That’s how Corriere della sera described Erri de Luca, winner of the 2013 European Prize for Literature, who beat this year’s other Bad Sex finalists with a passage from The Day Before Happiness that reads, in part, “Our sexes were ready, poised in expectation, barely touching each other: ballet dancers hovering en pointe.” (Still, this isn’t nearly as godawful as last year’s winner.)
Tag: 11.30.16
Prado’s Director To Step Down After 15 Years
In his resignation letter, Miguel Zugaza says, basically, “My work here is done,” so he’s going home to his old (and much smaller) job in Bilbao. And Spain’s leading newspaper allows as how he’s done an excellent job.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 11.30.16
Should We Bother?
My post reflecting on the presidential election, Blindsided, drew a thoughtful comment that seems to me to be worthy of a fuller response than a simple “Reply.” … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2016-11-29
Nine Ways the Arts Can Heal Our Hurting Civilization; or Lessons I Learned from Reading Comics to my Daughter
“This is the time when artists go to work. We speak, we write, we do language. This is how civilizations heal.” This is a quote from Toni Morrison. It has stuck with me. This is our power, and it is immense. But what will we do with it? … read more
AJBlog: New Beans Published 2016-11-29
The Cost of the Met Breuer (and other nuggets from Metropolitan Museum’s FY16 financials)
Back in April, the Metropolitan Museum’s president, Daniel Weiss, declined to disclose to me the cost of renovating the Whitney Museum’s Breuer building, now repurposed (at least temporarily) as the Met Breuer. Thanks to the Met’s annual report … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-11-29
Portland Jazz Bulwark To Close
There is news from Portland, Oregon, that Jimmy Mak’s jazz club will permanently close at the end of 2016. A leading west coast club for 20 years, Mak’s has been a primary outlet for the talents … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-11-30
New Evidence That The Brains Of Creative People Are Wired Differently
In their main finding, the researchers report the ability to make connections between distant concepts was associated with “structural variation” of several specific brain regions, one of which “was connected to distant regions through long-range pathways.”
American Television Struggles With How To Portray Muslims
“As an artist, you want to stay true to the narrative, and sometimes that goes against your activist agenda, which is to promote this positive image of Muslims. At the same time, to balance that with a truth that exists, in terms of my own experience with Islam, which may not always be necessarily positive.”
Playing Video Games Changes Us. The Question Is How…
“We spend so much time debating the dubious proposition that video games cause violence that we rarely get around to considering how else our lives and selves might be shaped by a $91 billion industry catering to 155 million Americans. As a result, gaming’s defenders, fearful of censorship, rarely get nudged in the direction of self-reflection.”