“A gallery has discovered four paintings by Otto Dix, the German expressionist whose art chronicled the horrors of World War One, the depravity of the Weimar Republic and was labeled ‘degenerate’ by Adolf Hitler.”
Tag: 08.31.11
Exploring The Science Of Happiness – If We Can Only Figure Out What Happiness Is
Experimental psychologists have lately been attempting to study the factors that lead to human happiness. But how can you craft a proper experiment when you have no established definition of what constitutes “happiness”? And how can that definition be established? With philosophy, suggests philosopher Gary Gutting.
David Lynch (Yes, That David Lynch) Opens Nightclub In Paris
“Silencio, David Lynch’s new Paris nightclub-cum-salon-cum-laboratory of the weird … is inspired by the deeply strange Club Silencio in Mulholland Drive. Everything from the toilet bowls – black on black – to the saltiness of the nuts on the bar was decided on by the master himself.”
The Conflicts Of Michael Houellebecq’s Work
“The question of the relationship between Houellebecq’s poetry and his controversial novels raises the central problem of his career: is he poet, novelist or prophet, or does he not give a damn?”
Learning From Literature (But Maybe Not)
“If you accept this minimal commitment to the idea of learning from fiction, you ought, I reckon, to have some interest in the following questions: Is the practice of fiction one we can reasonably expect to give us the insight we hope for? Are serious fiction writers well equipped to give us that insight?”
Distracted? It Might Be Good For You
“It’s not easy to acknowledge that everything we’ve learned about how to pay attention means that we’ve been missing everything else.”
England’s National Youth Theatre Program Could Close Due To Budget Cuts
The National Association of Youth Theatres, “after 12 years as a regularly funded organisation, has lost its Department of Education and Arts Council England backing. The umbrella body desperately needs to be shored up by December; if it is unable to raise at least £100,000 by then, it may not survive.”
Paintings Missing In Oslo After Bombing
“Concern is mounting about the fate of large numbers of works of art owned by Norwegian government ministries or lent to them … following the terrorist Âattack in Oslo on 22 July. The buildings damaged in the bombing contained works by artists including Munch, Christian Krohg and Anne Katrine Dolven.”
Oregon Symphony Signs Carlos Kalmar For Two More Years As Music Director
“Carlos Kalmar, the Oregon Symphony’s music director since 2003, has renewed his contract through 2015. His current contract ran through 2013.” The most recent of the orchestra’s successes was a rapturously received concert at Carnegie Hall in May.
John Lennon’s Correspondence To Be Recovered And Published
“More than 250 letters and cards sent by John Lennon to his family and friends are to be published for the first time. Author Hunter Davies, who wrote the only official biography of The Beatles in the 1960s, is trying to track down every missive written by the singer.”