“The police are still looking for the missing john — an artwork called America by Maurizio Cattelan — but, so far, they remain empty-handed. … Six people had been arrested in connection with the theft, only to be released later without charge.” Local residents have any number of ideas about what’s happened to America, and the common thread to all of them is that no one takes the incident seriously. – The New York Times
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Stolen Gold Toilet Inspires Ad Campaign For Art Insurance
“Arte Generali saw a solid gold opportunity to penetrate the Italian art market, … [with an ad campaign that] features artist Maurizio Cattelan clowning around in the buff with only oversized paper cutouts of his works — including the missing toilet — to protect him.” (includes video) – Hyperallergic
Former Baltimore Mayor Indicted For Fraud And Tax Evasion Over Her Self-Published Children’s Books
“An 11-count federal indictment accuses Catherine Pugh of arranging fraudulent sales of her Healthy Holly books to schools, libraries and a medical system to enrich herself, promote her political career and fund her run for mayor.” – Yahoo! (AP)
‘Climate Emergency’ Is Oxford Dictionaries’ 2019 Word Of The Year
“Defined as ‘a situation in which urgent action is required to reduce or halt climate change and avoid potentially irreversible environmental damage resulting from it’, Oxford said the words soared from ‘relative obscurity’ to ‘one of the most prominent – and prominently debated – terms of 2019.’ According to the dictionary’s data, usage of ‘climate emergency’ soared 10,796%.” (Similarly, Collins Dictionary chose “climate strike” as its Word of the Year.) – The Guardian
Met Opera’s Credit Is — Not Downgraded, Exactly …
“The Metropolitan Opera has run small deficits for the past two years and faces rising capital expenses — including for the repair of its white travertine exterior — prompting S & P Global Ratings to announce on Wednesday that it was keeping the company’s ‘A’ credit rating but revising its outlook to negative, from stable.” – The New York Times
2019 National Book Awards Go To Susan Choi, Sarah Broom, Arthur Sze, László Krasznahorkai
Choi took the fiction prize for her novel Trust Exercise, while the nonfiction award went to Sarah M. Broom’s memoir The Yellow House. Winning the young people’s literature category was Martin W. Sandler’s 1919: The Year That Changed America; Arthur Sze’s Sight Lines took poetry honors. The award for translated literature went to author Laszlo Krasznahorkai and translator Ottilie Mulzet for Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming. – The Guardian
Ian Williams Wins $100,000 2019 Giller Prize
“Reproduction” is set in Brampton and explores the nature of family — both blood relatives and chosen family. The writing, as reviewers expect from Williams, is beautiful — he’s written many volumes of poetry, and been shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry prize in 2013. This was his debut novel, proving he’s an equal master in both forms. – Toronto Star
I Like Traditional Opera. But What Does That Really Mean?
“Over the years I’ve had many opportunities to question people gently about their personal identification and tastes in operas and opera productions. And it turns out that traditionalists don’t like only traditional productions. Whatever it is they like, they just call it traditional, and vice versa.” Irish Times
LA’s MoCA Is Making Admission Free. It’s Not So Easy, It Turns Out
MOCA revealed plans to go free at its annual benefit in May, a switch made possible with a $10-million gift from board President Carolyn Powers. So why did the change take eight months to make? Free, it turns out, is complicated. – Los Angeles Times
How Margaret Atwood Became A Global Superstar
It’s remarkable that Atwood, who turned eighty in November, has reached this crest after spending six decades writing into an ever-shifting cultural landscape. When she was starting out, writers, for the most part, didn’t get published in Canada. Canadian literature as a concept didn’t even exist. – The Walrus