“There was something that kind of irked me about the title,” says Jane Schmidt, librarian at Ryerson University in Toronto. “As a librarian, my gut reaction to that was, ‘You know what else is a free library? A regular library.’”
Tag: 05.03.17
What Happens When Computers Get “Better” At Great Art Than Artists?
“If art is defined by human emotions, what might happen once external algorithms are able to understand and manipulate human emotions better than Shakespeare, Picasso or Lennon? After all, emotions are not some mystical phenomenon — they are a biochemical process. Hence, given enough biometric data and enough computing power, it might be possible to hack love, hate, boredom and joy.”
Kyle Abraham, MacArthur Genius Choreographer, On The Problem With Getting A MacArthur Fellowship
“Receiving it [in 2013] at the age I received it – I definitely felt that I didn’t deserve it. And that became a distraction from the work – I was thinking about so many of my mentors and idols who don’t have that award and asking, ‘Why do I have this and they didn’t have it?’ I allowed that to play a part in the work I was trying to make. And that’s tricky.”
Stanford Live Director: How Audiences Are Changing
“I think we’re hitting a point, particularly with the younger generations, where they feel the need to reclaim a level of informality. Of course, that means going through an interesting transition period, because there are still those brought up in the old ritualized style now clashing with those who want a very different experience.”
New Nonprofit That Owns Philadelphia Inquirer Has More Than Doubled Its Endowment – And Is On Track To Quadruple It
“The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, launched in January 2016 with an endowment of $20 million from philanthropist Gerry Lenfest, announced today it has raised $26.5 million in additional gifts from a variety of sources. Impressed by the response, Lenfest says he’s ponying up another $40 million, an amount that will have to be matched.”
Street Artist Dies After Falling Through Roof While Working On New Piece
“Jordan (Tead) Vaughn, 34, made a reputation for himself in Detroit’s street art scene over the past 20 years. The Trenton-reared artist was known for being able to seamlessly blend various styles to create an approach that was pulled from the early days of graffiti yet uniquely his own.”
Nostalgia Is Big Right Now. This Is A Problem
What does it mean when a culture expresses its aspirations and ideals through a longing for a lost past, the past even of another country? Of course, every society has some version of its own past, and many of these are idealized pictures. Fantasizing about a simpler, happier world is a common enough reaction to rapid social change.
UK Report: Asian Audiences Turning Away From The Arts
According to the findings, only 59% of people with an Asian background said they had engaged in the arts in the last year compared to 78% from the white and 70% from the black ethnic groups. Over the past 10 years, there has also been a “significant” decline – of seven percentage points – of the proportion of Asian people engaging in the arts.
Early Warning: TV Stocks In Broad Decline – Is What Happened To Newspapers Starting To Happen To TV?
“It wasn’t clear what was fueling the selling. Some tied the declines to the launch of Hulu’s live package, which could put pressure on ratings and traditional pay-TV subscription. Another negative was Time Warner reporting that its Turner unit’s ad sales fell 2%, possibly signaling a weak ad market and a slower than expected upfront. Last week, Comcast’s NBCUniversal said ad sales at its cable networks were also down in the first quarter.”
Modigliani Is More Popular Than Ever. Cue The Thriving Market For Fakes
“There have been lawsuits, charges of slander, death threats, hoaxes, and thefts. A Modigliani specialist has been convicted of falsely attributing works to Modigliani. A skyrocketing market for works by the artist has been plagued by fakes in Russia, Serbia, and Italy (where Modigliani was born). Perhaps appropriately for one of the world’s most faked artists, there have even been fake fakes. Experts, meanwhile, are jockeying to be recognized as the ultimate authority on what should and should not be accepted as authentic.”