“What do you do when a composer announces that the work you’ve just commissioned for 15 musicians will need 1,000 performers; or asks for the premiere to be in a boarded-up shop; or wants you to time precisely how long it takes to get from the top floor of your concert hall to the bottom? Smile, breathe deeply, and cheer.”
Author: ArtsJournal2
These Brooklyn Teens Taught An Artist How To Be A Photographer (And A Permanent Teenager)
“‘I’m trying to capture these kids at their most authentic time,’ she said. ‘They’re not being watched by their teachers and parents.’ She photographed them playing sports, or just hanging out.”
Will The British Film & TV Awards Diversify Faster Than The Oscars?
“While diversity is not the driving motivation for BAFTA’s review of members, its review will nevertheless factor into the organization’s efforts to become a more diverse body.”
What Happens To An Artist When He Meets His Goals?
“The way I see it, you have two choices: one is that you can feel like you’re driving your position, or you accept that somebody else is driving and you’re simply waiting around for somebody to pick you up. You can’t afford to do that.”
Streaming Is Going To Kill The Cinema, For Real
“What makes movies a mass art is that they are made on a mass scale for a mass audience, which is true even for work that’s largely exhibited on the festival and art-cinema circuit. What happens to that art when we begin to remove, well, people from part of the equation? What happens to its democratic promise, which may be a fantasy at best, a lie at worst, but remains nonetheless?”
The Man Who Saved Many An Animal By Inventing The Synthetic Drumhead
“Remo Delmo Belli was born in Mishawaka, Ind., near South Bend, on June 22, 1927. Enraptured by his uncle’s polka band, which played at a local Italian-American club, he was urged by his father to learn the accordion, but he preferred the snare drum.”
Penny Dreadfuls Were Blamed For Violence Just Like Video Games (Or Marilyn Manson) Today
“We consider that the Legislature should take some steps to put a stop to the inflammable and shocking literature that is sold, which in our opinion leads to many a dreadful crime being carried out.”
Promising Performances From Summer’s Non-Blockbusters
“My only concern was that she was just 9, and I was putting the weight of the film on her shoulders, since she’s in almost every frame of the film.”
The Nearly 90-Year-Old Artist Finally Getting (Some Of) Her Due
“Over her career, [Betye] Saar has quietly and firmly built a body of work that touches on the magical, the personal and the political — something she continues to do to this day. In fact, just three months shy of her 90th birthday, Saar is busy.”
Unplayable Music? Not Quite
“According to experts, the most difficult string quartet ever written is Ben Johnston’s Quartet No. 7. It was composed in 1984 but went unperformed for decades. … Now the work is available on a CD that the Kepler Quartet released hard on the heels of the composer’s 90th birthday in March.”