“In traditional video games, labor and capitalism have been depicted in near-frictionless harmony. Take SimCity and Civilization‘s dogmatic views of economic progress popular during the booming real-life ’90s or even Mario’s insatiable accumulation of gold coins.” But in the wake of the 2008 financial crash and this decade’s insane lengthening of working hours, developers began creating games that imply real critiques of contemporary tech capitalism — and they began to consider unionizing. – The Nation
Tag: 12.19.19
Smaller Museums And Galleries Pay Artists Better Than Larger Ones: Study
Research released by Working Artists and the Greater Economy (W.A.G.E.) “shows an inverse relationship between institution size (based on operating budget) and the amount spent on artist fees, and … there is evidence that small- and medium-sized institutions spend the most on programming and pay the bulk of artist fees.” – ARTnews
Smithsonian Finds Four Yayoi Kusama Paintings In A Manila Envelope In An Archive
“Archivist Anna Rimel came upon the four pieces, executed in watercolor, ink, pastel, and tempera paint, in a manila envelope while sifting through the [Smithsonian American Art Museum’s] Joseph Cornell Study Center, where they were hidden among correspondence and ephemera.” – Artnet
Prague’s Gorgeous Old Opera House Set To Emerge From Three-Year Renovation
“The Czech State Opera hoisted an ornate curtain on Thursday as a three-year project to restore the 19th-century opera building to its original glory neared completion ahead of a planned reopening next month. The 1.3 billion crown ($56.85 million) renovation aimed to get the main hall as close to how it looked when it opened in Prague in 1888 while adding some modern twists, such as touchscreen displays on all of the around 1,000 seats.” – Reuters
“Cats” Movie Review: “Oh God, My Eyes!”
Ty Burr: “You’ve heard of the “uncanny valley” effect? The eeriness or revulsion felt when looking at a humanoid figure that’s not quite human? The digital era has given us many examples of the uncanny valley, but “Cats” is the first movie to entirely set up shop there.” – Boston Globe
How To Deal With Racist Operas? Show, Don’t Hide
“To survive, opera has to confront the depth of its racism and sexism point-blank, treating classic operas as historical artifacts instead of dynamic cultural productions. Opera directors should approach the production of these classics as museum curators and professors — educating audiences about historical context and making stereotypes visible.” – The New York Times
When Shakespeare Stands Up To Sing
Giuseppe Verdi’s last two operas, the Shakespearean diptych of Otello and Falstaff, together constitute my favorite case study in what happens when a play is made to stand up and sing. Both the source material and the musical adaptations are works of singular beauty and power. To study these operas alongside their sources is to see what is gained and what is lost, what remains intact and what is transformed, when a complex human drama is adapted from speech into song. – New York Review of Books