And writing about trauma doesn’t bestow some kind of catharsis on authors, or so says T. Kira Madden, author of Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls. “My love for magic, still, is all about mechanics. Construction. Physics. My knowledge of how tricks are done does not deaden the awe and admiration I feel—it deepens it. Sometimes I work hard for that knowledge.” – LitHub
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Thomas Heatherwick Projects Are Everywhere These Days. We Deserve Better
“This high-profile intercontinental spread has made Heatherwick all but ubiquitous. It has also earned him a heavy dose of suspicion mixed with contempt, both from critics and the public. His name is often used as something of a synonym for everything that’s wrong with contemporary urban design.” – CityLab
Might Our Morality Change With Artificial Intelligence? (Is That Even The Right Question?)
Because AI might ‘think’ differently to how humans think, and because of the general tendency to get swept up in its allure, its use could well change how we approach tasks and make decisions. The seductive allure that tends to surround AI in fact represents one of its dangers. Those working in the field despair that almost every article about AI hypes its powers, and even those about banal uses of AI are illustrated with killer robots. – Aeon
How Rome Is Using Technology To Make Its Amazing History Visible In The Streets
There’s a digital renaissance underway in the Eternal City and it is helping to shed a light on the past – quite literally. From video projections cast upon ancient walls and multimedia light shows to virtual reconstructions revealed through 3D visors, technology is being used to help tell the story of Rome in a more concrete and compelling way. – Forbes
Michael Tilson Thomas On His Relationship With Music
“We are living in a time when production has mostly superseded content in every area you can think of. It’s very archaic to be holding on to what is the actual content and how to keep it meaningful.” – Washington Post
An Argument Against Colorblind Casting
Playwright Chisa Hutchinson got involved with theatre because of a “badass” theatre teacher who let her write her own monologues for acting class, because outside of A Raisin in the Sun there just wasn’t much available for her to perform. This same teacher brought her to see August Wilson debate Robert Brustein at Town Hall in Manhattan. She found herself gravitating to Wilson’s point of view that colorblind casting is lazy and can erase the experiences of different races of people. – American Theatre
New Thinking On Getting Old
As the population surges into young old age and old old age, the number of books wrestling with that question has grown from a trickle to a tsunami. Apart from the science journals and science-fiction novels debating whether is it possible or desirable to prolong the lifespan by fifty or a hundred years, or (might as well go for it) eternally, books designed to help readers navigate the treacheries of ageing fall roughly into three categories: the scientific, the personal and the political. – Times Literary Supplement
Wanda De Guébriant, World’s Leading Expert On Matisse, Dead At 69
“The daughter of a diplomat, born in Copenhagen in 1949 and raised in Buenos Aires, de Guébriant was introduced in 1975 to the artist’s daughter and archivist, Marguerite Duthuit, and became her assistant, working closely with her on Matisse catalogues and exhibitions. When Duthuit died in 1982, De Guebriant succeeded her as the only official specialist for Matisse’s work.” – The Art Newspaper
The Essential Brilliance Of Studio Musicians
In the 1950s and ’60s, especially, session musicians could make or break a hit. And session musicians were in high demand, as producers like Phil Spector became obsessed with production techniques such as the Wall of Sound, forcing as many musicians as possible into a studio and having each of them contribute a small part to a larger, bombastic sound. As a result, session musicians became highly valued: Each had to play their role well, but they also had to find a way to click with every other session musician in the room. – Pacific Standard
Batsheva Dance Company And Ohad Naharin At The Turning Point
“Last September, after nearly 30 years as the company’s artistic director, [Naharin] handed the reins to Gili Navot, a former dancer with the company, while he assumed the position of house choreographer. In that role, Mr. Naharin will continue to create new work, while Ms. Navot will be responsible for the daily decision-making and long-term direction of the company. Is this the beginning of a new era or just an administrative reorganization?” Brian Schaefer talks to them both to find out. – The New York Times