The tradition, which has been focused in Japan but spread out from there via the internet (of course), gets people wearing “costumes” like “just got out of bed and grabbed the first thing I saw to spray a roach with.” This is, perhaps, a great thing. “Philosophers interested in the ‘aesthetics of the everyday’ argue that the way we think about aesthetics is too focused on heightened ideas of beauty. In fact, they point out, repetitive tasks like chores, unremarkable objects like trash cans and diapers, and common interactions between family members and neighbors can all be considered to possess ‘aesthetics.'” – Slate
Tag: 11.01.19
As ‘Nutcracker’ Season Cranks Up, Kansas City Ballet Says It’s Time To ‘Phase Out’ Racist Stereotypes
The Nutcracker, which is the source of much funding for ballet companies across the Western world and especially in the U.S., is a huge tradition – and one that, increasingly, audiences are finding disturbing. So ballet companies are making changes for this year’s and future productions. “On Friday, the Kansas City Ballet announced the company has signed on to a national campaign called Final Bow for Yellowface, a pledge to remove outdated caricatures.” – KCUR
An Old Text, Set To New Music
Catholic Scottish composer James MacMillan, whose version of the “Stabat Mater” – a meditation on Mary, the mother of Jesus, suffering during the Crucifixion – is at the Lincoln Center this week, “sees himself as part of a widespread search among composers for the sacred in contemporary music.” – The New York Times
From Jazz To Classical Without Losing The Beat
Myra Melford is a composer as comfortable in jazz scenes as she is composing for new music ensembles. “Call it an ‘organic approach to composition,’ which is how her one-time teacher Henry Threadgill described his process during their studies. Melford’s approach curiously also comes, albeit somewhat intuitively, from growing up in a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.” – NewMusicBox
Cookbooks Go Way Beyond Recipes And Photography
Think memoir, travel, family history, history of the world. That’s what a good cookbook is. – Literary Hub
British Animation Is Making A(nother) Comeback
At least, it will if it can get some funding. “Much of the problem is financial – with huge challenges in securing funding for such labour-intensive work. And when British productions do manage to get funding, budgets invariably pale into insignificance compared with Hollywood.” – The Guardian (UK)
In DC, Increasing Access – And Audience, Maybe – At The Kennedy Center
What does Deborah Rutter really want to do with the expanded, busier, more national – perhaps – Kennedy Center? –The New York Times
Why Do Movies About Classic Authors Have To Be So Serious… So Dull?
Let us count the ways in which we’ve been force-fed dour, vitamin-deficient biopics of our favorite authors. Why. So. Serious. On top of being ponderous, such work bristles with the insecurity of filmmakers timidly making the case for long-dead writers; every hushed scene screams the anxious question: Will people take their work seriously if we don’t present them seriously? – New York Magazine
An LA Art Colony Has Been Home To Artists For 30 Years. This Month The Rents Doubled Or Tripled…
The Santa Fe Art Colony was established in 1986 with public funds through the Community Redevelopment Agency, allowing for the adaptive reuse of factory buildings into artist studios. A 30-year agreement set rent restrictions on 85% of the 57 units. That agreement expired in 2016, but because the previous owners didn’t notify tenants of a rent increase, the city imposed a stay until 2017. After Fifteen Group purchased the property, it raised the rent on the small number of market-rate units. It notified the other residents that rent restrictions would be lifted this month. – Los Angeles Times
Fight Between Netflix And Movie Theatre Owners Led To Odd Theatre Availability Of “Irishman”
The major exhibitors typically insist on a 72-day period of exclusivity for the films that play on their screens. During the monthslong talks with Netflix over “The Irishman,” representatives of two major chains agreed independently to lower that number to around 60, according to two people familiar with the negotiations who were not authorized to discuss them publicly; Netflix signaled that it would not go above 45. And that’s where it ended. – The New York Times