“Guards at Guantanamo Bay tried to coerce inmates into talking with songs from Sesame Street played on repeat, according to a new Al-Jazeera documentary. … What’s the best kind of music to use when you’re trying to break someone’s will?”
Tag: 05.31.12
Russian Punk Rockers Facing Jail For Blasphemy Call For Help From Famous Westerners
“The lawyer for three members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot, who are currently awaiting trial for an allegedly blasphemous protest in Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral … says only appeals from Western celebrities and high-profile cultural figures can save them from further criminal charges and long jail sentences.”
Art Project Falls Afoul Of US/Cuban Relationship
A project by the artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov during the 11th Havana Biennial was nearly derailed when the US Department of the Treasury denied the artists the necessary public performance and exhibition licence that would allow five US children to travel to Havana, saying the project was “not consistent with the current US Âpolicy on Cuba”.
Can “Big Data” Fix The Way Books Are Sold?
“The ability to process vast troves of data on customer behavior–data sets that would have been too expensive or taken far too long to process in the past–offers the potential to create predictive models for any business, and certainly for book publishing.”
A First: Digital Music Revenue Tops Sales Of CDs
“The amount of money made from digital music services has outstripped the sale of traditional CDs and records for the first time, according to first quarter revenue figures from music industry trade body BPI.”
In A Time Of Always-On Information About The Present, Pop Culture Obsesses Over Past And Future
The more the informational bombardment traps us in the here and now, the more we seek fictional escapes into the there and then. The one produces the other. Why?
Intense Storm Floods Montreal Museum Of Contemporary Art, Damaging Hundreds Of Works Of Art
“It’s a lot of work, a long process,” she said in a telephone interview. “It’s not a dozen works, it’s hundreds. But we still don’t know the exact number. We don’t know the total losses. We still have to make an evaluation.”
Dancing With The Star – Concert Will Let Viewers Create Dancing Avatars
“Literally, people will be able to create their own avatar and have it dance on the screen with Usher,” said Hamish Hamilton, who will be directing the concert broadcast.
50 Years Ago Atlanta Lost 100 Cultural Leaders In A Plane Crash. And Then…
“On the flight were artists, company leaders, the first woman elected to the city’s school board and other leaders. Among the sights on their packed agenda were the Louvre in Paris, the Coliseum in Rome and London Bridge. Out of the city’s grief grew a sense that something needed to be done to memorialize them, to improve on its tiny art museum in an old house and struggling art school.”
Ai Weiwei Versus The Chinese Government
“When the police interrogate me,” he says, “they say I am a pawn of the West. They say they only buy my work because they want to give me money. And they say I am trying to use politics to promote myself and become more famous. And there is some truth here. But the police forget what the purpose of all this fame and status is. I do not need it personally. They never understand the content of my message.”