Phineas Harper: “Across architectural culture we dread the label of unoriginality like a curse. We deride the derivative, we mock mimics, we fear facsimiles. Call us dull, call us sellouts, call us gentrifiers – just don’t call us copycats. I believe this sneering snobbery of derivation is deeply flawed and at odds with the potential of architecture as a collective creative force.” (For instance, Shigeru Ban is not the only architect allowed to use cardboard tubes.)
Tag: 07.18.17
How Cool Became “Cool”
“The history of post-war cool is both a history of these strange convergences – between French intellectuals, African American musicians and white working-class Hollywood heroes – and of the continuing conflicts between and within them.”
When You Make A Jane Austen Banknote But ‘Egregiously’ Misuse A Jane Austen Quote
Hint: If Jane Austen had Caroline Bingsley say something, probably you shouldn’t quote it for gentle surface meaning. “In short, Austen wrote the line as a satirical comment on how we perform certain admirable qualities to win approval.”
Portrait Of The Cellist As An Artist Of A Different Sort
As a corollary of his mission to rethink the performer’s role, Parker Woods refuses to let his identity as a cellist be restricted by conventional perceptions of what a classical string player does. Which is why, even at this still-early stage of his career, he’s already been leaving his imprint on a fascinating variety of collaborations across disciplines.
Why I Wanted My Asian-American Daughter To See Asian-American Actors Playing Shakespeare
Nicole Chung writes about her meaningful mother-and-child trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Winter’s Tale.
What The Bolshoi Ballet’s Director Came There To Do (Besides Throw Shade At His Predecessors)
Makhar Vaziev: “When I accepted this position, [Bolshoi general director] Vladimir Urin set a concrete task before me about what he wanted to see from the troupe, and we came to a mutual agreement about that. In terms of classical ballet, I prefer irreproachable, ideal form, and that doesn’t change from theater to theater. What I demand of the dancers here today – the highest level of performing, both aesthetically and technically, among other things – is nothing new to them, but it’s possible no one paid attention to it before.”
Jim Henson’s Son Explains Why Kermit The Frog Actor Was Fired
“[Brian] Henson said he had to have numerous talks with [Steve] Whitmire over the years about his unprofessional conduct, which included ‘appalling’ communications with colleagues. … Henson declined to go into specifics about Whitmire’s exact demands, but did say, ‘Steve would use ‘I am now Kermit and if you want the Muppets, you better make me happy because the Muppets are Kermit.’ And that is really not OK.'”
Remember The ‘Who’s Who’ Directories Of Notable People? (They Really Did Matter Once)
“So what’s the deal? Where did this seemingly dumb idea come from and why does it persist? Today’s Tedium points out why it was once valuable, and why it no longer is.”
Netflix Ramps Up Movie Production, Challenging Hollywood’s Primary Business
“Netflix’s bold foray into movie-making and directly-to-couch distribution is an explicit challenge to the traditional Hollywood model, analysts say, although it remains unclear if a company propelled by binge-watching TV at home can alter the future of going to the movies.”
Dutch Composer Michel van der Aa On Making Art Relevant
“When you work with film, there’s a risk of things becoming very concrete. I think a strength of art is that you can steer people in a certain direction, but they have to take the last few steps themselves—everyone can find their own truth in the piece. I like to push people in a certain direction, but leave a few things for them to interpret themselves.”