Art

Brazilian waxwork figures go viral after old video report is unearthed on social media – video

The human form has inspired artists for centuries for both its beauty and challenges. Now a Brazilian septuagenarian sculptor has won a surprise newfound notoriety for his celebrity waxworks. Six years after it was filmed, a local TV story on an exhibit by Arlindo Armacollo has gone viral for the distorted depictions and the gushing reporter's commentary. Armacollo's work is the latest in an increasingly long list of celebrity sculptures that have gained fame for not quite nailing the brief'Braz...
Tags: Art, Americas, Sculpture, Brazil, Arlindo Armacollo

NEA Releases A Blueprint For Arts Organizations Reopening

“The NEA conducted in-depth interviews with nine arts organizations to identify common practices among those who have successfully reopened their doors to audiences or visitors during the pandemic. In addition to these case studies, the NEA also drew from national service organizations in the arts, document scans, and interviews with arts management consultants.” – American Theatre
Tags: Art, Issues, Nea, 01.11.21

Saudi Crown Prince Asks, Answers What if a City, But It's a 105-Mile Line

Vicious Saudi autocrat Mohamed bin Salman has a new vision for Neom, his plan for a massive, $500 billion, AI-powered, nominally legally independent city-state of the future on the border with Egypt and Jordan. When we last left the crown prince, he had reportedly commissioned 2,300-pages’ worth of proposals from…Read more...
Tags: Science, Design, Technology, Saudi Arabia, Urbanism, Cities, Egypt, Conservation, Middle East, Ecology, Jordan, The line, Mohammed bin Salman, Mohamed bin Salman

Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” Reimagined To Account For Climate Change

“Like the original music, some of the representation is fairly literal: Instead of hearing strings play what sounds like a thunderstorm once, you might hear it repeatedly, illustrating the extreme rainfall that some cities will experience. Much of the score, though, is meant to evoke the feeling of each season. Vivaldi’s “Spring” was intended to be joyful; the new version sounds discordant.” – Fast Company
Tags: Art, Music, Vivaldi, 01.12.21

Frank Gehry’s Dream Of Turing The LA River Into A Vast Cultural Space

Architect Frank Gehry has unveiled a bold plan to transform the river into more than just a concrete flood channel and establish it as an unprecedented system of open space. – Los Angeles Times
Tags: Art, Frank Gehry, Issues, 01.11.21

'Brazilian horror story': internet melts down over sculptor's peculiar waxworks

Images of Arlindo Armacollo’s figures went viral after users unearthed video report about their exhibition in churchThe first household name Arlindo Armacollo smothered in beeswax was Mother Teresa. Then came Albert Einstein, Pope John Paul II and a string of global luminaries who the entrepreneur-turned-artist admired.“It might look simple, but to achieve this richness of detail was hard work,” a local television reporter gushed during a 2015 visit to Armacollo’s waxwork collection in southern ...
Tags: Art, Americas, World news, Art and design, Sculpture, Brazil, Albert Einstein, Mother Teresa, John Paul II, Arlindo Armacollo, Armacollo

The Subversion Of The Digital World

“I always go off of this dancing logic: for every system of control that establishes itself in a very direct and very antagonizing way, or in a very pervasive and ubiquitous way, there will always be subcultures or underground communities that will try to dismantle them in some way.” – Howlround
Tags: Art, Media, Digital World, 01.12.21

Cool Stuff: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Print by Gabz Get a Shiny New Foil Variant

Back in 2017, Grey Matter Art teamed up with graphic designer and illustrator Grzegorz Domaradzki, better known as Gabz, on the Marvel Studios hit Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s a coveted piece of work on the secondary pop culture art market, and now fans will have a chance to own it again, this time with a little shiny foil enhancement to really make it pop on your wall. Get a look at Gabz Guardians of the Galaxy poster below and find out when you can get it. Gabz Guardians of the Galaxy Pos...
Tags: Art, Movies, Guardians Of The Galaxy, Marvel Studios, Cool Stuff, Gabz, Comic Book/Superhero, Disney/Pixar, Grey Matter Art, Grzegorz Domaradzki, Grzegorz Domaradzki Gabz, Vahalla Studios

Meet Someone Who Has Worked At ABT For 50 Years

“[Susan] Jones was first hired by ABT co-founder Lucia Chase [in 1971] when the company needed a short woman for the corps. She spent eight years as a dancer, … and began transitioning to the artistic staff in 1976 while assisting Twyla Tharp in Push Comes to Shove. … Maybe more than anything, Jones has been a trusted right hand for three artistic directors, guiding and coaching multiple generations of corps dancers at the company. As she celebrates her 50-year milestone, Dance Magazine decided...
Tags: Art, Dance, Jones, Abt, Twyla Tharp, Dance Magazine, 01.11.21, Susan -RSB- Jones, Lucia Chase

Niger museum is eclectic national ‘mirror’

