“Our knowledge of human vision and of the brain is now sophisticated enough that we can speculate intelligently on the neural basis of art and maybe begin to construct a scientific theory of artistic experience.”
Tag: 03.17.11
Making Dance With Survivors Of Torture
“John Scott studied with the legendary Living Theater founders Judith Malina and Julian Beck. … Earlier, he had taken a stab at a ballet career, apprenticing with Dublin City Ballet, before founding his own company, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, in 1990. But none of this varied background quite prepared him for his 2003 encounter with 10 people at Dublin’s Centre for Care for Survivors of Torture.”
Tory Government Considers Changing UK Law Mandating Provision Of Libraries
“A ripple of horror has spread through library campaigners at the news that the only legal protection enjoyed by the public library service has been put up for review as part of a government initiative to scrap ‘burdensome’ duties on local authorities.”
Big-Box Retailers Increase Pressure On Amazon To Collect Sales Taxes
Chains such as Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy and Sears “are backing a coalition called the Alliance for Main Street Fairness, which is leading efforts to change sales-tax laws in more than a dozen states including Texas and California.”
E-Book Sales More Than Double In One Year
“Sales of electronic books in January increased by more than 115 percent compared to the same time the year before, a report released by the Association of American Publishers said on Thursday.”
Russia Demands Return Of Icons In Massachusetts Museum
“Russia’s Ministry of Culture has ordered the Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton to dismantle its exhibit of 37 icons and artifacts on loan from Russia and send them back. … Russian museums have been canceling loans of artwork to the United States as a result of a feud that began last summer over a US court decision.”
Why We Really Need Public Broadcasting: Local News
Len Downie and Robert Kaiser: “[A]mbitious local news coverage by commercial media has diminished in community after community in recent years. Recognizing that, NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting … have begun helping public radio [and television] stations do a better job of news reporting in their communities” by helping them increase and pool their generally stretched resources.
At Bolshoi Ballet, Porn Scandal Is Just Part Of The Turmoil
The resignation of company manager Gennady Yanin, due to an erotic photo website apparently designed specifically to discredit him, is just one more element in a turbulent, long-running saga at the Bolshoi. That saga includes repeated resignations by artistic directors, accusations of incompetent management and political interference, and the embarrassing spectacle of the historic theater’s five-year, massively over-budget restoration.
Preservationists Vs. Smithsonian Over Historic Los Angeles Murals
The lobby of the Golden State Mutual building in Los Angeles is decorated with a 1949 set of murals, painted by Charles Alston and Hale Woodruff, depicting various African-American workers in early California. With Golden State Mutual out of business, “the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture is planning to buy the works for $750,000 and remove them.” Preservationists are objecting.
A History Of The Hollywood Sign
How a giant outdoor advertisement for a real estate development called Hollywoodland became a worldwide symbol for Los Angeles and its main industry – with spells as the scene of a suicide and a celebration of liberalized marijuana laws.