Arts news

• When Is It Okay To Quit Reading A Book?

  21-08-2024 23:29 via theatlantic.com
  
  The debate is much older than the internet, but in online reading communities such as Goodreads, or on the literary sides of Instagram or TikTok, the acronym “DNF,” for “Did Not Finish,” abounds—as do arguments about when doing so is appropriate. – The Atlantic
  
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• Mark Zuckerberg’s Epically Bad Statue Of His Wife

  21-08-2024 23:01 via washingtonpost.com
  The sculpture by Daniel Arsham, a brand-friendly New York-based artist with his own fashion line, is really bad — but it’s interestingly bad. When you look at it, it just sort of collapses in your brain, like a bouncy castle pierced by a falling tree branch. – Washington Post
  
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• Ian McKellen Says His Fat Suit Saved Him From Injury During Recent Stage Fall

  21-08-2024 22:32 via saga.co.uk
  “It was in the battle scene. My foot got caught in a chair, and trying to shake it off I started to slide on some newspaper that was scattered over the stage, like I was on a skateboard.” – Saga
  
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• Authors Sue Anthropic AI Over Copyright

  21-08-2024 22:01 via publishersweekly.com
  “Anthropic has enjoyed enormous financial gain from its exploitation of copyrighted material,” the complaint states, noting that Anthropic projects it will generate more than $850 million of revenue in 2024. “Anthropic’s commercial gain has come at the expense of creators and rightsholders.” – Publishers Weekly
  
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• Publisher Is Selling George Orwell Papers, Breaking Up Valuable Collection

  21-08-2024 21:33 via theguardian.com
  The treasure trove that is the extensive archive of correspondence and contracts amassed by Orwell’s original publisher, Victor Gollancz, could be scattered to the winds in what has been described as an act of “cultural vandalism”. – The Guardian
  
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• Judge Rejects Richmond Ballet’s Motion To Dismiss $11.5 Million Lawsuit By Two Former Dancers

  21-08-2024 21:02 via wric.com
  “The lawsuits, which seek a total of $23 million in damages, claim the institution’s environment led the former dancers to develop eating disorders and other health issues, including one who alleged they lost their menstrual cycle.” – WRIC (Richmond)
  
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• Judge Blocks Major New Sports Streaming Venture

  21-08-2024 20:28 via apnews.com
  
  ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery said they would appeal the ruling. – AP
  
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• The Real Spawn of The “Alien” Franchise Is Successful Directors

  21-08-2024 20:05 via msn.com
  “The 1979 creature feature … begot not only the unlikeliest and most malleable of franchises but also an astonishing array of cinematic careers — a fact reflected not just in the protracted intervals between installments but also in the huge stylistic variation among them.” – The Washington Post (MSN)
  
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• Too Many New Plays, Too Few Producers

  21-08-2024 19:29 via thestage.co.uk
  The ratio of independent producers to new plays being written, and people wanting to make them, is completely out of kilter. And as subsidies dwindle and support for the arts in general wanes, the number of us – people willing to run a small business producing independent theatre – is decreasing too. – The Stage
  
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• Geffen Playhouse Expands Its Audience To Include Prisoners And Their Families

  21-08-2024 19:01 via nytimes.com
  
  “The first thing we do is make sure that they can see plays that reflect their lives,” says artistic director (and Oscar winner for Moonlight) Tarell Alvin McCraney about his Theater as a Lens for Justice initiative, which offers free tickets to “populations impacted by incarceration.” – The New York Times
  
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• Seattle Exhibit On Confronting Hate Spawns More Of It

  21-08-2024 18:32 via seattletimes.com
  “In an exhibit that was supposed to be about coming together to confront hate, hate has won. And, our community feels more alone as a result.” – Seattle Times
  
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• What Have We Done To Beethoven’s Ninth, And What Has It Done To Us?

