Author: ArtsJournal2

Is The Nobel Prize For Literature Gone For Good?

This is quite the feature. Yikes: “It is the kind of bitter farce that might result if August Strindberg were to emerge from the grave to watch the dandies from the academy pelt each other with champagne glasses. And Strindberg, whose path to early 20th century literary greatness in Sweden was filled with hatred and scorn, likely wouldn’t even find it possible to hate them, as consumed as he would be with disdain.”

Dorothy Allison Wonders When Working-Class Rage Will Bubble Up Through Fiction

Fiction apart from her own, that is. Her project, and the project that she hopes other working-class writers will take us, is clear: “Trying to write with love and respect about people who even as you love them are destroying themselves and to try to write it accurately and with some of the grace of Meridel Le Sueur is the challenge. But you can’t write about this stuff and be boring. That would be a sin against God.”

The Internet Surfaces Viral Illusions (You Know, Laural/Yanny And Blue Dress/White Dress), But Why?

“It all began in a simpler time—February 2015 — on an ordinary Thursday evening when a photo of a dress posted on Tumblr got picked up by BuzzFeed. Was the dress white and gold, or blue and black? The question pitted brother against brother, friend against friend, caused celebrities to weigh in, and basically ground the internet to a halt. The dress was actually blue, but that hardly mattered. … What mattered was that the chasm between perception and reality had opened up, and we found ourselves teetering on the edge.”

Australia’s La Mama Theatre Destroyed By Fire, Plans To Rebuild

The venue, in the trendy Carlton neighborhood of Melbourne, burned early Saturday morning. The fire commander said, “What’s really sad about this, it’s a heritage listed building, it’s well-loved, it’s been a business that’s operated in the community for a really long time and that’s evident by the scenes out in the street with a lot of people crying, a lot of people very emotional about the loss of this icon.”

Oh My Gosh, Cannes, You *Can* Have A Future, But Quit With The Snooty Rulemaking

And it’s not just the rejection of Netflix and streaming that’s the problem, but the truth – in hard numbers – that “non-English-language film culture has experienced a serious slippage in currency. … For half a century or more, starting after World War II, what we referred to in America as ‘foreign films’ (a parochial term, to be sure, since they’re not foreign in other places) found a way to be part of the conversation. They were movies that periodically produced lines around the block. With rare exceptions, that’s no longer the case.”

Gala Dalí Was Far More Than A Muse For Her Husband

New photos show her own art and photographic eye. “Gala never spoke to the press about their relationship, so her impact on Dalí’s art must be decoded through his incredibly performative memoir, public appearances, and gossip from those who passed through their famous parties and orgies. But in Women Photograph Dalí, her gaze directed back at him is on display.”

Yes, Performing Artists Need To Pay Attention To Visas (No, Not The Credit Card)

Why? Because the U.S. visa process has gotten more expensive and much harder to navigate with success. “Visa delays and denials have damaged a wide number of productions, and in many situations, have led to cancellations. It is tempting to feel powerless—to feel that there is nothing that the performing arts community can do to push back against cultural isolation. But all is not hopeless.”

The New Lynching Memorial May Be A Massive Gamechanger For Alabama Tourism

There are few direct flights to Montgomery, where the memorial opened, and it’s a three-hour drive from Atlanta. Still, officials estimate it may attract 100,000 people in its first year. “One young man, Dimitri Digbeu Jr., who drove 13 hours from Baltimore to see the memorial, said he thought it had singlehandedly ‘rebranded’ Montgomery.”