https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical Douglas McLennan's blog Sun, 05 Apr 2026 12:51:08 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 62641784 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/04/aj-chronicles-the-excellence-problem-and-why-it-matters.html https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/04/aj-chronicles-the-excellence-problem-and-why-it-matters.html#respond Sat, 04 Apr 2026 18:00:38 +0000 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/?p=3347 I don't mean to be pedantic, but I think defining what we mean by excellence really matters if we're going to figure out the place of AI in creativity. Four stories this week suggest layers to this debate:]]> https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/04/aj-chronicles-the-excellence-problem-and-why-it-matters.html/feed 0 3347 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/aj-chronicles-why-tech-infrastructure-is-the-most-important-arts-story-of-the-year.html https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/aj-chronicles-why-tech-infrastructure-is-the-most-important-arts-story-of-the-year.html#respond Sat, 28 Mar 2026 19:30:43 +0000 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/?p=3338 The infrastructure carrying culture to audiences — legal, technical, financial, corporate — was not built for the creative sector. It was built by and for technology companies, telecommunications firms, and entertainment conglomerates. ]]> https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/aj-chronicles-why-tech-infrastructure-is-the-most-important-arts-story-of-the-year.html/feed 0 3338 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/aj-chronicles-what-habermas-feared-for-our-public-sphere.html https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/aj-chronicles-what-habermas-feared-for-our-public-sphere.html#respond Sun, 22 Mar 2026 14:56:30 +0000 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/?p=3317 This week we collected 118 stories. It's worth noting, I think, that attempts to address the current collapse of the non-profit culture sector are focused on changing market forces. But this is a larger, more systemic set of issues that has corroded all of civic life -- from culture to education to journalism to our politics -- and the institutions and structures that nurture it. Indeed, these forces are so much bigger than any one sector, it's difficult to know where to start in addressing them.]]> https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/aj-chronicles-what-habermas-feared-for-our-public-sphere.html/feed 0 3317 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/what-irelands-basic-artist-income-experiment-tells-us-about-a-new-arts-economy.html https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/what-irelands-basic-artist-income-experiment-tells-us-about-a-new-arts-economy.html#respond Thu, 19 Mar 2026 19:23:32 +0000 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/?p=3311 Ireland demonstrated something: economic insecurity doesn't just force workers out, it diminishes the overall creative economy. That matters enormously right now, because we are entering a period when a lot of people across a lot of industries are about to lose their job security.]]> https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/what-irelands-basic-artist-income-experiment-tells-us-about-a-new-arts-economy.html/feed 0 3311 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/aj-chronicles-the-biggest-fights-about-culture.html https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/aj-chronicles-the-biggest-fights-about-culture.html#respond Sun, 15 Mar 2026 05:34:55 +0000 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/?p=3305 These weekly essays are meant to connect stories from the week to larger trends and ideas across the arts world. This week we collected 118 stories. Here's what I learned:]]> https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/aj-chronicles-the-biggest-fights-about-culture.html/feed 0 3305 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/paramount-and-live-nation-ticketmaster-won-big-last-week-heres-why-orchestras-and-theatres-and-museums-and-consumers-lost.html https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/paramount-and-live-nation-ticketmaster-won-big-last-week-heres-why-orchestras-and-theatres-and-museums-and-consumers-lost.html#respond Thu, 12 Mar 2026 21:39:04 +0000 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/?p=3292 Two huge culture industry deals in the past week, both in entertainment, and maybe they don't seem connected. Certainly not connected to non-profit arts. But these are exactly the kind of culture infrastructure deals that should worry anyone in the commercial or non-profit culture business because they impact us all. Here's why.]]> https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/paramount-and-live-nation-ticketmaster-won-big-last-week-heres-why-orchestras-and-theatres-and-museums-and-consumers-lost.html/feed 0 3292 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/aj-chronicles-future-vision-and-what-the-boston-symphony-signaled-this-week.html https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/aj-chronicles-future-vision-and-what-the-boston-symphony-signaled-this-week.html#respond Sat, 07 Mar 2026 16:18:20 +0000 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/?p=3284 The Boston Symphony's board didn't fire Andris Nelsons as its music director. Not exactly. They declined to renew his contract because he and the BSO weren't "aligned on future vision" — the board's own words, offered without apology. Not artistic differences. Not budget. Not performance. Future vision. That phrase is doing a lot of work here, and it's worth thinking about, because it signals a structural institutional shift, one that appears, in different vocabulary, in many of the stories in arts and culture this week.]]