  21-08-2024 18:06 via theguardian.com
  The symphony — and not only the “Ode to Joy” — has been used for everything from Nazi propaganda to the fall of the Berlin Wall to the national anthem of white-ruled Rhodesia to Tiananmen Square demonstrations to entrance music for Melania Trump. Not to mention all the commercials. – The Guardian
  
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• State Designates “Nutcracker” As “Living Historic Landmark”

  21-08-2024 17:31 via ksl.com
  
  The show is now officially known as a Living Historic Landmark by the state of Utah, the studio announced Monday. This designation is the first of its kind and was made possible by Utah Sen. Luz Escamilla’s bill in the recent legislative session. – KSL
  
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• Best of the iPhone photography awards 2024 – in pictures

  21-08-2024 17:00
  
  From lifeguard camp to Buddhist pupils, and from a starry night to kites, balloons and oompa loompas, the winning entries in the 17th annual Ippawards were selected from photographers in more than 140 countries. Across landscapes, portraits and abstract compositions, the images showcase the unique ability of iPhone photography to connect us to the world in profound ways, competition organisers say Continue reading...
  
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• Disney Avoids Getting Publicly Sued By Adding Arbitration Clauses To Absolutely Everything

  21-08-2024 16:34 via msn.com
  After a visitor died of anaphylactic shock from being fed allergens (the servers had been warned) at a Disney World restaurant, Disney attorneys tried to dismiss her widower’s lawsuit because, they argued, he agreed to private arbitration when signing up for Disney+ and again when purchasing theme park tickets. – New York Magazine (MSN)
  
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• Together With Lorenza Mazzetti review – compelling final testament from overlooked director

  21-08-2024 16:13
  
  The Italian director, whose film Together made a key contribution to the Free Cinema movement in the UK, died in 2020 but this interview is a fitting tributeLorenza Mazzetti was the Italian artist, writer and film-maker whose short film Together made a key contribution to the influential mid-1950s Free Cinema movement in the UK; she died in 2020 having returned to Italy and spent her subsequent career writing novels and memoirs, and running a puppet theatre in Rome. While her film output was und
  
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• Battle Of The Theme-Park Titans

  21-08-2024 16:02 via thewrap.com
  
  Disney and Universal are engaging in one-upmanship as their theme parks bring in more revenue than their sputtering entertainment divisions. (This is despite the fact that visitor numbers have started to fall.) Yet the studios’ rivalry in the live-attractions business goes back decades. – TheWrap
  
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• The Black Women That Big Publishers Hired As Senior Executives In 2020 Are Now Mostly Gone

  21-08-2024 15:35 via nytimes.com
  
  “In response (to the Black Lives Matter demonstrations), major publishers recruited and promoted Black editors and launched new imprints devoted to books by nonwhite authors. Publishing companies said they would diversify their work force. … Four years later, there is a growing sense that the momentum has stalled.” – The New York Times
  
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• Warner Bros. Discovery Promises Massive Investment In Nevada If Nevada Gives It Massive Tax Break

  21-08-2024 15:01 via thenevadaindependent.com
  
  “Warner Bros. Studios COO Simon Robinson on Tuesday promised that the company would commit to a minimum of $500 million in annual content spending during the next 17 years — the length of time proposed by one of the legislative efforts to expand the state’s tax credit — totaling $8.5 billion.” – The Nevada Independent
  
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• Condé Nast Joins The Flock Of Publishers Signing Contracts With OpenAI

  21-08-2024 14:36 via variety.com
  
  “(The agreement is) to license content from brands including The New Yorker, Condé Nast Traveler, GQ, Vanity Fair, Wired and Vogue for use within the AI company’s products, including ChatGPT and the SearchGPT prototype.” – Variety
  
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• Attendance At The Louvre Sank During The Paris Olympics

  21-08-2024 14:00 via artnews.com
  
  During the Games themselves (July 27-August 11), visitor numbers fell by 22% from the previous year. In the 11 days leading up to the event, admissions were down 45% from the same time in 2023 — not least because the museum was entirely closed July 25-26 as a security measure. – ARTnews
  
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• ‘A war of who gets to write history’: the artists resisting in Ukraine

  21-08-2024 09:17
  
  Film-maker David Gutnik lasers in on the artists pushing back against Russian aggression for an inspiring yet harrowing new documentaryKyiv was supposed to fall in three days. That’s what talking heads and pundits in media were saying, rather dismissively, before the February 2022 Russian invasion on Ukraine. They suggested the fight would be swift and decisive but instead the Ukrainian resistance persisted. Never mind, three days. The war is now pushing towards three years.“What is
  
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• Streaming Service Aims To Expand Live Theatre Audience

  21-08-2024 00:01 via americantheatre.org
  
  “We’re expanding the size of the theatre; we’re not creating a competitive product.” Now, with unions across the field adopting streaming provisions, the second-best seat in the house might be at home. – American Theatre
  
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