This new MOMA is exhausting—and serene, and thrilling, and, finally, to a degree that only the greatest museums achieve, transcendental. Wandering the vast new spaces, tracing the familiar chronology of modernism through hushed, looming galleries built to a Louvre-like scale, following its sinewy path through sliding-glass portals and brushed-steel apertures that give seamlessly from Pelli to Taniguchi to DS+R (and Nouvel, thanks to the interthreading of the buildings), a visitor is overwhelmed by the grace and passion and precision of the art, new and old, canonical and obscure, fleeting and immortal. – The New Yorker
Blog
Australia Must Change Its Laws To Protect Aboriginal Artists From Artistic Carpetbagging
The Indigenous Art Code, established in 2008, is a voluntary code “designed to protect artists by getting dealers to commit to treating them fairly and honestly. Sanctions can be imposed on dealer members who have acted unethically. But the code has no power to regulate private dealers who are not members. [The Minister for Indigenous Australians] said it was not working.” – The Guardian (UK)
Fort Worth Opera’s General Director Walks Out
Tuomas Hiltunen, the former top administrator at the Barenboim-Said Foundation who came to Fort Worth Opera after Darren Woods was fired in 2017, resigned last week, saying only that he and the company’s Board of Trustees had “different visions of the direction and goals of the company.” The Board’s announcement cited Hiltunen’s reduction in expenditures and said, “As we move forward, our top priority is, and always has been, ensuring that the financial health of the company is secure for decades to come.” – KERA (Dallas)
Right Place At The Right Time: Audience Member Steps In Save ‘Macbeth’
When the actor playing Lady Macduff injured her knee a few minutes into a performance at the Watermill Theatre in England, the production stopped – until a woman who toured nationally as Lady Macduff last year, and who happened to be in the audience, stepped in. Emma Barclay “will continue in the role for the next few performances” as well, the theatre announced. – The Stage (UK)
Alicia Keys Didn’t Just Host The Grammys, She Made A Clear Reference To Issues In The Industry
Keys was not playing the “sweep this mess under carpet for the awards show” game: “I’t’s a new decade,’ she said. ‘It’s time for newness. And we refuse the negative energy. We refuse the old systems. You feel me on that?’ … ‘We want to be respected and safe in our diversity,’ Keys continued. ‘We want to be shifting to realness and inclusivity.'” – The New York Times
Should Architects Work For Tyrants?
The answer seems obvious, and it seems like it must be no. And yet, says a (supposedly) liberal and progressive architect who recently agreed to work with the homophobic and environmentally horrifying Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, “If there’s a responsibility that comes from the creative platform we’ve created, it is to use that platform to change the world for the better.” – The Guardian (UK)
The Best Opera For Newbies, And Other Opera Questions
Tom Huizenga explains opera to NPR listeners: “It’s one of the most complicated art forms because, if you think about it: you’ve got drama, you’ve got music, you’ve got singing, you’ve got costumes, you’ve got lighting, you’ve got ballet sometimes. You’ve got all kinds of stagecraft. When all the cylinders are firing, it can be mind-blowing. But for me, it ends up being all about the voice. They’ve got to do it without a microphone, over the top of an orchestra, and they’ve got to project that voice, even if it’s soft, way up to the nose-bleed seats.” – NPR
Thelma Schoonmaker – Martin Scorsese’s Longtime Editor And Collaborator – Says He Hates Eyebrows
The other things Schoonmaker, who is nominated for the eighth time for an Oscar for The Irishman, says, have more to do with Netflix as a studio, and the long experience of trying to get the movie made. “‘Scorsese’s general manager said ‘Netflix will give you the money and they will leave you alone’ – and they did,’ she says. ‘I can’t tell you what a blessing that was. We’re sorry about the [short] theatrical release but nobody else would make this movie. The film wouldn’t have been made without Netflix.'” – BBC
Netflix Holds Its First Fan Screening At The Theatre It Bought In New York
Of course, it was for the sequel to the young adult rom-com To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and of course, the place was packed with superfans who could answer obscure trivia questions and cheer when the film’s stars made a surprise guest appearance. One woman said, “I love sitting at home on my couch and being warm and cozy. … But there’s just something a little bit more magical about seeing it on a big screen with a bunch of other people, too.” – The New York Times
Is There Anything Steve McQueen – Turner Winner, Oscar Winner, Recent Knighthood Recipient – Can’t Do?
He’s not a big fan of artistic cowardice. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s all about the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. End of. To get to that, you have to go in close, uncover what’s been hidden or covered over. Obviously, the easy thing is not to go there, but I have a need to go there.” – The Guardian (UK)