More than other tech companies, Facebook has insisted that its commercial success benefits the world. There are examples of the wealth from a tech business being used by its founder to support a grand project like space exploration, as Tesla’s Elon Musk or Amazon’s Jeff Bezos do. Alphabet harnesses the money from the Google search engine to support expensive, speculative “moon shot” engineering projects with the potential to change the world. Facebook’s point is more direct: The business goals of Facebook are simply good for the world. – Wired
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We Live In A Replicable World. So What Is Up With Our Obsession With Originals?
The ubiquity of virtual images has indeed made encounters with original objects ever more coveted, feeding the stampede of visitors and our carbon footprint. Veneration of original works has fuelled astronomical prices for a few dozen artists, mostly Modern and contemporary. The explosion of cultural tourism has been exacerbated by a bull art market, the global growth of the middle class and museum selfies spreading Fomo (fear of missing out).
The UK Arts Economy Is Growing Much Faster Than The General Economy
New DCMS economic estimates show the cultural sector contributed £29.5bn in 2017 – a 7.2% increase on the £27.5bn it had generated the year before. Similar growth was seen for both the digital sector and the wider creative industries, with which the cultural sector has some overlap, which grew by 7.3% and 7.1% respectively. – Arts Professional
Chinese Government Control Of The Art Market Threatens It
What counts as a problematic work tends, loosely, to be anything explicitly sexually suggestive, some nudes, those with religious subject matter and politically engaged works that might be construed as criticising the Chinese regime. A foreign exhibitor at one of the fairs says anonymously that they were not allowed to bring a work that joked about global trade and Chinese manufacturing. Works by Georg Baselitz and Francis Bacon, proposed by international galleries were apparently among those turned down this year.
Why The Tech World Needs Humanities Students More Than Ever
“What matters now is not the skills you have but how you think. Can you ask the right questions? Do you know what problem you’re trying to solve in the first place?” They remind us there is a “long list of successful tech leaders who hold degrees in the humanities.
90 UK Theatres Announce Plan To Increase Diversity In Non-Stage Staff
“Rather than putting the onus on employers to address this issue alone, we decided to assist them by using the best knowledge we had available – our members’ experiences. We asked reps about the reality of theatre recruitment to establish how it really works.” – The Stage
The Opposite Of Dance? What It’s Like For A Dancer To Perform As A Human Sculpture
“There is someone less than a foot away from me, just off of my right shoulder, observing the way I’m holding my hand strangely, but perhaps gracefully? I hope my nails are clean. My arm is starting to tremble. I’m not even sure how much time has gone by. I let my arm gently, almost imperceptibly, fall, allowing my shoulder to melt with it, and stop myself mid-breath. “I am…right here,” I say to myself with my director’s voice in my head. I am ON DISPLAY .” Victoria Dombroski of Heidi Latsky Dance describes the experience of being in Latsky’s ON DISPLAY, a “human sculpture court.” (includes video) — Dance Magazine
Case studies in community engagement
The Community Engagement Training offered by ArtsEngaged is also preparing new trainers. As a culminating part of their work, they prepare a case study critiquing a project they know well. Here are the first four: Classical Roots, an ongoing program of the Cincinnati Symphony with choirs from the city’s African-American churches; a partnership between the Segerstrom Center for the Arts (Orange County, CA) and the service organization Alzheimer’s Orange County; the Cincinnati Arts Association’s production of a concert with the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition; and the productive merger of two film festivals, one larger and of general interest and the other smaller and LGBTQ-focused.
Thomas And Groenewald: A Fine Togetherness
Jay Thomas With The Oliver Groenewald Newnet: I Always Knew (Origin)
Thomas, a veteran master of brass and reed instruments, teams with Groenewald, the man he describes in his liner notes as “the perfect fit for me as an arranger.”
Artists Protest Impending Crackdown On Artistic Freedom For Cuban Artists
Once it is enforced, starting December 7, the law will touch every facet of Cuba’s cultural sector. The government will be able to target and punish artists, writers, filmmakers, musicians, and performers who create and commercialize art that was not approved by the state as well as the venues hosting the artists. Those found in violation of the law could face fines, seizure of property, and detainment. Scores of artists and critics of the decree have rallied against it. – Artforum