“Do we have to do all of those things to be considered an arts journalist? Old-fashoned newspaper journalists have fought a rearguard action for more than a decade, except now they (we!) are surrounded, overwhelmed and increasingly angry about it.”
Tag: 01.09.14
Bad News For Barnes & Noble’s Nook
Seriously bad news: The Nook division over the holidays saw “a 60.5 percent drop compared with the nine-week holiday period a year earlier. Barnes & Noble executives said their total share of the e-book market had fallen to 20 percent.”
The Demographic That’s Leaving Facebook
“A number of studies have found people feel worse after scrolling Facebook – more envious, lonely, even angry. In one German study, people were particularly unhappy after viewing vacation photos. They were also more envious when browsing Facebook instead of actively using it by posting comments and photos of themselves.”
Disgraced Theatre Impresario Garth Drabinsky Loses Appeal To Get His Canadian Honor Back
Drabinsky had been stripped of his Order of Canada medal. A federal court judge found “no basis” for allowing Drabinsky a judicial review to look into the governor general’s 2012 decision to rescind the medal.
National Book Festival (In Washington DC) Kicked Off National Mall. Why? It’s Too Popular
“The Library of Congress staff tried to figure out some way to address the Park Service’s concerns, but ultimately, no feasible compromise was reached. More than 200,000 people attended last year’s two-day literary event.”
12 Trends In 2014 American Museums
From global expansion to artist collaboration to increased curiosity about Central and South America, the American museum world is opening up.
California Governor Proposes $8000 (Yes Thousand!) Cut In State Arts Funding
Governor Jerry Brown’s budget plan calls for “an overall 8.5% spending increase, including major boosts to education, but envisions a $9,000 cut for the state’s arts-grant agency, the California Arts Council — from a projected $5.058 million in the current fiscal year to $5.049 million in the 2014-15 budget year that begins July 1.”
Is It Right To Destroy An Architectural Icon (Even If Flawed) To House More Art?
Tearing down New York’s Folk Art Museum: “Mine is not necessarily a view that everyone can accept: to many observers, the Folk Art building seems, like all too many museums these days, to be a grand-scale sculpture that fails to showcase the art it was built to house. But if that is MoMA’s opinion, then it should say so, which could help stimulate a worthwhile public discussion on the aesthetic of architecture.”
Justin Davidson: MoMA Expansion Is A Tough Compromise
“The architects who are designing this destructive expansion — Diller Scofidio + Renfro — understand perfectly what they’re doing, and it causes them genuine grief.”
Jerry Saltz: MoMA’s New Expansion Design Is Madness!
“Somewhere inside me, I heard myself saying my good-byes to MoMA. I thought, I have seen the best modern museum of my generation destroyed by madness.”