“Devotion, by the Taiwanese indie developer Red Candle Games, was released on 19 February and was initially popular among horror enthusiasts. However, the discovery of a number of hidden jokes” – in particular, a Chinese pun on the names of PRC president Xi Jinping and Winnie the Pooh – “has ignited a firestorm of online criticism.” Devotion has now been pulled from worldwide distribution. – The Guardian
Blog
How Did The Internet Get To Be The Internet We Have Now?
It’s a question worth asking. To imagine a better version of our mediated world, we need to acknowledge these alternatives and to embrace their multiplicity—and often to retrace our steps to roads not taken in the past. – Public Books
Alice Sheppard: Why I Dance
“Of course, nondisabled people appreciate this moment. But what it actually means to see and feel strapping on stage, to hear and recognize the sound of Velcro unfurling is different, more complex, for those of us in the disability community. For some, the choice to strap publicly was controversial, too private to show on stage; for others, it was revelatory, a moment of celebration. Strapping and intimacy became a regular aspect of post-show conversations.” – The New York Times
The State Of Black Theatre In America
American Theatre Magazine takes a look: “Theatres across the U.S. are staging a wider array than ever of plays reflecting varied experiences of the African American diaspora. But are Black-run institutions faring as well as some individual artists, and getting the credit and funding they deserve for building audiences and careers?” – American Theatre
Seattle Symphony Opens New High Tech Space To Explore Future Of Music
The Constellation system relies on 62 overhead loudspeakers; 10 compact subwoofers; four floor box speakers; two PA speakers; 28 miniature overhead microphones; four handheld microphones; and four headset microphones. “While taking and creating a space that is very much trying to leverage this technology to open new possibilities, the room needed to feel like it could hold its own architectural character, in a way that wasn’t about just coming in and seeing all the gadgets on the ceiling,” – GeekWire
Research: Listening To Music Doesn’t Boost Creativity (In Fact It Hurts It)
Newly published research debunks the notion that listening to music can increase creativity. Its three studies suggest precisely the opposite, indicating that background music, with or without lyrics, “consistently disrupts creative performance in insight problems.” – Pacific Standard
Immersive Paris Light Show Based On Klimt Paintings Is A Hit
The Atelier des Lumières, a 2,000 sq. m former foundry in the 11th arrondissement, was launched last spring with a 30-minute immersive audiovisual experience of Gustav Klimt’s paintings, featuring mural projections of the images set to music by Wagner, Strauss and Beethoven. With full-price tickets at €14.50, it attracted more than 1.2 million visitors from 13 April 2018 to 6 January 2019. – The Art Newspaper
The Market (And There Is One) For Hitler’s Paintings
It’s a niche market, to be sure, and one that major auction houses and dealers stay far away from. But there’s enough demand to make it worthwhile for a few to sell Hitler’s handiwork — or to forge it. And, according to one auctioneer, that demand doesn’t come from right-wing extremists. – The Art Newspaper
Propwatch: the cigarettes and hoof pick in ‘Equus’
Ned Bennett’s galvanic production for English Touring Theatre and Stratford East sets Peter Shaffer’s play at the time of the 1973 premiere, and the production’s props assemble like a toolkit of the 1970s and its discontents. So what’s in the 1970s toolkit? – David Jays
Last Critic Standing – Anyone Left In Boston?
“Now that I’ve expanded beyond the business of writing about people with tattoos and tinnitus in a daily paper, I look around and see there’s almost nothing left of that business. Dwindling print and emerging web magazines cover the music scene comprehensively. Thanks to Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and Boston’s own Vanyaland, we’ll always know what Springsteen and Amanda Palmer are up to–and we’ll get smart, forceful opinions on their albums and performances. But music coverage at papers might be dead long before print journalism. Okay, not “long before”: Print seems to be on borrowed time.” – Fast Company