Christopher Knight: Pacific Standard Time should underwrite full retrospective exhibitions of artists with significant histories of working in Los Angeles, beginning in the late 19th century and continuing to the present. Not project shows. Not young or emerging or new artist surveys. Not a phalanx of partial looks at a segment of an established artist’s output. Instead, I mean full, rigorous accountings of historical figures, as well as artists beyond mid-career who have been in it for the long haul — a generation or more.
Category: AUDIENCE
Debate Over Museum Admissions Is An Existential One
The debate over what or if to charge admissions is part of a larger debate over what museums should do and be. The model of the past century for museums, Feldman said, is “build, grow and acquire,” which is expensive and demands that no source of revenue be overlooked. The newer conception of museums involves ideas about what should be done with the existing collections in order to improve access and increase understanding, which is why a growing number of institutions are putting their collections online and trying to make the museum experience more interactive. The largest museums in the country are attempting to pursue both models, but the result has been that their actions on the one hand work against the increased access they hope to achieve.
Does The ‘Seeing Slowly’ Method Of Looking At Modern Art Work?
The technique (if that’s the word) that art dealer Michael Findlay recommends in his book Seeing Slowly: Looking at Modern Art is to stand in the middle of the gallery room, pick a work that catches your eye, and simply look at it for at least three (and up to 15) minutes. No reading the wall text or listening to the audio guide. Elena Goukassian gives the method a try to find out if it helps her appreciate better an artist whose work she’s never related to or liked.
*All* Museums, Not Just The Met, Should Be Free
“When museums are free we can see one painting every day on our lunch breaks. We can come back again and again to see all of the things we’d miss in just one visit. We can go on cheap dates. We can take our children and not worry about wasting our vacation budget if they throw a tantrum after 10 minutes. Students can come on school trips and learn not just about art or history or science, but also about experiences and institutions – museums themselves – that might otherwise feel closed off to them.”
Met Museum Defends Its New Admissions Policy
Many think the new $25 entrance fee – which is the same for several other city museums – is too expensive. Met President Daniel Weiss disagrees. “In every society and throughout history, excellence costs money,” he said. “If you’re willing to spend $25 to go to the MoMA or Guggenheim, or spend $15 to go to the movies, we don’t think asking $25 to come to the Met is an unreasonable request.”
Books As Dinner Party Guests? One Bookstore Finds A New Market
A bookstore on Long Island will choose books for your dinner party guests based on what the hosts tell them. “It’s a conversation starter if you are sitting next to someone you don’t know. You can talk about books, talk about why you think that book was chosen for you or books you love instead of having an awkward moment.”
The Latest ‘Black Mirror’ Explains Just How Toxic Pop Culture Fandom Can Be
As it lovingly sends up Star Trek, the show also shows viewers “what emerges as a core theme of the episode: When you become a toxic fan, you become the villain of your favorite shows, games or comics, instead of the hero.”
The *9 Effect – Why Our Accomplishments Grow When Our Age Has A 9 At The End Of It
To a biologist or physician, the physiological differences between, say, 39-year-old Fred and 44-old Fred aren’t vast—probably not much different than those between Fred at 38 and Fred at 39. Nor do our circumstances diverge wildly in years that end in nine compared with those that end in zero. Our life narratives often progress from segment to segment, akin to the chapters of a book. But the actual story doesn’t abide by round numbers any more than novels do. After all, you wouldn’t assess a book by its page numbers: “The 160s were super exciting, but the 170s were a little dull.” Yet, when people near the end of the arbitrary marker of a decade, something awakens in their minds that alters their behavior.
Classical Music’s “Crossover” Problem
“As classical music searches for a wider audience, classical crossover poses an increasing conundrum — not least because it’s attracting exactly the audience that “straight” classical claims to be seeking. The mass audience is generally put off by classical music, which seems, to many outsiders, to present a facade of unwelcoming elitism. The crossover genre, however, offers the same kinds of mellow tonal sounds and rich buttery voices — music to relax to, if you will — without classical music’s perceived strictures or judgments.”
Dance Companies Are Exploring New Sources Of Income
“L.A. Dance Project recently launched the subscription-based ladanceworkout.com, offering streaming workout videos led by company members. Groups of all sizes and even some individual dancers have launched merchandise lines bearing their logos. And, of course, there’s the perpetually innovative Pilobolus, which has been in the creative-revenue game for years, with books, advertisements, corporate appearances and more.”