Seriously – are we surprised? A first-of-its-kind study analyzes the race and gender of the artists represented in the permanent collections of 18 major American art museums, and finds that three-quarters of them are white men. Women represent only 12.6 percent of this elite group, and African-Americans of any gender only 1.2 percent. – Pacific Standard
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Theatre Without Actors? It Can, And Does, Happen
Peter Brook posited that any empty space in which one actor walks as someone else watched could be a theatre. The next year, Samuel Beckett wrote a play with no actors. And onward the idea has gone, from Punchdrunk shows, to Enda Walsh’s Rooms and the Royal Court’s Dismantle This Room, in which 15 audience members do precisely that. – The Guardian
Apple’s TV Plans: Not So Much Netflix Competitor As Seller Of Shows
Apple’s main focus — at least for now — will be helping other people sell streaming video subscriptions and taking a cut of the transaction. Apple may also sell its own shows, at least as part of a bundle of other services. But for now, Apple’s original shows and movies should be considered very expensive giveaways, not the core product. – Recode
Chaucer Was A Remainer — A Poet Of Europe, Not Just England
“Chaucer was able to transform English poetry the way he did precisely because of his internationalism, not his nationalism. Like all educated men of his day, he was multilingual. He devoured late-antique philosophy, Latin translations of Arabic scientific treatises, and French love poems. His unusually good knowledge of Italian – and his travels to Italy – allowed him to access the latest poetry of Dante, Boccaccio and Petrarch. Indeed, Chaucer’s very fascination with vernacularity was a European phenomenon: Dante and Boccaccio’s championing of Tuscan vernacular inspired Chaucer to see what he could do with his own.” – Aeon
Disney Wastes No Time: Replaces Senior Leadership At 21st Century Fox
Fox employees knew that when Disney wrapped up its $71.3 billion acquisition of much of 21st Century Fox’s film and television assets, thousands of jobs would be eliminated. But, as they found out on Thursday, there is a difference between anticipating a painful future and watching that feared reality come to pass. The ax fell at the film division with brutal efficiency, wiping away much of the senior leadership at Fox’s marketing, distribution, and consumer products arms. – Variety
‘The Joe Rogan Experience ‘, The Bizarro ‘Fresh Air’ Of The Intellectual Dark Web
Justin Peters: “Listening to the show is sort of like crashing an intense, intimate dinner party in which the only courses are whiskey and weed. … The Joe Rogan Experience has become one of the internet’s foremost vectors for anti-wokeness. With its mellow, welcoming vibe, its pretense of common sense, and its general reluctance to push back on any of its guests’ ideas save for only the battiest, the podcast has become the factory where red pills get sugarcoated. So how did Rogan — the Fear Factor guy! — become the Larry King of the Intellectual Dark Web? Don’t ask him.” – Slate
Google Doodle For Bach’s Birthday Uses AI To (Try To) Compose Bach-Like Chorales
The little Bach-bot “promises to take any two-bar melody you type in and turn it into a Bach, or Bachlike, chorale in four parts, played by charming little music-box figures of bewigged 18th-century musicians.” Yet, writes Anne Midgette, “it may only add to the doodle’s charm that what it actually proves is the opposite of what it sets out to do.” – The Washington Post
Mayor Of London Releases Seven-Point ‘Cultural Infrastructure Plan’
“The Cultural Infrastructure Plan sets out … why it’s important to support the capital’s venues and studios; how they are at risk; what can be done to protect them; and what resources the Mayor’s office is investing. The document covers the buildings, structures and places where culture is both consumed (defined as experiencing, participating in or showcasing art) and produced (where creative work is made, usually by artists).” – Arts Professional
Lupita Nyong’o Can Only Do So Much Acting At A Time
“I’m not creative all the time, I’m just not. Each role depletes me in some way, and I know that I do my best work when I’ve had time to remain fallow.” – The New York Times
Pueblo Indian Dance, And Why White Women Tried To Ban It
“In the early 1920s, a secret file scandalized white women reformers in the United States. It was known as the Secret Dance File, its contents too shocking (and titillating) to print or even send in the mail. … The file contained frank descriptions of Pueblo dances that depicted and parodied sexual acts … [and] it made a case for banning [those] ceremonial dances on the grounds that they were immoral and performed only for pleasure.” – JSTOR Daily