“We care more about the parts and less about the entire. We are into snippets and smidgens and clips and tweets. We are not only a fragmented society, but a fragment society. And the result: What we gain is the knowledge — or the illusion of knowledge — of many new, different and variegated aspects of life. What we lose is still being understood.”
Tag: 03.15.11
Explain Art? Neuroscience Still Can’t Explain The Self
“The nature of the self, identity, and human values used to be the preserve of philosophers, but over recent decades psychologists and neuroscientists seem to have thoroughly colonised the territory. … [But] on the big questions about who we are, recent research has told us a great deal about the physical basis for the emergence of the sense of self, but next to nothing about what a self actually is.”
Barbican Plans Digital Subscription Program
“Barbican managing director Nicholas Kenyon has revealed the arts venue is considering launching a ‘digital membership’ package, which he said would feature a range of content that can be viewed online for a subscription.”
Facebook And The Detroit Symphony Strike (Not Pretty)
“You cannot negotiate a labor agreement on the social media. It doesn’t work. It’s just a poor execution and a poor use of social media as a tool.”
Founding Director of Melbourne’s Chunky Move to Step Down
“At year’s end Gideon Obarzanek intends to hand over leadership of the company. Obarzanek, 44, will stay involved for another year after his successor is appointed but his role will shift from creating new work to overseeing tours of the company’s existing shows.”
Robert Redford Bringing Mini-Sundance to London
“Time will tell how it works,” said the actor-director-producer, “but we’re coming in very small. We’re here four days, we’re not bringing the full complement of Sundance – we’re bringing film and American music.” The festival debuts in April 2012 at the O2 arena.
Film Critic Declares War On Shaky Cameras And Endless Quick Cuts
Matt Zoller Seitz: “Simply put, this crap is transparently cynical and opportunistic and has become totally played-out since 1999’s The Blair Witch Project … But 12 years later, directors who keep treating it as an aesthetic security blanket – especially at the big-budget level – should be required to get a tattoo across their foreheads that reads ‘Hack’.”
UK’s Design of the Year Award Goes To – A Light Bulb
“Samuel Wilkinson really has changed the lightbulb, or, to be exact, the low-energy lightbulb, a Cinderella of the design world. His playful low-energy lightbulbs with two intertwining swirls, named Plumen 001, have just won the overall [Brit Insurance] Design of the Year award.”
Margaret Atwood Talks The Future Of Books
“I actually don’t disapprove of them, but I do predict that they will only ever occupy a small percentage of the market, in the same way that audio books, airport or large-print editions do.”
TV Producers Begin Using Subtitles To Help Explain Plots
“The on-screen subtitles function as a primer of sorts, appearing every few minutes to flesh out a twisty plot turn or reveal a character’s sinister motives.”