“The footage was captured in Lyon, in 1897, by the Lumière brothers, who were among the world’s first filmmakers. It was originally black and white, of course, and herky-jerky because of the low frame rate. But this snowball fight has recently been colorized and smoothed, and the result is shockingly modern. The video shows 52 seconds of joyful carnage: a gaggle of antiquated French people hucking compacted snow at one another’s faces with terrifying ferocity.” – The New York Times Magazine
Tag: 11.05.20
The First Mughal Emperor Wrote One Of History’s Great Autobiographies
“Profoundly honest and unusually articulate, at once emotionally compelling and profoundly revealing, the Babur Nama is in many ways an oddly modern text, almost Proustian in its self-awareness. It presents the uncensored fullness of the man, a human life perfectly pinned to the page in simple, direct and unpretentious prose.” – Literary Hub
Could VR Help Save Theatre?
Having long been one of the digital technologies heralded as being a game changer for theatre, we think VR has an important part to play now in engaging audiences during the coronavirus pandemic. This will be a vital test of how theatre might be delivered safely and innovatively in the short- to medium-term, and a taste of how theatre, and its audiences, may embrace digital in the long-term. – Arts Professional
Choreographers Now Making Dance With A.I. And Robotics
“At the forefront of this growing field is Sydney Skybetter, a former dancer and a professor of what he calls choreographics at Brown University, where his students approach dance in a way that is heavily computational. … By the end of the 20th century, motion capture, wearable tech and virtual reality had arrived on the scene. Then came A.I.” – The New York Times
What The American Election Means For The Art Market
“What’s the difference between the government bond that pays 0% and a Rothko painting that pays 0%? They’re both things that have some kind of value and they can go up in value over time or down in value over time. And you’re not going to be able to live off either of them, but at least the Rothko makes you feel cultured.” – The Art Newspaper
Where Was Commercial Radio In Britain Born? In Biscuit Factories
Back in 1970, the United Biscuits Network was created for workers mass-producing Jaffa Cakes and McVitie’s Digestives who had gotten fed up with the Muzak bosses piped to the factory floor. With daring programming inspired by the pirate radio stations that used to broadcast from ships offshore, UBN was the first legal non-BBC radio in the UK and the first to operate 24 hours a day. – The Guardian
For Arts Workers In Europe, This Second COVID Lockdown Feels Different
“To understand how people are feeling about the situation, we spoke to six cultural figures, including an Italian opera star, a renowned Parisian bookseller and the head of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. Here are edited excerpts from those conversations.” – The New York Times
French Senate Approves Return Of Artworks To Benin And Senegal
The legislation, required for museums to release the items and ratified unanimously by the senators, concerns 26 statues in the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris that were taken from Benin by French soldiers in 1892 as well as a ceremonial sword that came from Senegal and is currently on loan to a museum there. – ARTnews
Sinkholes Threaten To Swallow Historic Churches In Naples
No, not the city in Florida, America’s sinkhole hub. “Many of the historic cathedrals, churches and chapels of Naples, Italy are at risk of vanishing into the earth, according to new research published in the Journal of Cultural Heritage. … Nine [churches] are built over subterranean cavities, on ground affected by ‘ongoing deformation’, making these areas highly susceptible to sudden collapse … [while] a further 57 places of worship lie above ‘potential future cavity collapses’.” – The Art Newspaper
Of Racism And What’s Left Of Institutions
“In a hasty effort to be on the right side of history, I fear this industry is neglecting the historically precedented and exceedingly unspoken costs of forcing this kind of assimilation to white institutional power in this country. Doors are swinging open and white institutional leaders are ushering tokenized theatremakers into their broken homes. And in exchange for closer proximity to once tightly held resources, in a cavalier and unblinking gesture, our white leaders have laid at their feet long legacies of institutional harm and oppression. Do with this what you will.” – HowlRound