Abramovic’s performances have always been about generating a kind of catharsis for herself, then for the rest of us, pushing people’s buttons, their limits, as she has her own. All to a particular transformative end. “I am one of the few people who don’t have secrets,” she says. “All of my secrets, I made performances out of them, or theater pieces.”
Tag: 10.16.16
Diversity In Theatre Isn’t About Telling “Black” Stories
“In fact, to be a black writer is one of the most liberating things a person can be. I am black and I write about whatever I want – I always have and I always will. The only thing that makes a black writer feel limited is if others try to force their own definition of what it means to be black and a writer.”
Painter David Salle Turns Art Critic
“Look, art doesn’t have to be daunting. It’s helpful to think of works of art in ways similar to how we think about other people in our lives. Some people are harder to get to know. Some are more open and accessible and we feel we know them straight off. Other people, we feel as though their essence is more guarded.”
Even The Philadelphia Orchestra Can’t Improve The Lot Of The Professional Choral Singer
“New, entirely professional, and a child of the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir would seem to be much-needed good news on the choral landscape. But so far in its formation, some Philadelphia vocal freelancers are experiencing consternation or even heartbreak at how it’s being handled.”
Nobels For Literature Are A Ridiculous Idea. But This Year’s Award Makes Them Relevant!
“I have to admit that the judges have done something remarkable. And you have to say, chapeau! For they have thrown the cat among the pigeons in a most delightful manner. First they have given the prize to someone who wasn’t courting it in any way, and that in itself is cheering. Second, in provoking the backlash of the purists who demand that the Nobel go to a novelist or poet, and the diehard fans who feel their literary hero has been short changed, they have revealed the pettiness, and boundary drawing that infests literary discourse. Why can’t these people understand? Art is simply not about a solemn attachment to this or that form. The judge’s decision to celebrate a greatness that also involves writing is a welcome invitation to move away from wearisome rivalries and simply take pleasure in contemplating one man’s awesome achievement.”
How Artist Feuds Fueled The Progress Of Visual Art
“One artist always seems to have been methodical and technically gifted, the other impulsive and instinctive; one artist tends to have been socially adept, the other rather reticent; one artist seems to have been senior while the other played catch-up… before the rubbing off on (and up against) each other began in earnest.”
Cameron Mackintosh Declares War On Theatre’s Secondary Ticket Market
He’s bringing “Hamilton” To his London theatre. “I’m putting all my efforts into finding a better way of ensuring that the price originally set for a ticket remains the price you actually do pay. We’re going to stop resale except in genuine circumstances where someone is ill or can’t come and the only permitted resale will then be via the theatre.”
Most Depressing Meeting Ever? The Empty Corcoran Hosts A Summit To Talk About Where It All Went Wrong
“The bare walls of the gallery — where priceless American paintings were long displayed — reflected the mournful tone of the discussion about the museum and school. In 2014, a District judge approved a deal that gave the National Gallery of Art custody of the museum’s 17,000-piece collection and George Washington University control of its renowned art school.”
A Composer’s Signal, 20 Years After His Death, In The Hall Named For Him
“Who was Takemitsu? He was a largely self-taught composer whose career followed a vague trajectory from the avant garde of the 1960s to a French period of ethereally moody music influenced by Debussy and Messiaen, winding up in a more Romantic, even nostalgic, style. But that’s leaving out one of his key innovations, combining traditional Japanese music with Western music. It is leaving out his love for pop music. (His Beatles arrangements for solo guitar have never been bettered.) It is leaving out his more than 90 film scores.”
Salt Lake City Gets A Pretty, And Well-Researched, New Theatre
“After years in the planning stages, next weekend’s grand opening gala will inaugurate the $119 million addition to downtown’s cultural core. It’s the second of three major theater openings in Utah planned this year, a building boom that’s unprecedented in the country.”