Tag: 10.13.20

How We Think About “Misinformation”

Our disinformation metaphors help us see new possibilities (how might we “clean up” disinformation, or treat “information disorder”?), but obscure others (if disinformation is a pollutant, why is it such a useful political tool? If disinformation is an attack, why does it seem so sociological?). Metaphors shape our discourses, ideologies and histories. – Hyperallergic

What Museums Are Allowed To Do Politically

“Did you know museums are allowed to support or oppose a ballot measure? An institution may understandably want to get behind a budget increase for the cultural sector, for example. But they can’t let their staff volunteer for a candidate or party during work hours. Museums can serve as polling or voter registration sites and host nonpartisan candidate forums, but they can’t allow only certain candidates or parties to rent their space, or offer them discounted rates to do so.” – Hyperallergic

Jerry Saltz: When Public Art Goes Wrong

Medusa is typical of the kind of misguided bureaucracies and good managerial intentions that often result in such mediocrities. Don’t even try to figure out why it now stands across the street from the County Criminal Courthouse. This ooh-la-la monstrosity is sure to be a lightning rod for zealots protesting nudity and a co-star in endless selfies. – Curbed

All These Hit Documentary Series — Are They Just Reality TV Gone Highbrow?

Basically, yes, argues Kathryn VanArendonk, and the docuseries boom we’re seeing now couldn’t have happened without “a television landscape primed by decades of reality TV.” What’s more, the qualities the two genres share “are key to why [a docuseries can be] so delicious.” (Besides, “Anglo-American culture has yet to meet something lowbrow that it didn’t find a way to repackage as classy and valuable.”) – New York Magazine

Theatre-By-Snail-Mail

The audiences interact with characters one-on-one through the letters and can possibly alter the arc of the pieces through their correspondences. For a few of the play tracks, audiences can select particular characters to follow and even determine outcomes based on their response letters. “It’s a bespoke adventure—a tailor-made adventure specifically designed for you and your experience.” – American Theatre

Why Do Certain Artworks Get Stolen Over And Over Again?

Munch’s The Scream has been carted off by thieves twice, there are three Dutch Old Masters paintings that have been stolen three times each in the past 50 years, and the poor old Ghent Altarpiece has been taken an unlucky 13 times. Such works become famous, and thus very hard to fence, so why would they be repeat targets? Because, say two experts, stealing them can get the thieves clout — clout of more than one kind. – The Art Newspaper

Why Kathryn Morgan Quit Miami City Ballet A Year After Her Triumphant Return To The Stage (It Isn’t Pretty)

Once a very promising young soloist at New York City Ballet, Morgan had to stop performing for years due to hypothyroidism (with its attendant weight gain) and an autoimmune disorder. In 2019, by then a social media star, she was hired by Miami City Ballet in a move that got both dancer and company plenty of positive news coverage. Last week, in a 33-minute video that went viral, she recounted difficulties at the company that culminated in her being humiliatingly cut from a role (she’d be “an embarrassment”) in front of her colleagues. – Pointe Magazine

2,600-Year-Old Egyptian Sarcophagus Opened For First Time

“The newly unveiled coffin is one of 59 sealed sarcophagi unearthed at the Saqqara necropolis — a sprawling ancient cemetery located south of Cairo — in recent months. Found stacked on top of each other in three burial shafts of differing depths (between 32 and 39 feet each), the coffins date to Egypt’s 26th Dynasty, which spanned 664 to 525 B.C.” – Smithsonian Magazine