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Where Is Pop Music’s MeToo Movement?

They tried to have a panel about it during SXSW. But even the panel showed the problem: “Issues surrounding sexual harassment and misconduct are one of the greatest challenges facing not only the entertainment business but the culture at large. Yet the single most topical panel at SXSW, an event that attracts more than 70,000 registered attendees over its 10-day run, was relegated to one of the Austin Convention Center’s smaller meeting rooms.” And most attendees of SXSW were at booze-fueled parties at the same time. What’s next?

Reconstructing Van Gogh, Monet, And Other ‘Lost’ (Or Destroyed) Masterpieces

A group called Factum Arte is using high-quality 3D scanners to bring works of art that have been damaged or partially lost back to life. And it has some intense results: “It’s absolutely breathtaking. … I think Monet would believe it was his painting.” Um, time for an update to the classic Walter Benjamin essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”?

Kate Wilhelm, Groundbreaking Science Fiction Writer Who Co-Founded The Clarion Writers Workshop, Has Died At 89

Wilhelm was a trailblazer, “one of the few women writing science fiction under their own names in the 1960s, and her books quickly gained a following as well as awards. Unlike many of her colleagues, she straddled genres, between futuristic fantasies and enigmatic mystery novels. She set her science fiction in the near term and imposed present-day sensibilities.”

Technology Is Ruining Music

Not in the way you might expect, though. “Everyone seems so excited by the fact that music is more accessible, people can find new artists more easily and it’s cheaper, without focusing on the potential negatives, not least of which is that idiots can more easily listen to your favourite music.”

Austria Gets A Quiet, And Disquieting, Reminder Of Its Nazi Past

Amid the emergence of a far-right, anti-refugee coalition government in the country, “the Scottish artist Susan Philipsz is using the eerie sound of fingers rubbed on water-filled glasses to remind visitors of Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria 80 years ago. On March 12, 1938, Austrians cheered German troops as they marched into the country, and three days later, tens of thousands on the Heldenplatz saluted Hitler as he addressed them from the palace balcony.”

In Britain, Only Thirty Percent Of Students Think Arts Degrees Are A Good Value For The Money

And this is from the students themselves, who ranked arts degrees above language, history, and philosophy. This may be more a reflection of the schools than the subject, however. One student: “I fail to see where my money has been spent other than on new campus development, staffing and subsidising degrees in other disciplines.”

Opera Singers Need Gowns, But Opera Students Don’t Have Money. Here’s One Solution

Basically, women with money donate gowns, and the students at Juilliard get to go “shopping” when the racks of designer wear come in. The students “are expected to be outfitted in fancy attire at their many auditions and performances, as well as at galas and parties. These singers try to avoid being photographed in the same ensemble twice.”

Television Returns To New York

After some years in the doldrums, TV has caught back on to New York as one large studio – a boon for New York actors, of course, and perhaps largely the result of an expansion of tax breaks for studios.

Irish Dance Dresses Used To Be Hand-Embroidered, And Then Came The Great Bedazzling

This isn’t new; once digital designs became possible, and embroidery machines could run all day and night, the costumes had to step it up to match. The early days of change were harsh: “Irish dancing solo costumes went through a very bad period in the early 2000s. …There were feathers, animal prints. It was almost like the more gaudy you could make it, the better.” Now it’s all Swarovski crystals, and “classic Celtic patterns are once again in style, just a lot more blinged out, blindingly so.”

Author: ArtsJournal2