About 36,000 additional three-dimension objects belonging to the art gallery are already on display at the West Campus at its recently opened Wurtele Study Center. This is all on top of a $135m renovation of the main building that opened in 2012, doubling the museum’s size through the imaginative reuse of two adjacent existing buildings. Few if any museums in America have undergone a more dramatic transformation, and for the better. – The Art Newspaper
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The Most Difficult Special Effect I Ever Got On Film (Or Didn’t Quite)
“We spoke to 35 filmmakers — directors, cinematographers, effects artists — about the toughest effect they’ve ever pulled off. The resulting stories run the gamut from the computer-generated to the practical, the spectacular to the subtle, and all of them remind us of the sweat that goes into making movie magic.” — Vulture
Prominent Artists Protest Appointment At France’s National Arts Academy: Too Conservative?
The artists Mai-Thu Perret and Lili Reynaud-Dewar, along with the curator Chus Martinez, signed the petition statement published on the Mediapart news website in early November, saying that Jean De Loisy is “near retirement… and the symbol of a hegemony”, adding: “We ask that our voices are heard, denouncing the hold that conservative [views] still exert on the cultural policy of France today, despite a desire for renewal.” – The Art Newspaper
Dept. Of Homeland Security Has Mistaken This 90-Year-Old Theatre Historian For An ISIS Terrorist
David Mayer was a lieutenant in the US Army and spent decades living and teaching in Britain. Unfortunately, “David Mayer” was also an alias of one Akhmed Chatayev, a Chechen militant suspected of masterminding the 2016 attack on Istanbul’s airport. Several branches of the US government have gotten the two confused, and now the real Mayer can’t receive packages from the US and has trouble traveling. — The Observer (UK)
Lawsuit Over “Fortnite” Video Game Dance Moves Could Be A Rabbit Hole
At what point does a social dance become so normalized, that no one flinches to see it? Because individual movements can’t be copyrighted, it’s not like they have an expiry date (like music) when they slip into the public domain. With today’s rapidly evolving technology, where things are easily sharable and monetizable, it might be time to revamp the Copyright Office’s laws for individual dance moves. – Dance Magazine
Scientists Virtually Reconstruct 1,500-Year-Old Bolivian Temple
“Using historical data, 3D-printed pieces, and architectural software, archaeologist Alexei Vranich from UC Berkeley has created a virtual reconstruction of Pumapunku — an ancient Tiwanaku temple now in ruins.” — Gizmodo
Higher Ed’s Alternative Values System: Respect
Academics are unlike the employees of most organisations in that they fight over symbolic rather than material objects of aspiration, but they are like other workers in that they too are motivated by fear and greed. Instead of competing over power and money, they compete over respect. – Aeon
Wall Street Banker Gives It Up To Turn Around Struggling Brooklyn Conservatory Of Music
Chad Cooper, a 45-year-old former managing director at Deutsche Bank in New York, left that lucrative job to become executive director of the conservatory, 121 years old but at that point nearly insolvent. And he seems to have rescued the BCM, which brings the only music lessons available to hundreds of public school students and provides music therapy to 1,500 clients, including seniors with dementia and children with autism. — Fast Company
How’s A Poor Corps Member To Survive The Annual ‘Nutcracker’ Marathon?
Dancers from San Francisco Ballet, Ballet West in Salt Lake City, Tulsa Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Ballet Austin tell how their performances have changed over the years and share their key self-care tips. — Dance Magazine
So Just How Dependent Are Ballet Companies On ‘Nutcracker’ These Days?
“[Dance/USA] just reported on the state of The Nutcracker for the first time since 2008, and the data shows just how much the ballet’s prevalence has grown in the past 10 years — and how much companies have come to rely on it as a revenue source.” — Dance Magazine