“Mortar attacks have become daily occurrence in the Syrian capital of some two million, often killing more people than this attack. But the strike last month against the opera house resonated much more loudly through the Damascus community. It was a direct hit against the Assad family’s cherished creation.”
Tag: 05.06.14
Cornelius Gurlitt, Hoarder Of Nazi-Looted Art, Dead At 81
“Until six months ago, almost no one, even in his native Germany, had heard of Cornelius Gurlitt. Shy and reclusive, he lived alone in an apartment in Munich, anonymous even to the local officials. … His only companions appeared to be more than 1,000 artworks that he kept in his darkened apartment. The remarkable collection, with an estimated value of more than $1 billion, came to light only last year, when it was seized by German authorities.”
‘The American Scholar’ Tries To Crowdsource A Sonnet
In a new project titled “Next Line, Please”, David Lehman is asking readers to collaborate on a Shakespearean sonnet on the anomie of modern office life with the opening line, “How like a prison is my cubicle”.
A Rembrandt Becomes A Rembrandt Again
Jonathan Lopez looks at the newly-authenticated Portrait of Dirck van Os, now restored and back on view at Omaha’s Joslyn Art Museum.
One-On-One Theatre-Meets-Relay-Race (In A Changing Hut By The Sea)
“Taking the form of a short text written by Tim Crouch,” Host, now being performed in Brighton, “works like this: You enter the bathing hut and somebody performs the text to you, and then you perform the text – reading from the script – to the next person.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 05.06.14
We switched ’round and ’round ’til half-past dawn
AJBlog: For What it’s Worth | Published 2014-05-06
Is the Novel Dead?
AJBlog: CultureCrash | Published 2014-05-06
“Spring Masters” Show Hires Architect To Radically Redesign
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts | Published 2014-05-07
The Devil in the Details: More on Sotheby’s-Third Point Agreement
AJBlog: CultureGrrl | Published 2014-05-06
Celebrating Ornette! from Philly, in photos
AJBlog: Jazz Beyond Jazz | Published 2014-05-06
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The Roots Of Censorship
Colm Tóibín: “In every society where there is an urge to censor, there is always already in place some rawness, some grievance, a fear of the outside world, a hunger for images that are comforting and comfortable, images that cover the national or social or religious wound, or attempt to heal it. And there is a deep and often visceral resistance to images that expose the wound or throw salt on it. This is what makes the battle against censorship in religious societies or developing societies so difficult to manage.”
Things You Cannot Unsee (And What That Says About Your Brain)
“People report this kind of thing all the time, and they use this same phrase: cannot unsee. Someone points out something and suddenly a secondary interpretation of an image appears. … We have a flash of insight and a new pattern is revealed hiding within the world we thought we knew. It surprises us. Ah! That’s not a vine, that’s a snake! That’s an LG logo. NO – it’s Pac-Man!”
San Diego’s Arts Commission Cuts Opera’s Grant By More Than Half
“Commissioner John Venekamp … pointed out that the opera is vying for funds against other arts organizations ‘that have worked hard and do strategic planning and are managed well’. … [The vote] came after representatives from the opera presented a 2015 transition plan with a budget slashed by 40 percent” and an assurance from the acting COO that there will be “no more fat cat salaries or company cars”.
BBC Chairman Chris Patten Resigns After Major Heart Surgery
Best known to the world at large as the last British governor of Hong Kong, the 68-year-old Patten has had a stormy three years at the head of the BBC Trust, and he was already planning to step down at the end of his term next year. On the advice of doctors following a bypass and angioplasty, he is stepping down immediately.