Tag: 02.20.20

Study: Arts Sector Digital Efforts Stall In Trying To Attract Audiences

Research from Arts Council England (ACE) and innovation foundation Nesta has revealed “a widening gulf” between large and small organisations’ capacity and capability to adopt – let alone maximise the potential of – digital technologies ranging from cameras and phones to distribution software and digital art. Some organisations may already feel “too far behind the adoption curve” to test new technologies, the authors say. – Arts Professional

UK Venue Demands Theatre Companies Guarantee Their Shows Won’t Offend Patrons Or Face Fine

“The management may demand in respect to its right to object to any song, speech, dialogue, business, costume or gesture that forms part of the production, that may offend the ticket buyer; which the management may represent. If withdrawal or alteration is not so made, the management reserves the right to refund ticket money at its discretion and to deduct the amount refunded from the settlement figure.”

Should LACMA Start A New Building When It’s Already $443 Million In Debt?

According to the museum’s most recent 990 tax forms, filed in 2018, LACMA is carrying $331 million in county bond debt that was used to pay for construction of the Resnick Pavilion, the Broad Contemporary Art Museum, the Pritzker Parking Garage and other projects. In addition to that debt, the museum has $112 million in other liabilities, such as accounts payable and accrued expenses. This brings LACMA’s total debt to almost $443 million. – Los Angeles Times

Inventor Of Computers’ Cut-Copy-And-Paste Functions, Larry Tesler, Dead At 74

A researcher and executive over the years at Xerox, Apple, Yahoo, and Amazon, Tesler had enormous influence over the experience most people have when using a personal computer today: in addition to cut-copy-and-paste, he developed such basics as WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get, meaning what you print out should look like what was on your screen), double-clicking, and how hard you need to press a mouse button. Indeed, he was a pioneer in simply asking regular users, as opposed to programmers, how they wanted their computers to work. – The Washington Post

Major New Alexander Calder Museum Planned For Philadelphia

“A little more than two decades after a Calder museum was first proposed for the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the long-dormant idea has blossomed again, funding has materialized, and backers say that, by spring 2021, construction should get underway between 21st and 22nd Streets across from the Barnes Foundation and the Rodin Museum.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer

Nearly 100 Luminaries Sign Letter Threatening Boycott Over Ballet Director’s Firing — But Some Of Them Say They Never Agreed To Sign

The open letter, published in the French newspaper Libération and originated by choreographer Maguy Marin and theatre director Ariane Mnouchkine, threatens to withhold rights to all signatories’ work from the Lyon Opera Ballet unless it reinstates ousted director Yorgos Loukos. But several individuals whose names are on the letter, including choreographers William Forsythe and Benjamin Millepied and former Paris Opera Ballet director Brigitte Lefèvre, say they did not agree to sign it. (This, by the way, is the second scandal Libération has been involved with this month.) – The New York Times

The Whitney Houston Hologram In Concert Is… Kinda Creepy

The result, at least in what producers were careful to call a dress rehearsal, is intermittently convincing. The hologram gets some of Houston’s physical tics right, and the lip-syncing — if that’s the right word for it — looks pretty real; detailed visual touches like that rippling fringe aid in the suspension of your disbelief. It certainly helps too that the live band cooks. But… – Los Angeles Times

LAMA’s Plan To Remake Its Museum Home Starts With A False Premise?

Zumthor’s single, integrated composition (now tan instead of black!), raised high above the grime of the city, is just a building. The strength of LACMA as it stands now is its complexity; it’s more like a city, and a vibrantly messy one at that. It’s connected to the street, the neighborhood and its varied parts, encouraging movement between structures, levels and plazas, whether you’re in the museum or not. It’s one of the few major destinations in L.A. that feels like a true urban environment, not a newly manufactured one. – Los Angeles Times