America’s (and Twitter’s) favorite dictionary defines dumpster fire as “an utterly calamitous or mismanaged situation or occurrence.” Abby Ohlheiser investigates the history of the term and its spread via (of course) social media and into the mainstream.
Tag: 03.07.18
Project Gutenberg Blocks All Users In Germany
The website, which makes literary works in the public domain available free of charge to users anywhere, was sued by a German publisher for offering books by Thomas Mann, whose works are out of copyright in the U.S. (where Gutenberg is based) but not in Germany. Late last week, a German court ruled in favor of the publisher, and Project Gutenberg made itself unavailable in the the Federal Republic.
How Blockchain Might Radically Change The Art Market
A lot of what makes physical art valuable is its scarcity — there are only so many paintings by Mark Rothko, after all. But digital art has always been different because it can be perfectly copied, ad infinitum. Crypto technology and the blockchain may be able to change all that.
Marina Abramović Is Going To Play Maria Callas In An Opera
“Almost 30 years after she first conceived the idea, Marina Abramović is to finally realise her Seven Deaths project. The Belgrade-born artist has turned the work into an opera, which she will direct herself. The production is due to debut at the Munich Opera House in 2020, with plans for it to tour to Covent Garden in London. The project will see Abramović play her lifelong hero Maria Callas dying in seven operas”
Kalman Aron, Whose Art Helped Him Survive The Holocaust, Dead At 93
Thanks to the skillful portraits and drawings he made for guards, officers, and commandants, he survived seven different concentration camps, and ultimately received a scholarship to study at Vienna’s Academy of Fine Arts – after which he emigrated to Los Angeles and went on to a very successful career as a painter and portraitist.
How Puerto Rico’s Museums Are Recovering From Last Year’s Hurricanes
“Nearly six months after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, museums on the US island are resuming their everyday pace and pushing forward with new initiatives.”
Westerners Revere Originals. In Asia Copies Are Just As Good
The Chinese have two different concepts of a copy. Fangzhipin (仿製品) are imitations where the difference from the original is obvious. These are small models or copies that can be purchased in a museum shop, for example. The second concept for a copy is fuzhipin (複製品). They are exact reproductions of the original, which, for the Chinese, are of equal value to the original. It has absolutely no negative connotations.
Don’t Blame The Movies For Oscars’ Low Ratings
Right-wing culture warriors and the Hollywood old guard like to argue that it’s because liberal Hollywood has lost touch with its audience, but there’s an ugly undertone to leveling that accusation in a year when the academy’s membership, at least in terms of demographics, is more like the country as a whole than ever before. In some ways, the academy’s taste has actually gotten more populist.
Missouri’s Arts Economy Growing Faster Than Any Other State’s
According to numbers released Tuesday by the U.S. Commerce Department, economic activity generated by Missouri’s arts and cultural industries grew 12.6 percent in 2015, which was faster than any other state.
Last Of The Movie Projectionists
As the movie industry has gradually shifted from 35mm to simpler, less finicky, more device-friendly digital film, even moviegoers at places like BAM—who tend to be better versed in the finer points of cinematic geekery—are often unaware or unimpressed to learn that they’re being treated to screenings in older formats.