place winner ‘Nei Blu, Dipinto di Blu,’ a.k.a. ‘Volare.'” – Slate

Why Broadband Companies Must Ditch Their Data Caps For The Duration

As local and state governments try harder and harder to urge social distancing and isolation, internet usage will naturally increase from private residences. And “while it’ll be difficult for everyone to access all the resources they need in this time of shutdowns and isolation, it’ll likely impact low-income populations the hardest. Advocates worry that the homework gap, which refers to the difficulty students have completing course work without a stable home internet connection, will widen as schools close their classrooms and provide lessons and materials virtually.” – Slate

Collecting Art Is Fun, But That’s Nothing Compared To Collecting Bits Of Outer Space

Meteorites are the hot new thing at Christy’s. The auction may (OK, probably will) be rescheduled over virus fears, but the fact remains that meteorites are becoming more popular to collectors, and the resource is finite. “Only about 60,000 meteorites are known to have landed on Earth, according to experts, but many fragmented into hundreds of pieces as they crashed through the atmosphere, or have since been cut and sliced and cut some more.” – The New York Times

Alert To The Unwary And The Fascinated: Amazon Is Flooded With Self-Published Virus Books

There are the terrible – quack “guides” to combatting the virus that causes COVID-19 – and the amusing: “Coronavirus Zombies Volume 1: The Living Dead Apocalypse by one Maximus Williams involves a vaccine for the illness turning those who catch it into a deadly threat. Running to just 20 pages, it promises ‘scenes of violence, guns, profanity and graphic scenes of zombies that may be objectionable to some.'” – The Irish Times

In Which ‘The Atlantic’ Argues That Theatre Shutdowns Could Be Good For Plays

Shakespeare apparently wrote King Lear while the Globe was shuttered because of the bubonic plague (a trope that echoed heavily on Twitter over the weekend). Then there’s the economic opportunity: “Given that the bubonic plague particularly decimated young populations, it may also have wiped out Shakespeare’s theatrical rivals—companies of boy actors who dominated the early-17th-century stage, and could often get away with more satiric, politically dicey productions than their older competitors. Shakespeare’s company took over the indoor Blackfriars Theatre in 1608 after the leading boy company collapsed, and started doing darker, edgier productions, capitalizing on a market share that was newly available.” – The Atlantic

The Met May Have Shuttered, But It’s Offering Several Operas Free In HD

In an act of generosity to millions stuck at home with no entertainment options during the rest of the month (or longer), the Met “will stream a title from its Live in HD series each night through the duration of the closure. The performances, originally captured as live broadcasts in movie theatres worldwide, will begin at 7:30 PM from the company’s homepage.” (And then, if you like what you get for free, you can of course subscribe to the opera’s full streaming service. Clever!) – Playbill

Ana Mendieta’s Family Would Like Sotheby’s To Return, Not Sell, A ‘Lost’ Work

The work, a photograph of a figure in a rock, had disappeared, “loaned out to curator Rebecca Ballenger for a traveling exhibition from 1983 to 1984, but allegedly not returned. A Georgia man, Edward Meringolo, allegedly bought the work from Ballenger last year before consigning it to Sotheby’s, according to court papers.” – The New York Post