“Sometimes, there is no easy approach to studying the intricate vagaries that are the human mind and human behavior. Sometimes, we have to be okay with qualitative questions and approaches that, while reliable and valid and experimentally sound, do not lend themselves to an easy linear narrative–or a narrative that has a base in hard science or concrete math and statistics.”
Tag: 08.10.12
Do We Need Conflict To Create Great Art?
“In Italy, for 30 years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love, they had 500 years of democracy and peace – and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.”
Director Of Utah’s Ririe-Woodbury Company To Step Down
“After a decade as artistic director of Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, Charlotte Boye-Christensen has announced she will step down at the end of the 2012-2013 season to take on more choreography work, although she doesn’t plan to move out of state.”
When Handel Came To London
It was exactly 300 years ago next month when ‘the Orpheus of our era” moved permanently to the British capital. Richard Wigmore recounts how Handel came to settle there, and why the employer he abandoned in Germany perhaps didn’t mind so much.
A Giant Trompe L’Oeil Sculpture Of A Piece Of Paper
“As you approach, you realize it is made of metal. It’s a sculpture, made of welded and painted steel that looks like a two-dimensional cartoon drawing of a three-dimensional piece of paper … that is three-dimensional if you get close, but looks two-dimensional if you stay at the bottom of the hill …”
The Telling Art Of Biography
W.H. Auden wrote that there are many writers “whose works are in better taste than their lives”. Yet good biography can show the frailty and even tastelessness of the author’s life and still return us to the power and originality of his or her thought.
Ariane Mnouchkine: “I Hate The Word ‘Production'”
“We’re not a shop. It’s unfortunate we need people’s money, but we’re not selling something. That’s why I hate the word ‘production’: it’s not produced, it’s a ceremony, it’s a ritual, it is something which is very important for your mental strength, and you should go out of the theatre stronger and more human than when you went in.”
Manchester Comedy Festival Closes Due To Funding Cuts
“The Manchester festival has been a fixture on the north-west arts circuit for 10 years, drawing thousands of people to more than 200 shows in 30 venues every October. It was set up by Don Ward, founder of The Comedy Store in London and Manchester.” But the city council has withdrawn all funding, so organisers have cancelled the event.
Why Art Auction Prices Continue To Soar
“There’s been a huge increase in capital in the last few years, and most of it’s gone to the ruling class, the upper 1 percent. Art is actually not a very secure investment, but these folks have so much money that the thinking goes, ‘Why not park a few million dollars in fine art?’ “
Chicago’s Cultural Plan (You Call This A Plan?)
“The public was more concerned with things like access to culture and equitable distribution of resources. So why is “making Chicago a global cultural destination” on the list of ten priorities?”