Alan Hollinghurst: “I observe that the gay novel [today] is dissolving back into everything else … I would far rather be living now, on balance, but I think there is more nutrition for the novelist in the earlier period when things were more difficult and gay life was more coded. It is more fascinating to write about something half concealed than something that is completely open.”
Tag: 06.04.18
Is Storytelling The Way To Teach Computers To Think?
“Stories seem to me to be the key to education, to social organization, to creativity, learning, consciousness, self-awareness — the whole works. I think it’s a fundamental differentiating capability of us humans. And machines don’t have it yet.”
Why Immersive Theatre Is Scarily Precarious
There’s greater insecurity to immersive work than its conventional counterpart. Often the producers have to beg landlords for use of the spaces that suits the work, such as disused flats and office buildings ripe for development.
What Kind Of Critical Press Can You Have If Artists Hold Veto Power?
Many friends and colleagues have stories about a piece that was killed because a living artist took issue with some aspect of it. One colleague even went as far to suggest that we should edit an anthology of essays killed because of the protestations of artists. Others suggested that I should stop writing on living artists. In such a potential minefield, what possibilities remain for academic writing and criticism on the work of living artists (and deceased ones with overly involved estates) when she can register disapproval and silence our work through her curator or editor, or through the withholding of image permissions?
I’m Going To Live Forever (No Really, It’s A Thing. Promise)
The latest enthusiasm for eternal life largely stems not from any acid-soaked, tie-dyed counterculture but from the belief that technology will enhance humans and make them immortal. Today’s transhumanist movement, sometimes called H+, encompasses a broad range of issues and diversity of belief, but the notion of immortality—or, more correctly, amortality—is the central tenet. Transhumanists believe that technology will inevitably eliminate aging or disease as causes of death and instead turn death into the result of an accidental or voluntary physical intervention.
So Where’s All The Argument Over The NY Times List Of 25 Greatest American Plays Of The Last 25 Years?
“Apart from stray quibbles over which plays should and shouldn’t have made the list …, there has so far been extraordinarily little chatter, let alone pushback, about this audacious stab at canon-making. Ten years ago there would have been blog posts galore, perhaps a piss take in Time Out New York …, a snarky side-eye from Michael Riedel.” Rob Weinert-Kendt has a none-too-cheerful answer to the question.
I’ll Return Elgin Marbles To Greece If I’m Elected Prime Minister, Says Jeremy Corbyn
The leader of the UK’s Labour Party told a Greek newspaper, “They were made in Greece and have been there for many centuries until Lord Elgin took them. … As with anything stolen or taken from occupied or colonial possession … we should be engaged in constructive talks with the Greek government about returning the sculptures.”
Fight Breaks Out In Audience At UK’s National Theatre
As an eyewitness tweeted after the incident at a performance of Polly Stenham’s modern adaptation of Strindberg’s Miss Julie, “As if there wasn’t enough onstage drama … as the play ended tonight, a fight broke out in the circle between a couple of middle-aged blokes, held back by their respective crews.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 06.04.18
Color Wins The Day At the Cooper-Hewitt
Saturated: The Allure and Science of Color, now on view, is exactly the kind of exhibition I expect and like to see from the Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum – which, frankly, came as a bit of a surprise. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2018-06-04
Punk, Indie Rock and Power Pop With Chris Stamey
Though he’s hardly a household name, North Carolina’s Chris Stamey has been just alongside many of the key developments in left-of-the-dial rock music over the last four decades. … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2018-06-04
Tweets in search of a context: punching out
One problem with working at home and setting your own schedule, especially for writers, is that it can prove to be quite hard to shut the shop down and take time off. … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2018-06-04
Monday Recommendation: Roberta Piket
Roberta Piket, West Coast Trio, 13th Note Records
The seasoned New York pianist traveled west to record with a sterling rhythm section of veteran Los Angeles players. The bicoastal combination clicked. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2018-06-04
Physicists Stared At The Same Clocks For 14 Years And Discovered Something Fundamental
In a paper published in Nature Physics on Monday, Patla’s team reveal a profound result from an exceedingly monotonous experiment. The ticking of the clocks, Patla says, actually illustrates one of the most fundamental principles in the laws of physics: that no time or place in the universe is special. It’s one of the basic ideas in Einstein’s theory of general relativity, a set of rules that correctly describes how the planets orbit the sun and how neutron stars collide to produce gravitational waves. The laws of physics apply in the same way today as they did 4.5 billion years ago when the moon formed, or in 2000 when you were listening to Creed.