The board’s announcement that Michelle Guthrie was out said only “The decision follows discussions over several months that concluded when directors resolved that it was not in the best interests of the ABC for Ms Guthrie to continue to lead the organisation.” Media journalist David Tiley “make[s] an op-ed stab at the issues behind this.”
Tag: 09.24.18
Is AI Fueling A New Art Movement?
In order to get their algorithm to produce a legitimately classical-looking portrait, Obvious’s members say they fed it a training data set of more than 15,000 portraits created between the 14th and 20th centuries. Using these images, the algorithm was able to “generate” new images similar to the ones it had been fed. These new portraits were then presented to another algorithm (the “adversarial” part of the GAN acronym) that was trained to distinguish between images produced by humans versus those by machines—a Turing-like test for artworks—until the generated portraits could fool this discriminator into thinking they were “real,” too. Since the announcement, many in the traditional art world have been losing their minds over this new movement, which Obvious has christened “GAN-ism.” But other artists making work via AI think the hype about what the technology can do on its own is premature.
English National Ballet Star Leaves Because She’s Bored There — Does She Have A Point?
“Laurretta Summerscales, a leading dancer with the English National Ballet, left last season for the Bavarian State Ballet in Munich, telling Dancing Times magazine that she yearned for a broader repertoire than the smaller British company could provide.” David Jays considers the merits of her complaint.
‘We Acknowledge Our Failures’: New York Review Of Books Issues Statement On Jian Ghomeshi Essay
“On Monday, in the magazine’s first statement discussing [now-former editor Ian Buruma’s] departure, it described the “considerable concern” over the essay among readers, adding, ‘We acknowledge the validity of this criticism.’ … While citing Mr. Ghomeshi’s free-speech rights, the magazine described ‘our failures in the presentation and editing’ of the essay” — in particular, departures from usual editing practices and the bypassing of most editorial staff.
Gary Kurtz, Co-Producer Of First Two ‘Star Wars’ Films, Dead At 78
“In addition to helping bring the Skywalker stories to the big screen, Kurtz produced American Graffiti and The Dark Crystal. His career was closely aligned with that of George Lucas, but the two parted ways after the troubled production of The Empire Strikes Back.”
One Of Video Game Industry’s Most Admired Creators Lays Off 90% Of Staff And Ceases Work
Telltale Games, which produces the popular interactive series The Walking Dead and Minecraft: Story Mode, more or less collapsed over the span of 48 hours. Brian Crecente reports on how it happened.
Artist Conks Marina Abramović On The Head With Portrait Of Her That He Painted
Abramović was just leaving a book-signing at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence when Vaclav Pisvejc approached her with a framed portrait he painted of her. She thought he was bringing her a present; instead, he lifted it high, smashed it over her head, and said, “Boom!” When Abramović, unhurt (there was no glass over the frame) asked Pisvejc why he would do this, he replied, “I had to do it for my art.” (includes video)
Museum Director Resigns, Alleging Censorship Of Mapplethorpe Exhibit In Portugal
When the show opened at the Serralves Foundation Museum of Contemporary Art in Porto last week, 20 of the 179 works intended for display were mot on view. “One day after the opening, on Friday, João Ribas, the museum’s artistic director, announced his resignation, and an open letter has circulated accusing the institution of censorship. The Mapplethorpe Foundation, in response, has pushed back against that claim.”
Will Macron’s Culture-Pass App Really Entice Young French People To The Arts?
The program, which lets users swipe left or right, Tinder-style, on listed events and comes with a €500 credit for a user’s 18th birthday, is being beta-tested in a few locales this fall and will be rolled out nationwide next year. Can it work as planned, or are the potential pitfalls too great? Two contributors, a cultural historian and an art journalist, weigh in.
Sculptures Off Beach In Maldives Destroyed After Government Declares Them Un-Islamic
Jason deCaires Taylor’s suite of sculptures, called the Coralarium and touted as “the world’s first intertidal srt gallery” by the resort off whose beach it’s installed, was demolished last week amidst an election campaign which the incumbent president, who had been railing against Western influences, lost.