“If it isn’t the same ship—if restoration has crossed into replication—which piece of timber was decisive? And where does the identity of an art work reside if it will be fully realized only in the future, plank by printed plank?”
Tag: 01.11.15
Dangerous Art? (Here’s Where It Gets Tricky)
“It speaks well of our own relatively flexible system that it can accommodate criticism and dissent without lopping anyone’s hands off. But this is also a backhanded testament to our society’s successful denaturing of satire, and the impotence of art in our own culture.”
Myth Of Meritocracy – How America’s Colleges Get It Wrong In Choosing Their Students
“How then did we get to a place where American higher education appears more concerned with applicants’ test scores and alumni financial contributions than with the education of current students and the contributions of alumni to our society as a whole? A review of America’s curious history of—and relationship with—an obsessive culture of testing may help answer these questions.”
National Symphony Plays A Packed D.C. Club – And Totally Rocks The Joint
Anne Midgette: “One of the NSO’s signal achievements with this evening was to integrate other kinds of area music without pandering or watering down. … It’s one of the best efforts I’ve seen from an orchestra at this kind of thing.”
Sir Neville Marriner, Still Conducting At 90
The birthday year of the founder of the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra “has been a big deal in the world of classical music, where the conductor is widely regarded as one of the most prolific, rigorous and amiable musicians of his time.” (By the way, he says audiences are “much more sophisticated nowadays.”)
Comedian And Playwright Taylor Negron Dead At 57
“[He] started doing local stand-up gigs when he was still in high school. As his reputation grew, so did the variety of his roles: Negron played comic and serious characters on TV shows including Hill Street Blues, Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. He was a familiar face in film comedies such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Easy Money.”
You Know About Indian Classical Dance – How About Sri Lankan?
The Kandyan and Ruhunu forms of the genre do have similarities with India’s Bharata Natyam: “The body is held squarely upright in a vertical axis, holding a tight bend in the lifted elbows and knees, the foundation for intricate footwork patterns and expressive, flowering hand gestures. Repetition and sharpness of movement is a central feature of this ritualistic style.” (includes video)
Leo Tolstoy’s Diary Obsession
From his student days, the Count tried to use what we now call journaling as a tool for everything from self-improvement to capturing the nature of time, memory, and the innermost self. (It didn’t really work, alas.)
Filming Hong Kong – And Expected Your Movies To Be Banned In China
Cinematographer Chris Doyle: “We want some ongoing relationship with this generation, which is more or less frustrated, if not dissatisfied, with the financial and socioeconomic, and in the background, the political journey of this period of time. … We have certain talents, we have a certain idealism, we have a certain voice, and we’d better speak up for ourselves.”
Art Collectors Who Open Private Museums Can Take Massive Tax Write-Offs
“While these jewel-box museums can house extraordinary work and offer a small group of art lovers an unusual viewing experience, critics wonder whether taxpayers are helping subsidize wealthy collectors’ multimillion-dollar purchases with little public benefit in return.”