It has displays covering art, history, dinosaurs, nuclear energy, craftwork and music as well as live animals, for it is also a zoo The post Niger museum is eclectic national ‘mirror’ appeared first on The Mail & Guardian.
Tags: Art, Music, Africa, Diversity, History, Zoo, Dinosaurs, Niger, Openaccess, Sahel, Nuclear Energy, Top Six, National museum of Niger

Paris Mayor Approves €250 Million Plan To Green The Champs-Elysées

That doesn’t just mean to make the boulevard more environmentally friendly. “Anne Hidalgo said the planned work, unveiled in 2019 by local community leaders and businesses, would turn the 1.9 km (1.2 mile) stretch of central Paris into ‘an extraordinary garden’. … The eight-lane highway is used by an average of 3,000 vehicles an hour, most passing through, and is more polluted than the busy périphérique ring road around the French capital.” – The Guardian
Tags: Art, Paris, Issues, Anne Hidalgo, 01.10.21

Reconsidering The Benefits Of Hierarchies

“Similar to the related terms of bureaucracy and meritocracy, hierarchy is a concept rife with negative connotations. Common sense might suggest that it is the elimination of hierarchies, from race and gender to those found in our political systems, that should be our common goal. Bell and Wang argue that hierarchies exist everywhere and rather than trying to stamp them out—an impossible task, in any case—we should be examining how they function in terms of efficiency and the greater good.” – N...
Tags: Art, Ideas, Bell, Wang, 01.07.21

Conformers Or Weirdos? What We Know About How People Think

“Unlike much of the world today – and most people who have ever lived – Weird people are highly individualistic, self-obsessed, guilt-ridden and analytical in their thinking style. They focus on themselves – their attributes, accomplishments and aspirations – over relationships and roles. When reasoning, Weird people tend to look for abstract categories with which to organise the world. They simplify complex phenomena by breaking them down into discrete elements and assigning properties – wheth...
Tags: Art, Ideas, 01.03.21

Orwell Topped Book Bestseller Lists This Weekend. But…

“1984” rose to the top of Amazon’s top-selling book list over the weekend. On Monday, it reached the No. 1 spot. Not bad for a book published in 1949. Too bad few people citing the book’s dystopian horrors in earnest seem to understand the usage. – USA Today
Tags: Amazon, Art, Words, Orwell, 01.11.21

Derelict East German Amusement Park Will Become (Another) Berlin Arts District

“Some €45 million has been raised for the project, which was first proposed in 2014 after the city, through the government-owned company Grün Berlin, took over the park’s management. The former Spreepark, as the theme park is known, spans 56 riverside acres that are currently fenced off as old rides and amusement sites sit in various states of disrepair.” – Artnet
Tags: Art, Issues, Spreepark, 01.08.21, Berlin Arts District, Grün Berlin

Reissues of Keith Haring's Mickey Mouse Swatch watches

Swatch has reissued a series of Mickey Mouse x Keith Haring watches that Haring first created in 1986 for his legendary Pop Shop store in New York City. Mickey Mouse appeared frequently in Haring's artwork, sometimes seen in, er, adult situations, or fused with Andy Warhol. — Read the rest
Tags: Art, Post, Design, News, Watches, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Mickey Mouse, Haring, Pop Shop, New York City Mickey Mouse

An Analysis Of QAnon By A Game Designer

“When I saw QAnon, I knew exactly what it was and what it was doing. I had seen it before. I had almost built it before. It was gaming’s evil twin. A game that plays people. (cue ominous music)” – Medium
Tags: Art, Ideas, 09.30.20

Do Critics Shape The Theatre Of Their Time? Ben Brantley Says —

“Has it really happened that way, though? To go back to my paragon, Pauline Kael, she was perceived as shaping the course of Hollywood, and I’m not sure she did when you look back at it. Culture — like history, and we know how perverse and also cyclical history can be — follows its own inevitable patterns. … I don’t think critics are shapers. I think we’re mirrors.” – American Theatre
Tags: Art, Hollywood, Theatre, Ben Brantley, Pauline Kael, 01.11.21

American Pianists Association – President and CEO

The American Pianists Association (APA) was founded in New York City as the Beethoven Foundation in 1979 by Victor Borge, Tony Habig (Kimball International), and Julius Bloom (former general manager of Carnegie Hall). The APA’s original mission was to identify and groom young pianists for international competitions. Throughout the 1980s, auditions were held every two years, naming three Beethoven Foundation Fellows each running. In 1982 the organization moved to Indianapolis and in 1989 changed ...
Tags: Art, Jobs, New York City, Indiana, Indianapolis, United States, APA, White River, Finance Committee, University of Indianapolis, Joel Harrison, Jenna Deja, West Lake Street, American Pianists Association, American Pianists Association APA, Beethoven Foundation

