“Anupama Chandrasekhar isn’t one to shy away from a tough subject. The Indian playwright has written about acid attacks, sex tapes and her home country’s culture of patriarchal violence. ‘I have been asked so many times, mostly by men, ‘Why don’t you write comedies, or plays that celebrate India?” she says. ‘I tell them: on the day that these things don’t happen any more, I will happily start writing bedroom farces.'” – The Guardian
Blog
What’s Becoming Of Condé Nast In A Post-Print World?
In a sort of sequel to last week’s New Republic article on how Mr. Condé Montrose Nast created the high-end glossy magazine industry, writer Reeves Wiedeman visits the (shrinking) Condé Nast offices at One World Trade Center for a longread about how the (shrinking) magazine-publishing group has and hasn’t been adapting to the rise of digital media, especially with Anna Wintour having been made creative director for the entire company. – New York Magazine
13-Year, $90M Legal Battle Over Art And Cardboard Is Now Over
“The case was brought by the paintings’ owners, Stanley and Gail Hollander, in 2007. They sought more than $90m in damages in connection with a claim for alleged loss in value on the [Martin Kippenberger triptych] Copa III, Copa IV and Copa IX (1986) after damage caused by a handling hiccup. After a three-week trial by jury and millions spent in legal fees, Gail Hollander (Stanley died in 2016) received just $19,500, their claim undone by a curious restoration of the paintings’ frames.” – The Art Newspaper
After Public Pushback, Eastman School Cancels Orchestra Tour Of China
Earlier this week, news broke that three musicians, all South Korean nationals, in the Eastman Philharmonia, the student orchestra of the Eastman School of Music, had been denied visas to enter China for the orchestra’s upcoming tour. Eastman’s dean, Jamal Rossi, initially decided to go ahead with the plans and leave those three players behind — and he was promptly pummeled with criticism from alumni and members of the public. Rossi has now “postponed” the tour. – The New York Times
Desert X Was A Promising Idea, But It Has Compromised Itself By Working With/In Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia apostasy is punishable by death. Unless artists are willing to make their host’s state control of expression an explicit subject of their work, those who participate cannot escape compromise from the polluted context.” – Los Angeles Times
800 Musicians Say They’ll Boycott Amazon Festival Over Company’s Work For ICE
The letter — organized by a group of artists and activists including Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis, Downtown Boys’ Joey La Neve DeFrancesco, Evan Greer, Adult Mom, @k8_or_die, Carmen Perry, and Jes Skolnik, according to Rolling Stone — comes in response to the announcement of Intersect, Amazon’s first music festival, which will be held in Las Vegas from December 6-7. The company is promoting the festival as an event “where music, technology, and art converge.” – Hyperallergic
Max Exodus Of Leadership Of Vancouver’s Arts Organizations
It’s an impressive roll call (and all women): Executive director of the Vancouver International Film Festival, Jacqueline Dupuis. Ballet BC artistic director Emily Molnar. Vancouver’s Chutzpah! Festival artistic managing director Mary-Louise Albert. Kathleen Bartels executive director of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Kelly Tweeddale, executive director of the Vancouver Symphony. And Kim Gaynor, general director of Vancouver Opera. – The Globe and Mail (Canada)
Surprise: Vancouver Opera General Director Steps Down Over Disagreement On Company’s Direction
Kim Gaynor joined the opera three years ago, and was given the challenge of moving the company from a traditional season (or “stagione”) model to a festival with a number of events during a concentrated period in the spring – a decision that had been made by the board and her predecessor, James Wright, ahead of his retirement. The move had been made in response to financial and organizational challenges. – The Globe and Mail (Canada)
Artists For Our Pre-Internet Brains
“The part of our brain that regulates our time perception has been overloaded and exhausted, causing our sense of past, present and future to melt together.” – The Guardian
The Bumper Sticker Is Wrong – Mistakes Do Define Us
General infallibility is a tempting proposition. Treating an individual’s attitudes and preferences as givens – as matters beyond debate or criticism – might seem to promote human dignity by forcing us to treat all views as equally worthy of respect. But such an outlook is likely, if anything, to have the opposite effect. This is because taking seriously a person’s capacity to make mistakes is critical to taking seriously their capacity for rationality. Only by recognising that people are capable of error can we properly value anyone’s goals or engage in rational debate. – Aeon