Kids are now watching twice as many videos per day as they did just four years ago. This is despite the fact that YouTube’s flagship app is meant for ages 13 and up — an age-gate that was never truly enforced, leading to the FTC’s historic $170 million fine for the online video platform in 2019 for its noncompliance with U.S. children’s privacy regulations. – TechCrunch
Category: AUDIENCE
One-On-One Corona-Concerts Are Now Spreading Through Germany
Last month, a few musicians in Stuttgart began giving intimate-yet-socially-distanced performances — one performer, one listener, a couple of meters of empty space between them — at the city’s currently-unused airport. Now two of the area’s publicly-funded orchestras, the Staatsorchester Stuttgart and the Southwest German Radio Symphony, have taken on the project. “The result has been an intense series of more than 1,100 encounters — first in Stuttgart, and now in five other German cities. And what began as a clever adaptation to coronavirus rules has since become something more profound — a means of establishing human connection, agency and meaning at a time when such concepts have been harder to foster.” – The New York Times
Why Buy The Cow When The Milk Is Free? Performing Arts Companies, Don’t Do What Newspapers Did
“There’s a long-running adage about working for free in the performing arts. ‘The problem with working for exposure,’ it goes, ‘is you can die from exposure’.” With arts companies all over the world pouring free content onto the web as their venues are closed during the pandemic, creative industries scholar Caitlin Vincent issues a warning. – The Conversation
As Big Museums Reopen In Europe, A Benefit: No Big Crowds
Now, at most 450 people at one time are allowed in the Uffizi’s many galleries, chock full of some of the art world’s greatest masterpieces. – Washington Post
Despite Pandemic Lockdowns And COVID In Its Company, ‘Phantom Of The Opera’ World Tour Keeps Running
Performances are canceled and theaters are dark all around the world, but the long-touring Broadway production of Phantom has continued to fill a 1,600-seat house in Seoul for eight shows a week. The show even survived a three-week hiatus after some cast members contracted coronavirus. “The musical … is believed to be the only large-scale English-language production running anywhere in the world. And it has remained open not through social-distancing measures — a virtual impossibility in the theater, either logistically or financially, many say — but an approach grounded in strict hygiene.” – The New York Times
Amid Protests Over George Floyd’s Death, Smithsonian’s African-American Museum Launches Online Portal To Look At Race In The U.S.
“‘Talking About Race‘ is a Web-based initiative that uses videos, role-playing exercises and question-based activities to explore the origins and definitions of race and identity. Built on the museum’s long-standing educational work, the project was released Sunday to respond to the current crisis, according to [the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s] director of teaching and learning.” – The Washington Post
Louvre Expects Attendance Will Be Down By 70% After Reopening
The Paris landmark, which had been the world’s most visited museum, opens its doors on July 6 following the coronavirus lockdown. But safety limitations have been placed on crowd flow, and France will continue to have travel restrictions in place; three-quarters of the Louvre’s ticket-buyers come from abroad. The museum’s director does not expect attendance to return to normal until 2023. – ARTnews
The Telluride Film Festival Says It’s Going On As Planned
OK, that’s nice and optimistic, but “Telluride organizers promised that safety would be paramount. ‘We are not ignorant of the devastation facing the world,’ festival organizers wrote. ‘We feel the fear and distress too. This is why we are committed to observing all guidance as suggested by the consensus of voices of the scientific community with whom we are consulting now.'” – Los Angeles Times
Well, Nobody’s Using The Airport These Days, So Let’s Use It As A Drive-In
That’s what Uruguayans are doing with Carrasco International Airport near Montevideo. The movies, screened every evening, range from The Lion King and Sonic the Hedgehog to Bohemian Rhapsody and Joker. Viewers, in their cars, can order snacks and drinks via WhatsApp, and they can put on masks and go inside to use the airport’s (constantly cleaned) restrooms. – The Guardian
When Art Became “The Show”
Today the more relevant split is the more recent one between modern and contemporary fields (the latter has no exact date of origin—1968, 1980, 1989?), which is a schism less between the university and the museum than between scholarly curators and flashy exhibition-makers. This split was opened up when the 20th-century art museum was penetrated by the culture industry, and it was deepened when the contemporary art world expanded into the global business of art biennials and fairs. With the first development came a demand for on-site entertainment, and with the second a need for far-flung attractions. – Artnet