Christopher Knight on why this isn’t going to work – with a review of a new show embedded within the commentary: “Art museums have two audiences — one general, who may or may not have a genuine interest (there’s got to be someplace to take the in-laws over the holidays); the other a dedicated art audience, who range from passionate enthusiasts to committed professionals. … Lose the core and the museum is in trouble.” – Los Angeles Times
Category: AUDIENCE
These Are The Films That Got The Most Buzz At SXSW
Though the movies that won awards were serious, the festival “has turned into something of a testing ground for the hit potential of Hollywood comedies.” – The New York Times
The World’s First Virtual Reality Theatre Service
The platform, called LIVR, aims to make theatre “more accessible to all” by giving users a “fully immersive 360-degree experience” of live performance from their homes. Subscribers can stream shows using a mobile phone app for LIVR and watch them via a free virtual reality headset that is provided by the service. – The Stage
Books Need Readers To Be Books. But What About The Quality Of The Reader?
To exist as a book, the pages with their letters and spaces need a reader. We may think of books as unchanging material objects, but they only, as it were, happen when read; they have no absolute identity. And the nature of that reading—an experience extended over many hours, then mulled over for many more, for the book does not cease to happen the moment we turn the last page—will depend, to a large degree, on who the reader is. – New York Review of Books
26,000 Students, Millions In Student Tuition, Loans, Gone In Default Of A Chain Of Colleges
The affected schools — Argosy University, South University and the Art Institutes — have about 26,000 students in programs spanning associate degrees in dental hygiene and doctoral programs in law and psychology. Fourteen campuses, mostly Art Institute locations, have a new owner after a hastily arranged transfer involving private equity executives. More than 40 others are under the control of a court-appointed receiver who has accused school officials of trying to keep the doors open by taking millions of dollars earmarked for students. – The New York Times
Tracing A Passion For Theatre To The Performance That Sparked It All
Theatre can be magical, yes – but if you work in the theatre,”it’s easy to forget what compelled us into the profession in the first place. It can be lost amid the realities of the job at hand, chasing the next opportunity and our familiarity with the things that enthralled us once upon a time. It is also easy to forget what a personal experience theatre can be, where actors walk out of stage doors every night to waiting fans. It’s an experience that cannot be replicated by movies and television.” – The Stage (UK)
London’s National Theatre Created A Community Theatre Experience For 200 People.
“We have heard stories about people finding the confidence to get their first ever job or making new friendships with people from a different generation, area or culture who they didn’t think they’d ever otherwise have met. And even, in one case, suddenly finding their chronic pain causing them much less of an issue. Most common of all, perhaps, was a shared sense – that audience members also spoke about night after night – of feeling more connected to their home and their city than they had ever felt previously.” The Guardian
‘Thought Experiments In F# Minor’ — A Virtual Interactive Tour Of Walt Disney Concert Hall, Led By A Cat-Woman
“Created by Canadian artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller, with original music by Ellen Reid and curation by Yuval Sharon, the tour reveals little of the Concert Hall’s history, instead zig-zagging between philosophical musings such as on Schroedinger’s Cat (the theoretical paradox of a cat inside a box being both alive and dead), footage of intimate performances from the Philharmonic, and whimsical vignettes.” Writer Matt Stromberg gives it a try. – Hyperallergic
No, Steven Spielberg, Netflix Is Not The Problem
“The debate about the future of moviegoing shouldn’t be a binary one between a studio system increasingly beholden to franchises and intellectual property, and a nihilistic streaming service set on eliminating all competitors and monopolizing its users’ attention. The real problem with film right now is a lack of diversity caused by a lack of competition — both in Hollywood and online.” – The New Republic
The Last Blockbuster Video Store In The Whole World (And It Still Does Good Business)
The next-to-last one, in suburban Perth, Australia, closes this month, leaving only the franchise in Bend, Oregon. “But this is no elegy for Blockbuster, no lament for how Netflix killed the video star. … This is about the ability of the Bend store, like sturdy links in other dying chains, to live on and avoid being turned into a pawnshop or a fast-food restaurant.” – The New York Times