“The company is looking for a 2-per-cent rollback [in compensation] across the organization. … The atmosphere among staff has been described by someone with knowledge of the situation as ‘a bit of a revolt.'”
Tag: 06.28.17
Does Diversity Really Improve Creativity?
“Most studies assume that the relationship between diversity and creativity is linear, but recent evidence suggests that a moderate degree of diversity is more beneficial than a higher dose. This finding is consistent with the too-much-of-a-good-thing paradigm in management science, which provides compelling evidence for the idea that even the most desirable qualities have a dark side if taken to the extreme. In other words, all things are good in moderation (except moderation).”
The Sites Where Online Culture Gets Created Just Can’t Make Money
Brian Feldman looks at Twitter, Reddit, and especially Tumblr – all of which have enormous user bases but still have trouble turning a profit – and why they’re so friendly to creative expression and sharing but likely doomed never to earn Facebook-level revenues.
How The SuperRich Have Enables “Thought Leaders”
The rich have, Daniel Drezner writes, empowered a new kind of thinker—the “thought leader”—at the expense of the much-fretted-over “public intellectual.” Whereas public intellectuals like Noam Chomsky or Martha Nussbaum are skeptical and analytical, thought leaders like Thomas Friedman and Sheryl Sandberg “develop their own singular lens to explain the world, and then proselytize that worldview to anyone within earshot.”
Here’s Some Good News! California Gives Big, Long-Term Boost To Arts Funding
Gov. Jerry Brown and the state legislature have increased the annual budget of the California Arts Council by $6.8 million to a total, for 2017-18, of $19.48 million. And the extra funding is not one-time; it’s permanent.
Jan Fontein, 89, Former Director Of Museum Of Fine Arts, Boston
“Dr. Fontein, a renowned Asian art curator and historian who restored the MFA to solid financial footing when he took over after a period of internal strife at the museum, … ushered the institution into the modern era of museums as cultural marketplaces, overseeing the fund-raising and creation of the I.M. Pei-designed west wing that included expansive shops, restaurants, auditoriums, and galleries.”
The Problems With (Writing About) Florida
Kristen Arnett: “Florida is no place for those who want to view it from a safe distance. This state is invasive, creeping, needy. Hardy and scrabbling, our peninsula’s sour with poison and rot and choking vines. You fight for the right to live in its greenery, and once you’ve finally carved out a space, you stay tangled in the wreck. Once you’ve left, there’s no coming back. The best you can do is hack out a different life somewhere else. This place isn’t yours to write about. It’s barely mine.”
How Japanese Film Auteurs Riffed On The Tropes Of The Country’s ’70s Softcore
Mike Hale writes about the Roman Porno Reboot Project, in which the Nikkatsu studio asked five directors to put a contemporary spin on roman porno (short for “romantic pornography”), the rigidly formulaic genre that saved the studio when it hit hard times 46 years ago. (Among the results: Aroused by Gymnopédies – yes, the Satie piano pieces.)
Going From Stardom In A Regional Ballet Company To The Corps In A Major One
Marina Harss talks to Betsy McBride, who left her longtime berth at Texas Ballet Theater for a contract with ABT, about why she made the change and what it’s been like.
The Art Of The Dollar Store
What happens when the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit asks artists to make work from items found where most of America shops, with a total budget of $99? “Just like stock in a dollar shop, there’s an astonishing range of quality: Some offerings appear perfunctory and flimsy, while other works — the true bargains — thoughtfully engage the assignment.”