“If I’m worried about anything about the future of the arts in this country, it’s the future of the arts in London. Because I think London is becoming unsustainable as a city for artistic creativity, because it’s so expensive. The amount of young directors, writers, actors I know who are moving to Cardiff, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester… I think London could become like Manhattan: a very beautiful, empty place.”
Tag: 02.05.14
We’ve Replaced One Myth Of An Artist For Another
“We’ve done away with the ridiculous Outsider Saint. But we’ve replaced him with a Servant whose primary task is to make us feel good about ourselves, either through the work itself, or through the way the work (or the artist’s personal life) allows us to grandstand.”
The Long Strange Story Of Chopin’s Heart
“Chopin’s heart remains an object of fascination and dispute. In 2008, a team of scholars asked for permission to subject it to a DNA analysis, in order to test a theory that Chopin died not of tuberculosis, as was long believed, but of cystic fibrosis.”
Yuja Wang (The Hemline Pianist, Remember?) Will Wear Long Dresses When She’s Ready, Thank You
“I am 26 years old so I dress for 26. I can dress in long skirts when I am 40. Anyway I have many different styles, I don’t only wear short. I don’t understand why I have to explain this,”
A History of Violins (Stolen Ones)
Every year or so a stolen or lost Strad or Guarneri makes headlines. Former FBI special agent Robert K. Wittman gives a brief history of purloined fiddles and talks about how law enforcement goes about locating them. (audio)
What’s To Be Learned From The Minnesota Orchestra Lockout?
“The real story of the lockout, and a lesson for other orchestras, is how the musicians in Minneapolis bonded and never broke, how they supported each other with cash and connections, with grocery cards, time shares, babysitting, and just time on the phone late at night, and all the while they kept playing, and became more united each week, even as babies were born and loved ones died, even as one member was diagnosed with breast cancer.”
The Key To Popular Books (At Least One Theory, Anyway)
“There are people with bullhorns and there are ecosystems of people with bullhorns. There are institutions and networks, formal and otherwise, in which we all live and dream, tell stories and finger our worry beads. The ecosystems in which books are developed, written, published, publicized, and enjoyed are no different.”
A Gizmo That Helps You Feel The E-book You’re Reading (Literally Speaking)
“Changes in the protagonist’s emotional or physical state [trigger] discrete feedback in the wearable, whether by changing the heartbeat rate, creating constriction through air pressure bags, or causing localized temperature fluctuations,” the designers explain.
Want To Innovate? Churn Is The Key
“Churn, not density, between places also spurs innovation. No sidewalk ballet required. Conversely: If no one left your super-dense city and no one moved in, innovation would suffer. Migration is economic development. Encouraging a local graduate to stay makes everyone poorer. Walkability and density are of little consequence.”
We’re Getting Obsessed With Data About Ourselves. Will All This Measuring Make It Harder To Just Live?
“All this data is meant to spur us to love ourselves better and run our lives more efficiently. And yet it’s hard not to hear, lurking in this promise of self-possession, the threat of numbers dispossessing us, of becoming a feverish addiction we can’t kick. Can even the most adept multi-tasker really live the life that they’re simultaneously tracking?”