Angelica Frey surveys the subject from the 12th century to the 21st, looking at how the bloody Biblical tale has been used to symbolize “womanly virtue” and modesty, defeating a larger and more powerful adversary, female rage and vengeance, a literal femme fatale, and even resistance against Stalinism and white supremacy. – Artsy
Blog
We Live In A Productivity Optimization Culture. Just Stop It!
Jenny Odell is tired of all the exhortations to be a better you. Even the acres of digital detox books now flooding stores masquerade as reconnecting with what’s real while all the while suggesting you’ll get even more productive after the detox. Her suggestion. Stop. Be a better you. – The Baffler
Keeping Endangered Mexican Languages Alive On A California Radio Station
“Radio Indígena (indígena means indigenous in Spanish) is one of the first indigenous Mexican radio stations in the United States. The community-run station [in Oxnard] boasts 40 hours of original programming every week, broadcasting music and talk shows in a handful of indigenous languages, as well as Spanish programming too. The station is a welcome cultural lifeline for thousands of farm workers who speak Mixteco or other indigenous Central American languages.” – NBC News
Music Is Ephemeral: That Makes It Difficult To Write About. Also To Understand How A Conductor Does What S/he Does
Conductor Mark Wigglesworth wrote a book to try to explain the latter. Robert Philip wrote another that tries to make music comprehensible in words. These aren’t meager tasks. – Times Literary Supplement
What I Learned Teaching Art In Georgia State Prison
“Must we change our lives? Honestly, I don’t know. I am certainly changed by this work, call it art or god or—what we care about at Common Good—dignity. But I’m not much convinced by this poem that art asks of us any such thing.” – Americans for the Arts
After 40 Eventful Years, Gay Men’s Chorus Of Los Angeles Tries To Fight Off Bankruptcy
“Fiscal mismanagement, as well as recent sexual misconduct allegations leveled at former board chairman and former West Hollywood Mayor John Duran (accusations that Duran denies), have left the chorus on life support … The chorus has reduced its paid staff, dramatically cut production costs and promised to settle debts to vendors as quickly as possible, but the misconduct allegations have presented other challenges.” – Los Angeles Times
Sculptor Claude Lalanne Dead At 93
“Her imaginative [metal] sculptures sometimes carried a Surrealist touch, such as Pomme d’Hiver (2008), a large-scale bronze apple, Choupatte Géante (2016), a cabbage with chicken feet, and a series of Crocodile benches. Lalanne also made sinuous jewellery and pieces of furniture that appear to be fashioned from twisted branches, leaves and flowers.” – The Art Newspaper
Los Angeles Approves Funding For New LACMA Building With Help From Brad Pitt And Diane Keaton
The county board of supervisors voted Tuesday to approve the current plan and release $117.5 million in taxpayer funding for it, despite last-minute entreaties from some art and architecture critics who urged the board to vote against the project. – The New York Times
Hip-Hop Playwrights Turn Their Keyboards Toward Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Justin Bieber, And ‘Pygmalion’
A Q&A with Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm, author of P.Y.G., or The Mis-Edumacation of Dorian Belle (two black rappers are Henry Higgins to Bieber figure’s Eliza Doolittle), and Psalmayene 24, who wrote Les Deux Noirs: Notes on Notes of A Native Son (Wright as Jay-Z and Baldwin as Kanye). – The Washington Post
‘No More All-White Seasons’ — Activists Slam One Of Philly’s Largest Nonprofit Theatres
“Titled ‘No More All-White Seasons,’ the [open letter on Facebook] praises the [Philadelphia Theatre Company’s] current 2018-19 season for its diversity — then condemns a lack of it in the theater’s upcoming 2019-20 season [of three plays]. In the process, it points to the sometimes acrimonious diversity debate underway at local and national theaters.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer