“The work can be dull and stressful but it is rarely unpleasant: you can do it in bed, for a start, and it often has the same sort of compulsive fascination as a crossword puzzle.”
Tag: 05.19.12
Making A Depression-Style Dance Marathon Into A New Theatre Piece
In the work they call Dance Marathon, performance troupe Bluemouth Inc. wanted “to draw parallels between the Great Depression and what was in 2008 a nascent economic downturn.” They found that audiences wanted to participate rather than merely watch – and they were startled as people’s competitive juices began flowing and the show morphed into a genuine dance endurance contest.
Giotto Frescos In Padua Could Be Endangered By New Construction
“[The paintings] in the 14th century Scrovegni Chapel, are now said to be threatened by a symbol of the modern world: a futuristic 30-storey tower of flats, shops and offices” just across the Bacchiglione River. Critics “warn that digging the tower’s foundations will affect drainage across the area and could cause subsidence of the chapel walls, on which the frescoes are painted.”
A New Showplace For African Art In Johannesburg
“A former gas station, car dealership and dental school building are helping to transform central Johannesburg from a hotbed of crime to a hub for art. The repurposed buildings make up the Wits Art Museum, which open[ed] Saturday as a showcase for African art.”
Long Upheaval In Nepal Changes Country’s Art Scene
A ten-year civil war, the end of monarchy and subsequent political turmoil have begun to transform what had been Nepal’s tradition-heavy and somewhat stultified visual arts. For instance, one recent, and representativce, mural added to mountain peaks and curlicue winds a gas pump, a retreating bus, and a visa to somewhere abroad.
What The Ancient Olympic Games Were Really Like
Sure, there were lots of naked men racing and wrestling, and basically no women allowed, but there were also religious processions and animal sacrifices, poetry recitations and philosophy lectures, an enormous (and poorly sanitized) campsite, and – of course – brothels.
Painter Brice Marden And The Near-Magical Powers Of Art
“Rock-star looks aside, Marden eschews cool. In an age where so much painting is purely about itself, he remains entranced by the landscape, light and colour of the world around him.”
Booker Winner (And Booker Snub-ee) Alan Hollinghurst Doesn’t Worry About Prizes Because Hello, He’s Busy Writing
“‘The Booker made me a lot of money. I didn’t realise that all over the world, people will read a book just because it won the Booker prize.’ A delicious pause. ‘Not something I would do myself… But then one goes into some quite other, private region to produce a book.’ He gives me a knowing look. ‘I think the Booker can drive people quite mad. That’s why it’s good to be detached from it.'”
A Photography Gift That Boosts Boston’s Museum Of Fine Art
“The donation includes the entire photographic estate of Charles Sheeler – 2,500 photographs – and the same number of photographs by Edward Weston. Complementing these are 500 photographs by Ansel Adams, and 100 each by Imogen Cunningham and Brett Weston, Edward’s son.”
Author Neil Gaiman Gives Graduation Speech; Millions (Well, Thousands – Online, Anyway) Swoon
“‘The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you: your voice, your mind, your story, your vision,’ the British-born, Minneapolis-based novelist and screenwriter told the 526 newly minted graduates. ‘So write and draw and dance and play as only you can. … Leave the world more interesting for your being here.'”