“Nearly 30 years later, in response to the Paris massacre, the Associated Press removed an image of Piss Christ from its editorial archives. We’ve seen the same impulse for self-censorship in the West before, as we see it in the refusal of many media outlets to publish the Charlie Hebdo cartoons at the heart of this recent tragedy. Given the seriousness of the violence, such self-censorship is understandable; it’s also a step backward at a time when we need to reassert the importance of free expression by artists, activists, journalists and editors alike.”
Tag: 01.30.15
Cult Fame And Its Discontents: Alex Ross On Henryk Górecki
“No classical composer in recent memory, not even the inescapable Philip Glass, has had a commercial success to rival that of the late Polish master,” whose Third Symphony, in a 1992 recording on the Nonesuch label, sold more than a million copies and has been sampled numerous times in pop songs and film scores. “Yet he was skeptical of the frame in which his work was being received. His friends and associates report that he disliked modern pop culture, and, to a great extent, modernity itself.”
Vietnam’s Biggest Hit Film Stars A Transgender Character, And The Country’s LGBT Groups Are Not Happy
“An unconventional romantic-comedy sequel has made Vietnamese history by smashing the country’s box office record within days of its release. … Some have seen the film’s triumph as further sign that Vietnam is finally opening up – its release coincided with the news that Vietnam has lifted its ban on same-sex weddings – but not everyone is convinced that it equals progress.”
China Is Isolating Itself From The Wider World Through Internet Firewalls
“To mention one of countless implications: how many first-rate international scientists will want to move to Chinese universities, if the Internet ‘simply does not work’ there?”
If The U.S. Constitution Isn’t A Sacred Document, What Is It?
“Sealed in moisture-controlled, bullet-proof glass containers that are on display in a special rotunda at the National Archives Museum in Washington DC by day and lowered into a multi-ton bomb-proof vault by night, the Constitution is to the US what the Bible was to medieval Europe or the Qur’an to today’s Islamic State, albeit with certain differences.”
When People Say ‘Think Of The Children,’ They’re Not Being (Purposefully) Manipulative
“The notion of ‘harmless wrongs’ or ‘victimless crimes’ is more complicated that you might think. Although logically possible, victimless crimes are psychologically rare. Perceptually speaking, if you see something as wrong, you almost certainly see it as harmful. The absence of victims occurs only in the absence of immorality.”
When The Time Comes To Combine Your Libraries
“In some way that wasn’t apparent to me before they sat on the side table, waiting to be sorted, I could see these were the books that had kept him company in those years before he knew me, the books that had helped him turn into him. This hadn’t quite been apparent to me before I took them down to move them.”
So, How Do We Fix Ballet’s Diversity Problem?
“Every dancer has her head positioned at the same angle, all in perfect rows, symmetrical, identical. Some productions include uniform wigs for all of their dancers. This aesthetic can still be seen on full display with the Russian companies today, and is one of their signature artistic strengths. Is racism therefore subconsciously built into the very structure of classical ballet?”
Conductor Dies After Heart Attack Onstage
“The 59-year-old was conducting at a concert given by a Swiss youth orchestra in Lucerne, when he fell dramatically to the ground. An audience member rushed to his aid, but the musician died in an ambulance on the way to hospital.”
Constable Painting Bought For $5,300 Sells For $5.2 Million
“The award for the most compelling market tale undoubtedly goes to the third highest-selling painting, a rediscovered John Constable landscape, Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows (1831), that sold for $5.2 million, far exceeding its $3 million high estimate. The consignor had acquired the work at Christie’s London in July 2013, and paid a mere $5,300 for it.”