Tag: 01.21.20

The Race To Create The Darkest-Ever Black Was Actually A Series Of Accidents

“We weren’t looking to create the world’s blackest material, “says the founder of Surrey Nanosystems, which introduces Vantablack in 2014. “That wasn’t our thing. We were trying to solve a calibration problem for space instruments using carbon nanotubes.” And five years later, an even darker black was developed, absorbing 99.995% of all light that strikes it. Vivian Le explains how these materials were developed, why they aren’t pigments, and the reason everyone got mad at sculptor Anish Kapoor. (podcast plus text; includes video) – 99% Invisible

Opera And Classical Young Artist Programs Are Big Business — For Everyone But The Young Artists

Zach Finkelstein: “Company X is a prestigious music apprenticeship festival for instrumentalists and singers. They take in about $15 million a year in revenue, own over $80 million dollars in assets, including real estate, investments, and cash on hand, and pay their CEO almost half a million dollars a year. Nearly two thousand young musicians paid $60 each last year to apply for a handful of spots, with no guarantee of being heard in person. netting the company an estimated $118,000 in application fees. And they pay their newly-hired apprentice performers absolutely nothing.” – The Middle-Class Artist

How Rotten Tomatoes Actually Works

A key point that many people don’t realize is that the site does not use any algorithms: each review that goes into a movie’s or TV show’s Tomatometer score is read and evaluated by a human curator. “In a world of endless choice, on an internet increasingly dictated by predictive algorithms that recommend ‘for you,’ Rotten Tomatoes represents something more analog. And it raises the question: What’s the best way to choose? Or, more to the point, who do you trust?” Reporter Simon van Zuylen-Wood spent a couple of days at the Rotten Tomatoes to learn just how the site operates. – Wired

Shows That Won’t Let You Back In If You Leave Make It Hard For Physically Challenged People

Sitting through a show of that length might seem manageable enough if you’re young and in good health, less so if you have a medical condition like Crohn’s disease or other hidden disability, you’re pregnant or you’re experiencing the menstrual equivalent of the elevator scene in The Shining. If someone leaves during a performance, it’s usually because they don’t have much of a choice. – The Stage

Why Do We Fetishize Books As Physical Objects?

We seem to project enormously intense feelings onto books, feelings that make us protective of them and furious toward those we perceive as threatening them. We think of our books as symbols of our taste, our intellect, our moral vigor. And when we hold books in such high esteem, those who treat them as objects rather than as symbols become infidels. – Vox

Restaurant Noise Is Good! Says The New York Times’ Restaurant Critic

Pete Wells: “Restaurants are loud because we’re loud. With a few exceptions, when we complain about the noise, we’re complaining about ourselves. … Far from being an accidental side effect, a noisy restaurant is the end product of a business that helps us have a good time, just as purring is the end product of scratching a cat’s chin the right way.” – The New York Times

Why, Exactly, Is The Paris Opera Ballet On Strike? Here’s An Explainer

The company’s labor action is yet another part of the series of national protests against President Macron’s planned pension reforms. The twist is that, as we know, ballet is not like other professions (dancers’ bodies won’t hold out until age 65), and the Paris Opera Ballet’s pension system dates back to the 17th century. – Dance Magazine

Why There’s A Campaign To Boo Ballet Star Amar Ramasar In Broadway’s ‘West Side Story’

The fired-then-reinstated New York City Ballet principal was a figure in the company’s recent #MeToo scandal (and accompanying lawsuit). While City Ballet’s dancers and the company of West Side Story seem willing (at least publicly) to let Ramasar redeem himself, a number of others — including lawsuit plaintiff Alexandra Waterbury — are calling on audience members to boo him until the producers fire him from the show. – The Guardian