London: “Emptied out by coronavirus during lockdown, the City was the perfect place for socially distanced, government-mandated walks. And beneath its streets are the bodies of innumerable plague victims. One in particular haunts me. Holbein died in London, almost certainly of plague, in 1543. The long shadow of bubonic plague permeates his art, in its danse macabre of corpses and skeletons. It seemed appropriate to seek out this master of pestilence in a time of pandemic.” – The Guardian (UK)
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Susan Orlean Brightened The World By Getting Drunk, Missing Her Cat, And Tweeting
Despair about the state of the world, a little rosé, and voilà: “Orlean sent 27 entertaining, if typo-infused, tweets (read: “I do r e we. Know who is I my house”) that careen from the state of the world to the location of her cat, Leo, interspersed with frequent nods to her progressing drunkenness and her husband’s mounting concern for her well being. Taken together, the tweets feel oddly in tune with the tenor of the times — surreal, raw, a little unhinged.” – Los Angeles Times
A Medical Error Probably Killed Raphael
Bloodletting was a normal treatment at the time, but not the best practice for someone who probably had pneumonia, or so a new study says. – The Guardian (UK)
Dystopian Fiction Can Help Us Live Through Dystopian Reality
You’d think living during a plague (The Stand, The Walking Dead, Domesday Book) and a time when unmarked federal agents are kidnapping people off the street (Little Brother, Hunger Games) might not be a good time to read dystopian fiction like Octavia Butler’s The Parable of the Sower. You’d be wrong. “What makes dystopian fiction different is that its creators are oddly optimists at heart, as we are. These works are not about prediction, but prevention. The stories warn of just how far things can go if action isn’t taken.” – Slate
Sorry, New York, You Can’t Have Museums Yet
Museums will not open on Monday, or anytime soon, says Governor Cuomo. “We’re not going to have any indoor activity in malls or cultural institutions. … We’ll continue to monitor that situation, and when the facts change, we will let you know.” The worry? Viral spread by tourists from the South and West of the U.S., where cases are increasing at a massive rate. – The New York Times
If You’re In A Low-Virus Area, Is It Safe To Sing Yet?
Uhm. British government regulations are that singers and musicians stand three meters apart, or (for singers) back-to-back, or side-by-side (in other words, not in rows on risers). “If the chorus at the Last Night of the Proms had to stand side-by-side then Rule Britannia would begin in the Royal Albert Hall and stretch all the way down to the Natural History Museum, almost half a kilometre away.” Also, again, it may not be safe at all. – BBC
Longing For Outdoor Theatre, Yes, Including Bugs And Rain
OK, we just miss it. A lot. “It’s a different absence than the loss of indoor theater, partly because of how fondly we cherish summer traditions. But as the director Anne Bogart said in a phone interview, outdoor performance by its nature involves a fuller embrace of life, and of accidents.” – The New York Times
Emma Donoghue’s Book About The 1918 Pandemic Was Rushed To Press By The Publisher
The author of Room says, “I generally go out of my way not to be timely or to try and capture cultural moments. It’s very peculiar “- Irish Times
Low-Budget Horror Movies Are Winning The Summer
Why? Well … drive-in movies and a summer that’s full of actual horror as well. “It turns out that inexpensive horror flicks, which have been part of the Hollywood ecosystem as long as cinema has existed, are thriving as a result of a sparse film landscape and a largely quarantined moviegoing populace.” – The Atlantic
Falling (Back) In Love With Jazz Dance
A new streaming documentary does a lot more than set jazz dance into context – it asks the ballet and dance communities to restructure what they consider “foundational.” – Dance Magazine