01.17.16 – ArtsJournal Wayback

Blue Notes: What Makes Music Sad?

Ben Ratliff: “What is sadness in sound per se? Nothing. It doesn’t exist. There is no note or kind of note that in and of itself is sad and only sad. … But the construct of sadness, and the attendant contract that it helps build between musician and listener, has to do with how we might recognize it person-to-person.”

A Meet-And-Greet With The Elusive Banksy! Who Could Resist?

It all started late last year, when a Facebook event surfaced promising that Banksy would show up for a “meet and greet” at the Waldorf Astoria — with the first hundred guests receiving “a free face painting from the scoundrel himself!!”

TV Execs Goad Netflix About Releasing Viewership Numbers (Which Netflix Doesn’t Do)

“If Ted doesn’t give ratings, he shouldn’t then be saying, ‘This is the biggest hit in the history of blah blah blah.’ He shouldn’t say something is successful in quantitative terms unless you’re willing to provide data and a methodology behind those statements. You can’t have it both ways.”

The Big New Philosophy In San Francisco Is – Applied Rationality

“It has generated a rare level of interest among data-driven tech people and entrepreneurs who see personal development as just another optimization problem, if a uniquely central one. Yet, while [the] methods are unusual, its aspirational promise – that a better version of ourselves is within reach – is distinctly familiar.”

No, Akram Khan – We Really Do Need More Female Choreographers

Luke Jennings: “In saying that we should not have more female choreographers ‘for the sake of having more female choreographers’, you are choosing to disregard a gender imbalance so egregious, and of such long standing, that it shames the British dance establishment.”

Novels For, And By, Fangirls – There’s No Shame In That

“Eckstein started her company, Her Universe, in 2009 after searching for a Star Wars T-shirt at a comic book convention. Unable to find anything suited for women, she instead saw an opportunity to target an overlooked consumer. Her company has since expanded from convention and Internet sales to include retail partners like Hot Topic and, starting in March, Kohl’s, which will sell a line of Her Universe active wear. Now, Mrs. Eckstein sees another opportunity, this time as a publisher of sci-fi novels written by women.”

How Do Composers’ Collectives Work?

“Composers’ collectives have always had a certain combative spirit. But it is perhaps a sign of the fuzzy warmth of the current all-embracing new-music scene, where no one style is dominant, that composers seem to band together in order to argue with one another, rather than take up the fight against a perceived status quo.”

Scholastic Halts Distribution Of Book About George Washington’s Slaves

“While defending the team that produced the book, the publisher said that without more historical background, ‘the book may give a false impression of the reality of the lives of slaves and therefore should be withdrawn.'”

This Art School Sold Its Air Rights For Millions, And Some Voting Members Are Furious

“Extell sought the additional air rights to build a cantilevered section of its skyscraper 30 stories above the league’s roof. For a real-estate-rich, cash-poor nonprofit like the league, the sale represented an attractive source of revenue.”

Tag: 01.17.16