Regardless of how you view it, one thing is certain. We have an insatiable desire to fit reality within the limits of our understanding. If we don’t comprehend something, we strive to make it comprehensible. “I don’t know” is a less acceptable answer than “I will figure it out.” It’s unclear whether this attitude is culturally mediated, or if it is drilled deep into our genetic code. – Human Parts
Blog
How Wagner Became Part Of Our Baseline DNA
Ross demonstrates how the city you live in, the government you live under, the culture you consume (high and low) and the way you consume it very likely has Wagner molecules in its DNA. – Los Angeles Times
UK TV Industry Unites To Talk About Reform For Freelancers
For the first time, we are openly acknowledging industry shortcomings, and recognizing that there is work to be done on a range of issues: employment and recruitment practices, workplace culture, race and diversity, bullying and harassment, training and talent progression, new talent, mental health and wellbeing. – Variety
Say Goodbye To Movie Theatres?
If it takes 18 months, or even longer, for enough Americans to get vaccinated, could Americans simply lose the habit of going to the movies, learning to get their video entertainment from streaming series and their socializing from the backyard? – Washington Post
Theatre Directors: Some Good Things Will Come Out Of Lockdown
“In the pause, you question things and understand why they happen instead of just going along with it, in terms of structures and roles and pay. It’s going to be a really hard couple of years rebuilding, but there might be positives that come out of it. Well, there will be – because we will see change.” – The Guardian
Survey: Audiences Are Willing To Pay For Online Performances
Frequent arts attendees’ online engagement with culture has boomed during the lockdown, more than doubling to 59% by July, according to analysis of Indigo’s After The Interval sentiment tracker survey. Altogether, 82% of the 130,00 respondents said they would consider engaging with online events in the future – and 70% were willing to pay to do so. – Arts Professional
How Social Media Became The Tool Of Despots
“We live in a single global village with numerous shared problems crying out for collective action, from emergencies like COVID-19 to longer-term existential challenges, such as global climate change and nuclear weapons. What harbinger is it for the future when one of the principal means we have to communicate with one another is so heavily distorted in ways that propel confusion and chaos?” – The Walrus
What It Was Like To Edit RBG
“I was a youngish editor at Random House, overseeing the Modern Library, our classics imprint. The book had come to me because of her. With her letter she enclosed two lectures she had written, one given three years earlier; the other she would deliver during her upcoming travels. “Perhaps a Random House editor could suggest a way to draw from the talks to compose an introduction.” – Paris Review
Beethoven Was A Revolutionary. Aren’t We In Revolutionary Times?
There is something incongruous about the attendance of the lavishly dressed, moneyed elite at public concerts of Beethoven symphonies or concertos, given his music’s expression of such a revolutionary, democratic, humanitarian spirit. Such are the ironies that result when the historical specificity of art is denied or forgotten and all that is left is a vague feeling of aesthetic enjoyment. Still, even the pure aesthetic enjoyment is significant. – Dissent
Big Increase In Online Auction Sales During COVID
In 2019, global online art and collectibles sales topped $4.82 billion and are expected to soar in 2020—pacesetter auction houses Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips saw increases in online sales from Jan. 1 to June 28 of 436 percent over the previous year. The average price for digital sales grew by 207 percent to $23,612 as auction houses start to test collector appetite for buying fine art online, according to Barron’s, which has tracked the trend since the pandemic started. – The Daily Beast