It’s a question worth asking. To imagine a better version of our mediated world, we need to acknowledge these alternatives and to embrace their multiplicity—and often to retrace our steps to roads not taken in the past. – Public Books
Tag: 02.25.19
Setting ‘Taming Of The Shrew’ In A Matriarchal Society
Now there‘s a way to deal with the play’s violence-against-women problem, and two current productions are trying it: one at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff and the other at the RSC in Stratford. Reporter Natasha Tripney talks with the directors and actors involved. – The Guardian
Should Scientists “Own” Laws Of Nature They Discover?
It was 1923, and Francesco Ruffini was going to rescue science. The Italian senator’s plan was simple: Give scientists an ownership stake in their discoveries—a sort of patent on the laws of nature they discovered. The idea has re-emerged in the US Senate. – Slate
Artist Zehra Doğan Freed After More Than Two Years In Turkish Prison
The Turkish-Kurdish painter and journalist was jailed for a watercolor she made depicting a Kurdish town destroyed by the Turkish military. The charge: “spreading terrorist propaganda.” (The painting was made from an official military photograph.) Her cause was taken up by artists in the West, with Banksy putting up a mural in New York counting the days she was imprisoned. – Hyperallergic
Probability Theory Ain’t So Simple
We can’t resolve disagreements about how much the information we possess supports a hypothesis just by gathering more information. Instead, we can make progress only by way of philosophical reflection on the space of possibilities, the information we have, and how strongly it supports some possibilities over others. – Aeon
How AI Is Evolving As An Artist
“We have two streams of data: inspiration and aesthetics. The machine explores the space in between them. We’re giving artists more control of the process and pulling back on the autonomy.” The result is an assemblage of fairly trippy prints. Some show a face that’s blurred or swirling. Others look vaguely skeleton-like and macabre. – Fast Company
When Fan Culture, Troll Culture, Believe They Know Better Than Artists (And Want To Change Art)
Online communities build campaigns around “correcting” what they see as artistic errors. “A depressingly large number of these campaigns are defined by grievances against women and minorities, and by fury at Hollywood for attempting to make long-standing franchises sustainable by amplifying their inclusiveness.” – The Daily Beast
A First Report On The Acoustics Of Philadelphia’s Newest Concert Hall
Peter Dobrin on the 270-seat hall in the Rhoden Arts Center at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts: “New halls take a while to settle in, and this one, which employs an extensive sound system of speakers both on stage and overhead, seems more complicated than most. On first hearing, though, it sounded awfully dry.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
France Drops One Rape Charge Against Director Luc Besson But Starts Another
“Prosecutors dropped the rape investigation into allegations by the actor Sand Van Roy who told police in May that she had been repeatedly raped by Besson, 59, during an on-off relationship. … But the Paris prosecutor’s office said a new preliminary investigation was launched on 21 February after a different, unnamed woman reported an allegation of sexual assault.” – The Guardian (AFP)
Climate Gentrification Is Already Happening
Welcome to the age of “climate gentrification,” when the effects of climate change cause residents in one area to relocate to another area that is not experiencing those problems, which drives up property prices. – The Daily Beast