Today, the worries of 2008 look almost endearingly naive: Forget about the web making us dumber; let’s talk about how it has transformed us into tribalized rage monsters. – Slate
Tag: 02.28.19
There Are A Surprising Number Of Copies In Museums. Are Those Museums Being Honest About What They’re Showing?
The role of copies still raises larger questions about the mission of museums and the nature of authenticity. Does it matter if the works of art or historical objects on display are copies? Does it render the experience of visitors less meaningful? And are the institutions that don’t clearly identify the copies in some way shirking their responsibility to the public? – Washington Post
The World’s Greatest Art Thief (And How He Does It)
When it comes to stealing from museums, Stéphane Breitwieser is virtually peerless. He is one of the most prolific and successful art thieves who have ever lived. Done right, his technique—daytime, no violence, performed like a magic trick, sometimes with guards in the room—never involves a dash to a getaway car. – GQ
Study: Here’s How Dr. Seuss Books Are Racist
“[This study reveals] how racism spans across the entire Seuss collection, while debunking myths about how books like Horton Hears a Who! and The Sneetches can be used to promote tolerance, anti-bias, or anti-racism,” Katie Ishizuka and Ramón Stephens write in their February 2019 report, “The Cat is Out of the Bag: Orientalism, AntiBlackness, and White Supremacy in Dr. Seuss’ s Children’s Books,” as part of St. Catherine University’s Research on Diversity in Youth Literature. – People
Early Hollywood’s Morality Code Was Silly, Self-Righteous And Obsessive. But It Provoked Some Genius Work
It is usually believed that the anti-sex, anti-violence Code was harmful to art, intellectually unsophisticated, imposed from above and un-American in its disregard for First Amendment Rights. This is far from the full picture. Often the Code encouraged greatness, was intellectually nuanced, self-regulated and conformed to American values of Judeo-Christian ethics and free enterprise. For good and bad, it was as American as apple pie. – History Today
Dance Companies Have Started Sharing Programs, Commissions, And Sometimes Even Dancers
“In what seems to be a growing trend, regional companies are coming together to share stages and expand their audiences. These team-ups often go beyond split bills, with companies swapping choreographers and performing at least one joint work. While the logistics of co-presentations can be complicated — with more dancers to schedule, budgets to balance and creative visions to blend — the benefits can range from bigger box-office returns to lasting relationships for the artists.” – Dance Magazine
Marvel Finally Gets A Woman-Led Superhero Movie
What took so long, and is Captain Marvel going to help fix the problem? Maybe. It certainly helps a bit: Captain Marvel stars a woman, of course, but it’s “also the first Marvel movie to have a female director and only the second, after 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, to credit women as screenwriters.” – The New York Times
Caravaggio Or Not, The Painting Discovered In An Attic Is Going Up For Sale – But Who Would Buy It?
So the Louvre decided not to buy the canvas, found in an attic in Toulouse in 2014, despite the fact that art experts have made a pretty convincing case. – The Guardian (UK)
How Netflix Uses Social Media To Get Its Shows To The Center Of Popular Culture
The company uses its social and brand editorial department as the engine that keeps Netflix shows and movies at the forefront of the pop-culture conversation. By imbuing its social platforms with the personality of a meme-happy fan who lives for TV and movies (rather than being stunt-driven, deadpan, or, worse, mocking the very audience it seeks), Netflix’s approach goes beyond mere promotion and jumps armpit-deep into participation and collaboration. – Fast Company
Andrew Wyeth’s Secret Paintings That Made A Woman Famous
“Over the course of more than 15 years, Andrew Wyeth created 250 secret paintings. He hid them from everyone—including his wife, who was also his business manager—in the loft of a millhouse near his home in rural Pennsylvania. When they were discovered, in 1986, they generated a media frenzy that extended well beyond the art world. The Helga paintings, as they came to be called, all depicted a single subject: Helga Testorf.” – The Atlantic