Four Concentric Circles: Looking At The Arts, Creative Industries, And Society

“This raises a series of questions: how to describe, diagnose and support the full range of cultural endeavour as it intersects with other areas of society, the economy and government. … A useful descriptive and diagnostic tool points to helpful ways of measuring cultural value and impact. Imagine four concentric circles. …”

Penguin Sues Authors For ‘Failure To Deliver’

“Book-publishing giant Penguin Group has filed a dozen lawsuits in the past week against authors who have failed to meet their deadlines, despite being paid big advances. The alleged deadbeat dozen include Prozac Nation author Elizabeth Wurtzel, New Yorker writer Rebecca Mead, Wonkette founder Ana Marie Cox, and Holocaust survivor/tall-tale teller Herman Rosenblat.”

Art From The Euro Crisis

First there was David Cerny’s notorious satirical map of the EU (Greece in flames, Bulgaria as a squat toilet, France closed for a strike, Britain not there at all). Now more artists are working in the same vein – for instance, Frank Buckley, who has completely covered an abandoned building in Dublin with shredded euro notes.

How Americans Get Their News (More Online, Less TV)

Only 14 percent of the people surveyed could answer all four questions about current events: “which party controls the House of Representatives, the current unemployment rate, the nation that Angela Merkel leads and which presidential candidate favors taxing higher-income Americans. … Most news audiences, however, scored substantially better than the public.”

Popular Street Artist JR Gets A Big American Canvas In D.C.

“JR rarely works in America — he’s completed murals at the High Line in New York, and in Los Angeles, but usually works throughout Europe, Asia and South America. It will be his first project in Washington. He’ll be featuring a photograph by Civil Rights movement photographer Ernest Withers, of the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike of 1968.”