The U.S. should see itself as a land of “civil religion” rather than a land of “radical secularism” or “religious nationalism,” says one historian. Would this solve our wars over culture? (Would the N.E.A. be fully funded? Would ‘Sesame Street’ be on the chopping block?)
Author: ArtsJournal2
Language Loves Legends About Itself
What happens if you start looking up the word ‘mondegreen’? “The churning sea of language raises its watery head to look around and then dives back into itself, splashing out words like litotes, genericide, and yes, metaphor. I collect these terms like Easter eggs, thrilled to have names for the ways we outfit our messages with color, rhythm, and nuance.”
What Would Monsters Actually Sound Like?
Turns out that’s a pretty tough question when reptiles are involved. “We asked paleontologists, who’ve been trying to figure out what dinosaurs sounded like for decades. It’s hard to get an answer because the vocal organs used to make sounds, like the vocal cords in our throat, are mostly made of flesh. And flesh doesn’t fossilize.”
Almost Half Of Atlanta Ballet Dancers Leaving Company After One Year With New Artistic Director
The turnover may be somewhat normal for new artistic directors, but it’s partly because of an intense change in style: “For some of the veteran dancers leaving the Atlanta Ballet, the switch from former director John McFall’s contemporary style to Bolshoi-trained [Gennadi] Nedvigin’s traditional style was a major adjustment.”
How Does Hollywood Get Professor Life, And Tenure, So Wrong?
Basically, because it’s not really a subject for TV. “The actual process of professor tenure is so exquisitely boring that there is no way an accurate depiction would be anything anyone, anywhere, would watch on purpose.”
Should Babies Be At The Theatre? One Policy Is Making Parents Mad
Glasgow’s Pavilion Theatre, in addition to asking patrons to try to ensure their babies won’t spit up on other patrons, has a policy that in part says, “We do not think that the theatre is a place for any child who cannot yet walk and can be very distressing during certain performances due to flashing lights and loud sound levels.”
Peter Zumthor Redesigns The LACMA Makeover
For one thing, the entire metaphor has changed: “What began as an organic black form spreading across the landscape of the Miracle Mile, in homage to the color and texture of the La Brea Tar Pits adjacent to the museum, has become a less fluid, harder-edged and more muscular form in sand-colored concrete.”
Classic British Cathedrals Are Under Increasing Threat From Time And Loss Of Funds
Can the Anglican Church save them? Staff have been laid off, assets sold and some cathedrals have fallen into disrepair. The chairman of a group designed to fix this: “The buildings themselves are a huge problem. It is possible to see a cathedral as an albatross, but they are also our best assets.”
Striptease Has Long Been The Province Of Women, But ‘Magic Mike’ Sparked A Revolution In Men Performing For Cash As Well
Thanks not only to the two “Magic Mike” movies starring Channing Tatum but also to “Fifty Shades of Grey” and its sequels, business is booming for the several dance teams who also sometimes sing and always strip. The movies and books “have prompted women in more conservative areas … to more openly enjoy watching guys gyrate onstage.”
A Famous Los Angeles Mural, Once Whitewashed, Is Now Getting A Different Type Of Washing
Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros painted “América Tropical” in 1932. It was literally whitewashed – covered in white paint – for decades after. Now that it’s fully visible again, there are other issues, says a conservator with the Getty Institute: “We look to to monitor for changes. And what we see is that the mural is filthy — just from all of the particulates in downtown Los Angeles.”