Category: issues

How Exactly Do You Define ‘Camp’? You Shouldn’t Even Try (Sorry, Susan Sontag)

“Camp, an agent of nonsense, resists this exercise. Or actually, like a child, kind of ignores it and wanders elsewhere.” J. Bryan Lowder takes it as a basic principle that camp is, or ought to be, fun — and whatever Sontag’s “Notes on Camp” is, fun it ain’t. “One can walk out of Sontag’s brain and into a less oppressive headspace. One can have a relationship with camp not marked by acrimony. But getting there requires recognizing how we got here.” So Lowder does some deep-diving — well, Slip ‘N Slide-ing, actually. – Slate

Brazil’s New Gov’t Redirects Culture Funding Away From Rio And São Paulo — Sharing The Wealth? Or Punishing Bolsonaro’s Enemies?

The maximum amount granted for a project has been slashed from $15 million to $250,000, which is a blow to the largest arts projects in the two metropolises, and the government says explicitly that it wants to spread funding to underrecognized artists and underserved regions of Brazil. (Some 90% of federal arts funding has been going to São Paul and Rio.) On the other hand, the arts communities of those two cities campaigned furiously against the election of President Bolsonaro, and many wonder if this is payback. – The Rio Times

Can A City’s Cultural Vibrancy Be Measured? Here’s An Economist Who’s Trying

“Provided that culture uniquely defines a city, which urban contexts are more culturally vibrant? And in which ones does culture drive creative economies? This study presents a novel and freely accessible dataset – the Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor – gathering 29 indicators for 168 European cities. Capitals generally lead on ‘Creative Economy’ but non-capitals do better on ‘Cultural Vibrancy’.” – EconomistsTalkArt.org

Wales Proposes Making Arts Core To Public Education

The Welsh government is proposing a new curriculum in which schools would be required to provide a “broad and balanced curriculum” in which the arts would become one of six core “areas of learning and experience”.These are the expressive arts; health and well-being; humanities; languages, literacy and communication; mathematics and numeracy; and science and technology. – The Stage

Academia Is Addictive, Dysfunctional, And A Total Mess. Are We In End Days?

“Academe, as anyone knows who’s tried to leave it, is like a partner who is wrenchingly hard to quit. When it was good, it was amazing. God, the highs! The horizon of your happiness seemed unbounded. But the partner turned out to be a nut job who demanded nothing less than all of you. Move to a different city every year, they stipulated. Subsist on bread crumbs. Completely debase yourself. They constantly evaluated your “performance.” On a whim, they dressed you up in a sailor suit and beat you.” – Chronicle of Higher Education