“One could say that capitalism produces greater artistic variation, thereby speeding up aesthetic evolution. But if the species is rapidly evolving toward decadence and possible extinction, then its proliferation of increasingly varied forms of art and music is destined to be short-lived, however ingenious and enjoyable those forms may be.” – Resilience
Blog
Janet Malcolm Writes About Second Chances
“When I took the stand at the trial in San Francisco in 1993 I could not have done worse than to present myself in the accustomed New Yorker manner. Reticence, self-deprecation, and wit are the last things a jury wants to see in a witness.” – New York Review of Books
Vigilantes In Burkas: New Pakistani Series Give Taboos A Good Clobbering
“The stars of Churails — which means ‘Witches’ in Urdu — are a gang of female avengers who wield fists and hockey sticks in anger. … Thrown together by chance, the quartet run a secret agency that aims to help wronged women exact revenge. They use a clothes shop in Karachi as a front for their activities. The heroines drink, swear and take drugs. There are lesbian characters and a trans one.” – The Economist
Quick About-Face: Metropolitan Museum Follows Drastic Staff Reductions with Strategic Additions
I’ve suggested that the Met’s radical downsizing of staff (necessitated by the Virus Crisis) might give its leaders an opportunity to install their own hand-picked team “sooner and less controversially than would have otherwise been possible.” “Sooner” turns out to be immediately. – Lee Rosenbaum
California Considers Fix To Its Gig-Economy Law That Put Musician Contracts In Peril
As we reported earlier this year, the collateral damage caused by AB 5 was nearly instantaneous, as numerous smaller arts organizations that didn’t have the wherewithal to meet the new requirements felt it was safer to cancel seasons and shutter venues than it was to risk potential penalties. – San Francisco Classical Voice
Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’ Has Become A Video Game
In the transition to the new medium, though, the story has metamorphosed as well. It’s now a mashup with The Trial, starting off with Gregor Samsa awakening with (what he thinks is) a hangover in Josef K.’s apartment after celebrating the latter’s birthday. Most of the other characters in the game are also insects (one complains about his ex-mate and having to pay “larva support”) that Gregor meets as he (i.e., the player) makes his way to “the Tower.” – The Washington Post
Oscars’ New Diversity Rules Ignite A Debate
Predictably, the backlash has already begun. The Academy’s announcement was greeted on its own website by comments including: “You ruined the Oscars. It’s no longer about a cinema as a genre of art. Now it’s totally about politics,” and “forced diversity lowers quality of the product”. – The Guardian
Christiane Eda-Pierre, France’s First Black Opera Star, Dead At 88
Born in Martinique to an accomplished family (an aunt was the first black female student at the Sorbonne), she first made her mark in coloratura roles such as Leïla in The Pearl Fishers and the title role in Lakmé. She went on to have a stellar career in Paris and abroad, noted especially for Mozart, Rameau (she sang in the first modern revivals of several of his operas), and contemporary works (she created the role of the Angel in Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise). – Barron’s (AFP)
Andrew Lloyd Webber Warns Theatres Are At The Point Of No Return
“We simply have to get our arts sector back open and running … We are at the point of no return, really,” he told Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee by video. “There comes a point when we really can’t go on anymore. Theatre is an incredibly labour-intensive business.” – HuffPost
Diana Rigg, 82
Three or four generations loved her for television roles from Emma Peel in The Avengers to Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca to Olenna Tyrell (the “Queen of Thorns”) in Game of Thrones; film roles from Tracy (the only Bond girl to get James to put a ring on it) in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service to Vincent Price’s daughter in Theatre of Blood to Miss Piggy’s employer in The Great Muppet Caper; and stage roles from Euripedes’s Medea to Shakespeare’s Cordelia, Regan, and Hermia to Edward Albee’s Martha to Henry Higgins’s mother (okay, Lerner and Loewe’s). – BBC