“The pressure to keep on building on the National Mall will not go away. But the recent evolution brings a human scale and an appealing American idealism to spaces where self-conscious and overbearing grandeur have held sway for too long.”
Tag: 08.17.15
Are Big Arts Events More About The Audience Than The Art?
“A great deal of event art is more about the event and the audience than it is about the art. The throng – the sight of people congregating – is being used to prove relevance, to demonstrate that cultural institutions are hip and popular. But in chasing the buzz and pursuing the people, the art – a poem, exhibition, orchestral work or a play – can get lost. The danger is once the novelty wears off there is little to show for it. The crowds will vacate.”
So The Culture Wars Are Over? Oh Really?
“Whether the internet is simply a new, more broadly accessible forum for old debates about the meaning of America, or whether it is facilitating a new kind of culture war altogether, is not entirely clear. Nor are online spaces any less susceptible to the imperatives of capitalism than any other part of American culture. But if the culture wars are over, no one told their most energetic partisans: on this new frontier, the battle rages on.”
The Vatican’s Crowdsourcing Art Restoration: Is It About The Art Or About The Money?
“The Museum itself is the main generator of income to support the Vatican City State itself. How did art become the funder for a government? How has this altered how the art is treated, if the Vatican is only able to run based on how many visitors they can get to walk through the doors? Ticket sales for 2014 totaled around $87 million, from which the State took half for its operations.”
Stephen Colbert Explains – Very Frankly – Why He Loves Discomfort And How He Turns It Into Joy
As his improv teacher at Second City, Del Close, told him, “You have to learn to love the bomb.”
Archaeology’s Fraught Relationship With Religion
The very beginnings of the discipline are tied up with religion, particularly attempts to validate the Bible. Today, there are students who neither know nor care much about the Bible and aren’t willing to take its importance as a given. How will that change the field?
Top Posts From AJBlogs 08.17.15
Monday Recommendation: Music Of Gary McFarland
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-08-17
From Florida with Skill and Devotion
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2015-08-17
Happy birthday to jazz pianist Bill Evans
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2015-08-17
Time Capsule: Algren, Burroughs, Mailer, et al . . .
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2015-08-17
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With Ballet Dancers More Diverse Than Ever, The Audience Is Still Very White
“Next to the vivacity of hip-hop or jazz, ballet may seem an odd choice to back as dance that could represent the country well.”
The Tiny, Magical Los Angeles Museum That’s Only Open Four Hours A Month
“On the northern edge of L.A.’s vast Griffith Park, tucked inside a bend of the 1/8th scale railroad track that carries visitors around a bucolic stretch of Southern California chaparral, stands a humble, saggy-roofed barn that contains a multitude of treasures.”
Will The Vatican’s New Restoration Donation App Ruin Everything?
“Patrum sounds lovely and philanthropic, but it is pandering to the culture of restoration that does as much harm as good. Italy is full of artistic marvels. They need careful protection and obviously, that includes restoring where restoring is essential. But it is a delicate balance. The problem with restoration is that it excites people – it becomes a story,”