Rowan Moore found evidence of ugly buildings not only in the UK, but across the world. Why? Modern construction streamlining, perhaps. “It’s not that you can’t design good buildings with modern techniques, but it takes skill and thought. It also takes a degree of influence over detail that modern building contracts, which tend to empower contractors to do what they like, often deny to architects.” – The Observer (UK)
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Rome’s Infamous Graffiti Artist Is No Longer Anonymous
And Geco isn’t seen with the same, let’s call it reverence, that many give Banksy. Rome’s mayor, Virginia Raggi: “‘He has soiled hundreds of walls and buildings in Rome and other European cities, which had to be cleaned using public funds.’ She posted a photo of ‘hundreds of spray paint cans, thousands of stickers,’ and other tricks of the trade that she said investigators had confiscated from the apartment of Rome’s most-wanted graffiti painter.” – The New York Times
An Obama May Save Bookstores, Again
At least that’s the hope of many U.S. booksellers – that the 44th president’s memoir will juice sales in a way that will help offset pandemic losses. “Demand among American customers is so high that Penguin Random House, Crown’s parent company, has printed 1.5 million copies in Germany to bring over on cargo ships.” – The New York Times
The Pandemic Has Leveled The Playing Field For Smaller Theatres
How did a theatre in West Yorkshire get Derek Jacobi, Stephen Fry, Alfred Enoch, Rebecca Front, Celia Imrie and Griff Rhys Jones? Well, streaming makes some things a little easier. It even snagged a review in The New York Times. And it’s not alone: “With live performances either difficult or impossible since March, many other agile theatre-makers have also been experimenting with recorded audio and video works that blur the traditional boundaries.” – BBC
The Horse As Witness And Metaphor
Deborah Butterfield’s various horse sculptures have the kind of power that can truly only come from years of history and metaphor. And the artist is aware of all of it. They’re represented the artist/gallery relationship, the idea of male dominion over the earth, and more. Now, she says, “they represent what is/was wonderful about our earth — what we haven’t ruined yet.” – Glasstire
Considering Alexander Hamilton’s Legal World, And The World Of The Musical
“Hamilton’s life in ‘musical-theater land,’ as Miranda cast it, and Hamilton’s reincarnation in legal-literature land, as Tucker framed it, remind us that where we stand determines what we see. Perspectives change. As they do, so does our understanding of history.” – Washington Post
Bronx Museum Of The Arts Names A New Director
And it’s the same name as the interim director – Klaudio Rodriguez, born in Nicaragua and raised in Miami, who joins a small but growing coterie of Latinx museum directors in the U.S. – The New York Times
The Story Of That Viral Image Of Ruby Bridges And Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris
The idea came from a 62-year-old Black man, the art from his collaborator, a 23-year-old white woman. “Not long after the photo illustration went viral, Bridges shared it with a comment on Instagram. ‘I am Honored to be a part of this path and Grateful to stand alongside you,’ she wrote.” – Los Angeles Times
How One Theatre Tried To Make Waiting In A Georgia Voting Line A Little More Fun
The theatre chosen as a polling place wanted to make sure first-time voters had a good time just the way they tried in non-Covid times to make sure first-time theatregoers enjoyed their time. So: Snacks, apolitical music, “line-warming” activities, a slideshow, and more. “One of the women working with me day of said, ‘More theaters should run voting. This is what the voting experience should be.'” – Slate
As A New Potential Lockdown Looms, Canada’s Indie Bookstores Are Doing Surprisingly Well
Personalized book and wine deliveries, a mix of weekly children’s online reading clubs, subscriptions services, and a heavy uptick in the use of the internet – all are helping Canadian independent bookstores survive. But another lockdown may be coming before buyers can get their holiday shopping finished, a make or break proposal for small indies. – CBC