> https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/aj-chronicles-future-vision-and-what-the-boston-symphony-signaled-this-week.html/feed 0 3284 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/the-supreme-court-just-unleashed-the-era-of-radioactive-artist-ip.html https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/the-supreme-court-just-unleashed-the-era-of-radioactive-artist-ip.html#respond Tue, 03 Mar 2026 02:28:34 +0000 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/?p=3274 Authorship used to be a status granted by an act of creation. Now it will be a status you will have to defend through paperwork. We have moved from the era of the romantic "lone genius" to the era of the administrative author who will need to "prove" the machine didn't make it. ]]> https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/03/the-supreme-court-just-unleashed-the-era-of-radioactive-artist-ip.html/feed 0 3274 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/aj-chronicles-the-battles-for-who-gets-to-say-what-culture-is.html https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/aj-chronicles-the-battles-for-who-gets-to-say-what-culture-is.html#respond Sat, 28 Feb 2026 17:28:05 +0000 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/?p=3271 Evidence abounds this week that the battles for culture are intensifying. Taken together, these tests of authority over cultural institutions are probes of where the line is, of how much self-censorship the cultural sector will perform without being explicitly required to.]]> https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/aj-chronicles-the-battles-for-who-gets-to-say-what-culture-is.html/feed 0 3271 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/when-better-than-meets-good-enough.html https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/when-better-than-meets-good-enough.html#respond Mon, 23 Feb 2026 21:06:47 +0000 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/?p=3258 The question isn't whether AI will change our definition of creative excellence. The question is how we will engage with that change: with curiously and critical insight, with our existing values intact but our existing definitions loosely held? Or defending the current map as if it were the entire territory.]]> https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/when-better-than-meets-good-enough.html/feed 0 3258 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/aj-chronicles-the-metropolitan-opera-as-poster-child.html https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/aj-chronicles-the-metropolitan-opera-as-poster-child.html#respond Sat, 21 Feb 2026 20:36:41 +0000 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/?p=3254 My weekly pondering on arts and cultural stories for the week of February 22nd.]]> https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/aj-chronicles-the-metropolitan-opera-as-poster-child.html/feed 0 3254 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/the-middleware-manifesto-an-opportunity-for-rebuilding-american-culture.html https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/the-middleware-manifesto-an-opportunity-for-rebuilding-american-culture.html#respond Mon, 16 Feb 2026 06:03:13 +0000 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/?p=3241 That shift from content value to traffic value is what has destroyed the business model for nearly everything we're talking about. I'm calling it a manifesto because that's what it needs to be. Not a lament. Not a white paper, but a declaration of what is needed.]]> https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/the-middleware-manifesto-an-opportunity-for-rebuilding-american-culture.html/feed 0 3241 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/aj-chronicles-this-weeks-stories-changing-of-the-guard.html https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/aj-chronicles-this-weeks-stories-changing-of-the-guard.html#respond Sun, 15 Feb 2026 21:46:59 +0000 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/?p=3242 This week there’s a question that connects nearly every story. Who gets to decide what’s real? A viral AI-generated video of Tom Cruise fighting Brad Pitt is racking up views. Neither actor consented or was paid. SAG-AFTRA is furious. Lawsuits await. Meanwhile, Tracey Emin is telling young artists to buy cameras, keep diaries, and send […]]]> https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/aj-chronicles-this-weeks-stories-changing-of-the-guard.html/feed 0 3242 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/aj-chronicles-this-weeks-stories-when-spectacle-replaces-authority.html https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/aj-chronicles-this-weeks-stories-when-spectacle-replaces-authority.html#respond Sun, 08 Feb 2026 18:11:03 +0000 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/?p=3237 My weekly essay reflecting on arts stories of the past week.]]> https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/aj-chronicles-this-weeks-stories-when-spectacle-replaces-authority.html/feed 0 3237 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/why-the-death-of-american-leadership-may-run-through-your-local-orchestra.html https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/why-the-death-of-american-leadership-may-run-through-your-local-orchestra.html#respond Sat, 07 Feb 2026 06:26:13 +0000 https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/?p=3227 In the space of a week, we have lost two significant and iconic American institutions. But the shuttering of the Kennedy Center and the decimation of the Washington Post are neither isolated nor unrelated. ]]> https://www.artsjournal.com/diacritical/2026/02/why-the-death-of-american-leadership-may-run-through-your-local-orchestra.html/feed 0 3227