“A divide is opening up – generationally, economically and philosophically. The starchitects … are still here, but the appetite for celebrations of individual genius, and isolated, beautifully crafted buildings, seems to be dissipating. To co-opt the language of the Occupy movement, the big names are starting to look like architecture’s 1%.”
Tag: 08.29.12
A Babel Of Arts Ministers: At The First International Culture Summit
“[There] are so many different starting points for discussion, and perspectives on those starting points, that it is fascinating to hear the disjointed interjections from the floor. Academics and policy advisers may have a common language for talking about topics such as cultural diplomacy, but politicians don’t appear to.”
Study: Tuning A Piano Changes The Brain
“Researchers at University College London and Newcastle University found listening to two notes played simultaneously makes the brain adapt. Brain scans revealed highly specific changes in the hippocampus, which governs memory and navigation.”
Tasmania’s State Theatre May Close After Government Refuses Funding
“The future of Tasmania’s state theatre company is in doubt after the flagship troupe failed to secure government funding for the second consecutive year.”
WestJet Doesn’t Want Musicians As Customers
“The demand for this service is insufficient to justify the cost, time and resources involved in launching the certification,” says Westjet spokesman Robert Palmer. “We fly roughly 16 million guests each year, and receive at most a handful of telephone calls from guests asking if they may purchase a seat for their cello.”
When Everyone Is A Critic, Do Professional Reviews Matter?
“Are Amazon et al, with their bought-and-paid-for notices, killing off the book review? Or are they rather making the traditional, commissioned book review more important than ever?”
Are Self-Published Authors Really Lazy?
Bestselling American crime novelist Sue Grafton has back-pedalled on her description of self-published authors as “too lazy to do the hard work” following disbelief and anger from the independently published community.
The Art Of Flea Market
“This relatively relaxed form of art viewing often bears out something a friend told me Picasso once said: that any painting contains something worth looking at. From my experience, this may be a somewhat optimistic assessment, but ferreting out the worthy bits in anonymous paintings is great and often instructive fun.”
Glenn Beck As Cautionary Media Tale
“Simply put, you don’t hear nearly as much about Glenn Beck as you once did. The Beck story isn’t about politics, but platforms — and the challenges even well-known talent can face when striking out on their own.”
Meet The World’s Oldest Living Silent-Film Star
“Whatever happened to Baby Peggy? Few people under age 90 might even ask that question … [but] circa 1923, [she] was as well-known to movie-fans as Pola Negri, Rudolph Valentino and Jackie Coogan.”