“This time, the victim was a historic plaster model by the Italian artist Antonio Canova (1757–1822). On July 31, a misguided Austrian tourist snapped the toes off the Neoclassical sculpture Pauline Bonaparte as Venus Victrix, housed at [the town of] Possagno’s Museo Antonio Canova in northeast Italy, while attempting to sit on its lap for a photo.” – Artnet
Blog
Unemployment In UK Theatre Up By Two-Thirds In Just A Few Weeks
“Job losses at theatres across the UK have jumped from 3,000 to 5,000 in less than a month, according to figures from the Bectu trade union. The job losses include redundancies of permanent employees and layoffs of casual staff.” – The Guardian
Well, England Didn’t Re-Start Indoor Performances On August 1 After All
“Indoor English venues were scheduled to open on 1 August with social distancing measures in place for audiences and performers – emulating the pilot run performed at The London Palladium last week.” But, with the novel coronavirus raging on, at noon on July 31, Boris Johnson told the nation, “Our assessment is that we should squeeze the brake pedal.” (The sensible Scots are waiting until October to reopen their theatres and concert halls.) – WhatsOnStage
Is Standup Comedy Theatre?
Standup comedy is not created purely by the performer, but as a collaborative production between the performer, the audience, the venue and the promoter. In the same way a theatre is arranged to support dramatic performance or a gallery is lit to display paintings, so too must a standup comedy gig be presented in such a way that it contextualises the performance to come – the iconic image of the single microphone on a stand in a spotlight is evocative of standup comedy without anything needing to be said. – The Conversation
YouTube – Designed To Addict (But To What?)
The burning question, at this point, is whether this recommender system can reliably lead users down epistemically problematic rabbit holes. In other words, is it possible to discern a pattern in YouTube’s AutoPlay system that takes users from ABBA to lizard people? This becomes especially significant when you consider that 70% of all watch-time spent on YouTube is due to videos suggested by the recommender system. – 3 Quarks Daily
Writing To Write… And Not To Be Read. This Is Academia
Writing for the sake of publication—instead of for the sake of being read—is academia’s version of “teaching to the test.” The result is papers few actually want to read. First, the writing is hypercomplex. Yes, the thinking is also complex, but the writing in professional journals regularly contains a layer of complexity beyond what is needed to make the point. It is not edited for style and readability. Most significantly of all, academic writing is obsessed with other academic writing—with finding a “gap in the literature” as opposed to answering a straightforwardly interesting or important question. – The Point
Smart: This Theatre Signed Up For Pandemic Insurance Before The Pandemic
About three-and-a-half years ago, Tim Jennings, the executive director and CEO of the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, decided to undertake some risk analysis alongside his CFO. He looked at potential problem areas, and at concerns that might arise throughout the course of an ordinary season of theatre, and came to a shrewd conclusion: The festival should take out an insurance policy against the threat of a pandemic. – National Post (Canada)
Coming Soon: Salvador Mundi, The Musical
“Salvator Mundi!” The Musical, announced by Tony Award-winning production company Caiola Productions, will chronicle the tale of Leonardo da Vinci’s Renaissance-era portrait of Jesus, presumed lost for hundreds of years and only rediscovered this century. – CNN
Musicians Blast Spotify CEO For Comments On Royalties
The CEO ― whose net worth is estimated at over $4 billion ― argued in an interview with Music Ally published Thursday that there was a “narrative fallacy” around claims that Spotify’s royalties were too low, saying: “Some artists that used to do well in the past may not do well in this future landscape, where you can’t record music once every three to four years and think that’s going to be enough.” – HuffPost
Should Unions Be Compulsory?
Given the degree to which workers lack autonomy and are at the mercy of arbitrary and capricious decisions by their employer, republican liberty is at risk when it comes to the employer-employee relationship. Without a union, employees are subject to all kinds of arbitrary treatment. With a union, employees have some protection against this. – Aeon