The key, writes David Patrick Stearns, is that there are “far more numerous entry points. … The era of self-produced recordings, ushered in by LSO Live!, allowed major symphonies by major artists to be delivered at a lower price, so buyers could take a chance on something they only might want to hear two or three times. The world has also become populated by boutique labels that will issue all manner of recordings, often handed to them ready-made by the artists with no overhead cost, and issued with a curatorial sensibility that’s considerably less narrow than major labels of the past.” – WQXR (New York City)
Blog
A Prominent Journal Implodes. Was It The Editor Or The Field?
A narrative took hold among critics of HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, The controversy, at root, wasn’t just about the journal or its editor, but also the ways in which contemporary anthropology is a morally corrupt, harmful institution in which the powerful prey upon the weak. – Chronicle of Higher Education
Why Can’t Amazon Figure Out How To Create Good Video Games?
“Any veteran of the video games industry will tell you that good games are products of miracle. … Yet Amazon’s total inability to excel in gaming is remarkable. Breakaway wasn’t its first fiasco, or its last. After more than a decade of concerted effort, the tech company that brute-forced its way to dominance in books, retail, and cloud computing has failed to produce a single successful big-name title.” Why? As one former employee put it, “There’s this hubris. We’re Amazon. We can do it all. We can spend our way to success.” – Wired
Sign Of The Times: “Museum Of The Year” Prize Gets Split Five Ways
In recent years, the Museum of the Year winner has received £100,000, with four other shortlisted institutions getting £10,000 each. This year, the five winners will pocket £40,000 each. The Art Fund said the shake-up was a response to the “unprecedented challenges that all museums face this year”. – BBC
Henry Golding On The Classic Actor Narrative Of Playing A Role And Finding Yourself
The actor who found fame in 2018’s Crazy Rich Asians talks about making indie movies before he hit it big. “It was magical as an actor to be able to sit in a character’s feelings and confusion and history. I’ve been trying to find great material to work from like this, much more independent styles of movie making.” – The New York Times
Ben Brantley: The Exit Interview
“During quarantine, when I couldn’t feed that [reviewing] addiction, I found myself chafing at the place-holding journalism that was required. Then in a Zoom meeting with critics, The Times‘s executive editor, Dean Baquet, lingered over the question of whether arts reviewers should stay in their jobs indefinitely. And I thought, ‘That sounds like an exit cue to me.’ After that, it was a surprisingly painless decision.” – The New York Times
Ben Brantley: The Farewell Essay
“‘Don’t you ever want to just sit back and enjoy it?’ That’s a question I’ve often been asked during my 27 years as a daily theater reviewer for The New York Times. And … the short answer to that question is an undiluted ‘no.’ One of the main reasons I never stopped loving this job is that I can’t sit back and go limp, like a passive slab on a massage table.” – The New York Times
U.S. Supreme Court Says Developer Who Painted Over New York’s Graffiti Mecca Must Pay Artists
“The real estate company that whitewashed graffiti works at 5Pointz in Queens will still have to pay millions in damages to the affected artists, the United States Supreme Court decided on Monday, October 5. … The [justices] declined G&M Realty’s petition to review the case, upholding a 2018 federal court ruling that awarded $6.7 million in damages to 21 artists at the site.” – Hyperallergic
With Big, Flexible Spaces, Several New York City Venues Insist They Can Reopen Safely
“The Park Avenue Armory’s vast drill hall has nearly 40,000 square feet of unobstructed open area. The Shed’s central performance space has a 115-foot-high ceiling. St. Ann’s Warehouse has 10 big double doors and a new air ionization system. … They are pressing state regulators to consider a series of architectural advantages that they say should make their buildings easier to adapt for safety than the glorious but cramped houses that symbolize New York’s theater district.” – The New York Times
A Veteran Broadway Dancer Laments What May Be The End Of His Career
“I wondered, but didn’t ask, if, like mine, my castmates’ bodies had already grown thicker and felt shorter and moved slower. I wondered if, like me, they didn’t recognize themselves without choreography to move through and other people to move with; if, like me, they were hoping this wasn’t the moment they’d always known would come: the moment they would have to redefine who they are and who they’re going to be.” – Dance Magazine