Category: issues

When we talk about how the arts in Britain are paid for, the phrase often used is a “mixed economy”. Broadly that means that we steer a middle course between the extremes of the American and continental European systems. Theoretically, it is the best of both worlds.

“Facebook activism succeeds not by motivating people to make a real sacrifice but by motivating them to do the things that people do when they are not motivated enough to make a real sacrifice.”

On a survey of knowledge about world religions done by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, the highest-scoring group – atheists – averaged only 21 correct answers out of 32 questions. (Close behind were Jews and Mormons.)

“There are 5.7million full-time arts-related jobs in this country; they’re a real constituency. We’re tired of being on the defensive. We’re going to be on the offensive.”

“For some researchers, there is a growing concern about the ethics of research on Egyptian mummies, and this concern threatens to hamper progress.”

“Every street in Berlin is ghosted. Every memorial is plastered in 20 layers of tragedy, heroism, and shame.” You leave a theater, concert or exhibition and look around: the still-bombed-out Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church here, a moldering section of the Berlin Wall there, the Reichstag across the way, tiny memorials to Auschwitz victims amidst the cobblestones …

“Thanks to smartphones and laptops, people are now spending one-half of their waking days interacting with media, and have increased their media consumption by an hour per day over the last two years. That’s more time than they spend working or sleeping.”

“No doubt: Pop culture has been democratized, and humility has been humbled. With outlets at every turn, ordinary people are no longer content to sit back and be entertained in the audience. Now, everyone wants to be a star. Of stage. Of screen. Of cyberspace. Of your soul.”

The real context of artists and their work raise questions about “artistic intent, about the assumptions and expectations of the viewing public and about the relationship between artists and their work.”

“At most concerts these days, when the houselights go down, the tiny glowing screens go up. As more fans mark the moments with smartphones, cameras and pocket-sized video recorders, a new kind of digital divide is emerging. Music lovers who try to document and share the essence of concerts are squaring off against those who think that just defeats the purpose. The debate is drawing participants from both sides of the stage.”