Smithsonian Gives Up On Long-Planned $2 Billion Redesign

“When the Smithsonian introduced a futuristic plan for the 17 acres around its iconic administration building, the National Historic Landmark known as the Castle, officials predicted it would be a game-changer that would remake the structure into a visitor gateway to the storied institution. Six years later, a new Smithsonian administration has jettisoned the eye-popping elements of the $2 billion design by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, opting instead for a dramatically downsized version.” – ...
Tags: Art, Smithsonian, Bjarke Ingels, Visual, 01.11.21

Streaming Revenue In US Should Go Well Over $100 Billion This Year

“Total spending on streaming services and software is projected to reach a record $112 billion in 2021, an 11 percent growth over 2020, according to Consumer Technology Association projections announced on Monday. … This follows 31 percent growth in 2020 over 2019.” – The Hollywood Reporter
Tags: Art, Media, US, Consumer Technology Association, 01.11.21

Author Ved Mehta, 86

Known for a 12-volume autobiography and more than a dozen more books, many of which got their start as New Yorker articles (he was a staff writer for decades), he had a carefully honed prose style full of vivid description — despite the fact that he had been blind from age 3. (His sense of hearing was said to be extraordinary.) – The New York Times
Tags: Art, People, New Yorker, 01.10.21, Ved Mehta

How Governments Around The World Are Supporting The Arts To Survive COVID

Governments across Europe, as well as in Canada, Australia and some Asian countries, have held back the wave so far by moving fast at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis to stave off mass unemployment and prevent a financial meltdown. – The Hollywood Reporter
Tags: Art, Europe, Issues, Canada Australia, 01.07.21

Thomas Kinkade Studios presents "The Mandalorian"

Thomas Kinkade Studios — a group of artists continuing in the tradition of the late "Painter of Light" who masterfully commodified domestic commercial home artwork, for better and for worse — has released a new series of painting prints inspired by The Mandalorian. — Read the rest
Tags: Art, Post, News, Thomas Kinkade, The Mandalorian, Thomas Kinkade Studios, This Is The Way

Opera Australia Sued Over COVID-Related Job Cuts, Alleged ‘Intimidation’

“Opera Australia has paid out tens of thousands of dollars in confidential settlements to musicians it sacked at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The country’s most heavily subsidised performing arts company is now preparing for a federal court battle with one of the musicians refusing to settle, alleging Opera Australia management has created a culture of ‘intimidation, bullying and antagonism’.” –
Tags: Art, Music, Australia, 01.08.21

Patricia Loud, Matriarch Of America’s First Reality TV Family, Dead At 94

“Ms. Loud was a California mother of five. She drank, she plotted her divorce, she adored, and accepted, her openly gay son. She did it all in Santa Barbara and all on camera — in 1973. Loving, boisterous, witty, resilient and sometimes angry and hurt, she did not act like most women on television at the time. But she was ostensibly not acting at all. She was the first reality television star on the first reality show” — An American Family, aired on PBS — “and she paid a price for breaking new ...
Tags: Art, California, America, People, Pbs, Santa Barbara, 01.11.21, Patricia Loud

Some Good News From A Bad Year: US Book Sales Well Up In 2020

“With all major categories posting increases, unit sales of print books rose 8.2% in 2020 over 2019 at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. For the year ended Jan. 2, 2021, units hit 750.9 million, up from 693.7 million the year before. BookScan said the 8.2% gain was the largest annual increase since 2010.” – Publishers Weekly
Tags: Art, Words, NPD, Bookscan, 01.07.21

St. Louis Symphony Musicians Accept Additional 15% Pay Cut

“Musicians will retain 85% of their base pay and 80% of other compensation, including career track and overscale … in addition to health benefits and pension contributions. Musicians agreed in the fall to a 40% pay cut in addition to a further 20% reduction in overscale.” – St. Louis Business Journal
Tags: Art, Music, St Louis Symphony, 01.11.21

Want to understand the Capitol rioters? Look at the inflamed hate-drunk mobs painted by Goya

The horrific visions of the Spanish painter are about to go on display at New York’s Met. Americans should flock to this timely show – because no artist better captured collective delusion and mass fanaticismThe macabre art of Francisco Goya, the first truly modern artist, is due to be exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum in New York next month and there could hardly be a more urgent moment for Americans to look at his images. For, over 200 years ago, this Spanish artist perfectly captured the k...
Tags: Art, New York, Protest, World news, Culture, Art and design, Museums, Exhibitions, Goya, Metropolitan Museum, Trump, Francisco De Goya, Francisco Goya, US Capitol, San Isidoro, US Capitol breach

The Big Trends That Will Influence Creativity in 2021, According to Adobe Stock

The creative trends slated to dominate 2021 include compassionate, psychedelic, gradient and electronic audio content, according to Adobe Stock. The software company's stock image platform has released its 2021 Visual & Creative Trends Report, an annual forecast compiled by Adobe Stock's creative team informed by consumer behavior from the previous year. Brenda Milis, principal of...
Tags: Design, Advertising, Brenda Milis, 2021 Outlook