“It became clear they were doing an exhibition on Surrealism…,” writes Eric Idle in his book. “Pretentious nonsense. We’re nothing to do with Dalí or Duchamp… Python has always been about comedy. That is the art.” – The Art Newspaper
Tag: 02.11.19
The Tart, Testy ‘Vinegar Valentines’ Of The 19th Century
In the Victorian Era, if you wanted to break up with someone around Valentine’s Day, or if you simply wanted to let that special someone know how much you detest them, there were cards available at the stationer’s to suit your purpose. – Atlas Obscura
Why Was Zhang Yimou’s Latest Film Pulled From The Berlin Film Festival?
“The phrase ‘technical reasons’ is both a euphemism and a reality for Chinese filmmakers, none of whom can ever be said to have completed their movie until regulators sign off on every detail. … In the case of One Second, it is possible that the subject matter, rooted in Mao Zedong’s 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, was the problem.” – Variety
Why We Keep Falling For Lying Memoirs
“While [Dan] Mallory’s story seems remarkable — a con man using a sob story to sashay his way to literary power — it’s actually extremely common. … The reason these frauds happen is because of the publishing industry’s and the audience’s hunger for authentic voices, particularly voices of suffering. Apologies to Barthes, but the author didn’t die; she became the text.” – The Outline
How Did The Shed Raise Nearly Half A Billion Dollars For A Building That Has Never Been Done Before?
The takeaway? Raising money in an arts philanthropy climate focused on issues like equity and access is not a zero-sum game. You can build a modern and expensive new building and roll out programming aligned with the pressing issues of the day. – Inside Philanthropy
What Language Do They Speak In The Balkans? The Birth, Life, And Death Of Serbo-Croatian
“Imagine a situation in which an American defendant hires a British lawyer for a trial in an American courtroom. The accused then demands that a British interpreter be found. British-American legal interpreters are hard to find, so the demand could delay the case for years, … despite the fact that, obviously, a British lawyer is perfectly capable of being understood in an American courtroom. This actually happens on a regular basis in the countries that once made up Yugoslavia.” – Atlas Obscura
The Waltons Aren’t The Only Big Arts Philanthropists In Arkansas
“Consider recent gifts from the Little Rock-based Windgate Foundation. Roughly two years after committing $40 million to the University of Arkansas to create the Windgate Art and Design District in Fayetteville, the foundation announced a $20 million gift to the University of Central Arkansas … [to]support the Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts.” – Inside Philanthropy
Strike Is Over At Vancouver Art Gallery
“On Monday evening, the union CUPE Local 15 said it had reached an agreement with the museum in its ongoing negotiations over elements of a prior contract, which representatives said expired in June 2017.” – ARTnews
How The Red Carpet Became Such A Thing
Although the red carpet has been a part of Hollywood premières since the silent era and a part of the Academy Awards since the early sixties, it became a beast unto itself in large part because of Joan Rivers, who began hosting her barbed red-carpet specials in the nineties, with her daughter, Melissa. The “Joan Rivers effect” made the whole enterprise funnier and—for the starlets on display—scarier. Soon the red carpet became its own cottage industry, with the E! network employing such dubious innovations as the “Glam Cam 360” and picking outfits apart on “Fashion Police.” – The New Yorker
That Old Saw ‘Eskimos Have 50 Words For Snow’? Every Word Of It Is Wrong
Aaron Bady goes through they saying itself and its history to explain why. (For one thing, in Inuit languages, “they can have as many words as they want for almost anything.”) In fact, “what’s been the most interesting discovery is that all the wrong answers are at least as interesting and useful as the so-called right ones.” – Popula