Comic-book publishing, comics stores, the writers, the artists, and everyone are in serious trouble. “The industry has been throttled at every juncture. Comic-store owners have shuttered their shops and the distribution of new titles has been frozen. Writers and artists continue to produce work, not knowing how or when readers will be able to see it.” – The New York Times
Blog
Is This A Good Time To Launch A Book Titled ‘Notes From An Apocalypse’?
Well, perhaps it’s the perfect time. “Readers, for their part, will emerge feeling doomed—yet oddly uplifted.” – The Economist
Tom Hanks, In His Kitchen, With A Camera, Defines The Spirit Of The Time
It seems unthinkable that Saturday Night Live could go on right now, but April 11’s show may mark something of a milestone – and a cultural record that should prove to be invaluable for the future. As is normal with SNL, some sketches were good and some went on way too long. But “what carried the entire experiment through was the can-do, show-must-go-on spirit, a reminder that comedy can still thrive under the strangest of circumstances.” – The Atlantic
The Ceramics Sculpture Studio That Starts With Making Garden Pots
Now it’s pretty much stopping with the garden pots as well as the artists can’t mentor young proteges in the studio. But the already created ceramics are serving a purpose: “We hope that by arranging contact-free delivery and collection we can help people get on with their gardening at home during this strange spring. … That’s a nice transfer from the work of people making pots to something that can entertain people at home.” (And the youth get paid, too.) – The Guardian (UK)
The Show Is Delayed, But That’s OK With The Artist
Deborah Roberts, 57, who was set to have her first solo show in September, says, “My daddy hated art and said it was never going to be nothing. He would say, ‘What are you doing that for?’ … Nothing anyone can tell you is ever going to make you stop doing it.” Not even a pandemic that pushes your show back until January. – The New York Times
How To Become An Opera Star From Rural South Africa
Soprano Vuvu Mpofu grew up surrounded by music in church choirs and school, but when she first heard an aria when she was 15, “the girl plunged into the library to find out where the music came from, what it was that had just penetrated her heartbeat and that would mark her life.” – El País
The View From Quarantine Easels
Artists from San Diego, Chicago, Saskatchewan, New York, and more weigh in. Dia Bassett, for instance: “With the COVID-19 pandemic, my life as a mom to a toddler is more confined. My parents are not able to come help with caregiving, so I’m caring for my daughter full-time. It means I create art on the fly, so I have some of my old childhood paintings and college drawings tucked in a corner by the couch to pull out at any given moment.” – Hyperallergic
To Heck With Streaming Everything; It’s Time To Read Montaigne
Well, why not? The original essayist might be the way to go. “On Solitude is one of Montaigne’s many small masterpieces. It’s an essay, typically short and, as always, disarmingly conversational. It discusses, without any hint of didacticism, the merits of being alone. Montaigne insists throughout his essays that he’s writing only to further his own understanding of life; that he’s totally unqualified, and we can ignore him if we like.” But let’s ignore our screens instead. – The Irish Times
Note To Fundraisers: Get The Unions On Board Before You Make A Plan Not To Pay Performers
The charity Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS was planning a stream of a November 2019 (remember those halcyon days?) concert that celebrated the 25th anniversary of Disney on Broadway. Problem: While SAG-AFTRA and Actors’ Equity were on board, the American Federation of Musicians was not. The union’s president: “Especially now, with zero employment in the entertainment sector, the content producers should care enough about the welfare of those who originally performed the show to see to it that they are fairly compensated when their work is recorded and streamed throughout the world.” – The New York Times
What Have We Learned About Wellbeing So Far In Our Isolation?
Wellbeing isn’t individual; it’s social. And in this, the Great Pause, we see that “It’s not quite a revolution, but it’s an epic conceptual awakening. … In some ways it’s like a blissed-out stoner’s dream of what the world might be.” – The Observer (UK)