One of the prototypes, called Project Scene Stitch, illustrates how an algorithm could be used to replace ugly buildings in the foreground of a photo—a user would enter some key words, and the algorithm would find another image that would fit naturally into the space the user wanted to fill.
Tag: 03.27.18
Merchant And Ivory Weren’t Just A Filmmaking Team; They Were A Couple For 40 Years. James Ivory Explains Why They Kept That Secret
Reporter Ryan Gibney: “Even with the release in 1987 of Maurice, they batted away any prying questions about their private lives. When I ask Ivory why this was, he comes as close to calling me a blasted fool as someone so urbane can. ‘Well, you just wouldn’t,’ he splutters.” (includes grousing about the lack of nudity in Call Me by Your Name)
Louvre Turns Down Culture Minister’s Suggestion For A Mona Lisa “Grand Tour”
Françoise Nyssen, France’s culture minister, made headlines when she suggested that the Louvre might send its best-known painting, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, on a “grand tour”. The museum, however, has politely rebuffed the proposal.
El Sistema Faces Tough Times In Venezuela Following Founder’s Death
“Executive director Eduardo Mendez said the program must overcome a crippling economic crisis that has forced hundreds of musicians to leave the country and move on from the loss of José Antonio Abreu, who created the orchestra network known as El Sistema. … He said 8 percent of the program’s teachers have recently left the country to seek a better life abroad. The network’s marquee Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra has lost 42 percent of its musicians over the past six months, though most of the vacancies have been filled with younger musicians.”
Jacqueline Woodson Wins World’s Largest Children’s Book Prize ($600K)
The American author is this year’s winner of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, funded by the Swedish government in honor of the author of the Pippi Longstocking books. “Woodson made her children’s debut in 1990 with Last Summer with Maizon, first in a trilogy exploring the friendship of two girls. Her 2014 memoir-in-verse, Brown Girl Dreaming, received the National Book Award.”
How Exactly Does Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Make The No-Conductor Thing Work?
Reporter Mark MacNamara talks to members past and present about how the collective’s members make musical decisions, how they give each other feedback, what kind of person makes a good Orpheus member (meek and deferential won’t cut it), and whether the Orpheus model cam work elsewhere.
Canceled Deals And Pulped Books, Unintended Casualties Of Publishing’s #MeToo Moment
“The list of prominent authors mired in harassment scandals has grown in recent months, and now includes best-selling children’s book authors, prominent political journalists and a National Book Award-winning novelist. As allegations of sexual harassment sweep through the publishing industry – resulting in canceled book deals, boycotts by bookstores and expulsions from writers’ conferences – publishers, agents and editors are grappling with how to tackle the issue … as they cut ties with accused men in hopes of minimizing any collateral damage.”
‘The Diary Of Anne Frank’ With A Multiracial Cast Makes Sense In 2018 America
Russell M. Dembin: “For me it was more than fine: [the] casting elevated the play to another level, embracing the characters’ Jewishness while speaking to a time in which many people, not only American Jews but especially communities of color and other historically marginalized groups, feel less safe and welcome in this country.”
Can Sponsoring Critics Be A Workable Model? This Sponsored Critic Says Yes
Fergus Morgan, whose six-reviews-a-week gig covering London’s Vault Festival was paid for by the local business improvement district: “The standard concern raised is that subsidised criticism jeopardises the integrity of the artist-critic relationship, that a reviewer’s opinion of a production will be skewed if he relies on the show itself for his livelihood. It’s a valid concern, but there are innumerable ways around it.”
No, The Mona Lisa Will Not Be Touring France, Says The Louvre
Earlier this month, French culture minister Françoise Nyssen announced that she would like to see the painting travel to different museums around the country as a way to counter what she called “cultural segregation.” Then Louvre director had to tell her that the Mona Lisa won’t even be going downstairs for next year’s big Leonardo show, let alone out of the building.