After obtaining permission to study art in the 1980s – largely through books and postcard reproductions of the great works obtained from galleries – Sister Wendy decided to write a book to earn money for her convent. Contemporary Women Artists, published in 1988, was followed by more books and articles. In 1991 the BBC commissioned her to present a television documentary on the National Gallery in London. Dressed in black nun’s habit, Sister Wendy stood in front of paintings, and without script or autocue discussed them to the camera. – BBC
Blog
The State Of The Art Of Data Visualization
The ability to interpret data and analyze and communicate ideas about that data through design–has never been more important. 2018 brought a wealth of remarkable visualization work to the fore, and much of it changed our perception of the world around us. – Fast Company
Artists, Thinkers, Activists, Leaving Russia
Since 2014, the year Russia took Crimea from Ukraine and annexed it, Russia’s prominent cultural figures, writers, artists, gallery owners, musicians, film-makers, and journalists have been moving out. According to the latest study by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, nearly every third young Russian wants to emigrate. – The Daily Beast
The Intriguing Science That Explains Wit, Humor
Wit, whether visual or verbal, can make the commonplace uncommon again by breaking the habits that render perception routine. We tend to define the quality of wit as merely being deft with a clever comeback. But true wit is richer, cannier, more riddling. And the best of it is often based on a biological phenomenon called supernormal stimuli. – The Atlantic
Wonder Seems Hard. We Need Wonder
We live less in an “age of wonder” than we do in an age of anger, anxiety and fear; the age of the weaponized tweet and horrific push notification. I don’t believe that one can die from lack of wonder, but I’m certain that a deficit of it will ensure that one has never really lived. – The New York Times
Mapping The ‘Cartography’ Of Conscious Feelings Onto The Body
When a team of research psychologists asked subjects to describe where in their bodies they experience various emotional states, they were surprised by just how consistent the correspondence of emotion to bodily area was. — Aeon
Royal Opera House Asks: Does Opera Hate Women?
The opera house, which has been strongly criticised over the treatment of women in at least one recent production, has pledged to lead the way in making the art form fit for the future, with a series of debates about misogyny on stage. – The Telegraph
In The Broadway Production Of ‘Network’, The Stage Manager Is Part Of The Show
In Ivo van Hove’s multimedia theatrical adaptation, the broadcast control room is a glass booth built into the set, and stage manager Timothy Semon calls the entire show from inside of it, in view of the audience. — The New York Times
Signs Streaming Isn’t Killing Movie Theatre Business
Movie-ticket revenue in the United States has risen 8 percent in 2018. That puts the industry on track for the largest year-to-year increase of the domestic box office in nearly a decade — and suggests that, surprisingly, theaters can more than hold their own in the age of widespread at-home entertainment. – Washington Post
Ah, That Simpler Time When Children Made Their Own Toys …
Rebecca Onion: “In mid-December, as I struggled to keep my own toy purchases under control, the idea of 19th-century children constructing their own playthings — probably by the fire, while calmly listening to their mother playing the piano — is eminently appealing. But as with many things in the history of childhood, children’s toy-making was less idyllic than it seems.” — Slate