“The huge growth of the art market at its top end is surely, as Michael Shnayerson suggests, a function of the spiralling number of billionaires and increasing disparities of wealth. He also points out that successful artists are a very select few: the huge majority make at best only a few thousand dollars a year from their art. The question remains: how good is all this extremely expensive stuff?” – Times Literary Supplement
Tag: 03.27.20
A Critic Of Big Tech Starts His Own Project To Sort And Rank Information
Essentially, it’s a site that recommends the very best and most relevant books, podcasts, scientific articles, videos and journalism to anyone who wants a better understanding of the world. But there’s more to The Syllabus. Evgeny Morozov wants to make people think. The Syllabus criticises how information and knowledge are discovered and disseminated online, based as they currently are on clicks, likes and shares. In other words, based on popularity. Morozov is building a system that determines the relevance of information in a new way – a way that might even be better than Google. – The Correspondent
The Role Of Homes In Shaping Writers
The description of a house can vividly reveal the experience of childhood or the story of a relationship: “How a house is lived in can tell you everything you need to know about people, whether it’s the choice of wallpaper, the mess in the kitchen, the silence or shouting over meals, doors left open or closed, a fire burning in the hearth”. – The Guardian
‘We Are All Edward Hopper Paintings Now’
Jonathan Jones: “If [the widely-shared tweet is true], a crisis of loneliness is impending that may be one of the most fraught social consequences of COVID-19. The loss of direct human contact we’re agreeing to may be catastrophic. This, at least, is what Hopper shows us.” – The Guardian
China Orders Reopened Cinemas To Close Again
“Hours after municipal authorities in Shanghai gave more than 200 cinemas the greenlight to re-open Saturday, national-level Chinese authorities on Friday ordered all theaters throughout the country shut again …, without saying exactly why or when they might hope to re-open.” (The general presumption is that the government fears another coronavirus outbreak.) – Variety
Vital Film Hub Shuts Down With Layoffs At Film At Lincoln Center
Film at Lincoln Center announced massive internal upheaval on Friday. A longtime hub of film culture in New York City with an influential reach around the country, the organization furloughed or laid off approximately 50% of the full-time staff as well as all of the part-time staff. – Los Angeles Times
Cal Shakes Cancels Its 2020 Season
AD Eric Ting: “This may seem like an extraordinary decision, but taking into account the incredible uncertainty of this moment, the cost of producing a season at the Bruns, of which ticket sales only account for a third, the current and long-term disruption in fundraising, … we feel this is our best course of action.” No word on whether the four plays will be rescheduled in future seasons. – American Theatre
Zoom Isn’t Sending As Much Of Your Personal Data To Facebook Anymore
Since many of us are having to use Zoom for work and choosing to use it for seeing family and friends, that’s a good change. And we’ll take good news right now, honestly. – Vice
Mark Blum, Actor Of Stage And Screen, Has Died At 69
Blum, a consummate theatre professional who played many roles on stage and screen, including Union Bob on Amazon Prime’s Mozart in the Jungle, has died of complications from the coronavirus. – The New York Times
Unable To Get To Supplies Or Tools, Art Students Demand Partial Refunds
The Yale School of Art, NYU’s Tisch School, and many other art schools are witnessing students demand partial refunds for the rest of the semester since they can’t access anything they need. And at the Rhode Island School of Design, the move to cancel classes came very late. “Some students suspected that by staying open for another week, the university was attempting to circumvent its withdrawals and leave of absences policy, which guarantees a 20% refund of tuition fees for withdrawals during the fifth week of the semester, but not beyond.” – Hyperallergic