Arts news

• Why A Major Hollywood Talent Agency Is Busy Signing Digital Artists

  16-08-2023 23:58 via news.artnet.com
  
  “The sheer volume of new artists, artworks, and platforms is growing. Think about the impact that YouTube had on a generation of viewers—it completely changed the business. I think we are seeing the beginning of something similar here. The volume of work we will be exposed to is just exploding.” – Artnet
  
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• British Museum Fires Employee After Discovering Missing And Damaged Treasures

  16-08-2023 23:31 via bbc.com
  
  Items including gold, jewellery and gems of semi-precious stones were among those found to be missing, stolen or damaged. – BBC
  
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• The TikTokers Getting Millions Of Reviews For Their Movie Reviews

  16-08-2023 23:01 via nytimes.com
  
  Maddi Koch, who is a senior at Virginia Tech and is sometimes paid by film companies to promote their work, says she makes videos to connect people and to spare them “the pain of arguing over finding a movie or not knowing what you’re really looking for.” – The New York Times
  
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• Neuroscientists Reconstruct Pink Floyd Song From Brain Scan Of Listener

  16-08-2023 22:32 via wsj.com
  
  Neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley reconstructed Pink Floyd’s classic rock song “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1” using recordings of the brain activity of 29 patients who heard the song while undergoing brain surgery. – The Wall Street Journal
  
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• “Barbie” Brought People Back To Movie Theatres. Will They Return?

  16-08-2023 22:01 via npr.org
  
  Peak, who has now seen Barbie twice, thinks she might see more movies in theaters, if studios, “could replicate something where it’s more of an event for us all to go. That would be really cool. Y’know you can’t get that just sitting at home.” – NPR
  
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• How August Wilson Changed Theatre

  16-08-2023 21:32 via theatlantic.com
  
  “He was viscerally aware that the essence of dramatic art is found in the living, breathing doing of it with a collective cast of participants—actors, directors, producers, mentors, audiences. Reworking isn’t failure. Indeed, Wilson the bluesman rewrote and remixed in real time, improvising and experimenting his way to mastery and historical revelation.” The Atlantic
  
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• Beautiful, Complex, Even Dangerous — The Recorder, Perhaps The Most Underrated Instrument

  16-08-2023 21:03 via apnews.com
  
  So many people cringe at the memory of the cheap little plastic instruments played by grade-schoolers. But a wooden recorder in the hands of a pro can be enchanting and even thrilling, and there’s now music written for it in virtually every genre, including jazz, rock and pop. – The Guardian
  
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• 40-Year-Old Portland Oregon Theatre Shuts Down, Blames “National Crisis” In Theatre

  16-08-2023 20:34 via opb.org
  
  Leaders of Portland’s Artists Repertory Theatre announced on Tuesday they are canceling the 2023-24 season, just as the company was beginning rehearsals for one of the shows it planned to produce. – Oregon Public Broadcasting
  
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• Bread And Puppet Theater’s Founder Is 89. What Happens When He Finally Passes Away?

  16-08-2023 20:05 via nytimes.com
  
  “‘(It’s) always been an iffy little enterprise that depends way too much on me,” said Peter Schumann. ‘Is it sustainable when I’m gone and will people recognize it as important?’ Those questions remain unanswered as Schumann’s incessant creation of new work keeps the focus on the present.” – The New York Times
  
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• National Portrait Gallery Director of Advancement

  16-08-2023 19:38 via artsjournal.com
  Founded in 1962 by the United States Congress with the mission to acquire and display portraits of people who have made significant contributions to the history, development, and culture of the United States of America, the Smithsonian Institution’s https://npg.si.edu/ (NPG) has evolved into an extraordinary institution whose vision is to represent the breadth of American achievement and be a trusted resource in the understanding of U.S. history. Through portraiture, the NPG work
  
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• Goodbye Toxic Online Comments? OpenAI Building AI-Driven Content Moderation System

  16-08-2023 19:32 via engadget.com
  
  The company wrote in a blog post that GPT-4 can not only help make content moderation decisions, but aid in developing policies and swiftly iterating on policy changes, “reducing the cycle from months to hours.” – Engadget
  
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• Younger People In England Are Making Morris Dancing, Well, Actually Kind of Cool

  16-08-2023 19:04 via nytimes.com
  
  “Now Morris, long a poked-fun-of example of British eccentricity, is opening up to younger dancers who approach it as a living tradition. For some, this means exploring ways to pull apart and reinterpret the form. And for traditionalists, it means perfecting ancient technique.” – The New York Times
  
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• Justin Davidson Spends A Day On Set Of Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein Movie

  16-08-2023 18:31 via vulture.com
  
  “I’m not sure I envy Cooper (who is directing the film and co-wrote the script) the task of getting into that storm-strafed mind or giving vent to Bernstein’s complexities.” – New York Magazine
  
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• Florida museum chief tried to make millions from exhibition of fake Basquiat art, lawsuit claims

  16-08-2023 18:08
  
  Aaron De Groft hoped to pocket commissions from auction of the works at show he arranged that was revealed to be a scamTrustees of a Florida art gallery are suing its former director, claiming he conspired to cash in on the exhibition and sale of fake paintings purportedly by the neo-expressionist Jean-Michel Basquiat.Aaron De Groft hoped to pocket tens of millions of dollars in commissions from auction of the works after “legitimizing” them during a 2022 show he arranged at the Orla
  
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• Florida man tried to make millions from exhibition of fake Basquiat art, lawsuit claims

  16-08-2023 18:08
  
  Aaron De Groft hoped to pocket commissions from auction of the works at show he arranged that was revealed to be a scamTrustees of a Florida art gallery are suing its former director, claiming he conspired to cash in on the exhibition and sale of fake paintings purportedly by the neo-expressionist Jean-Michel Basquiat.Aaron De Groft hoped to pocket tens of millions of dollars in commissions from auction of the works after “legitimizing” them during a 2022 show he arranged at the Orla
  
