“This points to the effects of decades of a lack of equitable representation on the stage and media, as much as a disparaging perception of Asians generally in the ‘age of terror’. It presents some real challenges for venues, producers, funders, schools and philanthropists to make a concerted effort to draw attention to the centrality of arts in national life for everyone, not least Asians.”
Category: AUDIENCE
Booing, The Cannes Film Festival’s Favorite Sport
“Cannes selections of all stripes have met with boos for decades, from Michelangelo Antonioni’s groundbreaking L’Avventura in 1960 to Sean Penn’s not-groundbreaking The Last Face last year.” (Even Taxi Driver got booed.) There’s even been a “Booed at Cannes” film series and a streaming service category. Nicolas Rapold offers “a mini-anthropology” of the phenomenon.
An Emerging New Model Of Arts Patronage?
“Patrons of the 21st century are far less politically motivated than the Medici family and their ilk, and they generally don’t house artists in their lavish estates or command them to paint frescos. But just like the patrons of old, they are giving creators a pathway to success and economic stability, providing living expenses, supplies, pep talks and more.”
How The Looking At Art Is Resembling The Experience Of Buying Organic Food
“Ironically, as if in a reversal of roles, many art galleries now act like museums did in the past. Their spaces now feel sterile and out of touch. For a time now, galleries have abided by the corporate business model, creating a corporatized art-buying experience. But the real issue facing art galleries today is this: Does the corporate model that has satisfied cultured people for decades still provide fulfillment? How can the art industry adapt to a consumer society in which everything is being turned into an event?”
Is Chicago Getting Overloaded With Museums?
“All of a sudden, Chicago is filled with new museum projects. American Writers Museum is scheduled to open May 16, and a sports museum, blues museum and presidential library are to follow, if plans succeed, in the next few years. Two words for the people behind the ambitions: Good luck. … Here’s a look at how American Writers Museum succeeded in opening, plus prospects for three projects on the horizon.”
The ‘Hamilton’ Of The Art Museum World: Yayoi Kusama Show Smashes Attendance Records At Hirshhorn
“Hirshhorn officials said about 475,000 visitors came to the [D.C.] museum and sculpture garden during the exhibition’s 11-week run. The crowds were double the normal attendance for that time of year … Still, two-thirds of those visitors were shut out of the show that they probably had come to see” – and those who got in had to wait in very long lines.
Why Do Straight Plays On Broadway Have Such Trouble Filling The House?
Well, the problem is understandable, really: “Broadway serves both a local market and a tourist one, theater snobs and theater newcomers. If you go to a Broadway show only once a year and your ticket likely costs upwards of $100, do you choose the intellectually engaging drama or the [musical] with the lights and back handsprings and sequins? … Why do a play on Broadway at all?” As Alexis Soloski explains, there are some good reasons.
Maybe It’s Time To Quit Talking On And On About ‘Audience Engagement’ – There Are Already Engaged Audiences Out There
In an editorial that concentrates in the dance scene in Philadelphia but could apply to any of the performing arts, Steven Weisz argues that there are plenty of smaller companies and organizations “already firmly entrenched in the communities they service … [and] tend to attract younger and more diverse audiences as a result” – and that, instead of throwing grant money at large organizations for “engagement” programs, funders should send that money their way instead.
Do You Believe The World Keeps Getting Faster? Then You’re An Accelerationist
“Over the past five decades, and especially over the past few years, much of the world has got faster. Working patterns, political cycles, everyday technologies, communication habits and devices, the redevelopment of cities, the acquisition and disposal of possessions – all of these have accelerated. Meanwhile, over the same half century, almost entirely unnoticed by the media or mainstream academia, accelerationism has gradually solidified from a fictional device into an actual intellectual movement: a new way of thinking about the contemporary world and its potential.”
People Are Tuning Out Of TV In Droves (Maybe)
Things have changed, a lot. “After a decade of audience erosion, including double-digit declines for the vast majority of shows this season, networks have finally accepted reality: People aren’t watching the TV the way they used to, and selling commercials isn’t enough to pay the bills (and make a big profit).”