Author: ArtsJournal2

What To Do With Mexico City’s Massive Public Murals That Sit On A Crumbling Complex Of Earthquake-Damaged Buildings?

The Centro SCOP’s murals were created with pride and hope in the 1950s, but two earthquakes, and the vagaries of politics, may consign them to rubble – or to be moved, as some recently have been, without much regard for preservation. “The buildings harbor a uniquely Mexican form of mural making, in which colored stones from different regions are embedded in concrete panels (sturdy materials that can withstand all manner of urban elements). In addition, the scale at which they were deployed at Centro SCOP is unprecedented.” – Los Angeles Times

The Ballet Dancer Whose Workout Film In Pink Stilettos Earned Him Viral Fame

Harper Watters says that sharing his story, including the viral video where he and another dancer wearing pink stilettos dance on treadmills, is good for his dance with the Houston Ballet. “I saw such a response to me sharing myself authentically off stage and outside of the studio, I thought why don’t I do that more in the studio. … And the second I did that, my dancing became so much better and so much more authentic.” – KTRK (Houston)

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Was A ‘Female Byron,’ A Celebrity Poet Who Mesmerized Her Public With Rumors

By the time of her early death, she had been the subject of many dark rumors, most of which she had initiated. But Landon was one of the first modern poets, who “explored the art of performative self-creation in the commercial press—an art fated to become a habit in the social-media age—and she was one of the first to pay its costs. Neither sincere in a 19th-century sense nor confessional in a 20th-century one, L.E.L.’s signature style was a curiously opaque self-obsession.” – The Atlantic

Uh, Hold The Champagne For Disney And Fox (And Hulu)

This story is complicated, but basically, Fox executives, including two who are in line to be top executives at Disney, just got hit with a $179 million ruling that they committed fraud against the stars and executive producer of the massive hit Bones, which ran from 2005-2017. But it has larger implications. “What we have exposed in this case is going to profoundly change the way Hollywood does business,” the lawyer said. Will this news also break Hulu? – The Hollywood Reporter

A New, Ruff Player In ‘There’s A Museum For Everything’

Perk those ears up, sniff the wind, and trot on over to, yes, a new museum for humans’ best friend. When you enter New York’s Museum of the Dog, “right away, you’ll stand before a large screen that invites you to find out what breed of dog you, a human, are — like a BuzzFeed quiz in real life. The screen will take your picture, analyze it and show you the dog you most resemble.” (And no, it’s not a pop-up Instagram-bait museum, despite that entry.) – The Washington Post

Sure, Rami Malek’s Historic Oscar Win Is Great For Arab Representation In The Movie World

But a lot more needs to happen – and not just for filmmakers like Nadine Labaki, whose Capernaum (Lebanon) was up for Best Foreign Film, or Talal Derki, whose Of Fathers and Sons, filmed in Syria, was up for Best Documentary. “What is really needed is better support for Arabs working in cinema in the Middle East who are trying to make quality films.” – The New York Times

The Former Director Of The Manchester Festival Is About To Open New York’s Huge New Arts Center

So how’s the project, which Alex Poots was first approached about in 2014, going? It’s going OK: “Poots and his board have … doubled the scale of the Shed so that, when it opens this spring with a programme of original commissions including works by Steve McQueen and Björk, it will be in a multistorey glass complex where the largest performance space can accommodate up to 1,200 people. There will be rehearsal and lab spaces for emerging artists, a pop-up bookshop and a 20,000 sq ft outdoor plaza for huge events.” – The Observer (UK)

Historian Li Xueqin, Who Helped China Embrace Antiquity, Has Died At 85

Li, who wrote more than 40 books and 1000 articles, had to walk the line, including attacking his mentor both personally and professionally during the Cultural Revolution. But inside China, “Li was better known as the country’s leading historian. He participated in some of the most important Chinese archaeological digs of the 20th century, like one at Mawangdui, which yielded texts that helped reshape scholarly understanding of ancient China.” – The New York Times