05.04.15 – Page 2 – ArtsJournal Wayback

Hollywood’s Native American Problem

“There’s a paucity of roles for Native Americans — according to the Screen Actors Guild in 2008 they accounted for 0.3 percent of all on-screen parts (those figures have yet to be updated), compared to about 2 percent of the general population — and Native American actors are often perceived in a narrow way.”

The New Influencers Hollywood Craves? Bloggers

“Major Hollywood studios such as Disney-owned Marvel are anxious to win over superfans, especially those who help build excitement online among other youngsters ahead of a movie’s debut.”

A Plea: Let’s Get Arts On The Political Agenda For 2016

“I hope we can finally appreciate that this is politics in the real world; that the most important story any interest group can tell (and frankly the one that counts the most) is that they have a large committed base that cares about their issue and votes for those who support them; that the most important numbers and data have to do not with how many jobs we create or how much we contribute to the economy, but with how many votes might be at stake for candidates considering whether or not to align with us, and how much money we might raise for those candidates.”

Academic Conferences Are A Dreadful Bore (So Why Do We Still Do Them?)

“Academic conferences are a habit from the past, embraced by the administrativersity as a way to showcase knowledge and to increase productivity in the form of published conference proceedings. We have been complicit. Until now.”

Has Los Angeles Become America’s Creative Capital? (LAers Are Amused By The Question)

It’s useful to know that both New York City and San Francisco imagine that they’re engaged in rivalries with Los Angeles, whereas an Angeleno asked about either city is most likely to say, “Nice place, I love to visit!”

Bartolomeo Cristofori Invented The Piano. So Why Did Everyone Forget About Him?

“It’s rare that such an old instrument has so clear an inventor and is so obviously a revelation. So why do we have to be reminded of Bartolomeo Cristofori’s name? After all, there must be a reason pianos aren’t called Cristoforis.”

Did Modernism Ever Even Happen In American Art? (Jerry Saltz And His Editor At The New Whitney)

“The real revelation in ‘America Is Hard to See’ comes in the works from before World War II – how not-European, not-modernism modern, not-programmatic, not-pure it looks. … At the same moment in the early 20th century when Europe and Russia, especially, were trying to make art dealing with the modern condition, Americans were actually just being modern, living it.”

‘The Game Done Changed’: Reconsidering ‘The Wire’ Amidst The Baltimore Uprising

“I am now seeing what the The Wire was missing, despite its much lauded, painstaking verisimilitude: the voices of people organizing together for change. Everyone on The Wire seeks individual solutions for social problems: the lone cop, the lone criminal, the lone teacher, the lone newspaper reporter. Yes, it is certainly true that when entrenched bureaucracies battle individuals, individuals lose. But when bureaucracies battle social movements, the results can be quite different.”

The Cat-Painting Renaissance Of The 19th Century

“Bourgeois collectors, interested in enhancing plush domestic interiors, bought the cat canvases. It became a good market for artists, some of whom became well known in the genre.” (slideshow)

Tag: 05.04.15