Born in 1970 as a sort of successor to Judson Dance Theater, The Grand Union (named after a supermarket chain) lasted only for six years. Yet the group and (subsequently) its members — among them Yvonne Rainer, Trisha Brown, Douglas Dunn, David Gordon, and Steve Paxton — changed the course of the art form. Not long ago Wendy Perron came across some old Grand Union videotapes and wondered if the work could be as good as she remembered: “It was even better.” – The New York Times
Tag: 11.03.20
Creating DeepFakes To Make Controversial People Confess
Recently, Stephanie Lepp has been experimenting with a maligned technology, deepfakes, to create Deep Reckonings, a series of synthetic videos that imagine controversial public figures having a reckoning; in the deepfake footage, Alex Jones, Brett Kavanaugh, and Mark Zuckerberg reflect on the damage they have inflicted on society. – Forbes
Book Festival Bosses Talk About How They Turned Their Events Digital On Almost No Lead Time
“Here, the directors of five festivals — Sara Ortiz of the Believer Festival, Lissette Mendez of the Miami Book Fair, Amanda Bullock of the Portland Book Festival, Steph Opitz of The Loft’s Wordplay, and Conor Moran of the Wisconsin Book Festival — discuss how their teams made it work.” – Literary Hub
Approved And Then Dropped By San Francisco, Design Of Maya Angelou Monument Is Approved Again
“Last year, an opaque selection process opened a rift between public officials and local artists when the city suddenly rejected [Maya] Thomas’s winning design. The reversal attempts to heal divisions. On Monday, the San Francisco Arts Commission unanimously voted to approve a previous recommendation made by a 2019 review panel for Ms. Thomas to design the luminary’s sculpture.” – The New York Times
Pandemic Could Permanently Change How Movie Box Office Figures Are Reported
Revealing a movie’s grosses is not something studios are obligated to do, and for decades, they didn’t. So why, in the late 1980s, did Hollywood start? Because it made for buzz within the industry and beyond to (some of) the audience; sometimes, worldwide headlines were made. But now that lockdowns have led to the release of even major blockbuster titles online, “studios get to rethink whether they want to continue sharing grosses on a 24/7 basis with rivals, analysts and the media.” – The Hollywood Reporter
San Francisco Symphony Musicians Accept 30% Salary Reduction
“The announcement on Monday, Nov. 2, by the Symphony management cited a cumulative revenue loss of $40 million by the end of the 2020-21 season as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. All of the orchestra’s live performances through the end of the calendar year have been canceled.” – San Francisco Chronicle
Australia Will Spend Millions To Buy Back Indigenous Artifacts From Foreign Museums And Collectors
“The Australian government has pledged A$10.1 million (about $7.2 million) in additional funds over four years toward the return Indigenous cultural heritage objects held in collections overseas.” – ARTnews
Virus And Lockdown Will Clear Out ‘A Bit Of Dead Wood’ From The Arts, Says Artist
Grayson Perry: “I think every part of life has probably got a bit of fat that needs trimming, a bit of dead wood. It’s awful that the culture sector has been decimated, but I think some things needed to go. … Too often, the audience for culture is just the people making it — theatres with whole audiences of actors, or exhibitions only put on to impress other curators.” Yes, many arts figures have criticized Perry for this, but some have defended him as well. – BBC
Canada Proposes Treating Streaming Like Broadcast Services
The regulations put forth by the Liberal government today in a new bill focus on clarifying that online streaming platforms like Netflix and Spotify will fall under the Broadcasting Act through a new category called “online undertakings.” – CBC
China Has Wrecked Two-Thirds Of Uyghur Mosques: Report
“Drawing on satellite imagery, data analysis and on-the-ground reporting, the think tank [Australian Strategic Policy Institute] estimated that, since 2017, 65% of the [Xinjiang] region’s mosques and 58% of its important Islamic sites — including shrines (mazars) and cemeteries — have been either destroyed or damaged.” – The Art Newspaper