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• Jan Morris Was Right: We Should Just Let Venice Sink

  16-08-2023 18:06 via wired.com
  
  “And yet Morris predicted that this would never be Venice’s fate, because ‘the world would not allow it.’ That may be true. What she wasn’t right about was the time frame of the impending tragedy. She thought it would be a long time coming.” – Wired
  
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• Study: Products Launches During A Recession Do Better

  16-08-2023 17:35 via hbr.org
  
  “I thought discretionary-product launches would be more likely to fail, because nonessential purchases tend to decline in tough economies. But the effects are consistent across products and categories. A recession might be the ideal time to launch your product no matter what it is.” – Harvard Business Review
  
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• Milan’s Landmark Futurist Sports Stadium Has Been Saved From The Wrecking Ball

  16-08-2023 17:02 via dezeen.com
  
  “The iconic San Siro in Milan, which was set to be replaced by a Populous-designed stadium, has been saved from demolition because of its ‘cultural heritage’. The stadium, which is shared by Italian football clubs Inter Milan and AC Milan, was rescued from demolition … due to its distinctive appearance.” Dezeen
  
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• ‘I was sleeping on a gravesite’: Rottnest Island’s complex history brought to light

  16-08-2023 17:00
  
  Western Australia’s idyllic tourist spot is better known for quokkas – but Wadjemup, as it’s known to Noongar people, has a 30,000-year history, and a painful colonial pastGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailWith its wild, undulating coastline, freewheeling cyclists and lovable, pint-sized marsupials, the quokka, Rottnest Island – known to Perth locals as Rotto – has become synonymous with summer holidays.Lesser known to outsiders is the island’s comple
  
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• 70 Years After It Was Discovered, An Ancient Near Eastern Script Is Being Deciphered

  16-08-2023 16:33 via news.artnet.com
  
  “The researchers have proposed the name Eteo-Tocharian to describe the newly identified language, which is believed to have been, at one point, one of the official languages of the Kushan Empire” (200BC-700AD). – Artnet
  
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• Iran Jails Filmmaker For Showing His Movie At Cannes Without Official Permission

  16-08-2023 16:05 via theguardian.com
  
  “A court in Iran has sentenced prominent film director Saeed Roustayi to six months’ prison for the screening of his film Leila’s Brothers at the Cannes film festival in 2022. Leila’s Brothers … has been banned in Iran since its release last year.” – The Guardian
  
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• More Turmoil At West Virginia Public Broadcasting As Executive Director Steps Down

  16-08-2023 15:31 via apnews.com
  
  “The executive director of West Virginia Public Broadcasting has stepped down after one year on the job, the latest sign of upheaval at a news outlet recently shaken by a reporter’s allegation that she was fired for writing an unfavorable story about a division of the state health department.” – AP
  
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• Orlando Museum Of Art Sues Its Former Director Over Fake Basquiat Scandal

  16-08-2023 15:04 via orlandosentinel.com
  
  “(The museum) has sued its former director, Aaron De Groft, as well as others who were instrumental in bringing the now disgraced ‘Heroes & Monsters’ exhibit of work attributed to Jean-Michel Basquiat to the institution in 2022.” – Orlando Sentinel
  
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• Opera News Magazine To Cease Publication As Metropolitan Opera Guild Shuts Down

  16-08-2023 14:36 via apnews.com
  
  The Guild, founded in 1935 to support the Met, has been suffering with financial troubles similar to those faced by many arts nonprofits in recent years. Its education programs will be taken over by the Met itself, while Opera News will become a foldout section of Britain’s Opera magazine. – AP
  
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• Soprano Renata Scotto, 89

  16-08-2023 14:02 via msn.com
  “Like Callas, Ms. Scotto possessed a voice that was riveting without being traditionally beautiful. … Also like Callas, she was known for fully inhabiting her roles, bringing intense dramaticism to an art form in which singers had once been content to stand onstage and trill.” – MSN (The Washington Post)
  
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• ‘Deliberately obscure’: how to locate the weird world of hidden public art

  16-08-2023 07:00
  
  Not all art is made to be hung on walls. From pinhole dioramas stashed in bollards to sculptures you need scuba gear to see, we meet the artists playing hide and seek with their viewersTowards the end of June, five monumental sculptures in shimmering white marble were loaded on to a boat and dropped to the seabed off the Tuscan coast of Italy. Carved over three months by five up-and-coming sculptors, they were the latest contribution to a modern Atlantis – a drowned city of statues accessi
  
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• The Cultural Cold War — at a 30 % Discount

  16-08-2023 05:19 via artsjournal.com
  
  My brand-new website posts information on my brand-new book: The Propaganda of Freedom: JFK, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, and the Cultural Cold War.
  
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• Good Morning:

  16-08-2023 05:16 via artsjournal.com
  This summer has been something of an inflection point for culture. Hollywood strikes, regional theatres in crisis, faltering of the streaming and podcasting models… On ArtsJournal you read the drip drip drip of stories that are defining these trends. In the coming weeks, we’ll be introducing some features to connect the dots. In the meantime, to keep up with what’s happening in real time, follow us at @ArtsJournalNews. On my own feed @AJDoug, I comment on those trends in a li
  
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• Edinburgh Fringe: On The Road To Terminal Decline?

  16-08-2023 00:01 via thestage.co.uk
  “I’ve been talking with many here this summer, from producers to those who run venues to the artists themselves, and I’m struck by how many think the fringe is in deep trouble already. One producer I spoke to likened it to climate change.” – The Stage
  
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