Justin Davidson: “The 24-year-old Lili Boulanger had died of Crohn’s disease, after years of physical pain and artistic glory. During her brief career and in the century since, she regularly received high, though conditional praise, which almost always boiled down to this: She was surprisingly accomplished for someone so young, ill, and female. It’s time to stop hedging.” –New York Magazine
Blog
Rebuild Notre Dame? Yes – And There’s A Roadmap On How To Go About It
“First and foremost, Notre Dame’s World Heritage status calls for international principles of restoration to be integrated into the discussions on how to restore it. Decisions will have to be taken on how to consolidate its structural parts, restore the damaged surfaces, reconstruct the roof, the spire and the stained-glass windows. All these choices need to be made in accordance with the conservation principles promoted by the World Heritage Convention.” – The Art Newspaper
Study: Rejection Causes Physical Pain
“Those who felt the most emotional distress also showed the most pain-related brain activity. In other words, being socially rejected triggered the same neural circuits that process physical injury, and translate it into the experience we call pain.” – Aeon
Conservative Pundit: Guggenheim Bilbao Is Home To Anti-American Propaganda
Mark Thiessen attacks a show of Jenny Holzer’s work: “It’s no surprise that the art world is left wing. But the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao — an institution owned by an American foundation, in the heart of Spain — has turned itself into something worse: an instrument of anti-American propaganda.” – Washington Post
Try As You Might, There’s A Reason It’s Tough To Learn A New Language As An Adult
You can learn basic grammar and vocabulary at any age. That explains my “good enough” French. But there’s also an enormous amount of low-frequency words and syntax that even native speakers might encounter only once a year. Knowing any one of these “occasional” words or phrasings isn’t essential. But in every context — a book, an article or conversation — there will probably be several. They’re part of what gives native speech its richness. – The New York Times
Stanford University Cuts Off Funding To Stanford University Press
“Provost Persis Drell told the Faculty Senate Thursday that the university was ending that funding. She cited a tight budget ahead, due to a smaller than anticipated payout coming from the endowment. (The endowment is worth more than $26 billion and is the fourth largest in American higher education.)” – Inside Higher Ed
Gaia, Healthcare, and the Arts
This post responds to three things I’ve read recently that have me stewing (again) about the future of big- (and medium-) box nonprofit arts organizations, the ones that bear the DNA of the European aristocratic cultural tradition. – Doug Borwick
Recent Listening: Linda May Han Oh
Linda May Han Oh, Aventurine (Biophilia)
There’s plenty of adventure here in the bassist-composer’s instrumentation, textures and rhythmic values. The name was suggested, however, by a certain shiny translucent mineral that seems to glow from within. – Doug Ramsey
So Is Woodstock 50 Canceled Or Not?
The festival, planned for the site of the original, was to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the iconic music festival. But Monday, the financial backer pulled out. “I don’t know whether it’s money, insurance, water, safety. I think it would be a great bill if it could have happened. But if it can’t happen, it can’t happen.” – Washington Post
Using Chickens, Kate Winslet, And Theatre To Help Fight Climate Change
Australian theatre artist David Finnigan’s first piece on the subject was, perhaps imprudently, titled Kill Climate Deniers. (It was about an attack by, er, highly motivated environmental activists on the parliament in Canberra.) Reporter Steve Dow has a look at Finnigan’s new show, You’re Safe Til 2024, which, yes, involves chickens and Kate Winslet (Titanic version). – The Guardian