Anthropologists have long theorized that humans developed “moralistic high-gods” as a way of promoting shared norms and prosocial behaviors. What is religion, after all, but a patchwork quilt of stories reminding humans how to behave—and, more importantly, how not to behave? But religion is thought to have emerged only with the advent of agriculture and large-scale, politically complex human settlements.
Tag: 01.29.18
Trump Supporters Flood Social Media With Bad Reviews Of Guggenheim Museum
An army of amateur art critics soon flooded social media, from Facebook to Yelp, with their grievances. One particularly pissed off Yelper gave the museum a one-star review, the same paltry rating he bestowed upon a Connecticut Cheesecake Factory and the Art Lounge at Newark airport, commenting, “This POS institution thinks its funny to offer our president a toilet. GFY Guggenheim.”
Culture Is Being Priced Out Of Our Cities. What To Do?
As cities lose their creative communities and the spaces they operate from, they become at risk of becoming what Mark Auge referred to as “non-places”—homogenized cities in which aesthetic diversity and local authenticity is diminished. This impacts cities’ vibrancy and distinctiveness, economic dynamism and capacity for innovation. These cities face a dilemma: How can they continue to attract new residents and investment while preserving the cultural and creative milieu that made them desirable in the first place?
Jeff Koons Defends Giant Tulip Work That Sparked Protest In Paris
The work is not imagined as a memorial but as a message of hope to deliver to the present and future generations: “Created as a symbol of remembrance, optimism and healing, Bouquet of Tulips symbolizes the act of offering, represented by the outstretched hand holding the brightly colored flowers.” The artist rather wished to express the painful context of the attacks into a symbolic work, both in its iconography and in its aesthetic experience.”
Remember When The iPad Was Going To Transform Publishing?
“I’m not saying News Corp. or Conde Nast, publisher of Vogue and GQ, would have been worth as much as Google if they hadn’t bought into the iPad hype. But they did lose precious time and money following Apple down the iPad rabbit hole when they could have focused on Facebook, internet video, smartphone apps, mobile websites, their own subscription products or other promising areas. Newspaper and magazine publishers no longer treat the iPad as a priority, if they devote resources to it at all.”
Ferry McFerryface? Social Media Naming Vote Goes Wrong (But Not The Way You Think)
When the name was announced back in November, Transport Minister Constance tweeted as though his hands were tied and there was nothing he could do. He said that while Ferry McFerryfacce wasn’t “everyone’s cup of tea,” the “people voted for it.” It turns out that was a lie.
Coco Schumann, Jazz Guitarist Who Survived The Holocaust, Dead At 93
“[He] performed alongside Ella Fitzgerald and Marlene Dietrich during a decades-long musical career, but who gave his most consequential performances as an inmate of the Nazi concentration camps where, he said, music saved his life.”
Sundance 2018: Gay Conversion Therapy Drama Wins Grand Jury Prize
“Directed by Desiree Akhavan and starring Chloë Grace Moretz, the adaptation of Emily M Danforth’s 2012 novel [The Miseducation of Cameron Post] secured admiring reviews … for its compassionate study of Christian teenagers struggling with religious disapproval and the injunction to ‘pray away the gay’.”
Marin Alsop Named Artistic Director Of Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra
“‘I’m very honoured to be the first [woman in the post],’ she admitted, ‘but I’m also rather shocked that we can be in this year, in this century, and there can still be ‘firsts’ for women.'”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 01.29.18
See It Now–Michel Sittow, Extraordinary Painter
Hats off to Estonia, which in celebrating the 100th anniversary of its proclamation as an independent republic in 1918, following the dissolution of the Russian Empire, decided to honor its genius painter – Michel Sittow (c. 1469-1525) – with … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2018-01-29
A Japanese Company Brings a Forest to New York
Kei Takei’s Moving Earth Orient Sphere performs at New York Live Arts, January 25-27. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2018-01-28
Monday Recommendation: Crispell, MacDonald, Tremblay
Marilyn Crispell, Raymond MacDonald, Pierre Alexandre Tremblay: Two Duos, Three Trios (Bruce’s Fingers) … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2018-01-29
Jazz Congress, Winter JazzFest, shape of jazz to come
The Congress’s sessions included JALC managing and artistic director Wynton Marsalis speaking on race and jazz, women in jazz announcing “yes, we’re here,” and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar keynoting about his love of the music. … read more
AJBlog: Jazz Beyond Jazz Published 2018-01-28