“We are simultaneously more connected than we ever have been and more disconnected. The way we communicate is through screens, which are essentially prosceniums” like the traditional stage that separates the actors from the audience, says Zach Morris. “When we seek culture, perhaps we want to be able to engage in it in a way that doesn’t have a membrane between us and it.”
Category: AUDIENCE
How Do You Make Music Accessible? This LA Phil Violinist Has Some Ideas
“It was our audiences in these spaces who would raise their hands and say ‘Well what was the composer feeling when they wrote that because I heard this.’ And then they would tell us a story or anecdote of their life that exactly reflected where the composer or where we as performers exactly were in our emotional life. So this was actually one of the most astute and emphatic and engaged audiences that we’d encountered in our lives.”
We Need to Talk About Non-Consensual Audience Participation
“Artists who cleverly use participatory moments can make bold statements about the boundaries between performer and spectator, onstage and off. … But all the experiences I’ve loved have had something in common: They’ve given audiences a choice. A few weeks back, I had a starkly different experience.” Lauren Wingenroth describes what went wrong with that experience (Boris Charmatz’s 10000 Gestures, if you want to know), and suggests one simple step performers could take to avoid crossing the line from challenging to obnoxious or worse.
Rembrandt’s ‘Night Watch’ To Get Major Restoration — And You Can Watch The Conservators At Work
“[The director of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam] said it was expected to be a slow and intricate project, which would take several years and cost millions of euros. … The public will be invited to watch the intimate conservation process, both up close in the gallery itself and via an internet livestream, in what is believed to be the biggest ever undertaking of its kind.”
In The Instagram Age, What’s Next For Photography?
Maybe photographers have been too worried about photography losing relevance. Indeed, it’s highly relevant. “One could argue from this evidence that it is the medium of our time, not just defining our globally connected digital image culture, but propelling it. Even a decade ago, no one could have predicted the seismic shift that has occurred in our relationship with – and use of – the photographic image.”
Judges Overturn Public Vote In The Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize
Democracy shamocracy, right? “Sweet Fruit, Sour Land by Rebecca Ley is the winner of the 2018 Not the Booker Prize. Our three judges have taken the brave decision to overrule the public vote and put their weight behind this dark dystopian novel in the place of Ariel Kahn’s optimistic and gentle Raising Sparks.”
Scottish Ballet To Audience: Tell Us Where You Want Us To Perform And We Grant Your Wish
“It can be anything from the dancers performing at a birthday party or on the banks of Loch Ness, or even the chance to get on stage and be part of a Scottish Ballet show.” A judging panel including Susan Calman, Fred MacAulay and Dame Darcey Bussell will decide which of the wishes are granted in 2019.
The Senior-Citizen Audience: A Snapshot
In this research analysis by The Audience Agency, “we look at who older arts and cultural audiences are, what their characteristics as visitors are, how they may engage differently with different art forms and what motivates them. We know that these stats are only part of the story, however, and have included thoughts on good engagement practice and links to inspirational examples and complementary research.”
Report: Education, Engagement And Community – What American Theatres Are Doing
Some theatres have moved away from education and solely into community engagement. How are “education” and “community engagement” defined by each theatre? What are the similarities and differences between these two areas of focus? Is there collaboration across departments in this work? There has been growing attention to these issues in recent years, and we were interested in collecting some stories and exploring different models and approaches to this work.
How To Establish Value In Art? Connoisseurship Or The Market?
In the past few decades, academia has largely abandoned traditional connoisseurship because it was too often tied to “great man” narratives. Over the same period professional art criticism has been eclipsed by a journalistic preoccupation with glamour, scandal and money. While the art world was never entirely free from market forces, these are now essentially the sole determinant of value. People need narratives to make sense of culture and collectors require a mechanism to assess quality. By default, today’s dominant narratives are being written by dealers and auctioneers.