A Brief Digest of Arts, Technology, and Business Stories To Watch
For the past few years we’ve been finding and sharing important stories at the intersection of the arts, technology, and business through our monthly newsletter, CultureFlash. However, over the years we found ourselves with more and more important and interesting stories on the cutting room floor. So we decided to make CultureFlash a weekly affair, and to share it here on medium, as well as via e-mail newsletter (which you can subscribe to here).
Check back every week for insightful and eye-opening stories that peaked our interest, and hopefully yours too.
Resolving the paradox of group creativity.
“In times of trauma or potential stress, we tend to gravitate toward being with others, identifying closely with our in-groups, by flying the national flag or going to church more often. But creativity seems to decrease under these circumstances.”
OPINION: Will the arts help us rediscover shared common values?
“Broadly, we have rejected common aesthetics and definitions of art; we have adopted more subjective, relativistic frameworks; and along the way, we have lost a sense of the value and relevance of art and culture. With the loss of a common basis of social acceptance and aspiration, we are left with economics as the only basis for assessing value.”
The Future of Media Monetization: Crypto Currencies and Micropayments.
“The crisis for some, however, means an opportunity for others, as it usually happens[…] Currently there seem to be one main idea of how it’s possible to make the readers pay for the content they consume — micro-payments. The question is how to implement them in a right way.”
Flip the script by asking “Willingness to Accept”instead of “Willingness to Pay”.
“First ask yourself how much you would be willing to pay at your favorite performance hall or museum. Now think about how much you would ask for if someone said they would compensate you for your loss of life satisfaction while that favorite place is closed for a year.”
YouTube donation cards allow video creators to raise money for charity.
“These cards allow creators to choose any ‘IRS-validated 501(c)3 public nonprofit organization’ and the charity they pick will receive 100 percent of the money donated.”
IndieGoGo CEO is stepping down.
“There’s a big shakeup happening at Indiegogo: CEO Slava Rubin has stepped down from the role after eight years as CEO, and his position will be taken up by COO Dave Mandelbrot.”
Data Science and Expert Intuition: Understanding 2016 E-commerce Trends.
“Our marketing team frequently argues over data vs. intuition. The logical and rational thinkers[…] defend data for its predictability, its reliability, its strength in numbers[, while] our emotional thinkers argue for intuition’s sake — explaining that they want to feel good about decisions…”
Ai Wei Wei cancels exhibit in protest to Danish government seizing assets of refugees.
“He told the BBC: ‘It’s making a picture of Denmark and the Danes as a terrible country. As a Danish passport holder, which I always have been happy to be, I am not happy today.’ […] Mr. Ai [said he] was “shocked” when he called him on Wednesday morning from Lesbos after spending the night reading the news. Earlier this month, Mr Ai opened a studio on the Greek island of Lesbos, saying he wants to raise consciousness about the plight of refugees through art.”
National Center for Arts Research white paper examines arts organizations of color
“The study is designed to provide insights, based on measurable data, about the operating contexts and unique challenges that these organizations face[…] The goal of the white paper is to provide a more nuanced understanding of culturally specific organizations and to help establish a more equitable measure of their performance.”
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