“Today there are only two full-time dance critics in the country … For a medium that can be difficult to understand, generalist coverage remains vital to the accessibility of the dance scene. As Deborah Jowitt, the former Village Voice critic, put it: ‘If art is valuable as a reflection – of a time, of a place, of a creation – then dance is just as important as literature or film, even though the audience for it is smaller.”
Tag: 08.06.15
Museums Are Rebranding. Friendlier Names, Anyone?
On Monday, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts unveiled its new identity. In addition to a new logo designed by Pentagram, the museum announced a name change: from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (plural) to the Minneapolis Institute of Art (singular), and from MIA, an acronym, to Mia, a … nickname?
Committing Fiber Arts (AKA Knitting) In Public As A Radical Act
“People consistently underestimate the power of knitting,” says Sewell. “They don’t recognize its radical properties. They’re always surprised when they talk to us about what why we’re knitting, like, ‘Is she talking about racism right now? Did she really just say ‘police brutality?'”
An Unwitting Young Teen Viral Star Grows Up
“More than any other 18-year-old alive, Rebecca Black is all of our anxieties about oversharing online made flesh: the fact that more than 350 million photos are shared to Facebook each day and 300-plus hours of video hit YouTube every minute; the nagging sense that kids born into a world where social networking exists are worse off — when it comes to college applications, job prospects, romantic relationships.”
New Life For The San Diego Art Institute
“I want people to be proud of this place and not feel as if they live in the shadow of L.A. We want to help them make work, and make money. We aim to be an incubator for artists and want to be in a position to commission work.”
Ready To Declare War On Hollywood (Or At Least Its Sexism)
Rose McGowan: “I feel really bad for that kid that I was who was discovered on a street corner at age 17 and a half. I got battered around, and it was a very treacherous place with no protection. I feel really bad for her, but what I’m trying to do is make it better for the next girl. We need the men to help too. We can do this.”
The CEO Of Joburg Ballet Is Suspended
South Africa’s “largest ballet company said investigations have been carried out and have kicked up concerns about poor corporate governance, financial management and general oversight of the company.”
How Plans For Google’s New Headquarters Could Change How We Think About Offices
“Google has come up with an entirely new idea for the office of the future. The hugely ambitious design breaks open the hermetic office park, dramatically lowers energy use, and invents demountable structural components that could vastly simplify future renovations or retrofitting. These innovations could transform architecture.”
Hip-Hop’s Battle Over Authenticity And Ownership
“Unlike other art forms, the idea of authorship is tied into hip-hop’s DNA. At the birth of rapping, rappers didn’t quite own the music, which was stitched and spliced together by a DJ from breaks. But they did own their lyrics, which were a form of currency. The four elements of hip-hop — MCing, DJing, dancing and graffiti — are all tied into things one can create for oneself. One doesn’t have to follow a fundamentalist’s or purist’s line to accept that — despite the mutations of vocalization, production, movement and art in the genre — the idea of making something from nothing, of authenticity, of realness is tied into hip-hop in a way that is absent in other musical spheres.”
Did The Gardner Museum Theft Have A Dry Run The Day Before? New Video Suggests So
“Never-before-seen video released Thursday shows a security guard admitting an unidentified man into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum the night before the infamous 1990 art heist, adding a stunning new clue to Boston’s most enduring mystery.”