Author: ArtsJournal2

The Fantastic Idea Of Having A Film Festival At Your Fingertips

And the realities, too. “That kind of convenience, of course, comes at a price, especially in an artistic medium that always works best when it achieves your wholehearted surrender. And by surrender I mean actively putting aside your convenience, putting aside your phone, your work, your tiredness, your phone, your competing thoughts, your other appointments, your phone. I saw some very fine TIFF movies this year, though even the best ones left me wondering how much better I’d have liked them if I’d seen them as they were meant to be seen, on an enormous glowing screen in a crowded (and coronavirus-free) theater.” – Los Angeles Times

The Conservation Challenge Of A Piece Of Fruit

Honestly, how is the Guggenheim supposed to conserve something like a banana duct-taped to a wall? Ah: The artwork contains no actual banana. “Comedian, as sold, does not include a banana or tape. What one buys is a ‘certificate of authenticity,’ a surprisingly detailed, 14-page list of instructions, with diagrams, on how the banana should be installed and displayed.” – The New York Times

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Loved Opera, And Opera Loved Her Back

When Justice Ginsburg’s death was reported Friday night, tributes poured in from everyone associated with the art form. “She saw her first opera — a condensed version of La Gioconda — in 1944, when she was 11, and was immediately hooked, becoming the kind of aficionado who goes to dress rehearsals, and then opening nights, and then closing nights, too, for good measure.” – The New York Times

While TikTok Makes A Deal, A Judge Keeps WeChat Around, For Now

Early Sunday morning, U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler in San Francisco said in an order that the Commerce Department’s prohibitions against the popular Chinese messaging app “burden substantially more speech than is necessary to serve the government’s significant interest in national security, especially given the lack of substitute channels for communication.” – Reuters

Royal Academy Claims It Needs To Sell A Michelangelo To Fund 150 Jobs

Should the Royal Academy sell the “Taddei Tondo,” nickname for Michelangelo’s The Virgin and Child with the Infant St John? “The 515-year-old sculpture had been given to the London gallery in 1829 following the death of its owner, Lady Margaret Beaumont, as an inspiration to students in the academy’s schools.” The debate is contentious. – The Observer (UK)

Anne Stevenson, Poet And Biographer Of Sylvia Plath, 87

The poet completed 16 poetry collections and won prestigious prizes, including from the Lannan Foundation for lifetime achievement. But she’s most well-known for a biography of Sylvia Plath, which veered from the accepted narrative of Plath’s husband, poet Ted Hughes, “portraying Ms. Plath as ‘a wall of unrelenting rage’ prone to outrageous behavior, while depicting Mr. Hughes as generous and caring.” – The New York Times