When processed by childhood Pokémon players, the images lit up a small groove in the temporal lobe that remained mostly inactive in the brains of Pokémon newbies. – Aeon
Blog
Pornhub Offers To Help Save Germany’s Equivalent Of Sundance
“Digital juggernaut Pornhub has offered itself as a streaming partner to Germany’s Oldenburg Film Festival, a 26-year-old indie movie event known for edgy programming and quirky celebrity tributes. The offer … comes nearly a week after the festival announced it will forge ahead as planned for a September run [with] a combination of physical and virtual screenings. The move is yet another recent sign of Pornhub’s seriousness about participating in mainstream cinema.” – Variety
A New Tool That Lets You Curate Digital Shows
ArtUK has released a tool that allows anyone to build, annotate and share their own online show of digital art. Which art? Anything in public collections in the UK, so there’s a lot to choose from. – ArtUK
Joel Kupperman, Most Famous Of 1940s ‘Quiz Kids’, Dead Of COVID At 83
“For about 10 years, between the era of Shirley Temple in the 1930s and before Jerry Mathers appeared on TV’s Leave It to Beaver in the late 1950s, Joel Kupperman may have been the most famous child in America. From 1942 to 1952, he appeared almost every week on Quiz Kids, … [where] he would put on a scholar’s cap and gown and, with a panel of other genius-level children from Chicago, answer questions about mathematics, science, history, music, literature, sports and current events.” The experience was so painful that, as an adult, he refused to speak of it in any way. – The Washington Post
How You Build A Network Of Women Composers (From Iran, No Less)
Young Iranian composers have set up a network for mentorship, commissioning and presenting. – The New York Times
New Music Written Expressly For The Pandemic
Violinist Jennifer Koh has been commissioning more than 40 pieces for herself to play unaccompanied on her weekly Facebook Live show. So are other musicians and organizations, from the New Jersey Symphony to the Guggenheim. “Taken together,” writs David Patrick Stearns, “these direct artistic responses are the classical soundscape of the pandemic. The keep-your-spirits-up message that circulated early on in the classical music community has given way to something darker.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
Painter Susan Rothenberg, 75
Rothenberg’s paintings are spare and stark—frequently understated in their color palette and simple in their form. But through even the vague suggestion of figures, Rothenberg was able to create memorable images that tease the brain and tickle the eye. – ARTnews
It Could Be Two Years Until Choirs Can Safely Sing Together Again, And Choral Singers Are Devastated
The moisture that comes out of singers’ mouths and into the air that their fellow singers are breathing seems to be a very efficient way of transmitting coronavirus, as several cases of multiple contagion traced to choirs have shown. And from community-based groups to church and gospel choirs to top professional ensembles like The Crossing, as one director put it, “We grieve.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
Reading Science Fiction Helps Kids Build Mental Resiliency
“Youths see [in speculative fiction] examples of young people grappling with serious social, economic, and political issues that are timely and relevant, but in settings or times that offer critical distance. This distance gives readers an avenue to grapple with complexity and use their imagination to consider different ways of managing social challenges.” – The Conversation
Michel Piccoli, Revered Star Of French Screen For Five Decades, Dead At 94
“Even when he was a big name, Piccoli was never too proud to play small supporting roles or even bit parts if he liked the screenplay. But whatever the size of the role, whether playing a goody or a baddie, Piccoli would bring to the character a gravitas (with a tinge of humour) and an ironic detachment, simultaneously revealing a real, recognisable human being beneath the surface.” – The Guardian