Author: ArtsJournal2

Is Amanda Palmer’s $1 Million Kickstarter Campaign The Future Of Music?

“In order to succeed within the DIY framework, she has found that musicians have to do a lot more than just make music. Sure, backers of Palmer’s project could choose to get a $1 digital download, a $25 CD or a $50 vinyl, all with exclusive Kickstarter content. Those are typical rewards for music-based fundraising drives — but on the other end of the spectrum was a $10,000 private dinner with the singer … during which she would paint a portrait of you. (Two backers went for that one.)”

Choreographer Angry That NBC Cut Tribute In Olympics Opening

“Spectators were asked to display photos of loved ones who could not be there during the segment. The music, a hymn called ‘Abide With Me,’ was described in the ceremony’s program as an ‘honest expression of the fear of approaching death.’ NBC producers did not air it, instead showing American viewers Ryan Seacrest’s interview with swimmer Michael Phelps.”

Wigman (Yes, That Means Hair – And Other Materials) To The Stars

“Mr. Mawbey said that he can’t remember the last time he was able to get true white hair. ‘I’ll ask them if they have gotten it in and they’ll laugh at me,’ he said. ‘Older women aren’t going out and selling their hair.’ He said that the price would be many multiples higher than typical dark hair, but he wasn’t sure of an exact figure. On the rare occasions when he was able to procure it, it has typically been in bundles of very short hairs, which he used to keep in a small stash for partially bald actor Sean Connery.”

Opera Gone Wild: The (New) Baroque In Europe

“Nothing had prefigured the opera’s Bacchus as she sauntered toward the audience: an immensely large, nearly naked woman — so large that my first thought was that her enormous breasts were prostheses. When she had nearly reached the edge of the stage, she stopped, silent and self-satisfied, as the chorus stood around her and caressed her, rubbing her breasts as they invoked the god in song. This was not the Baroque of waistcoats and powdered wigs, of delicate dances and imperiously raised index fingers.”

How Do You Find Buried Buildings? Flying Lasers, Of Course

Archaeological researchers have found plenty of information at digs in the Glauberg, in Germany, including the beautifully preserved statue of a Celtic warrior known as the Celtic Prince of Glauberg. But “it was thought unlikely that the mound would yield any more big surprises. At least that was the assumption until people with flying lasers showed up.”

How Deitch’s Shenanigans At MOCA Look To The World Outside The Broad Bubble

“The museum, which counted artists among its most active founders, has always had them on its board. In a sense their loss was as shocking as anything that came before, because it signaled in the extreme a loss of faith on the part of artists. Mr. Deitch’s tenure as director has so far been a disappointment even to the people who thought it was a feasible idea in the first place.”

Does Money Make Writers Better? (And If So, Why Are Second Novels So Often Disappointing?)

“Almost the worst thing that can happen to writers, at least if it’s the quality of their work we’re thinking about, is to receive, immediately, all the money and recognition they want. At this point all other work, all other sane and sensible economic relation to society, is rapidly dropped and the said author now absolutely reliant on the world’s response to his or her books, and at the same time most likely surrounded by people who will be building their own careers on his or her triumphant success, all eager to reinforce intimations of grandeur.”