With the right hashtag, anyone can view thousands of potential destinations—and choose which to visit based on aesthetics alone. A single social-media post can expose lesser-known or isolated places to the world. And that means good places can no longer hide. – The Walrus
Tag: 05.16.19
In 1880 A Symphony Pointed The Way To A Distinctly American Music. Then It Was Forgotten
“It’s amazing that this landmark symphony could have been so easily forgotten. As with the other seminal New Englanders—George Whitefield Chadwick, Horatio Parker, and Edward MacDowell, among them—modernism killed off Paine’s music. And with the ascendancy of American vernacular forms, reflected in the music of Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, and others, any music arising from the German Romantic tradition could be ridiculed and ignored.” – The American Scholar
Choreographing A Dance About How Awful It Is To Be A Dancer
“With her latest work, Fame Notions, [choreographer Gillian Walsh] seeks to understand what she calls the ‘fundamentally pessimistic or alienating pursuit’ of being a dancer.” Walsh explains to journalist Siobhan Burke in this Q&A. – Dance Magazine
A ‘Movement Installation’ For Dancers With And Without Disabilities
“For an artwork that’s making strides around the world, On Display places remarkable value on motionlessness. ‘It’s a lot of stillness,’ creator-choreographer Heidi Latsky says of the piece, a movement installation — or human sculpture court — that incorporates performers with and without disabilities. Designed to demonstrate inclusiveness and ponder society’s fixation with body image, On Display has been mounted internationally, in different versions, more than 200 times.” – The Washington Post
How Art Became Prestige Currency For The Rich
Michael Shnayerson’s new book, Boom: Mad Money, Mega Dealers, and the Rise of Contemporary Art argues that contemporary art, once a thing artists made and dealers tried (unsuccessfully) to sell, has become a form of fiat currency for the very rich. – Bloomberg
Feds Will Retry Guy Who Broke Thumb Off Ancient Chinese Terra Cotta Warrior
“Prosecutors told a judge Thursday that they intend to retry Michael Rohana, 25, on charges of theft and concealment of an object of cultural heritage. Their decision comes a month after a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict after a weeklong trial, stymied by questions of whether he had been appropriately charged.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
Book Clubs Are Getting Rather Niche
They’re niche, and sometimes they include industry professionals, but also, they’re more than that. “These expanded horizons imply responsibility: ‘You know these meetings are a tryout. The people at them are gonna be your collaborators, your co-conspirators, the people you start businesses and families with.'” – The New York Times
When Two Genre Writers Talk To Two Creative Writing Teachers, Sparks Fly
For a podcast – transcribed here – writers Daniel José Older and Marlon James (Booker prizewinner for 2015) talk with creative writing profs about what genre even is, and why it’s better not to be a snob. Older: “They put up the series of two albums, that were Duke Ellington albums, and one of them was called Piano in the Forefront. And one of them was called Piano in the Background, right? And that’s how I think about some of these terms. It’s like, if the plot is foregrounded, if most of the time that we see them, they’re on their mission, and they’re trying to solve the crime or get the bad guy or do what they have to do, that’s going to feel, rhythmically, like a genre novel.” – LitHub
Planets Are Piling Up, But There’s A Size Missing
Seriously. There are small planets, Earth-sized planets, huge planets, and humongous planets. What there aren’t are planets that are 1.5-2 times as big as our Earth. Uh? Where are they? (No, this isn’t a Doctor Who episode, but it sounds like one.) – Wired
One Talent Agency Breaks Ranks, Sides With Writers
Will this start some dominos falling or reinforce the agencies’ intransigence? “Verve, a young Los Angeles agency focusing primarily on writers, is the biggest agency so far to make peace with the opposition, though it is far smaller than the four major Hollywood agencies that are at the center of the fight.” – Los Angeles Times