Funeral homes may be among the most staid and risk-averse of businesses, but a visit to this year’s industry expo indicated that some new ideas – environment-friendly fiberboard coffins, some printed with the departed’s name and photographs; custom-decorated coffins; “virtual tombs” online – are (just) beginning to catch on.
Tag: 11.01.11
MoMA Commissions ‘Installation’ For Radio City Music Hall
The Museum of Modern Art in New York has commissioned from Antony Hegarty, lead singer of the band Antony and the Johnsons, a new work called Swanlights, described as a “meditation on light, nature, and femininity.” The piece will include lightworks by artist Chris Levine and arrangements of Hegarty’s songs for a 60-piece orchestra.
Detroit Jazz Fest Says It Won’t Be Changing Despite Director’s Sudden Departure
“Terri Pontremoli’s sudden departure raised concern among the festival’s fan base that the event, which reached a new artistic peak on her watch, might be contemplating a turn to crossover or pop acts.”
Why Nails On Chalkboard Provokes Such An Unpleasant Response
“If the listeners knew that the sound was fingernails on the chalkboard, they rated it as more unpleasant than if they were told it was from a musical composition. Even when they thought it was from music, however, their skin conductivity still changed consistently, suggesting that the physical part of the response remained.”
Why Mis-Memorizing Poetry Is A Helpful Thing
Robert Pinsky: “Mistakes are instructive. In particular, they can become a form of analysis, as, for example, in sports or music, when getting something a little bit wrong leads to improvement in technique or understanding.”
PBS Launches A British PBS
Often called “the American BBC”, this non-profit public broadcaster is now launching in the UK, bringing its unique brand of television to British viewers for the first time.
Artists File Suit Against Auction Houses Over Resale Royalties
“The suits do not specify damages, nor do they list specific sales of art by California residents. Rather, as Eric George, the lawyer who filed them, explained, the complaints seek to force the auction houses to reveal the identities or locations of sellers: information that is often kept secret.”
Britain Focuses On Building Big Museums Outside Of London
“The initiative to create new, large spaces for modern art is a wave that is comparable with the development in regional theater that took place here in the 1960s. These museums are a recognition that the visual arts and artists in this country are stronger than they have ever been.”
“Benghazi Treasure” Looted From Libya
“The looted treasure, which includes Greek and Roman gold, had been stored in two padlocked second world war military chests and a safe. It has never been displayed in Libya and its existence had been virtually forgotten, except by specialist archaeologists.”
Why Are The Most-Stolen Movies Different From The Most-Rented?
“I’d argue that the lists demonstrate that TorrentFreak customers are early adopters while Netflix subscribers are late adopters. Being largely young, Torrent fans go for the eye candy movies that have the biggest buzz of the moment while the Netflix crowd, which skews older, prefers movies that have a more cerebral sort of buzz, the prestige of critical cachet.”